Tamashii no Unmei
by Sageseeker777
Author's notes:
I was thinking in third period on Tuesday when I had free time, and jotted down an outline that had been brewing in my mind. I got to the vague point of when Gohan and Videl actually meet, and I just needed to write something about it separately. It ached to be released, just like this story has been for the last week and a half.
It's not the pun or the meaning or the hidden connotations within, in the way that John is "Beloved of God" and Gohan is a type of miso (I think), but that it is the essence of being, of who you are, and the standard you grow into and live up to.
Like the eyes, it is a conveyance of the soul. Knowing someone's name, the name they hide within themselves, is truly an intimate connection.
In anime, a name is sometimes held in thrall by so many who truly find themselves through it, and the name becomes likened to a character's soul. That is why knowledge of each other's name in this story is like a watershed for the connection they already have.
I didn't do it to make a big scene. Their relationship just wasn't at that point, that's all...
Danke.
I want to thank my reviewers.
I was amazed, speechless, and overjoyed by the response to my story.
Thank you all. *Bows humbly*
Wiegraf30: your respect honors me. Domo, *bows again*
I got an overview of the entire Buu saga from DBZ dominion. It's going to be different. *Laughs* Way different. But I'm not going to think too much about that until I reach the tournament, about four or five chapters away.
The quotes are only talking about a single tiny little 'white' lie that has a few different meanings. And if you can find it, it's a hint at things ahead. So many ideas are floating around my head! I can't wait for Gohan's birthday!
You probably noticed the format of this chapter and number three- I just found Dreamweaver so I'll be able to fix it soon.
Finally, the question about the 'oni factor' from last chapter: 'Oni' is japanese for devil, as well as a cognate for 0-9. The zero nine factor is 0.000000001 percent probability. Nine zeroes. I feel smart for leaching that off of Evangelion.
Chapter Four
"When a Man Lies, He Murders Some Part of the World.
"These Are the Pale Deaths Which Men Miscall Their Lives.
"All this I Cannot Bear to Witness Any Longer.
"Cannot the Kingdom of Salvation Take Me Home?"
-Cliff Burton, Metallica
Sometimes lies were more dependable than truth.
--Orson Scott Card
"Ender's Game"
Yours is not to question why, so shut up.
-Tira Misu
Gohan slipped home with the groceries under an arm.
He had been right to expect that she would try to find him, and this was already the third time in just a week.
He had woken with a headache to find a wet carpet around the balcony where the door had been open all night. His energy wasn't regenerating as fast as it might have, so he really didn't want to do much of anything. Breakfast at the little table in the kitchen was drearier than most days, and that was saying something. He used one of the steam vacuums from the big janitorial wing without permission, then left for Bulma's. Gohan figured the fresh air might help some, plus it had been ages since he had been there.
He spent a long time just listening to Bulma babble on without thought, enjoying another human presence. They talked for at least five hours or so, since it was Saturday after all. So many things were changing, everyone was moving on from what life had been. He figured that this was what it was like before his father's brother came. Even Vegeta was finding a new way to live. He was getting into the family business.
'I'd swear, he hides that brain of his under all that muscle, but once he shows it he can do almost anything with numbers. He says it comes from living in a more advanced society. I gave him a piece of my mind about his advanced society....'
It was fun. But he had an awkward feeling all the way home, and it just got stronger and stronger until just before he entered his building and turned to look around the street. That girl was ten feet behind him! It was hard to act casual and disappear around a corner. He flew miles and miles away, then pushed his power down to nil before walking home. Gohan thought he had lost her, but suspected that she had given up for the day. Or had only found him by chance.
His power was still weak and he didn't have the focus to keep a watch at every minute of the day.
Now, he was running into her when he least expected it. The most recent run-in was at the tiny corner grocer right down the block. Maybe she lived close by or something, but this was getting to be a nuisance. Except that his mind was always whispering to him, sometimes yelling madly, What is wrong with you? It's her! Why?
