Hey. Thanks for everything.

Kalebxdd beta this chapter again.


Chapter 29

Videl's eyes were wide open. She was lying face down on Gohan's body, her chin resting on her clenched fists. In the dim light of the bedroom, her orbs looked like furtive sparkles flashing in the shadows. He made out the delicate curve of her cheeks while her shoulders were drowned in the black pool of her loose hair framing her face and rushing down between her breasts. She smiled at him as he was studying her wordlessly with his hands stuck behind his head. "Erasa is worried," she whispered.

He was slow to drag himself out of his silent contemplation. He just had a faint frown at her statement.

"About Sharp," she added as if he needed clarification.

Gohan didn't need clarification though. It had been two weeks since the meeting with the lawyer and although the interview had hardly lasted twenty minutes, Gohan could say it had turned Sharp upside down.

First and foremost, he had been taken aback by the fact that his stepfather had been willing to give him as much as his sister. His generous gesture had been a token of the love the man had for Sharp as well as a cruel reminder of the loss his death meant to the young man.

Gohan hadn't figured out how fake Sharp had been acting so far, pretending to be barely affected by his step-father's death and claiming that he cared for no one and no one cared for him. Yet, truth happened to be somewhat different and Gohan realized that Sharp's bond with his stepfather had been like an untold meeting between a fatherless son and a sonless father. Or at least, it had been untold until Preston Misk decided to give Sharp the same share as his own child.

Yet, the condition coming with the legacy had crushed Sharp's wild dream of a carefree life and reality had hit him hard, leaving him moneyless and urging him to succeed in a matter where he'd always taken great care to fail. To top it all, his father had been mad at the way he had treated his girlfriend when he'd run away and he had claimed Sharp would no longer get a single zeni from him. The girl happened to be a notch above the "current bitch" Sharp had believed she was. Coming of age was definitely trickier than he had planned too.

Since the appointment at the lawyer's firm, the young man had locked himself into his house where he spent his days moping on the unfairness of his situation. He was hell bent on refusing to give in to his step-father's demand, proclaiming he would never set a foot back at Satan High School again. Whenever Gohan went to see him, he felt like his friend was just sinking deeper into useless resentment and bitterness. Grief and hate were somehow consuming him little by little and Gohan could hardly stand seeing him like that.

The house was a mess again as Maya had commanded Jasper to leave the place hardly an hour after the talk with the lawyer. The butler had been nice enough to leave a neat home and a full fridge, but his efforts were quickly lost.

Erasa was used to visiting Sharp as often as possible. Videl and Gohan wouldn't dare to ask her what she'd seen or found in the house, but they didn't miss that her usual cheer was slowly dying out.

"Talk to him. He must come back to school," Videl resumed in a low voice.

Gohan sighed. "I'll do what I can," he promised while brushing away Videl's locks dangling over his face.

"Try your best," she insisted. She placed a kiss on his lips and slipped out of the bed. As she stood up her nudity was showed off by the twilight and Gohan locked his eyes on her curves at once. She shivered at the coolness of the room away from Gohan's warmth and she grabbed a sweatshirt of her baseball team. Oblivious of Gohan's lustful gaze, she pulled the sweater on and grasped a bottle of water. As she was taking long sips from it, he couldn't help but keep watching her bare legs in hunger.

"Do you still work for M?" she asked all of a sudden.

He was caught off guard by the question and looked up at her face in bewilderment. They hadn't mentioned M again since the day Videl had met him and Gohan had believed quite stupidly that she would just forget about him. "I'm on a break. Sort of," he grumbled.

"On a break? So, you have 'breaks'? Like ordinary workers?" she exclaimed with sparks of curiosity shining in her eyes.

She came back to the bed and crawled to him over the mattress. Her face expressed a childish excitement. She stuck her chin in her palm and looked him straight in the eyes with a smirk. "What kind of things are you asked to do? Setting bugs? Sneaking into high security places?"

"You know I can't tell you anything," he replied warily.

She tilted her head, a twisted smile still on her lips. "Do you think they would hire me? Would M accept me in his team?"

He was shocked at the suggestion. "Stop your silliness. You would hate it," he growled in a harsher voice than he had intended.

Her smile faded and her features turned concerned at his obvious annoyance. She sat up and knelt next to him with a sigh. "Don't be so loud. My father's gonna hear you."

"Sorry," he whispered apologetically. He reached out for her hip and slid his arm underneath the sweater and around her waist. Pulling her closer to him, he nudged his face into the fabric in order to enjoy her scent while his hand was running along her naked back.

