Hi there!

This time a very long chapter, as I didn't want to split this one in two... Mainly because I have the feeling there has been a drag in the flow of the story, and I want to speed it up a bit.
It's getting time for some action, don't you think?

Enjoy!

Chapter 16: Clusivity

Gohan sat upside down on his couch in front of the TV, with his feet over the back. No one was here to say he couldn't sit like that, one of the perks of living alone. Scattered around him were empty food packages and piles of dirty dishes. The last time he'd eaten that much was when he and his father had their first proper meal since leaving the Hyperbolic Time Chamber years ago. He sighed in satisfaction, but was soon disturbed by someone knocking on his window. He didn't want to get out of his comfortable position and took the risk that it wouldn't be his mother – who would definitely make a scene out of this – and he just yelled for the person to come in.

The door slid open and not much later Videl appeared next to his couch. When he saw the girl, he was a little ashamed of his display and decided to sit up straight after all.

"I came by to check on you because you suddenly left so quickly, but I see you're doing okay," she looked at one of the piles of plates on the side table, "Did you eat all that?" she asked in astonishment.

A nervous chuckle escaped his mouth as he ran a hand through his hair, "Guilty as charged." He then gave her a friendly smile and motioned for her to sit next to him. "Want something to drink?"

"No thank you, I can't stay long as my dad is expecting me at home soon." Her eyes fell on the TV, "What are you watching?"

"I'm waiting for the live broadcast where Yamcha is going to give an interview, and if everything goes according to plan, it's going to be an interesting one." Gohan looked at Videl, who decided to sit down for a moment before leaving. "How was your meet-and-greet?"

"Interesting," she replied, "So how many famous people do you know?"

"To me they're friends, I don't care much about fame or status," Gohan shrugged, "But seriously, how did it go?"

"It wasn't really necessary to go as far as arranging a meeting, but I'm glad to know who your substitute is." She then chuckled, "You had to see Sharpener, by the way, when he finally met his hero, he almost cried and couldn't get his words out."

Gohan laughed at the thought that his big tough friend would react that way. "Too bad I missed that. And for the record, the meet-and-greet was Yamcha's idea." His attention was again drawn to the TV, where the news broadcast began and the item about tonight's' baseball game was introduced.

"Next to me stands the top player of the evening, Yamcha, welcome," the reporter said, moving her microphone to Yamcha.

"Pleasure to be here, Kate," he smiled at her, "You look lovely this evening."

"Ugh, not this again," Videl exclaimed, a hint of irritation in her voice, "When he was disguised as Saiyaman, he flirted with her too."

"I know," said Gohan nonchalantly, "He told me, but the truth is, he really likes her. And that's why I want to see this broadcast," a childish grin appeared on his face. Videl looked up in surprise and also turned her attention to the broadcast, interested in why Gohan was so eager to see this. For now it seemed like a normal interview.

"Can you tell us what went wrong in the eighth inning? It looked like there was some struggle in the right-back after John Yakyū hit your pitch" the blond reporter asked, pointing the microphone at Yamcha again.

"John is a talented player and he is famous for his batting. It's not surprising that we struggled a bit after that technical hit. The important thing is that we regained our dominance and that we were able to avoid that home run."

"And are you going to celebrate now that the Taitans are most likely to become champions of the 43 chiku league?"

"We still have our match against the Rockets team, our formidable opponent. So it's too early to celebrate in my opinion."

"But if you do, how would you celebrate?"

"Well, if we happen to become champions, I was looking forward to a nice vacation, maybe to the old Pingyao Ancient City, to admire the well-preserved urban planning and architecture of the Ming & Qing dynasty. But for tonight, I was hoping to celebrate in private, with a good meal shared with a beautiful lady."

Gohan sat up straight, "Now it comes."

"Who's that lucky lad-," Kate stopped halfway through her sentence and her eyes widened, "Wait, w-what did you say?"

