"So, what brings you out here, nerd?" Sharpener asked nonchalantly.

"School, blondie. It doesn't take a genius to see that."

He heard the little chuckle that Erasa gave. Sharpener frowned. "Where you from?"

Gohan sighed. Again, the small voice of his mother asking him to at least try to be polite with people resounded in his head. "439 East District."

It seemed that that took them by surprise, Gohan managed to see the faces filled with confusion of Sharpener and Videl before Erasa stood up and exclaimed. "That's like 620 thousand miles away, how the hell do you get here on time?"

It was that outburst that took Gohan by surprise. He looked at Erasa with bewilderment before answering her. "I manage, don't worry. I had a job here this summer, so I perfected a system to get to the city on time."

Yeah, a system of fucking flying to school or work or whatever.

"Settle down, class, settle down," the teacher spoke and Erasa sat down. "Welcome to philosophy."

Philosophy. Gohan knew of philosophy. The endless questions not in search of answers necessarily but to understand those same questions. It was one of the few subjects that had piqued his interest genuinely. He found it captivating how there were no wrong or right answers in it. They were simple theories for the understanding of the world. Gohan had spent hours and hours reading about it, getting overwhelmed once in a while, and had even taught it to Mister Piccolo who had smiled at the passion of his student even if he hadn't truly understood it.

But that was okay because Gohan himself hadn't understood it too well, which only made him want to learn about it more.

Now, in hindsight, his mother shouldn't have made him study philosophy at the age of eleven. Gohan already overthought everything, and philosophy only made him have more questions and fewer answers. He got overwhelmed really quickly but he did enjoy it, it made him feel less alone. In a world where there was magic, demons, murder androids and even aliens, he found philosophy to be the one thing that was as confused as he was about the world he lived in. The one subject which he could spend years and years, and never get a concrete answer.

So, Gohan stared at the teacher, interested in how he would tackle it. His eyelids felt heavy because of his lack of sleep (thank you very much Xoel). But he managed to pull himself together to listen.

"Philosophy, can someone tell me what philosophy is the study of? Why do we learn about this? The professor asked the class, a glint in his eyes from probable excitement.

No one answered. The glint faded, he tried again. "Philosophy, come on, kids, one vague idea what it is or why we learn it?"

Sharpener snorted. "To pass the year."

Chuckles resounded in the class.

"Okay, does anyone here know what the word philosophy means? Any guess?"

"It comes from the word philosophia, which means love of wisdom," Gohan's voice answered.

Videl, Sharpener and Erasa looked at him weirdly. He shrugged. If no one answered the teacher, then they would spend all of their time in it, and that would make it a lot more boring than it should, if that happened, then the class would be a long one. He knew there was more to philosophy than just boring names.

The professor smiled. "Yes! Good job, Mister Gohan," he went to write on the chalkboard. "Philosophy means love of wisdom, now, with this information, anyone has an idea of what do we study in this field?"

"Everything?"

Gohan who was staring at the chalkboard jerked his head to the right, Videl Satan had answered the question. I'll give her one thing, she's different from her father, she knows something.

"Indeed," the professor nodded. "Philosophy is the study of existence, knowledge, truths and ethics. So, to paraphrase, everything."

"Why do we need to study everything?" Sharpener mumbled.

"Well, Mister Sharpener, that's a good question. Why do we do it? Why study philosophy? It helps your rational thinking, yes but I go further than that, one can learn about their world, their minds with this subject. It's a way of living."

Philosophy is the study of everything and the answer to nothing. That's what Gohan had concluded was philosophy. A system to try to make sense of their world and reality, and maybe even further, to try and make sense of the universes, worlds and realities outside of their own.

Then the teacher's smile went even further. "Most of you already use philosophy in your lives. You just don't realize it," a couple of snorts and chuckles here and there. "I see you don't believe me. Well, then, I will ask you a question and you answer me by raising your hand, understood?"

The two 'yes' and various head nods were all he needed. "Who here agrees with what our vigilante is doing?"

Gohan tensed up immediately. Of course, this damned town either talked about how great was Hercule Satan or how wrong Gohan-well, the vigilante was. His mood soured slightly. Just his first day of school and people were already using him as the subject of whatever point they wanted to get across. Though, he was also curious about how this would turn out.

Out of the twenty-one students, around seven raised their hands. Gohan drew one eyebrow in surprise, he expected fewer people to have some common sense in the city where they idolized Hercule Satan. Videl, however, was glaring at them daggers. Gohan suppressed a smile and frown at the same time. The girl obviously would follow her father's views but that didn't mean everyone else had.

"Okay," the teacher said. "Who doesn't?"

Videl was the first to raise her hand and a few others, maybe eleven or so, followed in her steps. You didn't need to be a genius to see that the majority of the class didn't agree with the vigilante's methods. Gohan, remained neutral, he wasn't going to betray himself, he had some pride and dignity left, yet he wasn't going to stand out. Not unless someone provoked him. His stare went to Videl again before returning to the teacher.

"Miss Videl, why don't you agree with what our vigilante is doing?"

The frown on her face followed by a weird determination proved that she had been waiting for someone to ask her that for a long time. Gohan frowned, did that girl really hate him that much? What was so wrong with what he did? Gohan was doing everything right, he was helping out. He wasn't letting those criminals go like the police did, or stopped fighting them because it wasn't honorable as his father would. No, Gohan was doing everything in his power to help.

What was the daughter of the biggest oaf in the world doing? Nothing.

