Disclaimer: see part one.
Pre-read was done again by sage of angst, who feels that PsYChO has lost many things, including his gentleman status. She also wonders why my females curse so much. Hell if I know.
* * *
Parallel and Perpendicular
A romance/fiction story by ShaggyDiz
Chapter One: You May Think You Hate Me
Part Four: Justification
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Begin Part Four
* * *
Gohan left school slightly discouraged that day. He had wanted to apologize to Videl for whatever he'd done wrong, though in all honesty, he didn't know what he did wrong. Perhaps it's because she's a big girl, and that she doesn't need help from anyone. Whatever it was, the first thing he would be doing tomorrow would be giving her a proper apology.
It was the thing that was troubling him the most as he walked down the street to exit the city. He didn't have his last class with Videl, seeing that he was in physical education for the last period of the day, and she was elsewhere. He never asked where her locker was – which, by huge everyday coincidence, was right next to his – so he didn't know where to find her right after school. He eventually gave up, deciding on just apologizing tomorrow.
Of course, not finding her or the blondes removed any possible chance of Gohan sticking around Satan City for very long. He figured that he could sense for their energy signatures and just suddenly "appear" before them, but he hadn't bothered to learn of their energy levels today. He would be stuck finding them on foot, and that would just take too long.
He looked down one street, finding a tall building with small alley between it. Briefly looking around the area, Gohan walked down it before flying up to the rooftop. From there, he was finally able to see the sheer size and scope of Satan City.
"Amazing," he whispered. He spun around in a complete three-sixty circle, taking a longing look at some of the extremely tall buildings. "Well, at least Satan City has something more going for it than just a crime spree."
It was by that coincidence there that it hit him. His earlier fight as a Super Saiyan had helped out the locals at the bank, and he actually enjoyed that little scuffle. He'd have to come up with something so that he wouldn't hurt people too bad as a Super Saiyan. Gohan scratched his head, not finding an immediate solution.
"A costume?" he said aloud after a few moments. A costume would benefit him in many ways. He would have better recognition in one, and with his facial features covered, he could protect his identity and fight in his normal state, free of bone splintering hits if it ended up coming down to hand-to-hand combat.
Gohan needed a costume maker though, and that put him back to square one. He couldn't just walk up to a random tailor and ask him to make a costume based off his designs. He also needed some sort of way to transform quickly. Phone booths with curtains were very rare, if not extinct due to the massive majority of people nowadays with cell phones.
One name quickly came to mind.
"Bulma."
He smirked, blasting off from the rooftop and setting off for West City. Gohan might be late for dinner, but he would have a very good reason for being late.
* * *
Her plan was simple: get the hell out of school as fast as she possibly could, get Kagero from school in forty-five minutes, then meet up with the blondes, at which time she'd have more than enough anger built up within her so that those two could face her unyielding wrath. Clearly, it wasn't a good day for Videl. Her final class wasn't really a class at all. It was just the free period for a group of students to sit around and study, or gossip their heads into oblivion.
That was Videl's reasoning behind it. She had Erasa there, who unfortunately was more of a problem to the black haired girl. Clearly, separating her from Sharpener didn't cease the endless current of romantic reconciliation that brought those two together.
In fact, separating them seemed to make the bubbling girl ten times worse.
In any case, it gave Videl more fuel to the fire that was already added. It was clear that she didn't like Gohan, or rather, found him to be an annoying pest. She really didn't want to hate him, but the pitying looks of concern he constantly gave her drove her up the wall. Videl was beginning to hope that he wasn't always like this. She hoped that he was just trying to help, instead of having that sad look on his face.
"I fucking hate that look," she muttered. Videl was sitting in her copter outside of Kagero's school. It would be over in less than five minutes, in which by that time, all the little seven and eight year olds would be pouring out of the doors, glad to be done of that first day of school.
"They should be glad," she pointed out miserably. "It only gets worse from here."
Videl couldn't understand how one person – that she met today no less – could make her feel like the first three hours of every day that she woke up. Sure, the blonde dimwits were always there to piss her off, but this was different.
She hasn't felt this much discomfort in years.
"Fucking Gohan!"
"Is something wrong sis?"
