Chapter 2
Sunlight filled a large amphitheater style classroom full of sleepy-eyed high school students. The young woman in front of the room was scribbling formulas across the bottom of a huge graph. "Come on guys, this is easy. Where does the asymptote approach zero?"
Videl stared hard at the numbers on the chalkboard and back at the scribbling on her sheet. Why the heck did I ever take a calculus elective? Oh yeah, Gohan was going to tutor me. Videl gnawed at her pencil eraser. We should talk. Of course, he hadn't shown up this morning to walk her to school like he had said he would. Maybe he was tired of getting the run around. Maybe he was tired of her. Videl blinked fast so her vision would clear. She did not cry over... well anything.
"Okay, I want you guys finished with chapter 3 before tomorrow. If you need help, remember my office hours. Later people," the teacher said. The last of the woman's comments were lost in the rustle of book-bags and jackets.
Videl followed the flood of students out to the quad. Once outside, everything seemed clearer. It was a perfect fall day, warm but with a hint of north wind. She'd talk to Gohan, tell him about her persistent nightmare. "I keep dreaming that you're dead and I'm alone. I might as well tattoo, I'm hopelessly in love with you on my forehead," Videl muttered to herself. He'd laugh at how stupid she was being. What were the odds that anything worse than Cell or Buu even existed? Letting things that hadn't even happened keep her up nights. He'd laugh.
And there he was, propped against a Ginko tree that was already dropping it's yellow fan-shaped leaves. His face was half-buried in some textbook. "Gohan, hey." Videl waved. He looked up and waved her over. "So what are you up to, studying?"
Gohan shrugged. "A little. You should see my mom with a bad grade report. She's scary." He couldn't quite meet her eyes when she plopped down next to him. She was acting normal for a change, like when they were first friends.
"Scarier than me when I get stood up?" Videl asked half-joking.
"Well, I showed this morning. You'd already left?" They both knew that wasn't true, but Gohan wasn't going to split hairs. Leaving early or having Daddy run interference, avoidance was avoidance. He tossed his book aside. "Not to mention your dad, slamming the door in my face. Could he get any more hostile?"
Videl rocked back. Talk about being a bit hostile. Her dad was... well her dad. She'd thought Gohan understood his hang-ups. It wasn't her fault. "How late did you get there? I couldn't exactly wait around till first period was over. You probably interrupted my dad's training. He hates that."
Gohan took a deep breath. Fighting wasn't what he'd wanted to do. He just wanted things to be right again. Videl was an important part of his life. If she couldn't handle his subtle romantic move, he'd back off. Losing her outright, he couldn't stand that. "Whatever, it's okay. I can take a hint." Gohan stuffed his backpack and smiled sadly. "We're friends. If you want, we can still train together."
Videl frowned and shook her head. That came out of nowhere. Still train together? "Are you dumping me?"
Gohan was careful to avoid eye contact. He didn't want her to see how much it hurt to give up on his stupid romantic fantasy. She deserved better than some ineloquent guy who couldn't get along with her dad, and she definitely deserved better than some guy who almost didn't live up to his job defending the planet. "Not exactly. We weren't really going out. One date doesn't count, right? You can stop avoiding me and acting weird. Let's go back to being just friends, okay..." Gohan was quick to turn away so she wouldn't see him wipe his eyes. "Now I have to go pick up my brother and Trunks. We're going to Master Roshi's to train this afternoon, if you want to stop by, feel free. Krillin is a great sparring partner, you know."
Videl sat stunned while Gohan walked away. That stupid little boy, he was going to give up on 'them' just because she had needed some time to think. "Wait, Gohan." She abandoned her books and sprinted after him. "You, wait." She caught his shoulder and spun him around to face her. She could see there were tears in his eyes. This was hurting him too. Why did men have to be so dense? He was going to make her say it. "I think I'm in love with you, you idiot. We are going out, and you're not breaking up with me like that."
