Royal Arrival - Chapter 14.
Gohan had to wonder how he managed to get dragged into doing this. They were just walking around town doing not much, were his thoughts. But he supposed he had to 'fit in' somewhat, he had already made a pretty grand entrance and introduction to his new school.
Celeria was much along the same lines as Gohan, except she managed to 'fit in' a bit better, considering she had met many more new people than Gohan had before. Well, that was until Vegeta took over, mentioning she was his sister and broke the bleachers with a ball to scare off beta's, which was pretty much all human males as far as he was concerned.
"They clean up quick..." Videl noted when they saw the new mall was open again. But she supposed there wasn't much damage done in the burglary and no one was hurt... Except the burglars... Courtesy of a strange girl with what looked like superhuman strength and skill.
"We have to check it out! Come on!" Erasa exclaimed in her usual bubbly and enthusiastic attitude and began tugging on Mirai Trunks' arm, causing the future teen to blush. 'Poor Trunks.' Gohan thought, but he was glad it wasn't him getting pulled along for once.
"Tsh. Watch you and Videl buy clothes? Not a chance." Sharpener stated "I'm going nowhere near the clothes section."
"Come on, Celeria! Come with us!" Erasa chirped. It looked as if no one was getting away from the ever-bubbly, blonde.
"I guess..." Celeria agreed sheepishly.
Gohan spotted a very familiar car parked on the other side of the street, in the parking lot, and began to cross the street 'I know that car...' The car was probably one of the flashier looking ones there, given that it was custom made, with a red coat of paint.
"Someones excited to go to the mall..." Sharpener droned out. The group began following Gohan over the street, but using the crossing instead, the street was busy, it didn't phase Gohan, though.
Gohan walked up to the car to see a young man lazing in the front seat, the window was down slightly "Hey, Lapis, been a while." Gohan greeted him.
Lapis turned his head and opened his eyes to look at Gohan with surprise in his icy blue eyes "Gohan? Hey, buddy. Yeah, it's been months. What're you doing here?"
"Uh, well, my mother enrolled me into school a few days ago, Orange Star. Schools finished for the day, so I'm just 'hanging out' as they say." Gohan chuckled.
After the incident with the Androids seven years ago, Lapis and Lazuli had to try and fit into normal society again, their personality for the most part had come back after some years. It's not like they had anything to go on as most of their memories were suppressed in order for Gero's programming to work properly. For Gohan he was simply isolated from society for most of his life.
Lapis began to chuckle "Gohan the student boy. That sounds an awful lot like you."
Gohan frowned "Not really... It's way too easy, anyway."
"So you're just hanging out by yourself?" Lapis questioned.
"No, I'm with some friends, I saw your car and ran over. What're you doing out here anyway?" Gohan asked.
"... Sis is buying clothes, so I opted to stay out here... You know her." He informed with a bored expression.
Gohan chuckled sheepishly "Yeah..."
"Gohan, who're you talking to?" Celeria asked as she and the group of teens finally met up with him. Gohan introduced them to Lapis, who merely nodded his head in acknowledgement. Erasa went into fangirl mode mentioning how Gohan knew all the 'cute guys', to which Videl face-palmed in response.
"Still not a fan of me I see." Lapis noted as he looked at Mirai Trunks pointedly with a smirk. Mirai stood back several metres from them
Gohan scratched the back of his head "Heh... That's going to take a while..."
"Well, he is Vegeta's son." Gohan nodding his head in agreement.
"Man, this is a sweet ride!" Sharpener pointed out as he looked over the car.
"Isn't she?" Lapis said with a smirk as he gripped the steering wheel "Christine and I have been through a lot together."
"Christine? You named you car, Christine?" Videl asked, perplexed by it all. 'What a weirdo...'
"You've done some work on her since I last seen you." Gohan pointed out as he looked the car over and on the inside.
"Yup." He said with pride "Wait till you see what I've done under the hood." He said as he popped the hood of the car before exiting it. Lapis lifted the hood up exposing the V12 in all her glory, Gohan and Sharpener gaping, the latter with drool on his chin.
Sharpener suddenly bolted upright "Wait! I get it! You named your car after the one from that Stephen King novel. They made a movie out of it!" He exclaimed.
Lapis nodded with a smile "That's the one."
"Heh... I suppose she doesn't go around murdering all the 'shitters', though." He said with a laugh.
"Who said she doesn't?" Lapis said and looked at him with a black expression. Sharpener paused in his laugh and stood there uncomfortably before Lapis began to chuckle "Oh come on, you actually bought that? Cars can't be murderers." He began to laugh and Sharpener awkwardly joined in.