A grin appeared on Yamcha's face, "What? That I'm going to celebrate tonight's victory with a nice meal?"

"N-No, before that."

"You mean the ancient city of Pingyao?" his grin grew wider, "You should visit, I think you'll love it."

The microphone fell from her hand as she stood perplexed. She studied Yamcha's face, which was still grinning at her, saying something to her that was inaudible to the viewer. Kate then stepped forward and threw herself at him as she kissed him, forgetting the still running cameras.

"Alright, Yamcha!" said Gohan, almost cheering, but also with a hint of embarrassment. He had seen enough and turned off the TV. "That reporter and Yamcha had agreed on a code word," Gohan began to explain, "So when the time came, he could tell her he was the guy she fell in love with. It's nice to see his plan worked out, I heard it was quite difficult to get her to interview him as she normally doesn't do sports items." Gohan looked at Videl, who still had her eyes on the black screen of the TV with a visible blush on her face. "Are you alright, Videl?" he asked a little worried.

Videl was startled when she heard her name, and her blush deepened. "Yeah, it's nothing!" she said. "It's just that romance normally flies right over your head, and now you're deliberately watching it. It's a bit weird."

"He he, I guess it is," Gohan agreed, "But I just knew what was going to happen, and I'm glad Yamcha finally found someone he really likes. He hasn't had a real girlfriend since he and Bulma broke up."

"Wait, what?!" Videl exclaimed, "He dated Bulma Brief?"

"Yeah, back in the old days. I've heard about the stories, but as long as I can remember, they broke up. Still, I think Bulma might be really mad right now if she was watching. For some reason, she still gets jealous over him."

A silence fell over them, but it wasn't an uncomfortable one. After a short while Videl spoke up, "Have... have you ever had a girlfriend before?" she asked hesitantly.

The half-Saiyan looked up in surprise. It was a question he might expected to be asked by Erasa at some point, but he'd never expected it from Videl. "No, I haven't. In fact, you guys are my first real friends my age, let alone that I had a girlfriend." He paused for a moment and sighed, "There was a girl I once tried to befriend, but she interpreted my approach differently than I intended. And well, I wasn't in the best frame of mind at that time, so our friendship quickly faded. I don't think I could ever have opened up to her as much I would with you." He looked at Videl and smiled kindly at her, "It's actually a very liberating feeling, to be honest, to be able to be myself for once."

"Well, that's what friends are for," Videl replied, but couldn't avoid a blush. Then she remembered something form a while ago, "And what about Angela, you two started dating when you just attended Orange Star High, right? What happened?"

Gohan let out a chuckle, "You happened."

Videl's eyes widened, not expecting that answer. "H-How?"

"Remember the big fire at that skyscraper? The one with the water tank on top?" Videl nodded and he continued, "I left the date with Angela to help you as Saiyaman, but after the fire was extinguished, I went looking for her, but you found me first."

"Ah, yes, I remember she being mad about something and that odd conversation about you having teddy bear underwear."

"Yeah, don't remind me," after all this time, Gohan still felt embarrassed by it, "Basically, Angela thought I slipped away from our date so I could kiss you behind her back."

"How the hell did she come up with that idea?!" exclaimed Videl, a little embarrassed. The thought of them kissing made her unwanted gut-feelings bubble up again. But reality also struck, "I'm sorry you lost your chance with her because of me."

Gohan shrugged, "I never wanted to go out with her anyway, to be honest. She blackmailed me, threatened me she would tell everyone my secret. I thought she found out I was Saiyamen so I agreed to go on that date. But apparently it was all about my teddy bear underwear that she somehow saw when I changed after P.E."

"Seriously, does a girl have to blackmail you to get a date out of you?" Videl couldn't suppress a giggle, "And do you still have those underwear, I'm kind of curious now?"

"No, I threw them away afterwards. Piccolo had given it to me. It was his rare attempt at being funny for a change, so I kept it for sentimental reasons." Gohan looked at the clock, and while he didn't want her to leave, it was best to point out that it was getting late. "Didn't your father expect you to be home soon?"

