Videl watched as Gohan removed the bandages. The wounds that had been covered no longer bled, which was a good thing, and looked as if the only remnants of them would be scars. Hmm, small ones from what she could see. She could've sworn the original injuries were bigger. Perhaps her mind had exaggerated the damage.
Her eyes shifted to the young man's shoulder, the one that had been dislocated. Despite the severity of the injury, it looked as if it had never popped out. Either she did a good job fixing him up or he just healed fast. Regardless, she was just glad he wasn't hurting.
With all of the bandages removed, Gohan pulled on his blue and orange shirts, tucking them into his pants before tying his sash around his waist. "What are you doing today?" she asked, her eyes never moving away from him.
A few days ago, he had left to do what ever it was he did, coming back looking as if he ran a marathon. Completely exhausted, he just went into his room and collapse on the bed. She had figured he was doing his training thing, though whenever he did that his clothes were dirty; that day he wasn't dirty at all, in fact she'd say he was wearing his best looking gi as if to impress someone. The dark-haired girl never asked him what had happened and he didn't seem to think it important to tell her.
"Well, Bulma would like to meet you," Gohan responded as he began stretching out his arms and legs.
"Is she a friend?" Videl asked.
"Yeah. She even owns this house."
"So she's like a landlord and you're friends with her," she said, trying to figure out the exact role of this Bulma person.
"Something like that. So, do you think we can go see her in the next day or two?"
"That's fine." Videl then frowned as she looked down at yet another low-cut shirt. "Umm, Gohan? Do you think we could go to a store or two so I can pick up some clothes? All the ones here aren't exactly my taste." In fact, most of the clothes here showed off more skin than she was comfortable with. Who ever it was that kept clothes here were either very confident about themselves or just stashed a bunch of random sets of clothes here.
Gohan turned his head to look at her, an innocent expression on his face. "What's wrong with them?"
It was then he seemed to notice the amount of leg she was showing in her very short shorts and the amount of cleavage that was peaking out of the shirt she wore. A bright blush covered his face as he averted his eyes.
A smirk appeared on Videl's face. So, her savior wasn't used to seeing the body of a woman, or he didn't take much time to look. She could have some fun with this.
Standing up, she strode over to him, fingering the bottom of her shorts. "These shorts are a bit long, so I was wondering if I could get some shorter ones."
"Sh-shorter ones?" he stammered, his eyes looking towards her shorts. However, because the girl had moved closer to him, he got a great view of her cleavage.
"Yeah," she said, the smirk never leaving her face. "And this shirt is just so suffocating. I feel a bit constricted right here." Her hands them went up and began holding her bosom, indicating where the tightness was.
Gohan's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. He tried to say something, anything, but all that came out were unintelligible words.
Videl finally broke out laughing, leaning over as she placed her hands on her knees, holding her up. "I'm kidding, Gohan," she said between laughs.
The young man just nodded his head numbly, slowly moving over to a chair and sitting in it. "I…I think there's some money around here," he murmured.
Straightening herself out, Videl continued to grin. "You'll be coming with me, right?"
"Huh? Why do I have to come?"
"Because I don't know where anything is in this town and you have a better idea of what's here. Just think of yourself like a guide or something."
Gohan couldn't help but just stare at the girl, wondering what he was getting himself into.
A smile spread on Videl's face as she held a shirt up, examining and weighing it against some criteria that only she knew.
Gohan just watched the display, seeing each expression she made. It was a wonder to him how something like shopping could bring such a wide array of expressions to the girl's face. Some she would look at, considering them, others she would get that satisfied smile she had now, and other times she'd wrinkle her nose, almost in disgust with what she saw. It was interesting to watch.
This was the third store the two had entered and it seemed as if Videl had a very limited and specific set of clothing she was searching for. In most of the few bags the Son boy held, shirts that were baggy and revealed little of her upper body had been chosen, along with shorts and pants that were tight against her legs. Not all of the clothes were like that but a majority of them were. Also, some undergarments had been found, but Gohan refused to notice what they were exactly. A miniature version of his mother had popped up on his shoulder and threatened to beat him within an inch of life if he so much as considered looking at them. So in the sense of self-preservation, he avoided looking at them.
