My Life's Stranger Than Yours

(A/N: By the time this chapter's out, this'll be old news, but...I CAN'T FRICKIN' BELIEVE IT! Videl's actually in Dragon Ball FighterZ! She was the ONE character I wanted more than anybody else! They said it wouldn't happen, they said I, and people like me were crazy, BUT WE WERE RIGHT! I already main Adult Gohan, but you better believe I'm gonna main her too! [Current Team: Videl, Gohan, SS Goku, in that order]. That being said, That's not the reason this chapter took a while. Just needed to find my footing with it and if you follow me as an author, you know that I took a short detour to write a quick Valentine's Day Oneshot yesterday featuring DBZ's two best couples. With all that said, let's get into it)

A Little R and R; A Casual Stroll Through Town

Following the brutal battle with Shampoo, Akane had carried Videl through the unusually empty streets of Furinkan until they had arrived at a rather basic looking building.

"Ahhhh, finally. We're here!" Akane proclaimed, setting Videl down.

"Where is here?" asked Videl.

"It's our family clinic. Who better to patch you up than an actual doctor?"

"Hmm...makes sense."

The two girls entered the building only to be greeted with an empty doctor's office.

"Is he not here right now? Dr. Tofu?" Akane called out.

At Akane's voice, a figure suddenly appeared before the two girls revealing itself to be a skeleton.

"KYAAAAA!"

Videl shrieked out stumbling backwards into a sloppy defensive stance.

"Well if it isn't Akane," said a male voice. From behind the skeleton, a man in a black robe and glasses revealed himself.

"Dr. Tofu!" Akane greeted.

The kindly physician let out a chuckle as he hooked the skeleton back on it's stand. "Please excuse Betty over here. She tends to get a little overzealous whenever we get a new patient. I hope she didn't startle you," Tofu apologized to Videl.

"Uhh..." Videl was left with no words as she tried her hardest to get a read on Dr. Tofu. At first glance he seemed like a normal enough doctor, but after that stunt with a skeleton (that he named), she was understandably a little skeptical.

"I have to say it's been a while," Tofu started. "Don't think you've visited since that weakness moxibustion incident."

'Weakness what?'

"Has it really been that long?" Akane murmured. "Regardless, it is nice to see you again too. Though I wish I could say this was a casual visit." Akane replied.

"Hmm, I figured as much. Am I right in assuming your friend here is the reason for your visit? Pardon my saying so, but she looks like she's been through quite a bit."

"You don't know the half of it Doctor."

"Here, wait on the bed over there and I'll be with you in a minute Miss...?"

"Videl."

"Ms. Videl."

"Yes sir," Videl politely replied.

Dr. Tofu stepped out of the room, leaving the two girls alone. As Videl made her way to the bed, she was quickly halted by Akane.

"You know, if you have a spare set of clothes, you might want to take a minute to change." she suggested.

Videl looked down at her clothes and remembered her clothes had been all but cut to ribbons courtesy of one too many close calls with Shampoo and that sword.

"Good call."

Pulling out a capsule, Videl closed the curtain on the bed (just in case) and popped it open in a puff of smoke. In an instant, Videl was now in her trademark 'FIGHT' tunic.

A few minutes later, Tofu soon returned with a roll of bandages and disinfectant spray in hand.

"All right. Let's take a look at that leg of yours."

Taking a seat on the bed, Videl stuck out her leg as Dr. Tofu crouched down to examine the cut before he proceeded to spray the cut down with the disinfectant, causing Videl to wince at the stinging sensation.

"Oh sorry. I probably should've warned you about that," Tofu chuckled.

"Aww that's nothing. I've taken much worse than a little stinging." Videl boasted as he began wrapping her leg up in bandages.

A short moment later, Tofu finished wrapping up Videl's wound before giving her upper thigh one last solid examination.

"Okay. The wound wasn't too bad, but you may want to try not putting too much pressure on your leg for the time being. That being said, It should be okay to remove the bandages in the morning," said Tofu.

"Sure thing," Videl simply replied.