"Huh?" She looked to her right, shocked at seeing Kagero pulling herself into the copter. "When did you get out?"
"Three minutes ago. You looked so spaced out right there… kind of frightened me," Kagero said, pulling the door close and buckling herself in.
"I'm sorry… just this new kid at school… I don't understand what he's doing."
"Who, this fuc – "
"Don't say that word!" Videl said sharply, turning and getting into her younger sister's face.
"Fine… you said it first though," Kagero responded, sitting back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Kagero… I'm sorry. Not today though, all right?" She moved back into her seat, turning on the engine. "No one has ever pitied me before… and out of nowhere, this… boy, comes along and thinks he can help me."
"Have you considered all the options with him?"
"Not really." Videl released the brake and put the copter in motion. "Well… I figure he is trying to help me out, but the looks he gives me…" She left it at that, concentrating fully on flying the copter.
"Have you talked to him about it?" Kagero asked. Videl looked at her from the corner of her eye, raising her eyebrow in the process. The younger girl understood its subtleties immediately. "Still as stubborn as always, especially with new boys."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Videl asked her.
"You're never going to give anyone a chance, are you?" Kagero stated, keeping her gaze outside. "Everyone that has attempted to help, you turn away. I know you want to be yourself and rely on yourself, but you should ask for help sometimes."
"Didn't I tell you 'not today'?"
Kagero laughed slightly. "You did." She finally turned her head to look at her older sister. "What makes you think I'm going to stop?"
Videl sighed. "Fine… you win. Again."
"Good," she said, smiling. She turned her whole body then, making sure that she was still securely in, but also so that she was comfortably facing Videl. "Now, tell me about this Gohan. Is he cute?"
"What?" Confusion was written on the older girl's face.
"Tell me what he's like! And don't lie to me. I know when you're lying."
"Fine," Videl responded after a few seconds. "Well, he's a dork… and he's smart…"
And for the next twelve minutes, Gohan was the subject of Videl and Kagero's conversation.
* * *
Gohan landed out in the front yard, walking and entering the front door without hesitation. There was no one around, save for the server robot standing "guard" by the front door. It turned and greeted its guest.
"Mr. Gohan," it said. "What brings you to Capsule Corp this evening?" Gohan was about to walk past it, but remembered that this was the only robot that could tell exactly where everyone was at in the house.
"I need to find Bulma. Tell me where she is."
"One moment please." It turned towards the wall behind it, inserting a stiff cord into a socket. This was the way the robot would be able to find all the house residents. Bulma had specially designed the robot to connect itself with various heat signature fields. It recognized various movements from people in the house and used those movements to make an outline of each individual. Hair and other features were assumed – a minor flaw – but it worked nicely, nonetheless.
"Bulma Briefs is currently in the main computer lab. Please follow the path highlighted in green."
"Okay. Thank you." Gohan left the main lobby, moving along the path set before him. This was a general advantage over searching blindly for the person's energy signal. A person can be found in one spot, but to find that person in a maze of rooms and corridors would prove tricky to a person relying on following energy levels.
Green lights sounded good to Bulma anyway.
Gohan found himself standing outside of the lab about a minute later. He pushed the outside button, gaining entrance and finding Bulma mulling over one of the lab's many computers. Several explicit words could be heard from where she was.
"Having trouble Bulma?" he asked. She didn't jump at all. There was an earlier announcement that Gohan had arrived, and that the server robot at the door had laid a path for him to take.
"Damn… fucking formula… argh!" She threw her hands up, giving up on the project for the time being. "These stupid fucking things never work!"
"What's the problem today?" he asked, ignoring the older woman's outburst.
"There is one formula which I can't figure out for this piece of shit. Once I get it though, it'll work." Bulma kicked the table for good measure.
"Hmm… should I come back later?"
She shook her head. "Nah… just sit down. I'll save this and be right over." Bulma stuck her face back in the screen, clicking on various options before turning it off completely. At that time, Gohan had found a small index card and a pencil. That was how Bulma found him a few moments later: drawing intently on the card.
"Now, what do you need?" she asked him.
"I want you to make a superhero costume for me," Gohan simply said.
