I apologize for the wait! I've been caught up in lots of things, as well as watching new shows (Code Geass, DanMachi, Baka Test, etc)! Right now, I'm working on Chapter 14 (which is incredibly long). Here you go!

Chapter 10: Conditioning

Before Gohan knew it, it was the weekend. This came as a relief for several reasons. The first was the increasing amount of pressure being Saiyaman. He had successfully managed to evade Videl while fighting crime, but found that she was actively trying to catch him. The second reason was simply school. While it was nice to hang out and talk with friends, Gohan couldn't manage to adapt to the required sleeping schedule and was often bored in class. The third and most puzzling reason was the seemingly increasing crowd of females who seemed to feel very interested in becoming Gohan's friend. Ideally, this would be a good thing, as it would mean that he had more friends, but they acted very strangely, even on Gohan's standards. And finally, with the weekend came the freedom to train.

After Gohan's annihilation of Cell, Chi-Chi had declared that her son was completely through with martial arts. While he was initially in agreement with this due to his hatred for combat and himself, his Saiyan side reacted poorly to a few months of being cooped up. The need to fight was a critical portion of his life, and he was being denied it.

After Goten's birth, he asked Chi-Chi day in and day out if he could go train. She always responded that he may exercise, but not train martial arts. This did not go well for Gohan. The first thing to start altering was his sleep. He started having even worse dreams than the days directly subsequent the Cell Games. Then, his hunger faded away. However, Chi-Chi remained resilient, trying dozens of natural remedies in order to cure her son of his symptoms without having him fight. To her, combat was the last option. Not only had she lost her husband to fighting, but Gohan had seen his father and friends die, and she didn't want him to go through it anymore. Krillin, Yamcha, Roshi, and even Piccolo showed up, all trying to emphasize the importance of Gohan's training to Chi-Chi. However, they never got anywhere. It wasn't until Bulma and Vegeta came a-knocking that Chi-Chi changed her mind. Bulma explained how Saiyans such as Gohan needed combat for their physical and mental health. She then forced Vegeta to explain (in his very rough manner) that it was an evolutionary trait that developed over the course of Saiyan history, which consequentially resulted in all Saiyans needing combat, which was about as essential as food and sleep.

Despite the overwhelming amount of evidence, Chi-Chi resisted the idea, which was still unfavorable to her. Ultimately, it was Bulma sitting down and chatting with Chi-Chi after Vegeta's Saiyan Physiology 101 that made a difference. After an hour-long discussion, Gohan was finally granted permission to train again, given he continued studying. Unable to contain his excitement, Gohan had run outside yelling and fired a kamehameha wave into the sky.

Since then, Gohan had built up a very specific training schedule that allowed him to excel in fighting while still able to study to Chi-Chi's content. On Mondays he would go to Kame House and train with Krillin and Android 18. On Wednesdays he would train with Piccolo, often in ki manipulation. Thursdays and Saturdays were for training with Vegeta in the Gravity Room, which was usually very taxing, even though Vegeta was still (unbeknownst to the Prince) weaker than him. And of course, there was the everyday training with Goten after studying. However, this whole system collapsed when Chi-Chi began prepping Gohan for school. As an alternative, Gohan had to cram all of his training into two days.

On this particular Saturday, Gohan flew to Kami's Lookout at 7:00 am. There, he meditated with Piccolo, Dende, and Mr. Popo. After an hour of keeping himself still and calm, he and Piccolo flew down to a nice desert to do a bit of their training. Piccolo's instructions for the day were simple: Fight. However, the catches was that Gohan couldn't go Super Saiyan and that Piccolo was allowed to collect all of his energy before the spar. Gohan had no qualms with this, thinking that it was still going to be easy, having surpassed Piccolo long ago. However, as Piccolo began collecting his energy, Gohan couldn't help but wonder what the Namek's plan was.

Soon, Piccolo was surrounded in pulsating white light, his arms raised as though he were keeping himself from being squished by two walls. However, before Gohan could charge, Piccolo began firing baseball-sized spheres of ki out of both hands. What confused Gohan was that Piccolo wasn't firing at him, but was instead shooting towards both sides of him. Gohan stood still for a moment, trying to figure out what Piccolo was doing, but then realized his mistake. The spheres of golden ki were starting to encircle Piccolo, orbiting him like planets around a sun.

