~~Later that Night~~
Usagi and her parents arrived back home around ten that night. After a long day filled with all sorts of excitement, all three were too worn out to go on any further. Usagi was probably the most tired out of them all. She had been through more than either of her parents combined. While her parents had gone through just as many mental beatings as she had, that would never compare to the pain that she had experienced during her fight with Mamoru, let alone her fights with her friends.
When Usagi walked into the door of her house, she was ready to drop right there on the floor from exhaustion. She just wanted to get to bed so she could get to the next day when she would go out for ice-cream with her friends. "That's it. I'm done for today. I'm going to bed."
Chi-Chi turned to her daughter with a contented smile. With everything that had taken place with her family earlier in the day, with everything that had happened between Gohan and Usagi, she still couldn't believe that it was all over. Usagi seemed to have forgiven them all without even thinking about holding a grudge. But she was grateful. She was glad that Usagi was nothing like her. If it were Chi-Chi, she would have held a giant grudge against them all. "You've had a big day."
Usagi began walking down the hall to her room. She decided to leave them with her words of wisdom. "Yeah, but it was fun."
Goku turned to his wife in complete shock as he took his shoes off and left them by the door. "She thought it was fun? After all that? After all that arguing with Gohan? After all that pain that Mamoru put her through? She actually found that fun?"
Chi-Chi grinned at her husband. "She's more like you than you think." She laughed at his puzzlement as she followed her daughter to her room.
Goku just stood there and scratched his head as he tried to think of what his wife could have possibly meant by that. "Chi-Chi, what do you mean?" He got his act together and followed the two girls. "Chi-Chi, hey, what was that supposed to mean?" He turned the corner and walked into Usagi's room. "Chi-Chi. Come on. Tell me what you mean."
Chi-Chi giggled as she walked to Usagi's bed and sat down. "Just what I said." She turned to Usagi, who was getting into her bed cloths.
"What's wrong with daddy?" She noted the bewildered look on his face. She walked to him and giggled up at him. "You look funny, daddy."
Chi-Chi muffled a laugh that bubbled out of her mouth. "Your father is just being silly again. Goku, don't worry about it. We can 'talk' later, if you want."
Goku smiled with amusement. "Is that a promise?"
Chi-Chi stood from her daughter's bed and walked to her husband with a playful smirk. "If you want it to be, then it is." She laughed as she kneeled down and hugged her daughter. "Sleep tight, Usagi."
Usagi looked at her mother and then up at her father in confusion. She had no idea what they were talking about, obviously. "What's so great about talking? You can talk right here, if you want. I don't care, just don't wake me up." She pulled away from her mother and turned around to jumped onto her bed.
Goku chuckled as he looked back to his wife and then back to his daughter. "I don't think we can 'talk' here. You just go to sleep and don't worry about us. We'll manage." He continued to chuckle as he walked to her bedside and pulled the covers over her body. He seemed unusually happy.
"Ok. Goodnight, daddy. Goodnight mamma." Usagi yawned as she curled up underneath her covers.
"Come on, Goku." Chi-Chi opened the door and turned out the light. Now, the only light that filled the room was the light coming from the living room, which would be shut out once the door was closed. "Goodnight, sweetheart." Chi-Chi turned and walked out of the door.
"Night', Usagi." Goku continued to smile as he turned and walked, fast, towards the door.
Usagi rolled over on her side, barely able to keep her eyes open, but, she still had the events of the day playing on her mind. Just as her father was walking out the door, Usagi stopped him. "Daddy?"
Goku groaned as he stopped in mid-step. He stiffly turned around to face his daughter, whose face he couldn't exactly see due to the lack of light. "Yes?"
"Do you think that Gohan really did forgive me?"
Goku was a bit stunned by her question. He wasn't sure why it was just arising now and not before, but he knew that it was serious, but so was what he wanted to do. "For what?"
"For being mean to him. I was mean to him. I challenged him." Usagi knew that she was probably just being silly by having thoughts like that, but she wanted to be sure. She had already been through something like this with the kids at school. She didn't exactly want it to happen in her family too. Especially with Gohan.
"You didn't do that much to him. He's fine, Usagi. He would have told you if he was mad, now go to sleep." He turned around and tried to leave, but he didn't even get out the door before he was stopped again.
"Daddy?"
"What now?" He sighed as he rested his head against the doorframe. 'If only she knew…WAIT A MINUTE! NO! She doesn't need to know THAT!'
"Are YOU and mom mad at me?" She could see that he was getting put out with he questions, which gave her the message that he was angry with her. Even the tone of his voice gave her that message. Even thought that wasn't what it was about, he just wanted to get out of there.
"No. Go to sleep, now." That time he didn't even get himself turned around before another question was thrown at him.
"Are you sure? You sound mad to me." Usagi sat up, making her face fully in the light and visible to her annoyed father.
Goku thought before he spoke that time. He had gotten a bit snappy with her for no reason, well, not one that he was ready to tell her. "We're not mad at you, Usagi. We would have no reason to be made at you. Don't worry abut it. Now lay back down, close your eyes, relax, and go to sleep. Tomorrow is another day. When you wake up, you can ask all the questions you want." He hoped that that would make her stop with her questioning.
Usagi sighed as she laid back down. She recognized that tone of patronizing voice from when Minako was explaining what her parents do to get her out of the room when they wanted their "adult time". 'Gross!' "Ok. Goodnight, daddy."
Goku smiled when she laid back down. "Great. Goodnight." Before she could ask any more questions, Goku jumped out of the room and closed the door behind him. 'Finally.'
~*~*~
~~The next Day~~
Early the next morning, Usagi awoke feeling quite refreshed and ready to spend the day with her friends. She scampered out of her room and across the living room to stand in front of her parents' door. She couldn't hear a single sound coming from inside so she figured that they were still asleep. Quietly, she began to turn the doorknob only to find realize that it was locked. 'Oh come on. Since when do they lock the door? Then again…' She grinned as she knocked on the door. "Mom? Dad? Are you in there?!"
"What is it?"
Usagi giggled at the way her mother questioned her. She knew that they were hiding something from her. "Can I go somewhere with my friends?" She laughed when she heard the her parents scurrying about in the room behind the door.