"I think I'm all done here," Videl suddenly called out, much to the relief of the demi-saiyan. He was pretty thankful that this trip was as short as it was, a couple distant memories reminding him of past trips with his mother making him shudder a bit.
"Why do I have to carry all of this?" a strained and whiny voice said from somewhere behind him. Another guy being dragged on a shopping trip he mused. Sadly enough, he had heard those words many a time and usually from the same gender.
"Hey, you're staying at my place, remember?" a feminine voice said, not liking the complaining tone of the other. "You have to earn your keep if you want to stay there."
"But I'm on an important mission! You know that!"
"I know, but I've been helping you search the town too, so consider this a break."
"I don't need to take a break, I just need to find our friend! Aren't you worried about her?"
A loud slap was heard. "Of course I'm worried, you blockhead!" Ouch, sounded as if someone said a wrong thing. Well, it was probably a good idea if he moved on. He didn't want to get caught eavesdropping.
Unfortunately, someone had caught him in the act, that person being Videl. When he approached her near the check-out counter, he could see an amused look on her face. "Find something interesting?" she asked.
"No, nothing really," he replied, a bead of sweat running down the side of his head.
"Not even that loud couple of there? I could swear they were looking for someone," the girl egged.
This time, a guilty look appeared on the young man's face. "Well, I heard a little."
Patting him on the back, Videl said "Don't worry. Most of the store heard them talking so I'd say you're in the clear."
A sigh of relief left the Son boy's lips, causing the dark-haired girl to giggle. "C'mon, let's get out of here," she declared as she began leaving the store. Like a faithful lapdog, Gohan was right on her heels, eager to leave.
Neither of them noticed the commotion from the back of the store as a young man with long blond hair struggled to run after them.
Sharpner couldn't believe his eyes. There she was! Videl was in the same store as he was and…leaving it while he stood there like a brain-dead moron.
His first instinct was to run after her but one little detail kept him from doing so. In his arms, shopping bags and boxes were held, making any sudden movement risky as each package and bag would collapse on top of him. Damn Erasa for using him as a pack mule!
He could hear protests coming from the blonde girl as he shuffled his way to the front door, hoping against hope that the Satan girl hadn't gone too far. Somehow, all of the items he held didn't fall as he arrived at the glass doors of the store. Turning around, he pressed his back against the doors and pushed them open. Finally arriving outside, he saw the usual crowd of people walking up and down the streets, not a care in the world.
And not a single sign of Videl anywhere.
"Sharpner!" Erasa shouted from behind him. "What in the world do you think you're doing?"
"I saw her!" Sharpner answered, his eyes moving side to side as he tried in vain to locate Videl. "I saw Videl leaving the store and now it's like she's vanished."
"Videl! Really?" Erasa squealed. "Where? Where is she?"
A few moments passed before Sharpner sighed in disappointment. "I don't see her anywhere." Giving himself some time to get over his frustration, he then straightened out his posture as much as he could while holding up a mountain of merchandise. "But now I know that Videl is in this town somewhere. It just makes looking for her that much easier."
"But if she's been here the whole time, why hasn't she come to see me?" Erasa asked, sounding hurt. "She knows I live here."
The blonde did bring up a good point. As far back as the young man could remember, Videl and Erasa stuck together like glue. No one could separate the two until the Androids came. So the fact that the Satan girl hadn't sought out Erasa by now was a very discerning development.
"Perhaps she's being held against her will?" he suggested.
"Do you think so?" the girl replied, a cross between relief and dread in her voice.
"Yeah, yeah," Sharpner said, more and more conviction appearing in his voice. "That has to be it. There's no way Videl wouldn't try to talk to them unless she was being held prisoner."
"We've got to help her then!"
"Yes we do. We start hunting at dusk," Sharper declared, a new-found determination filling his body.
"Dusk? Why dusk? Shouldn't we start now?"
"Well, yeah, but that just sounded so much cooler."
Erasa stared at him for a moment before rolling her eyes and walking away.
To Uhh: Sorry about that.