"What's he doing?" Gohan thought. "It looks like he's using his Hellzone Grenade on himself!"

Still, more energy orbs appeared from Piccolo's hands, and the mass of ki balls grew. Gohan chose this moment to attack, while Piccolo was still producing more energy. Flying towards his former sensei, Gohan fired one of his own energy orbs to cause a chain detonation with Piccolo's. However, Piccolo seemed to detect this, in turn sending a single blast to intercept Gohan's.

A fiery explosion erupted in the expanse between the two, though neither fighter flinched. The spiky-haired teenager then charged full speed, hoping to mask his movements with the smoke from the fireball. Unfortunately, Piccolo sensed his movement and sent two ki balls to hit Gohan. Gohan barely evaded the shots and continued flying up towards Piccolo. To his great surprise, he was hit in the back with the two energy spherules, which subsequently exploded.

Landing on the ground, he realized that Piccolo must have manipulated the path of his shots. Gohan powered up and charged the Namek, sending fifty ki balls to cover his flight. Piccolo, who had planned for this type of advance, sent out seventy energy spheres to counter. Gohan's shots were all cut off, and he barely managed to avoid the twenty other projectiles. Turning around, he saw that they were turning around and heading back to Gohan. He quickly dove to the sandy ground, letting the blasts follow him. He began twisting and weaving, hoping to make the bright spheres of ki hit one another, and therefore explode without damaging him. Though Gohan did hear a few blasts behind him, he could still feel them following him.

Turning, he unleashed a fierce wave of ki, blowing away the energy attacks. Gohan then pulled a sharp turn upwards, still seeking to cause the swarm of ki circling around Piccolo to self-destruct. The Saiyan fired two bright violet beams at the cloud of energy. Just as the streaming rays of energy neared their targets, two energy spheres shifted from gold to a blood red, which then harmlessly absorbed the powerful streaks. They then split into four golden balls, which began spiraling towards Gohan. The hybrid was comprehending this twist of events and began plotting around Piccolo's scheme.

"Not good! Piccolo's attacks can absorb my own energy blasts! And it looks like he's really been practicing his ki control! The shots he's firing are so coordinated that I'm having a hard time dodging them!"

Gohan propelled himself to the ground, preparing to defend against the ki blasts. Focusing his energy into his hands, Gohan hit the orbs away, and not a second too late. They flew a few feet away before each discharging with the force of a grenade.

As the explosions shrouded Gohan as he prepared for another strike. Focusing intensely, he began building his own swirling swarm of energy. Piccolo, realizing what Gohan was attempting, let loose a wall of ki orbs. Much to his surprise, his attack was completely annihilated. Looking on in shock, the Namek observed a swiftly growing cloud surrounding Gohan that was close to dwarfing his own. "Gohan's using my own attack against me! If he keeps on going, he will be able to beat me!"

Piccolo let out a roar as he forced thousands upon thousands of his ki globes to target Gohan. The Saiyan reciprocated by moving his own spheres to form a barrier protecting him. Piccolo watched as his attack explosively met Gohan's. At last, he triumphed. Gohan's defenses were broken, and Piccolo still had some energy strikes left. However, as he began searching for Gohan's ki in the fluctuating energy left from their battle, Piccolo found that the eldest son of Goku was actually above him. Turning his head, Piccolo saw nothing but orange light before he fell unconscious.

When the Super Namek came to, he was seated in a comfortable arm chair. "Huh. It's been some time since I've been knocked out." Straightening himself in his slumped position in a comfy chair, the Namek took in his surroundings. He was on the Lookout. Off towards the trees, he saw that Gohan was meditating three feet off the floor with Dende and Popo. Shakily getting to his feet, Piccolo walked over to the peaceful trio. As he entered the loose ring formed by them,

Gohan pulled his feet out of their position and stood, stretching out and yawning. Working the kinks out of his neck, he smiled to his former teacher. "Hey, Piccolo. Sorry about that. I think I put too much energy behind that blast. You've been asleep for about a half an hour now." Piccolo shot a small smile back at his old pupil. "He's really grown."

