A/N: Ugh, I can't believe I'm starting another one of these! As if four isn't enough at once! (plus 2 originals on Fictionpress.....) Anyway, there's a point to this rambling. I want to explain that this is, as usual, an AU. Secondly, Gohan/Videl fans may not like some things that will be in this story but just give it a chance. Third, I've noticed a trend in my stories. I go from one action scene to the next and on, I forget about all the stuff in between in many places. Sure, it's good action fun but I want to do more with this story. (Just don't expect a master piece.) Lastly, I'm replacing the Buu saga all together with this, starts around the same time though, before Gohan and Videl ever even met. Anyway, enough pointless words, into the story we go!
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Chapter One ~ First Day
As the sun crested over the distant mountains a flock of birds chirped and flew off into the distance. The dawning sun tinted the cloudless sky a vibrant orange and glistened off the recently washed dome of the small Son home. Most people were still asleep this time of day or just getting out of bed. However Chi-Chi wasn't most people. She'd been up for an hour already and had practically a four course meal already laid out on the table and more pancakes cooking. In a few minutes she knew Goten would wake up and charge into his brother's room using the elder half Sai-jin as a trampoline to wake him up. Then two very hungry Sai-jins would find their way to the kitchen and the food would be gone in less than ten minutes.
Sure enough she heard Gohan's loud cry of shock and Goten's playful laugh as she set out the last batch of pancakes and placed a gallon of Orange Juice out for Gohan and a half gallon for Goten. A moment later Gohan stepped into the room with Goten on his shoulders. At sight of the food Goten let out a cry of joy and leapt off his brother's back and settled into his seat instantly digging into the food. Chi-Chi smiled as Gohan took his seat and dug in as well. The only time this daily routine was ever interrupted was when Goten stayed over visiting Trunks. Then he always came home complaining he was hungry and wondering how Trunks could survive without someone around who could cook.
As Chi-Chi sighed and started preparing her own breakfast a familiar shadow passed by the window to her side. "Hello Piccolo." she said not bothering to turn around. She heard Goten's squeal of delight as he rushed over the table and jumped onto Piccolo.
"Hey squirt." he said rubbing the pint sized Goku look-a-like's head. As Goten swallowed the last of his food he ran out of the house to play in the woods. As Goten vanished from sight Piccolo leaned against the doorframe waiting for Gohan to finish eating so his attention wouldn't be divided. When at last Gohan emptied his last plate Piccolo spoke up. "I'm not a messenger you know."
Looking up Gohan noticed Piccolo for the first time. "Oh, hey Piccolo! How long have you been there?" Piccolo just smirked. "Right." Gohan said stretching. He'd probably been there for a few minutes at least, he never could tell when someone snuck up on him while he was eating. "So what's up? What's this about being a messenger?"
"Dende's been trying to get in touch with you since you woke up." replied the Namek.
"Really? What for?" Gohan asked scratching the back of his head.
Piccolo shook his head. "Arrangements. It's been seven years and Dende wants to do something special." Piccolo stopped for a moment as a look of sadness slipped over Gohan's face for a moment. Dende had been trying to do something every year but Gohan wouldn't let him. This year Dende said he refused to take no for an answer and wanted to do something big for everyone. "He's not taking no for an answer this year either Gohan, his exact words."
Gohan just shuffled his feet a bit. It was still another month until the anniversary of his father's death but it was already gnawing on his mind. It always started about this time of year, the dreams, nightmares really. The battle against Cell would re-play in his mind two, sometimes three times a night. He'd always wake up once in the night covered in sweat and wondering if letting Cell kill him would have been a better idea. Then he'd watch Goten playing and know he'd done the right thing. If he'd let Cell win then the Earth would be gone and so would billions of other people. That and it would have made his father's sacrifice pointless.
While Gohan remained silent his mother decided to speak up. "I think it's a great idea." she said walking over to Piccolo. "You tell Dende to go ahead and do whatever he feels like. And tell him thank-you for me."
Piccolo looked over at Gohan again who was still staring at the floor. "You going to be okay kid?" he asked softly. Chi-Chi looked back at her son. She still didn't much like Piccolo but he was better company than Vegeta, and with Goku gone Piccolo was the father figure for both Gohan and Goten.