"Ah shit, you're right!" Videl rose hastily. Gohan also got up and followed her to the sliding door to wave her goodbye. When Videl stepped outside, she turned to him, as he casually leaned his upper arm against the door frame. "Uh, Gohan," Videl began hesitantly, "Every Saturday night Sharpener, Erasa and I go to the arcade. We had never invited you before, since you live all the way up in the mountain area, but now you live here, would you... would you like to join?" She didn't specifically ask him on a date, but asking him this one-on-one made her very nervous.

"Yeah, I love to," he said, "Thanks for including me." He looked at her and for a moment his gaze settled on her light-blue opal eyes. He didn't knew why, but he found himself lost in them and saw for the first time how beautiful they really were. Reluctantly, he took a deep breath and forced himself out of his staring, as a scent of cherries filled his nostrils. "See... see you tomorrow."

"Y-Yeah, see you tomorrow," she, too, forced herself to move from the sudden tension. After she'd decapsuled her copter and flew away, she looked back one last time. As Gohan still stood, watching her copter disappear in the distance, a déjà vu fell over her, taking her back to the first time she ever noticed him in such a way. She hated to admit it, but she was definitely falling in love with that country boy.

###

It was Friday and like every week the school day would end with P.E. Gohan sat on one of the benches along the sports field. The baseball game had Gohan thinking: Although Yamcha gave up martial arts, he still found himself a different purpose, one which suited him very well. Perhaps this whole incident was meant as an opportunity to start over. Doing something he wanted to do, becoming something he wanted to be, becoming his own person. Maybe that's what Bulma tried to say the other day after they had bailed out that guy. He never fancied fighting, it only caused pain and destruction, even if sometimes it was the only answer in perilous times. But that was something you should leave to Vegeta, not him. He had never asked for any of that, he was just forced to.

Everything seemed so normal now. He felt good and was no longer tired. The only thing that stood out was that he couldn't use or feel Ki anymore. And while he missed flying, he kind of cherished it. It made him feel more human and made him stop being so wary all the time, which made him feel very relaxed. He wasn't so different from his classmates anymore, and he finally felt like he belonged somewhere.

He got up as he saw a group of people gathering as they were about to run a few laps. Maybe it was time to find out how human he had become, or at least what damage the poison had done to his physical state. He walked over to the group and found Erasa amongst them.

"Hi Gohan! Did the teacher force you to run a few laps like the rest of us?" Erasa asked, a bit annoyed that she'd been caught doing nothing. She didn't like P.E. and always tried to avoid participating, this time in vain.

"No, I'm here on my free will, I guess," Gohan shrugged. "I'm tired of sitting at the sidelines."

"Suit yourself, but I know what I'd rather do," she said, looking at the boy as he was crazy.

They group all left at the same time and Gohan took the lead very quickly. But soon he felt his body was becoming exhausted and one by one his classmates caught up to him. It didn't bother him that much, but when even Erasa had caught up to him, he couldn't handle it. He forced himself to accelerate to to pass her again. She took the challenge and did the same and it became a cat and mouse game for a short while, until Gohan really strained his muscles and couldn't go on. He stopped, heaving violently, sweat dripping from his face. He really hit rock bottom, hasn't he?

He sighed angrily and walked back to the sidelines, flopping down on one of the benches. He looked across the field, where Erasa was still completing her laps. His pride was a little hurt from loosing to Erasa, but he blamed the poison. He should probably train to increase his stamina to an acceptable level. He then looked over to the other side of the field and saw Videl doing some kickboxing exercises with Sharpener. Sharpener struggled to hold up the hand pads as Videl's quick footwork hit them over and over, beads of sweat trickling down her face as her hair danced to her movements. It was a mesmerizing sight to say at least.

