Alright, chapter ten finally is done. I spent the last month battling writer's block on this one, and it finally came out the way I wanted it to. A thank you goes out to Makai Alexa for reviewing the last few chapters. Even one reader inspires me to keep going. And don't worry, I listened to your suggestion, and it was in my plans already ^_^. Enjoy, and review if you guys please.
Akira lounges lazily on the back porch of the Masaki family residence, letting the setting sun wash over him. Today has been one relaxing day. Although he is stationed out here to keep an eye on this part of the galaxy (even if it is really to help Tenchi and Gohan thanks to Washu pulling some strings), he doesn't really have much responsibility. Today he opted to let Mihoshi go with Kiyone on patrol while he played video games with Sasami. She is quite good for a eight year old. Then again, he remembers she isn't really eight despite her appearance. According to Washu, one of the goddess lies within her, a consequence of Tsunami saving her young life some hundreds of years ago. Just to make sure he doesn't get rusty. He did some training in the woods and then had an little afternoon snack.
The atmosphere is so nice he starts drifting off to sleep, the singing birds lulling him into his dreams. Vaguely he is aware of someone setting foot on the deck and walking towards him, and he reluctantly opens his left eye to see who it is. Even from upside down he cannot help but laugh at the sight before him. With sticks in her hair, some dirt on her face, and a torn sleeve, his childhood friend grunts at his laughing and sits down next to him. He sits himself up, a harder task because of the soreness that is setting in and crosses his legs.
"So where did Mihoshi crash land your patrol ship this time?"
"The woods," she confirms his suspicions. "Surprisingly it hurt less than the lake." He chuckles and pulls some of the foliage from her green locks, and she rubs the smudge off of her cheek. "You can patrol with her tomorrow. It's your turn anyway."
"But I'm stationed on the earth. What would our superiors think?" She swats at him, and he simply blocks with another small laugh. "On the other hand, if I could go patrol with you, I would have no problem leaving the surface."
"Just because I said I forgave you doesn't mean you can try and flirt with me."
"Trying? I thought I was being successful. Besides, you never minded before."
"That was before you blew it, if you don't remember." He looks down at his lap now, his humorous attitude gone.
"I did blow it, didn't I?" She doesn't answer, and he sits there thinking about all of the times they shared when they were kids, then teens, then young adults at the Academy. One mistake cost him his friendship with her. "I think I will trade you tomorrow. I'll go with Mihoshi. I mean, how bad can she be after all?" Her look clearly says it all, and when he looks over, he sees his impending doom at the hands of the blonde in her eyes. She has faced it every day of her life since being assigned to the granddaughter of the Galaxy Police chief. Just as quickly that look is gone, and he sees her expression soften.
"Thank you," she says simply. It may be small, but she knows what his gesture really means. He in turn knows what her phrase of appreciation means. He gets up off of the dusty wood then, extending his hand down to her. She accepts his offer quietly, and the duo heads back into the house. About now it's dinnertime, and the young princess probably has come up with something tasty as she always does. With both worn out from their days, that notion sounds quite good.
"And that's when she started chasing me around the school roof," Tenchi continues his tale. "She practically tried to kill me with an energy sword, and then later that night she was in my bed. My dad and grandpa found out she was there and invited her to stay at our house."
"What's so bad about that?"
"My dad was ogling her the whole time, and I practically died of a nose bleed." Gohan starts laughing at that though he is able to understand the nose bleed part. Ryoko is far from hard on the eyes, even if the "proper" half-Saiyan would never think so aloud. "Ayeka and her sister Sasami came to Earth after that in search of their brother, who would turn out to be my grandfather. Mihoshi came crashing into my life literally when her ship landed in the hot springs near my house. She's an officer for something called the Galaxy Police. She was chasing a bad guy, or at least she thought she was. I saved her, and she decided I was her knight. We met Washu a little bit later while we fought Kagato, the one who kidnapped Ryoko and made her do all of these evil things. That's why she was imprisoned in the cave. Finally came Kiyone, Mihoshi's long lost partner. Then two summers ago a demon named Yuzuha took my hair and used my DNA with hers to create a girl named Mayuka as a revenge on her first love, my grandpa. She was half-evil and tried to kill me." He stops at this point, obviously meaning the memory is a painful one. "Ryoko didn't trust her, and I slapped her for it. She was right, though. Yuzuha crushed the good in Mayuka, and she tried to kill all of us. Finally Yuzuha just destroyed her, and I destroyed Yuzuha. Luckily her essence was sealed into a gem, and Washu was able to bring her back as an infant. She's almost a year old now."
