Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ
...
When Hercule strode towards the training room, having heard that his daughter had gone to get some practice in after dinner, he had done so in hesitation. The weekend had nearly come to an end and his daughter had spent a good deal of that time doing training.
By all means, he was not one to dismiss the idea of training to the heart's content, he thrived on it. One had to remember however to take a break every once in a while less they put far too much strain on the body. It was important to let the body rest every once in a while.
Videl had requested of him not to disturb her during her training which he had done so for the majority of the weekend. Partially due to her requests and partially because he had had much to do in and around town. You couldn't simply be the world champion without going to a number of promotional events to appease your fans.
Now however, having heard that outside of her homework she had done nothing but train, he couldn't help but be concerned for her physical wellbeing. He had no idea what condition he would find her in.
So it came as somewhat of a surprise when he opened the door to discover that his daughter was sitting on the floor in the same position as he had seen the Satan Junior Students in. There she was, sitting in place with her hands cupped in her lap and concentrating on her breathing.
Hercule couldn't help but feel his teeth grind together at the thought that her training didn't consist of working on powerful techniques or her mobility, but rather this! While he felt anger bubble up inside of him, he found himself lowering his head and unable to say anything. It was good to see Videl put her head and heart into her training, even if it wasn't what he would call exercise.
At this point, there really wasn't much he could say or do that would dissuade Videl from her chosen path, she got that stubbornness from her mother. The only thing which would make her stop would be if she outgrew whatever training Gohan was sending her way or if she found that whatever he was teaching her was detrimental to her progress.
He had tried his best to protect his daughter, he really had. Now however, as Hercule left Videl to herself, he knew that his daughter's training was well and truly in the hands of another. He could only hope that he wouldn't regret not doing more sooner.
...
As Videl walked through the school hall that morning, she noticed that she was getting far more looks than normal. She had long since adapted to being the daughter of a celebrity and after the events of the Cell Games she had been treated differently. Now though most of the buzz had faded away regarding the tournament. As time went by, the whispers vanished and everyone treated her like a normal person.
This morning however, the whispers were back.
She sent a harsh gaze towards a group of nearby girls who quickly turned their backs on her and pretended that they weren't speaking about her. Whatever was going on, she needed to get to the bottom of it. Unfortunately, the only person around willing to talk to her happened to not be Erasa.
"I'm guessing by the look on your face you don't know," said Sharpener, stepping up to stand by Videl's side.
"What don't I know?" asked Videl, not in any sort of mood to play games.
"Oohh, I'm not sure if you want to know," said Sharpener, immediately regretting his decision as Videl's hand shot up and she gripped onto his ear painfully.
"One last time Sharpener," said Videl through grit teeth, ignoring the pain her friend was in. "What. Don't. I. Know?"
"Alright, alright, I'll tell you," said Sharpener, causing Videl to release her grip. "Gohan and you made the front page."
"What? Of the paper?" asked Videl.
"Do you think any of the students here read the paper?" scoffed Sharpener. "No, you two made the front of Teen Weekly."
"Oh," said Videl as she found herself stopping in the middle of the hall. That was so much worse than the paper. "Is Gohan here?"
"Not that I know of," answered Sharpener with a shrug of his shoulders.
Videl hoped that was the case and not simply due to Sharpener's lack of knowledge on the topic. She really needed to get in touch with Gohan before anyone else.
Turns out however that Gohan was indeed at school at that moment and had run into somebody who was more than happy to show them the magazine. "I wouldn't think that anybody would be interested in this," said Gohan as he looked at the article that had been written about him and Videl. "Not to say that more than half this stuff isn't even factual."
"Sometimes magazines just do what they do just to get people to read them," said Erasa as she hung with Gohan in an isolated corner. "And I mean there's no bigger gossip headline then the two of you seen out and about the town."
"Well, while it's well written for something like this, they do only make a lot of assumptions as opposed to saying what it was that we were actually doing," stated Gohan as he handed the magazine back to Erasa.
"So, what was it the two of you were doing on your way across town on public transport no less?" asked Erasa, prying for information.
