Disclaimer: see part one.
In a reversal of roles, PsYChO was the only one this time to provide the pre-read. I'll get you your money once this fat bastard I know returns my three hundred plus dollars.
* * *
Parallel and Perpendicular
A romance/fiction story by ShaggyDiz
Chapter One: You May Think You Hate Me
Part Five: Delicate Situations
* * *
Begin Part Five
* * *
Gohan arrived home shortly after six, opening the door as he landed, disengaging his crime fighting costume as he did so. As he traveled from the living room to the kitchen, he let the smell of his mother's cooking carry him to the table.
"Hi Mom," he greeted, taking a seat next to his brother. He rubbed Goten's head, acknowledging his presence as well.
"How was your day?" Chichi asked him.
"It was good," Gohan said, accepting a plate of breaded chicken and rice. "I didn't stick around after school to talk with people, but I did end up making some friends during the course of the day."
"That's good then," she said, handing a plate to Goten, who started devouring the food as soon as the plate touched the table. "What took you so long to get home then?" she asked him.
"I went to Bulma's, and I had her make me a costume for crime fighting." During the course of the next few minutes, Gohan went into detail about his early morning exploits. Chichi and Goten – especially Goten – were captivated throughout, listening intently to the story Gohan played out before them.
"So I take it that you're going to try and do this from now on?" Chichi asked after her older son had finished.
"When I can, at least. I probably won't do it during school, since I know you wouldn't like that. I'll do rounds in the morning and after school though, so that people can get to know me when they can." He finished up his plate and went to serve himself seconds. "We were right when we said before about the ineptness of the Satan City police."
"That bad?"
"With the way they looked during the one time I helped, then yeah."
"What about that one person I saw last week?" Chichi asked, helping herself to a second serving. Goten, meanwhile, was happily munching down his fourth serving, all the while keeping an open ear on the conversation.
"That girl?" Gohan asked. She nodded. "I didn't see her, and no one made mention of her." He tried to remember something that was said during the last week between himself and his mother. He suddenly remembered the off comment she had made about what the girl looked like.
"What's wrong?" Chichi asked him, seeing the look of hard thought on his face.
"Nothing," he finally said. Inside his head though, Gohan's mind continued to work. Is Videl the girl who fights for the police?
He finished his serving in silence, opting to pass on a third one. Gohan took his dishes, washed them, and excused himself to his room. There, he pulled out the first – and only – homework assignment of the night, one that would take him no more than fifteen minutes to complete.
It was about fifteen minutes later that Goten came into the room, walking up to his brother before pulling up a chair and sitting in it.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Gohan looked down at him. "Just finishing these math problems." He tilted his book over to show Goten what he was working on.
"That looks hard," he said after a few seconds of looking over it. "How do you solve this?"
"Well, you put these two together…" And for the next twenty minutes, Gohan covered the fine details of advanced mathematics. Not far into it, Goten had started to complain about a headache, and Gohan assumed that it was probably due to the child thinking too hard. They finished it though – somewhat successfully – before deciding to head downstairs and watch television with their mother.
It was during the course of the next two hours that Gohan explained in further detail about the day. He talked about his new friends, but paid special attention to describing Videl, telling Chichi that there was something odd going on between her and the faculty. Chichi's only response to that was: "Don't stick your nose into other people's business," to which Gohan replied: "I'll try not to Mom."
They went like that until nine o'clock. By then, Goten had fallen asleep across Chichi's and Gohan's laps. Gohan picked him up and carried him to bed, quickly saying goodnight to his mother before retiring.
He got changed and took care of his nightly bathroom business before climbing into bed. Gohan was out cold by nine forty-five. By midnight, he would fall into his first stint of REM sleep, and in that period, he would experience one of his most vivid dreams.
* * *
Videl arrived home shortly after six, opening the door and quickly kicking her boots off onto the mat. She made her way through the living room into the kitchen, seeing Faye putting the finishing touches on dinner.
"Hey Faye," she said, catching her attention. Videl made her way to the fridge, pulling out a pitcher of iced tea.
"Good evening Videl. And you're just in time for dinner too!" the maid said excitedly, transferring the cooked ham onto a large serving plate.
"Yeah. I'm glad to be home now… picked the perfect time to get dinner out." She walked behind Faye as she carried the plate into the dining room. "Where's Kagero?" she asked, setting the pitcher on the table.
"Upstairs. She said something about getting her homework done now so that she could bother you later with yours." Videl gave her an odd look, to which she just simply shrugged.
"It doesn't matter anyway. I only have advanced math tonight. Might as well teach her how to do that stuff now, I guess."
"You know she'll get a headache," Faye stated.
"At least it'll keep her from bother-" A large "thump" from upstairs interrupted the teen. "She finally figured out that dinner was ready," she said, moving her eyes along with the steady sound of feet emanating from the second floor. Soon enough, the youngster came into view, running right past Videl and Faye and into the large chair at the end of the table.
It was her self dubbed "queen's chair" when Hercule was away.