And he could never give himself a straight answer. Gohan sighed.
A month. It had become a game of cat and mouse, about four days out of the week, and together they went to some interesting places. Quite a long game of hide-and-seek, played in museums, libraries, supermarkets, all over the city, and Gohan could tell that she enjoyed it. He was having fun himself. Unofficial dates. And she was honing her ability.
Gohan decided to change the rules. It was a day that she had decided not to chase him, and he easily located her unlowered power in a cafe. She was reading a book, something Gohan had just gotten out the previous week at the school library. He flared his ki, and she stopped reading to look around. Then she went back to reading. After he had done this four times, she made this sound that was somewhere between exasperation and rage, sort of a growl that came from the back of the throat. She got up and left the place, paying the bill and storming out. Then she grinned and it was like the sun coming out.
Gohan was hard-pressed to keep up with her without any rise in his energy level, but managed to follow her to the park. It was a large park, full of trees and twists and glades, even some areas that only certain people knew about because they'd been wandering around the place for years. He caught a glimpse of her black hair flying behind her as she raced into the maze, and it was a beautiful forest he glimpsed as he tried to keep up. Sunlight peered through the treetops and illuminated parts of the not-so-worn paths through the leaves that were still there from autumn. Spring was all around and it was only the beginning of March.
Suddenly, he stopped. There was only one way forward, and that was through the opening ahead. It was brighter than the path all around, and seemed more beautiful, but that might just have been because Gohan could sense her within.
He went super-Saiyan and silently walked through the entrance. It was glorious, and green. Very green. A circle that was perhaps twenty-five feet in diameter surrounded by all sorts of trees and plants that formed a solid wall. Very private, in addition to very lovely. Life seemed to envelop a person in that sun-kissed hideaway. Light reflected off of every leaf on the wall by the sun shining through the top at an angle. The center of the grove was darker than the rest, just cool enough to be able to enjoy everything.
That girl with whom he was so infatuated was lying with her back to the soft carpet of life.
She whispered to him in the silence of her secret place.
"It's nice to see you again." Her smile said as much.
Gohan returned her smile and lay down beside her with his arms behind his head. It wasn't as bright, though, because he was puzzled.
"Are you going to run away again?"
"Maybe." He did his best to be wry.
Nothing was said for a moment. Then a whisper, "Why?" Her smile was gone.
The silence stretched for a long time. Gohan lost himself in the roof of leaves that seemed too intricate to be natural. Looking to his right, he found the girl studying him. So he did his best to give an honest answer.
"I don't think I know." She seemed surprised that he actually responded. He didn't want to continue, but he did. It was probably the confidence inspired by anonymity. "I... might love you. But I think I'm afraid." Gohan leaned up on one elbow and looked her in her endless blue eyes. His first instinct had been to look down or away, so he stared for as long as he could and felt like he was where he was supposed to be.
"Hm." Her smile returned. Gohan fell back down onto his back and closed his eyes. When he opened them, she was hovering only a foot above his face. Something like a sigh escaped one of their lips, but the moment was rather muddled in Gohan's memory.
Then, she was gone.
Gohan went back to the grove a few times, and it always seemed to give him energy and a new perspective, but she was never there. They hadn't been playing their game so often, and he felt distracted more and more by her presence at school, or on some street that wasn't all that far away. Time kind of blurred together, and before he knew it, three and a half weeks were passed since that first day in the park.
He stared at the calendar. It was the twenty-fifth. Friday, tomorrow, was the one day of the year that always set him off. He would have always just preferred to stay in bed all day, or something like that. But most of the time he couldn't control himself.
Gohan shoved a gi into a small pack. He considered bringing food and camping supplies, but knew that he could deal with nature.
Before he left, he caught himself staring at the desk, wondering if he should call his mother. Gohan decided against it. This was going to be one of those days that he didn't want anyone to see him. He just needed to get it out of his system.
