Videl had a lot of questions for Gohan the next day. Sure, he had explained some things, but she was pretty sure they had just scratched the surface of his strange powers.

It was nice that Gohan was her friend, she reflected. She was used to getting information from people the hard way, thanks to all her work with criminals. Dealing with Gohan was a lot easier. She didn't have to bully him in order to get information.

Maybe Dad's right about how I need to be nicer to people... Videl thought.

Unfortunately for our heroine, Gohan was not in class that day.

"Where's Gohan?" Videl asked.

"He's probably too busy playing with his calculator to go to homeroom," Sharpener said. Erasa chuckled.

Videl ignored Sharpener. "Excuse me, Mr. Brown, but where's Gohan?" she asked the homeroom teacher.

"Ah, yes…" Mr. Brown said, adjusting his glasses. "I'm sorry to say this, but apparently, Mr. Gohan is no longer attending Orange Star High."

"WHAT?"

"I just got an email about it," Mr. Brown said. "He is going to be pursuing educational opportunities elsewhere. Given his entrance exam scores, I'm not surprised."

"I don't believe it!" Videl said, slumping into her seat.

"What's the big deal?" Sharpener said, yawning. "We barely knew the dude."

"He's my friend, Pencil Head. That's the big deal," Videl snapped.

Erasa, who had watched too many bad romance movies, felt her crush senses tingling. "Ooo, I know what's going on," she said. "You like Gohan, don't you?"

Erasa was expecting Videl to make a half-hearted protest, but that's not what happened. Instead, Videl just looked depressed.

"No, it's just…if he dropped out of school, I'm pretty sure it's my fault."

"Your fault? Why?"

"Never mind," Videl said, brushing her off. I'll just have to take care of things myself, just like I always do.


Here goes nothing... Gohan thought.

"Mom?" Gohan asked, in his most innocent voice possible. "Can I go to school today?"

"No," Chi-Chi said. "I already called the office and told them you're dropping out."

"But Mo-om! I can't just drop out of school without saying goodbye to all my new friends! That's rude!"

"You're being punished, young man," Chi-Chi said. "It wouldn't be a punishment if I let you do whatever you want, now, would it?"

Gohan had an ace up his sleeve, an argument that was sure to convince his mother. "But dropping out of school is really bad for my education!"

"Bad for your education!" Chi-Chi exclaimed. "Don't lie to me like that! You don't care about your education! You just want to see that hussy again!"

"But—!"

"Oh, where did I go wrong? My poor son has stopped caring about his education and started chasing after girls like a delinquent!"

"I'm not chasing after girls!" Gohan protested.

"This is all that damn Turtle Hermit's fault!" Chi-Chi said, clenching her fists. "He was a bad influence on you! I told Goku to keep that creep away from you!"

"Look, can't I just promise not to go Super Saiyan in town ever again?" Gohan asked. "I promise I'll be really, really careful!"

"I said no," Chi-Chi said. "End of discussion. Now go to your room."


"I'm sorry, Videl, but I can't give out personal information like that."

"But I'm worried about him!" Videl said. "Are you saying that he drops out of school after just two days, and you don't find that suspicious in the least?"

"I understand where you're coming from," the principal said. "But it's illegal for me to give you a copy of his files."

"Can't you send someone to check up on him, then?"

"I could, but there's no reason to believe anything bad has happened to him. As far as Orange City High is concerned, Mr. Son is no longer a student here, and that's that."

"Rats," Videl said. So much for Plan A...


I wish Dad was still alive, Gohan wrote in his journal that day. Dad would agree I did the right thing by saving Videl. He always helped other people, at any cost. Keeping my identity safe doesn't matter when lives are at stake, right?

Mom's right, though. Going Super Saiyan in town was taking things too far. I should have let the police do their job instead of playing superhero.

Stupid Videl. Why'd she have to recognize me as a Super Saiyan? In fact, why'd she have to go chasing after criminals in the first place? That was a really stupid idea!

I guess stupidity runs in her family.

No, that's mean. It's not Videl's fault I got in trouble. It's mine.

Still, it sucks that I'm never going to see anyone in Orange City again. Why is it that the first time I get normal friends, Mom has to take them away from me?


"What was that name again?"

"Gohan Son," Videl repeated.

"Hmmm..." the police officer said, typing the information into his computer. "And you think he could be the guy we're looking for?"

"I'm about 50% sure that's the name I heard the criminals say," Videl lied.

"I've got a match," the officer said. "He seems a little young, though. Take a look."

He swung the computer screen around so Videl could see it. Onscreen was the city's profile of Gohan. Videl immediately committed his phone number and address to memory.

"Whoops! That's not the right guy," she said. "I must have heard them wrong. I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, Videl," the officer said. "We appreciate your help."


Half an hour later, the phone at the Son house rang.

"Gohan, could you get that?" Chi-Chi called from the kitchen. "I'm busy here"

"Yes, Mom," Gohan said, eager to get on his mother's good side. He ran to the living room and picked up the phone.

"Son residence," he said politely. "How may I help you?"

"Gohan? It's Videl."

Gohan almost fell over from shock. "Videl! Um, hi!"

"I called to see why you didn't show up at school today."

"Well, um...I'm kind of not going to Orange Star High any more..." Gohan said, playing with the phone cord. He wasn't sure how to tell Videl that she got him kicked out of school.

"I heard that rumor," Videl said. "Why would you drop out of school after only two days?"

"Um...I'm tired of the long commute?"

"You don't need to lie to me," Videl said. "It's because I found about your powers, isn't it?"

"Well...yeah...I guess..."

"You shouldn't have to drop out of school because of that. I promise I won't tell anyone."

"I'm not sure how to tell you this, Videl," Gohan said. "But my mom kind of hates your father. She doesn't trust you one bit."

"What? That's ridiculous! Why not?"

Chi-Chi's voice came through from the next room. "Gohan, are you talking about me on the phone?"

"Eep!" Gohan said.

Chi-Chi stepped into the living room. "Part of being grounded is not having phone conversations with people. Now who's calling?"

"It's Videl," Gohan said. "You know, the girl from school?"

Chi-Chi's eyes narrowed. "The one you're chasing after? You gave her your phone number?"

"No, it's not like that!"

Chi-Chi swiped the phone from Gohan.

"How dare you call this house?" Chi-Chi barked. "What, ruining my son's life isn't enough for you? You have to hunt him down afterwards, too?"

"What?" Videl asked.

"All we want is a nice, quiet, peaceful life! Why do you have to ruin that for us?"

"Look, Mrs. Son, I'm not trying to ruin anyone's life here," Videl said, taking on a business-like tone. It was the official-sounding voice she used to calm down panicky civilians. (And her father, sometimes). "I just want to know why Gohan wasn't at school today."

"You know why!" Chi-Chi accused. "You found out that he's half-alien!"

Videl fell over.

"It's too dangerous to let anyone know about that!" Chi-Chi said. "If people knew, they'd probably throw my darling baby into a lab somewhere and perform experiments on him all day long! Or worse, they'd put him in a zoo! Or worst, they'd kill him outright! So you can't tell anyone anything, got it?"

"You can trust me," Videl said. "I won't say a word to anyone."

"And it better stay that way! Remember, you owe us! If it wasn't for Gohan killing Cell, your fraud of a father wouldn't be where he is today!"

"My father—?"

"Mom, she doesn't know—!"

"Now do us a favor and leave us alone! Forever!" Chi-Chi yelled before slamming down the phone.

Videl stared dumbly at her cell phone. "Did she just say what I think she said?" she asked.