The tension headache that had been forming between his eyes vanished and Gohan's mouth dropped open. "But."
Stupid, stupid man, how dare he make her say it first. Videl punched Gohan as hard as she could in the gut. He barely grunted, and her fist hurt, but she felt better. "That's for trying to break up with me without even asking what was going on. I've been driving myself crazy about you." Videl's voice cracked on crazy, ruining the tough-girl façade she was throwing out.
Gohan couldn't help himself, he smiled at her temper tantrum. God, she was beautiful. It was easy to remember why he loved her. She was strong and sexy and she knew him, his dreams and fears. Not to mention that new but important fact, she loved him too. Why hadn't he seen it? "You haven't been trying to break up? Then why the cold-shoulder? Why so distant?"
Videl shrugged. "I don't know... I was scared of loving someone who's going to leave me." Gohan shook his head but Videl stopped him from talking. "Just hear me out. I guess it started when I was listening to Goten and Trunks talk about the battle with Buu, and how they all thought you were dead for a while. I started thinking about death. Do you realize how many times you've nearly been killed, what kind of odds you face on a semi-regular basis. You're going to die on some battle-field in some crusade for some noble cause. That'll be it. Game over. And I'd be alone. More than anything, I wanted to walk over and make you promise not to fight anymore. My whole life's been about fighting and training, and I knew I didn't have the right, so I just... I wasn't going to be in love with you anymore."
"That worked?" Gohan asked.
Videl threw her hands up. "No it didn't work. It just drove me crazy and hurt you. Can you forgive me?"
"You avoided me and wouldn't talk for months." Gohan grinned. "Because you were worried about me, and you love me." Gohan wanted to jump into the air and soar with the birds. This was what it felt like to love someone, and have them love you back. It was like a drug, an intoxicating rush of emotions. Maybe he should kiss her, something.
I told him I loved him, and he didn't say it back. Videl punched him again. Maybe he wasn't ready to say it. Maybe he really did want to break up. "Maybe I do love you, maybe I don't. Shut up about it."
"No, it's a good thing." She said it first, 'I love you.' "I've been in love with you for a long time." A blush spread over Gohan's cheeks. He started to lean in for a kiss but faltered. Small steps. They had all the time in the world.
One of the students who had gathered around the fighting couple seemed to notice the almost-kiss. "You're 'supposed' to kiss her, you big dope."
Gohan's blush deepened and Videl's cheeks began to burn as well. "Show's over, jerks," Videl said. She pulled Gohan down to plant a peck on his cheek, and the small crowd applauded. "I'll see you this afternoon," she whispered into his ear.
A blue light, lightning maybe, flashed on a busy street in Satan City. Some people stopped and commented about the impressive percussion, most hardly took notice. As for the new figure on the street, he adjusted to motion of the crowd quickly. He was dressed oddly in a long cloak, and his armor clinked when he moved. Aside from a few glances at his radical fashion statement involving plate metal, he went unnoticed.
Rinback adjusted his cloak, and ducked down the nearest side alley. He pulled a small blue crystal shard out of his pocket and held it up on his palm. After a moment six tiny ghostly sprites appeared. "Find a strong one," Rinback whispered. I must not fail again. "Someone on this planet will be able to kill me."
The tiny sprites flew out in different directions. Less substantial than puffs of smoke they passed through the minds of people on the streets, looking for a single thing, a strong man, a warrior. After an absence of minutes the sprites began to return to their energy source. One of the smoky creatures lighted on Rinback's palm and bowed. The others hovered nearby. "Their greatest warrior is named Hercule. He is their champion, their strongest."
"Does he fit the profile? Can he be made to serve?" Rinback asked.
A different sprite lit on his hand. "It is unlikely, but if he is the most powerful on this world."
"He may know one who would," the first sprite hissed. "There are great and powerful beings on this world."
"Of course, my friends. The crystal would not have brought us here otherwise," Rinback said. "Do we have a location on this Champion?" The sprites nodded in unison. "Show me."