"See something you like?" a teasing voice pulled him out of his stare. When he looked up, he saw Erasa sitting next to him, who had finally finished running. "I've noticed you've been watching Videl a lot lately."

"A guy can watch, right?" said Gohan lightly with a small blush on his face, knowing that denying his behavior was futile towards Erasa.

"Why don't you tell her you like her?" Erasa continued in a more serious tone.

"Who says I do?" Gohan didn't like her directness, as he himself didn't know what these feelings meant, "And besides, what's the point anyway?"

"What do you mean?" Erasa looked confused.

"Wouldn't that be a betrayal to Shaprener? I always assumed he would end up with her," Gohan let go, tired of keeping this inner struggle all to himself.

Erasa started laughing and Gohan gave her a confused look. "That would never ever happen," she snickered, "He just plays with her by calling her babe all the time, for the sole purpose of getting under her skin. It's more of a running gag. A few years ago when this all started, he did like her, but soon realized it was a one-way street. You don't need to worry about that."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I'll let you in on a little secret," she gave him a wink, "Sharpener has a girlfriend."

Gohan head shot in the direction of Erasa in astonishment, "When did that happen?"

"When you went missing. You see, Videl was engulfed in your case, trying to find you and all, and left us out of it. If we had known what she was doing all that time, we would of course have helped," Erasa assured him, "But she didn't and left us hanging on our history project." The blonde giggled, "You know there was a reason why we weren't so productive."

Gohan had to take a moment to let it all sink in, but then grinned at her, "Well, I'll be damned," he said, a bit proud of himself that he got the underlying meaning of what she was telling him.

"We haven't told Videl yet, so please keep this a secret. We want to see if it works out between us first, because we don't want to ruin our group dynamics."

"I will, don't worry," he said, still with a big grin on his face. He was happy for both of his blond friends, and somehow he wasn't that surprised they'd ended up together. Also, he was relieved to know that Sharpener wasn't into Videl.

His conversation with Erasa ended when the bell rang,and he got up to go to the locker room. This was the first time he actually broke into a sweat during P.E. Feeling he needed a shower, he took out a towel from his locker and grabbed some clean clothes. He was grateful that, for obvious reasons, there were a few private shower cubicles next to the main communal one. Without thinking twice, he had hung his stuff over the edge of the cabin, but his shirt and trousers were immediately snatched by a couple of pranksters.

"Damn it, give back my clothes!" Gohan exclaimed out of character and cursed himself for being so reckless. He turned off the shower and dried himself as he still had his towel. Some noises and a shout were heard form the locker room, and not much later Sharpener came up to Gohan's shower cubicle.

"Brains, is that you? I've got your clothes back."

"Thanks Sharpener, I owe you one!" said Gohan, relieved, and grabbed his clothes from over the cubicle's edge. He quickly dressed, left the cubicle and met his friend on the other side of the door.

"You need to stand up for yourself a bit more, Gohan, don't let them walk over you all the time." There it was again, Sharpener using his real name for some reason. Gohan studied his friend's face as he continued, "Why do you hide yourself all the time anyway? You never use the communal shower, which is not a problem, but it does stand out, and you always wear ten layers of clothing even it's a hundred degrees outside. Whatever it is, there's nothing to be ashamed of, you know that, right? Just be yourself for once."

"I don't want the unwanted attention," Gohan simply said, confusing Sharpener with that answer. "And I feel more confident with long-sleeved shirts, that's all." Seeing his blond friend's questioning expression, he added, "I've some nasty scars that I'd rather keep to myself because I don't want to talk about them." He was mainly referring to the one he got from losing his tail, which was probably the hardest one to explain. Fortunately, Sharpener nodded in understanding and he and Gohan packed up and left the locker room. There they met the girls as usual.

While they all left the school, Gohan noticed that sweet and subtle cherry scent again. He looked over to Videl, who was walking next to him. Should he compliment it? That he liked her perfume? Or would that be weird? Erasa was making compliments all the time, so why couldn't he make one for a change. "Hey Videl, I like your new perfume."