Turning to look at Piccolo she tried to smile. "He'll be okay, he gets like this every year." She looked over at Gohan again and sighed. She was hoping a change of scenery would do him so good. In some ways Goten had it easiest, he had never met Goku so it wasn't as painful for him. "You should get ready Gohan, today's your first day and you don't want to be late."
As Gohan walked off down the hall to change his clothes and Chi-Chi went back over to the stove Piccolo's face scrunched up. "You still think it's a good idea having him go to public school? Especially at this time of year. What if..."
"Gohan can't live here with me his entire life Piccolo." she said glancing over her shoulder at him as she finished making her pancakes. "He needs to get away from here and his fathers friends, make some of his own, move on with his life." she sighed as she went to the table and set her plate of two pancakes down. "I just don't want to see him mopping around the house for the next two months. Maybe if he gets away for a while, makes some friends, he can finally find some peace. Goku wouldn't want him like this his entire life."
Piccolo nodded. "Yeah... But I still worry about the kid." As Chi-Chi took her seat she looked up and smiled lightly at Piccolo who closed his eyes a moment before nodding and leaving. He knew that look, he'd gotten it more than once over the last seven years. Despite how much she still disliked Piccolo because of his past she liked having him around to help her out with her kids, looking over them when she couldn't.
A moment after Piccolo had left Gohan came back into the room in a pair of red pants and a white t-shirt and black vest. He had his brown back pack slung over his shoulder as he kissed his mother in the forehead. "Have fun dear." she called after him as he left.
Gohan took in the fresh air and looked off to where the sun had just barely made its way free of the mountains. He loved this time of the morning, the cool air of night hadn't faded out completely yet and many of the animals were just waking up for the day. With a smile and a nervous stomach about what today might bring he floated into the air. As he started flying toward the city the Nimbus pulled up next to him with Goten sitting atop.
"Hey squirt, what's up?" Gohan asked.
"You're lucky Gohan, you get to go to school in the city instead of having mom teach you." Goten said pouting lightly.
Gohan laughed and shook his head. "Yeah, but I've got to be there most of the day, inside. At least you can have some fun when mom gets bored." As the trees began to thin out and more and more houses dotted the landscape he looked back at his brother. "I'll see you later okay? And take care of mom for me."
"Okay!" Goten cried turning the Nimbus around and heading back towards the house.
Gohan landed just outside the city limits and started walking toward the school. He'd flown by a few times over the weekend mapping out the city in his mind so he could find his way around. His mind was wondering as he walked. He couldn't help but wonder what Dende had in mind for the anniversary. His friend had always insisted on some kind of memorial and even though Gohan had told he didn't want anything it didn't stop Dende from doing a little something. Every year there was soft rain most of the day, it only lets up for a little while in the afternoon, the exact time Gohan was fighting Cell.
His wondering train of thoughts was broken by a sudden wail of an alarm. Looking down the street he saw a red pick-up sitting in front of a bank. Then a moment later two men in ski masks burst out of the bank with semi-automatics and bags full of cash. /A bank robbery? I have to do something... but.../ He looked himself over. /Someone might recognize me later at school..../ Then he smiled. /But if I transform!/ Gohan dropped his bag by a wall around the corner and in a flash he'd transformed.
As he stepped out onto the street the first two robbers had been joined by three more and one of them was huge. /They aren't that strong... I'll have to be really careful not to hurt anyone to badly./ Suddenly he moved so fast that to anyone who might have seen him he just vanished. He ran over to the two robbers behind the pick-up and grabbed their heads. With one swift motion head smacked their heads together and knocked them out. At the sight of this the truck suddenly peeled out and pulled off.
Gohan was about to run after the truck when he suddenly sensed a KI spike on one of the rooftops. As he looked up for the source three small balls of blue KI sped down at the truck. Two of them hit the robbers on the back of the truck knocking them off and out cold. The third smashed off the back tires causing the truck to scrape against the road for a few yards before coming to a rest.
Gohan looked around for any sign of the KI he'd felt but there was nothing. As the sirens of the approaching police cars reached his ears Gohan powered down and grabbed his bag. He took one last look at the robbers and was about to go when a girl beside him asked him something. "Huh?"
"I asked if you saw what happened." she said slightly irritated.