"He thinks himself too mighty like he's above the law. He's fighting violence with violence. What kind of method is that? He's as bad those criminals he kills, he lowered himself to their level."

Would you rather have me fake a stomachache so I could evade my responsibilities? Like dear daddy did?

The professor nodded thoughtfully. "But he's not killing good people, he's just killing the bad ones. So, why is that bad?"

"He's not solving anything, he's just creating more violence. What kind of message that sends? If things don't go your way, go and kill people. No matter what excuse one can think of, a good person never should resort to killing."

What kind of shit logic was that? What did she know of goodness or righteousness? She hadn't been to Namek where a fucking psychopath alien wanted her dead, so, she would've had to resort to killing to survive. She wasn't even in the Cell Games, she probably watched them on her TV, waiting for the Z-Fighters or her dear daddy to save her. The fuck she thought her father did to make Cell leave? That he just asked him to stop hurting people?

It didn't work, believe me, I tried.

She added. "The vigilante is not a good person, at all."

Gohan snorted.

"By your thinking, then your dad isn't such a good person too," The words left his mouth before his mind registered it. "Wasn't it him who defeated that monster seven years ago? How did he do it then? By kindly asking him to leave us alone?"

He should really be more careful whenever thinking, this was the second time he had thought out loud. Hopefully, the girl wouldn't take it personally.

"He does make a good point there, Miss Videl," the professor pointed out.

Angered for being cornered like that, Videl stood her ground, her face reddened. "You can't possibly compare Cell with the criminals in our city! Cell we couldn't control, he was out of our control. The criminals, we have the resources and ways to control them."

Okay, no, she did take it personally. And he should've stopped there if he had an ounce of common sense too but philosophy challenged your point of view and it seemed that girl hadn't had anyone to challenge her damn point of view.

There was a first time for everything.

"What are they? Jail? The police? For what it looked like, they weren't working," Gohan shot back.

"There are other ways, our city isn't so desperate to resort to killing criminals. Are you seriously defending that monster?"

"I don't see why everyone hates him so much. That's all. He's doing something good, isn't he? He's bringing justice to those the damn police didn't. He's not killing other people, he's helping out!"

"Killing people isn't justice! Not when those people could be brought to real justice which is a trial, a judge and a sentence. Who is he to play god? He's bringing violence, that's what he is doing. Kills with such savagery, such anger. Is crime stopping? No."

Gohan's hands turned into fits. "Well, he tries, which is more than what I can say for the police department."

Videl scoffed. "He doesn't. If he did, then he would've found another way. Since when is killing a sign of anything good? When has violence ever done something good?"

"It helped us the last time, didn't it?" The words were spat with such bitterness, the air felt tense all of the sudden.

"It's not fair. Those men aren't Cell, and clearly, the vigilante has more power than them. He keeps fighting and kill those criminals unfairly. Most of them would probably stop their wrongdoings after he beat the sh-beat them up, but he kills them, that's unnecessary and of course, unfair."

Fair? Fucking fairness? Give me a break.

"Okay," the professor chimed in. "Now, we understand-"

"Why should it be fair?" Gohan interrupted. "Why be fair with people who clearly aren't? How is that fair? They get to break the rules, and he doesn't? He's isn't killing you or your father," Though perhaps I should visit him to fuck him up a bit. "So who cares if it's fair if what he does is right?"

"That's actually a very good take," the teacher said louder to stop the bickering but Videl wasn't going to let the new kid get the last word.

"So, you're telling me that you wouldn't care if someone wasn't fair just because what they do is, in your eyes, good?"

Fair. Fucking fair. His father was fair, hell, he was better than fair, he was benevolent and kind and good and-and dead. Because fair got him, fairly got him dead. But what did the daughter of the biggest fucking idiot knew of fairness? For all she knew, her father was the hero of the world! But Gohan knew better, he knew that all those monsters his father and friends fought were not fair, and while trying to stay true to their ideals, they lost.

He had tried to be fair with Cell, and look where that got him. Fatherless.

"F-well, yes!" Gohan exclaimed. "If they do good, it doesn't matter what method they used! Fair or not, as long as it gets the job done. He's not killing innocent people, he's holding accountable fucking assholes."

Videl scoffed indignantly. "What about those tricksters in the Cell Games? Would've you celebrated them when you know they don't deserve it? With how he is going, it's just a matter of time for him to start killing innocent people. Life is a life, no matter what."

What's with this town and their obsession with the Cell Games? It was seven fucking years ago. His knuckles turned white under the table. She didn't know what she was talking about, she wasn't there. None of them were.

"If they managed to defeat him, then yes. At least they had the guts to try and face a fucking monster, even if they had tricks. It's not like anyone was at the same level as that monster. With your logic, then, your father should've just asked him to be fair and leave us alone which wouldn't have worked! But he didn't do that, did he?"

His words from that day resounded in his mind and he shook his head ever so slightly. Leave it to him, the pacifist, to try and stop a murder android with words. How things had changed. When did it all go so wrong?

He knew the answer to that question. It all went to hell when I decided to dress up as a stupid hero.

"No, but he won fair and honorably. Unlike those cheaters who didn't have the guts to stick around just like the murderer on our streets right now. They were cowards!"

The table shook slightly, and Gohan felt his anger rise. Cowards. She called him a coward. Him and all of his friends. How dared that girl call them cowards? All the people that died that day, who went through hell just to stop that monster, Trunks, Yamcha, Vegeta, his father, his father with a smile on his face bloodied but satisfied and if Gohan had just leaned forward he would've touched him-

Coward.