"So all of those girls and your half-demon daughter are living at your house then?"
"Yeah. It wouldn't be so bad, but Ayeka and Ryoko fight over me most of the time, and Mihoshi is usually destroying something. Washu likes to run tests on me in her spare time, and my grandpa trains me like crazy besides making me work in the carrot fields. My father acts like a pervert a lot of the time and gets himself into trouble with the girls. Then there's school and taking care of Mayuka. Sometimes life gets so crazy there. About the only sane people are Sasami and Kiyone."
"Wow, I thought I had it had rough." Tenchi's expression clearly says go on. "Since I was four my mom's been making me study every subject you could possibly think of. When I wasn't doing schoolwork, I was training to fight evil. My friend Piccolo actually left me alone in the woods for a year so I could get stronger. After my dad's evil brother showed up I did more fighting than homework, which always made my mom mad. My dad died the first time when I was four by Piccolo. It was the only way to destroy my uncle. He trained in the afterlife until he was resurrected a year later to fight two Saiyans, the race I'm half of. One is actually friends with us now. His name is Vegeta. Vegeta killed his partner, but he couldn't beat my dad. He did kill Piccolo, and our other friends Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu died as well. We all ended up in the hospital, and Vegeta left Earth. I went to a planet called Namek with my friends Krillin and Bulma to use these things called the Dragonballs. They grant wishes, which is how we were able to bring my dad back to life and the others, too. We fought Freiza there. He was supposed to be all powerful at the time, and he killed Vegeta and Krillin. My dad came to Namek as well after he healed. He went Super Saiyan and finally defeated Frieza."
"What's that?"
"A Super Saiyan is a special power-up where Saiyans get blonde hair, blue-green eyes, and gain speed and muscle."
"Can you do it?"
"I learned when I was nine, but I haven't used it lately. Someone who probably acts a lot like your dad unlocked my sleeping power. I don't need to transform anymore to gain those things."
"I have a transformation, too. I just haven't completely mastered it yet."
"What's it called?"
"The Light Hawk Wings. Only one person in all of the dimensions is supposed to be able to use them, but Washu says the goddesses never thought it would be me."
"Dimensions?"
"There is more than just this plane of existence. I think maybe the place where your dad went when he died would count as one in a way." He thinks about this for a second.
"The idea of dimensions kind of reminds me of time travel."
"You mean you've time traveled?" he asks, recalling his own adventure into the past.
"I haven't, but Vegeta and Bulma's son from the future did. He came to warn us that my dad would die again of a heart virus and that twp androids would attack the planet and leave things in chaos. We all died in that future. He gave my father an antidote and left. For the next three years we trained, and when they came, they were more powerful. Trunks came back and was shocked. The two androids we were fighting weren't the ones from his future. They showed up soon enough, though. So did Cell, and he absorbed the real androids."
"I remember that guy. He made a broadcast about a tournament for the strongest people to fight him, right?"
"Right. My friends and I showed up along with the world champion at the time, Hercule Satan. He's Videl's dad."
"I know who he is. His face is still plastered everywhere." Gohan laughs a little.
"Yeah, he's not so bad though. He helped us beat the last big threat to the universe, and he helped me beat Cell, too."
"So he wasn't completely lying to the whole world then?"