-*-
Videl's dark state didn't leave her for a long time, and whenever she dwelled on her unrequited love it left a sour feeling in her stomach. Nothing looked so bleak as the future.
That is, until she began to have fun chasing the object of her affections. He took her to places that she loved and always surprised her by knowing where she wanted to go next. It got to be a common thing, and most of the time she didn't expend the effort of searching, just tried to enjoy herself.
Eventually, he tried to chase Videl. She had been waiting for this, hoping he might try, and Videl knew that he wouldn't want to be found himself. It must be that thing about the secret identity. He didn't trust her? That was a downer, but maybe he was just insecure. Intimacy was hard she knew, but even without knowing him Videl was ready to trust him. Nobody in her life but a stranger, eh?
The park was where she led him, to the place where she loved to write. No one else had ever found it, she thought, especially because she hid it behind a wall of leaves most of the time.
"I... think I love you."
She thought she would be overjoyed, glowing, and while she was happy it was more a melancholy feeling. Videl realized that she already knew.
And he was afraid. It hurt, just a little, to be locked out of his heart, even while she found she had a place in it. Her smile might have reflected her thoughts, because he sighed while staring into her with sad eyes. That moment, that endless moment where they had just been together was one of the beautiful things that lulled Videl into an afternoon nap as soon as she returned home.
Videl's thoughts couldn't help but wander after that day in the park. She stopped chasing golden-boy so much, because it didn't seem to have a point anymore. Of course, he was probably going to let his guard down even as her ability to sense his energy sharpened.
She just didn't see the point, and gradually stopped chasing him at all. Until about three weeks or so after he had first said he loved her, on March twenty-sixth. There were explosions all that day, although most of the populace thought that they were earthquakes. Videl knew better, but it wasn't by cause of her experience with immense energy blasts, instead it was that a power she knew all too well was as high as she had ever seen it. And the source of the blasts was coming from where the power was: south and east of the city.
She was on her way to school when she realized what was going on, and decided that he needed help. Something was wrong. She could feel it.
So Videl quickly ran back home and changed, letting her hair fall down from the accursed pigtails she was so in the habit of setting every morning. In a flash she was out of her tomboyish, baggy clothes and into a shiny red gi that would free up her limbs while she ran the distance to where she felt she was needed.
When she arrived, taking a little over an hour to cover what must have been thirty miles, she could only see thunderous flashes of light that appeared and disappeared randomly. They were striking the ground itself and the surrounding mountainside, every spot sending out a shockwave that traveled shook the city to the north. So close in, Videl almost had trouble staying on her feet. But she managed to get close enough to recognize the familiar figure of the power that seemed to move like a shadow.
Videl didn't know what to do, but thought that if she could just get him to stop she could try to help. How do you stop an unstoppable force?
Well, Videl did the only thing that made sense and jumped in front of Gohan. He came to a stop with an utterly ferocious look on his face. When he recognized who it was, his face softened to emotionless.
It didn't look like he was going to speak; his lips were pursed and his eyes seemed to be dully staring at Videl. She took this to mean she should talk.
In a low voice she asked, "What's wrong?"
When he didn't answer, she got a little frustrated. A moment ago, he had been set on vaporizing the landscape, and now his body was a statue. "What's wrong?" Videl repeated, just a bit more forcefully.
His eyes didn't shut, didn't blink, just snapped straight ahead. Videl felt like he was ignoring her. Her instinct, her heart told her that something was incredibly wrong with him, that he was hurting on the inside and couldn't let it out, wanted to punish himself. But he couldn't. And she just wanted him to trust her! Just a tiny little bit so that he could feel that much better! And now he dared to ignore her?
She wasn't sure whether to scream to cry or to walk away. So she took secret option number four. She stepped up to him so that there was barely any space between them, and stared into his eyes. Videl first became self-conscious, noticing her own ragged breathing, her own stinging eyes, her own racing heart. Then she really saw the man she'd come to aid.