"It's nothing, Gohan. You did a good job. I honestly didn't think you'd be able to make it without getting a scratch or two. Seems I underestimated you once again."

Gohan laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. I just saw how long it took you to make your attacks, and I knew that I couldn't keep doing what I had started off with. So I decided to try out your own technique. By the way... How'd you absorb my energy like that? Why didn't you keep on doing that?"

Piccolo shook his head. "It requires lots of concentration to have a small attack like that absorb energy from other attacks. I can only do it on one attack at a time."

Gohan nodded. "Nice! Maybe you can teach me that sometime. Anyways," He turned to Dende and Mr. Popo as he spoke "I'd better be going. I've still got to train with Krillin and Eighteen. Thanks for the food and the company!"

Dende laughed. "It's no problem, Gohan. Good luck at school!"

Gohan chuckled nervously. "I wish it were that easy."

Piccolo nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. "Send Krillin and Eighteen my regards. And Gohan..."

The Saiyan stopped himself from blasting off. "Yes, Mister Piccolo?"

"Have fun at school. I hope you can make friends there."

"Alright! Bye!"

The members of the Lookout watched Gohan fly away towards Kame House in silence, before Dende spoke up. "I hope he makes friends. He's been getting less sleep lately."

Piccolo nodded in agreement. "I could tell just by seeing his eyes. Do you think he's been having more nightmares?"

Before Dende could respond, Popo made a proclamation. "I am personally glad that we have Gohan. While it greatly pains me to think that such a kind person suffers so much, it scares me to imagine what the world would be like if someone other than Gohan went through what he has. That power and pain could drive somebody mad, but even after so many years, he still remains optimistic." The two Nameks couldn't help but agree.

Twenty minutes later, Gohan touched down on the soft sand of Roshi's Island. "It was fun training with Mister Piccolo. Now I wonder what I'm going to be doing next?" Just then, he saw Android 18 stride out of the house, followed by Krillin carrying Marron on his shoulders. 18 walked with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face towards Gohan, while Krillin was grinning.

"Hey, Krillin, hey Eighteen, hey Marron!" The bald monk set down his daughter, walked up to him and gave him a hug, while 18 simply inclined her head slightly.

Krillin grinned. "Hey, Gohan. How long has it been? Two months now? You just keep on getting taller! You look so much like Goku now!" Gohan blushed and scratched the back of his head. Just as he was about to speak up, a small voice squeaked out "Hi, Uncle Gohan!"

The half-Saiyan hybrid felt his leg being hugged and saw Marron was beaming up at him. "Hey there, Marron! How are you?"

The little blonde-haired cheerfully announced "I'm three and a quarter now!" Gohan responded with equal enthusiasm "That's awesome! How was playing with Goten a few days ago?"

"It was super fun! When can he come over again?"

"I don't know, but I'll ask my mom."

"Yay! Thank you!"

Gohan grinned. "No problem." Krillin interrupted the conversation. "C'mon, Marron! Mommy and Daddy are going to start training with Gohan."

"Okay! Can I watch?"

"Sure, but make sure you stay back. We don't want you to get hurt."

After she found a comfortable spot, Krillin and 18 started talking to Gohan, the former laying out the game-plan for the day. "Alrighty, Gohan. After our last couple of training sessions, Eighteen and I think that you should practice with your eyes closed." Gohan frowned. "That might work, but I'm wondering how I'll fight Eighteen, seeing as she has no ki signal at all." Android 18 smirked. "That will be part of the fun. You'll have to rely on your other senses and evasive movements. But first, we have to warm-up and have a practice run."

After about fifteen minutes of stretching and practice punches, the combatants were ready for a practice round. This activity was comprised of an easy game, in which Gohan would stand on his hands while Krillin and 18 took turns half-attempting to hit him. While Krillin was a bit more lenient in his charge, while 18 was far more brutal, and rightly so. The demi-Saiyan's little brother was so constantly hyper that Gohan developed a high adeptness at swift reaction, even in fine motor skills. After about fifteen minutes of this warm-up, they decided to begin the actual training.