"I guess you could put it that way. If it weren't for him throwing Android 16's head at me, I don't know if I would have ascended to Super Saiyan 2 to beat Cell. 16 was a gentle android and loved nature, even though he was programmed to kill my dad. He told me it was okay to kill evil because there was no saving beings like Cell. After Cell crushed his head. I snapped. I had to protect everyone and everything that we both loved. I got too cocky, though. My dad died again because of me, and my brother had to grow up without our father. He chose to stay in the Other World and train, leaving Vegeta and me to protect the planet. He believed it was better since all of the threats had come to destroy him."
"I'm sorry, Gohan." The demi-Saiyan doesn't say anything. Tenchi goes on. "I think I'm the reason my mother died so young. A very powerful interdimensional criminal named Kain escaped his prison and tried to kill all Juraian blood, including me. He went back in time even to kill my mother. She expended so much energy to protect me and defeat him. I never saw anyone so powerful, even Ryoko or Kagato. She knew I was her son and did everything she could for me. But as a result of that, she died when I was three. She and my father only had a little bit of time together, and I barely remembered her. That's why it was so nice to see her back then. I wish I had known about the Dragonballs." Feeling really bad for the loss of his mother (because he knows how hard it was losing his dad twice and couldn't imagine losing his beloved mother, even if she does yell a lot), he tries to say something consoling.
"Well, even if you had known, the Dragonballs can't bring back someone who died of natural causes." Immediately he realizes how stupid that was and slaps himself internally. Tenchi doesn't notice.
"That's okay. It was meant to be that way, and from what you've said, there is an afterlife. I'll see her again someday."
"I'm lucky. My dad got to come back again. The dirty old man of a Kai traded his life for my dad so he could beat Majin Buu."
"Who's that?"
"He was an evil monster released by the wizard Babidi. He destroyed this planet and killed everyone, and even with my power-up, I couldn't beat him. The good side of him now lives with Videl and her dad."
"So…everybody died?"
"Yeah, you and your friends, even me. But the Dragonballs on Namek brought us back to life. You don't remember because we used the balls here to erase everyone's minds so Mr. Buu would live in peace with Hercule. He made friends with the blob in the middle of his killing spree. He gave up killing for Hercule."
"You're right. He doesn't sound too bad after all."
"I'm glad he got the credit for Cell. My family didn't need it, and now that he knows us and we're friends, he gave my family some money to live on since we were running out. I got the money without the cameras so it worked out eventually, even if he still embarrasses Videl a lot."
"Speaking of her, how did you guys come up with that whole Saiyaman thing?" Gohan, now quite proud of the tale he is about to explain, sits up straight.
"When I started high school I also started fighting crime in the city. I needed a disguise so one would think I was a freak, but man, Videl wouldn't let up until she figured out who I was. Bulma made me the suit. It's pretty cool, huh?" Tenchi pales, unsure of how to answer.
"Cool isn't exactly the word I'd use, but it's nice." Gohan doesn't seem the least bit fazed.
"Videl used to chase me around in her copter and try to beat me up. I spent more time avoiding her than anything for about two weeks. Then I slipped up, and the next day she blackmailed me. I taught her how to fly and agreed to enter the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai so she wouldn't tell anyone my secret. After the whole Buu thing she actually asked me to have Bulma make her a transformation watch, too. We've been the Great Saiyaman 1 and 2 ever since then."
"So let's get this straight then. We're both part alien with superpowers who have been trained our whole lives, have been dealing with evil on a pretty regular basis, and are the reincarnates of legendary warriors, and now we have to save the whole universe again, this time as a team?"
"Sounds right." There is a small pause.
"We've both had some really interesting lives," he concludes. "I'm surprised neither of us has gone crazy yet."
"Yet might be the key word." The boys share a laugh at that despite the craziness that they have lived thus far and the serious nature of the battle they are to face soon.
Outside of the quaint home, the rest of the Son family arrives via instant transmission, and Gohan can sense their presence. Goten wastes no time bursting though the door and trying to find his big brother right away. Their parents come in more calmly, but they too head towards the kitchen. Goten spots Gohan and gleefully bounds over to him. Before he can attach himself to his leg, though, he notices they have a visitor.