"Actually if you don't mind my asking, how exactly did your leg get cut like that? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I won't lie, I'm rather curious about the whole ordeal. If I didn't know any better, I'd say the cut on your leg was done by a sword," Tofu proclaimed.

Videl's eyes widened at Tofu's deduction. "How...how did you figure that out!?" Videl exclaimed.

Dr. Tofu gave Videl a mildly surprised look. "I was...mostly joking just now. You were really struck with a sword?" he asked.

"It's...kind of a long story," Videl meekly replied.

"Though to make it short, she just had a sparring match with Shampoo." Akane chimed in.

"Shampoo?" Tofu asked. "Ahhh, so that's what it is. You're Ranma's latest suitor, aren't you?" Tofu asked raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

Akane intensely flinched as Videl gave him a confused look. "Wait, what!?"

"Oh...am I mistaken?"

"Dr. Tofu it's not what you think!" Akane interjected. "Videl is NOT another fiancee, and Ranma has nothing to do with this!"

Tofu and Videl both sweatdropped at Akane's outburst, but Videl was just left with a myriad of questions.

"Hold on. What do you mean by 'Ranma's latest suitor,'?" Videl asked.

"Well...I assume you know about Ranma and Akane's engagement, correct?"

"Yeah...?"

"Well, let's just say that Ranma's father has a really bad habit of promising Ranma to various girls for some reason or another," Tofu explained.

"That...that's insane!" Videl exclaimed. "A single arranged marriage is one thing but what kind of parent offers their kid up multiple times!?"

"To be completely fair to Mr. Saotome there've been a couple of times where Ranma gets himself into those kinds of situations, though it's usually been some kind of accident, like in Shampoo's case."

"What do you mean Shampoo's case?" asked Videl.

"You didn't know? Well, to make another long story short, it's the law of Shampoo and Cologne's home village that if one of them is defeated by a man not from their tribe, then the two must get married and well...you've at least seen Ranma fight before correct?"

Videl's eyes widened as her imagination went to work and she pictured a scene of Ranma dealing a finishing blow to a combatative Shampoo.

'So that's why Cologne calls him Son-In-Law,' she realized.

Videl turned to Akane intending to ask a few more questions about Ranma's multiple engagements, but held her tongue when she witnessed her friend clenching her fists tightly, seemingly seething with a serious fury.

"Still, if you can match blows with Shampoo you must be a pretty talented martial artist yourself," Tofu praised.

"Thank you," Videl said with a blush. "Cologne is actually going to start training me." Tofu couldn't help but do a double take at that revelation.

"Is something wrong?" asked Videl.

"No not at all. Though I do wonder what Cologne's true intentions are. She's done some pretty crazy things in her crusade to make Ranma choose Shampoo, so I wouldn't put using you in some way past her." Tofu warned.

Videl giggled. "Thanks for the heads up Doc, but I've already gotten the warning." she said stepping out of the bed. "While I do intend to return what I owe for her training me, I'm not just going to let myself be a pawn in some scheme." she added sternly.

Videl lightly kicked her leg out a couple of times to try and get a feel for the bandages. Thankfully it didn't seem like they'd interfere with her walking too much.

'Hmmm...not bad.'

"How's it feel Videl?" asked Akane.

Right after Videl answered with a simple thumbs up, a low rumble filled the room, eliciting a blush to appear on her face.

let out a light chuckle. "Well, it sounds like you have a healthy appetite at least."

Akane couldn't help but giggle as Videl sheepishly turned her head aside.

"Thanks for your help Dr. Tofu," Akane called as she and Videl made their exit with a pair of waves. As the two girls disappeared, Tofu sat back in his chair and wheeled himself over to Betty.

"I don't know about you Betty, but I think our town is about to get a whole new kind of shaken up."

[A few minutes later]

"Well...that was one of the most...eventful doctor visits I've ever had...at least for just a simple patch up," Videl said.

"Dr. Tofu's a character alright, but he really is a great doctor. At least...when Kasumi's not near him." Akane mused.

"Kasumi, your sister...? On second thought, I don't want to know," Videl dismissed. "What I would like to know is..."