Gohan didn't pay much attention to her as shook his head. "No... just got here..." he said. He glanced at the rooftops for a second and then walked off toward the school again leaving the commotion behind him. He walked the last few blocks to school wondering about the source of those KI blasts. After he got to Orange Star High it took Gohan a few minutes to even find the main office. From there he was given a set of directions to his class which seemed to be the scenic route to him.
******
"Please, quit down everyone!" the teacher called out to the class. The bell had rung a few minutes ago but the room was still buzzing with talk about the attempted robbery earlier. These kind of things happened now and then but typically it was Videl who put a stop to it, not some glowing golden guy or glowing balls of light from the sky. It had only happened less than an hour ago and already the entire school knew about. As the teacher called for silence again they all finally listened. Not so much because he asked for it but because Videl had just walked into class.
"Thank-you. Now before we get started we've got three new students starting today. First I'd like to introduce Son Gohan." At his name Gohan walked into the room and smiled nervously. He was pointed to a seat half way up the class beside a blonde girl. As he made his way up to his seat he caught sight of the girl two beside the blonde.
/She looks familiar. Oh, the girl from the robbery!/
As Gohan took his seat the teacher cleared his throat. "Our second student is Daemon Nova." The class watched as a young man about Gohan's height walked into the room. He was wearing a pair of baggy black pants and a loose black t-shirt. His blond hair ended just below his ears. Gohan saw a light blue bandana partially hidden by his hair. As the girl beside him giggled something about his beautiful light blue eyes he came up and took the empty seat in front of her.
"And our last student is Sheba Nova." As she entered the room it was obvious the two were brother and sister, they looked that much alike. She was about a head shorter than Gohan. Her auburn hair hung half-way down her back and she too wore a light blue bandana that was partially hidden by her hair. She was also wearing a pair of baggy black pants and a loose black t-shirt. As she walked across the room and started up to her seat, the one in front of Gohan, he couldn't help but stare into her deep green eyes.
The day went along without anything notably interesting. That is, until phys. ed. class. They'd gone outside to the field and set up for a game of baseball. Gohan was talking to the blond girl he sat beside, Erasa, as someone went up to bat. "So, Gohan, where'd you go to school before this?" Erasa asked.
Sharpner laughed. "Yeah, where'd you learn to be such a bookworm?"
Gohan smiled lightly. "I was home schooled until today."
"Really?" squealed Erasa. "That must have been so cool! So what do you think of it here?"
Gohan shrugged. "It's okay. At least the school goes slower than my mom does." /And none of the teachers have frying pans./
"So why'd you start going here?" Sharpner asked. "Just move into town?"
"No, mom thought it would be a good idea for me to come to a public school, make some new friends."
"So where do you live?" Videl asked.
"Out in the 439 district, my mom owns the land out there."
"The 439 district!" Erasa gaped. "That's out in the middle of no where!"
Gohan grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess so. I never really noticed... but dad liked it out there because it gave him a lot of room to train in."
"Train?" Sharpner asked. "Was your father a martial artist?" Gohan just nodded. "Really? Wouldn't think the son of a martial artist would be such a geek."
"Sharpner!" Videl said elbowing him.
"Geez, sorry. So who was you dad?"
"Goku." he said plainly not really wanting to follow this topic at the moment.
Videl blinked at him. /Goku? Wait a minute! His last name's Son! Could he mean.../ "You mean your father was Son Goku!?" she asked in shock.
Gohan just nodded as he watched Sheba go up to bat. The pitcher threw the ball and a moment later there was a loud crack as the bat connected with the ball. Everyone watched in wonder as the ball sailed off into the distance and out of view. Gohan blinked a few times, he knew most people couldn't do that kind of thing.
"Wow, would you look at that Videl." Sharpner said whistling. "You may have some competition." Then he looked back over to Gohan. "So why'd your dad quit competing in the Budokai? It would be cool to see two legends go at it."
Gohan looked at the ground. "There were some, problems, a while back..." he paused for a moment. "And he died a few years ago."
Erasa's overly happy expression dulled a bit. "Oh, sorry..."
******
Sheba picked up the baseball bat as she walked out to home plate. The sport seemed easy enough to her, ball comes at you, you swing bat, hit ball with bat. Then you ran the bases. She slid into position and waited for the ball. As it neared she swung hard but careful not to use her full strength. The bat connected with the ball in a loud crack and disappeared off into the distance. /Oops... I hadn't expected it to be so easy.../ she thought watching the ball vanish. As she started to jog the basses she saw everyone's stunned looks... and noticed a pair of eyes follow her as she ran. As she rounded third and started in for home plate again she caught sight of the eyes again and smiled lightly.