"Who's this, big brother?" Tenchi stands up and bows slightly at the boy and his parents as they come in.
"My name is Tenchi Masaki. I'm a classmate of Gohan's."
"And he's the other chosen one," the oldest Son boy adds. The family is quiet for a moment before the matriarch speaks.
"Well, it's nice to meet another one of Gohan's friends," she says calmly. "Will you be staying for dinner?"
"No, thank you. I should really be getting home now. Besides, my friend is out back, and she's probably bored."
"You and Gohan are so cool. I wanna be a chosen one, too," Goten announces.
"Oh, no you don't, Goten. It's bad enough I have to worry about Gohan saving the universe again."
"Can I fight him at least? Please, Mom?" Tenchi sweatdrops, and Gohan steps in.
"Sorry, squirt. He has to leave now. But if you clean up your side of our room, we can spar before dinner."
"Okay! Bye, Tenchi!" With that, the seven year old scurries down the hall to get to work. Tenchi only laughs, finding the boy's energy and attitude to be funny and somewhat on the cute side.
"Well, I'd like to test your strength sometime," Goku announces.
"Dad, he doesn't use martial arts the way we do," Gohan once again intervenes, recalling the very beginning of their conversation where they compared fighting styles.
"Good. Then it'll really be a challenge."
"Dad," he says disapprovingly. Goku pouts.
"Aw man, you're no fun." Chi-Chi stares at her husband, warning him not to complain further. Tenchi finds this funny, too, seeing a similar look on Videl and a similar effect on Gohan.
"It was nice meeting everyone. I hope we can talk again sometime."
"I'll see you at school tomorrow then."
"Sounds good. Goodbye, Mr. and Mrs. Son." He bows lightly again and exits out the back door to meet with Ryoko and get back to their apartment.
"Well, at least he's polite," Chi-Chi comments as she goes about getting things ready to fix for dinner.
"It feels like he has a lot of potential, just like you did, Gohan. Hey, maybe we could get Old Kai to release his power, too."
"Who are you going to promise he can kiss this time? Mom?" Her head snaps around at that.
"What is he talking about?"
"Ha, ha! It's nothing, Chi-Chi, I promise!" He waves his hands about and laughs nervously. She only stares for a second before returning to her utensils. Gohan, with a small smile now himself, heads into the living room to get started on homework. With the half pint Saiyan in their room there is no way he could get anything done in there. For the time being, though, he feels better. It's probably the first time since Amiruso came into their lives. For now he looks forward to sparring with his brother and eating with his crazy but lovable family.
Outside of the Son family home, Ryoko waits leaning against the wall, her arms crossed and a slight breeze rustling her hair. Tenchi stops in front of her and simply greets her with a hello.
"So how'd it go?" she asks casually. He puts his hand behind his head, much the same as his teenaged friend and laughs nervously.
"Well, it was interesting. We have more in common than I thought. I definitely don't feel so weird anymore about my life or the people in it."
"What are you saying, Tenchi? I'm weird? That whiny princess is a lot weirder than I am. Just last week I caught her-"
"Ryoko, calm down. I was kidding." Mostly he adds in his head. "Let's just get back to the apartment so I can contact Little Washu and tell her about this afternoon." Having no qualms with Tenchi once again holding onto her as they travel through the sky, she agrees with the Juraian prince. Less reluctant than last time, he comes closer, and almost instantly do they disappear.
Meanwhile, up on the Lookout, the Namek and the quarter Saiyan teenager remain draped over the prophecies. For all of the staring and thinking Piccolo has done, Pan thinks he would have something more to say than a grunt every once in a while. He didn't explain it much to her, but apparently his merger with Kami gained him an extensive bank of knowledge, including a familiarity with Juharajin language. The former guardian even had some belongings on him when he arrived on Earth hundreds of years ago, an example being some papers of his own in the form of scrolls. The original papers had the ancient language of the seers Pan encountered in the past translated into the Namekian language. Whether he knew it would be helpful one day or he just got really bored guarding the planet, Kami made a translation into one of the more prominent Earth languages. It just so happens this is what Pan and the others all speak natively.