"Probably what you think we were doing."
"And unfortunately I know you well enough that the two of you were more likely out training somewhere than out on a date," pouted Erasa.
"And you are completely right in that regard," said Gohan with a smile as the two of them made their way towards their class.
"You know, you sure do spend a lot of time with Videl," said Erasa playfully. "It's no wonder the tabloids are sticking labels on the two of you."
"I hardly think that an issue of Teen Weekly would classify as a tabloid," responded Gohan. "And what labels are you talking about? I didn't see anything in there that labelled us."
"Oh, that's because you think that Teen Weekly is the only magazine that you two feature in."
"Erasa," said Gohan slowly as his gaze sharpened. "How many?"
"Hmmm," started Erasa as she tapped at her chin in thought. "Regarding the magazines targeted at teenagers, I'd say...all of them."
Gohan couldn't help but allow his eyes to widen at those words.
"Not to mention the fact that quite a few magazines targeted at the older market also have the two of you on the front cover."
Gohan's hands lifted to rub at his eyes.
"Not to mention the online forums and blogs are going absolutely bananas!"
"Erasa, just...please stop talking."
...
At that time, three different adults discovered that Gohan and Videl were plastered almost everywhere and had severely different reactions. Hercule began to rampage, calling every lawyer he knew possible to prepare to sue all of these magazines for even daring to call his daughter and that hooligan a couple. This clearly was defamation and slander at it's finest and needed to be eradicated.
Bulma merely allowed herself to chuckle at the blatant lies being thrown about. Knowing Gohan like she did she knew that whatever concoction they put together was so far from the truth that it was humorous. She merely wanted to see how the teenager would react to it all.
Chi-Chi meanwhile...
"They look so cute together!"
Her response by far was the most predictable.
...
Videl sat on the bleachers, sweat pouring from her brow as she took in deep breaths. She had foolishly believed that all of her after school lessons with Gohan from now on were going to solely be focused on searching for her inner source of power, this ki thing (she still had no idea what to truly call it). Gohan meanwhile had been adamant that she shouldn't solely focus on one thing and had consequently put her through a physically draining exercise.
"Water?" offered Erasa, holding a bottle out in front of Videl.
"Thanks," she replied between staggered breaths before taking the bottle and taking a swig from it.
"He really knows how to make you hot and sweaty, doesn't he," said Erasa with a cheeky smile.
"No innuendo Erasa, not today," said Videl, lowering her head. "I don't have the energy."
"Fine, fine," said Erasa, knowing better than to play with her friend's feelings. Instead she focused her attention on Gohan. "So if you're so strong Gohan, what do you do to make yourself stronger?"
"I haven't had a need to get stronger in a long time," said Gohan as he scratched behind his ear. "Mostly though it was through active combat."
"You mean sparing?"
"Not really Videl," said Gohan. "I've never fought with somebody my own age, I've always been the partner for people older than me. I'd get knocked down time and time again only to get back to my feet to get hit down again. I'd go to bed with pain coursing through every part of my body only to wake up knowing I would go through the entire thing again. The people who I was training with were also pushing themselves to be stronger, so they didn't hold back."
"That is so cruel!" exclaimed Erasa.
"I didn't know any different," said Gohan with a shrug of his shoulders.
"I've seen your feats of strength," said Videl, sitting upright after having composed herself. "What would be your limit?"
"Would you like me to show you?" asked Gohan.
"Ooohhh, would you be taking your shirt off?"
"Erasa, don't."
"I couldn't do it here," said Gohan.
"Aww, why not?" asked Erasa.
"Because I could not guarantee the safety of both this building and the people in the nearby vicinity."
There was an awkward pause as Erasa tried to absorb that information before turning to Videl. "He's kidding, right?"
Videl meanwhile was just staring straight at Gohan, processing everything that she had bore witness to both in and outside of the gymnasium they were in. He'd lifted the bleachers, leapt across rooftops with ease, taken on her father's best fighters and, oh yeah, flown! Yet when considering showing off his real strength (a fact that she was still getting her head around) he was concerned that it would damage the very structure around them.