******
Gohan was just about to tell Erasa it was okay when Sheba suddenly smiled at him. He realized it was directed his way almost instantly, she was looking right into his eyes. Blushing he looked at the ground again. He thought he heard his name but didn't really notice, until Videl tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey Gohan, you okay?"
"Huh?" he asked looking up. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. What were you saying?"
Sharpner leaned forward to get a better look at Gohan. "I was wondering if you ever got any martial arts training. You don't look all that buff but I caught sight of a few muscles back in the locker room."
Gohan nodded. "Yeah... I've had some training. It's basically how I get my exercise."
Sharpner grinned. "Good man! You should enter into the Budokai. It's coming up in just a few weeks." He put his arm around Videl who none to gently shoved it back off again. "You know Videl here's entering the tournament."
"Really?"
Videl looked at him with a slightly angry look. "And what's that supposed to mean?"
"N-nothing." he said waving his arms. "I just..."
"Easy girl." Erasa said laughing. "I don't think he meant anything. There just haven't been that many female competitors. Right?" The last part was directed at Gohan.
"Yeah." he said relaxing.
"Well," Sharpner began. "You've got to consider who she is. Videl's no ordinary girl you know." Gohan just looked at him confused. "Man you are clueless Gohan! How can you be smarter than the teachers and still not know who Videl is?"
Erasa giggled. "He lives out in the middle of no where. He probably never even heard of Cell."
Gohan's confusion deepened as he wondered what possible connection Videl had to Cell. "What's she have to do with Cell?"
"She's Hercule's daughter duh!" Sharpner said rolling his eyes.
Gohan practically fell off the bench as his eyes bugged out. "Y-you've got to be kidding!"
Erasa cracked up at his expression and even Sharpner couldn't help but laugh. Videl on the other just leaned back against the wall and relaxed. /Gohan is so weird, but he's pretty cool. He even wanted to be my friend without knowing who I was./
The rest of the day was pretty boring, Gohan even managed to strikeout every time at bat so he would reveal any of his power. As the day came to an end he said good-bye to his three new friends and started walking toward the city limits where he could take off into the air. He hadn't gone more than four blocks before the sound of police sirens reached his ears. /Well, this is a big city./ he thought sighing. /Maybe I should go check it out and make sure no one gets hurt./
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Chapter One ~ First Day
As the sun crested over the distant mountains a flock of birds chirped and flew off into the distance. The dawning sun tinted the cloudless sky a vibrant orange and glistened off the recently washed dome of the small Son home. Most people were still asleep this time of day or just getting out of bed. However Chi-Chi wasn't most people. She'd been up for an hour already and had practically a four course meal already laid out on the table and more pancakes cooking. In a few minutes she knew Goten would wake up and charge into his brother's room using the elder half Sai-jin as a trampoline to wake him up. Then two very hungry Sai-jins would find their way to the kitchen and the food would be gone in less than ten minutes.
Sure enough she heard Gohan's loud cry of shock and Goten's playful laugh as she set out the last batch of pancakes and placed a gallon of Orange Juice out for Gohan and a half gallon for Goten. A moment later Gohan stepped into the room with Goten on his shoulders. At sight of the food Goten let out a cry of joy and leapt off his brother's back and settled into his seat instantly digging into the food. Chi-Chi smiled as Gohan took his seat and dug in as well. The only time this daily routine was ever interrupted was when Goten stayed over visiting Trunks. Then he always came home complaining he was hungry and wondering how Trunks could survive without someone around who could cook.
As Chi-Chi sighed and started preparing her own breakfast a familiar shadow passed by the window to her side. "Hello Piccolo." she said not bothering to turn around. She heard Goten's squeal of delight as he rushed over the table and jumped onto Piccolo.
"Hey squirt." he said rubbing the pint sized Goku look-a-like's head. As Goten swallowed the last of his food he ran out of the house to play in the woods. As Goten vanished from sight Piccolo leaned against the doorframe waiting for Gohan to finish eating so his attention wouldn't be divided. When at last Gohan emptied his last plate Piccolo spoke up. "I'm not a messenger you know."