After a few minutes of near silence, the door opened to reveal Chi-Chi standing behind it. She had an accusing look on her face. "Where do you want to go? Is there going to be an adult with you?"
"Mr. Tomoe said that he was going to take us out for ice cream today to celebrate. But, I think I'm going to make Gohan since he owes me now."
Chi-Chi turned her nose up to that a bit. "Don't bother your brother, Usagi. You don't want to reopen the wound."
"It's ok, mom. He has to. He didn't disagree when I said he had to. So can I?! PLEASE!? We wont get into any trouble, I promise." She giggled when she noticed the bags under her mother's eyes. "So, how long did you and dad 'talk' last night? You look tired."
'What's that supposed to mean?' "Don't worry about that. I am tired. We're both very tired. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to go back to sleep. Go ahead and go with your friends. Just make sure you're home before four so you can do your homework."
'Homework? Man…' Usagi cheekily smiled. "Thanks, mom." With that, Usagi turned and around and ran down the hallway and into the family room to call Hotaru.
Chi-Chi looked at her daughter in wonder. "What a strange kid."
~*~*~
Usagi waited for someone to pick up the phone at Hotaru's. She couldn't wait to get out and go with her brother. She wanted to make sure that things were all patched up between them. She shook away her thoughts when the ringing stopped. "Hello?"
"Usagi!? HI!"
Usagi smiled with happiness. "Hotaru? You're allowed to answer the phone?"
"Daddy said I could. So, are you ready to go!? ARE YA, ARE YA, ARE YA!?"
Usagi giggled at Hotaru's eagerness to go for the day. "I have a better idea. Why don't we have Gohan take us? He owes us an ice cream now."
Hotaru quieted down when she heard that. "Go…han?" She wasn't sure if she liked that idea, not after what she had just witnessed the day before. Sure he and Usagi had made up, but Hotaru still had her doubts about him. He had lost her respect completely and she wasn't sure if she would be able to trust him. "What if something bad happens?"
Usagi knew that Hotaru was going to react that way. She had a feeling that all of her friends would react that way, but she needed to find out for herself if Gohan had actually gotten over his anger or if it was all just a show. She hadn't really talked to him after they parted from the ring. Pretty much, after she had spoken to Michiru, she had made the plans with her friends and then left. "Nothing will happen." 'I hope.' "I don't think he'll try anything. We sort of made up."
Hotaru sighed. "Well…just a minute." Hotaru set the phone down and turned around to her father, who was watching TV just behind her. "Daddy? Can Gohan take us to get ice cream today? Usagi said he owes us now."
Her father raised his brow in concern as he turned to Hotaru. "You mean that man who yelled at her yesterday? The one who made her throw the fight?" Hotaru nodded. "I don't know…he seems kind of dangerous."
"Usagi says that nothing will happen again. She said they made up."
Professor Tomoe let silence take over as he debated over the situation. He wasn't sure he quite trusted Gohan after yesterday's display of behavior. "So Usagi is sure that nothing will happen to any of you?" Hotaru nodded again. "I guess you can go. But if anything happens, you let me or the Sons know, ok?"
Hotaru nodded as she put on a half smile. "Ok, Papa." She turned back to the phone and picked it up. "Usagi? I guess we can go with him."
Usagi smiled. She couldn't wait to hang out with Gohan. "Cool. Why don't you call the other girls while I get ready and fly down there. Then we can go to Gohan's as a group. I should go now, though. I still have to get ready."
"Ok, bye."
"Bye." With that, Usagi happily placed the phone back on its base. "This is great." Usagi turned around and dashed down the hall and turned the corner to go into her room. "I don't think he'll be mad if we just kind of drop by." She giggled as she got herself dressed.
~*~*~
~~Gohan's House~~
The six friends arrived at Gohan's house not even one hour later than Hotaru and Usagi had hung up. When Hotaru had called the girls like Usagi had instructed her to, the girls pretty much had the same reaction to the idea of going somewhere with Gohan. Each one of them was opposed to the idea one-hundred percent. None of them wanted to go anywhere with him. Actually, they were more afraid of what would happen if the subject of Mr. Satan was brought up. But with Usagi and her skills of persuasion had made them change their minds to give him a chance. And if he tried anything this time, that would be it for him.
So there they stood, the six of them in front of Gohan's house. Gohan knew nothing of their visit, which only made five out of the six girls nervous. They so hoped that he wouldn't be angry at him for just dropping by. But Usagi wasn't worried about that. She had come by his house many times before without telling him and he had never once yelled at her. This was just a way for her to test and see if he was angry at her in any way. If she hinted anger in his voice, then she would have her answer
Makoto pushed Usagi ahead to the door. "Go knock on the door."
Usagi rolled her eyes as she raised her hand to knock as she was told. "You guys are nuts. Nothing's going to happen."
Hotaru kept her distance. "We're not nuts, or afraid, we're just smart."
Minako nervously smiled. "Yeah. We're just being smart. If he gets mad, you'll be there to stop him since you're the one whose his sister and all."
Usagi sarcastically laughed as she looked back at Minako. "Such a loving friend, Minako. Make me be the one to fight the fights here." She turned back to the door and just as she was about the knock, it slowly began to creak open.
From behind the door, Gohan jumped out with rage filled eyes, immediately scaring the girls out of their minds and away from the house. "RAAAA!" Before Usagi had a chance to get down off the front porch, Gohan 'angrily' reached out and grabbed her from behind, pulling her into him as he tickled her.
The fear that had been put into Usagi when he jumped out at them had disappeared as she laughed at his tickling. "Gohan…no more…" She softly kicked around to get loose of his grip, but he held on too tight for that.
Gohan laughed as he tickled more. "You're not getting away from me little sis."
Usagi giggled as she stopped struggling and looked up to the smiling face of her brother. "You're still too good for me, Gohan."
Before Gohan released his sister, he bent down and gave her a kiss on her cheek to once again let her know that he was sorry. He nudged her forward as he looked around the area. None of the other girls were in sight, though he could feel them. "What are you guys doing here?" Usagi grinned as she looked up to him. "Uh-oh. Don't look at me like that, Usagi. You're scaring me."