At school she always hated foreign language class the most right behind math. That means that pouring over these strangely constructed sentences is not only boring but harder than it would be if she listened to her mom and actually paid attention in class. She sighs, picking one of the papers up and taking a few seconds to stare at it.
"This one says…" Piccolo looks over in interest though he tries to hide it. "Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice, or lighting lest these titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash."
"Let me see that." She hands it over to him, and he reads it for a second before setting it back down in annoyance. "It doesn't say that." She just shrugs.
"Guess I watched too much Pokemon at home."
"If you're not going to take this seriously, there are other things I can do that won't be wasting my time." Right away she regrets her last move and hopes he really won't give up on these.
"I'm sorry, Piccolo," she futilely tries. "It's just these are so hard to read."
"Nothing worth doing is easy, Pan," he reminds her calmly.
"I know." She looks down at the table and fiddles with the edge of one of the papers.
"You remind me a lot of Gohan." Her head snaps up at that, and she looks over. "He was always so eager to help, but he wasn't always the most patient. He's smart, though and picks things up quickly when he really tries."
"So you think I can read these if I just try harder?"
"If Gohan could survive teaching your mother how to fly, you can survive reading some papers." She laughs a little at that, picturing the scene as it was explained to her by Mirai the week before (he and Gohan spent time catching up). She isn't even surprised he was able to figure out the other half of her heritage. Though Piccolo is not one to show open amusement often, he is glad that makes her feel better. She has another question, however.
"Hey, you've been reading through a lot of these, but you haven't told me anything. How come?"
"Most of them have nothing to do with Gohan, the other one, or the Triad. It seems they just gave you their whole collection and assumed you would be able to read them and sort through everything."
"Well, that was dumb of them," she says indignantly, forgetting how generous the gift really was on their part. He doesn't answer as he reads another paper. "I guess I'll just look for keywords then."
"Hold on a minute, Pan," he interrupts her. She looks over at him again and waits. The silence lasts no more than thirty seconds.
"What is it?" she asks nervously. He doesn't answer right away as he sets the page down, making sure he read it correctly. "Seriously, what does it say?"
"It's nothing, Pan. Just keep reading."
"If it's nothing, then why is the great Piccolo suddenly looking a little pale?" He doesn't respond, and she gets frustrated. "C'mon, Piccolo! I came here for your help, and if you found out something important, you can't just keep it to yourself."
"I'm not certain I'm even interpreting it correctly." His roadblock she knocks down.
"So share it with me. They say two minds are better than one, even if one of them is yours." Still the tall green man keeps silent, unsure of whether he should really burden this prediction on her. Then again, she is right. Any information they uncover needs to be shared and examined.
"The best way to translate this passage is, 'The child will betray the father, and the warrior will align himself with the darkness"." Hearing that, she doesn't respond right away.
"Is it…is it talking about me?"
"Look, for all we know, it could be talking about Amiruso. The other One may even have a child we don't know about."
"But it could be me. How would they know I would come to the past, though? What am I talking about? They predict the future. Of course they would've seen it."
"Calm down, kid. We don't know anything for certain. This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you."
"What about the second part?" she goes on, unaffected by his words. "Is my dad supposed to be the warrior? But he wouldn't turn evil, would he?"
"I said calm down," he orders, this time more gruffly. She stops and listens. "Didn't you also say the man who gave these to you said not all of them would come true?" She nods. "Then we have no reason to worry right now. We need to stay focused and go through as many of these as we can. Then maybe we'll have a better chance of understanding everything, alright?"
"Okay," she agrees, finally seeming to calm down all the way.
"Good. Now continue trying to translate." Without a word of complaint further, she picks one of the papers up and begins comparing some of the words to the translation page. He does the same but without the cheat sheet. What he isn't telling her, however, is the last thing it said. Until they know for certain, he will not share that with anyone.