"You're a good man doing nothing. A coward which only victory is that he stayed true to his ideals while others suffered."

A sudden feeling of dread and panic invaded him. It had been months since he had heard those words echoed in his head. His heart pounded in his chest. Nausea invaded him and the need to just run away became too present for his liking.

The voice had come out of nowhere, scaring him. He hadn't expected it to hear it after so long. That was an accident, it wasn't meant to happen, I didn't mean to-

Get a fucking grip of yourself, idiot. You're at school, you're not alone.

He glared at Videl. She was frowning and her face showed anger. He had to admit, this wasn't how he thought his first class would go. But in her eyes, he could've sworn he saw something resembling curiosity.

He was too wired up to care. But for the sake of trying to stay true to his mother's words, he abstained from insulting her or her father.

"I see that we both have too big of a difference to agree on this, Miss Videl. But what will you do? Are you going to be the one who brings him to justice? Is that it?"

"You're damn right I am," Videl stood her ground.

Gohan was annoyed by her pretentious attitude, and he had only known her for a few hours. But Videl Satan believed everything had to be by the damn book and she couldn't even stand anyone else to have a different view that wasn't hers. Yet in his annoyance, he was impressed. She had a backbone, something her father hadn't, and even if Gohan found it incredibly irritating, at least she had it.

Nowadays, it was difficult to find.

Good luck, Miss Videl but I'm afraid that you won't be able to catch me even with all the incompetent police officers you have in your hand.

"Gohan, you're bleeding," Erasa spoke, voice laced with concern. "Do you need some tissue?"

He looked at her and frowned then, his left hand, which he realized was shaking ever so slightly, went to touch his upper lip. When he pulled back, a red liquid had stained it. Blood. He found himself suddenly too self-conscious. He probably looked like an idiot with a nosebleed. He cursed inwardly as he wiped the blood off his nose.

Fucking shit.

"It's okay, I got some." He offered her a weak smile.

"Perhaps if you take off your hoodie, it will help. This classroom can get heated rather quickly, or you can go to the nurse."

Gohan was already taking out a piece of tissue from his backpack. He was now really used to these nosebleeds that were getting more and more frequent. The last time he had one was two weeks ago. He had a feeling that they had something to do with his crooked nose. "No, it's okay. I have it under control."

He heard Sharpener snort at that.

The professor cleared his throat. "Mister Gohan, is everything alright?"

He nodded, trying to contain his pounding heart, his shaking hand and the non-stop bleeding of his nose. Breathe, idiot, you're okay.

"Well, this exchange was interesting, to say the least. Here we have two points of view, the complete opposite of each other about our vigilante."

He faced the chalkboard. "In philosophy, there are three main branches. Metaphysics, the studies of reality and nature. Epistemology, the study of knowledge and Value Theory is the study of the why of things which in turn has two branches. Ethics and Aesthetics."

He wrote them down on the board. "This exchange falls under Value Theory, anyone guesses in which branch of it?"

"Ethics." Gohan choked out.

His heart kept pounding, he felt it would soon break from his chest. His chest, in its part, constricted and he felt trapped. Gohan knew too well what was happening. He had read about it. A panic attack. He was no beginner in those, he had them as often as he had the nightmares. And he hated them, he hated how his body, his stupid mind lost their shit over the same damn thing again and again.

He tensed his jaw, forcing himself to breathe slowly which was fucking hard considering he was bleeding from his nose. Try to listen to the teacher's rant about philosophy, trying to get himself away from the panic. From the fear. From the damn pain.

"Yes! Ethics. This is exchange forms part of normative ethics, which essentially are the study of ethical behavior. One of the normative seen in the exchange is called Consequentialism," another word written on the board.

Breathe in, breathe out. Do not let anyone see you panicking. You can't afford that. Be strong for fuck's sake, it's just your mind. Well, his mind was a fucking asshole. He felt nausea rise and bit his tongue to let it down. He would not panic in front of those assholes. He would calm down. He had to. He had to. Fucking idiot, get a hold of your damn mind-

I can't. I can't. I need air, I need-I can't.

He looked at his shaking hand. It had blood. Okay, he could make ground himself with this. It was his blood. He was at school with a nosebleed. Nothing more. He wasn't in that place.

How fucking pathetic you are. Your mind holds you prisoner, you can't even defeat it, not even control it, and you were the one who defeated Cell? No fucking wonder your father's dead-

Shut up. Shut the fuck up.

"Consequentialism holds that the consequences of one's conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgment about the rightness or wrongness of that conduct. Of course, it always gets trickier because it plays with the moral principles of those who hold it. That's why philosophy is subjective."

Gohan placed both of his hands under the table. He kept staring at the chalkboard in hopes his mind would start to get interested in the subject. Consequentialism, he knew that he had studied that. He could concentrate on that. He had to. He couldn't let his panic get the best of him. At the thought of the feelings which had invaded him, he began thinking back at all the other times he had them.

It didn't help at all.

Desperate to gain some stupid control, he placed his left hand over his right one, he knew what he was about to do. It wasn't the healthiest thing, he knew but it grounded him. And Kami knew he needed to be grounded.