Android 18 explained her idea for their training. Gohan would be blind while he fought them both at full power, while he couldn't ascend to SSJ1. Gohan scratched the back of his head. "Okay, I guess. This might work..." He looked thoughtfully at the two of them, before asking "How will make sure I keep my eyes closed?" Krillin grinned and ran inside Kame house, calling over his shoulder "Blindfold!"

Gohan was left standing with Android 18. Surprisingly enough, she was the first one to speak. "How's school?"

Gohan smiled before responding "It's okay. It's really hard to get to know people after only knowing a handful of people in my life. It's also really difficult to not show my strength."

She nodded solemnly, before looking at him with a piercing look. "Anyone bullying you?"

Gohan shrugged. "No. Not really."

"Hm. Well, if people start picking on you, don't ignore them. I'm not implying that you pull a Vegeta and use them as a punching bag, but don't be afraid to stand up for yourself." Gohan nodded grimly. She continued. "Listen. I know you don't like conflict, but don't let people walk all over you. They owe you their lives, and you don't deserve their shit." Gohan reluctantly listened to the android, understanding that she was only trying to help.

Over the seven years since Cell's downfall, Bulma and Chi-Chi made sure that the whole gang kept in contact by hosting get-togethers every couple of months or so. More often than not Tien and Chiaotzu wouldn't show up, but everyone else usually showed up, including Vegeta (due to Bulma's pressure). While the group was quite odd in itself, the members were still shocked when, several months after the Cell Games, Krillin, Roshi, and Oolong brought along Android 18, who was completely disgusted by the latter two. After formal introductions were made (Basically consisting of 18 nodding at people and Vegeta being restrained by Bulma's threats), the mingling and catching-up continued. However, 18 was particularly interested in the polite young teenager walking around and seeming to make everybody smile and laugh.

She had whispered to Krillin. "So he's..."

"The one who defeated Cell."

18's files showed that the boy was Son Gohan, meaning... "He's the child of Son Goku?"

"Yep. Poor guy. He still blames himself for Goku's death. He looks fine and all, but Chi-Chi tells us that he has nightmares almost every night, even though he rarely had any before. One time, he was so caught up in his dream, he fired a kamehameha wave! Thank goodness it was a weak one, but he still managed to destroy the roof."

18 eyed the boy with curiosity. It still surprised her that out of all the combatants she had been in the presence of, he was the one responsible for Cell's complete annihilation. As she was contemplating this, the boy wandered over. "Hello. I don't think we've really properly met. My name's Gohan. Nice to meet you."

He held out his hand to her, a gesture that she would decline if it were by any -well, ALMOST any other person. Shocking both Krillin and some prying onlookers, she shook his hand.

Smiling, Gohan turned to Krillin. "Krillin, is she your girlfriend now?" Both Krillin and 18 blushed, the latter regaining control far quicker than the former. Krillin was left in a sorry, blubbering mess of "No!"s, "Gohan!"s and "Don't say that!"s.

Since then, Gohan and 18 had formed a strange relationship. While she was not openly emotional with him, she professed a sense of respect for him, understanding that some wounds never go away.

Krillin ran out of the house, bearing a strange... Thing. It was only when he got closer that Gohan could tell that it was one of those things than his mother would put over her eyes to help her sleep. "I think they're called... Sleep glasses?" Krillin tossed them over to Gohan, who slipped them over his eyes. "Night mask?"

Krillin's voice rang out from the darkness. "Alright, Gohan. We're going to star-" 18 interrupted him. "Hang on just a moment." Gohan heard her fly away, before hearing a loud "THUMP" and a subsequent "OW!" While the blinded Saiyan was still wondering what was going on, the sound of feet hitting the sand met his ears. "That old pervert was looking at me again." "Yeah, I know, Eighteen. I'll have a talk with him... Anyways, Gohan, I think we should get above the water. We wouldn't want to hurt Kame House."

Less than a minute following, Gohan was standing on different soil. still guessing the name of his blindfold. "Dream spectacles?"

"Ready... And... Go!"

