Disclaimer: *Sighs in exasperation* Read in the first chapter!

~Chapter 2~

"Wow, Gohan-niichan! I feel so full!" Goten cried happily, rubbing his stomach. Gohan smiled sadly, watching his jubilant brother. 'It shouldn't have had to be this way. . .'

*Flashback*

"Tousan! TOUSAN!" Chibi Gohan hollered, shaking the fallen body of his father. "Tousan, what's wrong? Wake up, please!" The distressed child pleaded. His cried were unheeded, useless. . .for his father was dead, struck down by a rare heart disease.

*End Flashback*

*Flashback*

"Son Gohan." The clipped, stern voice of the doctor called, as the no- nonsense looking man peered around the room over his rectangular spectacles.

"Yes? That's me!" Gohan jumped down from his chair smiling widely. "So do I have a brother now? Can I see him?"

The rich doctor sniffed contemptuously down at the excited boy. "Yes, brat, you have a brother. However, your mother died in the process, so both you two are without parents. Orphans." The man wrinkled his nose in distaste.

". . .died in the process. . .died in the process. . .died in the process. . .orphans. . .orphans. . ." Gohan stumbled back, eyes wide. "No." he whispered. "NO!"

*End flashback*

Gohan sighed, slumping down dejectedly as he watched his brother now singing random tunes happily. 'How can he be so happy? He has never known his parents. . .only me. A brother who struggles to keep him alive. . .and not doing too well. . .'

Goten turned, innocent eyes questioning.

Gohan gulped. 'Did I say that out loud?'

"Niichan? Why do you say that?"

Gohan grimaced. "G-Goten. . ."

Goten cracked a small smile, neither happy nor sad. Just a smile of reassurance, of hope. "Niichan, you shouldn't say that! You're the best brother in the whole wide world!" Goten spread his arms about, indicating the size of the world. "And the universe!" he added. "Besides, having a niichan as cool as you is enough for me! I *do* wanna meet mommy and daddy, but I *don't* wanna have a sad niichan. Deal?"

Gohan grinned, touched by the kid wisdom of his little brother. "Thanks Goten-chan." With that, the teen drew his little brother into a tight, but affectionate hug.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Um. . .honeybuns?" Satan Hercule spoke up timidly, wary of the steaming temper of his daughter. Perhaps it was best if he had kept his mouth shut. . .for Videl suddenly whirled around, not unlike an angry tiger disturbed during a meal, snarling venomously.

"He *stole* from me! I just know it! And he'll pay!" She screamed, temper getting the best of her. She ignored her father's attempts to avoid her ever growing wrath.

"Sweetpea, i-it may be a coincidence. . ." Hercule gulped as the tiger spun around once again, eyes gleaming in barely controlled anger.

"And what if it's not?" The World Champion tried to soothe his overly- suspicious daughter, to no avail. "I want him arrested, Daddy! And I want my money back!"

"But Videl. . .I can just give you more money! Eep!" The afro clad man quickly ducked, narrowly avoiding a slipper thrown his way.

"Fine, if you won't help me, I'll get him myself! No one steals from me!"

~ten minutes later~

Sweatdrop. "Uh, how am I gonna find him?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alright, now Goten, we got our meal. From now on, no more stealing money, okay?" Gohan said to his hyper brother.

"Kay, kay, kay kay kaaaaay!" he chirruped.

Little did Gohan know, the good food, good drinks, and good SUGAR was rather addictive to the younger Son. Very addictive indeed.

~~A few days later~~

"Niichan. . ." Growl. "Niichan!" Another growl.

Gohan sighed, sitting up from meditating. There was no way he could concentrate with his brother's incessant whining.

"What are you growling for, Goten?"

"I'm not! That's my stomach!" Goten whimpered, clutching said body part.

"You're hungry, right?" Gohan nearly smacked himself. What kind of brother was he, to meditate for hours and neglect his only family?

"Goten, I'm sorry but that 50 dollars was used up by two days ago. I suppose its back to dinosaur and fish, huh?"

Disgust expressed itself very clearly in the little boy. He dropped to the ground, whimpering piteously. Large, fat tears rolled down his cheeks as he writhed as if dying by a spear through his small body.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Goten bawled, still wriggling about.

Gohan rolled his eyes, having experience this little act far too many times to be fooled. "Goten, we don't have any choice! We don't have money anymore!" Gohan picked up his sniffling brother, trying to comfort him despite the pretense.

"So if we have money, we can get good food?" Goten asked hopefully. "And sugar?"

The older nodded, but spoke the downside glumly. "We don't have anymore, though."

