Chapter 4: On the Same Page
Reddened, browning leaves fell with the sigh of the wind. Autumn was fading, giving rise to cooler, comfortable temperatures that soothed the perspiration off Videl's skin as she raced down the tracks outside the school's field, leaves crunching beneath her feet. Far behind her the rest of her classmates followed, unable to keep up with her speed.
She hardly registered the burning of her muscles or her labored breaths, for her attention was focused solely on the lone figure a yard in front of her, the only person who could outmatch her pace. Gohan deftly glanced behind him, head snapping forward when their eyes locked.
With how Videl confronted Gohan the day before, he most definitely took the hint. Yet, against all logic, she could not fathom why he still refused to show his true potential.
The two seemed to be playing a game of cat and mouse. At first he had made the excuse that Videl simply was the better athlete of the two, but they both knew that wasn't true. Gohan never revealed his true capabilities, which she only caught glimpses of when he became too lenient at hiding it, such as right now. He slowed down, allowing Videl to pass by him with ease, which only fueled her growing annoyance. It had been like this all gym period: Gohan would lag, only to speed up again, and once more slow, repeating this pattern continuously.
With gritted teeth, Videl fell into step beside him. "If you're trying to hide your strength," she said between breaths, "you're not doing a good job of it."
"What are you talking about?" Gohan said with a nervous laugh. For someone who was naturally guileless, it was funny how when he tried to act innocent, he failed miserably at it. "I'm doing my best right now. Like I said earlier, you're better at this stuff."
"I'm not a fool, Gohan," Videl said exasperatedly. "Remember what I told you yesterday? I meant that. Seriously, stop pretending. I hate repeating this."
"Why are you so focused on making everything a competition? You've beat me all the time already," he said, avoiding eye contact.
"We both know that's not true!" Videl snapped, accelerating her speed. Gohan matched her pace effortlessly, and they finished their third lap around the track. "You lost on purpose every time. Do you know how frustrating it is, knowing you won in something you didn't earn?"
Deafening silence eclipsed them, their pounding feet the only sound between them. Gohan's brows and nose scrunched in uncertainty as he peered at Videl, whose own face was molded by irritation and conviction.
Hesitantly, he said, "Would it make you happy if I won?"
"It would make me feel better than you losing intentionally," she corrected. Don't misunderstand. She certainly loved winning and was no stranger to victory, but to be thought of so little as to not be a worthy contender was short of insulting. A bitter taste filled her mouth, reminding her of how so many people underestimated her before she started building a name for herself in the world of martial arts.
Gohan raked his hands through his hair in dismay. "You make me so confused!"
"There's nothing to be confused about, you dense cabbage!"
"I'm not a cabbage!" His voice was indignant.
"But you're dense," Videl shot back. Gohan had nothing to say to that. They were nearly halfway around their final lap now, and she jerked her chin towards the finish line. "So what do you say? Are you game, Gohan, or are you going to eat my dust?"
The challenge was clear, and a split second of indecision crossed his face. Then, for the first time, a languid, competitive smirk edged his lips, causing Videl's heart to soar in anticipation and surprise. So there was some sort of competitive streak in him after all.
"Fine," Gohan said. "If you want me to win that badly, then I will."
"Not if I get there first," Videl retorted. They both shared grins before charging forward. Videl willed her legs to pump faster, faster, faster, as swift as she ever sprinted in her life. Wind whistled past her ears and tangled her hair, and yet she was smiling now, spirit high on adrenaline. Finally she would see what he was capable of.
And, she saw. He was an almost dizzying blur that whizzed past, covering distance with speed that left her breathless. Undeterred, she pressed on harder. It was futile. The space separating them only grew regardless of how her legs screamed from overwork. It was a startling, massive difference; Gohan took a long lead, his figure shortening with every inch that grew between them. If Videl could reach her palms out and grasp his sun-drowned silhouette, he would disappear within them.
Just like that, it was over. Videl crossed the finish line, victory long out of her hold. She crouched over her knees, sweat dampening her clothes and her chest rising and falling rapidly, greedily sucking in air. Contradicting emotions swirled inside her, ones of disbelief, frustration, and—excitement. Gohan was the real deal, the biggest challenge she had faced yet. The thought of it fanned the flames of her motivation.
A shadow loomed over Videl, and she looked up, the person in question staring at her with worried eyes. In comparison to her, he inexplicably did not appear as tired or haggard.
"Are you okay?" Gohan said frantically. "I knew I shouldn't have done that. I overdid it. Oh no, what if I get expelled—"
Videl reached up and pulled him into a headlock, and Gohan's babbling broke off into stutters.
"That was crazy," she exclaimed, unable to hold back the admiration and begrudging respect in her tone. She released him from her hold. "Whatever training regimen you did to get that fast, let me know."
Gohan shook his head and regarded her with curiosity. He suddenly looked tired. "So are you satisfied now? I won, so I hope we'll stop competing like this."
"Stop?" Videl barked back a laugh. "We're just getting started!"
"What?" Gohan blanched. "If you didn't notice, class is going to end soon."
"In about ten minutes," she agreed. On the track, their classmates had just started their final lap. Sharpner was now leading the pack, whereas Erasa trailed at the end, a look of suffering on her face. They had plenty of time to do something else, and Videl wasn't ready to let Gohan go yet lest he changed his mind. She grabbed his sleeve, leading him to a clear area on the field where she began stretching.