He sank his nails on the back of his right hand and pressed down hard. He felt the pain explode in it. Pain, he could feel it. But the panic was still stronger. He pressed down harder. The pain got stronger with it too. He forced himself to focus not just on the damn chalkboard but the pain. He was used to pain, he knew every kind of it possible, and the pain was comfortable, it was known and it helped. He could control that.

Slowly, the panic left and the pain got worse. He kept his nails on his skin until he felt a bit more in control. But exhaled in slight relief.

He looked down at his hand. He hadn't pressed hard enough to draw blood but his skin was red and with the nail marks overlapping the old ones. He didn't pride in doing that to stop his panic attacks, or sometimes just in general but it helped.

In a twisted way, it helped. And Gohan although still slightly shaken up, felt much better.

The professor looked at Videl. "Miss Videl here believes that it doesn't matter if the vigilante is doing something that will probably produce well over evil because he's using the wrong methods to do so. So, his ends are already rotten. She believes in following the rules no matter the consequence. The Means Justify the Ends."

Then he looked at Gohan with two tissues up his nose. And a racing heart just barely settling down.

"However, Mister Gohan does not see it like that. He believes that it doesn't matter if the vigilante is getting justice with, let's say, unorthodox methods because he is doing something good at the end of the day. He focuses on the consequences of an act instead of what you actually do. The Ends Justify the Means."

The professor smiled. "Now, you might all be confused by the big words, so let me make it even simpler. Consequentialism's at its core a theory that suggests action is good or bad depending on its outcome. With this definition, who is the consequentialist out of the two?"

Fucking Sharpener decided to raise his hand at that moment.

"Yes, Mister Sharpener?"

"The nerd-I mean, Gohan would be the consequentialist here."

The professor glared at him at his first slip up but then nodded.

"Correct. A consequentialist views a morally right act as one that will produce a good outcome. The means to get it isn't that important as long as it gets a good outcome. To Gohan, the killing of bad people is morally right because it maximizes the good that is no more crime."

He wrote the words 'maximizes the good' on the chalkboard. "We will stop with that normative until here."

Gohan tilted his head in slight interest, now that his panic had weakened, he could focus entirely on the class. He hadn't seen it that way, he hadn't thought of applying any type of philosophy when he was getting justice. It isn't exactly something he would be thinking while waiting for the scumbags to show up, or when he was killing them. He had to admit, that he had stopped his studies of philosophy a long time ago, his line of work had become the front page in his mind. The need to help the city out outnumbered any other want he could have.

He hummed impressed, and a bit annoyed.

The professor looked at the class once more. "Now, the opposite of Consequentialism is Deontology. Now, what is that? Well, Deontology is normative that believes that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a series of rules, rather than based on the consequences of the action. As you can see, truly the opposite of Consequentialism."

He looked at Videl. "A deontological thinker, is in a way, simpler than a consequentialist. Because in Deontology it's just required that people follow the rules and do their duty. It doesn't weigh in the consequences of the actions like Consequentialism does, it's just that, follow the rules and do your duty. Which is precisely why Miss Videl has a problem with our vigilante, he isn't following the rules nor doing his duty because his duty is apart from the rules of society."

More writing in the chalkboard and Gohan looking at Videl simply didn't seem to get it. He chuckled internally, perhaps, she didn't have any desire to learn something other than how wrong the vigilante was, or perhaps she was just mad that Gohan wasn't just a prick for the fun of it and rather there was a whole philosophy behind his thinking that justified him.

He was a bit irritated by the fact there was a whole philosophy behind her stupid logic as well.

"In Deontology, it isn't the consequences of an action that makes it right or wrong but rather the motives or will of the person behind it. Miss Videl talked about how killing isn't right. Which if one sees it, does fall into Deontology because to a deontological thinker even if the act of killing might lead to good consequences, the motive and/or will isn't right because usually, killing is wrong, so, the whole action is wrong. The vigilante is in the wrong."

After writing all of that on the board, the professor smiled. "You see, kids? We learned about two philosophical theories from one exchange of views. In our lives, we always use philosophy but we just don't know it. But if we study it, we can learn about our world, about ourselves. Who we are and why we do what we do. This subject pushes you to question a lot of things about your life and the life of others. It forces you to be open-minded, and in doing so, broadens your perspective about life."

Videl frowned. "How so?"

"Because when you challenge your understanding on you see the world, and why you see it like that, you might stumble across another person who has an answer completely different to yours and which you hadn't thought at all. Or vice versa, and by doing that, you experience different perspectives because, there are no rights and wrongs in philosophy, just ways to understand our everything."

"Who knows, Miss Videl, maybe if you sat down with Mister Gohan with an open mind, he might show you a different perspective on life which you didn't have or thought about before, and it might just be worth having, or vice versa as I've said."

Yeah, right. Just with the argument, they had a few minutes ago, Gohan could see that it was enough to tell her that he was full of bullshit, or that's what he thought she thought. Videl Satan would never sit down with him just to try to understand his point of view, she thought of herself as too righteous for that. And he didn't care. What could the spoiled brat of the biggest liar in the world teach him? Or even give him?

It wasn't like he had decided one day to just start killing the bad people of the city. It hadn't been his first choice. The headband he wore was proof of that. Of course, she wouldn't understand because she didn't want to understand.

It did not matter at all. He was too deep, too gone to stop now. And he would not stop. He couldn't.

The professor looked at the class waiting for some sort of comment or anything like that. When it didn't come, he limited himself to say. "Fascinating, isn't it?"

From the corner of her eyes, Videl saw the new kid nod in agreement.