"What?" asked Akane. "Videl...? Know what?"

Akane turned to see Videl standing motionless with a bright eyed expression on her face.

"Videl?"

"What is that amazing smell!?" Videl exclaimed.

Akane raised a confused eyebrow, but in the next instance, she too got a whiff of something appetizing. Appetizing, but also familiar. The smell was soon accompanied by a fast moving shadow darting over their heads. Turning their attention upwards, the two girls caught a glimpse of a feminine looking figure covered in a LOT of red, from her clothes right down to her hair, carrying what looked like a takeout box soaring overhead and landing on a nearby rooftop.

Pausing for a moment, she let out a breath before reaching inside the box and pulling out a disc shaped food and taking a sizable bite out of it.

"Mmph! Just what I needed!" she satisfyingly murmured. "Okay, NOW it's time to hit the ice-cream place." With a grunt, she hopped off to another nearby rooftop until she was out of sight.

The two short-haired girls simply stood motionless as they watched the familiar redhead disappear.

"Was that...was that Ranma?" asked Videl.

"Yeah, I think so." Akane answered.

"Okay...and what was that she was eating?" Videl added her eyes getting notably wider.

"Looked like okonomiyaki. I guess now we know what that smell was," Akane noted. 'He said he was going to the ice-cream parlor, but it looks like he stopped by Ukyo's place.'

Akane was ungraciously jarred from her thoughts by Videl fiercely grasping her hands onto Akane's arm and harshly yanking her back.

"There's an okonomiyaki shop here!?"

"Y-yeah. It's actually not far from here. You wanna check it out?"

"Yes!"

"Alright then follow me."

Akane proceeded to dash up the street, Videl in hot pursuit. Truth be told, Akane was actually rather surprised by Videl's uncharacteristically excited outburst. Then again, if the previous rumbles from inside Dr. Tofu's office were anything to go by, she couldn't really blame her.

[A few minutes later]

"Well, here it is," said a panting Akane.

Videl turned to the building they were standing beside and read aloud the sign out front. "Ucchan's Okonomiyaki?"

Videl paused as the intense scents of a flaming grill and numerous appetizing ingredients assaulted her senses and elicited another low intense growl from her stomach.

"Geeze, I heard you the first time," mused an embarrassed Videl.

"Come on, let's get you inside before you die of starvation," Akane joked.

Upon entering the establishment, Akane and Videl were met with a girl manning (womanning?) a large grill while another girl with a ponytail was waiting on the current group of customers.

"It smells delicious in here!" Videl exclaimed.

"Just wait till you taste em," Akane replied.

Once the waitress finished delivering the order she was carrying, she turned to spotted Akane and Videl approaching.

"Well look who it is. Ms. Ukyo!"

"What is it Konatsu? I'm a little busy here!" Ukyo shot back.

"Another one of your special customers is here!" said Konatsu.

"Special customers?" The chef in question finished her current dish before turning her attention over to the approaching Akane and Videl.

"Oh, Akane," Ukyo pleasantly greeted.

"Hey Ukyo," Akane replied taking a seat.

"And who might you be?" Ukyo said focusing on Videl.

"The name's Videl."

"She's not from around here and she wanted a bite to eat so..."

"Hup!" Ukyo cut her off. "Say no more. Two of the regulars coming right up!"

Ukyo instantly got to work pulling out two small spatulas and tossing a myriad of ingredients on the grill. Videl watched in awe as Ukyo began tossing and turning the ingredients with insane speed and expert precision. Videl could only continue to stare at the performance in great anticipation. In a true display of 'Fast Food', Ukyo produced two serivngs of stuffed okonmiyaki within a few brief minutes.

"I gave Akane her usual, but since you're new in town, I gave you one of our specials."

Videl wasted no time in picking the dish up and taking a bite out of it.

"Mmmmmmph-!" Videl let out a satisfied moan. "This is delicious!"

"Hmph I do my best," Ukyo said with a confident grin.

"I've had plenty of okonomiyaki growing up, but I think this one might be the best I've had yet!"

