Chapter 12: The awakening (part 2)

"Time to wake up," Bulma walked to the window and drew back the curtains. Sunlight lit up the room much to the chagrin of the Saiyan hybrid. He let out a moan of protest as he buried his face between his pillow and something satisfyingly warm.

"I'm tired, please, can we do this later?" his voice was muffled.

"We both know that you don't feel like it then either. Come on Gohan, at least let go of Videl, she has to go to school."

"What has Videl got to do with it?" he raised his head in confusion and looked at his godmother with tired eyes. Bulma answered the boy only by pointing back at his bed with a smug grin on her face. He looked at what she was pointing at, right at the back of said girl's head. She held her hands in front of her face to hide her embarrassment. Reflexively, he let go of the small of her waist, which he had apparently held on to while fast asleep, and distanced himself from her. His face was bright red when he realized he'd just snuggled up against her and had buried his face into the back of her neck.

"I guess the movie was tiresome?" Bulma couldn't help but smile. When she went to check on Gohan last night, she found the two in a deep sleep. She decided to let them be, as they both could use their rest. Bulma had turned off the TV on which the movie was still running and had thrown a blanket over them so they wouldn't be awakened by the cold of the night. But now they had to get on with the order of the day. "I've prepared some sets of my old clothes for you, Videl, so you don't have to go to school in the clothes you slept in. I think all of them are suitable for fighting crime, so pick the one you like. They're in the bathroom. After you have freshen up, you'll be taken to Satan City."

Videl sat up straight, still quite red with embarrassment. "Thank you, but I won't be at school on time, even if I hurry. So don't bother."

"Nonsense. If I remember correctly, school starts in about an hour, so you'll have plenty of time. My husband will take you to your school."

"Wait, not Vegeta!" Gohan exclaimed. "Can't Yamcha bring her?"

"Yamcha is already in Satan City. And I think we've asked enough of him, don't you think?"

"How on earth did you manage to get Vegeta to help in the first place?"

"Well, he's in a really good mood lately," Bulma obviously didn't want to engage the subject. "Now take off your shirt, I need to run some tests."

Taken that as her cue to leave, Videl went to the bathroom door that was attached to Gohan's bedroom. She couldn't help but glance at Gohan one last time before going in. The boy looked very ill: his natural color had disappeared from his face and his locomotion had deteriorated greatly. But damn, what a great body he had. With a light blush, she stepped into the bathroom, giving Gohan his privacy while Bulma checked his vitals.

Gohan's bathroom was very basic, with only the necessary items provided. Videl turned on the shower. Her clothes did indeed smell a bit, so she was actually glad that Bulma had some spare clothes she could borrow. After she had undressed herself, she took a quick shower, using the bar of soap present. She still couldn't understand how there was enough time to get to school when her school was so far away. She expected Bulma to have some kind of very fast means of transportation that wasn't yet on the market.

After drying off from her shower, Videl walked over to the sets of clothing Bulma had prepared for her. She could tell the scientist had worn them in her early days, and at the looks of it, she was quite adventurous. She chose the one she would feel most comfortable in if she had to fight crime. It were olive drab trousers with a cropped right leg, accompanied with a basic white T-shirt, matching elbow pads, a pair of Nax boots with build-in shin guards, and a green pouch strapped to the left thigh. Videl chose to keep on her own fingerless gloves and abandoned the shoulder pad as it had Bulma's name on it. That might be a bit too much for school anyways. She looked in the mirror and although the clothes were a little too formfitting for her liking, she was quite pleased with the way it looked on her. She decided to put her hairbands in later so her hair could dry first.

When she re-entered the room, there was clearly tension in the air. Gohan – who had his shirt back on – had a deep frown on his face as he looked through the window, arms crossed. On the other side, next to the door, a man leaned against the wall. She recognized him as the mean-looking one she'd seen flying over the city the other day. But instead of his dead-glare face, he now had an ominous smirk.

