Gohan II
Gohan could never have guessed that Sharpener was the pining type. But after watching him stare at the pretty redhead across the expansive cafeteria for twenty minutes straight, there was little doubt in the matter. He'd barely said a word, leaving him and Erasa to keep up the conversation. And keeping up the conversation was already challenging enough with a capsule full of food, which was holding most of his attention.
His two new friends had gaped at the amount of food he'd brought with him. Five burgers, a platter full of pasta, three servings of fries, and a few apples. Of all things to betray his façade of normalcy, if his appetite was going to be his undoing, Gohan was going to punch Vegeta next time they trained.
As they ate, Erasa kept rolling her eyes at the lovestruck boy next to her, finally snapping and twisting shut her pink tinted water bottle with more force than necessary.
"God, this is sad," she snapped her fingers in front of Sharpener's face, catching his attention, "Go talk to her, or start joining in on our conversation. It's no fun having you all gloomy."
Sharpener spluttered in defiance, "I-I-I am not being gloomy. And we- we do not need to talk. We do just fine doing our thing."
"Your thing is this weird friends with benefits arrangement, which is just random boning, since you've cut out the friends bit."
"We are friends! Just last week we spent the afternoon hanging out at the mall."
"You met her at the mall when she was with her friends, for ten minutes, and she still managed to make you buy her a necklace." Erasa corrected, "Great friendship. Very equal."
"Are you for real?" Gohan spoke before he realized what he was saying, "Actually, no, is she for real? That's kind of crazy."
Erasa propped her chin on her hand and turned her head to one side. "Never liked a girl before, Gohan? Makes you act real pathetic, just ask Sharp."
"No one's pathetic if you go for friend's with benefits. Nothing to lose but. You know. Sexytimes."
It was pretty clear to Gohan that friends with benefits wasn't the ideal situation for Sharpener, "Is friends with benefits really good for anyone? Not that I know what I'm talking about here, but it sounds tough if the other person's…" Here Gohan noticed Erasa rapidly shaking her head, but couldn't seem to stop himself from finishing his sentence, "Not as into it as the other."
Sharpener's eyes flashed and he pushed his chair back with a screech. Gohan figured he was going to grab his shirt collar or something, but Erasa grabbed his wrist before it could reach him and yanked him back to his seat. She has good reflexes. That was pretty precise.
"Sharpener, calm down, you're not pretend-threatening anybody." Erasa turned a serious face to Gohan, "Gohan, honey, by your own admission you don't really know what you're talking about. So, like, you're welcome to comment right after your first fling or whatever."
Gohan opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. He wasn't about to get on his new friends' wrong side already. No matter how stupid their relationship problems may be. "Point taken, yeah." He cleared his throat, "What happened to Videl, by the way? Or is 'not feeling too hot' some kind of code."
Sharpener crossed his arms and slouched in his chair, staring sullenly at Tris. Erasa's eyes softened at his query. Man, am I glad she loves that girl so much. "Videl doesn't sleep much. Sometimes I'll make her nap during lunch period just so she doesn't collapse, y'know?"
"Her parents have no problem with her collapsing from lack of sleep?"
Erasa waved a hand dismissively, "Her dad's never around. She barely sees him once a month, he's always travelling. He's Mister Satan, y'know? Savior of the known world and all."
Gohan choked on half a dozen fries. "Her dad is Hercule Satan? Really? You're kidding"
That clown. God, she must get her genes from her mother. He wondered if she was as arrogant or crooked as her dad was. Not that he minded not getting the credit. He imagined the lack of privacy that came with being the savior got old before too long.
Erasa shrugged halfheartedly, "Yeah, yeah, that's the usual reaction. Anyway he has lots of tours and judges lots of competitions, so he's on the road lots. I've known Videl half my life, and I've only seen him a handful of times."
"Er- wow! Interesting." Gohan smiled politely, "Okay, and her Mom?"
Erasa met his smile with a sad one of her own, "Mom's not in the picture either."
"She died when Videl was four." Sharpener leaned forward, "Don't mention it, though, obviously."
"Um, yeah, of course." Gohan resumed eating at full speed, to cover the awkwardness. Four was too young to be left with that buffoon of a father. She may have grown up with serious neuroticisms. No wonder she wasn't as friendly and open as her blonde counterparts.