"Bye, Mom!" Gohan calls as he leaves out the front door.
"Be careful, honey! Don't be out too late!" she calls after him. The first part is a bit embarrassing, but he lets it slide because she has had to worry about him more than a parent ever should. Besides, he has more important things to concentrate on. He was simply going to try and call Videl later on, but after his talk with Tenchi, he can't wait to tell her. Doing it over the phone doesn't seem appropriate, though, so he decided to head on over to her house again after he ate dinner and sparred with Goten once more. By now Mr. Satan is probably home from his dojo, and as long as his daughter isn't too ill, he'll have no problem with letting Gohan in to visit. At least, Gohan hopes so since they are close friends now after the whole tournament and Buu thing. Speaking of Buu, he'll be able to see how the pink blob is doing in his new life. Even though it is important, Ami's suggestion of teaching her ki control is at the back of his mind. He'll bring it up if there's time, but he doesn't want to bug her too much when she isn't completely well. Talking so deeply with the other One eclipses anything else anyway except his concern for the girl he is going to visit.
In a flash he takes to the air and jets straight toward Satan City. Unfortunately he won't be able to fly the whole way there and will have to stop just out of the city limits so he can keep his identity intact. Of course, with his blinding speed he'll just run the rest of the distance. No one will be able to see who he is so there's no danger. He can't wait so see what his close friend will think of this afternoon.
After no time at all he finds himself at the gates of the mansion. With no hesitation he walks right up to the door and uses the bell for fear of his strength accidentally knocking it off of its hinges. That probably wouldn't be very good with Hercule allowing him and all. Speaking of the man, he hears him yell loudly at his butler that he will get the door in an unusual turn of character. Then again, as Gohan is not aware of, the champ was walking by anyway, and he would rather have his butler finish the meal he was in the middle of helping to prepare. The door swing open, and the afro-haired man stares at the young man he once stole credit from.
"Oh, hey, Gohan," he greets friendlily. "What brings you around?"
"I came by earlier to see Videl, but one of your butlers wouldn't let me in. I just wanted to make sure she was okay."
"Oh, she's fine, but she was complaining about not even getting a sick day away from homework or something like that." Gohan laughs nervously, pretty sure his friend figured out it was he who brought over the assignments.
"Would it be okay if I could talk to her for a few minutes? I won't be long."
"Well, I don't know. I want her to rest up."
"I'm fine, Dad," a voice says from behind the lumbering man. Both males look to see.
"Uh, hey, Videl," Gohan says anxiously like when they were first friends.
"You don't need to sound so nervous, Gohan. I don't have some contagious disease."
"Sorry." He rubs the back of his neck.
"Aren't you going to invite him in, Dad?"
"Of course. Come on in." He opens the door as wide as it can go, and his daughter's friend comes in quietly. "I'll go let Buu know dinner's almost done. You're welcome to stay, Gohan."
"No thank you. I ate with my family before I came over."
"Like that Saiyan stomach of yours would object to more food," she comments in her more usual sarcastic manner.
"Looks like you're feeling better," he says more to himself even though the other two in his company hear as well. Hercule speaks next, though, his daughter getting angry at her friend the last thing he wants at least until she is all the way better from her cold. Plus an angry Videl is not so fun.
"You two can wait in the living room then until it's ready. I'll go tell Buu. I hope he can wait ten more minutes. Oh, and Bee needs to be fed too. I better get his special food ready." He walks off mumbling somewhat to himself as the pair watches the champ.
"Bee gets special food?" he asks, finding that to sound somewhat funny.
"Are you kidding? He spoils that dog."
"Your father is an odd man," he concludes.
"And Goku's the most normal guy in the world." He grins at that, agreeing that his dad is weird too. Suddenly, though, the reason for his visit rushes back into the forefront of his mind, and his serious nature takes him over. It isn't hard for her to take notice.
"I actually came over because I wanted to talk to you about something."
"It doesn't have to do with the assignments you gave the butler, does it?"
