Field Trip To Camp Hercule
Author's Note: Back in business! Still working on revising. I decided to quit my job for the summer and just focus on writing, the person I'm dating and catching up with my fam-a-lam, so I figure I'll have a lot more time to fling out until next semester. Get excited!
Revised.
--
Previous chapter...
--
Gohan stepped into place behind him and scanned over the lists as well, not completely sure as to whether he'd been placed with Sharpener and the others. After going through the first six he paused at Cabin #7's listings, then went over them slowly as he muttered the names out loud to himself.
"Sharpener... Erasa... Gohan..." He stopped, smiling widely.
This is great! Maybe things will turn out alright for a change.
He let his finger drop another notch and read out the final name on the list.
"Videl."
That's when he froze.
No way!... Okay, I gotta read that again… He started from the top and went to the bottom, and the name was definitely not going anywhere else. His imagination hadn't been playing tricks on him, after all.
Now paranoid, he turned his head slowly to the side to stare at Erasa, Sharpener and Videl. Already, the black-haired girl was glaring back at him with a similar intensity to the one she'd shown before on the roof. Gulping down a yelp, he turned and shuffled off, mumbling something about getting his bags. A week stuck in the same cabin with a girl who wanted to kick his ass?
Lookin' good, Gohan. Honestly, that's just… ugh. Kami, help me.
--
Welcome To Cabin #7
--
"Kids, this is the head camp counselor at Camp Hercule! His name's Rob and I'm sure he'd be happy to give you all a tour."
The students groaned in unison, Sharpener shaking his head while Erasa slapped a hand to her forehead. Obviously, they were all going to get a tour, whether they wanted it or not – everything had been planned in advance.
"Hey, students of all ages!" A man stepped onto the podium before the masses of Orange Star High, light-brown hair slicked back beneath a baseball cap.
"I can see that you're all thrilled to be here, and that's great! Being enthusiastic is an awesome way to start the week! Well, since you all want to have the best time possible, you should get to know the camp-site a little better. Come on, everybody!"
With an over-exaggerated hand gesture for the group to follow him, Rob stepped off the podium and headed for the dirt walkways, the pack of students trudging along behind the counselor.
Gohan stayed at his place further to the back, not wanting to get too close to the front in fear that Videl would spot him and chew his head off. Because of this he wasn't able to talk to Sharpener and Erasa, and found himself surrounded by squealing girls instead.
"Gohan! How long did it take for your muscles to get that big, anyways? I've seen you in P.E.!"
"I heard you're into martial arts! Do you offer… personal training sessions?"
"He's mine!"
"Back off, he's neither of yours'… he's mine!"
Gohan groaned under his breath, stopping with an abrupt halt as the three unknown girls began to fight over him, slapping at each others faces while yanking viciously on random bits of their opponent's hair. Fortunately for Gohan, he was soon grabbed and yanked back and away from the three, all of which – even more fortunately – remained oblivious to the fact that the object of their affections had been taken away.
Sharpener released his hold from Gohan's shirt and patted him on the back with sympathy as Erasa tried to keep herself from laughing. Videl, however, arched an eyebrow at him as her eyes narrowed ever-so slightly. Only Gohan noticed.
"You really need to get yourself a girlfriend, Gohan," Erasa commented, waving a hand lazily at the teen beside her. "That's the only way you'll get them to back off. I mean, you should've seen what they did to Sharpener before we made it official."
Shrugging his shoulders, Gohan shook his head. "Sorry, but I don't think I really want one. Besides, what girl would seriously go out with me?"
He was about to continue before Sharpener interrupted him.
"Shut up with the bull, kid. Either you're making an attempt to be modest or you're completely oblivious to the hordes that come after you."
Gohan's head shot up. "You know why they all chase after me?!"
The two teens stared at each other, one with large sweat drops coursing down his forehead as Videl crossed both of her arms over her chest, eyelids drooping as she sighed irritably.
"…-And these are the cabins! Well, I've leave you guys here so you can get settled! See you all in the main hall later today, kids."