Slowly, Kagero looked back and forth between Videl and Faye. The two of them had odd looks on their faces, confused to the child's moving head.
"Well?" the small black haired girl asked.
"'Well' what?" Videl responded.
"Are we going to eat?" she pointed expectantly at the ham currently sitting three feet from her. A slight drip of drool came out of the young girl's mouth.
Videl threw her hands up, making an odd sound comprised of a person experiencing a migraine headache and the all too normal routine of exasperation. "Get it yourself," she said, grabbing the knife and cutting her self a few slices of ham. Faye left the room, only to return moments, carrying a bowl of macaroni pasta. She ended up cutting Kagero a few slices of ham, unable to resist the young girl's pouting charms. The remaining food and drinks were passed around after that, and dinner began quietly, except for the occasional manic sound of Kagero's mouth.
"How was your day Videl?" Faye asked after a few minutes. The teen was slow to respond, seeing that she was finishing up a piece of ham.
Kagero didn't care for her bad manners and spoke for her sister. "Bad," came the slightly muffled answer. A slight choking sound was heard from her right.
"Bad, huh?" Faye asked, letting the question linger in the air. She directed most of her attention to Kagero, while keeping a partial gaze on Videl, who was starting to down her cup of iced tea.
"Yeah." The young girl finished chewing this time before continuing. "Some new guy apparently… Videl doesn't like him all too much."
"That's not true!" Videl cried out, finally free of her self-induced blocked windpipe moment. She turned a heated stare at Kagero, threatening mass torture if she continued along this track.
Unfortunately, the girl just didn't care. "You forget who you're talking to," Kagero said evenly. "Remember when I said that I know when you're lying? I wasn't bluffing." She took a bite of her ham and made an evil grin at Videl, showing her that she had somehow won again.
It also meant that Faye was now tuned in completely to the conversation. "So it's a new guy in your class that's causing this rising anger, huh?"
"I don't want to talk about this," the teen said, setting her silverware down and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Fine." Faye turned her eyes back to Kagero. "Talk."
"She thinks he pities her."
"Kagero!"
"She refuses his help… much like everyone else's."
Twitch.
"Is this true Videl?" the maid asked.
"Why should I bother?" she muttered, taking her silverware and callously cut through her ham. She finished her first and only serving in less than two minutes, excusing herself afterwards. She took her dishes, deposited them in the kitchen sink and made her way to her room.
Videl sat at her desk; staring at a book she had opened – the hardcover for advanced math – and scribbling some incoherent nonsense on a piece of paper. She did that for ten minutes before setting her pencil down, unable to focus on anything. She got up and made her way over to her bed, flopping down on it. Her focus eventually ended up on the shelf that extended out from the wall above her.
Reaching up, she found the thing she was looking for on the first try: a frame with a picture in it. Videl pulled it down, letting it stand on her chest. She traced her finger around the young girl that stood in the picture and the small baby being held before coming upon the lady in the middle.
She couldn't say anything at all as she came across the woman's delicate facial features. All of her words became clogged in her throat, unable to come out. There were so many things she had yet to say too.
There was a sudden shift in weight on the bed. "What is it?" Videl asked, knowing whom it was that sat there.
"You know I can't replace her," Faye said, looking over her shoulder at the teen.
"I never wanted a replacement. No one can replace her," Videl said, turning away from the maid.
"I know that." She turned her body so that she could get a better look at Videl. "I never expected to. I wanted to try and mold myself into someone that… I don't know. I just wanted to help."
"I know." She sat up completely, but kept her back to the maid. "I should apologize."
Faye stared at the girl confused. "Why?"
"I never allowed myself to completely open to you. I always did things on my own, ever since…" she left the words unfinished.
"Videl," she started, tempting fate by reaching out with her hand. Faye got a somewhat favorable reaction; seeing that the girl didn't flinch or shudder as her hand came to rest on her shoulder. "You can always start." She squeezed Videl's shoulder when she saw her preparing to protest. "I know you can't change a deeply rooted habit, but you can always make a good attempt at it."
Faye stood up, making her way to the bedroom door. She turned back one last time, seeing that Videl still hadn't moved. "Try with this boy, okay?" She paused, seeing if Videl was going to say something.
She left a few moments later.
Videl stood up several minutes later, making her way to the door and closing it. She wandered back to her bed, completely forgetting about her homework. She returned the picture to the shelf and laid down on the bed, staring blankly into the ceiling. Confusing thoughts scattered throughout her troubled head, none of them becoming focused enough to ponder on.
It was how Kagero found her two hours later – her blanket covering her stomach and legs, but not her bra-covered chest – climbing into her bed adjacent to Videl. Faye had given her the warning of not aggravating Videl at this time, which she followed exactly. As she pulled the sheets over her, she saw her older sister already in a deep sleep. Looking closely, she saw her eyes had started their rapid movement, and Kagero remembered slightly from Videl's books what that meant.
"I wonder what she's dreaming of," she said with a weary voice. Kagero was out no more than five minutes later, and she would be asleep long enough that Videl wouldn't awaken her later that night.
* * *
End Part Five
* * *