Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z

...

"All right boy, spill it," stated Hercule as he sat behind his desk. In front of him stood Gohan, casually rubbing at the back of his head. The only other occupant in the room was Videl, Hercule's daughter flat out refusing to leave the two of them in a room together.

"What do you want me to say?" asked Gohan with a shrug of his shoulders. His class had only finished a few minutes prior and after much gratitude from the parents he had found himself dragged into Hercule's office. Frankly he still didn't know why. "I did as you asked of me."

"I told you that you'd be teaching the junior students how to fight, not how to sit on the ground and behave like that," growled Hercule.

"By 'that,' do you mean, and I'm only quoting the parents on this one, 'the most concentrated I've ever seen my child,'" said Gohan. "You just happened to come in at the point where I'd gotten them focused on their breathing, to heighten their senses to the most simple of things around them. I assure you that there was some martial arts exercises done after words that focused on the moving of limbs."

"It's not that I'm concerned about," stated Hercule. "What I care about is how you managed to get a class of twenty children who are more known for running laps around the class than actually doing anything their instructor tells them to focus like that. Countless teachers have stepped up to the plate and failed so why did these children listen to you?"

Gohan really wanted to tell him that it was because he had a younger brother that had far more energy than what these children could ever imagine. "I asserted myself as the alpha of the room, that those in there needed to respect what I was telling them or suffer the consequences," explained Gohan.

"Gohan," said Videl, speaking up for the first time. "You didn't...threaten children...did you?"

"In front of their parents? Even you should know that I'm not that foolish Videl," stated Gohan flashing her a cheeky smile.

"Then how'd you do it?" questioned Hercule.

"Well..." started Gohan, reminiscing about how he had momentarily flashed his aura which, while it hadn't been visible, had made those who felt it understand that he was the most powerful in the room. No amount of crying or tantrums would change that. It was his room and those who wanted to stay had to abide by his rules. "I just showed them a special technique is all."

"One that requires focused breathing?" asked Hercule.

"Like you wouldn't imagine," said Gohan with a light chuckle. Time and time again he had been forced into situations he was unprepared for. His breathing had gone out of whack on so many occasions as he stepped up to foes with the ability to crush him under their thumb. Focusing his breathing, channeling his inner strength, little things like this had been able to keep him in these contests far longer than he ever should have been able. If you didn't have a steadfast mind then brute strength would only get you so far. "Next week I plan on teaching proper stretches."

"Next week?" repeated Videl. "You mean you're coming back."

"Of course," said Gohan. "If I were to simply stop teaching them now then there would be a good chance that they would return to their ways if somebody less capable stepped in front of them."

Hercule could basically see the verbal swing come at him but was unable to defend himself. He had watched every instructor back away from the position because they were unable to deal with the children in question. In a single forty minute session, Gohan had accomplished more than all of them combined. "You'll keep training them then, each week," he growled out.

"And you'll pay him for it," added Videl.

"Of course, a student should always get paid for their work," he said as he desperately forced something of a smile.

"Now, the more pressing matter is whether or not you'll allow me to continue training Videl," said Gohan. "After all, I passed the test you gave me. You wouldn't want to go back on your word, the word you gave in front of all those media outlets. How would they react were they to find out you lied in such a way?"

"Enough!" boomed Hercule, slamming his hands on his desk with enough force to splinter the wood. "Be gone, the both of you. Just keep your time together strictly to training."

"Of course, it'll be nothing but training," said Gohan with a light bow.

Videl felt a pang in her chest, before rubbing at her stomach wondering what felt wrong.

"Then get out of here, the both of you," ordered Hercule, pointing at the door.

"Until next time. Videl, shall we?" offered Gohan as he held out his arm.

Videl merely clicked her tongue as she pushed her way past him, fully aware that he was doing his best to rile up her father. She was more than aware that it had worked for the most part but what she couldn't understand was why Gohan wanted to antagonize Hercule so much? More than that, why did Gohan feel so confident standing up to her father like that? Was it because of his upbringing, including the time where he had become the head of an island's food chain when he was just a child?

There was way too much to think about, and she knew straight away that she wouldn't be able to get a minute doing so. For right at that moment, she knew that Gohan was more than ready to resume their training. Not only that, but they were in an area surrounded by top of the line training equipment.

This was not going to be fun.

...

Or turns out that Gohan prefers to be away from the spotlight sometimes.

The two of them had made their way to a far off corner of the city where they had come across a nature reserve via the use of the public transport system. Needless to say, while Gohan did not seemed phased in the slightest by the world around the people looking at them, Videl was adamantly trying to make herself seem as small as possible. It really didn't help that the two of them were seated next to one another which only made the whispers seem like casual conversations.

