DISCLAIMER: Eh Booboo! I, Yogi Bear, do not own DBZ!


Alien Patrol Club

"Erasa, I really don't want to talk about anything right now," Videl said quietly to her blond-haired friend during class. Erasa watched Videl stare blankly at the teacher, feigning attentiveness, and then glance toward the rows in front of her where Gohan was seated. His usual seat was next to Videl's, but since their argument he had moved closer to the front. Not that the two were avoiding each other (they still partnered up to fight crime, or rather Gohan still followed Videl) but they just tried to keep away from each other, and not make eye contact . . .

Okay, so they were avoiding each other, and the whole school knew it. They just didn't know why, and that was what Erasa was determined to find out. At least, she was determined to win the bet she had with Sharpener. He, in usual Sharpener-obnoxiousness, had said that Videl had finally woken up and seen what a nerd Gohan was. And she had vehemently disagreed, saying the two were obviously just uncomfortable with feelings they had for each other.

And she knew one thing for sure: Videl and Gohan definitely liked one another. All that mattered was getting proof for Sharpener so he would pay and shut up. Erasa didn't consider herself much of a matchmaker, but if that was what the situation needed, so be it. She had the opportunity to unite what, in her mind would be, the cutest couple on Earth! She would be an Orange Star High School legend! She hummed to herself, forgetting where she was and excited at the possibilities.

Unfortunately for her, the very grouchy Videl heard her humming and voiced her disapproval, "Erasa, can you just be quiet for a minute?" Not allowing Videl's bad mood to get to her, Erasa stopped humming but kept the smile plastered on her face. She had big plans in store for those two . . .

Very big plans.

Videl shivered as she felt the cold draft coming from the left side of the room. Did someone just turn up the air conditioning, or was she just getting a really bad feeling? Either way she didn't like it, and she hugged her shoulders wishing she had brought a jacket. Normally, Gohan would have offered her his jacket, and even though she would usually decline, she would definitely take up that offer now.

Actually, Videl would have appreciated it if Gohan had asked her anything, really. At least that would mean they were on speaking basis again, instead of the emotional rollercoaster the two had been on over the past week or so. Why couldn't he just come up to her and admit he was wrong? Was it that hard? Maybe she should try harder to be less intimidating and more approachable.

Videl looked over her shoulder where she thought was the source of the strange blast of cold air. She was surprised, to say the least, to find Erasa staring forward, hands clasped in front of her, a decidedly evil smirk on her face. Videl half-expected her friend to unleash a maniacal laugh. She turned away slowly, resisting the urge to bring her friend back into reality in an unfriendly way. She'd have to worry about Erasa later; she had her own problems to work out.

Eventually the bell signaling the end of the day rang, tearing her from her thoughts. She gathered her things and left the room, trying to avoid both Erasa and Gohan on the way out. Fortunately, she succeeded and made it to her locker. She was almost in the clear when she felt a tap on her shoulder, and a male voice spoke her name. With battle-attuned reflexes, she grabbed the offender's wrist and pulled while turning around.

There was far less resistance than she expected (her guess was that it was Gohan) and the person's body came towards her. In a split-second decision, she let go of his arm and pivoted away from his path. There was nothing to stop his momentum as he crashed into the lockers. Videl winced at the sound of the collision, and felt bad enough to go over and help the boy up.

As she walked over she identified the boy as Mark. Knowing it was him caused her to feel a pang of regret. How much bodily harm was she going to put the guy through? Staring at him lying on the ground, he looked as if he had been knocked out. His hair stuck up in chaos, reminding her of Gohan, and his seldom worn glasses were falling off his face. She looked around once, noticing that few people, if any, had even paid attention to the nerd on the ground. Videl crouched down next to him and shook his shoulders.

A small grunt of pain was her reply as Mark opened his eyes slowly. "You know, most people would just say 'hi' back, not launch the other person into a wall," he said bitterly upon viewing Videl. Mark attempted to get up on his own, but ended up in the same position. Videl rolled her eyes and offered a hand. It took Mark a while to finally take it, but he did eventually. She helped him up and, once he was on his feet, Mark leaned on the lockers for support.

"Um . . . well . . . Sorry," she said quickly. "You're okay, right? 'Cause, I have to go." Videl almost turned around when she saw Mark raise a hand to stop her. He looked like he was in pain as he did it, and bent over at the waist clutching his shoulder.

"Wait, Videl," he said while wincing. "I . . . have something to talk to you about." Videl frowned. She knew what this conversation was going to be about. Ever since her . . . disagreement with Gohan, she hadn't gone back to the Alien Patrol Club meetings or talked to Mark. She hadn't even given him an explanation, so it made sense that he would want to discuss her abrupt change of heart.