"Ah-ha-ha..."
Lapis stopped laughing as he put the hood of his car back down, he then paused with his hand on the hood as if he was contemplating something "But hey, what do I know? She could simply be doing it without my knowledge like most of the movie..." He continued, causing Sharpener to stop laughing "But by then it'd be too late..." Gohan stood behind Sharpener with a smirk on his face as he shook his head at Lapis' humour.
Videl had her hands on her hips "It's just a damn car..." She said in disdain.
"He could check me out like that any time..." Erasa said with red cheeks and jealousy.
Videl deadpanned "... Let's just get to the damn mall." Videl turned her head to Celeria "You coming?"
"Uh, yes..." Celeria agreed, finding confusion in the whole situation.
Videl, Erasa and Celeria left the guys and started heading to the mall. The guys eventually caught up. Mirai was still hanging back from the group, refusing to walk with them.
"So how long have you two known each other?" Videl questioned.
"I've known him since he was just a little kid. I guess now he's just a kid." Lapis joked as he patted Gohan on the head.
Gohan grumbled, batting his hand away "And I can still kick your ass..." Gohan mumbled.
"Touché." Lapis acknowledged.
"I'm surprised you decided to come with us into the mall, Lapis." Gohan pointed out.
"Normally I wouldn't. But I suppose that now you're here, it won't be so boring. You attract trouble and excitement wherever you go, it's genetic." He explained with a smirk.
"Hey, I don't attract trouble... It's all just a coincidence." Gohan frowned.
"Hm, yeah, I forget; you go looking for it. But it suits me just fine, you'll find it eventually." Lapis chuckled, ignoring Gohan's defence.
"Anyway... You said your sister was here?" Gohan questioned.
"Sure, she should be around here somewhere. I suppose we could go look for her." The group made their way through the mall, some shops were closed because of the incident, but for the most part it was back to normal.
"Gohan?" A feminine voice called out to him, which he recognised easily as Lazuli, Lapis' twin sister.
Gohan spun around and greeted her "Hey, Lazuli, long time no see!"
"Hmph, it has been a while, hasn't it? Honestly, I thought you might have forgotten all about me." She remarked.
Gohan chuckled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head "Heh-heh. It's good to see you. Sorry I didn't come and see you sooner, I was a little pre-occupied."
"So I've heard... You go to school in the exact same city we live in." She gave a blank look that was unreadable. Gohan for the life of him could never know when she was being sarcastic or angry.
Gohan was taken aback "How'd you know?"
"A certain blue-haired genius mentioned it to me." She informed with a smirk.
"Ha-ha-ha... Figures." Gohan said nervously.
"So, who are these people?" She pointed to the group standing next to him "Friends of yours?"
"Uh, yeah." Gohan nodded. He introduced them to her, Lazuli giving them a response just like her brother, a simple nod.
Sharpener wasn't content with a simple greeting to such a 'hot chick' and before Gohan could warn him not to, Sharpener was already walking up to her "Hey, the names Sharpener, but you can just call me Sharp... if you like." He sent her a wink. Lazuli simply folded her arms and continued to look forward as if hardly acknowledging his existence.
Lapis looked on amused, knowing exactly how this would turn out, a verbal castration. Or perhaps he might see something explode 'Oh, please, plea~~se let it be something exploding...'
Gohan raised his hand uneasily "Uh, Sharpener-"
"I thought you looked cute and was wondering if you wanted to ditch these guys, maybe grab a coffee an-" He offered.
"Get lost, weakling." She said simply but with a coldness so unnatural.
"H-Huh?" Sharpener was taken aback, before straightening himself up "Uh, ha-ha, say again?"
"I said; Get lost, little boy. You have absolutely no chance." She reiterated, before walking away from him. Sharpener proceeded to deflate to a miniature version of himself.
Videl snickered "I think I'm going to like this 'Lazuli'."
Celeria, for once, actually agreed with Videl. Sharpener's womanising did get annoying. Gohan was right about Lazuli, though, she did seem distant.
"Don't feel bad, she's like that with all the guys." Lapis smirked. A little disappointed nothing exploded, though.
It wasn't surprising to Gohan, he often saw her give men the cold shoulder. After what the mad scientist, Gero, did to her he couldn't say he blamed her. He did find it odd that he had never seen her with a boyfriend, though he guessed when you have eternal youth you aren't in any rush to have a relationship.
Lazuli stopped and turned to Gohan, staring at him as if she was contemplating something "Gohan, come with me, I need to ask you something." She pretty much ordered before continuing to walk.