The head counselor turned and marched off, grinning widely at the applause (fortunately, he was ignorant to the fact that the applause was over his exit other than a 'job well done'). As he passed by the small group of four, he paused, eyes locking suddenly on Videl. His eyebrows shot up before he winked, clicking his tongue before continuing past her. Gohan merely stared while Erasa and Sharpener laughed outright, Videl's eyes becoming as wide as saucers.
"W-what did he just do?" she stammered, placed into a state of disgusted shock.
"The dork-counselor's hittin' on the Herc babe..." Sharpener sang, immediately falling silent as the raven-haired girl turned her heated glare onto him.
"He is one of the new ones that your dad hired this year, isn't he? He probably doesn't know who he's messing with," Erasa commented, placing her finger at the tip of her mouth as she frowned in concentration.
Videl mumbled under her breath as she swung her bag over her shoulder, stomping to Cabin #7 angrily, but not without adding her two cents;
"Let's hope so, otherwise he'll have plenty of explaining to do."
--
The girls took the left side of the cabin while the guys took the right. The separate rooms were fairly simple: they contained two dressers and two single beds with two windows to one side, the opposite room being a duplicate. The main room in the cabin had a couch, two chairs and a TV while the kitchens had only a stove and sink, along with a mini-fridge. The bathrooms were something that Gohan found himself worrying about - they were only stalls without any drapes.
Scratching the back of his head, he muttered under his breath worriedly, jumping backwards with surprise as Sharpener tapped him on the shoulder.
"What's up, flinchy? Something wrong with the bathroom?"
"Uh, well..." Gohan ducked his head, shuffling a bit. "The showers don't have curtains..."
Sharpener blinked once before letting out a loud, rolling laugh.
"Oh, that's right. I forgot that you don't go into the showers for gym class. Squeamish, hm?"
Gohan blushed furiously as he sped out of the bathroom, almost crashing into Erasa on his way out. To drown his worries he went to the kitchen, grabbing a soda from the counter. He didn't hear the sound of footsteps behind him until a form bumped into his body, making him spin around. Unfortunately, he had spun right in the middle of opening the soda can, which had been – just as unfortunately – shaken up during the ride on the bus.
An eruption of carbonated liquid blasted from the soda, covering the body in front of Gohan with a dark, sticky substance. Videl shrieked and gasped, her hair drooping as her arms hung limply to her sides. The boy pulled back with a startled yelp, before he found himself frozen in place, eyes widened to the size of saucers. Videl's shirt was white, giving him a view of more than he thought he was supposed to see... and much more than he'd ever been shown before.
"W-why, you... you!" she screamed, launching herself at him.
With a swift panicked squeak, Gohan turned and ran into the boy's side of the house, trying to slam the door behind him and lock it before finding his efforts were unsuccessful as it was burst open by an infuriated Videl. The demi-Saiyan then tried to back up but found soon found himself tackled to the ground, a still furious Videl straddling his form before pummeling the teen with a flurry of punches.
"Stay...out...of...my...way!" she yelled, pausing with each word to strike again seconds later with more force.
Wincing with each hit as one eye squint shut, Gohan accepted the expected abuse, inwardly shaking his head. Geez, I really blew it this time! She's stronger than I expected...
Videl pounded her fist one more time into his form, this time hitting him directly on the face by accident, as Gohan had squirmed down into the fist's path in his weak attempts to escape. She then faltered before stopping, openly staring as Gohan had only winced slightly in response, his face showing no mark of the attack. She eventually shook her head, giving up on the attack before climbing off of Gohan's form, tilting over to grab a towel from the edge of the bed before her.
"Gohan, how many times do I have to tell you to watch what you're doing," she muttered distractedly, before turning around and heading back to hers' and Erasa's room, dripping soda all the way.
Gohan let out a wheeze then struggled to his feet, staring down at his shirt. Right where she had been sitting was now a gigantic soda stain. Sighing, he yanked the wet shirt off his head and fished another out from his duffel, pulling it back over as he thought to himself, If she messes up my shirts once a day like this, I'll be out of them before even half the week is over!
