Sincerest apologies for the length of time between updates. It's been a rather hectic period for me, A Levels and what not. Anyway the song for this chapter is This Scene Is Dead by We Are Scientists, thanks for all the reviews, I would have list all interest really had I not recieved them, more updates shall follow in the coming weeks/months. Hopefully.

This Scene Is Dead

"So you gotta tell me G Dawg, did you and Videl get…you know…" What had started so confidently had been reduced to blushing. Sharpner was so predictable. His was a façade of the most horrible type. While others indulged in hobbies and bettering themselves as people to hide from their insecurities, Sharpner 'made up' for it with his attitude and his physique. You could call it a hobby of sorts; a hobby for the wrong reasons. The bettering of one's own body for the vanity of it all is utterly tiresome, worse than a perverse obsession which, having being learnt of, is met with a pair of raised eyebrows and assortment of incomprehensible noises. But some may argue that is just an example of a cynic's method of hiding their insecurities; pointing out others. However, Gohan stared blankly at the platinum blonde 'lad' as he tried to work out where he was going with this mumbled question about him and Videl. Gohan truly disliked Sharpner, he was a rarity, normally Gohan enjoyed anyone and everyone's company, unless they murdered for their own pleasure, that wasn't on. He only put up with him because it was so much easier than causing trouble, he had found that this type of laissez-faire attitude won more friends than lost, and also that he was the subject of Erasa's affections. Such a nice girl, what on Earth did she see in him?

"Okay Sharpner, what do you want to know?"

"Well, like, I've heard rumours that" He leaned across the lunch table. "You and Videl…" He looked around before leaning in even further "Did it."

Gohan paused.

Sharpner stared at him in anticipation.

Well this was a spanner in the works. Supressing the miniature horror bomb that had detonated in his chest, Gohan collected himself, if word got out to Videl that this rumour was circulating, he was right royally fucked. He reached below the table and fumbled around in his pockets, pulling out his new mobile phone. Tapping on the keys, he turned away from Sharpner to feign disinterest. He wasn't actually doing anything on the phone, it was just a method he had developed to lose people's attention. No comment was the best route he could think of at this current time, while denying seemed the instant response, he really didn't want to get dragged into this, best to just leave it be and wait till Videl turned up, she would deal with it. Luckily for him, the very girl had appeared. She and Erasa parted as they sat on either side of the table by their respective partners. Gohan ended his random tapping of keys with the nod of a business man, or a scholar considering more analytical bullshit about some random novel. Erasa resumed the conversation that she and Videl had obviously been having as Sharpner pretended that he didn't care that Gohan was sat in front of him. The boy in question had to restrain a gooey smile as he felt a slender hand slip into his under the table.

"So like I was saying, me and Sharpie" Fuckface pouted slowly as he put his hands behind his head "Were wondering if you and Gohan would like to, you know, come to up to town with us?"

"What, do you mean as one big group?" Videl seemed interested at the prospect at getting to spend an evening with Gohan. After Friday, they hadn't seen one another over the weekend, however they had utilised his new mobile phone to talk. Gohan didn't seem quite as enthused.

"No, no, silly, we'd be going as separate groups, guys and girls, ya know?" Gohan had lethargically turned his head that minute distance to look at Erasa; he wasn't much of a fan of Mondays.

"Are you saying tonight? Cos I mean, I don't know how my mother would feel about me going out on a school-night, she's pretty testy about me going out full stop." The phone had now been returned to its safe home in his pocket, apparently these two were interesting enough for him, typical Saiyan.

"Of course not Gohan, this Friday; I don't care what your mother says, just saying you're seeing Videl…or have you not told her?" Gohan pursed his lips at the sound of his mother and Videl in the same sentence. No, he hadn't told her about Videl, but they had only been going out for a week, he didn't see that as long enough to warrant parents getting 'involved'. A sharp nudge in the side from Videl stopped him from answering; she was better at dealing with those who pried.

"Gohan and I are keeping our relationship private at the moment, while it may be common knowledge amongst most of the school that something is going on between us, we would like to keep it under wraps from our parents and anyone else for that matter." Erasa looked taken aback; Gohan saw it in her eye…spite? Did she know about the rumour…Oh jeez.