She raised an eyebrow, confused. "A superhero costume? All right… I can do that. I take it that you're drawing the design you want?" He nodded. A few moments later, he handed it to her. Bulma looked over it, seeing the various scribbles and words on the card.
"Child's play Gohan… you know that, right?"
He nodded. "Nothing too… over the top, but just enough for people to recognize me as a superhero. How long will it take?"
"Well, I'm going to have to find a capsule small enough to hold this design. You say you want it in a watch?" He nodded again. "Okay… two hours, tops." She put the design in her pocket, moving to another station in the room. "Vegeta is over in the gravity room if you want to stop by and say 'hi'."
"That's all right… I might do it later." He walked over to the computer that Bulma was on before he came in. "Hey, do you mind if I work on that thing you had going earlier?"
"Sure, go ahead," she yelled from across the room. "Just be sure to save it under a different file name. I want to see what you did."
"Okay!" He clicked open the file and set to work, all the while thinking about why she figured that he would be able to work this out.
About ninety minutes later, Gohan was putting the finishing touches on the project at hand when Bulma walked up from behind him. She dangled a watch in front of his face.
"Finished already?" he asked surprised.
"Yeah. What about you?"
"One moment," he said, tapping the keyboard a few more times before saving everything under an alternate file name. Gohan stood up afterwards, taking the watch from Bulma's hands. "The formula should work now. You made a small error half way through your process, and it pretty much messed you up in the long run," he said, referring back to the file on the computer.
"Very good. Now, do you know how to put a watch on?" she asked. The look Gohan gave her explained everything. "Okay… now, the watch here has two buttons. The red one turns the switching mechanism on and off."
"I see… and the blue button?" Gohan asked her.
"The blue button… nothing yet, I'm afraid." He gave her a strange look. "It's for looks now, but eventually, if you get some help, we can make this a sort of communicator button."
"That's cool." He brought the watch up to face level. "Might as well try this on." Gohan pushed the button, and as soon as he did, a wire mesh-like field surrounded everything on his body, except for his mouth. They took form a few seconds later, showing Gohan in his costume.
He had a simple design for it: he wore a black spandex suit as the skin covering. White boots and gloves adorned their respective appendages. An extra large green vest covered from his shoulder to mid-thigh, and his head and eyes were covered with a white towel covering and sunglasses.
All in all, Gohan was impressed.
"It's good Bulma," he said, expressing his delight.
"I'm glad you do. Now, do you have a name for this creation of yours?"
Gohan shook his head. "I'll think of something over dinner. Speaking of which," he looked down at his watch – the new one – to look at the time. "Bulma… this doesn't keep time."
Bulma grabbed his hand and looked at the watch. "Really now? Hmm… I'll fix that later. You better get going now though before your mom begins to worry."
"I will. See you later Bulma, and thanks a whole bunch!" he shouted leaving the room. Gohan quickly left the building and blasted off into the sky, still in his new superhero attire.
* * *
If only the conversation had gone better, then maybe Videl – currently flying home for dinner – wouldn't have been in such a bad mood.
It all started right after she had dropped off Kagero. As much as she wanted to keep her younger sister happy, she couldn't keep the façade going any longer than she already did. Videl did the only thing she could do once she got rid of Kagero:
Curse repeatedly.
It was a simple concept: don't curse when the younger sibling is around, and don't tell the younger sister how much of a distaste she had for the person she just happily described to her no more than five minutes before.
Life was proving to be tough for Videl.
She cursed loudly – thanking the makers of the copter for the sound proof windows – as she flew into the heart of the city, making her way to her ice cream stop appointment with the blondes. There, her anger became more focused, as she would have to put up with the incredibly bubbly girl and her annoying jock of a boyfriend.
Life was proving to be very tough for Videl, and she hadn't even said one word to the pair since school ended.
She couldn't raise her voice in a place like the ice cream parlor. Many students frequented the semi-large place, and it was one of the biggest gossip centers of the city, next to the Satan City Mall. Shattering the peace in the place like this would prove stupid and fatal. The largest group of gossipers would immediately start calling or text messaging their friends, who would call or text their friends, who would repeat the cycle, until just about everyone knew of what gossip had happened inside the ice cream parlor. No one would be safe from a large mouth by nightfall.
