Apologies, this chapter had to be deleted and posted again due to some line breaks not coming through.
Quiet. Awkwardly quiet. Far too quiet. That was how Videl would describe the current situation. It was only a few hours prior did she manage to not only meet but save Bulma Briefs from some low-life minor thief and now she was reduced to sitting outside her father's office. Waiting.
Twiddling her thumbs, Videl looked up at the clock which she had many times before to see that according to the hands that maybe 10 seconds had passed by. What was the holdup? Bulma had come to speak to her father about his recently purchased painting and request if he would be all right with it being displayed in museums and Videl was utterly positive that her father should not have had a problem with saying yes. After all, he had bought the painting to keep it out of the hands of other crooked collectors. Believe it or not, Mr. Satan actually took pleasure in art and before his fame had so vastly intensified he used to take Videl to museums pretty frequently.
Becoming even more nervous by the minute, Videl began to pace back and forth in front of the door to her father's study. This meeting should not have taken this long and while it was silly for her to admit, she was really hoping that her father and Bulma Briefs would get along. While Mr. Satan did have some seriously famous friends, Videl really didn't care about any of them. But Bulma Briefs was an entirely different story! Bulma had a major influence on science and technology and she was a woman with a famous father! There were so many things Videl longed to learn or even just discuss with Bulma.
The door finally opened and the two occupants came out.
"Well, that all went much more smoothly than I anticipated.", Bulma said with a smile.
Mr. Satan simply nodded and noticed Videl. "Oh, Videl, there's something you should know...", he started, looking over at Bulma and back at her.
Bulma also looked down at Videl smiling gently.
Videl's heart rate skyrocketed. Was it about how she intervened with those criminals earlier? Her father hated it when she got involved in a conflict. He was annoyingly overprotective of her even though he was well aware that she could easily defend herself.
"If you want, Bulma has offered to give you a sort of...mentorship.", Mr. Satan said sheepishly. Clearly, he was still digesting the idea. Whenever it came to Videl being exposed to something new, he was always extremely slow to coming round to it.
Bulma perked up. "Yeah, you really helped me out there earlier kiddo. And your father has mentioned to me some of your interests and I think we have some in common. You could come visit me in West City sometimes, or I would come here, and I think you'd learn a lot."
Videl took a second to let it sink in. A mentorship with Bulma Briefs? And her father completely allowed it?
Letting out a squeal not out of character for a thirteen-year-old, Videl jumped up out of joy, before realizing her actions and then attempting, badly, to calm down.
Letting the feelings of nervousness and being self-conscious stand aside, she said, quietly, "Yes, I accept."
Looking in the mirror Videl nearly fell over from shock. The girl looking back at her wasn't her. That girl was wearing a dress, something that Videl would never be considering wearing. Just the idea of it always made her skin crawl.
So how could it be possible that this outfit didn't? Videl looked down at the hem of the dress in amazement as she let her fingers trail against it. She had always assumed she just wasn't meant to look, well, pretty, and that being that way just wasn't for her. Since her mother had passed away before Videl could remember, no one had ever tried to introduce these sorts of things to her. Well, minus Erasa, but she had always pushed away from it, maybe more from fear that she would be willing to admit.
"Hey, I'm coming in!", a loud excited voice boomed as the curtain of the fitting room was pulled back, revealing none other than Bulma Briefs.
It had been a few months since their mentorship began and while the first few meetings had been a little on the awkward side, both women were putting down their guards and finally getting to know one another.
Bulma grinned with joy, "Oh look at you! I knew this would work!" The blue haired woman began to circle her thirteen-year-old protégé. "I knew this color would be perfect for you!"
Videl suddenly felt very warm under Bulma's scrutiny. She had accidentally let it slip or perhaps had even been coerced into revealing that she never had a clue when it came to picking out her outfits. Bulma was of course more than willing to help. Bulma didn't have a problem with the way Videl dressed, but she could see that Videl just needed some encouragement and was happy to provide it. Plus it gave her the added bonus of getting to participate in more feminine related activities which her own male-dominated family didn't allow. Bulma's mission was to show Videl her own natural beauty without having to sacrifice the less feminine aspects of her personality.
Sensing one of her long ponytails being held Videl looked up to see Bulma observing her.
"Videl...do you prefer styling your hair like that?"
The classroom was silent except for the sounds of scribbling pencils on paper. Videl had just set her pencil down and was relieved to be finished. It was the first maths exam of the year and she had spent many nights preparing for it.
Pushing her paper to the front of her desk she looked around to see how everyone else was doing. Everyone was still busy with their exams except for a boy to her far right. Son Gohan.