Gohan stood there for a moment wondering whether he was in trouble or not before he began to follow her "Uh, sure..."
The others began to follow, besides Lapis. She turned around and narrowed her eyes at them "Alone." She said simply before continuing on. They didn't need much coaching to know that whatever this woman said, goes, and stayed put.
"I wonder what she wants to talk to him about..." Celeria pondered aloud.
Erasa had a mischievous grin on her face "Ooo... A secret romance. Long time friends around company... Lovers in private."
Videl simply couldn't believe her friend sometimes "Erasa..."
"Do you think so?" Celeria asked, turning to Erasa with a frown.
"Who knows? But it's a cute story." She giggled.
Lapis simply shook his head and sighed 'Tsh. Women...'
"To get a girl like that you've gotta be good looking, like me." Sharpener stated proudly.
Scratch that, she couldn't believe both of her friends sometimes "And that's why she rejected you." Videl said dryly.
"She'll come around..." He mumbled.
"Wow Celeria, you frown any more like that and you'll get wrinkles." Erasa winked at her, causing Celeria to shift uncomfortably, Erasa put her hands together and gave her a mischievous grin "I get it, you're jealous."
"Wh-What? That's not it at all!" Celeria exclaimed.
"With a reaction like that, there's no use trying to hide it now." Erasa wagged her finger at Celeria.
"I'm not jealous!"
"Mhm. Keep saying that." Erasa chuckled.
Gohan and Lazuli walked for a bit until Lazuli deemed it appropriate enough for them to speak in private. They stood in between a set of shelves in one of the book stores. "So... Lazuli... What did you need to ask?"
She pondered her words for a moment before she opened her mouth to speak "I was curious to know if your... Future self had returned at all. Have you been in contact with him?" She asked.
'Well... This is completely out of the blue...' Gohan wondered why she, of all people, would want to know that. His future self had made a trip back here once after being revived to 'See what all the fuss was about' and it was on his - Their - birthday of all days. And boy, was it awkward. Come to think of it, Lazuli was there with Bulma, but she never introduced herself to him "Um... No. I haven't seen him since his first trip back." He answered, a bit confused by it all, they hadn't seen him in years.
Gohan noticed what appeared to be disappointment on her face for a split second, but then it left her. Gohan wrote it off as just his mind playing tricks on him "Uh... Any reason as to why you're asking?"
Lazuli frowned at him "No... No reason. Just curious."
"Okay..." Gohan leaned back a bit at her frown.
"So who's the girl? The one with the above average power level? I noticed it entering the planet but my brother and I figured you had it handled." Lazuli asked.
"Well, you wouldn't believe it, but... She's Vegeta's sister." Gohan informed her.
Lazuli's usual blank expression went to that of shock "You're kidding?! She's... Vegeta's sister? But she looks no older than you!"
"Yeah! I was surprised as well. Turns out she travelled time to get here. That's why she's so young."
"But why? What could bring her to travel into the future?" Lazuli asked with a frown.
"She saw the future." Gohan began, making Lazuli quirk an eyebrow before nodding to him to continue "She saw me. My grandfather could too, apparently. So she came here." Gohan explained solemnly. Now he knew why Lazuli wanted to talk about this in private, he doubted it would go down very well with the others.
"Strange. That she came here just to see you."
"Well, we know she has a hidden power similar to mine, my guess is she came here to understand it more."
"Right..." Lazuli stood there silent for a moment "Did Trunks know about her? He is from a future timeline after all."
"Huh?"
Lazuli breathed out exasperatedly before answering "Think, Gohan. If she travelled to the future in this timeline, why would she not travel to the other timeline? Let alone how many more timelines it's created."
"... You raise a fair point..." Gohan was stumped as to why he never though of that. Lazuli was highly intelligent, whether that comes from her cybernetics or her genetics no one knows "No. As far as I know, he first met her here, in this timeline." Gohan scratched his chin in thought.
"Right. Well, that's all I wanted to know, we should head back." She concluded the conversation there and left.
What she could want with his future self was beyond him, so he decided to leave it there, but something - Or someone - Wasn't going to let that happen "Gohan." He heard Mirai Trunks call from behind him, making him jump.
Gohan swung around "Geez! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Gohan then paused, seeing the troubled expression on his friends face "Wait... You've been here the whole time?" Gohan questioned. He should have known Mirai might be around after he wandered off.
Mirai Trunks didn't mince words "What the hell does she want with my Master?!" He exclaimed.
"B-Beats me..." Gohan sweat-dropped. He knew now that Mirai was going to be even more on edge with those two 'Back to square one.' Gohan sighed. "Maybe she just wants to be friends?" Gohan questioned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.