Wandering back out into the kitchen (after making sure that there was no Videl in sight), Gohan grabbed another can of soda along with a few sandwiches and took them back to the room. Since they'd arrived pretty late and the tour had taken awhile, they were going to have to eat in the cabins and not start any activities until the next day. Fortunately, the group had brought tons of food with them, Gohan bringing the most in a capsule that Bulma had given him the day that they were to leave.
Letting out a small and happy sigh, Gohan sank backwards onto his bed as he finished off the first sandwich in two bites before starting on the second one. With everyone either showering or changing into non-wet clothes, the cabin was a perfect picture of peace and quiet.
--
Gohan rose earlier in the morning on the next day than he'd planned thanks to the drifting smells of breakfast cooking. Smiling with a dazed look on his face, he got out of bed and wandered into the small kitchenette, still in his sleeping boxers. Sharpener was already up and had done the same as him, not caring enough to change from his sleeping clothes.
Erasa waved at him happily in greeting and tossed him a plate which he caught easily. Already drooling, the demi-Saiyan hopped up to the stove and grabbed all ten pancakes that had been placed on it, unaware of Videl's surprised cough.
Settling back at the table he attacked the food, oblivious to the other three's stares of wonder.
"Geez, Gohan. Do they ever feed you at home or what?"
Sharpener finished his third pancake and leaned back in his chair, satisfied as Erasa ended on her second serving. Videl, after making two more for herself, sat at the table next to Gohan, since Erasa and Sharpener had taken the other seats. Not even making an attempt to hide her annoyance as she ate slowly, she couldn't help but partially stare at Gohan as he cheerfully shoved his fifth pancake down his throat.
"Aaanywaaays..." Erasa stated, falling silent as Gohan grabbed the remaining five pancakes and stuffed them in his mouth, finishing the pile within a single bite.
The demi-Saiyan grinned widely as he picked up his plate and was about to go for a demi-Saiyan's "second serving" when he noticed his roommate's stares. Scratching his head sheepishly, he sat back down, shooting them a silly grin as he placed his emptied plate back before him.
"Now that our bottomless-pit is done eating," Sharpener commented sarcastically, smirking as Gohan blushed, "we have to head out to the main hall. Remember, gotta be out there by eight every morning."
"Just great. I won't have time for a shower!"
Gohan cast a side-long glance at Erasa as she huffed irritably, standing and stomping away from the table and out the door, leaving everyone else confused. Sharpener blinked and hopped out of his seat, running after his girlfriend, leaving Videl and Gohan alone.
Videl sighed quietly under her breath as she stood, grabbing her plate and Erasa's as she placed them in the sink, turning on the faucet to rinse them off. Grabbing the remaining plates, Gohan was soon standing behind her, trying to peek over her shoulders as she finished washing off the plates.
"Um... you want me to get those?"
Wiping off the two plates with a towel, Videl placed them back in the cabinet before turning to Gohan.
"No, but you can get those," she stated, pointing to the plates he held before walking out the door. Gohan only stared at her in return before getting to work…
At least she didn't yell at me this time.
--
Mobs of high-schoolers filled the main hall; the counselors, chaperones and teachers were having difficulty maintaining control. Finally, after fifteen minutes of confused havoc, the room quieted as the head counselor stepped up to the podium.
"Today we will be practicing the art of crafting! Now, of course you all should remember this from the other camp for the younger students at Orange Star High School. We will be brushing back over the basics and then, we will improve our skills! This will take place in an hour and a half from now, and it will end at two o'clock in the afternoon…"
Groaning, Sharpener slapped himself on the face while Erasa blew a lock of hair away from her eyes, frowning. Videl was half-asleep as she leaned backwards in her chair, staring at the ceiling.
Suddenly, her cell rang from the inside of her belt and she jolted awake, mildly confused until she realized what the sound was coming from. Yanking it out of the cell-pouch she flipped it open, already speaking into it.