"I apologize in advance, Videl," Gohan said to his classmate with an irritated tone, but fell quiet as he looked in her direction. He'd never seen Videl with her hair down, and the clothes she wore suited her really nicely. He didn't know what it was, but somehow he couldn't stop looking and took her in from head to toe. Videl didn't miss his stare, and it made her feel a bit insecure, but those feelings disappeared when Bulma entered the room.

"Ah, I see you went for my Wild Rider Suit, it looks great on you. Don't you agree, Gohan?"

Caught of guard, he muttered something unintelligible as his hand ran through his hair on the back of his neck. A slight blush had appeared on his cheeks.

"I'll take that as a yes," Bulma chuckled softly, turning her attention back to the girl. "I've packed breakfast and lunch for you, but I'll advise you to eat after your journey," Bulma handed over a capsule which Videl accepted and reached to put it in her pouch. However, she felt something in the pouch, and when she took it out, she discovered that it was a small capsule storage box. "Ah yes," Bulma replied when she saw Videl's questioning look, "that's an old motorcycle of mine for off-road racing, a FA4-002116, one of our earlier models. It comes with the suit, so if you like it, you can take her for a spin." The scientist looked at her watch, "You have twenty minutes before your class starts, so it's time to say goodbye."

Still confused at how twenty minutes was enough to travel, Videl nevertheless nodded and placed her food capsule in one of the open slits of the box and put it back in the pouch. "Thank you for everything!" said the girl, offering a bow of gratitude. Then she turned to Gohan, "Get well soon, Goh- AAH!" A scream of surprise escaped Videl's lips as Vegeta grabbed her without warning and threw her over his left shoulder.

"Vegeta! I swear if you hurt her in any way, I'll kill you," Gohan spat out quite out of character.

"Don't make it so tempting, boy, you know that's what I want. But in that condition of yours, you are no challenge. I can wait." And with that, Vegeta opened the window and flew off with lightning speed, the teenager still on his shoulder.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Gohan said, still looking out the window. "It's almost as if he sees me as my father, his whole attitude changed now that you've promised him I'll go one-on-one with him after my recovery. Why did you promise that in the first place?"

"We really needed him to cooperate, sorry, and this was the only way he was willing to do that. If it weren't for him, you'd still be in a coma."

"Maybe that would have been better," Gohan sighed reluctantly, "I'm basically a pig being fattened up for slaughter right now. Once I'm back on my feet, he'll put me straight back into a coma."

"Don't forget you are the stronger one," Bulma reminded him.

"I haven't trained since my father died! He trains every single day. There is no way I can stand my ground against him."

"Well, for now let's focus on your recovery and not on what might happen later. Maybe we can talk him out of it."

Gohan snorted incredulously, "Yeah, right..."

XXX

A nasty pull behind her belly button was all she could consciously experience of what was going on. Now it was as if she was being sucked into a whirlwind, roaring winds surrounded her as the cold consumed her. She couldn't move, let alone breathe properly. She closed her eyes to keep herself from getting dizzy from all the colors flashing by. She had no sense of time nor place and became just a toy of the moment.

Suddenly it all stopped.

Casually taken off the shoulder, she was thrown to the surface beneath her. She landed painfully on her butt and immediately a nausea overcame her. For a brief instant she gagged from all the exertion her body had endured. Now she understood why Bulma had advised her not to have breakfast before her travels. "What the hell happened?" she exclaimed, looking up to the man responsible.

"The woman ordered me to take you to your stupid school. So here we are. But remember this, I'm not a taxi. So next time you decide to sleep with the brat, figure out how to get back in time on your own."

What an attitude this man has! If she hadn't felt so sick to her stomach, she probably would've strangled him for being so rude. "Their names are Bulma and Gohan, and I didn't sleep with him, we just fell asleep."

"I'm not insinuating anything," said the guy with a mean smirk and with a blast he flew away.

"Oh, yes you did, you jerk!" Videl yelled after him, but he was already gone. How fast did this man fly? She managed to get up, though still a little wobbly on her feet, and looked around. She was on the roof of Orange Star High. Then the teen looked at her watch: fifteen minutes before class started. Did they really covered 2,500 miles in less than five minutes? How was that even possible? She looked back one last time where the man had flown off, then walked into the building.