"No... Androids don't just become friends, unless they want something. And I'm going to find out what." Mirai stated.
Gohan was at a loss "Come on, aren't you just thinking too much about this?" Gohan pointed out.
"Me? Thinking too much? Those two nearly wiped out the entire human population." Mirai grit his teeth "No, I'm still going to keep an eye on them."
"Whatever, man..." Gohan waved him off as he walked away.
"Gohan, this is serious!" He heard Mirai call out but continued on 'Yup, he really is Vegeta's Son.'
Lapis and Lazuli found the current situation of the Saiyans, priceless, to say the least. As much as they wanted to gorge themselves on their meals, they had to take it slow, as not to raise suspicion. This made sitting down in the cafeteria all the more worth it. Celeria and Gohan sat there awkwardly trying to savour their food, but if they stayed in the cafeteria for too long, they wouldn't be able to help themselves.
"So where did 'Mirai' go?" Lazuli asked as she sipped at her orange juice.
"Uh... He left."
"Why?" She pressed.
Gohan chuckled sheepishly "Uh, he had something to do back at home. Mothers orders." He tried waving it off. Lazuli scoffed as if not believing it but didn't press any further. She knew he didn't like both her and her brother.
"So, do you two go to University, or something?" Videl questioned.
Lapis chuckled "University? Why waste my time?"
"Just asking... Seeing as you two don't seem too much older than us." She replied. Great way to make things awkward, Gohan thought, but that's Videl for you.
"I own a car shop." He reiterated "That's good enough for me."
"And you?" She asked pointedly to Lazuli.
"Unemployed." She said simply. Although, it wasn't for a lack of trying, she just came off a little too honest and that kept getting her fired or turned away. One of the things she still had to work on. Her last interview for a job at the bank ended on one such note.
"Could you tell us what your greatest weakness is?" Lazuli's employer had asked.
Lazuli sat in a chair on the opposite side of the desk from the banks employer, her legs crossed and arms folded, her head turned to the side "... Honesty." She stated.
Her employer knitted his brows together "Um... Ms. Lazuli... I don't think Honesty is a weakness."
"I really don't give a damn what you think."
Needless to say... She didn't get the job... But good try. She had held down several jobs for a while when things got tough, though, and dealing with customers at her brothers shop gave her some money to put aside.
"Oh... I see." Videl nodded. The group had finished their meals and began wandering the mall, the girls had found a decent clothing store. The men opted to stay well away from that situation, least they become bag carriers. Gohan had learnt that lesson all too well when Lazuli had dragged him off several times on his visits and subsequent exploring of the city.
Lazuli glared at the three who refused to budge from their spot.
"I just remembered that I came here for parts to my car..." Lapis explained.
"I have to go meet someone for a date." Sharpener added.
"Ha-ha... You know what? I just remembered I had to go pick something up... Yeah... For... My dad." Gohan reasoned, his eyes bolting left and right as they stood outside the clothing store.
"They don't sell parts for your car here." Lazuli explained.
"You sure as hell don't have a date." Videl added.
"And for what possible reason could your father, of all people, have need for something from a mall?" Lazuli reasoned.
They opened their mouths but couldn't find any words, there was only one option left for the trio right now, call a tactical retreat "Run! Run for your lives!" Gohan yelled to his brethren. Gohan, Lapis and Sharpener subsequently began legging it from the store.
They managed to get a fair distance down the hallway before Sharpener banged his leg on a steel chair, unceremoniously tripping over and falling on his face.
"We got a man down!" Lapis alerted them.
"Sharpener, no!" Gohan went to assist him "We need a medic!" He called out, but all in vein, on top of the injured leg, the frilliness of the clothing section was causing him to pass out if they didn't find a safe zone soon.
"N-no... Just go... You have to... Leave me behind... S-Save yourselves." Sharpener said weakly.
"They're gaining on us!" Lapis warned.
"You're not giving up on me now." Gohan stated resolutely as he picked Sharpener up and carried him on his shoulder "Go-Go-Go!" He urged, the three continuing on to find a safe zone - Somewhere manly.
Halting in their retreat, Gohan put Sharpener down so as he could lean again the wall "Thanks, Gohan, you saved my life." Sharpener thanked him and held out his hand for Gohan to shake it.
Gohan shook it and replied "I never leave a man behind."
Celeria was at a loss for words as to what went on "Um... What just happened...?"
Lazuli groaned "Men..." Disappointed she didn't have either Gohan or her brother to carry her bags for her, though.