"Oh! I remember now! They're sleep goggl-" A loud explosion intervened with Gohan's discovery. This interruption was made more intense by the fact that Gohan was at the epicenter of the large blast, which stung quite a bit. Flying up high, the Saiyan took a deep breath, almost relaxing before hearing air displacement. Attempting to dodge, Gohan found himself face-planting with a particularly vicious foot. "Well, at least Eighteen isn't going easy on this one." Analyzing the nearby area with his ki, Gohan sensed a small amount of ki headed straight towards him. Moving rapidly to one side, he realized that the signature was Krillin's, and that he was intensely suppressing his. Sensing another ki nearby, Gohan opened fire. After realizing that the ki seemed to stop existing, Gohan thought he had successfully stopped a particularly weak energy attack before he heard Krillin saying "Poor bird."

Flying towards where he thought the formerly-bald fighter, the eldest son of Goku unleashed a flurry of kicks and punches at a close but seemingly intangible Krillin. Gohan only knew he found his mark when he made contact with the former-monk's chest and heard a grunt. Just as he was going to continue his attack, Gohan's head was hit by a very swift punch, followed by two more. Gohan dove down, firing twenty attacks at what he hoped to be Android 18, but was disappointed to hear no immediate sounds of explosions. Charging his energy up, Gohan moved quickly and swiftly, trying to dodge the whooshes that he heard. Over time, he slowly became more and more successful with his evasion of his two opponents' attacks. However, no matter how well he could dodge, Gohan was having an increasingly hard time landing a hit as Krillin modified his attack strategy and 18 changed her brutality. "This will never work! Even though my hearing is super strong, I still can't fully dodge, much less attack. I need a new strategy!"

Powering up to near his base-form's utmost capacity, Gohan flew up high and tapped into his energies, increasing his ki dramatically. Suddenly, the young Saiyan sensed movement below him and eluded a dangerously close object that nearly hit him. As the unidentified entity turned around and headed back towards Gohan, he suddenly realized what it was. "That must be Eighteen! Since my energy is so strong, I can sense the areas where there isn't ki!"

With this newfound ability, he began tipping the odds into his favor. He progressively got more and more in-tune with his tracking of the fast and powerful android. Soon, he was able to fight 18 and Krillin proficiently enough so that he was winning. No matter how many times they would attempt to coordinate their attacks, Gohan was able to repel and counter effectively, often inflicting more damage on the duo than they did to himself. After twenty minutes of this, he finally delivered a final hit to Krillin, knocking the monk into the ocean with a loud splash. As soon as he made contact with the water, his wife started engaging Gohan in what was obviously a final ditch-effort confrontation. Though he couldn't see and was basing all his actions on the fuzzy cavity of ki, he was triumphant. The android was defeated with a powerful energy blast, and her retreat was evident to Gohan. "Can I take this thing off now?" Krillin's weak voice met his ears. "Yeah, yeah, Gohan. You win."

The following day, Gohan stuffed himself at breakfast, helped his mother with the dishes, and flew off to West City with Goten on Nimbus. Parking in their usual part of the huge building, the two Son children leaped off of the orange cloud. Goten raced ahead, while Gohan was walking leisurely, enjoying fresh air while he could. Soon enough, he would be trapped in a hot and dark chamber with the Prince of All Egomaniacs.

After a good minute of peace, Gohan walked indoors. Bulma was in the living area, drinking coffee and reading a newspaper. "Hey, Gohan! How's it going?" She hugged him, then walked into the kitchen and grabbed him a plate of baked goods. "My mom was feeling rather productive yesterday, so she made some cookies and rolls. Do you like them?" Gohan grinned as he finished chewing. "They're delicious! They taste even better than my mom's!"

"Yeah, Goten said the same thing. Anyways, I see you've been putting the suit I gave you to good use!"

Gohan scratched his head. "Huh? What are you talking about?" Bulma pushed the paper she was reading over towards him. On the front cover was a large in-color picture of Gohan as the Great Saiyaman punching a criminal. The title read "SAIYAMAN: The New Hero of Satan City!" Gohan smiled at that. "Oh yeah! How could I forget?"

Bulma laughed and continued "Oh, there's lots in the article. I've been keeping track of your little 'escapades' all week! It seems the only person that is opposed to you is that Videl girl that was originally suspicious of you! I really want to know how her father will talk about this. He'd either have to call you a fake, or he'd be forced to say his stupid 'light trick' theory isn't true and ki is an actual thing!"