Erasa was deep in conversation with Sharpener, leaving Gohan with some quiet. He felt himself slipping into meditation- a side effect of spending so much time with piccolo. He kept his mind blissfully blank till he heard the shrill school bell. Five minutes to get to another class he had no idea how to find.
"Listen, Sharpener, where are the biology labs?" He asked. Couldn't hurt to gauge just how upset Sharpener was with him over the friends with benefits comment.
"Peters building, first floor, near the gym." Sharpener wouldn't meet his eye, but he didn't sound too aggressive. Gohan labelled it not-too-lost a cause.
Erasa piled her and Sharpener's empty trays on top of each other and picked them up. Sharpener grabbed both their bags and they moved towards the entrance of the cafeteria.
"Bye, Gohan!" Erasa called on her way out. Sharpener raised a hand in farewell, though he still wasn't smiling. Gohan waved back, then capsuled his own empty trays and cutlery. Wiping his mouth with a paper towel, he grabbed his shoulder bag and jogged out of the second cafeteria doors that led out the building. One quick (very slightly superhuman speed) perimeter of the campus and he spotted the gym. There was one building right next to it. That has to be it.
He slowed down to a speedy pacing and made for the Peters building. Busy trying to estimate how long finding the lab would take, he didn't pay much attention to his surroundings, and as he passed the gym entrance he felt something bump into his arm and heard an "Oomph" as that something fell down.
He turned to find Videl, sitting on the ground, rubbing her head, face scrunched up. Her hair was in a bun, and she had changed her clothes into a light blue baggy sweater with black tights.
Shit. He immediately dropped to his knees next to her and put a hand on her arm.
"Oh, God, are you okay? I didn't even see you." He jumped back when her eyes snapped open and gave him a withering look. She shook his hand off her arm roughly.
"Fuck, just, what are you made of? Cement?" Videl put her hands on the ground and pushed herself up. She placed her hands on her hips and met his gaze, "I'm- look, I'm fine. It wasn't even totally your fault. Hope you didn't hurt yourself. Here." She held her hand out to him, to help him up.
Gohan stared at her. She made it seem like he was the one who fell over. Well, if that's how she's comfortable. He grasped her hand gingerly and lifted himself up using his knees. Saiyan bodies were much heavier than normal bodies; he doubted her small frame could pull him up.
Once standing, he had to take a step back to maintain eye contact without either of them straining their necks. "Thank you," He said, "Um. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I've fallen down before." Came the short response. Then, a pause, "How was lunch?"
"Lunch was nice. Nice, long discussion about the dynamics of casual romance, and all." Gohan raised an eyebrow as a thought occurred to him, "Hey, weren't you supposed to be napping, or something."
Videl lifted her chin defiantly, "Yeah, I was. You can nap in the gym."
"And then change your clothes?" Gohan studied her face. Heart shaped, purple eyebags under blue eyes. Enormous eyes, he clarified. He wondered how they looked when they weren't narrowed. The rest of her features were delicate, and stray wisps of hair that had fallen out of her bun framed her face. Oh, he thought, she's pretty. Her eyes radiated so much wariness, it was hard to notice at first.
"My clothes wrinkle when I nap." No further information was volunteered. Gohan decided to drop the subject.
"Very well-planned of you," He nodded, "I didn't even think to find all my classes during the hour long lunch. Then again, I liked the side of Sharpener I saw. Defensive, yet awkward."
Videl's eyes lit up slightly at that, "I love Sharpener when he has a crush. He works best when he doesn't give you his full attention."
"I'm wondering if maybe Tris agrees with you," Gohan had his back to Tris for the majority of the lunch break, but he guessed she hadn't spent her lunch staring back at Sharpener.
"I'm still holding out hope that she comes around," Videl rubbed her shoulder absent mindedly, her gaze towards the school grounds, "Sharpener is nice, under all those layers of muscle shirts and body spray."
Gohan shrugged, "The teenage girl wants what she wants. Um, doesn't it hurt when you do that?"
"What? Oh," Videl stopped rubbing, but kept her hand where it was, "It's okay, I've seen worse."
"Yeah, I'll bet," Gohan smirked, "All that napping isn't very safe." Given who her father was, Gohan assumed she was training. Training with little sleep and little nourishment. Man, she'd get along with Vegeta just fine.