First all three friends stopped in their tracks, then the two blonds started laughing out loud as Videl crossed her arms and tried to give Gohan an angry look. He swallowed, why did he have to open his mouth?

"Being the funny one, are you?" the teenage crime fighter said.

After Sharpener caught his breath, he picked up Videl's arm and pretending to take a good sniff, "Ah yes, Eau de Sueur, the new fragrance from your father's perfume line, isn't it?" Again the two blonds laughed.

Videl pulled her arm out of his grasp, irritated, "Shut up, Sharpener."

"I don't get it..." Gohan was so confused, what was so funny about his compliment?

Videl looked at him and turned red with the realization, "Wait, were you serious?" His confused expression said it all, and she pulled herself together to get him back from his ignorance, "I didn't shower, so I just smell like sweat."

Gohan's face turned red and now he understood why his friends reacted the way they did. He scratched the base of his neck and avoided looking at her. "I'm sorry, I guess my senses are still off," he muttered. He took a deep breath, still smelling that cherry scent, and he was glad that they approached his turn. "Well, see you guys tomorrow," he said with a little more confidence.

"Tomorrow? Wait, are you coming with us to the arcade?" Erasa let out her usual bubbly tone. "Sweet! I look forward to it!"

"Yeah, Videl invited me. I'm looking forward to it too," Gohan gave her his signature friendly smile and waved goodbye the rest, "See ya."

###

Gohan was really looking forward to that night out with his friends, but first he had an appointment with Bulma to see how his recovery was going.

"Okay, take a deep breath," the blue-haired scientist said, as Gohan did as he was asked. "Seems normal to me. Anything out of the ordinary?"

"I still can't use my Ki and apparently my senses are off," he said a bit uncomfortable, while Bulma continued to do her now routine tests. "I've been smelling all kinds of scents lately, scents that aren't there. I even made a comment about it thinking Videl had put on some perfume, but it turned out she hadn't." He was still embarrassed about it.

"Tsk," a disapproving sound came from the open door. "Don't tell me you're just noticed it now."

"Vegeta, how long have you been standing there?" Bulma asked, a bit annoyed. He always did that, barging into a conversation unannounced and she hated it.

"What do you mean, Vegeta, you smell them too?" Gohan asked, hoping he didn't go crazy.

Without a word he walked over to Bulma, whispered something in her ear that made her blush profusely, and then began to kiss her fiercely. Gohan was perplexed by what he saw. There was no one – and that means no one – who had ever seen any expression of love from Vegeta toward his wife. There were even rumors that their relationship was purely platonic, assuming Bulma only wanted him out of protection. But this, this was a first. The boy was shocked to say at least.

As suddenly as it started, it stopped, and he pushed his wife towards Gohan. "Do you smell that?" he said bluntly, as a light scent of pear filled the room, "That's the scent of pheromones. That's how you know your mate is into you. You are part Saiyan for crying out loud, your senses – and that includes your sense of smell – should be way above average! You've been relaying too much on your Ki that you have been ignoring your basic instincts. It's disgusting."

"Vegeta, you jerk!" Bulma cried out, very embarrassed at what Gohan had just witnessed.

"What has he done now, Bulma," a growling voice asked, as two creatures appeared in the open door. It was Piccolo and Dende, also here to check on Gohan.

All three turned their heads in embarrassment, no one willing to explain what just happened. With a sigh, Piccolo decided to ignore the situation while Dende went through his routine healing session with Gohan. The smaller Namekian smiled with satisfaction.

"Congratulations, I can't feel any trace of any foreign substance in your body, Gohan, nor could I find any damage. It looks like you've recovered!"

"But how? I still can't use Ki and my stamina isn't good either," Gohan said confused.

"Well, your body is healed, so I think everything you need is there, you just need to find a way access it I guess."

