Yup yup, so here's chapter 8! Please read it! DO IT FOR AMERICA! TT or whatever
Chapter 8
A New Hope, An Abandoned Love
"Ah well ano it was nice chatting, I really must go do her shopping now! Goodbye!" Trunks exclaimed before attempting to sprint away from his new acquaintances. But Gohan with his new found knowledge, was not ready to let the boy leave just yet.
"Wait. Who are you to Videl?" Gohan asked in a serious tone, "And why are you here?"
"She's my friend!" started Trunks stated flatly, "And she asked me to buy her something nice. For her wedding," he finished in attempt to make Gohan jealous. If he really was this mysterious rich man, then he would have to endure some pain.
Gohan was unfazed by Trunks's tone, but his words struck deep. It took him a while before he could process the young boy's sentence,
"She is…she is getting married?" he managed to utter out, "Videl is getting married?" he repeated under his breath,
"What does it matter to you? Let me leave! She might be expecting me!" Trunks demanded. Finally, Gohan's dismissed Trunks with a hand gesture, a habit from his younger years.
"Wait! One last thing," Gohan began. Trunks rolled his eyes at the older male,
"I wonder where your brother gets it," Trunks mumbled under his breath, receiving a glance of confusion from Goten,
"What is the wedding date?" Gohan asked eagerly. This time Trunks turned around to face Gohan,
"It's Toji, she is getting married to Sasaki Yamcha, and she has to do it because of her father," he said in one breath, "Is there anything else you want to know about her? Her blood type, her date of birth, her shoe size perhaps?" Trunks spat out sarcastically,
"So then what could you possibly be doing here?" Gohan inquired, this time the question was out of curiosity…Trunks was a poor boy…in a rich market,
"If you are who I think you are then you noticed that she wears nothing in her hair," Trunks said while waiting for a reply from Gohan,
"Yes actually," Gohan stated,
"I have come here to buy a comb or two," Trunks simultaneously turning to walk away. He was done with Gohan, he needed to return home before dusk turned to night. Gohan let the young boy go, he had bothered him enough, 'a comb, for Videl…It should be something that matches her beauty,' he thought as he unconsciously strolled towards a stand that held many hair ornaments. He sifted through the many combs. There were ones of fine wood with carved flowers, ones with lacquered surfaces and designs of butterflies, and simply ones with stained wood, 'which one is Videl?' he thought to himself while scanning each one. Suddenly, Gohan's eyes fell upon a comb hidden from the others. It was rounded, black and lacquered, and had abstract designs of flowers with a mother-of-pearl inlay,
"Excuse me sir, I would like to purchase this comb," Gohan stated to the old merchant, 'what am I doing? Why am I buying a comb for a girl whom I will not see again?' he did not know what he was doing, but hell if he was going to stop now, and besides…it was for Videl, whether she received it or not,
"My, my young man, you certainly have an eye for beauty. Is this piece for someone precious to you?" Asked the man with much boldness. Gohan handed him money as if to ignore his question, but answered anyways,
"It is for my sister, she getting older now…" he explained in a lie,
"Ah, I understand. You are a good brother," the merchant said while wrapping up the comb in a piece of cloth and handing it the younger man. Gohan bowed and was on his way, 'What will I do with this now? I feel like…I need to see her,' he thought. He clenched the fist not holding the comb, to protect it, and stopped in his tracks, "That's it!" he exclaimed, "I know what to do!" Gohan then found his brother and they jogged home, Goten noticed his brother had a new air to him but decided to think nothing of it. There was nothing wrong with his brother being happy.
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As Trunks slowly walked along the dirt path, he looked at the items in his hand: a small comb, green stained with hand painted black flowers, and a pair of chop sticks, deep colored wood with jade balls on the top. It was all he could afford with the money and he had no coins left over, "Nothing special but she said she wouldn't care…I like them anyways," he reassured himself. Trunks put his thoughts aside and hurried home to his two friends.
When he entered the room which he had left about forty five minutes ago he found the two girls sitting on floor cushions with tea and chatting. Videl heard little footsteps pattering her wooden floor and turned to face it,
"Trunks, you are back," she said sweetly in an attempt to greet him,
"Yes, yes. Here," he said while plopping the small cloth bag in her lap and reaching for a cup of tea.
Videl gently unfolded the cloth and felt at the objects which it held, "oh this is very smooth wood and what's this? Sticks as well! Thank you very much Trunks," she said while smiling, 'well I suppose this is it, I am almost ready,' she tucked the hair ornaments away and turned to face her friends,
"I will take Trunks home Videl, do not worry. I am sure our families are expecting us now. I wish you luck tomorrow!" Kaorin said in a cheery voice, receiving a sweet smile from her friend. When she and Trunks were gone Videl allowed her real emotions to show. Her face was solemn, her back was slouched, her hair was in her face. She slowly laid her head on the buckwheat pillow and prepared her self for an early bed time. If she was going to look like a beckoning bride tomorrow, she would have to get up very early.