"So why'd you drag me all the way out here?" asked Videl as she looked about the isolated landscape.

"We're going to do some breathing exercises," stated Gohan matter of factly.

"And you dragged me all the way out here for that?" asked Videl, putting her hands on her hips in defiance.

"We're doing it a little differently though," said Gohan, flashing her a bright smile. "We aren't just maintaining focus but we're going to try searching for something, something deep inside of you."

"Oh yeah, like what exactly?"

Videl didn't hear an answer, not in the slightest. She could most definitely feel it however as a wave of pure energy erupted from Gohan, shaking both her and the world around them. She could feel her clothes ripple from the sheer power that Gohan was emitting before he allowed it to cease. It was only then that Videl realized that she hadn't taken a breath during the demonstration before collapsing to her knees, deeply inhaling.

"I'm sorry, that may have been a bit overwhelming," said Gohan as he knelt beside Videl.

"No kidding," responded Videl between breaths. "What was that?"

"That, for all intents and purposes, was me flexing my aura, at least a little bit," said Gohan as he offered Videl a hand back to her feet which she begrudgingly took. Videl held onto his hand a moment longer than she needed to as she found her balance.

"So what happens when you release all of it?" asked Videl, no longer questioning whether or not he was kidding about the extent of his strength. By this stage there was no chance that he was bluffing. Everything she had witnessed was only the cusp of his power, of that she had no longer had any doubt.

"The ground crumbles and cracks beneath my feet," said Gohan, Videl hating the fact that it sounded like a common occurrence.

"Alright then, so I take it that it isn't just something you discovered out of the blue," said Videl. "Part of it has to do with these breathing exercises then."

"Yes and no," answered Gohan. "What we are searching for, fundamentally, is your ki. I can tell you right now Videl that this is going to be harder than anything you could ever imagine. Not because of the tremendous strain it will put on you or anything like that. When you are searching for it and were your emotions to go out of check, you would have no possible way of finding your ki. You have to be calm in both body and mind."

"You know you're pretty young for a guru."

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Gohan, opting not to think of himself as the former leader of Namek. That painted way too many weird images in his head. "Once you find your ki we will work on bringing it forth and being able to maintain it in a constant state."

"What's so special about this ki thing anyways? Yes, you created a powerful energy thing before but that doesn't really help me when a group of thugs are firing at me."

"Fair, fair," said Gohan giving a light nod. "Perhaps you'd like a demonstration then."

"If you'd be so kind."

"Alright then, I'm going to need to give you a piggyback then," said Gohan, turning his back to Videl.

"This isn't going to be anything creepy is it?" asked Videl, not really liking the idea of getting onto her classmates back.

"The only other thing I could show you is on a rather...destructive level," admitted Gohan sheepishly. "I'd rather not go down that path if I could."

There were several seconds of pause before Videl relented. "Okay then," she said before she clambered onto Gohan's back.

"It'll probably be better if you close your eyes for ten seconds Videl."

"Now you're really starting to sound like a creep."

"Just trust me."

Again there was a good pause before Videl found herself relenting once again. "Fine, but this better be worth it," she said before she closed her eyes.

For Videl, nothing seemed to change as the handful of seconds ticked by and she couldn't help but wonder if Gohan was just pulling an elaborate prank on her. "Alright Videl, you can open your eyes," stated Gohan.

Doing so, Videl's immediate reaction was to panic as she found herself, and in turn Gohan, floating above the trees. Her breathing quickly picked up in pace as she suddenly had flashbacks of plummeting to the ground after her jet copter had failed on her. Unlike that sensation however, she found that they were not falling but rather they were just hovering there.

It was also in that moment that Videl truly appreciated the landscape in front of her as birds glided through the sky with the sun behind painting the world a wonderful shade. It was a scene that she had bore witness to many times from the safety from her vehicle but now, now she could truly just look and admire the scenery. "How..." she found herself starting before finding herself unable to finish her question. It may have been an over simplified answer but it was one she had found herself using more often then not.

It was because he was Gohan.

"So," said Gohan as he began to descend ever so slowly through the canopy. "You ready for those breathing exercises?"

...

When Videl returned home that evening, she promptly collapsed on her bed. Not due to exhaustion or anything of such nature but more so of just because of all the things she had running through her mind. For nearly an hour she had sat in front of Gohan and simply focused on her breathing. Even though she knew that she wasn't making any real progress, if it was so simple to do then everybody would be capable of it.

This was something that would take time and effort.

Both of which she was willing to put in.

Especially if it meant spending time with Gohan.

As that singular thought crossed her mind, her head shot up before she buried it into her pillow and muffled the scream that escaped her lips. She didn't have a crush on Gohan! There was no chance that she could have.

There was just...no way...

...

Hope you enjoyed.