"No," he answers seriously even at her teasing. He really is serious about what ever it is, she thinks. "It's about the Triad and this afternoon." He needs say no more than that before she wordlessly leads him into the room her father suggested they hang out in the time before the meal is finished. He sits stiffly on the couch, his fists balled and resting on his legs. Just his aura is enough to prevent her from relaxing in her own home, and she sits almost as tensely as he does. His eyes downcast, he doesn't speak right away. He was so anxious, but now he is almost hesitant.
"What is it, Gohan?" For some reason, just her tone eases his edgy feelings, and with a small sigh, he begins his tale of this day's happenings.
"After I came home, I talked to Amiruso for a little bit. He suggested that I teach you better ki control just in case, and I agreed with him. Would it be alright with you?"
"You mean you want to teach me how to blow things up with my energy?" He nods. "Of course I want to learn." That brightens him up. "I thought about asking you, but we've been so busy with school and fighting crime, and then Amiruso showed up."
"That's great. We can start lessons tomorrow if you're feeling better." She sort of frowns.
"Why can't we start after dinner?"
"Because I know no matter what you say, you aren't a hundred percent well yet." The comeback he anticipates coming he deflects before the thought takes the form of verbal words. "I can read energy, remember? You're still a little sick." Knowing he is right and no matter how much she wishes this damn two-day cold was completely out of her system, she only crosses her arms and agrees to start after school tomorrow. Even if some of the germs are still hanging around, she has ways to make him do things. Glad that is settled for now, he moves on to his next topic. "After that, I kind of had a visitor."
"Kind of?"
"It was Tenchi." At that, she practically falls from her seat.
"What?"
"And Ryoko was waiting outside. Ami left, and we talked for about half an hour about everything. He knew it was me before I knew it was him. Does that make sense?" He scratches his chin and then concludes it came out as he meant it to. "He's been training his whole life, too. His grandfather was a prince and has been teaching him the way of the sword. That's only one of the many things we talked about."
"It took you two long enough," she finally replies. He only looks confused that she would be anything other than happy. Then again, no matter how much she has grown up since meeting him and his friends, she is still impatient a lot of the time.
"Yeah, well I was worried about just going up and asking him. I could have been wrong. Then someone else at school would think I'm a freak."
"Gohan, I don't think you're a freak. And Erasa, Sharpener, and Pencil all thought it was really cool when they found out you were Saiyaman." He agrees and looks down, recalling how they cheered him on at the tournament. His worries were more serious, she realizes, but it isn't like the young man to postpone something when the fate of the universe is involved. His reluctance must be deeper like his fear of something happening to her because of his destiny. Vegeta may openly be in denial, but it almost seems like Gohan is somewhat there himself about it. They all have confidence in him, especially her, and now things can move forward. He and Tenchi can seriously begin to prepare. They can save the universe again. To break him out of his seriousness, she pats him on the shoulder sort of teasingly. "Well, now you have one less thing to worry about. I think I should talk to him, too. Hey, the five of us should all hang out sometime soon."
"Maybe," is his only reply. She almost frowns at his lack of enthusiasm, but she refrains.
Before anything else can be said between the pair, Mr. Buu, Bee, and her father appear coming down the stairs. At the sight of Gohan, Buu brightens up because he hasn't seen him around lately. The pink blob really likes his new group of friends.
"Yay, Gohan!" the former monster claps his hands. "Buu missed Gohan." He stands up to be polite and walks over to the three of them, telling Buu hi as well as rubbing behind Bee's left ear. The puppy's tongue hangs out, small specks of drool landing on the carpet. The butler comes out to announce the meal is finished, prompting Videl to finally stand up.
"Well, who's hungry?" the champ asks as thinks about his favorite dish waiting for him.
"Buu hungry!" Bee barks to show his agreement, and those three head into the dining room first followed by Videl who is half-dragging Gohan as his eyes again seem to drift away in thought. Tomorrow when they are training she will get to the real bottom of it all. Of that he will have no defense against.