Looking up Gohan noticed Piccolo for the first time. "Oh, hey Piccolo! How long have you been there?" Piccolo just smirked. "Right." Gohan said stretching. He'd probably been there for a few minutes at least, he never could tell when someone snuck up on him while he was eating. "So what's up? What's this about being a messenger?"
"Dende's been trying to get in touch with you since you woke up." replied the Namek.
"Really? What for?" Gohan asked scratching the back of his head.
Piccolo shook his head. "Arrangements. It's been seven years and Dende wants to do something special." Piccolo stopped for a moment as a look of sadness slipped over Gohan's face for a moment. Dende had been trying to do something every year but Gohan wouldn't let him. This year Dende said he refused to take no for an answer and wanted to do something big for everyone. "He's not taking no for an answer this year either Gohan, his exact words."
Gohan just shuffled his feet a bit. It was still another month until the anniversary of his father's death but it was already gnawing on his mind. It always started about this time of year, the dreams, nightmares really. The battle against Cell would re-play in his mind two, sometimes three times a night. He'd always wake up once in the night covered in sweat and wondering if letting Cell kill him would have been a better idea. Then he'd watch Goten playing and know he'd done the right thing. If he'd let Cell win then the Earth would be gone and so would billions of other people. That and it would have made his father's sacrifice pointless.
While Gohan remained silent his mother decided to speak up. "I think it's a great idea." she said walking over to Piccolo. "You tell Dende to go ahead and do whatever he feels like. And tell him thank-you for me."
Piccolo looked over at Gohan again who was still staring at the floor. "You going to be okay kid?" he asked softly. Chi-Chi looked back at her son. She still didn't much like Piccolo but he was better company than Vegeta, and with Goku gone Piccolo was the father figure for both Gohan and Goten.
Turning to look at Piccolo she tried to smile. "He'll be okay, he gets like this every year." She looked over at Gohan again and sighed. She was hoping a change of scenery would do him so good. In some ways Goten had it easiest, he had never met Goku so it wasn't as painful for him. "You should get ready Gohan, today's your first day and you don't want to be late."
As Gohan walked off down the hall to change his clothes and Chi-Chi went back over to the stove Piccolo's face scrunched up. "You still think it's a good idea having him go to public school? Especially at this time of year. What if..."
"Gohan can't live here with me his entire life Piccolo." she said glancing over her shoulder at him as she finished making her pancakes. "He needs to get away from here and his fathers friends, make some of his own, move on with his life." she sighed as she went to the table and set her plate of two pancakes down. "I just don't want to see him mopping around the house for the next two months. Maybe if he gets away for a while, makes some friends, he can finally find some peace. Goku wouldn't want him like this his entire life."
Piccolo nodded. "Yeah... But I still worry about the kid." As Chi-Chi took her seat she looked up and smiled lightly at Piccolo who closed his eyes a moment before nodding and leaving. He knew that look, he'd gotten it more than once over the last seven years. Despite how much she still disliked Piccolo because of his past she liked having him around to help her out with her kids, looking over them when she couldn't.
A moment after Piccolo had left Gohan came back into the room in a pair of red pants and a white t-shirt and black vest. He had his brown back pack slung over his shoulder as he kissed his mother in the forehead. "Have fun dear." she called after him as he left.
Gohan took in the fresh air and looked off to where the sun had just barely made its way free of the mountains. He loved this time of the morning, the cool air of night hadn't faded out completely yet and many of the animals were just waking up for the day. With a smile and a nervous stomach about what today might bring he floated into the air. As he started flying toward the city the Nimbus pulled up next to him with Goten sitting atop.
"Hey squirt, what's up?" Gohan asked.
"You're lucky Gohan, you get to go to school in the city instead of having mom teach you." Goten said pouting lightly.
Gohan laughed and shook his head. "Yeah, but I've got to be there most of the day, inside. At least you can have some fun when mom gets bored." As the trees began to thin out and more and more houses dotted the landscape he looked back at his brother. "I'll see you later okay? And take care of mom for me."
"Okay!" Goten cried turning the Nimbus around and heading back towards the house.
Gohan landed just outside the city limits and started walking toward the school. He'd flown by a few times over the weekend mapping out the city in his mind so he could find his way around. His mind was wondering as he walked. He couldn't help but wonder what Dende had in mind for the anniversary. His friend had always insisted on some kind of memorial and even though Gohan had told he didn't want anything it didn't stop Dende from doing a little something. Every year there was soft rain most of the day, it only lets up for a little while in the afternoon, the exact time Gohan was fighting Cell.