"Videl here."
"Satan Videl? Finally, we have someone with fighting experience in the area… the police chief in Satan City told me you were going to be here. This is the local police force, Captain Goma speaking. We need your assistance at the city's bank, immediately! Several armed men have taken over the building and are holding innocents hostage. Will you be able to help us?"
"Of course! I'll be right there."
Snapping the phone shut with a flick of her fingers, she jumped to her feet, already sprinting for the door.
"Robbery at the city's main bank!" she yelled as she shot out the door, sneakers skidding over tile. Their teacher nodded as she ran past him while the counselors looked at each other blankly for several seconds before realizing that the streak that had just bolted past had been the daughter of the great Hercule himself. Only one was left with a blank look on his expression after Videl's exit, staring emptily into space…
Oh, this is just great! How am I supposed to get out of here and do my Saiyaman thing? Stupid Counselor! Stop talking!
"Okay you guys, let's get to work! All of the male students in the class, come with me right out this door!"
There is a Kami! This is perfect.
As all of the male students piled out of the room, Gohan stayed near the back of the crowd. Once they began to round a corner and he was out of sight from the girls that remained in the hall, he bounded to the side and ducked behind a tree until the shuffling noises of feet scuffling through dirt quieted. Peeking out from behind the trunk, he flashed a small smile as he tapped the button on his wrist-watch lightly, his green cape rolling out behind him. Turning away, he sprinted forward before leaping into the air, gaze darting about as he tried to catch sight of Videl's form…
Wait, there!
Eyes latching onto the bright yellow of Videl's helicopter, he burst after the rapidly vanishing machine, making sure to keep his distance.
Speeding after her, his cape flapping wildly behind him, Gohan sighed quietly to himself.
Of course, it's the usual. Bank robbery; hostages too, I bet. You'd think those thugs would get a new, original idea. These guys aren't gonna know what hit them!
"There it is! At least it's gotta be, since there are cop cars all over along with newscasters..." Videl mused to herself as she landed the chopper and stepped out, pausing to stand in front of it with arms crossed as a uniformed man ran to her, halting several feet before Hercule's daughter.
"Miss Satan! Thank you for coming, Captain Goma at your service." Saluting, the Captain gave a smile of relief. "The hostages, there are about ten of them. We believe there to be about three or four thugs in the bank, all armed. We can back you up--"
"Thanks, but I can handle it on my own!"
Before the Captain could get in another word the girl darted past him and into the building, ignoring the confused yells of the other cops who didn't know who she was.
So some criminal boys are holding people up as usual, she smirked to herself as she sprinted through the glass doors before sliding to an abrupt stop. Looking to each hall before her, she decided on the one in the center - after all, that's where all the muffled yells were coming from.
Meanwhile, Gohan had landed silently on the roof of the bank, leaning over the edge to examine the scene before him. There! Videl! Watching carefully he saw her run at a full sprint into the bank as the other officers yelled warnings for her to stay back, some even starting forward before being yanked back by their superiors. Obviously, many of the men hadn't realized that Satan Videl was at their service.
He stood and turned back to the sky-light that laid before him. Last time he'd gone on a rescue mission without Videl's knowledge of his interference, he'd entered through the window that had been the main source of light during the day for Satan City's local bank.
"Knowing all those disbelieving people out there," he grunted as he swung the window open, the latch snapping easily, "they won't expect anyone to come through here." He dropped through the opening and hovered by the ceiling for a moment, waiting for anything to possibly lead him to where Videl - and the thugs - were.
After hovering silently for several seconds the Saiyan's keen hearing picked up the sound of footsteps on marble, along with the thumps and muffled shrieks of what he guessed to be the tied hostages.
Turning, he headed down the center corridor, concentrating on the sound that led him, not wanting to lose her.
Soon he came to a large room filled with filing cabinets and desks. However, the main attraction was the safe in the very back of the room, the door hanging open as several men grabbed bags of what was obviously coins and paper money from within it. Gohan froze in midair and ducked behind a wall, searching for any sign of Videl.