"But you gotta tell me one thing Videl" She looked to her left and right furtively before leaning in "Did you guys fuck?" Sharpner bent over sharply and could be heard snickering as Videl's put on her 'stoic' face and Gohan begun scratching the imaginary facial hair on the underside of his chin. After eyeing her friend for a suitably long period of time; Erasa first attempting to match her stare and then eventually succumbing to the magnitude, she gave her answer.

"No." That was it? That was all she was going to say? This wasn't the Videl Gohan knew, normally she'd keep herself quiet until a moment alone and blow up. But here she was, calmly responding to an obviously provocative question, from her best friend of all people. He was impressed. However, he had noticed her hand subtly slip into his once more and attempt to crush his fingers; he was still going to hear about this. Erasa seemed satisfied with the answer, she even ignored whispers from Sharpner that were obviously pointed in the direction of getting her to ask more questions. She didn't budge however and the lunch carried on in silence, interrupted by Sharpner's attempts at creating small-talk. The atmosphere was rather the same for the rest of school, although Gohan knew that this wasn't the end of it for him, he still had to go round hers for their 'studying'.

As they left the school gates, Videl was now giving Gohan lifts to her house – it was just more convenient, Gohan could feel the rage radiating off his girlfriend. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen her this angry before, something he counted himself lucky for. She even closed the door and started the engine of the jetcopter with a vicious turn of the key, what could she not be angry at? Gohan didn't dare break the silence of the journey, it was only 10-15 minutes after all, he could manage. By the way she was gripping the steering wheel, he didn't fancy taking her on, let her cool down a little; every couple has to have its first fight he'd heard, he wanted it to be as easy as possible to resolve. As they touched down he could tell that she had calmed down, just a little bit, not enough to warrant asking the question, the question he knew would have to ask at some point. They stopped by her door and Videl looked up at him expectantly. What she wanted was beyond him, unless she spoke, they weren't going to get anywhere. However, she seemed set on maintaining her silence, only indicating with her free hand, the other held her books, to her window. Surprised, he put his hands uncertainly on her waist, making sure with a raised eyebrow that this was what she wanted, and lifted into the air slowly. It seemed to take hours to get there, Gohan constantly worrying that he might drop her, it would be fitting for the situation. However, they finally reached her window sill and she, thankfully, decided to open it herself, with the aid of Gohan holding her steady. Ahhhhhh fuck, as soon as they'd got in she had gone thrown her books on the bed and gone straight into the bathroom, this meant trouble, tears most likely. Gohan could deal with a screaming Videl, but a crying one? Well that was a different matter. Oh Kami! He could already hear the sniffles. He'd never had to deal with a crying girl before, this was an entirely new situation, he'd only just got used to knowing them for fuck's sake now this? Why did he have to get involved with her, he should have listened to his mother, they weren't worth the time. Gohan was bricking himself to say the least. Should he knock on the door like the caring boyfriend he was or just wait it out? Decisions, decisions. The decision had already been made. There she was, stood with her back to him – mid blowing her nose – he must have not heard her come out. An instinct within him cried out. He was required to do something at this point, but couldn't think what. Rising to his feet, Gohan slowly approached the sobbing girl. He would have to make his mind up on the way there what he would do, it was surprising how fast the mind could move when required. Standing behind her hoping that she would notice and turn round was possibly a little too 'Hollywood', this would require effort from him alone. Slowly wrapping his arms around her waist he brought her in closer to his chest and rested his chin on her head pensively. She stirred a little trying to get comfortable and closed her eyes, slowing her breathing down to match his. She was surprised at this sign of affection from her 'new' boyfriend, from the time she had known him, it had been her making all the moves. She opened her mouth to say something but was met with a soothing hush as Gohan kissed the top of her head. Videl was hardly bothered, she was happy to stand there for the rest of her life.

Gohan stared at the ceiling as he lay on Videl's bed. She was still in the bathroom. Tonight was Thursday and he still hadn't asked his mother if it was alright for him to go out on Friday. The situation over whether they had done it or not had been resolved with some harsh words in the direction of Sharpner who had agreed to keep quiet over it, on the pain of death. Other than that issue, the week had been one of progression. His and Videl's relationship had moved quite quickly from pecks here and there when they were alone to longer lingering kisses. They even had a 'make-out' session on Wednesday night, at HIS house of all places. The meeting between his mother and Videl had been surprisingly calm; Chi Chi hadn't mentioned grandchildren at any point and had more or less left them to their own devices. Goten had been at the Briefs' so they hadn't had to deal with him luckily. However, it had been a real relief for Gohan to get that proverbial 'monkey' off his back; now all he had to was ask her about Friday night, hopefully that would be as smooth.