Videl crossed her arms and jutted her chin out, "Okay, what is your problem? Let it go, Sherlock." Her voice had a harsh edge to it. Some of the students walking by gave her glances, but most ignored them.
Gohan replied before he could think, "I'm surprised you expect me to. At least put some effort into your blatant lies."
Videl's mouth opened in indignation. Whatever scathing response she was about to send his way, however, was interrupted by a second, equally shrill, bell. Gohan ran his hand through his hair, clenching his jaw. He had discovered earlier today that hated being late to classes. All those people staring at him as he walked to the empty seats made his scalp prickle.
"Yeah, well, whatever," he moved past her, not bothering to look back, "See you around. Make sure you eat something after you nap next time- you seem cranky."
"I'll eat when I'm dead, Shitlord!" he heard her yell back. Against his will, Gohan felt a wry smile forming. She had sounded a bit like Bulma back there. He walked into the building, trying not to pay attention to the fact that everyone was looking at him. He took the stairs four steps at a time and soon after found the room labelled 'Bio lab 3'.
This room wasn't set up like a lecture hall. There were about twenty tables in three columns, each table equipped with a microscope and a Bunsen burner that were attached to the structure of the desks. There were two tables to every desk. Gohan handed the elderly teacher his principal's note and, at his nod, chose an empty table two rows from the back. A girl who was in Geography with his grinned at him as he passed. Gohan returned the smile stiffly.
No sooner had he taken his seat, the door clicked open, and Videl poked her head through the door.
"Sorry, Mister Gale, may I come in?" Gohan couldn't believe this was the same voice that had chewed him out not three minutes ago. This voice was meek, and carefully tentative. "I tripped on the stairs on my way here."
"Ah, of course, Miss Satan," Mister Gale smiled at her kindly, and beckoned her in, "Since you're the last one here, you can pair up with the new kid. Maybe he'll rub his test scores off on you, hah heh."
Videl get him a tight smile, and walked with slow, deliberate steps towards Gohan, adjusting the hem of her sweater the whole way. Gohan moved to the seat nearer the window to make room for her.
She slid into her seat, and took her notebook out. Then she took out three pens. Then she moved them around on her desk at random times, while the teacher droned on about various immunological responses.
Gohan soon settled into a nice rhythm of note-taking and occasionally glancing at the tense figure next to him. She didn't seem to be writing notes, still having not decided on an appropriate pen placement. At the ten-minute mark, she looked over at him, but when he looked back, she quickly turned back. Gohan, turned back to his notebook, only to find that he had completely forgotten how to finish his sentence.
As he struggled to regain his easy rhythm of writing, Videl tapped his forearm. This time she didn't turn away when he stared at her.
"Sorry," she muttered, "You're not entirely a Shitlord. I mean, you could be. But it's too early to tell and I shouldn't assume. I think I'm just hungry. And tired."
"Maybe," Gohan chuckled, "Get a protein bar before your next class?"
Videl tilted her head, "Or a juice. Or a brownie. I got time." Her eyes wandered over to the wall clock over the projector screen, then to the table in front of them. The two at the table was obviously a couple- they sat close to each other, and her head was rested on his shoulder. In the dim light of the projected slideshow, the teacher failed to notice the PDA.
Videl clearly noticed it, however. She wrinkled her nose.
"God, what do they think this is? Twilight?" She gestured to them with her pen, "Get a private lab, or something, sheesh."
"No immunity response to hormones, huh?" Gohan replied. Videl covered her mouth with her free left hand, hiding the smile on her face.
"That was a horrible line."
"Will you never stop wounding me?" He realized he was actually smiling now; there was something sort of endearing about her antagonistic demeanor. It reminded him a little of Piccolo, early in their friendship.
She went back to her notebook, finally settling on a pen, and began writing down the information projected on the slides. Gohan stared at her for another second (That bun was precariously tied up at best, and looked ready to undo itself any minute), then followed suit. Bulma had taught him extensive physics and math, not biology.
As he wrote, he wondered if he should have an early dinner with his mother after his last class. It had been a couple of days. He also had to spend a couple of hours training with Vegeta- an unfortunate, unavoidable side effect of living at Capsule Corp. And then… Gohan's shoulders drooped as he remember the research project on magnetic resonance that Bulma had assigned him. True to her word, she was keeping his mind challenged. It was going to be a long night.