Chapter Eleven: Here comes trouble!
Chapter Notes:
A/N: -
The old man was restocking his shop's shelves.
He was lifting heavy wooden crates that, long ago, was nothing for him. However, this time, he was only managing through putting in sheer effort.
He wheezed and paused to catch his breath before he coughed blood.
It had been happening a lot lately.
He was often out of breath and was coughing blood. Still, he told himself that he couldn't die now. He still had a duty to make sure that he see his granddaughter off to a good future before he leaves the world.
He wiped his mouth and hands free of his blood with a clean handkerchief and proceeded to continue heaving the wooden crates, but he heard a loud crack before he felt a sharp pain on his hip.
He didn't even manage to hold his hip. In a split of a second, he was falling, falling… and blacking out.
He hit the ground with a thud.
Mr. Lao, after fighting his old age, had fallen at last.
The smell of tobacco was strong in the room.
A short man could be seen sitting on a massive chair puffing a cigar on one hand and holding a glass of bourbon in the other.
He wasn't in the least bit pleased.
"So the man finally croaked?" he enquired.
"No, sir. He's still alive. Just hospitalized - for a hip fracture," Sherry, the dark haired girl from before, replied.
Mr. Borbonne slammed his fist on the table.
"Dammit, Sherry! I pay you a fortune every time you give him the poison and now you tell me that he's hospitalized for a hip fracture?" he steamed. "Do you know that the doctors might discover traces of poison in his body when they try to cure him? They will give him antidotes! I'm sure of it."
He paused and calmed himself down.
It wasn't really the girl's fault that the old man was straining himself so he came to a rational conclusion.
"Alright. I've decided. I have a new assignment for you," he said. "Which hospital did you say the old man got hospitalized in?"
"I'm not sure, sir. But the closest one from Chazke Village is at Satan City."
"Good. I want you to check the records and find out if he's there. Then," he puffed a ring of smoke smugly. "Then, burn it down to the ground."
Sherry nodded her acknowledgment.
She was young - only about in her her late teens - but that didn't stop her from doing these sorts of jobs. She wanted money and she would do anything for it.
"If the price is right," she hinted.
Mr. Borbonne grunted unhappily.
"Fine. But I expect you to do the job properly this time."
He would stop at nothing to get back at the girl that ruined his scheme seven years ago.
It was the end of February and about fifteen days after Videl gave Gohan the 'Confession of Love' chocolates.
The sun was blazing hot though it was technically the last day before the start of Autumn.
The incident of Videl's supposed confession to (in the girls' opinion) the cute nerd boy was still fresh in the student's minds and Gohan found himself being slapped in the back by most of his male classmates.
Of course, it wasn't a friendly slap. It was a slap meant to hurt him. The males would try and smack his back with all the force that they could muster, but they hurt their hands instead. They have not yet started forming groups but in time, they will and the bullying would only escalate.
For now, Videl had avoided talking to Gohan as she let the disaster that she caused pass.
In a way, it was beneficial for both parties because Gohan found himself some breathing space after her intense grilling and investigations.
However, the peace would not last long.
Knowing this, Dende threw his cane on the immaculate floor tiles at Kami's Lookout with a sigh of resignation and said, "Popo, if Gohan comes here, tell him I went on a vacation."
Mr. Popo just opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water with a drop of sweat trickling down his temple.
"But… Your Holiness-"
"Actually, I might as well take a real vacation. Take care of stuff here. I'm off to the Bahamas."
And with that, Dende left for a day of rest and relaxation and left poor Mr. Popo to manage the world while he was away, during which things didn't go well for our teenage hero.
Gohan landed hurriedly at the school's rooftop.
Erasa had left early as usual after she pecked him goodbye on the cheek. She was initially confused at Videl's 'confession' to Gohan but when her best friend did her best to explain the situation to her, she understood and she decided to continue dedicating herself to Gohan.
She had resolved to do so, which is ironical because this was the reason why she never got along well with her mother.
She understood that this was hypocritical of her, therefore, she resolved that - if she had the chance - she would apologize to her mother. However, she has yet to forgive her father for the thousand-and-one things that he had done wrong to her and her mother.
Gohan didn't know all this, of course. All he knew was that he woke up late after finishing the last bar of chocolate that he got from the girls during Valentine's Day.