His wondering train of thoughts was broken by a sudden wail of an alarm. Looking down the street he saw a red pick-up sitting in front of a bank. Then a moment later two men in ski masks burst out of the bank with semi-automatics and bags full of cash. /A bank robbery? I have to do something... but.../ He looked himself over. /Someone might recognize me later at school..../ Then he smiled. /But if I transform!/ Gohan dropped his bag by a wall around the corner and in a flash he'd transformed.
As he stepped out onto the street the first two robbers had been joined by three more and one of them was huge. /They aren't that strong... I'll have to be really careful not to hurt anyone to badly./ Suddenly he moved so fast that to anyone who might have seen him he just vanished. He ran over to the two robbers behind the pick-up and grabbed their heads. With one swift motion head smacked their heads together and knocked them out. At the sight of this the truck suddenly peeled out and pulled off.
Gohan was about to run after the truck when he suddenly sensed a KI spike on one of the rooftops. As he looked up for the source three small balls of blue KI sped down at the truck. Two of them hit the robbers on the back of the truck knocking them off and out cold. The third smashed off the back tires causing the truck to scrape against the road for a few yards before coming to a rest.
Gohan looked around for any sign of the KI he'd felt but there was nothing. As the sirens of the approaching police cars reached his ears Gohan powered down and grabbed his bag. He took one last look at the robbers and was about to go when a girl beside him asked him something. "Huh?"
"I asked if you saw what happened." she said slightly irritated.
Gohan didn't pay much attention to her as shook his head. "No... just got here..." he said. He glanced at the rooftops for a second and then walked off toward the school again leaving the commotion behind him. He walked the last few blocks to school wondering about the source of those KI blasts. After he got to Orange Star High it took Gohan a few minutes to even find the main office. From there he was given a set of directions to his class which seemed to be the scenic route to him.
******
"Please, quit down everyone!" the teacher called out to the class. The bell had rung a few minutes ago but the room was still buzzing with talk about the attempted robbery earlier. These kind of things happened now and then but typically it was Videl who put a stop to it, not some glowing golden guy or glowing balls of light from the sky. It had only happened less than an hour ago and already the entire school knew about. As the teacher called for silence again they all finally listened. Not so much because he asked for it but because Videl had just walked into class.
"Thank-you. Now before we get started we've got three new students starting today. First I'd like to introduce Son Gohan." At his name Gohan walked into the room and smiled nervously. He was pointed to a seat half way up the class beside a blonde girl. As he made his way up to his seat he caught sight of the girl two beside the blonde.
/She looks familiar. Oh, the girl from the robbery!/
As Gohan took his seat the teacher cleared his throat. "Our second student is Daemon Nova." The class watched as a young man about Gohan's height walked into the room. He was wearing a pair of baggy black pants and a loose black t-shirt. His blond hair ended just below his ears. Gohan saw a light blue bandana partially hidden by his hair. As the girl beside him giggled something about his beautiful light blue eyes he came up and took the empty seat in front of her.
"And our last student is Sheba Nova." As she entered the room it was obvious the two were brother and sister, they looked that much alike. She was about a head shorter than Gohan. Her auburn hair hung half-way down her back and she too wore a light blue bandana that was partially hidden by her hair. She was also wearing a pair of baggy black pants and a loose black t-shirt. As she walked across the room and started up to her seat, the one in front of Gohan, he couldn't help but stare into her deep green eyes.
The day went along without anything notably interesting. That is, until phys. ed. class. They'd gone outside to the field and set up for a game of baseball. Gohan was talking to the blond girl he sat beside, Erasa, as someone went up to bat. "So, Gohan, where'd you go to school before this?" Erasa asked.
Sharpner laughed. "Yeah, where'd you learn to be such a bookworm?"
Gohan smiled lightly. "I was home schooled until today."
"Really?" squealed Erasa. "That must have been so cool! So what do you think of it here?"
Gohan shrugged. "It's okay. At least the school goes slower than my mom does." /And none of the teachers have frying pans./
"So why'd you start going here?" Sharpner asked. "Just move into town?"