The Next Morning…
Videl was woken up by the sound of her father's voice, it was rough and startling, suitable for an alarm clock… She slowly rose and gave herself a few minutes to wake up, her senses were fuzzy and she simply wished to fall back to slumber,
"Get up," Hercule warned in a stern voice, "We cannot ruin our chances by arriving late," he called as he walked down the hall,
"Yes father," Videl yawned while rubbing her eye. She crawled to the spot where Kaorin had placed a suitable kimono for her to wear, it was pale green in color with a crane print near the bottom. She quickly dressed herself and searched for her hair items, 'I hope I remember how to do this,' she thought nervously. She had not done her hair in so long, she was unsure if it could happen again. Step by step, Videl pulled her hair into a thick bun at the top of her head and held it with the pins; she then slid the comb in. Jogging to a small chest, Videl opened it and revealed her mother's old make up, 'a young girl should look virginal…' she reminded herself. She felt around and found a powder that was pink in color and applied it lightly to her cheeks; not wanting to seem to womanly, she colored her lips in a faint peach color and finished with a kohl on her eyes,
"Are you ready y--" Hercule cut off his own speech as he entered his daughter's bedroom, "You did that all by yourself? Very good! They'll never be able to resist!" Hercule laughed. Videl let out a small giggle and stood to follow him,
"Shall we go then father?" she asked while holding onto his arm,
"Yes of course, and remember Videl, I will speak for you," he warned before they began their walk to the matchmaker's.
Once they arrived, they found three pairs of geta near the doorway, "They have arrived before us…we are already off to a bad start," Hercule complained, making Videl frown a tad. They entered the same room which they had arranged the meeting,
"Mrs. Shimizua, Sasaki Minoru, please forgive us for arriving in this manner. We hope you will be as kind as to forgive this behavior," Hercule groveled, Videl thought it was very pathetic, he nearly bowed to the ground, which forced Videl to bow lower because he was her father,
"Oh nonsense, come let us begin!" Yamcha's father exclaimed happily, he simply wanted his son to have a wife. Hercule and Videl took a seat across from the family while Mrs. Shimizua sat at the head of the table,
'Wow…such a beautiful girl,' thought Yamcha with relaxed eyes, 'and such beautiful eyes…' his gaze was cut when his father began to speak,
"We are very glad to meet you, Satan San, you have a very lovely daughter," he smiled,
"Yes and such entrancing eyes," Yamcha's mother added on from behind her fan. Their compliments forced Videl to blush past her powder,
"The Sasaki family is too kind," she uttered while bowing her head. Hercule on the other hand, had no care for idle chit chat, he wanted to know that the date was set for sure. It was time to tell them about Videl's…"condition,"
"Yes thank you, by the way, you have noticed that my daughter is…well…visually impaired, have you not?" Hercule asked humbly,
"What!? She's blind! We will not have our son tending to a disabled person's needs at every hour, we need a girl that is able to support a family," Yamcha's mother spat bitterly,
"But my Videl, she is anything but helpless, she can perform any task just as good, if not better than a girl who has the power to see," Hercule explained. Well, he did not lie about everything in life,
"I don't know…I suppose it is not a huge problem, if she is able to bear sons, then I see no flaw. Especially if she is as skilled as Hercule San states," Minoru said reasonably,
"What Hercule speaks is true Minoru San! Videl is one of the most worthy girls I have seen in my time as a matchmaker, she will not let you down and that is a promise from me," Mrs. Shimizua exclaimed,
"Well, if you all see no problem with it, and if my husband says so, then I must agree as well," Mrs. Sasaki said in a defeated tone,
"So does this mean the date is set?" Hercule asked eagerly,
"I suppose so, however it makes me wonder why we are rushing into a wedding, I am not sure how much I like that," Minoru stated, "however, I have been waiting for a while to marry my son off…alright, it shall be done, Mrs. Shimizua, please set the date," Mr. Sasaki stated casually,
"It is settled then! Sasaki Yamcha and Satan Videl shall be married on the night of Toji," Mrs. Shimizua gleefully cheered. As the parents and Mrs. Shimizua stood up to let the young couple learn of each other, Videl turned to face the Sasaki family, "You have all been so kind, I promise to never disappoint you while I am married to your son," she said graciously while bowing to them,
"Such a lovely girl," Mrs. Sasaki said before all adults were gone.
Once alone, the silence became very awkward and conversation was held in Yamcha's hands as it was unladylike to speak out of turn. So Videl waited for him to speak,
"I-I also promise to uphold your happiness, Videl-chan," Yamcha said in a kind voice as he gazed at her,
"That is not possible," Videl muttered in an inaudible voice,
"Pardon?" Yamcha asked,
"I said, I promise you the same Yamcha," she said trying her best to evoke emotion through her eyes. Videl placed a hand softly on his knee as to reassure him, her lies were becoming as believable as her fathers. Yamcha took her hand in his and lowered his head to kiss her. However, Videl quickly turned her head in the opposite direction and gently pulled her hand back,
"Please Yamcha, this is not appropriate," she said modestly,
"You are right Videl-chan, forgive me for my forwardness," he pathetically apologized,
'Such formal speech…I do not know how much longer I can put on this act,' she thought to herself. The two were allowed to spend but an hour together before they headed home and prepared for the oncoming wedding.
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"ha ha ha! You are to be married!" Hercule exclaimed while shaking his daughter by her shoulders,
"ah! Father please!" she yelped,
"forgive me, I simply am content that the debt is to be paid off for sure," he stated optimistically. Videl did not feel like responding, she was as unhappy as ever, it felt like Gohan really had forgotten about her, it felt like she was dead to him, 'most likely because I am, I am dead to even myself now,' she thought solemnly, 'It is finalized, Sasaki Videl will help her husband work, bear his sons and name, and live and die in a house undesired,' she assured herself, 'And Son Gohan will live lavishly with his beautiful wife and family in his beautiful home and will never think back to his impossible love…'
Uh ohz! Videl has lost hope! But what did Gohan realize earlier? Will it change their lives forever? Will the debt be paid back? And will the two forget about each other!?! You'll just have to read to find out ne? R&R!!