"Hey, Gohan…can I ask you something?" He was shocked at how quietly she could move sometimes, she had managed to cross her bedroom floor and take a seat on the bed without disturbing him. He nodded at her as she begun to crack her knuckles nervously, a surprisingly unladylike habit Videl had, but then again, she was always a bit of a tomboy. "Well, what I wanted to know is…how can you change your hair to being blonde?" Ah, this question, he should've seen it coming. It was only natural for her to want to know, their relationship had come on leaps and bounds recently. Gohan scratched the small amount of facial hair on his chin, Saiyans tended to not grow much facial hair until they hit about 30, strange considering that they could turn into apes and had tails at birth. He drew himself up and sat crossed legged in front Videl who mimicked his actions so they sat opposite one another in the centre of the bed. Gohan rested his hands in his lap as Videl, her head slightly tilted upwards, met his eyes with an honest stare.

"Okay, now before I tell you Videl, this is just an insurance, you cannot tell anyone what I am about to tell right?" She nodded enthusiastically, "Even if we don't work out, touch wood" He sprawled back and touched the white headboard as Videl tilted her head to the side giving him a look of disapproval. "Now, where do I start? Well, okay, you're not going to believe this when I tell you, but my father was…an alien." She blinked in disbelief, but before she could say anything Gohan had started up again. "I know, I don't look particularly alien, and he didn't for that matter, the only noticeable things about us 'aliens' is that we are naturally stronger than humans, all the things like flying come pretty naturally to us as well." Videl still seemed unsure.

"So...is there a name for your father's alien race?"

"Oh, yeah, there is actually, they, I should probably say we, are called Saiyans, I'm only half, but I have still inherited most of the Saiyan traits. One of these traits is the fact that through training I have managed to reach the level of 'Super Saiyan', which is when my hair turns blonde. There are, of course, other traits, one being my hair for starters."

"What's so special about your hair; other than the fact that it can turn blonde?" Gohan bent his head down so his hair was closer to her face. She placed her hand on his head and ran it through his black locks, it suddenly dawned on her. "No gel or spray?" He nodded his head.

"None at all, my hair is really lively, hence the fact that it can turn blonde. That's not the only trait however, nope. You've obviously noticed my staggering appetite right? Well, that's not all, I don't have one right now, but around every 3 years, I will grow a tail." Now this WAS news. "You okay with that?"

"Yeah, of course…I mean…it's only a tail". Her face betrayed her words, she couldn't help it, the idea of a tail was…foreign to say the least. I mean she would put up with some things, but a tail, she didn't know how to take that. Gohan placed a hand under her chin and stared straight into her eyes. She already knew her answer as he brought her face closer to his.

Landing in front of the door had been easy. Walking to the door had been easy. Opening the door had been really easy. Getting half the way to his bedroom had also been pretty easy. Trying to sneak past his mother's bedroom had been difficult. Staring into his mother's eyes and lying to her face had been impossible. What was he lying about you may ask? Well, considering the time was 12:30 in the morning, he had a lot to lie about. His excuse? Work, if in doubt, say it was work. It passed luckily, but she was awake now and considering they were getting things done, he might as well pop the question. She was slyly moving to the kitchen so Gohan guessed she may be up for another hour or so, making any necessary preparations for Friday's breakfast; the most integral of all the week's breakfasts. Goten and Trunks trained on that very day and she was hardly going to let her young boy out on an empty stomach. As she began to assemble the ingredients she would need, Gohan sensed his opportunity.

"Hey mum, do you mind if I ask you something?" He asked as she tottered drowsily over to the freezer to retrieve some bacon. Receiving no answer, Gohan resolved to just ask the question. "Wehhehell, I've been asked by a couple of my friends to go you with them tomorrow – I mean – tonight and I was wondering if you would mind that?" He maintained a safe distance, although she hadn't wielded that infamous frying pan of hers since Goku had died, its presence still hung heavy over the Son kitchen.

"No."

"What do you mean no in 'no I wouldn't mind' or as in 'no you can't go'?" He knew exactly what she meant by no, he just didn't want to disappoint Videl who had outlined to him in no uncertain terms that she had agreed to go with Erasa and couldn't back out, ipso facto Gohan was going.