Taking a small excerpt from the saiyans' book, Videl finished her food in record time (for her at least), and quickly ordered two more.

"Videl, take it easy. This isn't Food Wars you know," Akane grinned.

"Oh one of them's not for me. One of them's for Gohan. I'm sure he'd love to try one too."

"Oh, so you want rice in one of them?" asked Ukyo.

"No I...well...actually yes, but that's not what I was talking about," Videl chuckled.

"She was talking about her boyfriend," Akane clarified.

Ukyo raised an intrigued eyebrow. "Oh!?"

"He and his family love to eat, so I know they'd enjoy this place a lot."

"Well next time you're in town, bring him over so he can get em' while they're hot!" Ukyo exclaimed.

"Sure thing."

The two friends continued to eat while Ukyo proceeded to start cleaning the grill and Konatsu went off to make deliveries.

"Although, speaking of which, that reminds me," Akane suddenly spoke up. "Ukyo, Ranma stopped by here earlier, right?"

Ukyo's expression turned mildly downtrodden. "Yeah, and he looked really upset about something. He didn't even stick around to chat. He just ordered, paid, and darted off to who knows where."

The two short haired girls sweat dropped.

'Yup, he's still mad.' they thought in unison.

"Akane, are you and Ranchan fighting again?" Ukyo asked.

'Ranchan?' Videl thought.

"No, we're not. Ranma's just all upset because he lost a sparring match," Akane informed her.

"Wait really? Ranchan lost? To who!?"

"No one important, but you know how he gets whenever he loses a match." said a nonchalant Akane.

"True enough I guess, but anyone who can give Ranchan a hard time, must be a pretty incredible guy," Ukyo said with a suspicious undertone.

"Hey Ukyo? Why do you keep calling Ranma, 'Ranchan'?"

A small blush found itself on Ukyo's face. "Oh we've been friends since we were kids." she giggled. "He used to call me Ucchan, still does in fact."

'Wait, she named her restaurant after a nickname Ranma gave her?' Videl's eyes widened as the pieces fell into place. "Wait a sec...Ukyo, do you have a crush on Ranma?" Videl asked.

Ukyo's blush intensified. "Oh no, it's nothing like that. We're actually engaged," she declared.

Videl halted as she suddenly remembered what Dr. Tofu had said earlier.

'Ranma's father has a bad habit of promising him to multiple women.'

"Uhh...Videl?" called a concerned Ukyo.

"Wait, so Ranma has three engagements!? How the hell does that work?" blurted a befudled Videl.

"It's all his stupid old man's fault," Ukyo snapped. "Always making promises, and never intending to keep them!"

"So I've heard," Videl deadpanned. "But let me see if I've got this straight, Ranma's engaged to you, Akane, AND that Shampoo girl?"

Ukyo's expression instantly turned sour. "You just had to bring her up, didn't you?" Ukyo muttered.

"You don't like her?"

"She and her grandma are nothing but a couple of pains in the ass. Not only does their restaurant steal my business, that purple haired-bimbo thinks she can seduce away my Ranchan!"

'Geeze, talk about love rivals. I've seen a few love triangles before, but this is more like a love pyramid.' Videl deduced.

Ukyo was nearly livid at this point, but she quickly took a breath and calmed herself down. "But in the end it doesn't matter because I'M his cute fiancee!" she declared with pride.

"Oh really?" said a skeptical Videl.

"What? You don't believe me!?"

"Oh no, don't get me wrong, you are a pretty cute girl, but don't you think you're being a bit too...sure of yourself?"

Ukyo crossed her arms and triumphantly puffed out her chest. "Not at all, and do you know why? Because Ranchan told me himself!"

'Hmph...point taken I guess.'

Videl was about to continue eating but held herself when she felt a strange pressure invading her personal space. Turning to her side, she could see Akane trembling in a similar manner to how she was back at Dr. Tofu's office.

'Maybe this was a mistake...'

[A few moments later]

The two short haired girls left Ucchan's, Videl with a takeout box in hand, and continued to roam the streets in awkward silence. Videl could tell that Akane was upset, but she still had a myriad of questions to ask. Finally breaking the nerve-racking quietness, Videl spoke up.