A mischievous glint glimmered in the large eyes of Goten.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Days had passed, and Satan Videl had nearly forgotten the little thieving incident that had occurred several days ago. The tiger of her temper had once again calmed down to a mild cat, as it always did once given time to pacify itself. Whistling cheerfully, Videl skipped about on her way home from school, in a very good mood. She had just recently kicked butt, in other words stopped another crime, and the fight was somewhat of a challenge. Videl loved challenges.

Backpack bouncing on her slim shoulders, Videl quickly punched in the code to open the gate to Satan Mansion. As the iron doors creaked open, the teen skipped through. It was getting late, as she had stayed after school for a while to hang out with her friends and finish homework there.

"Daaaddy!! I'm home!" Videl hollered as she opened the door. A sheet of paper fluttered from the wind caused by her entrance, and she picked it up to see what it was.

'Hmm. . .a note?'

Videl,

Sorry about not being home, but Daddy's got to meet with some important people today. Be good, stay out of trouble, and don't you dare disgrace yourself with a boy! I'll be back tomorrow, so go to bed promptly at 9. If you get bored, there're some tapes in the living room that you can watch. Love ya, sweetpea!

-Daddy

Setting the note down, Videl grinned. "Alright! House to myself!" stepping into the living room, she rolled her eyes as she saw the tapes Hercule had referred to. "The Many Adventures of Hercule Satan!" Videl read. "A History of the World Champion. Ick. And daddy expects me to watch *these?*"

~~A few hours later, after slacking about and practically trashing the entire house~~

*Yawn* 'Guess I should go to bed.'

And Videl did just that.

Unfortunately, she was unable to sleep. Tossing and turning, the teenager stared out into the darkness, hoping for the familiar heavy dropping of her eyelids. It didn't come. 'Damn. Must've been that caffeine in the coke earlier.' Sighing to herself, Videl gave up attempting to sleep and decided to amuse herself by identifying the many shadows in her room.

'Lamp. . .desk. . .chair. . .tv. . . Computer. . .books. . .my watch . . .new purse. . .little boy. . .clothing rack . . .' Videl said mentally. Suddenly, she jerked up, slightly rustling the many curtains surrounding her bed.

'Woah woah woah. . .rewind! Little boy?!' Sure enough, as she peered closer through her slightly transparent bed curtains, the shadow of a small figure was moving, creeping silently about.

'What the hell is a little boy doing in my room?' Curious, Videl watched through slitted eyes.

Videl felt anger suddenly burst forth as she realized the intruder's destination. . .to her nightstand. . .where her purse was!

'Oh, so another thief decides to rob me of my things? Well not this time!' She thought menacingly. Waiting, waiting, the tiger emerged once again as the gentle cat retreated. Still waiting, the hunter tensed as she eyed her quarry get closer and closer. . .

Then the predator pounced, successfully trapping her prey. Videl had literally thrown herself onto the thief, pinning him down effectively with no way of escape.

"Gotcha!" Videl crowed triumphantly. Firmly holding the small wrist as the thief struggled, Videl quickly switched on the light with full intentions of seeing who her burglar was.

As light flooded the room, Videl found herself staring into a pair of deep ebony eyes, widened in fright. Spiky black hair adorned the young one's small head. The little boy bit his lip, whimpering softly in his throat as he attempted to withdraw his wrist from Videl's strong grasp.

"You. . .look familiar." Videl studied the boy's face, watching as he cringed at her words. So he did know her!

"I know who you are! You're that little guy at the mall!" Videl shouted, anger boiling up once again. So this was the thief! And he had done such a stupid thing as come back to the scene of the crime! But then again, he was only a little boy. . .he looked to be about 6 or 7.

Despite the fact that this boy had stolen from her, and had full intentions of doing it again, Videl's eyes softened as she watched tears rolling down chubby cheeks. "You're. . .you're h-hurting me!" He blubbered.

Videl realized she had unknowingly squeezed the boy's wrist harder in her realization. Immediately, she loosened her hold, but not enough for him to escape.

"What's your name, little guy?" She asked kindly. He was so young. . .maybe he didn't know stealing was a crime.

"M-my name? G-Goten. Please don't hurt me! Or tell niichan!" he sniffled, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

"Goten. I won't hurt you. And what don't you want me to tell your brother?" Videl asked, crouching down so she was level with the shorter (much shorter) one.

"He'll get me in trouble! I w-wasn't supposed to s-s-steal!! But I'm hungry!" That seemed to be the breaking point, for Goten burst into tears and began crying quite loudly. Videl winced, thanking her lucky stars that her father wasn't home.

"Goten, stealing is wrong no matter what. You know who I am, don't you?" Videl asked.

Sniffle. "You're that Satan Devil girl."

Indignant, Videl cried out. "That's Satan *Videl*!"

Sniffle.

Years of crime fighting made Videl feel very strongly for justice. "I'm sorry, Goten, but I'm going to have to report you." She said firmly, ignoring the guilty feeling of turning in such a young boy.

