AN: I'm in a writing kind of mood so I figured I'd try and get this up before I go back to school on the 9th. Thank you all SO much for your kind reviews! I hope I can live up to your praise.
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ. I do, however, own my very own chibi Dragonball Z shirt that I made myself huggles. It gives me my inspiration.
Last Time:
"It's Videl, Gohan. She's missing."
"What?" His voice was horse as he blinked in confusion at the girl.
"She's just gone. No one's seen her since she was called out after gym yesterday. Hurcule's going nuts. He put out this massive search, it's all over the news."
The sight he was met with was, apparently not what he had been expecting. He looked up at Gohan. "What the hell is a cat doing in your bag?"
Gohan blinked, his confusion as evident as Sharpeners. "I… I don't know." He looked back down into the bag.
The bright azure orbs of the feline he could have sworn he had left in his room stared back at him, her body squeezed uncomfortably between a history textbook and his calculator.
Chapter 4
Oh dear. Busted. Videl mused calmly to herself as she stared up at the surprised faces of Gohan, Erasa and Sharpener. This should be interesting.
"Gohan, I didn't know you had a cat." Erasa chirped, gazing lovingly at the ball of fur in Gohan's bag."I… um…. I don't. I'm just taking care of her until she heals." Gohan said, a frown of confusion lining his features as he apparently tried to figure out how the cat had managed to slip into his bag unnoticed.
"Well why the hell'd you bring it to school?" Sharpener hissed bitterly, his contempt for Gohan ever present.
"I-I didn't know I had. I don't know how she got there." Poor Gohan. Videl thought to herself. I've really put him on the spot. Great way to repay him, Videl. Real smooth.
"Oh, don't mind Sharpie, Gohan." Erasa winked. "He's just jealous."
"Jealous! Of nerd boy! Phft, hardly." The blond folded his arms over his chest defiantly.
"Yeah, whatever." Erasa replied with a roll of her eyes before smiling at Gohan. "Don't worry. We won't tell anyone."
Before anymore could be said, the sound of the school bell rang through the room and Videl identified the sound of people getting up to leave. Erasa and Sharpener's faces disappeared, though Videl could still hear the faint sound of their arguing above the rest of the chatter. She looked up at Gohan and her stomach flipped at the look of pain and worry in his eyes.
The demi-saiyan sighed mournfully.
"Well, I guess I have no choice." He whispered so only she could hear, his voice almost pleading in its sincerity. "But you'll have to keep quiet. If any one finds you, I could get expelled so please… be good, ok?" Videl felt her face redden in embarrassment. Why had she been so stupid as to come to school? She nodded her head slightly in confirmation.
Gohan smiled gently at her and reached into the bag to run his hand over the soft fur of her head quickly before he closed the bag and stood up. He made his way down the steps towards the exit, cradling his satchel carefully in an attempt to not hurt the feline inside.
After much skilful manoeuvring through the corridors on his part, Gohan reached his first period class: English. He was one of the last students to arrive so he quickly made his way up the steps to sit on the back row with Erasa and Sharpener. A glance at the empty chair next to him reminded him of Videl's current 'Missing In Action' status. But he had more pressing matters at present.
The last student entered the room and the teacher started her introduction to the lesson.
All of which went completely unnoticed to Gohan as he lay his bag carefully on the floor beneath the desk and opened it up to check on his tiny stow-away who, as it turned out, was being flattened by his history-text book. He hurriedly took the book out, apologising under his breath to the furry creature as he did so.
"I'm sorry Mr Son. Is my class an inconvenience to you?" Gohan jerked his head up at the angry voice, causing him to ram his skull into the underside of the table. Rubbing his head, he appeared over the top of the desk.
"S-Sorry, Miss Neawa?" Gohan asked, blinking innocently at the frowning teacher. The woman in question sighed exasperatedly and waved her hand at Gohan off-handily.
"Just sit up and pay attention, Gohan." Gohan glanced down at his bag for a moment but nodded and did as he was instructed.
Videl popped her head out from the bag and looked up at Gohan with troubled eyes.
Stupid, stupid Videl. What the hell did you think would happen? Of course Gohan's going to get in trouble because of you. Her heart skipped a painful beat, causing her to glare down at her furry chest with distaste. That organ seemed to be in cahoots with her stomach to turn against her at the most inappropriate times as of late. And it was getting real old.