"Gohan?" She asked innocently.
'At least now I know she really DID forgive me instead of just saying she did.' Gohan groaned. He knew that she was going to ask him to buy her something. She always got that tone of voice with him whenever she wanted something from him. "Yes?" He glanced over at her friends, who seemed to emerging from behind the house. 'I guess I gave them a good scare.'
Usagi laughed as her friends cautiously reentered the area. "Umm…Gohan, we were wondering if you could kind of take us out for some ice cream." She smiled up at him to ease the tension of wanting him to spend more money on her.
Gohan sighed as he leaned against the door frame. "I guess this is my payback, isn't it?" Usagi nodded. "Fine, fine. I'll buy you guys some ice cream. Just let me tell Videl and get my shoes on and we can go." He smirked at the other girls as he turned to go back into his house.
Usagi smiled arrogantly, but playfully, as she turned back to his friends. "You were all running away like a bunch of scardy-cats."
Rei crossed her arms as she impishly glared at Usagi. "Ha! You would have been right there with us if he hadn't have caught you."
Usagi sheepishly laughed as she walked down off of her brother's porch. "So what?"
Hotaru perked her attention up to the front door once she heard it opening again as Gohan opened it from the other side. She was beginning to think that it wouldn't be as bad as she thought it would hanging out with him for the day. "Are we ready to go now?!" She felt more comfortable with walking closer.
Usagi and Minako latched themselves onto Gohan's arms. "Yeah! Come on!"
Gohan chuckled as he looked down to the two blondes. "You guys are always so eager to fill yourselves full of sugar. Wouldn't you rather have a nice big bowl of spinach or something? We can even throw in some asparagus."
"YUCK!" Minako stuck her tongue out in complete disgust at the thought of ever eating something so sickening. "Don't ever make me think about that again."
"All right, all right. We'll stick with the ice cream. Just don't come complaining to me when you're too hyper to know what you're doing." Gohan pulled his arms from the duo as he began walking to the street. "Come on, I know a great place not too far from here. We can walk there."
~*~*~
When the group of seven arrived at the ice cream shop, all but two were going nuts over the wide selection of flavors. Gohan couldn't help but laugh at their amazement. He looked down to Ami, who stood next to him. "Aren't you going to get any?"
Ami politely looked up to Gohan. "I've learned to wait until their enthusiasm has gone down. Aren't you going to get any?"
Gohan nodded as he looked back up to his sister and her friends. "Of course. I think I'm with you on the waiting idea. Man, and I thought it was bad with just Usagi. This is worse. Even Pan and her friends weren't this, how should I put this, hyper." He looked back down to Ami as she giggled. "What?"
"Nothing." 'Wow, I guess he really isn't as bad as I thought. He's being nice now. I guess we just shouldn't make him mad.'
Gohan walked forward as he looked down at the scattered group of gawking children. "Come on you guys, it's just ice cream. Settle down."
Usagi and Minako turned around to Gohan with a frown on their faces. Usagi beat Minako to a reply. "Hey! Ice cream is a very serious thing, Gohan. You have to treat it very seriously."
Gohan put his hands up and backed away. "Hey, I wasn't complaining. Do as you wish." He nervously looked down to Ami. "These guys are nuts."
Usagi smiled as she bent down to look at more ice cream. "I heard that." She stood up and indecisively looked at the menu. "Well, I've sort of decided what I want." She walked to one of the of the ice cream freezers and pointed to the very first flavor. "I want this."
Gohan smiled as he walked up from behind his sister. "Good. Finally a decision has been made, now then wou…"
Usagi moved down two steps. "And this." She moved down another step. "OOH, and this! Oh, and some of that blue stuff down there at the end. Maybe some of that chocolate over there too."
Gohan dropped his mouth. "WHAT!?"
Makoto looked up from the Ice-cream. "We can have A LOT?!"
Gohan turned his head to an excited Makoto. She sounded a little too excited for his liking. "No." He nervously turned to his sister. "Usagi, what are you doing?"
Usagi ignored her brother as she pushed past him. "Hey, this minty green stuff looks good."
Rei turned to Usagi, who was on her right. "We can't forget the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice-cream."
Minako ran to Usagi and Rei and looked at what they were drooling over. "Wow, I want that too. Plus the strawberry with a scoop of raspberry sherbet."
Gohan tried to keep from pulling his hair out of his head as the girls went crazy over all the stuff that they wanted him to buy them. "You guys! I'm not rich! You're going to make me go broke!"
"Hmm…This Cookie n' Cream looks good."
Gohan lost all hope at that last comment. He numbly turned to Ami. "Ami? You're leaving the sane group. You're joining them."
Hotaru bounce happily over to the section with her favorite flavor. Her eyes widened to their fullest when she laid eyes on the vast amount of chocolate they had. "Wow…dark chocolate fudge…I WANT THIS!!" She ran to Gohan, who was trying to pry the other girls away from being able to look at the ice-cream through the window. "Gohan!" She tugged on his pants to get his attention. "Gohan, if these guys get all they want, I want one of each flavors of chocolate, please."
Gohan sighed with exasperation as he grabbed Hotaru by the arm, as well as wrapping his arm around the other five, and pulled them all away from the widow. He kneeled down so he could look all of them in the eye. "Ok, now, it was to my understanding that we were only getting a simple treat, not the whole store."
Usagi grinned as she pushed through Makoto and Rei so she was standing on the side of her brother. "Don't you love me, Gohan?" She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulders.
Gohan groaned as he softly tried to pull away. "Don't do this to me, Usagi. You know I can't resist you when you do this."
Usagi gave him her 'puppy dog' face. "Please?"
"Usagi…" Gohan dropped his head in defeat. She had done it to him again. "Fine. I'll charge it. You better be happy. And don't tell mom that I stuffed you all so full of ice-cream."
Usagi pulled away from Gohan with a smile. "Thanks Gohan. I wont tell mom. I promise." She walked back to the ice-cream and once again fell into its trance. "Ok…now what do I want?"
Makoto walked up beside Usagi with wide eyes. "Wow, this is great. We can have all the ice-cream we want."