"Now, let's get to the point I want to make. Here we have two philosophies on how to judge good and bad. One judges an action's goodness or evilness by the consequences of it. While the other judges it by the action itself. Both of them have their arguments, their justification as to why they see it that way. So, how do we know which one is the right one?"

He wrote 'Pros and cons' just a little bit down from where he wrote Consequentialism. "A good thing that comes from this philosophy is that it's flexible for it can be used in any set of circumstances. It offers a clear method to ethical dilemmas such as lying to a friend to not hurt their feelings. But it can also make it harder to put in practice in society, such as is the case now where the vigilante murders bad people for a good outcome which skips over our laws as general society. Lacks moral component."

The chalkboard read 'A lonely and hard way of living if taken too seriously'. And this is the part where Gohan always got stuck. When you question everything, then you begin to doubt yourself. If there was no good answer, no right answer then why bother to even try? No matter how much he tried to answer that question, he couldn't. Gohan understood philosophical theories but had a lot of trouble applying them in real life which he even found ironic given that everything he did was, at its core, a philosophy.

The professor wrote 'Pros and cons' in the Deontology part of the chalkboard. "Same with this philosophy. It appeals to our common sense, and behooves us to take whatever dilemma we have seriously and reflectively, gives you personal responsibility. But it also is hard to put into practice in our everyday life, it eliminates the practice of self-defence because if you believe violence is wrong, with Deontology that means you can't answer with it no matter what so, one could not defend itself violently even if it's simply to defend itself."

He wrote the same words as before. 'A lonely and hard way of living if taken too seriously.'

The professor turned around to face the class. "Here we have the pros and cons of both philosophies if taken to their extremes. If one follows them rigorously. Now, in philosophy, there are no right or wrong answers. They're all just tries at understanding our world. But how do we know which one to use? If we follow one, such as either of these two, we can see that we might end up living a very difficult life."

In that he was absolutely right, Gohan concluded humorously as he pulled out the two tissues and replaced them with new ones. The bleeding had slowed down but not stopped.

"Critical thinking. That's how. We'll learn about it and how to use it for everything, not just philosophy. How to judge a situation and apply the best philosophy for it. Or anything, to be honest. Because one key element to understanding philosophy is balance. We must have balance in our understanding of the world. We take what we think it's worth it and form our own philosophy that helps us live this crazy reality a bit better."

Now, here is where Gohan knew that Dende was just pulling his hair, the fucking guardian. Balance. Fucking balance. The damned word that seemed to follow him everywhere. Balance your way of fighting. Balance your stupid murderer vigilante side with whatever you are at school. Balance this, balance that. Fucking shit.

How many times did he have to say it-to demonstrate that no matter how hard he tried, he never could achieve that stupid balance everyone chastised him about.

Maybe that's why he had so much trouble applying philosophy to his life, go figure.

Before the teacher could give him more of an existential crisis, the bell sounded and Gohan couldn't feel more relieved. Philosophy was indeed captivating but it was heavy, and by the looks of complete boredom of the rest of class, he could see he wasn't alone in that relief though perhaps for different reasons.

And this school is supposed to be smart and whatever, they don't care about any of this, I doubt they even understand it. A shame, really.

"I'll leave you with this. Good and bad are not black and white. This world is not black and white as you surely have seen. You cannot choose one side and close yourself completely from the other, it doesn't work that way in practice. Your perspectives don't have to be mutually exclusive. Think about it, balance, and an open mind can bring wonders to your lives."

Gohan scoffed. His perspective, his way of seeing life was and would always be mutually exclusive to the ones of this dense town, or even that of Videl Satan and he knew so by the glare she sent him when the teacher spoke.

But hey, at least now he knew why she hated him so much, he was her literal opposite, so thanks philosophy for that one.

He sighed and looked down at his hands, they were still shaking.

I need a cigarette.

From spending one class with the new kid, Videl had gotten a conclusion. There was more than met the eye when talking about Gohan. First of all, he lived far away and when asked about how he got to school, he goes and says the vaguest answer 'I manage'. Videl knew that the 439 East District was in the middle of nowhere, in some mountains, who the hell lived in the mountains? Second of all, he supported that monster that was the vigilante. Claiming it didn't matter if that man killed people as long as he killed bad people.

What a shallow take on the vigilante.

Then, there was his sudden nosebleed and his outburst in philosophy. Videl didn't understand philosophy. Why get into a rabbit hole of understandings and theories and ethics or whatnot when the world was simply what you saw. There was nothing more to it. That was what his father had taught her. Even Cell had been a product of her world, a very powerful and horrible product of her world but her world nonetheless. And it was her father who had defeated him, a human defeated him.

No need in trying to make sense of every single little thing in the world.

Your father should've just asked Cell to be fair and leave us alone which wouldn't have worked!

What an odd comment to say. His tone, the way he said it, was as if he was talking from experience. Videl was highly perceptive, after all, there was a reason why she helped the police, and she had seen through the new kid's behavior. When talking about the vigilante, he had become defensive too quickly and with too much emotion. She wasn't new to some idiots thinking the murderer was doing right, she had heard the same arguments like a broken clock.

He had said them, that was no new, with other words but still, the message had been the same. Consequentialism of whatever but again, in the way he said it, it wasn't like those other idiots, no, this was more personal, almost as she had touched a nerve. It didn't make sense, why would he be so worked out about some stupid murderer who he had never met? Then, his nosebleed, he had looked upset when she had called those tricksters cowards.

