"Serving justice and freedom…I am the Greaaaaaaaaat Saiyan Maaaan!" Gohan posed Egyptian-style.
Goten and Trunks gaped at him blankly.
"You suck," said the latter, showing a thumb down sign.
Gohan groaned. "Oh well, there goes another fighting pose down the drain…"
"Cheer up, Big Brother!" said Goten, smiling. "No one ever said being a hero is easy."
The three were putting their heads together for a better image for his new superhuman persona. He had taken Videl's remark seriously—the milk pail HAD to go.
"Don't you get tongue-twisted with your name?" asked Vegeta's son, frowning. "Saiyan Man…hmmm…that is so hard to say."
"I can't change my name," he said, sighing.
"Then shorten it…like, um…Saiyaman." Trunks nodded to himself. "Oh yeah, Saiyaman would do…plus you won't have to *totally* revamp your label."
"Wait, I'll jot that down." He resumed taking notes.
Goten peered at the green and black costume of his brother. "How much did you pay for that costume?"
"Love. Just love." He made a mental note to thank his Aunt Bulma properly for the costume. Maybe he would bring her home a copy of that dress-up software she had been salivating on. He remembered her telling him that she would use it on Vegeta's digital 3d rendition.
"The helmet's cool! Mask Rider Black has something like this…and Bioman too!" Goten grabbed the helmet and poised it on his head. "Waah! This has super powers and everything! The house looks green!"
Trunks flipped the green shades of the helmet. "Hah! I've defeated its super powers!"
"Hey, easy with the helmet! It's made of a special kind of alloy that cannot be melted by ordinary combustible and corrosive compounds and can withstand gravity raised to the hundredth degree!" said Gohan, trying to get his head gear back.
"If that is the case, why can't you let us play with it?" Trunks wanted to know. The son of a scientist, he couldn't be intimidated by big words, at least not as easily as Goten could be.
Gohan smiled sheepishly. "It might get dirty." He coughed, "OK, so the fighting pose…what will we do about my fighting pose?"
"Hmmm…how about…." Goten went on to show him the choreographed sequence of the sentai heroes making appearance in the shows.
Gohan nodded slowly as Trunks' face went dark.
****
"You're late." Videl was tapping her foot impatiently on the ground, arms crossed impatiently in front of her chest. Gohan, who biked all the way from the mountains, smiled apologetically. Inwardly, he was scolding himself for taking too long in memorizing his Saiyaman steps and motto.
"I hate men who make me wait," she continued, walking around him. "Really hate."
"S-Sorry…" He rubbed his head. "We don't live in the city…"
"You don't?" She turned to him, surprised.
"Nope!" He smiled, relieved that she had dropped her scolding stance. "We live in the mountains."
"So why work here?" she asked.
"To help my mother make both ends meet." He took the book from his messenger bag. "Anyway, let's go start with schoolwork."
"Not so fast!" She raised her eyebrow. "I'm not done with my interrogation."
"Shucks! Your father might not like this, me not doing my job." He put his hands together in a begging position. "Please forgive me, Miss Videl. It won't happen again."
She paused, a little fascinated by how boyish he could be. She then realized what she just thought, so she suddenly shook her head vehemently. "S-Schoolwork," she found herself saying. "You said something about helping me with it…"
"Do you forgive me?" he asked, following her.
She took her notebook out. "Only if you get me an A on my Algebra homework."
He grinned. "Deal."
"And that you spar with me."
His grin vanished. "W-What?!"
She smiled. "You were able to outrun me, and you avoided my attacks yesterday…"
"It was an ACCIDENT, honest!!!" he cried.
She shrugged. "I don't see it that way. Plus…" she eyed him intently. "Normal boys your age can't bike their way here all the way from the mountains…or were you lying when you said that awhile ago?"
He grimaced. He was now caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
She crossed her arms together. "Spar with me, sensei."
He looked at his things frantically. He must buy himself some time first. "Um…let's
do the schoolwork first, then we'll spar."
She looked at him suspiciously.
He held his hand up. "On my honor!"
It was only then that she was satisfied. "OK, let's do it." She sat back down on the garden chair and whipped out her Algebra notebook. He eagerly took it from her hands and browsed through its pages.
"Well?" she asked testily.
"I think I can handle this one," he said, nodding.
"So will you answer it for me now?"
"Nope."
She blinked.
He grinned. "We'll answer it together."
She shook her head vigorously. "Uh-uh. NO WAY! I hate Algebra!" She crossed her arms. "Besides, you're my tutor. You can do this for me…Papa is paying you."
"Your father is paying me to help you with your education, not manipulate it," he reasoned. "And why don't you try first if Algebra really deserves that kind of hatred from you."
"You're not going to win me to the dark side, Gohan-sensei." She rolled her eyes. "Do it for me."
He sighed, then closed the notebook.
"G-Gohan?" she stammered.
He got up and stood in front of her quietly. He then faced her and spoke, "Hit me."
She frowned. "What?" She wasn't sure if she heard him right.
"Hit me," he repeated.
"Oh…" She sighed. "Gohan-sensei, my punches are capable of rendering cerebral unconsciousness for a second. The most prominent doctor of Satan City had already advised me on this matter and—" She stopped when he suddenly held her hand and poised it directly in front of his chest. He was staring at her intensely.
"Go on," he instructed. "Hit me."
She started to perspire, and she was acutely aware of his gentle but very firm hand grasping her own. "Gohan-sensei…" She exhaled audibly. "Alright, but don't say that I didn't warn you…"
His face relaxed into a smile. "Point taken." He let go of her.