Gohan walked to the counter, where he would pay for their treat it was also where Hotaru and Ami patiently waited for him. "Have you two already decided?" He pulled out his charge card from his pocket. He would have to pay it off fast before Videl found out that he did it.
Ami nodded. "I just want a plain and simple Banana split. I don't want to spend all of your money."
"I want a scoop of each of the flavors of Chocolate they have. Unless you don't want me to."
"Go ahead. You might as well. I mean, I'm spending this much money already I might as well buy everyone what they want. Man, Usagi just HAD to get me with her cuteness. I need to stop giving in to that."
~*~*~
After the crew had eaten their 'treats', about an hour later, they left the ice-cream shop. Gohan left Fifty dollars poorer. "Make sure you guys don't tell your parents that I did that. They would kill me."
Makoto nauseously grabbed her stomach as she walked forward. "I think I'm gonna barf."
Rei let herself lean on Makoto as she put one foot in front of the other. That was about all she could do at that moment for she was too sick to even think about trying to walk more than that. "Remind me never to eat that much ice-cream again."
Minako let herself collapse to the ground. She couldn't remember a time when she had been as full as she was now. "I just want to stay here and rest for a while."
Gohan chuckled as he looked back to the three helpless kids. "Come on. You're the ones who wanted to eat that much. Walk it off so you wont cramp up. Come on, you don't want all those sweets to go to waste. You are all going to be hyper now. We need to work off that energy before I send you home. Your parents may get suspicious if you're so energetic."
Rei dropped to the ground, feeling as if she were going to throw up right there and then. "No. let's rest." She pulled Makoto to sit by her. "I need sleep now."
Usagi looked up at her brother in confusion. "What's wrong with them? Why are they so sick all of a sudden?"
Gohan looked back at Usagi. "They don't have bottomless stomachs like Saiyans do, Usagi. They're feeling the effects of eating too much." He turned to Ami. "I guess you don't have a problem since you barely had anything. But Hotaru…" He turned to Hotaru in wonder.
Hotaru uneasily looked around. "I'm younger, I burn it off faster? Uh…yeah…that's it." She timidly laughed as she backed away from the group.
'Strange kid.' "Ok. Well, I guess we should shove off then. Come on kids. Let's get moving and burn off that energy." He walked over to Makoto and picked up her, placing her back down on her feet.
"We don't have anymore energy. Can't we just sleep right here? I feel so sick." Drowsy, Makoto tried to sit back down but Gohan's firm grip wouldn't allow her to. "Please?"
Usagi looked around the area as she walked away from the group. She wasn't sure if it was just her, but she could have sworn that she heard a faint yelping sound of something. "Shh…" Everyone stopped complaining as they turned their heads to Usagi. "Can you hear it?"
Gohan let Makoto sit back down on the ground as he stood up and listened for anything that his sister could have heard. He perked his head when he heard the faint sound that his sister had. "I hear something, but it sounds very far away."
Usagi began to walk towards the area in which the sound was coming from. "I wonder what it could be.?"
Ami looked around as well as listened for what the duo was talking about. "I don't hear anything. I guess it's just at too quite of an interval for me to pick up."
Usagi looked forward to an abandoned building, which was just across the street from the ice-cream shop. "Maybe we should go check it out. Whatever's in there has a really faint life energy level. Gohan?" She turned around to her brother.
Gohan nodded. "Go ahead and go. I don't see any danger in going."
Minako protested up to Gohan with a deep glare. "I can't walk. I'm too sick."
Ami joined Usagi at the road as well as Hotaru. "I'll come with you, Usagi." She turned back to Gohan, who was trying to stand the girls up but their legs just didn't want to cooperate. "Gohan? Is it all right if we go ahead?" Gohan nodded. "Ok, let's go girls."
Hotaru jumped out into the crosswalk. "Great! Let's go see whatever that thing is." Hotaru happily skipped across the street ahead of Usagi and Ami, who cautiously crossed. They weren't sure what they were going to find inside, but the closer they got, the louder the whimpering became. "It doesn't sound human, does it?"
Usagi searched the outside area of the building with her eyes to see if anything was moving, but there was nothing. "No, it doesn't sound human."
Ami ventured away from the duo and went in the direction that she heard the noise. "What could that be? It sounds so distressed." She walked slowly, ready to defend herself if she were to be attacked. 'This is creepy.' She turned to the side of the building, leaving her wondering friends still in front. The more she walked, the more of an echo the sound had. "That sounds like a…" She fixed her eyes on a tin garbage can. She was positive that that's where the sound was coming from. It was the only thing around that could have possibly been producing and echo.
Ami carefully approached the tin can. She stopped just before she bumped into it and took a deep breath. "Ok, here goes nothing." She reached out and pulled the lid off of it to peer inside. To her surprise, nothing jumped out at her, but there was a red cloth bag at the bottom of the empty garbage can. To stun her even more, the bag was moving. "Oh my gosh!" She turned around and put her hands to her mouth. "USAGI! HOTARU! I FOUND IT!" Yelling like that only scared the creature inside the bag even more.
Ami turned back around and pulled the tiny bag out of the can. "You poor thing." She sat down on the curbside and gently placed the bag with its contents on her lap. "Don't worry little thing. I'll get you out soon." She let her hands do all the work as she worked fast to get the knot untied. "Who could do such a horrid thing?"
When she finally got the knot untied, Usagi and Hotaru had just arrived. Ami quickly brought the bag down around the creature to reveal a chocolate brown puppy. It was so thin that its skin stuck tightly against its body to reveal its tiny ribs. Its tail was tucked under itself as it shook with fear. Ami was completely speechless as she looked upon the helpless being.
Usagi sat down next to Ami and reached out the grab the frightened thing from her. "A puppy! Who would put a poor helpless puppy in a bag and then in a garbage can like that?"
Ami shook her head with disbelief. "I have no idea. It's wrong though, I'll tell you that much."
Hotaru kneeled down in front of Usagi and reached out to pet the puppy. "Who ever did this was sick in the head." She giggled when the puppy began to lick her hand. "But it's ok now. We can take care of it, right?"