Videl had concluded that Gohan was an odd guy, from the way he talked to even his headband. Who wore a red headband nowadays? And if he was odd, there must be a reason why but she didn't know it yet. But she would.

After philosophy class they had P.E, and Gohan looked not so happy about it. Perhaps the kid wasn't the athletic type, he didn't look like it from the way he was dressed. And even after they were all changed in sportswear and went outside, he still had the same clothes on. Again, he was a weird kid. The gym teacher had gotten caught up in a rant about how physical exercise was needed now more than ever and how his class wasn't going to be easy to pass. Good because Videl liked a good challenge.

After he finished with his rant, he had decided to do a baseball match, something to warm them up for the bigger challenges down the line. Videl had been picked team captain along with Sharpener.

"I'm telling you, Videl, just because you're the daughter of Mr. Satan doesn't mean I'll go easy on you!"

"I don't want you to, don't worry, I can hold my own!"

Erasa had made her way to her side. She was surprisingly good at baseball as a pitcher. "Hey, why don't you take Gohan."

Videl frowned. "Why? He doesn't look like he does physical exercise and he's an asshole."

"Oh, come on, you heard what the philosophy teacher said, if you keep an open mind on new perspectives, you might be surprised."

"You're just saying that because you find him attractive."

Erasa chuckled. "He's also smart, he might know a strategy nerds know to win the game."

She had a point there, Videl shot a glance at Gohan who looked between bored and tired, his nose had stopped bleeding a while ago. He wasn't paying attention to anything that was going on in the field. Was Videl going to gamble her chance at winning the first game of the season just because her best friend thought it would be good to socialize with the new kid?

But it could also be an opportunity to find more about him.

"Hey, Gohan! You're on my team," she shouted.

He broke off from whatever he was in deep thought about, his face went from surprise to a frown really quick. "No, I'm okay, actually-"

"I wasn't asking."

"Videl, come on," Erasa whispered. "Be nice."

Gohan walked to her side reluctantly. He was tall and reeked of cigarettes, which made Videl wrinkled her nose. Yet she noticed something more, apart from his crooked nose, his skin was marked by what she had thought to be freckles but looked like scars now that she had a better look at him. The suspicions deepened, why did he have scars all over his face? Now that she took a good look at him, he had them in his neck too, they seemed old and faint but they were unmistakably scars.

Who the hell was he?

"Didn't you have a cut on your cheek?" Videl pondered. "I swear one of the robbers cut you."

He shrugged and touched his skin. "I don't think so. If they had, I would have a cut on my cheek. You saw wrongly."

"You're left-handed, right?" Erasa asked.

"Yeah."

"I'm sure you will be a good pitcher or batter."

"Do you know how to play, right?" Videl asked him.

"No, I don't. I have never played baseball in my life. I'm sorry, Miss Videl."

His tone was laced with pure sarcasm. It angered Videl. "You need to stop with your shitty attitude," then she added. "And here we play fair."

"Are you seriously comparing the vigilante situation with baseball?" He sounded amused. "Don't worry, Miss Videl, if we lose, at least you'll know we lost fairly."

"Okay, Mister Headband, go to the left-field since you're the shit, and you better do your best or I'll show you."

Erasa placed her hand on her shoulder. "Videl, be nice."

Gohan seemed to be on the verge of saying something but he gulped whatever that was and just nodded as he jogged to his position.

"You know, just because you two have a different opinion on how to deal with the murderer, doesn't mean that you have to be enemies. Don't be so hard on him, he literally got a nosebleed," Erasa pointed out once he was gone.

"I do not care about his stupid nosebleed, and it does matter that he had a different opinion, it speaks about who he is."

"You know what else speaks about who he is?"

"What?" She frowned.

Erasa smiled. "Himself. Come on, he seems a nice guy, give him a chance."

The first round went overall well apart from the slight difficulty in finding Gohan a left-handed glove, Videl, even though short, could pack a mean throw. Many of her classmates would miss her throw or bat it relatively close for anyone in her team to catch it. Sharpener had been the one who they had to look out for, he batted well and wasn't afraid of her throws.

Thankfully, the ball never went as far as Gohan's side of the field. He looked quite bored, and the off-chance he could've caught one, he simply let another person catch it.

His nonchalance was ticking her off.

It was in the second round when the teacher, perhaps finding that he seemed bored, asked him to go and bat.

"No, I'm okay, actually-"

"Come on, kid, you gotta do it. Just hit the damn ball," the gym teacher said.

Again, reluctantly, he went to the home plate. He took the bat from the other's kid's hand, Sharpener looked amused, bouncing the ball between his throwing hand and his glove. "Hey, don't worry, nerd, you will go back to your stupid position when I'm done with you."

Gohan rolled his eyes but said nothing. He put himself in position, holding the bat in an unorthodox way with his right hand before his left hand. Sharpener couldn't believe it, that kid didn't even know how to hold a damn bat right. It would be so fucking easy.

The first throw, he missed the ball. Gohan's team fell in a sound of groans. "Strike one!"

What is this kid doing? He's going to make us lose! Videl glared at Gohan.

Sharpener laughed. Oh, it was great. The catcher threw the ball back at him.

"Hey, Gohan, you better not miss!" Videl shouted.

He did.

"Strike two!" The coach pointed out.