She didn't withstand his attention but she didn't respond to his touch either. He was always hungry for her body and it was like he could never get enough. At first Videl had wondered if all the boys were like that. She lacked experience to find an answer though, so she ultimately decided to ask Erasa. She had to bear with the usual giggling, but at Videl's insistence Erasa admitted that Gohan's needs might be above average. She also suggested that it might be because he was soooo in love, concluding that it was soooo romantic. Everything always ended up being romantic in Erasa's mind.

"You never get enough, don't you?" Videl murmured in Gohan's ear.

He mumbled something in protest and tried to pull her even closer to him, but she backed away, forcing him to look up at her. "Teach me how to fly," she claimed.

"What?" he exclaimed in confusion. He let go of her and hoisted himself on his elbows.

"If you can do it, I can do it too, right? Teach me how to fly," she repeated in a firm voice.

He raised a hopeless eyebrow. "What for?"

She shrugged with a smile. "Just the same reasons as you. It's very useful especially to fight. I'm sure I can make it."

He rubbed the back of his head and looked thoughtful for an instant. "Huh… Well… If you want."

Videl's face brightened and he smiled back at her. He tried to hug her back in order to kiss her, but she blocked his move by covering his mouth with her hand. "Now," she decided.

He frowned in disbelief and pulled away from her. "Videl, it's dark outside. And it's freezing too," he uttered like she'd just say something insane.

"Exactly. That's why no one will bother us. Besides, you don't look like you want to sleep, huh?" she replied mischievously. She released herself from his grip and sneaked out of the bed while savoring Gohan's defeated face.

She didn't wait for him to agree to her offer and started to dress up. "How long will I need?"

"I don't know. It depends on your abilities," he sighed as he was watching her tempting body disappear little by little underneath the clothes. He brought himself to get up only when she was almost fully dressed.

As soon as she was ready with her warm coat and hat on, she cracked the window wide open. She climbed up the ledge and stood carefully on it with her hands clutching the frame. She faced the icy silent night for a while. A round moon was shining in the cloudless sky and casting a bluish glow on the thin layer of snow still covering the ground up and there. Just beneath Videl, the scrawny branches of the garden's tree seemed to reach out for her. She closed her eyes. "I go first," she said quietly.

With that, she dropped herself forward despite Gohan's panic-stricken hiss behind her.

"Videl!" he exclaimed, trying hard not to scream in fear of waking Satan up. He dived through the window and grabbed her waist as her face was a few inches off the ground. She suppressed a little cry and laughed.

"Are you crazy?" he exclaimed, "You could have…"

"I knew you would catch me in time," she interrupted him. "I know I can trust you."

Her voice sounded bittersweet. He couldn't see her face though, so he was uncertain of the meaning of her words.

She turned to him and watched him with a stern face. "I can trust you, can't I Gohan?" she repeated.

He had a slight frown. He disliked the way she was asking the question and he wondered if she was still suspecting something about him. He was also still upset at her reckless move though. She'd scared him. "Would you throw yourself out of the window if you had any doubt about it?" he retorted.

Videl just shrugged with a wicked smile and he was defeated by the sparkles in her orbs again. He ascended in the sky allowing her to contemplate the breathtaking sight of the sleeping town as he was heading away from it.

As they started the training, Videl's skill impressed him plain and simple. Her frame was small and slender and yet, she was surprisingly strong - Not only in a physical way but also in a mental way. She happened to be an outstanding student when it came to mastering her ki. After two hours of harsh workout, he was taken aback to see her feet leaving the ground.

He had to admit he hadn't liked her idea of an improvised flying lesson in the middle of the night in the first place. He had been so well in the cozy warmth of her bed with her naked body close at hand. However, finding himself in the snowy fields away from the town under a round, quiet moon, Gohan was overwhelmed by a feeling of freedom he had long forgotten. It was like an old instinct sleeping in the depth of his mind and awakening little by little.

Videl fell on her knees, her forehead damp with sweat. The faint levitation had been exciting but exhausting as well. She looked up at him and spread her arms wide with a proud beam. "I did it!" she exclaimed triumphantly.

She had hardly taken off a few inches but Gohan was still stunned that she'd been able to do it so quickly. He smiled back at her and caught her hand to help her up. "Congratulations, Ms Satan. You're very strong."

"Did you doubt it?" she asked playfully while struggling to her feet.

"Of course not," he replied meekly.

As she was still holding his hand as a support to stand up, she pulled him forward unexpectedly, dragging him to the ground. She rolled over him in a blink and he found her straddling him and blocking his throat with her forearm. "And now? Are you still doubting of me?" she asked with a devilish smirk.

The sparkles in her eyes were more vivid than ever. Gohan's smile widened and he raised his free hand to brush her hair. She caught his wrist and stopped his move. "No, no. You can do better than that, Mr Golden Ninja. Just admit that you doubted me and beg for my mercy. Then, I might spare your life," she chuckled.

"Huh, really?" he asked in amused disbelief.