(Ok, there you have it. Such an 'interesting' part. I know, it's not as long as the last part, but that's just the way things go. It's long enough. So what do you think? Good or bad? Gotta run. Ja )
Usagi and her parents arrived back home around ten that night. After a long day filled with all sorts of excitement, all three were too worn out to go on any further. Usagi was probably the most tired out of them all. She had been through more than either of her parents combined. While her parents had gone through just as many mental beatings as she had, that would never compare to the pain that she had experienced during her fight with Mamoru, let alone her fights with her friends.
When Usagi walked into the door of her house, she was ready to drop right there on the floor from exhaustion. She just wanted to get to bed so she could get to the next day when she would go out for ice-cream with her friends. "That's it. I'm done for today. I'm going to bed."
Chi-Chi turned to her daughter with a contented smile. With everything that had taken place with her family earlier in the day, with everything that had happened between Gohan and Usagi, she still couldn't believe that it was all over. Usagi seemed to have forgiven them all without even thinking about holding a grudge. But she was grateful. She was glad that Usagi was nothing like her. If it were Chi-Chi, she would have held a giant grudge against them all. "You've had a big day."
Usagi began walking down the hall to her room. She decided to leave them with her words of wisdom. "Yeah, but it was fun."
Goku turned to his wife in complete shock as he took his shoes off and left them by the door. "She thought it was fun? After all that? After all that arguing with Gohan? After all that pain that Mamoru put her through? She actually found that fun?"
Chi-Chi grinned at her husband. "She's more like you than you think." She laughed at his puzzlement as she followed her daughter to her room.
Goku just stood there and scratched his head as he tried to think of what his wife could have possibly meant by that. "Chi-Chi, what do you mean?" He got his act together and followed the two girls. "Chi-Chi, hey, what was that supposed to mean?" He turned the corner and walked into Usagi's room. "Chi-Chi. Come on. Tell me what you mean."
Chi-Chi giggled as she walked to Usagi's bed and sat down. "Just what I said." She turned to Usagi, who was getting into her bed cloths.
"What's wrong with daddy?" She noted the bewildered look on his face. She walked to him and giggled up at him. "You look funny, daddy."
Chi-Chi muffled a laugh that bubbled out of her mouth. "Your father is just being silly again. Goku, don't worry about it. We can 'talk' later, if you want."
Goku smiled with amusement. "Is that a promise?"
Chi-Chi stood from her daughter's bed and walked to her husband with a playful smirk. "If you want it to be, then it is." She laughed as she kneeled down and hugged her daughter. "Sleep tight, Usagi."
Usagi looked at her mother and then up at her father in confusion. She had no idea what they were talking about, obviously. "What's so great about talking? You can talk right here, if you want. I don't care, just don't wake me up." She pulled away from her mother and turned around to jumped onto her bed.
Goku chuckled as he looked back to his wife and then back to his daughter. "I don't think we can 'talk' here. You just go to sleep and don't worry about us. We'll manage." He continued to chuckle as he walked to her bedside and pulled the covers over her body. He seemed unusually happy.
"Ok. Goodnight, daddy. Goodnight mamma." Usagi yawned as she curled up underneath her covers.
"Come on, Goku." Chi-Chi opened the door and turned out the light. Now, the only light that filled the room was the light coming from the living room, which would be shut out once the door was closed. "Goodnight, sweetheart." Chi-Chi turned and walked out of the door.
"Night', Usagi." Goku continued to smile as he turned and walked, fast, towards the door.
Usagi rolled over on her side, barely able to keep her eyes open, but, she still had the events of the day playing on her mind. Just as her father was walking out the door, Usagi stopped him. "Daddy?"
Goku groaned as he stopped in mid-step. He stiffly turned around to face his daughter, whose face he couldn't exactly see due to the lack of light. "Yes?"
"Do you think that Gohan really did forgive me?"
Goku was a bit stunned by her question. He wasn't sure why it was just arising now and not before, but he knew that it was serious, but so was what he wanted to do. "For what?"
"For being mean to him. I was mean to him. I challenged him." Usagi knew that she was probably just being silly by having thoughts like that, but she wanted to be sure. She had already been through something like this with the kids at school. She didn't exactly want it to happen in her family too. Especially with Gohan.
"You didn't do that much to him. He's fine, Usagi. He would have told you if he was mad, now go to sleep." He turned around and tried to leave, but he didn't even get out the door before he was stopped again.
"Daddy?"
"What now?" He sighed as he rested his head against the doorframe. 'If only she knew…WAIT A MINUTE! NO! She doesn't need to know THAT!'
"Are YOU and mom mad at me?" She could see that he was getting put out with he questions, which gave her the message that he was angry with her. Even the tone of his voice gave her that message. Even thought that wasn't what it was about, he just wanted to get out of there.
"No. Go to sleep, now." That time he didn't even get himself turned around before another question was thrown at him.
"Are you sure? You sound mad to me." Usagi sat up, making her face fully in the light and visible to her annoyed father.
Goku thought before he spoke that time. He had gotten a bit snappy with her for no reason, well, not one that he was ready to tell her. "We're not mad at you, Usagi. We would have no reason to be made at you. Don't worry abut it. Now lay back down, close your eyes, relax, and go to sleep. Tomorrow is another day. When you wake up, you can ask all the questions you want." He hoped that that would make her stop with her questioning.
Usagi sighed as she laid back down. She recognized that tone of patronizing voice from when Minako was explaining what her parents do to get her out of the room when they wanted their "adult time". 'Gross!' "Ok. Goodnight, daddy."
Goku smiled when she laid back down. "Great. Goodnight." Before she could ask any more questions, Goku jumped out of the room and closed the door behind him. 'Finally.'
~*~*~
~~The next Day~~
Early the next morning, Usagi awoke feeling quite refreshed and ready to spend the day with her friends. She scampered out of her room and across the living room to stand in front of her parents' door. She couldn't hear a single sound coming from inside so she figured that they were still asleep. Quietly, she began to turn the doorknob only to find realize that it was locked. 'Oh come on. Since when do they lock the door? Then again…' She grinned as she knocked on the door. "Mom? Dad? Are you in there?!"
"What is it?"
Usagi giggled at the way her mother questioned her. She knew that they were hiding something from her. "Can I go somewhere with my friends?" She laughed when she heard the her parents scurrying about in the room behind the door.