She went straight to the nearest bathroom to wet her face. Maybe this was all a dream and the water might wake her up somehow. But nothing changed. So apparently that really happened, she thought to herself, and looked in the mirror. Her hair was blown in all directions by the wind, but when she tried to put her hairbands in, she cursed out loud. Damn it, she left her bag at Capsule Corps with all her belongings. Just great. She sighed, straightened her hair as much as she could, and went to her lockers to pick up her textbooks.

"Wow babe, looking really hot today!" exclaimed Sharpener, but Videl elbowed him in the gut straight away.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm no-"

"Don't blame him, you're digging that look," Erasa interrupted, "and since when do you let your hair down?"

"I just wanted something different this morning," Videl hoped Erasa wouldn't get too deep into the subject, but knew this was false hope.

"Rrright...," Erasa rolled her eyes, "I know the contents of your wardrobe by heart, and this is not one of your outfits."

"You don't seem to know it well enough," Videl tried, but an icy glare from her blond friend told her to shut up.

"Your old man called me last night," Erasa continued, "asking me where you were."

"Wait, what?! He supposed to be on a business trip!" the raven-haired girl was shocked by the news. "What did you say to him?!"

"I told him we were having a slumber party and you couldn't get to the phone because you were washing your beauty mask off your face."

"Seriously, you told him that?" Videl crossed her arms while raising a brow.

"Don't look at me disapprovingly," Erasa had a smug grin on her face. "You owe me an explanation, young lady! Where were you last night."

"Can we talk about it some other time? The lesson is about to start." Videl took her books she needed from her locker and walked past her friend and toward their classroom.

Erasa followed suit, "Okay, but then answer me this one question." Videl looked annoyed to her best friend but said nothing, so Erasa continued, "Tell me, why do you smell like Gohan?" The young crime fighter immediately stopped in her tracks, causing Sharpener to bump into her. Erasa looked contentedly over her shoulder, proud that she'd managed to corner her now blushing friend. "I knew it! You went to see Gohan, didn't you?"

"Did you go to Brains without us?" Sharpener exclaimed. "What's the matter with you, you know we'd love to see the guy."

"Alright, Alright! Yes, I went to Capsule Corp to visit Gohan yesterday. It was kind of a spontaneous action, so I didn't think to ask you guys. I'm sorry. And since it's about an eight hour flight, it was too late to fly home yesterday, so I spent the night."

"Wait, you actually went all the way to West City?" Erasa was a bit surprised, because she thought that Gohan would be at his home in the Southeast Mountains Area, a lot closer to Satan City. "So what you're wearing are the clothes from the one and only Bulma Brief?"

"From back in the days, yes," Videl answered her friend.

As soon as the trio entered their classroom, a cat call was heard, followed by a "Damn Satan" form the back of the room. Videl rolled with her eyes and tried to ignore it. Sharpener, however, couldn't help himself. "Eyes to your textbook, Stapler, or should I help you with that?!" Sharpener shouted back in a warning tone, causing the class to go silent. He knew Videl wasn't his, but that doesn't mean he should accept other man hitting on her.

Erasa chuckled at the scene, "Sharpie, come on, let the guy watch. That's the only thing he's ever going to manage anyways." The class laughed out loud at her witty comment, while Stapler slumped in his chair, red with embarrassment.

The day passed as usual, although many more guys tried their luck with Videl in vain. After class, the trio had been working on their history project which was due this Wednesday. When their progress had staggered, they decided to head home. "Can you drop me off at my place?" Erasa asked Videl as they left the school.

"I'm sorry," Videl apologized, "I left all my stuff in my bag that I accidentally left at Capsule Corp., including my jet copter." She let out an irritated sigh.

"But how did you get back to Satan City without your copter?"