"No, mom thought it would be a good idea for me to come to a public school, make some new friends."
"So where do you live?" Videl asked.
"Out in the 439 district, my mom owns the land out there."
"The 439 district!" Erasa gaped. "That's out in the middle of no where!"
Gohan grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess so. I never really noticed... but dad liked it out there because it gave him a lot of room to train in."
"Train?" Sharpner asked. "Was your father a martial artist?" Gohan just nodded. "Really? Wouldn't think the son of a martial artist would be such a geek."
"Sharpner!" Videl said elbowing him.
"Geez, sorry. So who was you dad?"
"Goku." he said plainly not really wanting to follow this topic at the moment.
Videl blinked at him. /Goku? Wait a minute! His last name's Son! Could he mean.../ "You mean your father was Son Goku!?" she asked in shock.
Gohan just nodded as he watched Sheba go up to bat. The pitcher threw the ball and a moment later there was a loud crack as the bat connected with the ball. Everyone watched in wonder as the ball sailed off into the distance and out of view. Gohan blinked a few times, he knew most people couldn't do that kind of thing.
"Wow, would you look at that Videl." Sharpner said whistling. "You may have some competition." Then he looked back over to Gohan. "So why'd your dad quit competing in the Budokai? It would be cool to see two legends go at it."
Gohan looked at the ground. "There were some, problems, a while back..." he paused for a moment. "And he died a few years ago."
Erasa's overly happy expression dulled a bit. "Oh, sorry..."
******
Sheba picked up the baseball bat as she walked out to home plate. The sport seemed easy enough to her, ball comes at you, you swing bat, hit ball with bat. Then you ran the bases. She slid into position and waited for the ball. As it neared she swung hard but careful not to use her full strength. The bat connected with the ball in a loud crack and disappeared off into the distance. /Oops... I hadn't expected it to be so easy.../ she thought watching the ball vanish. As she started to jog the basses she saw everyone's stunned looks... and noticed a pair of eyes follow her as she ran. As she rounded third and started in for home plate again she caught sight of the eyes again and smiled lightly.
******
Gohan was just about to tell Erasa it was okay when Sheba suddenly smiled at him. He realized it was directed his way almost instantly, she was looking right into his eyes. Blushing he looked at the ground again. He thought he heard his name but didn't really notice, until Videl tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey Gohan, you okay?"
"Huh?" he asked looking up. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. What were you saying?"
Sharpner leaned forward to get a better look at Gohan. "I was wondering if you ever got any martial arts training. You don't look all that buff but I caught sight of a few muscles back in the locker room."
Gohan nodded. "Yeah... I've had some training. It's basically how I get my exercise."
Sharpner grinned. "Good man! You should enter into the Budokai. It's coming up in just a few weeks." He put his arm around Videl who none to gently shoved it back off again. "You know Videl here's entering the tournament."
"Really?"
Videl looked at him with a slightly angry look. "And what's that supposed to mean?"
"N-nothing." he said waving his arms. "I just..."
"Easy girl." Erasa said laughing. "I don't think he meant anything. There just haven't been that many female competitors. Right?" The last part was directed at Gohan.
"Yeah." he said relaxing.
"Well," Sharpner began. "You've got to consider who she is. Videl's no ordinary girl you know." Gohan just looked at him confused. "Man you are clueless Gohan! How can you be smarter than the teachers and still not know who Videl is?"
Erasa giggled. "He lives out in the middle of no where. He probably never even heard of Cell."
Gohan's confusion deepened as he wondered what possible connection Videl had to Cell. "What's she have to do with Cell?"
"She's Hercule's daughter duh!" Sharpner said rolling his eyes.
Gohan practically fell off the bench as his eyes bugged out. "Y-you've got to be kidding!"
Erasa cracked up at his expression and even Sharpner couldn't help but laugh. Videl on the other just leaned back against the wall and relaxed. /Gohan is so weird, but he's pretty cool. He even wanted to be my friend without knowing who I was./
The rest of the day was pretty boring, Gohan even managed to strikeout every time at bat so he would reveal any of his power. As the day came to an end he said good-bye to his three new friends and started walking toward the city limits where he could take off into the air. He hadn't gone more than four blocks before the sound of police sirens reached his ears. /Well, this is a big city./ he thought sighing. /Maybe I should go check it out and make sure no one gets hurt./