There were tears in his eyes. The kind of tears that wouldn't fall, no matter how hard you wished them to, unless you squeezed your eyes tight and made a single drop roll down slowly. The kind that would only shed when you could feel sad, feel hurt, feel sorry, give up whatever you think you did wrong. And that strength, the strength to release the pain you won't let out of your grip, only comes from without.
She noticed his clothing. It was an old orange one with a rather large circle on front that had a trainer's symbol she'd never seen before on the front. It didn't fit him because he was still too short. It probably wasn't his. Tears and rips and bloody marks were all over the pants, and his arms were splotched with black bruises.
He smelled like sweat, Videl noticed, and nightmares. It was as hard to describe as the energy everyone emanated. He just seemed to be touched by regrets and dark things. So easy to release! Videl knew what she could do, how she could help...
She stepped closer and slid her arms under his, around his back. Buried her face in the crook of his neck, just wanting to pull him tight against her. It had been years and years, not since she was eight years old that anyone had hugged her. And never like this. She was giving him something so personal, something she wanted him to have, a shoulder he could just rest on. Just relax and hold me. But he didn't.
He didn't. He had started to relax, in the next moment might have shuddered and likely collapsed in her arms sobbing like a child, and she would have loved to protect him, loved to love him like this, but he stepped away. He just took a step away.
She imagined, just for a moment, that if only he was just playing, if only he had a big smile on his face and might suddenly and without reason chase her around this warzone and tickle her until she couldn't breathe, then maybe lean closer and closer until his breath was on her lips...
But no. The tears in his eyes looked rather painful, looked like deadweights that were killing him from the inside. His lip quivered, and he took a breath that seemed to slow the heart that was making his body shake noticeably.
He turned away. Videl's tears were flowing now. Silent tears of hurt. Her heart felt like a sore on the light of her soul. Like a dark tear in her being. She screamed at him. Screamed and screamed, "Why?! Why won't you ever let anyone help you, let anyone ever even try?! What's so wrong with you, what happened to you?!! What's wrong with me?" Her voice hit a high note. It was getting a little hoarse, "You... You're a coward! You can't help yourself, you can help others, but you aren't strong enough to let go of something that probably isn't even your fault! And why the hell not? Why the hell not, you bastard! You lying son of a... You said you loved me! Or 'thought you did', what was it, were you trying to make up your mind if I was pretty enough for the likes of a grand, self-hating bastard like you?!" She knew this wasn't true. She knew that he wasn't like that, couldn't think like that, knew that she just wanted to hurt him back for holding her during one night in the woods and then enchanting her dreams, before crushing her heart with his selfishness.
Gohan, to his merit, wasn't screaming back and wasn't doing anything violent. His face was contorted into a mask of what might have been pain or a fight against tears. His breaths were long and forced out through clenched teeth. His mind... it was completely clear in lieu of the scathing he was receiving. He couldn't think. He asked himself a simple Why? and realized a moment later that the answer was that he had hurt her. He had hurt her. He didn't know what to do, however. He had no idea what he could do to stop her from hurting if he couldn't stop himself from hurting. Anything he did would be the truth veiled in a lie. He couldn't admit that he truly loved her beyond his own mortal life, beyond the world and beyond heaven. Because if he did, he'd have to give up the pain, give up the guilt, give up responsibility for his father's death. He couldn't do that. He couldn't.
His mind drew a blank. His back was still to this girl whose name he still didn't know. Her words had died and Gohan turned to face her.
Videl saw that the look on his face was one of desperation. She wasn't stupid, she had read all about psychology and the conditioning one went through when you forced something on yourself. He can't live without the pain, or rather, his mind can't see a future beyond the pain. There has to be pain or what happened isn't real and the past before that won't mean anything.