Taking her silence as permission to continue speaking, he continued, "I haven't seen you around school." He looked down at the ground and straightened his glasses (most days he wore contacts) with his good arm. Videl was certainly not used to feeling bad about her decisions, but gazing at Mark allowed some of those feelings to surface. Maybe it wasn't so coincidental that she hadn't run into Mark before then. Maybe it had required more of a conscious effort on her part.

But that was then, and this was a new day to make amends. "Oh, uh . . . yeah. Sorry about that. I've been- It's been . . . hectic." Videl tried to look anywhere but at Mark as she replied to him.

"Well, that's understandable," Mark responded, the painful expression mostly gone from his face. He was itching to say more and couldn't stop the words from flying out of his mouth. "I mean, it must be a shock to find out your boyfriend's an alien." He closed his eyes tightlyand used his uninjured hand to shield one of his ears in anticipation of Videl's reaction.

"WHAT!" she shrieked. "What did you just say?" She grabbed the front of his shirt and held him at arm's distance. "Gohan is not my boyfriend! And I'm starting to get the feeling that you're kind of a psycho, Mark!" It wasn't fair to make Mark the focus of her aggression, but he had gotten her into this mess. "Maybe you should get your head out of the ridiculous fantasy you're always plugged into, and back in the real world!" Videl let him go, and he barely managed to stay on his feet.

Mark stayed silent after Videl's comments, and decided not to respond. Sure, they hurt, but no more than his shoulder, back, and left leg did at that moment. He had to keep his tongue in check, because he would only rile Videl up more. Imagine how angry she would be if he persisted! He'd fight his battle after receiving medical attention. So, Mark did the only reasonable thing he could: feign unconsciousness.

Videl had felt terrible as soon as the words came out of her mouth. "I'm sorry," she added. "That was . . . I don't- . . . I don't know what that was. I didn't mean it, Mark." This guilt thing was getting really annoying. Mark's only response was to slump forward and slide down the wall of lockers slowly. "Mark?" Videl said, bending down towards him. "Are you okay?" When she didn't get an answer, she smacked his face a couple times.

Reaching a verdict she thought, 'Alright, he's out or he's faking, but either way I'm really tempted to leave him.' She shook her head rapidly to get rid of those thoughts, and pulled his uninjured arm over her shoulder. She half-dragged him across the school, glad that most people had already gone home and wouldn't see her. After leaving him with the nurse, Videl prepared to leave the building and head home.

"Excuse me, Ms. Satan," the nurse, whose name she hadn't remembered, said as Videl was almost outside of the door. "The boy you dropped off, Mark, would like to talk to you." There was a slight edge to her voice, but Videl didn't pay much attention to it. Instead, she took a deep breath and turned around, vowing that if Mark hadn't been so injured (and it hadn't been her fault) that she would be a lot less kind to him for keeping her afterschool so late.

Videl strode into the nurse's office confidently, and asked in an annoyed voice, "What, Mark?"

Mark was lying face up on a padded bench looking at the ceiling, and didn't change his position when Videl walked in. "Oh, hi Videl. I didn't expect you to come back," he replied. As he talked, he kept his body completely still, probably to avoid further injury.

"Well, I'm here," she said while taking a seat and crossing her arms. "What do you want?"

"All I want to know is why you've disappeared off the planet, at least that's what it seems like to me," Mark answered. "And I want to know why, after making so much progress, you've turned your back on the club." He removed his gaze from the ceiling and tried his best to face her.

Videl sighed and said, "You should really stop moving, you know? You'll only make it worse."

"Thanks for your concern, but I'm fine," Mark said while trying to hide grimace of pain. "It . . . doesn't hurt . . . so ugh . . . bad."

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you," she replied shrugging. "And about your questions, I don't know. I just know that I'm not as . . . motivated to be a part of the club, I guess. This whole thing has practically ruined my friendship with Gohan, and that's something I really don't want to lose."

Mark looked thoughtful for a moment, and blew out a puff of air. "Well . . . fine. You don't have to be a part of the club, and we can just go back to the way things were. You can be Videl Satan, and I'll be the invisible Mark Ehr, if that's what you want . . ." Videl didn't have to be a rocket scientist or an alien expert to know that Mark was disappointed. But who wouldn't be?

Videl took a deep breath and knew she would end up regretting the next words that came out of her mouth. "Um . . . well, actually . . . I'm okay if . . . we continue our partnership. That wouldn't be so bad." She tried to offer a reassuring smile, but she ended up looking like she was in pain.

Mark suppressed a cheer, and tried to keep his face emotionless. "That . . . sounds good," he said sincerely. "Now, I'm in a lot of pain right now, and talking doesn't really help . . . So I'll uh . . . meet you tomorrow, in the library." He looked at her in hopes of a reply.

Videl nodded in agreement, saying "Um . . . sure. And if you're in a full body cast, you don't have to come." When he heard her response, Mark chuckled and laid his head back on the bench closing his eyes. Videl took that as her signal to leave, and walked back out the door.