Sharpener's team was wolf-whistling and laughing while Videl was fuming. It wasn't just that Gohan seemed awful at baseball that angered her but he looked so damn nonchalant as if he wasn't even trying! Which was weird because why the hell would he be holding back? Was he some kind of baseball god? Or was he just too petty for his good?

"Ah, headband, you should've stuck with your books! You suck!" Sharpener barked. "Didn't your father ever teach you how to play properly?"

Videl saw Gohan's grip tightened around the bat and his jaw tensed. His indifferent look turned into a frown and then into a smirk. "How about this, blondie, if I do a home run, you shut your damn mouth?"

What the hell was he doing? He sucked at baseball, he couldn't even hit the ball, how did he plan to hit a home run? Videl groaned. "Hey, Gohan, what the hell are you-"

"Sure, nerd. If you somehow manage to hit a home run, hell, I will even buy you a damn phone!" Sharpener chuckled.

Gohan's smirk grew and if one had blinked, they would've missed the new change in his way of standing. To someone like Erasa, he wouldn't have changed in anything but Videl saw how his stance took confidence and support.

Sharpener threw the ball with all his strength, Videl winced knowing no one could hit the ball at that speed, it was useless. But then, the sound of the ball hitting the wooden bat resounded and the field went silent. Videl watched how the ball flew across the field, going outside of the school's grounds.

Sharpener's face fell without grace, bewilderment evident as his glove fell. "Wh-what?"

Even the damn coach looked stunned, his mouth on the floor and his eyes wide as saucers.

Gohan chuckled and placed the bat on the ground. He jogged calmly to the first base. "Hey, Sharpener!"

The blonde looked at him, still too stunned to even form a word. Gohan smiled. "I would like my phone to be in the color red!"

Videl's eyes followed the boy and she forced her mouth shut. Who the hell was he? Who the hell was fucking Gohan? This-whatever he did wasn't normal, and his damn smirk, who the fuck was he?

"You see? I told you he was a good team choice!" Erasa's cheerful voice rang out.

Videl said nothing. Gohan was hiding something, that much was evident.

And she was going to find out, no matter what.

By lunchtime, Gohan seriously needed a fucking cigarette. His mind was too wired up, too anxious for its own good while his body was screaming at him to get some sleep. He felt his eyes trying their best to stay open while his hand shook this time on purpose. Once the bell rang, he didn't waste time and went outside. He passed through other students, they didn't pay attention to him, and that was good given that he had drawn enough of that for weeks.

The whole philosophy thing wasn't on purpose, he had simply lost control and the next thing he knew was that he was fighting with Videl Satan. However, the P.E thing, that one had been totally on purpose and now that it was done, Gohan felt stupid. He should've let that remark slide, he shouldn't have bothered with a guy such as Sharpener. But he didn't, the opportunity had been too good to pass.

But now his classmates thought of him as a sort of miracle baseball player. Where the fuck was that discretion that made him a fucking ghost when killing all those scumbags?

Good job, Gohan, you managed to be a fucking idiot for the fourth time this day. By Kami, you're a mess.

He scowled, great, he was giving himself shit.

Gohan could care less about the damn school but he wasn't going to get some stupid detention slip because he smoked on school property, so, he had to walk out on the sidewalk.

He smoked eagerly. Taking a long drag out of his cigarette. The smoke burning his mouth and filling it with the rich and bitter taste of tobacco. He held unto it for a few seconds before exhaling through his nose. By Kami, he needed that.

School was more exhausting than he thought, or maybe that was his lack of sleep. He didn't know. He thought of what Xoel told him, that Gald would be receiving some shipments in a few weeks. He needed more proof than that, it could be a trap, hell, once in a while there were some scumbags so loyal to their crimes that they would die for it, who knew if Xoel was one of them. He needed more than just his word, he needed the word of others too.

But how? The police would most likely try to stop him, they had already doubled their patrols. Not that he worried much about them catching him, they didn't even have any idea of who he was but he was worried they would fuck his chance at finishing Glad off. Now that he thought about it, going against a whole criminal organization was ambitious, but he had the time and he had the means.

And the guilt.

He took another drag. Then, there was Videl Satan, that damned girl who for some reason was studying him, observing him as if he was the criminal. She definitely knew something about Kiu's organization. She wasn't like the other idiots of the police department, she was driven with her stupid 'justice', she would make his job harder. But Gohan had an advantage, he knew who he was playing, who was his opponent, she had no clue that the person she so much hates, gave her the winning hit in that baseball game.

That's good, I guess?

Jeez, you're a fucking pessimist.

He chuckled. Typical, you go outside to smoke in your lunch break and start thinking of how to kill more people. Gohan was such a mess.

He laid down on the sidewalk, the sky was free of clouds, the sun was shining and overall, it was such a nice day, like one of those days one saw in the movies where the characters went for ice cream and all that bullshit. Gohan just felt tired, so tired. Maybe if he just closed his eyes for a little while, he could get his energy going...

What would Goten and his mom be doing? Were they okay? His mom would probably be doing the laundry or something like that, maybe Goten was playing with his friends out in nature or studying. He really hoped it was former. At the age of seven, that kid should be playing around and doing childish things. Being a kid.

He was just so tired.

Gohan opened his eyes. No matter how tired he was, he wasn't going to sleep on the sidewalk, he wasn't that far gone yet. No, he was going to pull himself together, ignore his exhaustion and keep going. He had to be strong. He sat down again. Shook the ash from his cigarette and inhaled then exhaled the smoke.

"Hey!"