She ran up to him and grabbed hold. No matter what his strength, no matter what he tried, not even if he flew a thousand feet up and threatened to throw her down would she dare release her hold. But she didn't have to. He sank to his knees with his head buried in her hair, his tears soaking her shirt. It was only a start, but it was a start. He couldn't really let go yet, couldn't, just needed to know that there was someone who wouldn't let go of him.
She realized that he was whispering something over and over, incoherently. Videl listened as hard as she could in the otherwise-soundless dusty mountainside.
"Daddy I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... I should have... when I had the chance to do it I didn't and I might have- but you just- you just- you just-" From about that point he stopped making any sense at all. Videl rocked him gently and let her own tears mix with his as she held her cheek against his face.
After what seemed to the pair like hours, Gohan let go the grip he had fallen into. He mumbled an apology and couldn't face those eyes that seemed to know him so well.
He took one step, and then a second, and then a third, then glanced at her before he was to fly off into the noon sun.
Her eyes, they weren't pitiful, they weren't sorrowful, they weren't embarrassed. They just reached out to him. Told him that there was someone here, someone who cared and who loved and who wanted his love. Whenever he was ready. So much is said by the eyes that we miss because we never bother to look. Or we can't see beyond the shield others are forced to put up. But this was clear. She was hurting, herself. Her solace was found in him. His peace was found in accepting the truth, and she was the crutch he might use to survive without the pain.
Videl sighed as she watched him smile. It was no longer an apology that was so unnecessary, but a thanks. A parting gift, that smile. She wished that it wouldn't take so long for him to overcome everything that was on his shoulders. But she knew a person like him must have had an interesting life. Tough decisions are part of those interesting lives people sometimes have.
Once she realized that he might have had the decency to fly her into the city, she gave a sarcastic 'hmph!' and started a meandering walk in the general direction of her home.
-*-
High above and atop the closest mountain, Piccolo wasn't surprised that, in his fit, Gohan hadn't noticed him or Krillin.
"Looks like he's got an admirer now, eh?" Krillin ribbed the big Namek.
"He's been needing someone like that for a while."
"Yeah, but he's still having trouble. I'm glad Chi-chi asked us to watch him today, since we got to find out that," and this part he sing-song called into the mountains so that it echoed, "Gohan's got a girlfriend!"
Piccolo lightly punched the obnoxious short dude in the shoulder. "What if she hears you, fool? Can't you see how fragile their relationship is?"
"Don't worry. Voices in the wind and all that." Krillin smirked. "He looked so much like Goku from up here." Now he was getting wistful.
"No he didn't.
"Okay, so maybe it was just the uniform playing tricks on my eyes. But have you seen Goten lately? That kid isn't just gonna be the spitting image of Goku, he's gonna be the next Goku!"
"Maybe. I'm more worried about who Gohan is going to be."
"You always worry about Gohan. When will you let up? Everything'll be alright in the end."
"Optimist."
"Pessimist."
"Short."
"Green."
"Hey!"
"Sorry, sorry. I forgot about your sensitive side, heh. I was thinking about that girl, Gohan really scored!"
"She was stronger than you. By far."
Krillin grumbled, "Everyone's stronger than poor little Krillin. Damn asexual Namekian, can't appreciate a good woman when..."
"I heard that."
"I refuse to be instigated." He crossed his arms and tried to sound indignant.
"Yeah, right."
-*-
Gohan landed on his balcony and strode in like he had every right to be there. His world was a little different, and he decided that for once he wasn't going to spend March twenty-sixth moping or fighting. At least, not the rest of it.
A good shower in his rather small bathroom proved a needed change. A shower always gave Gohan a fresh perspective. Made him feel like he was new, able to take on any day of the week.
Looking at his bed as he changed, Gohan thought that a nap would probably be nice. But who wants to curl up on top of some nice, cool, fresh linens when you can talk to a Saiyan prince for a few hours? And a grumpy one at that! Gohan smiled. His thoughts wandered back to less than an hour ago. It was her fault that he was feeling so good.