"R-report me? But niichan'll be really mad!"

"Not to your brother. To the police."

Goten's eyes widened. So Gohan was right! Rich people were all the same, cruel, uncaring, selfish!! The young boy began to wail again, pulling frantically at his wrist. "WAAAAH!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAHH, NIIIIIICHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!"

As Videl reached for the phone on her desk, a shattering of glass caught her attention. Whipping her head around, Videl glared angrily at the second intruder, surrounded by the shards of glass of her window.

"What are you doing to my brother?" the other said in a low, dangerous tone, glaring. Videl glared right back, recognizing the other as the beggar at the mall.

"Niichan!"

"You know, I could have you arrested also for breaking and entering." Videl snapped, quite pissed that her window was broken.

The other raised an eyebrow slightly covered by strands of hair. "Also?"

Videl gestured down to the still crying Goten. "He stole from me. That is a crime."

Gohan stepped out, the crunching of glass audible under his boots. "He's just a little boy!"

"Stealing is wrong, no matter what! You, as his brother, should have taught him that!" Videl yelled. Suddenly, she gasped as she felt a slight breeze whip past her.

Gohan smirked, holding his brother protectively in his arms. Angrily, Videl inquired, "How did you do that!?" 'How can he be so fast that I wasn't able to react fast enough?'

"Training." Was the simple answer. Videl nearly howled in rage and humiliation. No one had ever bested her!

As the girl charged, Gohan's smirk faltered. Despite his dislike towards this girl for hurting Goten, he was reluctant to fight a female. She might get hurt. . .

Dodging her fast assaults, Gohan threw Goten out the window. "Goten, I'll meet you later! Go!" Goten needed no further encouragement to get away from the scary lady. 'Besides', Goten thought proudly, 'no one can hurt *my* niichan!'

"Miss Satan! Stop, please!" Gohan narrowly blocked a hard kick aimed at his midsection. "You're wrecking your own room!"

"Yeah, well, it's the same room *you* broke into, and *your* brother stole from!" She screamed back. Outwardly, the tiger was raging fiercely, but inwardly the cat was mewling in exhilaration. A new challenge had sprung up, for this boy seemed to be a very good fighter to be able to block her attacks.

"Fight me!" She roared.

Gohan winced, but did not comply to her wishes. Suddenly, he grabbed Videl's wrist, twisting it behind her back. Growling, Videl attempted to back punch with her other hand, only to find it too was gripped in a strong grip. Anger rose, the inner cat joining its outer counterpart in a fit of rage. She was beaten by this. . .homeless jerk!

"You. . .jerk!"

"Please, Miss Satan!" Gohan avoided her whipping head, as she had nothing else free to attack with. "All I ask is not to involve the police in this! Please, don't report my brother!" 'I already have enough problems to deal with right now. . .'

"And why shouldn't I?"

Gohan bit his lip, racking his brains for an answer. It was hard enough surviving, homeless. Having the police after you was going to make it worse.

"Miss Satan, it's only a small matter. He didn't kill anyone! And I'll make sure he doesn't steal anymore!" Gohan pleaded.

"Stealing is a crime! And let me go, you jerk!" Videl continued to struggle, amazed at the other's strength.

"Can't I just work for you, do something, that will pay off what Goten took?"

Videl stopped struggling. Here was a chance to have a sparring partner! And she could make him do anything she wanted. . .

"Okay."

Gohan let go of his captive, beaming. "Thank you!"

Videl grinned evilly. "For twenty five days, that's one day for two dollars, you'll come here for a certain amount of time. I'll tell you what you have to do."

"twenty five. . .days?"

"Gonna change your mind? It doesn't take much for me to just walk right over and pick that phone up. . .and if you try and stop me, it'll take you a while. My father will be home eventually, so you can't keep me from calling forever. Besides, if you were smart enough to figure out, this house has security cameras that are activated once someone breaks in. . .such as you breaking that window." Videl smirked at the expression on the other's face. Hah!

"Okay. . .I'll come tomorrow. . ."

"You better!" Videl glared, internally giggling at the torture she could inflict. "What's your name?"

"Son Gohan. . ." Gohan mumbled dejectedly.

"Well, Son Gohan," Videl smiled sweetly. "See you tomorrow! 9 a.m. sharp!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Kuso kuso kuso!' Videl nearly bruised herself as she banged her head against the wall. 'What was I thinking? Daddy's gonna have a fit once he finds out a boy is coming to my house everyday! How could I forget that? Kaaaaami. . .'

~~Elsewhere~~

'Kuso kuso kuso!' Gohan punched the ground, hard nearly causing a crack. 'How did I get into this mess?! Working for someone like Videl! She's rich, dammit! And I don't even get a wage or anything! And I can't take care of Goten at the same time! Kuusoooooo. . .'