"Ah, I understand!" said Bulma, "That poison you got from that Golden Dart Frog, the batrachoitoxin poisoning, it shuts down all your voltage-gated sodium channels in your nerves and muscles, which normally causes an irreversible depolarization, meaning the signals to activate them are blocked. Fortunately, Dende was able to reverse that damage." Bulma gave Dende a quick, grateful look and turned her attention back to Gohan. "I think your Ki might work in the same way, and that the flow of your Ki is depolarized, or blocked, or something like that. The flow of Ki isn't vital to a body per se, so your body is still fully healed and working now. You just have to find a way to activate it again." The scientist crossed her arms and let out a sigh, "Too bad not much is known about Ki in the medical world, so I don't think I can help you, at least, not yet. But I'm sure you'll figure it out in time."

"Well, our work here is done. Dende has a lot of work to catch up on, so you won't see us for a while. You can always come by for a visit, though," Piccolo said, heading mainly towards Gohan, "See you around, kid."

"So then the shameful healing sessions are over, huh?" Vegeta said in his usual icy tone.

Piccolo only glanced at Vegeta, and after a brief goodbye, he and Dende left Capsule Corps. Bulma finished her testing and she was very pleased overall. While she and Gohan chatted for a bit, Vegeta leaned against the wall and ate himself in frustration. Suddenly he walked over to his wife, grabbed her upper arm and led her to the door. "Out, now!" he ordered, throwing her through the door and locking it behind her.

Ignoring the banging and cursing of Bulma on the other side, he walked over to a confused Gohan. Without warning, Vegeta lashed out, hitting him right in the face. With a bang, the half-Saiyen flew across the room, causing some furniture to fall in the process. Before the boy could get up, Vegeta grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him against a nearby wall, holding him to his throat with his forearm.

"You listen brat, and you listen good. I've seen you haven't trained one bit after you got out of that hospital bed. Is this all a joke to you? Hmm? Your Ki is gone and your power level isn't much more than that of a pathetic human being! Where's your Saiyan Pride?!"

"Hey! I never asked for any of this," Gohan exclaimed, still shocked by the sudden change in mood. He struggled to break free, but in vain. "Let me go, Vegeta!"

"Yeah? You gonna make me?" The Saiyan prince smirked upon seeing that Gohan couldn't, "I thought so."

"What do you want?" Gohan scowled his eyebrows into a deep frown.

"Do you know why they all worked so hard to get you back on your feet? It's because they need you, they need you to be there when the world is at stake. These peaceful times have made you weak, but that doesn't mean that your potential is gone. And when you're gone, there's no one there to protect them. And how do you pay them back? Ah yes, you just turn your back at them, like they're not even worth fighting for."

"That's not true!" Gohan exclaimed, defensively, but also with a sense of guilt. "And you're here to protect the Earth too when the time comes, and if I remember correctly, you'd rather work alone anyway, so why can't I live my life the way I want to?"

"Have you ever thought what might happen if I got bored with Bulma?"

Vegeta's voice sounded sinister, causing goosebumps to appear on Gohan's arms. He swallowed. "Y-You wouldn't."

"How sure are you about that? They aren't, that's why they go to such lengths to heal you." He took closely at Gohan, "You disgust me. I'm ashamed that I lowered myself to help you, giving you my royal blood because you were pretty much the only one of my race left. And you're still deliberately ignoring that side of you. You let your father die for nothing," Vegeta turned his head and spit on the floor, before facing the boy again. "You want to live your life as a mere Earthling? Fine! But don't come back crying if you aren't able to protect that pretty mate of yours."

Vegeta let go of Gohan, who fell to the ground. The full-blooded Saiyan looked down at the pitiful scene. "And to emphasize how pathetic you've became, that was just a friendly tap," he pointed to Gohan's bruised face. "I give you 10 seconds to remove yourself from the premises, and don't you dare to come back. And remember this brat, next time we will meet again, I'll kill you."