"Beg for forgiveness and I'll think about what I am to do with you," she hissed.

Before she knew it, he released his wrist and seized her waist to shove her away from him. He miscalculated her weight though. She was so light that she was literally flung away. She landed on the frozen ground with a muffled growl.

"Videl!" he exclaimed in panic as he jumped to his feet and rushed to her. He found her lying on her back, holding her head with a grimace of pain.

"Wow ... I'm so ... So sorry ... Videl, it was a bad idea," he stammered in confusion while kneeling next to her.

She sat up slowly, moaning with her palms still gripping her bruised skull. He rested a hesitant hand on her shoulder as comfort and tried to meet her eyes. "Are you Okay? Tell me how you feel?"

As a reply, she threw a punch at him. He blocked it effortlessly. "Videl!" he protested in disapproval.

She didn't answer though. She chained the blows ignoring his plea to stop. He dodged her every hit until he realized she was actually laughing all by attacking him further with all her strength. Playing her game, he let her keep going on even though he was too afraid to fight her back.

She tried all her tricks on him, but she found herself unable to touch him. She eventually went out of breath and stopped the spar. He folded his arms patiently and waited with a smile to see if she was really done. She happened to be definitely exhausted this time.

"It's not fair," she panted, "how does it come you're so good? I don't even see you spar very often."

He had an elusive shrug.

"Sometimes I really wonder if you're not stronger than my Dad, you know," she added.

"Who knows?" he chuckled.

She stared at him with a stern face and brushed away a few locks stuck to her sweaty forehead. "Have you ever taken part in a martial arts tournament?"

"I have, but it was a long time ago when my father was still alive and nothing really good came out of it."

She tilted her head and squinted at him. "Such tournament is to take place next spring. It's a world tournament. If you sign up for it, I'll do too. What do you think?" she offered.

The only tournament Gohan had actually being part of had been the Cell Games and it was still a bitter memory to say the least. Furthermore, he considered tournaments as gatherings of morons fighting for glory, very much like Satan. He pressed his lips together and looked away. "I'm not interested in those kind of things," he said in a quiet voice.

Videl stepped to him and embraced him gently. "It's a waste but I might find a way to coax you," she whispered in his ear.

He ran his hand in her hair and rested his nose on the top of her head. "We should rather go back home now. It's freezing."

He kept his promise to Videl the next day and went to Sharp's place. He couldn't help his growing reluctance at visiting his friend. Each time he found him a little more depressed and bitter and it was a hard sight to endure especially as Gohan wouldn't forget that he had triggered all that mess. Actually Vegeta was to blame too, but the Saiyan didn't really count. He was a true killer, taking life away without a second thought or even without any thought at all. Gohan was human though. He couldn't pretend that death was nothing.

He dialed the code of the gate and made his way along the frosted alley. Gohan was also bothered at the prospect of pleading a cause that wasn't exactly his. Videl had asked him to convince Sharp to go back to school, but he had actually no will to force his friend's choice. Sharp was lucky enough to be free – a thing Gohan envied him a lot for – and he shouldn't do something if he didn't feel like doing it. After all, Sharp was accountable to no one. He might feel lonely and unhappy but he had a choice and Gohan didn't like the idea of stealing that choice from him.

Gohan had often felt lonely and unhappy, but he'd never had a choice. He always had to cope with something. He'd had to face the death of his father, to deal with the misery of his mother, the education of his brother and at any time, he'd had to meet the expectations of everyone around, even though he hadn't asked for such attention.

He remembered his encounter with Piccolo. The Namek was dear to his heart today and he didn't regret the year he'd spent with him, but Gohan also remembered how scared he'd been at the time he'd been confided to him. He'd been hardly more than a toddler then. Who had cared for his opinion? He'd felt so lonely and lost, snatched away from his mother's warmth with everyone looking at him and simply expecting the best. After that, he had no choice but feel responsible for the other's life. He did in the fight against Cell like he'd always done in all the battles his father had dragged him in. He had always followed Goku without a second thought, because he'd always thought there was nothing else to do. He'd been so young then, how could he say no? What kid wouldn't have walked in his father's wake while being supported by a crowd of worshippers simply expecting the very best of him? Now, he was supposed to go through the final exam with the third year students. Couldn't he make things normally for once and enjoy his two last years at school? Yet, the spotlights were on him again. His mother and teachers were simply expecting the best and as usual Gohan's opinion wouldn't make any difference. If he passed the exam, he would attend university away from Videl and his friends, but it wouldn't matter because he would have been up to everyone's hopes. There was no freedom in being the best.

Sharp wasn't cursed with that at least. No one expected anything from him and the only stake of his choice was his own life. Thus Gohan thought it was his to decide if he wanted to go back to school and to get the damn money even though Gohan had to admit that for now Sharp's decision was mostly inspired by depression rather than by reflection.