He could have finished it all in one sitting, however, his mother made him hand everything over to her so that she could dispense it at three chocolates a day for each both Gohan and Goten and, interestingly, Erasa.
"But mum!" both of the half-Saiyans tried to argue.
However, Chichi wouldn't have any of it and reasoned that it's bad for their teeth. Though, really, she only wanted to have better control of them while the chocolates lasted.
"Wake up early and on time!" she would nag before threatening, "Do it or else I'll throw all the chocolates away."
Of course, this succeeded until the chocolates ran out and so, Gohan found himself waking up late again once the incentive had disappeared and was one again faced with the wrath of the frying pan after a fifteen day break from it.
He was late and so he rushed out of the house, landed at the school's rooftop and changed back to his normal school clothes without thinking about checking if there were people there. He was so used to being alone at the rooftop in the mornings that he forgot to check but he was lucky that day because Videl was avoiding him.
However, he noticed a certain red-haired girl leaning against the wall at the rooftop when he became aware of his surroundings.
"Hiya, Gohan!" the girl cheerfully greeted.
The girl's name was Angela, though, Gohan forgot that at that moment in time.
All he knew was that he recognized the girl's face somewhere and he was nervous because he was unsure if whether or not the girl saw him transform.
"Uh… hi there, um… uh… Andrea?"
"It's Angela!" the girl giggled. "Oh you. How could you forget? I see you every Wednesday during music class. We even have the project due today, remember?"
"Uh… right," Gohan replied back nervously. "Could she have seen me transform into my Saiyaman costume?"
"Anyway, Anthea-"
"Angela!"
"Yes, Angela. I have to go now. The bell has rung. We're late for class. See you!" Gohan hurriedly said as he rushed down the stairs.
As he did so, he was mentally kicking himself.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!"
As Gohan joined class (late as usual), his homeroom teacher, Ms. Mademoiselle was already halfway through done with her announcements.
"Mr. Son! Late again az usual, but of course, I deed giff you permizion," she self-justified. "Very vell, sit down."
As Gohan went to his seat, he was greeted as usual by Erasa.
"Hey, there cutie. Guess your girlfriend's earlier than you today," she teased.
Videl shot her best friend a scowl but didn't deny anything because she knew that it would be futile.
Gohan denied the notion strongly though - as he normally did - from which Videl felt a painful stab in her heart (though she didn't know why).
"Keep quiet, Mr. Son! Alvays and every time, you disrupt my class. Zis is ze last warning, Mr. Son, or I vill call your parents," Ms. Mademoiselle threatened.
Of course, the thought of his mother being informed of his misbehavior scared our young hero and so, he shut up and listened to the rest of the announcements.
"Now, as I was saying, zis might be a bit sudden, but ve have just received a call from Capsule Corporation. Of course, you all know zat Capsule Corporation iz ze company responsible for ze technology ve haff today. Vithout ze Capsule Corporation, ve might still be living in a vorld vithout electricity, cars, jet copters, airplanes, and of course, zeir best invention, the DynoCaps.
"Now ze Capsule Corporation Headquarters itself gave us a call zis morning for a surprise three day, two night field trip! Isn't zat exciting?! Az far az I know, ve are ze first school zat's been invited for a field trip!
"Ze catch is, ze field trip iz tomorrow and zey requested zat ve make ze students do a report on zeir visit to Capsule Corporation and make it part of ze student's final grades - ten percent of your final grades, in fact. Of course, ve didn't vant to pass up on ze opportunity and readily agreed so you vill haff to convince your parents to sign zis form by tonight."
Both Gohan and Erasa groaned to themselves.
Gohan was certain that more of his secrets would be revealed if they went to a three day, two night field trip to Capsule Corporation. What was Bulma thinking?! Moreover, he was sure that his mother would definitely sign the form since, though she was the one who told him to keep his strength hidden, it was also true that she cared more about his education.
Erasa on the other hand groaned because she now had to worry about whether or not the school would accept Chichi's signature. She wanted to try however since she was proud to call Gohan's mother her own, now that she had spent quite some time with the Son Family but, just in case, she thought about photocopying the form and forging either her mother's or father's signature.
During music class, Gohan had to sing along with Erasa and Angela who played the violin and the piano respectively.
His singing was so bad that Mr. Hovenbeet had to cover his ears and stop him.
It was a miracle that none of the windows broke!