Before Videl had a chance to mentally curse the powers that be, a stream of pinpricks rippled down her leg, alerting her to the fact that Gohan's history text book had fallen back onto her and was now cutting of the circulation of her right hind leg.
She glanced back up at Gohan who was, as per usual, looking between the teacher and the open textbook before him. Though she couldn't help but notice (with a hint of pride) that he would occasionally glance over to the empty seat beside him where her human self should be sat.
A moment of indecision and a silent prayer that she wouldn't be caught and Videl was easing her feline body from beneath the heavy tome and had stumbling from Gohan's bag onto the class room floor. She glanced upwards and breathed a sigh of relief as it became clear that no one was any the wiser of her presence.
She stretched her hind legs out behind her to rid herself of the numb buzz that had taken over, her tail flexing in appreciation as the blood drained back to the sore limbs.
Once sensation had returned to her body she sat down on the floor, looking round idly as the muffled drone of the teacher's voice drifted through her senses unheard.
Well, this should certainly prove to be interesting. Lucky me, I get to spend the day under desks. She cringed at the sight of masses of stale gum stuck to the bottom of the desk over head.
Looking around for something to do, Videl caught sight of two more pairs of legs, quite obviously belonging to Erasa and Sharpener. Picking herself up, she padded over to them. They were an odd pair, not really the kind of people you'd expect someone like Videl to hang around with. First there was Sharpener: The egotistical jock with a one-track mind and the belief that everything he wants can and should be his. Including Videl. And then there was Erasa. Your trademark hyperactive blond teenager, obsessed with shopping, money and, most importantly, boys. Her current target (at least to Videl's knowledge) being none other than Son Gohan.
For some reason, that thought caused her to frown at Erasa's legs which were now directly in front of her. She blinked, taken aback by the jealousy that rose in her throat, making her want to hiss and spit fury at her friend. Ok, now I'm just being stupid. Gohan isn't mine or anything. I don't even like the guy. It was only Videl's resolute mind that kept her from questioning the thought any further.
Her mind suddenly went blank as she caught sight of Erasa's hand, swinging idly by her side as her other elbow lent on the desk. Clutched in her hand was a stupendously florescent pink pen, the end of which sprouted an abundance of rosy fluff.
Videl's breath hitched in her throat. Kill it. A voice other than her own rang in her head in a sharp whisper. Kill it.
Subconsciously, she dropped down into a crouch, her tail flicking back and forth in time with the pen that she watched with dilated pupils. Kill it. The voice sang. Kill it. Kill it. Kill it. Kill it! Faster and faster it came, getting louder with each passing second until it drowned out the rest of the world. Kill it! Kill it! Kill it! Kill it! KILL IT! She pounced at the creature, wrenching it from Erasa's grip as she grabbed a hold of it in sharp teeth and dragged it to the floor.
Erasa gasped as her pen was torn from her grip and she looked down to see it being mauled ruthlessly by Gohan's little black cat.
Die! Die! Videl sank her claws into the vexing creature maliciously, her human common sense overruled by cat instincts.
"Erm… Gohan. Your cat's trying to kill my pen." The laughter filled voice brought Videl back to her senses. She blinked, her pupils returning to their normal size and looked down at the pen she had pinned to the floor. Tufts of fluff had been ripped out and were scattered across the floor, a piece of the fuzzy material sticking out of her mouth.
"Neko!" Gohan hissed, taken aback by the cat's sudden appearance. Videl spat out the oddly coloured plumage and looked up at Gohan guiltily.
"Calm down, Gohan. No harm done." Erasa giggled, reaching down and scratching Videl's head affectionately.
Gohan cast a panicked eye around the room and, not counting the irritant glare Sharpener seemed to have glued to him, no one had noticed his furry little ward. He looked back to the cat, which in turn looked up at him with wide, innocent blue eyes. Had it only just occurred to him that it was odd for a cat this old to have blue eyes? It seems odd that he hadn't though about that until now. Strange. They almost seem… familiar. He shook his head to clear his cluttered mind.
"Alright." Gohan whispered, brushing aside his inner disharmony to focus on the problem at hand. "She can stay out, but you can't be seen by anyoneneko. Alright?" His words were earnest as he stared at the feline who seemed to absorb everything he said, replying in a muted nod of her head.