"So Ranma has three fiancees?"

"Videl, please don't, I'm not in the mood," Akane dismissed.

"Alright, fair enough, but at least answer this one thing," Videl requested.

"What?"

"If Ukyo's the 'cute' fiancee, what fiancee does that make you?"

STAB!

An emotional arrow lodged itself in Akane's chest as her expression darkened. "Heh, isn't it obvious, I'm the stocky, violent fiancee, who can't cook and has no sex appeal whatsoever!" Akane topped this declaration off with a punch to a nearby lamppost with a sign that read, 'New Titanium Alloy Lamppost is incredibly solid. Do not hit with bare hands.'

As a small cracking sound reverberated through the evening air, Akane's eyes began to steadily tear up.

[A few minutes later]

The duo could be seen exiting Dr. Tofu's office, with Akane's left hand wrapped in bandages up to her wrist.

"I hate it when this happens," Akane muttered.

"So you've punched something and hurt your hand like this before?"

"Not...that often, but more times than I'd like to admit," squeaked an embarrassed Akane.

'The two girls continued to walk together in silence. Due to feeling at least somewhat responsible for Akane hurting her hand, she didn't have the nerve to say anything anymore.

To her surprise, Akane was the one to break the silence this time.

"You know...it's getting kind of late. You should probably be getting back home," Akane noted.

Looking into the sky, Videl noticed that the sun had already begun to set. "Yeah, you're probably right."

With a breath, Videl slowly began to ascend in the air. 'Maybe I shouldn't pry anymore,' Videl thought. Truth be told, she wanted to know more about the whole Fiancee situation, but if Akane's earlier actions were any indication, it was a majorly sour subject for her, at least in some capacity.

She was about to jet off for home, but looking down at the retreating Akane, a mishievous grin rose to her face. Swooping down, Videl grabbed Akane by the waist and pulled her along into the air too.

"Whaaaaa-!? Videl what are you doing!?"

"Figured I could at least fly you home before I leave. But since we're already WAY to close to use my jet copter, I figured I'd do it the easy way!" Videl smirked.

"Could you at least gimme some warning next time!?"

"No promises!"

A short flight later, Videl had finally let Akane down in front of the Tendo Dojo gates. "Well, I guess now we're even."

"For what?"

"You carried me to the Doctor's place, I carried you home. We're even."

Akane giggled. "Yeah, I guess so."

"See you tomorrow?"

"Sure thing. You know how to get to the Cat Cafe, right?"

"I'll see it from the sky," Videl assured.

"Well then, goodnight!"

"Later!"

As Videl finally made her way offf into the sunset, she couldn't help but think back to how Akane answered her question.

'I'm the stocky, violent fiancee, who can't cook and has no sex appeal whatsoever!'

Now that she remembered, Ranma had said something to that effect back when the two fought at Gohan's house. She didn't know the intricacies of their relationship, but if that was anything to go by, maybe she would be better off not getting involved.

'Speaking of relationships,' Videl suddenly recalled. Quickly turning her attention to her communicator watch, "Hey Gohan, you there?"

"Videl?"

"Are you still in the city?"

"Yeah, I finished my patrol and mostly just hung out at the library. I was actually about to head home now."

"Well don't leave yet. I'm on my way back, and I've got a little treat for you!"

"What kind of treat?"

"It's a surprise, but trust me, you'll love it!"

"Hmmhm, if you say so. See you in a few."

Videl hung up the call and increased her speed. She couldn't wait to see the look on Gohan's face when he took that first bite.

(A/N: Little known fact, Videl's favorite food is actually CONFIRMED to be okonomiyaki [Look up the Character Guide on Kanzenshuu]. When I learned that, I knew I just HAD to do a scene of Videl meeting Ukyo at some point, maybe even becoming a regular. That being said, this was more of a breather chapter, but Videl becomes acquainted with more of Ranma's main cast and learns that Ranma and Akane may have more of a rocky road between them than she initially thought. Strap in folks cause next time, training begins!)

PS: Happy Belated Valentine's Day!