Gohan shrugged. "I haven't used any ki blasts, so I don't think he would make any effort to support or attack me. Besides, his daughter is the only one that really hates me! As Saiyaman, at least. At school we're pretty good acquaintances."

Bulma laughed. "That reminds me: Do you think she's cute?"

Gohan jumped and blushed. "Bulma! Why would you say that?!"

Fortunately from him, he was spared from further ribbing by a certain rough voice. "Brat! Do I have to wait all day for you to finish your chitchat?" Gohan spun around and saw Vegeta leaning against a doorway in the direction of the Gravity Room.

Bulma laughed. "Don't be so rushed, Vegeta! I was just talking to Gohan about his new job!"

Vegeta's scowl twisted into a smirk. "Hah! For being a powerful warrior beating up low-life scum, you sure do seem to be afraid of that daughter of the oaf."

Gohan rubbed his face with his hand. "You don't understand! If she finds out who I am, Mom will kill me!"

Vegeta nodded as he turned away. "Whatever. Bulma showed me some of the newspapers. It's ridiculous that you're even bothering fighting dirt like them. If I were you, I would simply wipe out any thieves with a single energy attack."

Bulma sternly voiced her disapproval. "Now Vegeta. Killing people isn't nice."

Vegeta snorted as he turned walked towards the Gravity Room, Gohan right on his -ahem- tail. As the door slid open to the humming and darkened chamber, he thought "Time to get some real training done."

Videl's weekend was both unpleasant and enjoyable. The good part was that she was able to hang out with Erasa and Sharpner for a good amount of time due to a sudden lack of crimes. The bad news was that the source of her free time was caused by a certain someone she had deemed 'The Single Biggest Jerk in the World.' Saiyaman had led to a large lowering of crime throughout the city. Although she appreciated the help, Videl couldn't help but still be suspicious.

"I just can't trust someone who's afraid to show their face, damn it!" She was thinking one sleepless Friday night. This thought was immediately followed by a "I really need to get a life."

The following morning, she went shopping with Erasa at the Satan City Mall, one of the biggest shopping centers in the world. After meeting up outside, the two girls went clothes shopping for awhile before taking a break at their favorite coffee shop. As Erasa set down all of her bags at one table, Videl slumped into a chair, bearing their beverages. After some time of relaxingly sipping at their steaming drinks, Erasa prompted a conversation. "I think I won." Videl's eyebrows rose. "Huh? What are you on about?"

Erasa took another long sip, the areas next to her eyes crinkling as they met Videl's gaze. "Don't you remember our bet? The one involving a certain Gohan?"

Videl scowled. "Oh yeah. What about it?"

Erasa smiled as she tapped her cheek. "I just remembered it, and I realized that you never promised anything in return. So what do you owe me?"

Videl started to counter. "But-"

"No buts, Videl! You said that Gohan would be a bad guy by the end of the week, and I still see the same person that we met on Monday!"

Videl frowned at her drink. "That's not fair, Erasa!"

"Uh-uh! None of that! I won fair and square! But what do you owe me?" A five second pause took place before she exclaimed "I know! You have to kiss Gohan!"

"NO, ERASA!" Erasa stuck out her tongue at the dark-haired girl across the table from her. "Fine then, loser, you don't have to do anything! It was just an idea, you know!"

Videl banged her head lightly against their little wooden table in the corner of the shop. "Why are you so obsessed with him?! And why do you want me to hook up with him?!"

The blonde girl started smirking. "Well, he is kind, cute, smart, and single. Also, you seem to enjoy being around him, which is a first since the only person you could actually like being around is... Oh yeah. Nobody."

Videl looked disapprovingly at her friend. "Don't say that, Erasa. I like being around you!"

Erasa lifted one eyebrow cockily, her smirk more present than ever. "I know that. I was just wanting to see if you'd answer the way I wanted you to. You didn't deny that you like being around Gohan!"

Videl whined "Erasa! Why are you doing this to me?! He's just a somewhat okay person that I can be around without being bombarded with requests for favors! It is strictly platonic!"

Erasa got out of her chair, did a little dance, then walked away to dispose of her cup. Over her shoulder, she called out. "You keep telling yourself that!"

Videl growled in anger and stalked after her friend, coffee cup close to being crushed by her frustration. "I'm going to kill you, Erasa!"