His glaze stayed on her a moment longer then returned to the lecture, Videl's eyes still trained upon him. This guy is too good to be true. The thought made the corner of her lip twitch upward into a contorted smile, the blood rushing to her face to stain her cheeks under her black fur.
Unable to find any other way to thank him, Videl wiggled her head free from where it was trapped under Erasa hand and she bounced her way to Gohan's side in that spry, graceful manner that only cats can attain.
Gohan looked down as he felt something brush his leg just it time to see the tip of Videl's tail sweep over his pant leg before she curled up at his feet.
I'm on your side, Gohan-san. Videl told his mentally, her smile still in place as she closed her eyes. I'm on your side.
And so it was for the rest of the morning. Gohan would travel to his lesson with his furry contraband held within the satchel he held with such tender care. When he arrived he would place the bag beneath the desk where Videl would sneak out, stretch her legs out and lay down at his feet. In fact, other than a near miss when a student banged into Gohan's bag at break, causing Videl to yowl in pain, no one was any the wiser to the cat's presence.
"Eeee! She's so cute!"
"It's only a bleeding cat Erasa."
Well, except Sharpener and Erasa of course.
The two blondes, along with Gohan and the feline Videl were, at present, sat beneath the extensive oak tree they had sheltered under just the day before (though for Videl it seemed a life time ago). The rain had stopped before break but the ground was still irrepressibly damp so they had to sit on their coats but the day was warm and getting brighter by the minute, leaving no good reason for it to be wasted on taking lunch inside.
That and Videl could hardly wander about inside the school cafeteria.
The feisty Satan girl was currently trying to escape the overzealous hug that her bubbly friend had her trapped in as she rubbed her cheek against the soft fur on the cats head.
But both her struggle and the blondes banter went unnoticed by Gohan. The teenage Son sat with his knees pulled to his chest, his head rested atop the arms that pinned them there, as he stared blindly at the playing field and the city beyond. His calm masquerade hid the inner turmoil that bubbled beneath the surface.
What am I going to do? Videl could be anywhere and I can't pin point her ki for the life of me. It's so faint; it's almost as if there's something stopping it from getting through. But that doesn't make any sense! What could do that to someone's ki? Kami, what am I going to do? Where are you Videl? Where are you right now? Who are you with? Are you safe? Are you hurt? Are you scared?
"Ouch!" He jerked his head up at the sound of Erasa's indignant cry. He twisted his head around in time to see his furry companion jump from the girl's arm. "She bit me." She whined, placing her thumb in her mouth to suck at the teeth marked digit.
Well, dur. Videl thought to her self as she walked across the damp grass to the safer territory beside Gohan. You should have seen that one coming. Damn. I never realised how scary that girl can be. Sheesh.
Gohan couldn't help but chuckle lightly as Erasa shouted at her fellow blond for the bout of laughter that her plight caused him.
He watched them for a minute before he felt eyes watching him. He looked down to see blue eyes watching him worriedly, as if sensing the worry radiating from him. He smiled and lay down on the grass, revelling in the feeling of damp easing through the cotton of his shirt to touch the skin on his back.
Videl looked at Gohan as he lay back, hands behind his head as he looked up at the tree's thick foliage. Was he worrying about me again? She pondered. All morning she had watched the same faraway, protective look upon his face. She had seen it the day before when he was talking about his worry for her and, though she felt guilty for causing him to worry, she felt a warmth pool in her heart at the though of someone worrying about her for no reason other than that they cared.
Smiling slightly, she jumped up and perched on Gohan's stomach, watching to see what he would do. Rather than push her off or ignore her weight, Gohan closed his eyes and smiled, reaching up to scratch behind her ear. Videl lay down and felt a purr itch as her throat.
To be honest, she needed the comfort as much as he did.
"After school…" She opened her eyes and looked at Gohan as he whispered for only her to hear. "After school, I will go and look for Videl again. I have to find her. I just have to." Her breath hitched in her throat and she wondered again just why the boy cared for her so much.
AN: OK, I'm only a day late. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love deadlines. I especially love the whooshing sound they make as they go flying out the window.
I'm rather disappointed at my own lack of dedication. It took me way too long to write this. But in my defence I did have to write 2 essays at the same time. Oh well, I shall have to work on that.
May not be updating for a bit since I have a bit of a personal mission going on down here and I want to do another chapter of Cloud Kisses.
Thanks again for the many, many, MANY reviews. Love and cookies for all!