"I mean that I don't want you going out this Friday night, your father never did anything like that so why should you?" Ah, this wasn't going to be easy, whenever she mentioned his dad it meant she had some sort of emotional attachment to the issue.

"What's the real reason mum?" This had to stop at some point; she had to get over the fact that Goku was dead, he was gone and wouldn't be coming back for the foreseeable future. He had taken a seat at the table as she messed around on the counter. She was no longer however, she had turned to look at her son; the drowsy tinge that had been present now gone. She slowly approached and sat in the chair on the opposite side of the table to her eldest son.

"I…I…" She held back the tears, this was no time for crying "Don't want to lose you as well son." Gohan rose and moved to the chair beside her; placing an arm round her, he brought his mother into a hug.

"You shouldn't worry about me mum, I'm 17 going on 18 now…I'm a big boy. You'll have to lose me at some point." He kissed the top of her head; the tears had started to roll as she buried her face in her arms. "Look on the bright side, you've still got Goten, he's still got a long way to go." She sniffed twice and shook her son's arm off, attempting to recover her composure. A short pause followed. Suddenly she began to wail again.

"BUT WHAT ABOUT WHEN HE GOES AS WELL?" Gohan was losing patience; his mother was just being unreasonable now. He couldn't say that though, this was his mother, she was probably testing him of something.

"Well, you might have a grandchild to help look after by then." That was definitely what she wanted to hear because as soon as the word 'grandchild' left his mouth, she stopped crying. She opened an eye and peered at her son, a slight grin appearing on her face.

"…With Videl?" Gohan spluttered a little as his face turned a deep red. Rising from his chair he begun to stalk away from his giggling mother until he realised he was yet to receive the 'yes' answer he needed.

"Sooo…can I go out on Friday night?" He asked his mother with an intelligent tone. She blew her nose and answered him.

"Yes, yes, now go to bed; don't want to be tired for school."

Gohan blew a mental sigh of relief and made his way to bed.

"You've got flu? You can't do this to me Videl! I can't back out now, fucking Sharpner's expecting me to come out!...Oh right! Well that's just freakin' dandy isn't it? You pull out and the last moment, but I, the one who didn't even really want to go, have to go, sweet, just fucking peachy Videl…No I will not lower my voice, this is stupid, you've royally screwed me…Okay I will! I'll come to your house straight after school to see if you're really ill…Bye then" Gohan punched the disconnect button on his phone. He couldn't believe she was doing this to him. On the day they were going out she hadn't come into school, she had apparently been ill. The protector of the city – ill. This was too special, yeah the city had been quiet recently, but flu? Come on, oldest excuse in the book. He had called at lunch to see if she was still coming out, to which, unsurprisingly, she had responded no. Not in the lunch hall or any well-populated area of the school of course, he couldn't embarrass her like that. Well, he would just have to get over it, not much he could do now, Videl was obstinate at the best of times. It was going to have be another one of those days, the work would have to take him away to his special place; where words and numbers were of paramount importance. However, having to deal with Sharpner alone was going to be such a bitch.

Well, the time was nigh, the mirror was his last and only friend. The only one that didn't lie to him, the one that showed him for his pros AND cons. He didn't look bad did he? Videl had advised him on what to wear when he had gone round, jeans and shirt would suffice it appeared. Man that had been bad. She refused to open the door at first, instead insisting that her father was in and she didn't want the hassle. He knew full well, because she had told him only a few days before, that her dad had gone on a 'Round the World' cruise. Eventually she opened the door, she was quite predictable ol' Videl. First she had given him the cold shoulder, not even looking at him, attempting to make the guilt that had bubbled at the bottom of his stomach even worse; she had, of course, been ill. Next, after a little coaxing, she had started to quietly sob, at least talking to him about how much of a terrible day she had. Third, she stopped sobbing and started to try to get him to wait on her, instead of going out, he wasn't having any of that, the number of things Sharpner would call him if he didn't come out weren't worth it. Fourth she had finally given up in trying get anything off her boyfriend and started getting him to cuddle her, something he had happily give in to, assuring her that he had some sort of natural immunity to flu, something about Saiyan blood. He had managed to convince her to show him what he should wear, something he had been pretty worried about beforehand. That all having happened, Gohan now had to confront the coming evening. Bidding his mother and younger brother goodbye, he launched into the night sky, heading towards Sharpner's supposed address.