Where the heck did that girl go?
Suddenly an angry yell sounded from the other side of the room as a man flew backwards into Gohan's line of sight, slamming with a painful blam into the corner of a desk. Gohan's mouth twitched slightly as he watched Videl stomp out into the open, clearly infuriated. It looked like there were more thugs than she'd thought and they had jumped her, but she still managed to beat them down.
"You guys don't even know who I am, and you're underestimating me already!" she screamed, enraged as the men before her snickered.
"It's a stroke of luck that you beat those two men, little girl," a thug spoke up as he turned, flashing a toothy smile as he held up a bag of cash with his left hand and tossed it to another who stashed it into one of several suitcases.
"Stroke of luck? Stroke of luck?! I have been training for years on end, and I'll have you know that it's no fluke that my father is the strongest man in the world!" she retorted, face red with anger.
Gohan winced at the Satan's choice of words - it actually had been a fluke, and a very lucky one at that. But he had no intention of telling Videl such, especially since she already despised him already.
The remaining five thugs looked to each other blankly, then back at the girl.
"Strongest man? Who's that?"
Gohan almost burst out laughing as Videl's face twisted into one of confusion and irritation. Yes, it was true; Videl normally didn't have to tell people who she was, much less explain who her father, the "strongest man in the world", was! It seemed that the thugs had either been isolated for a time or didn't watch TV to check in with the gossip.
Videl's eyes flared and she leapt at the man who was talking. "Stupid!" she yelled, slamming her fist hard into his stomach before he could spin to aim his gun at her.
Doubling over, the thug groaned, dropping his weapon as the others looked on in shock before immediately jumping to their feet as they fumbled for their guns.
"Don't worry, Boss, we got your back!" one grunted as he managed to load his gun and shoot a wild volley of bullets towards Videl.
The shot was still way off its mark, however. Videl merely smirked as she continued pummeling the head of the gang, smoothly skipping to the other side so that the man provided her with a human shield.
Deciding that the gunfire had been his cue, Gohan leapt into the fight, grabbing two confused thugs by the arms and twisting them backwards behind their backs, stopping only when they squealed with surprised pain. Stepping forward he planted a forceful kick in one of the two remaining thugs' back, sending him flying forward into a wall with a resounding crack before he spun and bicycle-kicked the other into a rolling chair, watching with slight amusement as the man rolled at full speed past Videl and the leader before crashing – with a clatter of paper and metal – into a file cabinet.
Videl knuckle-punched the thug's leader across the cheek, sending him spinning off into unconsciousness (and head-first over a receptionist's desk) before turning to regard the super-hero before her with a mixture of surprise and anger.
"What are you doing here?" she whispered hotly as she pulled several coiled ropes out of her belt's pocket, using them to tie up the unconscious thugs.
"Nice to see you, Miss Videl," Gohan replied weakly in his baritone super-hero voice, noting and fearing the girl's infuriated look at his unannounced interruption of her job.
Finishing the last knot on the final knocked-out criminal, she stood, dusting her hands off as she closed her eyes, the sides of her mouth twitching slightly.
"Well? Aren't you going to answer the question?"
Gohan looked at her blankly. "What question?"
Rolling her eyes, Videl shook her head with a huff before repeating herself: "Why are you here?"
"Oh! Um..." Gohan stalled, his finger rising to press against the side of his mouth as he thought hurriedly in a daze. "I was ... patrolling this area because ... my friend, the Golden Warrior, was sick and he couldn't!" Letting out a shaky, fake laugh, Gohan thanked Kami for his helmet since he could tell by the heat on his face that he was blushing furiously.
Videl let both eyes drop open and locked her gaze with his, eyebrow arched.
"He's ... sick," she repeated, voice dropping to a tone of blatant disbelief.
"Yeah, sick! He was glowing green!" Gohan, also known as the Great Saiyaman, yelled a bit too loudly, immediately slapping his hand over his mouth after his outburst.
"Really, you can come up with a better excuse than that."