Mr. Hovenbeet gave him a pass, however, because he unknowingly threatened to bust the poor man's already partially deaf eardrums with more of his singing in the case that he failed and redid the project.
After their performance, for the rest of the class, Gohan grew increasingly nervous at Angela's constant stares - something which Erasa noticed.
"What is her problem?" whispered a curious-for-gossip Erasa.
"Actually, I don't know," Gohan lied as he scratched the back of his head so similarly to his father.
Knowing that Gohan was lying, Erasa pressed the matter.
"Come on, Gohan. I know you're lying. I've been livi-"
Gohan panicked and covered Erasa's mouth his the palm of his hand.
"Yikes! Shhhh! Don't say that aloud in public."
Of course, Erasa knew that and she wasn't really going to complete the sentence. It was a partial threat to make Gohan tell her what was really going on.
The gesture didn't escape Mr. Hovenbeet's notice and he shouted from across the room.
"Mr. Son, I may be deaf but I'm not blind. Come over here."
When Gohan walked over, he handed Gohan two empty buckets of water.
"Fill these two buckets with water and come back here. Don't dilly dally now, young man!"
Gohan proceeded to fill the two buckets with water and wondered what was going on.
"Right, young man. You do know that there are other people doing their performances, do you not?" he didn't wait for an answer and continued. "Just because you've already passed doesn't mean you should disrupt the class and let other students who haven't been graded yet, suffer.
"Now, I want you to go outside to the hallway, carry these buckets, and think about your actions. Don't put them down. It's a punishment… oh yes… can you feel the burn yet? Don't worry, you will feel it soon enough."
Gohan stood outside the hallway carrying the two buckets wondering what Mr. Hovenbeet meant by 'feel the burn'.
The punishment that the music teacher assigned to him wasn't even a punishment.
Meanwhile, Angela was day dreaming about our young hero during class.
Gohan had already been popular with girls from before and not even Videl's 'confession' dissuaded them from trying. Among those girls was Angela, and she had seen something which she felt that she could use to make Gohan hers.
As she was day dreaming about going on a date with Gohan, she was unconsciously drawing the half-Saiyan's face on her notebook. She had decorated it with his name and enclosed the letters with hearts and stuff.
Mr. Hovenbeet cleared his throat.
"Ahem. Well, it looks like Mr. Son isn't the only one who's causing trouble in my class. So," he paused. "What do we have here, Miss Angela?"
He made a move to see what Angela was doing, but the red-haired girl covered her notebook with her body and started faking a cry.
"I'm sorry, sir! Uwah! I'm rea-*sniff*-really sohuhuhurryyyy."
Dumbfounded, the poor teacher could only stare and wonder if he had done too much to the teen.
"Uh… well… whatever, go outside and reflect on your actions and never do it again," he said.
Angela perked up immediately and cheerfully replied, "Okay, Professor," before she joined Gohan outside in the hallways.
When she went outside, he found Gohan, who was staring at the wall in front of him with a bored look, carrying the two buckets of water effortlessly. However, she didn't notice the latter part as she was only more than happy to join him.
"Hiya, Gohan," she said flirtatiously.
"Oh crap! It's the girl from this morning!" Gohan thought.
"Oh, uh… hi there, Angelina-"
"It's Angela!" the red-haired girl pouted.
"Oh yes… Angela. So, what's up?" Gohan laughed nervously.
"Oh nothing, just been sent out of class."
"Ahaha, that's great! I mean, that's bad… I mean… whatever."
There was a short silence where Angela just stared at the walls for a few seconds before she went to the point.
"Actually, Gohan, I saw something very interesting."
"Oh? Uh, what's that?" Gohan asked, though he already knew and feared the answer.
"Oh… something. You know, don't you, Gohan?" Angela said in a ominous yet sweet manner.
"I… d-don't know what you're talking about, haha…"
"Don't lie, Gohan. You know that I know that you know what I know. So…" she paused and waited.
Confused at Angela's statement, Gohan blurted out a, "Huh? So?"
"Yeah, so… go out on a date with me!" Angela exclaimed and demanded.
Still confused, Gohan asked, "Huh? Go out on a date? I can't do that!"
"And what's a date anyway?" he thought to himself. Whatever the word meant, he was sure that it didn't mean a good one.
"Oh, come on, Gohan. I know that you and Videl are together, but if you don't go out on a date with me, I'll tell everyone your secret."