Their eyes met for a second before Gohan looked away in the opposite direction. A smile came to Videl's face and her shoulders shook slightly as she held in a laugh. The events of that morning at the train station came to her mind.
Still grinning she bit her lip so she wouldn't actually laugh. The look on his face as she told him he was using the wrong train station had been priceless. He really was clueless and it was adorable.
Finally recomposed she looked back over at him and as if completely by coincidence he looked back at her direction as well. This time Videl just lost it and giggled, causing him to look down in mortification and Erasa between them to look up at her.
Erasa narrowed her eyes and gave Videl a look that said, "What is wrong with you?" and went back to her exam.
Soon enough though everyone was finished and the classroom filled with chatter. Videl was rearranging her supplies into her bag and was eager to leave for the day before overhearing an interesting conversation.
"So, have you guys heard more about this Satan City crime fighter?!", Erasa exclaimed. The blonde had moved closer to Gohan's desk along with Sharpener.
Videl's ears were burning. She didn't move but did lean a bit in their direction to hear better.
"Yeah, I've heard that he's some short shrimpy kind of guy. I bet he's a total weirdo.", Sharpener said cooly.
Erasa gasped, "No way, I doubt he's shrimpy! Gohan, have you heard of this guy?"
Videl's hands grasped her desk as she bit her tongue and her heart rate accelerated as she became nervous.
"Uh, yeah, I have heard of him.", Gohan said shyly and feeling pretty awkward remembering his own encounter with the mysterious figure known as the Satan City crimefighter on his first day of classes. While he had never actually encountered that guy ever again, more and more news reports had come out about him. He was indeed mysterious and would appear almost at random to help with the police. There was never any actual reported footage of him taken only still photographs and bad ones at that. The crimefighter never participated in interviews and he had become a major mystery within Satan City.
"Well, do you think he's shrimpy? I've heard that he's pretty short." Sharpener questioned blatantly.
Gohan pondered a minute before answering, deciding that he shouldn't mention having actually encountered the crimefighter for a split second before. "Yeah, I would say so. Maybe it's because he wears that weird black outfit so it makes him look even shorter, but he's definitely not a big guy."
Both Erasa and Sharpener laughed at Gohan calling the crimefighter weird and even Gohan chuckled along as well.
Videl quickly cleared her throat causing all three to look towards her. "I think the Satan City crimefighter sounds like an idiot and people should ignore...", she hesitated for a second looking uncomfortable her eyes narrowing, "...him."
"Aw, lighten up Videl, he obviously has good intentions.", Erasa said warmly. Erasa was always too positive about people.
"Well, it doesn't matter what..." Videl sighed as though something was bothering her, "his intentions are, it isn't his job to deal with this sort of thing and the police should be able to handle it on their own." She concluded before going back to her bookbag. She clearly did not seem impressed by this crimefighter in the least. Her chest was still tight as she was still nervous.
Sharpener laughed, "Is someone annoyed that their father's investment isn't working out?"
Videl scowled at him, "My Dad's investment in the police force has nothing to do with the fact that they should be able to keep Satan City safe on their own." God, she hated Sharpener sometimes, unlike Erasa he wasn't entirely positive and naive but he was cynical and entirely obsessed with money.
Sharpener just continued to laugh and Gohan and Erasa looked at one another.
Erasa just shook her head at her other friends, "Ignore them Gohan, they're always at each other's throats like this. Do you think the Satan City Crimefighter should give up? I don't!"
Videl looked at Gohan. On the inside, she was a total mess as her nerves were, without doubt, eating at her, but luckily she had become great at acting and still appeared perfectly calm. She was however genuinely curious what his opinion of the Satan City crime fighter was. As usual, Gohan glanced at Videl for only a second before looking away and avoiding her gaze. The two of them really didn't know one another and he clearly wasn't comfortable around her. She didn't have time to speculate why it was taking so long for him to warm up to her before he answered.
"I think Videl is right and it should be left to the police. It's really dangerous for someone without proper training." Gohan said quietly and pragmatically before turning to his own book bag obviously not wanting to get any more involved in this.
Videl smiled as the uncomfortable feeling departed and her heart rate finally settled down. Not wanting to appear smug though, she quickly threw her bag over her shoulder, "Yeah see Erasa, no one likes the", she paused to make air-quotes with her fingers, "Satan City Crimefighter. Not to mention that name is stupid and I don't like her..." Videl stopped realizing her mistake before taking a breath, "his outfit."
Rushing out of that classroom as fast as possible without looking bizarre, Videl only had one thought going through her mind, "Shit, shit, shit!" She did not want to see her classmates reactions to her slip-up or make it any worse.