He turned around and saw Erasa smiling (he guessed that was part of her personality), Videl and Sharpener with her. She was waving at him, Videl was glaring at him (he also guessed that was part of her personality) while Sharpener was smiling looking at his cigarette. Erasa made his way to him, to his bad luck.

"Hey, Gohan, you wanna eat with us?"

The fuck.

"Huh-"

"I know that you and Videl and even Sharpener have gotten off on the wrong foot. And you can say no if you want to but you don't seem to have many friends, and well, lunchtime can be boring like that."

The cigarette hung from his lip as he spoke. "I don't have lunch." You're a fucking joke.

It was true, he didn't have a lunch, he had the money for one though. He planned to go to Mister Abi's place, hang with Glen in his break and eat some pizza. It would help him get into a better mindset and his jokes were missed. Gohan hoped the blonde girl caught the hint.

Sadly, she didn't.

"Oh, don't worry, as long as you got money, there are some food trucks at the park we usually eat, you can buy something."

Truth be told, Gohan wasn't that hungry. Hell, that even shocked him. But it was one of those side effects of his panic attacks, he felt nauseated the rest of the day after one. He forced food down when he was at home to not worry his mom but if he could avoid that small suffering, he gladly did.

"I don't want to bother you," he glanced at Videl.

Erasa looked at her and then at him. "Oh, no. You won't be a bother at all this could be an opportunity to get to know each other."

And do what? Sing songs and braid our hair? He was about to turn down the offer when something in his mind clicked. Videl Satan hated the vigilante, she would know more about him than anyone in that stupid police department. And if he befriended her, if he managed to get her to talk about the police's plans, he could find a way to avoid them and stopped them from fucking up his plans.

He would have eyes on the inside. His work would be cut to half. But that would also be quite a feat, she didn't even like him as Gohan. And the feeling was mutual. However, the good-even if it was a good she couldn't see-came before anything else.

This is going to blow one of these days on me, and I'll be fucked up.

But until that day, let's try...

"Alright then, if it's not a bother to you," he looked at the blonde girl, she had such a genuine face of happiness. He cursed at the thought that even if he hadn't thought about the plan to use Videl Satan, he would've still said yes.

Erasa tried to befriend him, and Gohan could respect that. After all, his mother asked him to be nice to people.

He got up and threw the rest of his cigarette on the side. He took another one from his pack, as he placed it between his lips, he saw the face of utter disgust of Miss Videl and curiosity from Sharpener.

He gave a small sigh under his breath and offered the pack to Sharpener, who looked surprised. "Want one?"

"You sure?"

Gohan shrugged. "It's okay, I don't mind."

Sharpener smiled. "Thanks, ne-Gohan," and he took one. Gohan grabbed the lighter from his back pocket and lit Sharpener's cigarette.

The blondie choked almost immediately on the smoke and Gohan chuckled as he lit his. "You aren't a smoker, are you?"

"What gave it away?"

"You don't drink the smoke, you hold it and then release it."

Sharpener coughed. "I drink."

"A lot," Videl snapped.

"Ah, well, that explains it. Rich kids have three choices, drugs, alcohol or cigarettes," Gohan smiled. "And if you get unlucky, or lucky, you get the special trio, congrats, you've achieved two."

It brought a small smile on Erasa's lips, a chuckle from Sharpener and a scoff from Videl.

As they began walking, Sharpener asked him the million-dollar question. "So, about the home run, damn nerd, I didn't expect that at all."

Gohan chuckled nervously. "That was mere luck, I was bluffing with you, I didn't actually think I'd hit it."

"Mere luck? You made it all the way to the damn street! I think it's more than that!"

"Well, don't expect it to happen again, it was a miracle I got that lucky."

"You're lying," Videl spoke. "I saw you, your whole posture changed, you grew confident all of the sudden."

You're insightful, I'll give you that. "Why would I be lying?"

"Because you're hiding something."

Gohan barked a laugh, then took a drag out of his cigarette. "What do you think I'm hiding? That I'm good at baseball? I'm not."

Erasa decided to step in. "Well, you got us the winning point we needed. So, doesn't matter if it's luck or not, thank you."

"That doesn't mean I won't have my eye on you, you are a very mysterious guy, Gohan," Videl frowned.

"I didn't know you could see that high up, Miss Videl."

Thud!

One moment Gohan was smoking his cigarette while walking on the main street, and the next he felt something hit him and made him fall to the ground. The worst part was that it hurt. His hand went right to his cheek, where he felt the sting of a punch and then he looked up. Sharpener looked amused, Erasa apologetic and Videl, oh, that damned girl was smiling. Gohan realized she had hit him.

Go figure, he had endured fights to the death but this girl took him by surprise. Damn, it hurt.

"Now who's the one looking high up, Mister Gohan?"

He looked to his right and saw his cigarette all mashed up. "You made me lose my cigarette."

"You'll get another one."

Sharpener laughed. "I say you got in the right foot after all."

You could be so much more than a pawn to the stupid police, I can see it.

Gohan glared at Sharpener. "You still owe me a fucking phone."

The blonde shut up right here and there.

Gohan got up and sighed with a small smile forming in his mouth.

The rest of the school day went more or less peaceful. By the last two periods, his lack of sleep won and he fell asleep for a few minutes before Erasa woke him up. He knew Videl was glancing every once in a while at him. It didn't matter. He would become her friend, and gain enough trust to get her to open up about the police's information about the vigilante.

Maybe this whole thing could work.