What was wrong with him that it took all that just to let go? He'd been holding onto everything for so long. It got annoying when your mind didn't seem to be your own, when it was in the dark hands of memory and past things.
Her hair... He laughed lightly. Chortled. Because it had never occurred to him that she would smell so nice. Even if she had run all the way from the city and had been crying her eyes out and had been enveloped in dust cloud after dust cloud, she still smelled wonderful. His laugh got a little louder and stronger. This was a wonderful feeling.
And speaking of her hair, how did she fight with it so long? It had never occurred to Gohan during the two actual fights he had witnessed with her participation, but it was almost poetry in motion as she found the rhythm that allowed her hair to sweep at just the right angle to look warrior-like as she kicked the crap out of some guy.
He laughed again. She was a work of art herself. And he happened to find himself an integral, intimate piece of the puzzle that was her. Gohan wondered if she had ever seen it that way, that she had a place in him and he had a place in her.
With a smile on his face, the learned warrior gave his blue on gray appearance the once over and strode out the front door of his apartment.
-*-
Videl made it through the anniversary of her mother's death by spending the day in the park. She suspected that her knight in shining ki was right outside of her special grove, but she could barely sense him. His power was pushed down below that of an insect. It was incredibly hard for him, of course, and Videl being Videl was able to tell how great his store of power was, but that was the point at which she made the decision to stop chasing him until she herself could master that power.
So that was what she did. Just the other's presence in the school building sometimes made up for all that fun they had, though it'd only lasted a single month or so. When the end of the year came, Videl found herself surrounded by people who didn't know a single thing about her, but thought that they were close friends. They probably considered Videl as lucky to be included in whatever it was they were always talking about. One of the greatest problems had been that there was no one her age in any of her classes, Videl having skipped a grade, but another was that she just didn't find anyone who was like her. No one who enjoyed books in their free time just because of the wonderful worlds they present. Only weaklings who liked to pretend strength instead of achieving it through effort. No one who enjoyed fighting as an art to be mastered in training the body and the soul. Just guys who tried to act tough. No one so depressed that they hid in either of her two favorite things to do. Except maybe that one special person with the jet-black hair that happened to turn gold when he thought he needed to be an uber-powered superhero.
So, Videl left for the summer at the end of May with the feeling that she had survived in the least, and even proven that odds can be beaten. Two thousand kids at her school and there was no one who she had encountered that was similar to her.
Summer wasn't too memorable, either, except for a single occurrence.
About the second week of vacation, she was wandering the streets in search of inspiration for her latest literary work, when she happened upon a large sign that said 'SCPD Fighting Championship Finals Today, Free/Open Registration For New Participants, All Capable Fighters Urged To Apply'.
It took her a few minutes to reach Bulma's, which was closer than her house at the moment, to grab a fighting gi.
She hadn't done this sort of thing in a while, and she just wanted to see if anyone might be even close to her if she lowered her power to their level or below. It had taken a lot of training, and she still wasn't able to suppress it to normal levels, but Videl was able to lower her power immensely. And her ability to sense powers was easier to ignore once she started trying to focus on the physical.
So she tried it, and found that her style was all she needed on the indoor arena's floor. Speed, strength, they weren't everything. And since she had long since learned how to counter all of her father's would-be protogés, it was even easier. Too many of them had appeared since the Cell Games.
The Cell Games. She hadn't thought about that subject in a long time, mostly just dwelling on her father's present fame. There was something nagging the back of her mind. Something to do with that gold-
Dodge, crunch. Easy as pie. And even pie was sometimes hard to make.
"Congratulations, Contestant Satan! You have reached the finals."
Videl focused a little harder and pushed her ki down to levels below the fighter she was up against. He looked familiar. Maybe he was with her dad the last time they had seen each other.
Dodge, strike. Down.
"Congratulations, Videl Satan, you have proven yourself as the most capable fighter in this room for the Police Officer's special defense unit."
What?
"Please step down to receive your certification."
She did.