"Th-that's crazy! Please, don't tell everyone. I beg you."
Gohan was pressured to the point that he didn't even deny being together with Videl.
Angela pretended not to notice his distress and said slyly, "Hm, I don' know Gohan. It seems like a pretty big secret to me."
"Please, I'll do anything!" Gohan begged.
"Anything?"
"Anything!"
"Hm, well alright then. So go out on a date with me after the field trip."
Gohan sighed and resigned himself to reluctantly agreeing, "Oh, alright then," though he didn't really know what a date was. He was going to look up the word later in the dictionary though he doubted that it would really change anything.
The lovely smell of Chinese food wafted around the Son Residence.
Erasa was dicing the meat like a pro.
She had only been staying with the Son Family for about half a month but she had already learned the basics of cooking from Chichi.
After she and Chichi finished cooking, they called out to the boys.
During dinner, Gohan seemed down, so Chichi asked him if anything was up and he replied, "Well, there's this girl in my music class. Her name's Angela and she found out that I'm the Great Saiyaman."
Before Chichi could reply, Erasa cut in and exclaimed in surprise, "Wait, what? YOU MEAN YOU'RE THE GREAT SAIYAMAN?!"
Uh oh, it seems that Gohan had gotten so comfortable with having Erasa around the house that he had forgotten that she didn't know all of his secrets yet. However, he knew that she would find out eventually and besides, he found a good friend in the blonde girl and so he didn't bother lying this time.
"Well, yeah," he said, scratching his cheek.
He then pressed the red button on his wristwatch calmly to prove it.
"See?"
Erasa just stared open mouthed at Gohan.
She knew that he was hiding something, but this was too much. It was like someone dropped an atomic bomb on her!
"I don't believe it!" she exclaimed. "How's it possible for you to lift up those airplanes and block bullets?"
There were too many questions to ask but Chichi calmed the girl down and said, "Now, dear. I know it's a bit sudden but I don't think you're ready to find out about the reasons yet."
"There was more?" Erasa thought.
Her brain exploded with more questions, so much that she felt a slight pang of dizziness, but she didn't press the matter. She respected the Son Family's privacy and she respected Chichi's decision.
"Well, alright then. I guess that explains why you're only a few minutes late to school even though you're always up late."
"Gohan, you're always late for school?" growled Chichi. "This is the first time I'm hearing of this."
Erasa giggled as the scene played out where Chichi scolded her son.
Little Goten held out his bowl to her and asked her politely, "May I have some more rice please?"
"Sure," she replied back delightedly.
If anything, Gohan and Goten were both raised right. They were very polite compared to the other men that she'd met.
As she served Goten more rice, she remembered something.
"Oh, that's right. Gohan, have you gotten your form signed yet?"
"Uh, no. I was kind of hoping to discuss the matter with my mother later."
"What form is this, Gohan?" Chichi enquired.
Erasa took it upon herself to explain.
"Well, you see, today there was an announcement that we're having a field trip to Capsule Corporation tomorrow. We're supposed to get our parents to sign these forms to show that they're allowing us to come."
"Urgh! What is that blue-haired woman thinking?! She knows that you and Gohan go to that school. I told her before; I don't want to attract any attention to our family!" Chichi complained.
"Exactly, mum! That's why I wanted to talk to you to ask you to get me an exemption."
"You bet I will!"
"Uh, but Gohan, aren't you forgetting that we're supposed to do a report about the visit and that it will be worth ten percent of our final grades?"
"What? How dare you skip out that detail, young man? Don't you care for your education?"
It was amazing how quickly Chichi changed her mind!
"That settles it, you're going tomorrow, whether you like it or not!"
Then her tone turned softer, "Do you want me to sign your forms as well, Erasa dear?"
Erasa blushed slightly in embarrassment.
She didn't want to impose on Chichi but it sure felt nice how she's treating her like her own daughter. In a way, she felt more at home at the Son Residence and Chichi felt more like a mother to her than her biological one.
"Um… if you don't mind," she said shyly.
"Come now, don't be shy. Of course I don't mind," Chichi smiled. "You're part of the family now."
And with that, Chichi signed both Gohan's and Erasa's field trip forms before sending them both off to bed early so that they won't late for school and miss the bus for the field trip tomorrow.
End of Chapter Eleven
To be continued...