After a few minutes of near silence, the door opened to reveal Chi-Chi standing behind it. She had an accusing look on her face. "Where do you want to go? Is there going to be an adult with you?"
"Mr. Tomoe said that he was going to take us out for ice cream today to celebrate. But, I think I'm going to make Gohan since he owes me now."
Chi-Chi turned her nose up to that a bit. "Don't bother your brother, Usagi. You don't want to reopen the wound."
"It's ok, mom. He has to. He didn't disagree when I said he had to. So can I?! PLEASE!? We wont get into any trouble, I promise." She giggled when she noticed the bags under her mother's eyes. "So, how long did you and dad 'talk' last night? You look tired."
'What's that supposed to mean?' "Don't worry about that. I am tired. We're both very tired. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to go back to sleep. Go ahead and go with your friends. Just make sure you're home before four so you can do your homework."
'Homework? Man…' Usagi cheekily smiled. "Thanks, mom." With that, Usagi turned and around and ran down the hallway and into the family room to call Hotaru.
Chi-Chi looked at her daughter in wonder. "What a strange kid."
~*~*~
Usagi waited for someone to pick up the phone at Hotaru's. She couldn't wait to get out and go with her brother. She wanted to make sure that things were all patched up between them. She shook away her thoughts when the ringing stopped. "Hello?"
"Usagi!? HI!"
Usagi smiled with happiness. "Hotaru? You're allowed to answer the phone?"
"Daddy said I could. So, are you ready to go!? ARE YA, ARE YA, ARE YA!?"
Usagi giggled at Hotaru's eagerness to go for the day. "I have a better idea. Why don't we have Gohan take us? He owes us an ice cream now."
Hotaru quieted down when she heard that. "Go…han?" She wasn't sure if she liked that idea, not after what she had just witnessed the day before. Sure he and Usagi had made up, but Hotaru still had her doubts about him. He had lost her respect completely and she wasn't sure if she would be able to trust him. "What if something bad happens?"
Usagi knew that Hotaru was going to react that way. She had a feeling that all of her friends would react that way, but she needed to find out for herself if Gohan had actually gotten over his anger or if it was all just a show. She hadn't really talked to him after they parted from the ring. Pretty much, after she had spoken to Michiru, she had made the plans with her friends and then left. "Nothing will happen." 'I hope.' "I don't think he'll try anything. We sort of made up."
Hotaru sighed. "Well…just a minute." Hotaru set the phone down and turned around to her father, who was watching TV just behind her. "Daddy? Can Gohan take us to get ice cream today? Usagi said he owes us now."
Her father raised his brow in concern as he turned to Hotaru. "You mean that man who yelled at her yesterday? The one who made her throw the fight?" Hotaru nodded. "I don't know…he seems kind of dangerous."
"Usagi says that nothing will happen again. She said they made up."
Professor Tomoe let silence take over as he debated over the situation. He wasn't sure he quite trusted Gohan after yesterday's display of behavior. "So Usagi is sure that nothing will happen to any of you?" Hotaru nodded again. "I guess you can go. But if anything happens, you let me or the Sons know, ok?"
Hotaru nodded as she put on a half smile. "Ok, Papa." She turned back to the phone and picked it up. "Usagi? I guess we can go with him."
Usagi smiled. She couldn't wait to hang out with Gohan. "Cool. Why don't you call the other girls while I get ready and fly down there. Then we can go to Gohan's as a group. I should go now, though. I still have to get ready."
"Ok, bye."
"Bye." With that, Usagi happily placed the phone back on its base. "This is great." Usagi turned around and dashed down the hall and turned the corner to go into her room. "I don't think he'll be mad if we just kind of drop by." She giggled as she got herself dressed.
~*~*~
~~Gohan's House~~
The six friends arrived at Gohan's house not even one hour later than Hotaru and Usagi had hung up. When Hotaru had called the girls like Usagi had instructed her to, the girls pretty much had the same reaction to the idea of going somewhere with Gohan. Each one of them was opposed to the idea one-hundred percent. None of them wanted to go anywhere with him. Actually, they were more afraid of what would happen if the subject of Mr. Satan was brought up. But with Usagi and her skills of persuasion had made them change their minds to give him a chance. And if he tried anything this time, that would be it for him.
So there they stood, the six of them in front of Gohan's house. Gohan knew nothing of their visit, which only made five out of the six girls nervous. They so hoped that he wouldn't be angry at him for just dropping by. But Usagi wasn't worried about that. She had come by his house many times before without telling him and he had never once yelled at her. This was just a way for her to test and see if he was angry at her in any way. If she hinted anger in his voice, then she would have her answer
Makoto pushed Usagi ahead to the door. "Go knock on the door."
Usagi rolled her eyes as she raised her hand to knock as she was told. "You guys are nuts. Nothing's going to happen."
Hotaru kept her distance. "We're not nuts, or afraid, we're just smart."
Minako nervously smiled. "Yeah. We're just being smart. If he gets mad, you'll be there to stop him since you're the one whose his sister and all."
Usagi sarcastically laughed as she looked back at Minako. "Such a loving friend, Minako. Make me be the one to fight the fights here." She turned back to the door and just as she was about the knock, it slowly began to creak open.
From behind the door, Gohan jumped out with rage filled eyes, immediately scaring the girls out of their minds and away from the house. "RAAAA!" Before Usagi had a chance to get down off the front porch, Gohan 'angrily' reached out and grabbed her from behind, pulling her into him as he tickled her.
The fear that had been put into Usagi when he jumped out at them had disappeared as she laughed at his tickling. "Gohan…no more…" She softly kicked around to get loose of his grip, but he held on too tight for that.
Gohan laughed as he tickled more. "You're not getting away from me little sis."
Usagi giggled as she stopped struggling and looked up to the smiling face of her brother. "You're still too good for me, Gohan."
Before Gohan released his sister, he bent down and gave her a kiss on her cheek to once again let her know that he was sorry. He nudged her forward as he looked around the area. None of the other girls were in sight, though he could feel them. "What are you guys doing here?" Usagi grinned as she looked up to him. "Uh-oh. Don't look at me like that, Usagi. You're scaring me."