Videl knew she couldn't tell her the truth, no one would believe her anyway if she told that a man threw her on his shoulder and flew to her school in just 5 minutes. She began to sympathize with Gohan's closeness. "I got a ride," she decided to say, "Bulma's husband had to go to Satan City anyway." It wasn't the whole truth, but she felt she had to add the last part to sound believable.

"No worries, 'Rase, I'll drop you off," Sharpener said. He then looked over to Videl, "Shall I drop you off too, babe?"

Videl just let out a sigh, tired of telling him she wasn't his babe. She didn't feel like being in a small compartment with him all the way to her home. And certainly not since her father had returned home, the thought of him seeing her alone with a boy sent her shivers down her spine. He wouldn't take that lightly, that's for sure. "No need, I'll ride home myself." She then reached into the pouch strapped to her left thigh and took out the right capsule from the storage container. With a dull bang, an old dirt bike appeared with goggles hanging over the handlebars.

"Pfiew, nice bike," Sharpener seemed impressed. "Can I take her for a spin?"

"Sorry, Sharpener, if it were mine I wouldn't mind, but it isn't. It's Bulma's. It came with the suit," said Videl, putting on the goggles in the mean time and getting on the bike. "See you guys tomorrow!" and left.

It was such a liberated feeling. Her hair was blowing in the wind as she accelerated and detoured through the outskirts of the city. When she arrived home, even her father wasn't going to ruin her good mood.

"Hey Sweet Pea, how're you doin'?" Mr. Satan greeted his daughter as she entered the living room. He sat in his usual red sofa in front of an immense TV screen, watching old tapes on which he was fighting one of his earlier tournament matches.

"Hey Dad! I'm doing fine. Erasa told me your business trip had been canceled."

"Yeah, those lunatics aren't capable of anything. You've to do it yourself if you want to be done right, but ain't have no time for that. It's postponed to next week until they have fixed their shortcomings. What's with the new outfit?" he raised an eyebrow as he looked up from his screen.

"Erasa forced me to go shopping," Videl lied. She didn't care anymore. She hated lying, but somehow she resigned herself to the situation and assumed that lying was part of being a teenager. Luckily for her, her father didn't notice.

"The butler told me you've been away from home a lot," he continued, still looking at her with a suspicious look. "There's better be no boy involved."

"I've spent a lot of time at Erasa's, the house is pretty empty when you're not home," she lied again. "And I haven't been to the gym very much because of that, so I'm going to make up for that now. You want to join?" Videl asked her father, even though she knew the answer.

As expected he declined, "No, you go ahead. I'm already the strongest in the world, so if I train even more, no one will ever have a chance to catch up with me."

"Sure thing, dad, you'll find me at the gym if you need me." That went considerably well, Videl thought, relieved, to think that last night she actually slept in the same bed as a boy.

The rest of the day went smoothly. After an intense workout, in which she threw off al her frustrations of past two weeks, she had a nice meal with her father. Surprisingly, she managed to have a lot of fun with him. Normally she hated his boastfulness, but now that he was away from home so long, she could laugh about it. As the day drew to a close, she lay in her bed thinking about all the good conversations she had with him that evening. She then turned on her side to get herself to sleep, but before she actually did, she subconsciously imagined she was being held by a certain someone.

The next morning her alarm pulled her out of her dream. When Videl turned it off, she sat up in her bed. Her breathing was heavy as she wiped her sweaty hands on the sheets. A deep blush appeared on her face. Did she really dream that? About him, and her, doing...? No, no, no, Videl Satan wasn't the one objectifying boys that way! Certainly not about guys she knew.

She jumped out of bed and rushed to take a very cold shower. To her relief, it helped to tame the images in her head for a while. However, when she was sitting in her seat back at school, they came crawling up to her again. The young woman shook her beet-red head, trying to exclude the images of a very muscular body. What was wrong with her?

Suddenly the principle entered the class, briefly distracting her from her lascivious thoughts, but was immediately thrust back into it as she locked eyes with the boy that clouded her mind. There he stood, in his regular school clothes as if nothing had happened, none other than Son Gohan.

And without warning, butterflies appeared in her stomach.