"Yaaaah!!!" She was stunned to see that she hit nothing but air. She turned and saw Gohan standing behind her. Her eyes widened in recognition. He was doing it again—he was anticipating all her attacks again! She started to attack him repeatedly and incessantly, but to her shock, he merely avoided her attacks.
"Hiyaaaaaaa!!!" She aimed a jab on his face with all her might, but Gohan managed to grab her hand. He was sweaty, but he was still grinning.
"OK, time's up," he announced.
"W-Wha…" She watched in fascination as he took out his stopwatch.
"One minute is up." He helped her sit down her garden chair again. "In a span of sixty two seconds, you were able to attack me ninety-six times."
She gasped, but what he said next astounded her.
"And I avoided all your attacks with three combos," he continued. "Now give me number of moves I made consecutively in those said combos if I was able to avoid you ninety six times too."
She blinked. "What?"
"How many moves did each of my three-part combos consist of that would total to ninety-six moves?" He raised a finger. "Take note! The moves were made in consecutive even numbers."
"Why do I have to—" She groaned. "This is a trick to make me answer my Algebra homework!" She placed her hands on her hips. "ALRIGHT! Tell you what, I'll solve it WITHOUT using Math."
Gohan frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Yaaah!!!" She repeated her attack, and again, Gohan avoided her. She tried to count the number of attacks she made on him, making sure she stops at 96, yet everything seemed to happen too fast that she loses track of her count and actual attacks. And worse, Gohan didn't seem to find fatigue in avoiding her attacks.
Finally, she gave up. "Oooh, alright!" She plopped down on the grass and picked up her pen and paper. "How do I start figuring that out?"
His sexy lopsided grin spread on his face. "Why don't you start putting the total number of attacks on the left?"
"So that's 96…" she whispered, doing the equation.
"Now for the three consecutive numbers…" he said, sitting down beside her.
"What number would I put in the equation?" she demanded. "They're unknown!"
He nodded. "Exactly. So we'll just call them 'X'."
"Why 'X'? " she wanted to know.
He sweatdropped. "Well…you can name it anything you want, actually, since it's unknown…"
"Anything?"
"Yup!"
"Let's call it 'Saiyan Man'," she decided.
He coughed. "Whoa! Why that name?"
She smiled. "I just want to."
He groaned. "Okaaay…Saiyan Man it is." He started to write down the equation. " 96 = (Saiyan Man) + (Saiyan Man +2)…"
"Hey, why did you add two to Saiyan Man?" she asked.
He rubbed his cheek. "Well, since we're talking about even integers, then we must add two…for instance, the even numbers two and four has a difference of two…"
"Got it," she said nodding.
He continued with the equation. "96 = (Saiyan Man) + (Saiyan Man +2) + (Saiyan Man+4) ".
She frowned. "Now it's +4"
"Well, six comes after four if we talk about even consecutive integers, and since six and two has a difference of four, we add that number to our equation so we can prove that three consecutive Saiyan man equates to 96."
She nodded slowly. "I think I get it."
And he went on to explain the rest of the process. Finally, she was the one solving the figures herself.
"So you actually made 96 dodges…30+32+34!" Her eyes twinkled. "Wow, that was cool!"
"I told you, Algebra is nothing to hate!" said Gohan confidently.
"Not that, silly!" She got up. "You fight really well!"
He blinked, uncomfortable with her admiring gaze. "Um…it's nothing much…" He rubbed his cheek.
She checked her notebook. "Hmm…'The sum of four consecutive even integers is 60'." She turned to him expectantly.
He sweatdropped. "Y-You don't need a demo anymore…you already know how to solve it!"
She stuck a tongue out at him. "Oh no, we're going to spar!"
He started to freak out. "No, I don't think so…"
"Aw, come on!" She aimed a punch at his face. "Yah!!!"
Gohan dropped down on the ground, dizzy.
"Waaa!!!" It was Videl's turn to panic. "G-Gohan, w-why didn't you avoid it?!!!"
*****
"That was so dumb of you!" she cried as she wiped his bruise with her handkerchief. "You could avoid it easily…"
"Well…at least I don't have to do battle with you anymore," he said cheerfully.
"Wrong!" She pressed on his eye bruise. "Once I see your wound is healed already, I'll get you!!!"
He winced. "Why are you so serious about this whole sparring thing?"
"You should be proud." She clenched her fists. "The only other person I offered this chance to is the Great Saiyan Man!"
"I know," he muttered under his breath.
"Pardon?"
He shook his head vigorously. "N-Nothing…I mean…it's Great Saiyaman. Saiyaaaamaan."
"Huh? You know him?"
He nodded slowly. "I had been…ah…saved by him too."
"He's not bad," confessed Videl. "Saiyaman…must have misheard him. Ah well, it does seem easier to pronounce."
Gohan smiled inwardly.
"And don't think that I didn't notice the subtle change of topic, Gohan-sensei!" She smiled. "You're gonna spar with me again, whether you like it or not!"
"Oh boy…" His face turned dark.
****
"What am I supposed to think if my son goes home from his job with a black eye on his face?" Chichi asked crossly.
Goten nodded. "Big brother, surely, you didn't contact this through a fight. You're unbeatable!"
He laughed. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, b-but I did get it on a fight…"
"Well, you most certainly look cheerful!" Chichi glared at him. "You're just like your father who delight getting beaten to pulp! Ahh, you both drive me nuts!!!"
He unconsciously blocked the rest of his mother's words. He kept on remembering how his student panicked with his bruise, to the point that she treated it herself. He couldn't suppress the grin on his face.
His mother always does that to him when he was young, but why did it feel different when it was Videl who treated him? She hadn't even been gentle in the first place.
He shrugged and continued with his meal. It was irrelevant still thinking of it anyway. He still had more lessons to prepare for their next study session.
------
To be continued