"Gohan?" She asked innocently.
'At least now I know she really DID forgive me instead of just saying she did.' Gohan groaned. He knew that she was going to ask him to buy her something. She always got that tone of voice with him whenever she wanted something from him. "Yes?" He glanced over at her friends, who seemed to emerging from behind the house. 'I guess I gave them a good scare.'
Usagi laughed as her friends cautiously reentered the area. "Umm…Gohan, we were wondering if you could kind of take us out for some ice cream." She smiled up at him to ease the tension of wanting him to spend more money on her.
Gohan sighed as he leaned against the door frame. "I guess this is my payback, isn't it?" Usagi nodded. "Fine, fine. I'll buy you guys some ice cream. Just let me tell Videl and get my shoes on and we can go." He smirked at the other girls as he turned to go back into his house.
Usagi smiled arrogantly, but playfully, as she turned back to his friends. "You were all running away like a bunch of scardy-cats."
Rei crossed her arms as she impishly glared at Usagi. "Ha! You would have been right there with us if he hadn't have caught you."
Usagi sheepishly laughed as she walked down off of her brother's porch. "So what?"
Hotaru perked her attention up to the front door once she heard it opening again as Gohan opened it from the other side. She was beginning to think that it wouldn't be as bad as she thought it would hanging out with him for the day. "Are we ready to go now?!" She felt more comfortable with walking closer.
Usagi and Minako latched themselves onto Gohan's arms. "Yeah! Come on!"
Gohan chuckled as he looked down to the two blondes. "You guys are always so eager to fill yourselves full of sugar. Wouldn't you rather have a nice big bowl of spinach or something? We can even throw in some asparagus."
"YUCK!" Minako stuck her tongue out in complete disgust at the thought of ever eating something so sickening. "Don't ever make me think about that again."
"All right, all right. We'll stick with the ice cream. Just don't come complaining to me when you're too hyper to know what you're doing." Gohan pulled his arms from the duo as he began walking to the street. "Come on, I know a great place not too far from here. We can walk there."
~*~*~
When the group of seven arrived at the ice cream shop, all but two were going nuts over the wide selection of flavors. Gohan couldn't help but laugh at their amazement. He looked down to Ami, who stood next to him. "Aren't you going to get any?"
Ami politely looked up to Gohan. "I've learned to wait until their enthusiasm has gone down. Aren't you going to get any?"
Gohan nodded as he looked back up to his sister and her friends. "Of course. I think I'm with you on the waiting idea. Man, and I thought it was bad with just Usagi. This is worse. Even Pan and her friends weren't this, how should I put this, hyper." He looked back down to Ami as she giggled. "What?"
"Nothing." 'Wow, I guess he really isn't as bad as I thought. He's being nice now. I guess we just shouldn't make him mad.'
Gohan walked forward as he looked down at the scattered group of gawking children. "Come on you guys, it's just ice cream. Settle down."
Usagi and Minako turned around to Gohan with a frown on their faces. Usagi beat Minako to a reply. "Hey! Ice cream is a very serious thing, Gohan. You have to treat it very seriously."
Gohan put his hands up and backed away. "Hey, I wasn't complaining. Do as you wish." He nervously looked down to Ami. "These guys are nuts."
Usagi smiled as she bent down to look at more ice cream. "I heard that." She stood up and indecisively looked at the menu. "Well, I've sort of decided what I want." She walked to one of the of the ice cream freezers and pointed to the very first flavor. "I want this."
Gohan smiled as he walked up from behind his sister. "Good. Finally a decision has been made, now then wou…"
Usagi moved down two steps. "And this." She moved down another step. "OOH, and this! Oh, and some of that blue stuff down there at the end. Maybe some of that chocolate over there too."
Gohan dropped his mouth. "WHAT!?"
Makoto looked up from the Ice-cream. "We can have A LOT?!"
Gohan turned his head to an excited Makoto. She sounded a little too excited for his liking. "No." He nervously turned to his sister. "Usagi, what are you doing?"
Usagi ignored her brother as she pushed past him. "Hey, this minty green stuff looks good."
Rei turned to Usagi, who was on her right. "We can't forget the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice-cream."
Minako ran to Usagi and Rei and looked at what they were drooling over. "Wow, I want that too. Plus the strawberry with a scoop of raspberry sherbet."
Gohan tried to keep from pulling his hair out of his head as the girls went crazy over all the stuff that they wanted him to buy them. "You guys! I'm not rich! You're going to make me go broke!"
"Hmm…This Cookie n' Cream looks good."
Gohan lost all hope at that last comment. He numbly turned to Ami. "Ami? You're leaving the sane group. You're joining them."
Hotaru bounce happily over to the section with her favorite flavor. Her eyes widened to their fullest when she laid eyes on the vast amount of chocolate they had. "Wow…dark chocolate fudge…I WANT THIS!!" She ran to Gohan, who was trying to pry the other girls away from being able to look at the ice-cream through the window. "Gohan!" She tugged on his pants to get his attention. "Gohan, if these guys get all they want, I want one of each flavors of chocolate, please."
Gohan sighed with exasperation as he grabbed Hotaru by the arm, as well as wrapping his arm around the other five, and pulled them all away from the widow. He kneeled down so he could look all of them in the eye. "Ok, now, it was to my understanding that we were only getting a simple treat, not the whole store."
Usagi grinned as she pushed through Makoto and Rei so she was standing on the side of her brother. "Don't you love me, Gohan?" She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulders.
Gohan groaned as he softly tried to pull away. "Don't do this to me, Usagi. You know I can't resist you when you do this."
Usagi gave him her 'puppy dog' face. "Please?"
"Usagi…" Gohan dropped his head in defeat. She had done it to him again. "Fine. I'll charge it. You better be happy. And don't tell mom that I stuffed you all so full of ice-cream."
Usagi pulled away from Gohan with a smile. "Thanks Gohan. I wont tell mom. I promise." She walked back to the ice-cream and once again fell into its trance. "Ok…now what do I want?"
Makoto walked up beside Usagi with wide eyes. "Wow, this is great. We can have all the ice-cream we want."