The doorbell. Just ring it. Just ring the freakin' doorbell. It was not difficult. Press any of the appendages of either hand onto the small button beside the door and wait for the sound. He'd expected Sharpner's house to be bigger, it was big, but not in the 'Do they really need all those bedrooms?' way more in the 'I wish he threw more parties'. Its size wasn't the most perplexing of features however – it was pebble-dashed – in this day and age? It looked a relatively recent addition to the street, plastic pipes sticking out of the front garden in anticipation of the sprinkler system that was yet to be added. Allowing his mind to wander had been the key, now no longer thinking about it, his hand had moved to the small white bell. He was alerted to his actions by the sound of a short generic chime echoing down the hidden corridor; clenching his buttocks and gritting his teeth Gohan waited for the door to open. A small blonde woman appeared, the top of head bobbing just underneath the small window neatly placed on the door as she opened it. Well this was news; Sharpner's sister/mother was rather attractive. She seemed to be sizing him up, her tracksuit revealing a little more than Gohan wanted to mention.

"So you must be Gohan." Someone outside of their school knew who he was?

"How did you know?" He asked giving her an embarrassed smile.

"Well from the amount I've heard from Erasa about this tall, dark, handsome man dating her best friend; it was always going to be easy." Gohan rubbed the back of his head, the second phase of embarrassment "But where are my manners? My name is Nina, Nina Sharpner, I'm Claudius's sister." She held out her hand for him to shake, which Gohan gladly took. It soon dawned on him.

"Wait, wait, wait…are you telling me, that the rough, tough Sharpner I know is actually called…Claudius?" This was too good to be true; he'd always thought Sharpner was his first name.

"Um yeah, I wouldn't bother ribbing him about it; he's heard it all before." She opened the door wider for Gohan to enter and glided up a set of stairs, indicating that his 'friends' were through the first doorway on the right. They sure were. An assortment of males and females surrounded the island counter of what appeared to be a living room-cum-kitchen, very modern. Through a gap in the small circle he could just pick out a frost-ravaged bottle with 'Grey Goose' emblazoned upon its exterior standing upright and proud on the black granite worktop surface. This was Gohan's routine. Having grown-up without any awareness of the modern world and its fashion, he made sure to quietly survey any new surroundings and assimilate all the information he could garner from the wall paper to the drapes. He was making up on lost time; trying to become one with this new urban world.

"Ahhhhhhh look who it is, guys, this is Videl's new beau, the mysterious Gohan." That was Erasa's voice, only two of these people knew who he was and she was definitely the nicer of those two. Instinctively raising his hand into the air to greet his new acquaintances, Gohan was met with an assortment of love and jealousy, each set of eyes told of a different judgment, purely based on his looks and the fact that he was dating Videl Satan. He accepted the small position between two heavily made-up girls called, as he was to find out later, Liza and Maricela. The night began to progress, slowly at first; Gohan getting to know the individual people. By the end of it, he could only remember Liza and Maricela. However, once the group, who were strangely enough boy AND girl, Gohan had thought that it would be separate groups, had finished with their 'pre-lash' and moved to the waiting cab; the night got faster. The two shots of vodka that had been forced down his throat by his new friend 'Claudius' aka Sharpner had made him lucid, not to mention that bottle of Beck's Vier he had quickly snaffled. It wasn't that he liked alcohol, on the contrary, he far preferred soft drinks. But it seemed a means to an end, how else was he going to survive these arseholes?

"Cuz, you want some MDMA?"

"I beg your pardon kind sir?"

"Eh kid don't fuck with me, you want some e or not?". Gohan was by this point far beyond the point of careful judgment, once he had been introduced to the pinewood taste of Sambuca it had been steady descent into inebriation. How he came to find himself confronted with this large Afro/Caribbean gentleman holding a set of pills in his palm, he did not know. Was he going to purchase them? Most likely. He had his wallet out, it would've been rude not to. The pounding bass reverberating from the less than high class nightclub they were standing outside had convinced him of his need for a sedative of sorts. Would these sedate him? Like he cared, it hoped it would be a placebo. He handed over a pair of notes, and took the pills, throwing them down his gullet in one swift motion. It was only now that he noticed Sharpener's sister, Nina, was with him. Right.