The nurse was standing right outside, looking at Videl in a way that made her feel uncomfortable. It would make sense that Videl wasn't the nurse's favorite student. Out of all the people in school, she had probably sent the most injured teens (mostly perverted guys) to the nurse's office. Well, either her or Sharpener. Videl backed away slowly not wanting to expose her back until she was farther away.

Once she reached a corner where she could be out of the nurse's line of site, she turned around and rushed down it. It wasn't exactly the fastest way out of the building, but it would work. As soon as she was out of the door, she let loose a sigh of relief, and muttered, "I'm finally out of there." She checked her watch and flew home, not exactly looking forward to her dad interrogating her about her afterschool exploits.

To say his life had been boring since his falling out with Videl was an understatement. Life during the past couple days had plain sucked, because there was nothing to do . . . And his mother wasn't making it better by asking him every . . . single . . . day whether the two had made up. Coming home had become one of Gohan's least favorite parts of the day.

"Mom, I told you, I haven't talked to Videl!" he said angrily one day, before his mother had even opened her mouth. "Please stop asking!" Gohan dropped his bag on the counter loudly to show his frustration.

Chi-chi stared at her son blankly, the question dying on her lips. "Well, I wasn't going to ask you about Videl. I was going to ask you what you wanted for dinner, but if you're going to have that kind of attitude, maybe you should just skip it!" she threatened holding up a kitchen knife.

That reply shut Gohan up, well, that and the knife in her hand. "Sorry," he said, putting his hand behind his head. "I didn't exactly have the greatest day." Chi-chi put down her knife and walked to her son giving him a hug.

When she released him she said, "You and me both. Both your father and brother were busy breaking things all day. It's a miracle anything survived the two and their little 'demolition spree.' I shooed them out of the house, and it's likely they ended up at Capsule Corp and are doing who knows what."

"So, what were they doing that was so destructive?" Gohan asked, intrigued.

"They were playing an extremely dangerous version of tag . . . in the house." Gohan smiled, that sounded like something his dad and Goten would do. Chi-chi continued, "It's really nice to have your father's home, but sometimes I wish he would just grow up!"

"Yeah," Gohan said wistfully turning his eyes to the window. "It is great that Dad's back . . ." He let his sentence hang while continuing it in his mind, 'Now, if only Videl and I made up. Then everything would be perfect.' Gohan turned back to his mother to find she had picked up the knife again and was chopping meat into pieces. Picking up his bag, he left the kitchen and went to his own room.

He set his bag back down on the desk in the corner and flopped on his bed. He was just about to try to fall asleep when he felt his brother's ki signature directly under him. He called, "Alright, Goten. You can come out . . . I know you're there." The only response was some snickering coming from the corner of the room. "Trunks, you too . . ."

The two demi-saiyans grumbled under their breath, but came out of their hiding spots. "Hiya, Gohan!" Goten said cheerily. Trunks echoed his greeting.

"Goten, I thought you and dad went to Capsule Corp? And why were you hiding in my room?" Gohan asked.

"Well, we're back!" Goten replied. "And we brought Trunks over. Dad asked Mr. Vegeta to come, but he said he was busy training. And hiding in your room was Trunks' idea."

"We almost got you!" Trunks cut in. "You didn't know I was there too! You must've been distracted . . . What were you thinking about, your girlfriend Videl? Oooooh . . . " he teased.

Gohan made a face. "Come on, Trunks. Videl is not my girlfriend!" he said. Instead of listening to Gohan, Trunks started making kissing noises, which Goten joined him in.

"What's this about Videl being your girlfriend?" Goku said, poking his head through the door. "I thought you two were fighting? Did you make up already . . . you know, that way?" The way his father had said that made Gohan cover his eyes at the images that appeared in his head.

"You guys all need to leave the room," Gohan said, opening the door all the way and gesturing outside of it. Trunks and Goten, acting strangely obedient, walked with heads down into the hallway. Goku followed behind, but not before giving his son a thumbs up and pat on the back. "And Videl is not my girlfriend!" he yelled down the hallway.

The house was deathly silent for a moment, but the sound of a plate breaking in the kitchen was heard. "My baby has a girlfriend!" Gohan smacked his face, and decided he would be better off never yelling the word 'Videl' or 'girlfriend' in his house again.


A/N: Another brand spankin' new chapter! This one hasn't really been read over, so um . . . keep that in mind. July has been my get away from home month, so it's been hard to find time to write this. So yeah, anyways thanks for the reviews, and please R&R this one. One final question: There are 3 points of views I can write the next chapter in, and I was wondering if you guys have a preference. Writing about Erasa would further the romance, Videl would further the plot, and Gohan would be mostly just filler. So yeah, I appreciate your opinion.