The front door was unlocked as often. Gohan gave a slight formal knock before entering the house. "It's me," he claimed while stepping into the hallway.

He poked his head into the living room. The place was unsurprisingly wrecked again. As expected it was also deserted. It was much too early in the morning and Sharp wasn't used to get out of bed before noon.

Gohan took off his hat and unbuttoned his coat. He took note of the cold in the room and turned on the heater before heading for Sharp's room. The house was utterly silent. "Sharp?" Gohan called out with the hope of getting at least a sleepy growl, but he wasn't granted the slightest reply.

He opened the bedroom's door. It was dark but he made out the sleeper's form beneath the blanket. "Sharp!" Gohan called in a louder voice as he walked closer to the bed.

Just when he realized there were two people in the bed, Erasa's yelp reached his ears. She snatched the blanket over her head, hiding herself in sheer panic and Gohan had just enough time to glimpse at her blonde hair. Sharp woke up in a jerk and sat up with a dazed frown upon his face. "Fuck, Gohan! Where do you think you are?" he grunted in a voice still hoarse with sleep.

Gohan was numb in astonishment. "Sorry ... the door ... you left it ...," he stuttered.

"Just get the fuck out of here!" Sharp barked by throwing a pillow to his face.

Gohan hurried out in the blink of an eye. He had the feeling that all his blood had rushed to his cheeks. He made his way to the kitchen through the living room all by trying to drain his mind of any thought, as if he could force his brain to erase what he'd just seen.

The kitchen was about as messy as the living room. He opened the fridge in order to review its content. One of Sharp's most pressing urge was to keep it full. The weather was too cold for motorbikes' races and Sharp was broke. He should have taken a job but it was nothing natural to him. Gohan even wondered if his friend actually knew what a job was. Meanwhile, Videl, Erasa and Gohan were paying his bills at the local grocery. Gohan considered the little food still left in the fridge with a sigh.

"Gohan," a shy voice called behind his back.

He turned around and found Erasa slipping in her coat.

He felt awkward at once, but noted that her cheeks were flushed as well. "Erasa. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" he stuttered.

She raised her hand to have him stop his apology. "It's not what you think," she uttered hesitantly.

"I don't think anything. I didn't see anything either by the way," he cut off in embarrassment. He had no desire to talk further about this weird situation.

She gave him a shy smile and adjusted her hair. "All right. So there's nothing to tell Videl, OK?"

He ran his finger over his lip to mime a zipper. She chuckled and knotted her scarf. "I'm late. My Dad's gonna kill me. Bye Gohan."

"See you on Monday, Erasa," he greeted her back.

She exited the kitchen and he heard the main door slam shut.

After a while, Sharp showed up in the kitchen's doorframe. He was unshaven and still looked sleepy. He sat wordlessly at the table, staring blankly as Gohan turned on the coffee maker.

"You have nothing left to eat," Gohan informed him.

"Again?" Sharp muttered in annoyance.

"Again. I'll go to the grocery store."

Sharp gave him a wary look. "You think I don't care, do you?" He asked.

"What are you talking about?" Gohan replied, somewhat confused by the statement.

"You think I don't care that I live at your expenses? That I don't mind depending on you like a brainless kid?"

Gohan sighed and rested the coffee can as he was about to pour two cups. "That's not the problem, Sharp. The problem is that you need to move on."

"Do you think I should go back to school?"

Gohan hadn't expected to be asked the question so directly. He craved to tell Sharp to do whatever he wanted to do, whatever his heart told him to do. Moreover, Sharp was so late at school that Gohan wasn't even sure that he would make it passing the final exam within the two coming years, even by working hard.

Gohan tilted his head and looked him right in the eyes. "Yes. That's what I think," he lied. "You should go back to school. Once you have your exam, you'll be able to do whatever you want and you won't have to worry about anything or anyone."

Sharp rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That's true… Whatever I want… You know I start to think about it seriously."

"Huh. If you start thinking, now." Gohan said with a playful smile. He served him his coffee and took a cup for himself.

"In the meantime, I'll have to fill my fridge by myself," Sharp pointed out.

"It's called working," Gohan said.

"I know, I know" Sharp whined before sipping his coffee.

Gohan sighed as he was reminded the brutal way his friend's life had been turned upside down within the last month. He felt a sudden urge to leave the place and fly back to Mount Paozu. He longed to steal away from Sharp's concern and his workout with Videl the night before had left him with a need for physical efforts and outdoor activities. He drank his coffee in one go. "Don't worry for now. We'll take care of your fridge."

Yet, as Gohan exited the house, he realized that his offer for help might be somewhat rash considering he was himself running out of money.

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