Videl found the blondes in their normal spots in the parlor. She went up to them and sat down, looking around back and forth before leaning in close to them.
"I'm beginning to hate Gohan," she stated.
This threw the blondes in a loop. "Wait… how can you hate Gohan?" Erasa asked him.
"Yeah… Gohan is an incredibly smart kid with a good nature to boot. How can you hate him?" Sharpener asked from next to his girlfriend.
"He pities me."
More loops were tossed in. "He pities you? How can he pity you? You're Videl Satan!" Erasa said, being ever so wary of her rising voice.
"I know that Erasa." She turned her head to the side, looking away into some far off spot. "He can see what's happening around me and the faculty." Videl turned to look at the blondes again. "He thinks he can help me."
"Why don't you let him help you?" Sharpener said in a brief moment of intelligence.
"Because I can't let him, okay?" she snapped at him. "I've lived my life by what I saw fit. I helped when I was asked and I declined help when I was asked. I won't change now, not when someone gives me a smile that screams sorrow."
"Wait," Erasa cut in, "when did he give you that look? I watched him a lot today, and he didn't give any look like that."
"I saw it at lunch. I watched him as he spoke to himself about this shit."
"You spied on him?"
"It was inadvertent, Erasa. I got out to the woods before he did, and he ended up sitting on the ground by the tree I was in."
"So it was by coincidence that you ended up finding out that he pitied you?" Erasa asked.
Videl shook her head. "In the world languages class… he gave me that look again."
"Having any trouble?" Mr. Gatou said from the table's end, holding a tray of the group's everyday special.
"Nothing she can't take care of apparently, as always," Sharpener responded, waving a hand her way. "She's a big girl, so she should be able to take care of stuff."
"Oh now what, you too?" Videl said, anger rising quickly.
"You need it," Sharpener answered. He knew he was treading into dangerous territory, but even with Erasa tugging on his arm, begging him to stop, he didn't. He also didn't know whether or not that this brief spot of intelligence was actually intelligent. "Like you said, you don't need any help." He leaned in close, getting right in Videl's face. "Maybe it's about time you receive some help."
Twitch.
"What?" Videl asked, her anger boiling in her fist.
"Do you want me to repeat it?"
"No…"
He nodded. "Do you refuse defeat?"
"No."
He nodded again. "Then tell him that you don't want his pity, but you'll take his help."
"And what if he still pities me?" Videl asked him.
Sharpener smirked. "Then maybe you can just beat it into him."
Videl smiled. "I like that."
"I don't think I do," Mr. Gatou cut in, taking the empty seat next to Videl. "While I may not agree with the ass beating part, I do have to say that you should occasionally get help. It might be because of the fact that, with the police work, you're so adjusted to doing things by yourself that receiving help from this kid would prove to be a deterrent to your everyday life, right?" She nodded. "Okay, well, take this into consideration: someday, you will need help. It maybe tomorrow… it maybe a year from now for all we know.
"You have to realize that you will need this help. Tell this boy that you don't need his pity, but accept his help. Talk to him about it, and if he does pity you again, remind him of who you are, and what you've gone through."
"I barely know him though!" Videl argued.
"Then get to know him. Don't ignore him, and don't hate him." He stood up, passing out the ice cream dishes. "Now eat before they melt. I don't want to lose any money because of wasted ice cream."
"Hey… don't we always waste the ice cream?" Erasa asked.
Mr. Gatou put his finger to his lips. "Only for you three." He went off to the back of the shop, leaving the three to their snacks.
They made small talk on other topics, purposely avoiding Gohan for Videl's sake. They left after about forty minutes, Videl parting ways with the blondes at the shop.
She began pondering the conversation as she flew home. It was true that she didn't want to dislike or hate Gohan. Videl was left in a troubling spot though. How can she be a friend with someone that gives her sorrowful looks? It was that confusion that led to her indifferent mood. She should have argued against Sharpener's point. She should have let him repeat it. Maybe then, that anger she had been building up could have ended up as a red hand mark on his face.
Erasa wouldn't have liked that, and neither would Mr. Gatou.
"Thank you Mr. Gatou," Videl whispered as she flew.
Stubborn as she was, she would follow their advice, if only to see if Gohan was really what he seemed.
* * *
End Part Four