"You should stretch too. We're going to spar," she decided. The thought had been nagging the back of her mind for a while. Now that Gohan was more willing to accept her challenges, it was time to find out exactly how formidable of a martial artist he was. How did they compare?
"Let's not do that." Gohan nervously held both his hands up in surrender. "I don't practice much anymore, remember? You'll be disappointed at how rusty I am—"
His words cut and with his arm he reflexively blocked a high kick aimed straight to the head. Videl remained balanced on one leg, arms up and bent at the sides. She smirked. "You were saying?"
"I… you… rusty…" he mumbled, mouth dry as the slightest red tinged his cheeks. He sighed in resignation before pushing her leg off, and Videl stumbled back at the force of that small gesture, righting herself. In response, he fell into a stance she had never seen before, and quiet focus settled over him. No more words were needed as Videl, too, relaxed into a stance of her own.
And, just like that, Gohan was once again caught up in her flow. She jabbed. He ducked. She pressed forward, sending a barrage of punches and kicks in any weak point she could find in his shield, yet she found none, her fists meeting either air or what felt like hitting steel from blocks of the man himself. Undeterred, she continued her assault, each blow more vicious than the next. Without fail, he continued to evade with the fluidity of water.
She thought that he was a little too nice, for he could've just kept refusing her over and over again instead of indulging in her antics, but a small part of Videl liked to think that somewhere in Gohan, maybe he liked these little matches between them too. After all, did he even realize that right now, as he blocked another hit, that his eyes were crinkled with mirth?
The pattern established quickly: she would execute blows in rapid succession that never found their mark, whereas he would dodge or deflect them all. It was starting to get boring.
"You can't be on defense the whole time!" Videl yelled, crouching low and springing, using heavy force from her feet to make her airborne. For the first time in their spar, Gohan's concentration broke and his arms rose in a fluster as if to catch her. Was he afraid of hurting her? Regardless, she hooked her legs stubbornly over his neck and pulled, using her falling momentum to spiral him downward.
It was over in a second. Suddenly Videl's world twisted upside-down in a disoriented blur, and she vaguely registered hands clamping on her sides. Somehow, Gohan had turned the tables, sending her careening for the ground instead, unable to react. Her back slammed hard against damp grass and soil, sharp pain jolting up her body before fading as swiftly as it had come. She stared dazedly up, meeting unblinking onyx eyes, only a few inches away. One of Gohan's hands rested under her head to protect it from impact, and his other hand pressed into the ground near her hip, leaving an indent.
Their breaths mingled, chests rising and falling, gazes locked. She was close enough to marvel every curve of his face, the flush of his cheeks, and his lips parted ever so slightly. The way he stared at her made her insides tingle, and he studied her as if she were a puzzle to piece together. A single strand of hair fell over his forehead, and Videl's breath hitched before she reached an unbidden hand up to brush it back into place.
The spell broke.
Noise returned and Gohan sprung back, letting out a strangled, frantic sound. Videl groaned and rolled to her side to push herself back up into a sitting position, feeling a lingering ache to her muscles. Yet, she couldn't quite shake off the warmth on her cheeks or the image of the way he looked at her out of her mind. What was that all about?
"I'm so sorry about that! I don't know what I was thinking. I acted out of reflex," Gohan said, genuine concern lacing his voice as he grabbed Videl's arms to check over for scrapes. Other than a bit of bruising that she knew she'd feel the next day, she was fine, and finally, her complexion returned to normal. "I can take you to the infirmary."
Videl shook her head. "No, it's fine. I'm fine," she said slowly, shrugging off what had happened between moments prior. She got to her feet, rising to her full height. Vigor and ambition returned. "More importantly, show me how you did that!" she demanded, grabbing ahold of Gohan's hand.
It happened so fast that she wasn't sure how he managed to flip her instead, and it was a new move she was determined to learn. And, she practically brimmed with excitement, now equipped with the knowledge that Gohan was the impressive martial artist she hoped him to be, even though her rival only defended. She would get him to attack over time, and the thought of it exhilarated her even further.
Gohan could only stare. "You're hurt, and you want to continue this?"
"I'm not. See?" To prove her point, Videl conducted more agile jabs and kicks. When she helped the police, she had suffered far worse injuries. That never stopped her from continuing her work.
"You are the most stubborn girl I've ever met," he said wryly.
"I get that a lot. So are you going to show me or what? If you want, we can exchange. You teach me, and I'll show you how to do one of my own moves." Videl crossed her arms, tapping her foot expectantly. Gohan exhaled, once more giving into her whims. He really was too nice and lenient, she decided.
"I'll try my best to explain, so listen carefully…"
Their voices drifted in quiet conversation as Gohan demonstrated the maneuver with care, and Videl watched in rapt attention. Despite his earlier hesitation, they looked like they were having fun. By now the sun drifted over the horizon, dyeing the sky and the buildings its light touched in brilliant vermillion. Little did the two know that while they were caught up in their own world, a lone figure stood by, watching them in unmasked disdain.
The gym teacher had just spent an entire fifteen minutes shooing away the class and trying to tell his two heedless students that class was dismissed, only to be treated like air. By now, he had given up. The older man sighed, and his vacant, stony eyes lifted to stare at the sky.
"Teenagers," he muttered. "I don't get paid enough for this shit."
…...
A/N: Thank you for reading, reviewing, or following! It's nice to be back. Please let me know what you think about this chapter. Although these chapters are meant to be short, I'm doing my best to develop Gohan and Videl's relationship at a steady pace. So, see ya next time!