"You're kidding right?" Erasa asked again, this time of Gohan.
"I'm not," he replied casually. "If I went at full power it would cause damage to the walls, the ground and not just here. I honestly don't know how far my power would be felt and who I could potentially put in danger."
"You're...not kidding, are you," said Erasa in slow realization.
"Well I could be lying," suggested Gohan.
"You haven't lied once," said Videl, looking up at Gohan. "You wouldn't start now."
"True," said Gohan. "I'm not really good at it and in all honesty, it's pretty easy to tell when I'm lying."
"Alright then, I've got a question for you," said Erasa playfully, her eyes momentarily glancing over at Videl. "Gohan, how do you feel about..."
Before she could finish, there was a blaring sound as the communicator on Videl's wrist went off. Videl's eyes widened at the quick realization that she was in no condition to even consider tackling whatever the chief needed help with. Thankfully, there was somebody in the nearby vicinity who was more than capable of doing what was required of her. "So Gohan, you willing to show off a bit of what you can do?"
"Well," said Gohan, tapping at his chin. "If your eyes can keep up that is."
"Gohan's gonna fight crime, this is gonna be so cool!" squealed Erasa.
...
"This, this was not what I had in mind," stated Erasa as she and Videl waited outside the police line. In front of them was a warehouse that Gohan was currently infiltrating through the rooftop.
"Did you really think you'd watch Gohan from up close?" Videl asked Erasa. "You could get hurt."
"Videl, you charge head first into thugs with guns and you're worried about me getting hurt. If Gohan's as strong as he says, I'm sure he'd be able to protect us," said Erasa.
"That doesn't mean you can risk yourself and potentially distract Gohan and get him hurt as well," declared Videl. "He may be strong but he's only human, bullets could still kill him."
"Given everything we've seen Videl, I don't even think bullets could stop Gohan."
"Stop dreaming Erasa, nobody..."
Videl's words were cut off as the sound of gunfire began to rang out. Erasa's hands shot to her mouth in shock while Videl merely focused, listening closely. After helping the police for so long the sound of gunfire had become far too frequent for somebody of her age. However, she could tell that the gunfire seemed to be going on for what seemed like a ridiculous amount of time.
She couldn't help but wonder just what kind of powers Gohan was using at that moment to thwart the villains. If he was defeating them...
As soon as the gunfire had began, it seemed like no more than ten seconds had passed before the firing came to a halt. Videl couldn't help but feel a pit in her stomach at the mere thought the firing had stopped for not so pleasant reasons. He couldn't possibly have been hurt...or worse...
The more time ticked by, the more time Videl found unpleasant thoughts sinking deeper and deeper into her mind. "Gohan..." she said softly.
"Videl," said Erasa, placing a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder.
Only for the door of the warehouse to be kicked square off its hinges, the police acting immediately by lifting their weapons at the entrance. When they saw however that it was Gohan walking out of the building completely unharmed, dragging an unconscious man behind him they saw it as a signal to enter and arrest the other felons inside.
Videl meanwhile couldn't help the wave of relief that swept over her with the knowledge that Gohan was not only alive but in the condition he was in. "Sorry," he said as he closed the distance between them, handing the man over to the police. "Wasn't really much of a demonstration."
"You kicked the bad guys butts though!" proclaimed Erasa.
"Guess I did," said Gohan, flashing a cheeky smile towards the two girls. "What say we go for a field trip of sorts over the weekend and I'll show you two what I'm truly capable of."
"That sounds like fun!" exclaimed Erasa. "You'll have your new jet copter by then, right Videl?"
"Yeah," said Videl slowly. "Somewhere isolated, right?"
"Don't worry, I've got just the archipelago in mind."
"Oohh, this is exciting," squealed Erasa as she clapped her hands together. Videl meanwhile couldn't help but wonder just why Gohan was now deciding to not only show off his strength and abilities to her, but also to Erasa. Sure she had bore witness to his fighting prowess and his strength but compared to what she knew he was capable of, was it wise to show off?
...
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