"Just sign here..."
"No thank-you. I didn't understand that this was the award. I'm sorry."
They looked crestfallen. She had knocked out so many fighters who were supposedly years and years beyond her, and then she refused a police commendation?
She hurried through the crowd and the lights and the officers staring at her thinking she might be an unstoppable criminal, Videl had the feeling that this was one of those moments where universes diverged.
She sighed. Maybe it would have been some excitement. At least she could look forward to be being a junior in high school, come August.
-*-
Gohan was a little bit disappointed at first when the constant presence of the girl of his dreams ceased to be so constant and so present. Plus, not only did she stop trying to find him in an effort to hone this skill, she still hadn't used it against him. It was already the end of the school year, too.
Of course, he was signed up to take the three courses required to pass tenth grade during the summer. All of the others were just to pass high school in general and to aid in the career choice. He was planning on just taking a few dozen tests or whatever they wanted in order to prove that he didn't need to take the classes. His first year had been a little... boring. Plus, he had only made some rather general friends. No one to hang out with, to eat lunch with. He had chosen to go to high school, and he could beat it as easily as any other thing. Socially and educationally.
Half of his summer was going to be spent in the city, while the other half was going to be in practicing with Goten and just connecting with the kid. The little guy was getting a whole lot better and he was going to turn five years old. That was how old Gohan had been when Piccolo first took him off into the woods. He had only been studying basic algebra back then. Oh, what a childhood.
It passed like a breeze. There was only so much time in the hourglass. Thoughts of a certain black-haired girl probably helped it along, too. Gohan was waking up on the first day of school in stark anticipation. He was sure, absolutely sure that this would be a good day. Just one of those days where you wake up feeling content and trusting in the way the world works.
His walk to school seemed brighter than usual, every tree so visible alive under the summer-morning sun. It was reassuring, that everything was still going great.
Gohan reached the three hundred hallway where his first class was supposed to be. There was about ten feet between him and the door, number three-oh-three, when he found his arms shaking. His senses were telling him something. Something that was making him unconsciously nervous. All of his training served to allow him to calm himself and ignore the problem.
The room was like all of the others: college style, with the floor sloped up towards the back. Stopping at the door, Gohan realized that every person in the room was at least two years older than him. That might be a problem when he tried to connect with some of these people. Of course, his interests were a little different anyway, and he had already had some experience with the older kids in last year's advanced placement classes.
Then, all of this strange, uncalled for nervousness came to a head and made his stomach churn a bit. Not wanting to be disturbed by anyone, he pushed down his power. Most people were really able to sense it, just that it was a subconscious thing. While he was laying his head on his arms, his thoughts actually caught up with his psyche and he stretched out the invisible feelers of energy sensing. Gohan gasped and shot upright. He slowly turned around.
There was a strangely attractive black-haired girl sitting behind him. Strangely because her beauty was beneath her purposely unattractive hairstyle and overlarge clothing that changed her appearance. Yet, he knew. It was her. It had to be. Was it? She had mastered the ability to lower her power level, he realized, and Gohan had never been worried before. Plus, he'd had the whole summer to forget. And she looked nothing the same as he normally saw her. Was this the part of her that she showed to school?
Suddenly, the girl looked up and noticed his gaze. She tilted her head slightly to the side and said, "I know you from somewhere, don't I?" Odd-angled pointy black hair made her think of someone...
He coolly said, "No, I don't think we've met. But did you skip a grade, too? You don't look as old as everyone else either."
She blinked and looked at him, realizing that he was only as old as her. "Yeah, I did. It's good to see someone my age. Last year, there was no one at all."
"Last year was just as bad for me; no one was in the same classes because I went for AP in almost everything."
"Doesn't sound very fun."
"Um... It's nice to meet you." Before he could think he had stuck out his hand. He felt geeky. "I'm Gohan," he said with a weak smile.
She shook his hand warmly and her smile seemed to light the room. "I'm Videl."
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