Gohan walked to the counter, where he would pay for their treat it was also where Hotaru and Ami patiently waited for him. "Have you two already decided?" He pulled out his charge card from his pocket. He would have to pay it off fast before Videl found out that he did it.
Ami nodded. "I just want a plain and simple Banana split. I don't want to spend all of your money."
"I want a scoop of each of the flavors of Chocolate they have. Unless you don't want me to."
"Go ahead. You might as well. I mean, I'm spending this much money already I might as well buy everyone what they want. Man, Usagi just HAD to get me with her cuteness. I need to stop giving in to that."
~*~*~
After the crew had eaten their 'treats', about an hour later, they left the ice-cream shop. Gohan left Fifty dollars poorer. "Make sure you guys don't tell your parents that I did that. They would kill me."
Makoto nauseously grabbed her stomach as she walked forward. "I think I'm gonna barf."
Rei let herself lean on Makoto as she put one foot in front of the other. That was about all she could do at that moment for she was too sick to even think about trying to walk more than that. "Remind me never to eat that much ice-cream again."
Minako let herself collapse to the ground. She couldn't remember a time when she had been as full as she was now. "I just want to stay here and rest for a while."
Gohan chuckled as he looked back to the three helpless kids. "Come on. You're the ones who wanted to eat that much. Walk it off so you wont cramp up. Come on, you don't want all those sweets to go to waste. You are all going to be hyper now. We need to work off that energy before I send you home. Your parents may get suspicious if you're so energetic."
Rei dropped to the ground, feeling as if she were going to throw up right there and then. "No. let's rest." She pulled Makoto to sit by her. "I need sleep now."
Usagi looked up at her brother in confusion. "What's wrong with them? Why are they so sick all of a sudden?"
Gohan looked back at Usagi. "They don't have bottomless stomachs like Saiyans do, Usagi. They're feeling the effects of eating too much." He turned to Ami. "I guess you don't have a problem since you barely had anything. But Hotaru…" He turned to Hotaru in wonder.
Hotaru uneasily looked around. "I'm younger, I burn it off faster? Uh…yeah…that's it." She timidly laughed as she backed away from the group.
'Strange kid.' "Ok. Well, I guess we should shove off then. Come on kids. Let's get moving and burn off that energy." He walked over to Makoto and picked up her, placing her back down on her feet.
"We don't have anymore energy. Can't we just sleep right here? I feel so sick." Drowsy, Makoto tried to sit back down but Gohan's firm grip wouldn't allow her to. "Please?"
Usagi looked around the area as she walked away from the group. She wasn't sure if it was just her, but she could have sworn that she heard a faint yelping sound of something. "Shh…" Everyone stopped complaining as they turned their heads to Usagi. "Can you hear it?"
Gohan let Makoto sit back down on the ground as he stood up and listened for anything that his sister could have heard. He perked his head when he heard the faint sound that his sister had. "I hear something, but it sounds very far away."
Usagi began to walk towards the area in which the sound was coming from. "I wonder what it could be.?"
Ami looked around as well as listened for what the duo was talking about. "I don't hear anything. I guess it's just at too quite of an interval for me to pick up."
Usagi looked forward to an abandoned building, which was just across the street from the ice-cream shop. "Maybe we should go check it out. Whatever's in there has a really faint life energy level. Gohan?" She turned around to her brother.
Gohan nodded. "Go ahead and go. I don't see any danger in going."
Minako protested up to Gohan with a deep glare. "I can't walk. I'm too sick."
Ami joined Usagi at the road as well as Hotaru. "I'll come with you, Usagi." She turned back to Gohan, who was trying to stand the girls up but their legs just didn't want to cooperate. "Gohan? Is it all right if we go ahead?" Gohan nodded. "Ok, let's go girls."
Hotaru jumped out into the crosswalk. "Great! Let's go see whatever that thing is." Hotaru happily skipped across the street ahead of Usagi and Ami, who cautiously crossed. They weren't sure what they were going to find inside, but the closer they got, the louder the whimpering became. "It doesn't sound human, does it?"
Usagi searched the outside area of the building with her eyes to see if anything was moving, but there was nothing. "No, it doesn't sound human."
Ami ventured away from the duo and went in the direction that she heard the noise. "What could that be? It sounds so distressed." She walked slowly, ready to defend herself if she were to be attacked. 'This is creepy.' She turned to the side of the building, leaving her wondering friends still in front. The more she walked, the more of an echo the sound had. "That sounds like a…" She fixed her eyes on a tin garbage can. She was positive that that's where the sound was coming from. It was the only thing around that could have possibly been producing and echo.
Ami carefully approached the tin can. She stopped just before she bumped into it and took a deep breath. "Ok, here goes nothing." She reached out and pulled the lid off of it to peer inside. To her surprise, nothing jumped out at her, but there was a red cloth bag at the bottom of the empty garbage can. To stun her even more, the bag was moving. "Oh my gosh!" She turned around and put her hands to her mouth. "USAGI! HOTARU! I FOUND IT!" Yelling like that only scared the creature inside the bag even more.
Ami turned back around and pulled the tiny bag out of the can. "You poor thing." She sat down on the curbside and gently placed the bag with its contents on her lap. "Don't worry little thing. I'll get you out soon." She let her hands do all the work as she worked fast to get the knot untied. "Who could do such a horrid thing?"
When she finally got the knot untied, Usagi and Hotaru had just arrived. Ami quickly brought the bag down around the creature to reveal a chocolate brown puppy. It was so thin that its skin stuck tightly against its body to reveal its tiny ribs. Its tail was tucked under itself as it shook with fear. Ami was completely speechless as she looked upon the helpless being.
Usagi sat down next to Ami and reached out the grab the frightened thing from her. "A puppy! Who would put a poor helpless puppy in a bag and then in a garbage can like that?"
Ami shook her head with disbelief. "I have no idea. It's wrong though, I'll tell you that much."
Hotaru kneeled down in front of Usagi and reached out to pet the puppy. "Who ever did this was sick in the head." She giggled when the puppy began to lick her hand. "But it's ok now. We can take care of it, right?"
(Ok, there you have it. Such an 'interesting' part. I know, it's not as long as the last part, but that's just the way things go. It's long enough. So what do you think? Good or bad? Gotta run. Ja )