Gohan grabbed at the collar of his spandex suit, tugging on it nervously as he gulped.
"I-it's not an excuse!"
"Really now," Videl commented, a glint in her eye.
Oh man, oh man! She's not falling for it, Gohan! Way to go, you and your lies, might as well tell her that you're really Son Gohan and that you just wanted to protect her!
"Sorry, Miss, but I believe that I have to check on my friend now! He should be back out and running within a few days, green-free!"
Running out the door at a full sprint, Gohan didn't calm himself until he got to the main lobby of the bank. He slowed to a jog before he then stopped entirely, groaning as he held his burning face in both hands.
"I can't lie worth crud! This is just not right! There has to be a way to make that somewhat believable, Goha-..."
"Saiyaman!"
Freezing in place, the Great Saiyaman tilted his head slightly to peer over his shoulder. Videl stood at the entrance to the center hall, casually leaning against the wall with both arms crossed.
She didn't hear that, did she?!
"I'm going to be watching you," she finished, looking directly at where his eyes would be if not covered with a visor.
Nervously wiping the sweat off the back of his neck, Gohan nodded rapidly then leapt into the air, darting out through the sky-light to speed back towards the Camp. That had come way too close to ending in disaster! Way, way too close for him to be comfortable with it.
The Saiyan eventually found himself taking a detour to get to Camp Hercule - unfortunately Videl left soon after him and almost saw him before he darted out of sight, reappearing in a grove of trees. As he snuck out of the forest and took flight again he glanced at his watch.
"Aw, man! It's 2:00 already, I hope the counselors didn't notice I was gone... at least I missed crafting."
Flipping forward in midair he sped up, knowing that Videl had probably already landed.
"Where were you?"
Gohan awkwardly slid into his seat next to Erasa and Sharpener who were both casting bewildered glances at him, Erasa regarding him with astonishment while Sharpener kept to a look of almost wicked glee. The growing smile on Sharpener's face nearly worried the demi-Saiyan, until...
"Gohan ditched! Woo, there may be hope for you yet!" Sharpener whooped quietly, a wide smirk covering his face. Inwardly, Gohan heaved a sigh before jumping into defensive maneuvers.
"No, you guys! It's not like that--"
"What is it like, then?"
"What is what like?"
Gohan paled as Videl appeared next to Erasa, eyebrows raised ever-so slightly. Erasa tilted her head upwards to glance at Videl, looking to her with barely-contained suspicion before she burst into wild laughter, clutching at her sides.
"So I noticed that you came in a few minutes before Gohan," she gasped in between giggles. "Is there some secret hot-and-heavy romancin' going on somewhere that I was not told about, hmm?" she commented, grinning widely as both Gohan and Videl blushed furiously.
"What?! No! Not with... with him!" Videl hurriedly shouted, pointing at Gohan as the Saiyan reeled backwards in response.
"I'm not like that, Erasa..." Gohan mumbled quietly, tiredly rubbing at the back of his neck.
"Oh yeah? Well there are some things we have yet to learn about you, Gohan. If you're willing to ditch class, who knows what else you're doing?"
Crud! Sharpener! Keep your big mouth shut! Gohan's mind screamed as he raised his head to look fearfully at Videl.
The girl was staring back at him, both eyes wide. To Gohan's surprise, she didn't look annoyed... thoughtful, instead. After several seconds of silence her mouth slowly curved into a dark smile as she cast another knowing glance at him before turning back to Sharpener and Erasa who had decided that talking about the current releases in the movies were much more interesting than "Gohan and Videl's pretend love life."
"As soon as we're out of this damn camp I can't wait to see some nice, gory, bloody macho-army-men movies."
Sharpener let out a blissful sigh, head dropping to rest on his palm, as Erasa began gagging in feigned disgust before she pitched out her opinion of manly flicks.
"The only movie worth my time is some cute teen romance with some hottie like Josh Hartnett or something! I mean, he's such a babe... Not as hot as you!" she added hurriedly at the end as Sharpener's eyes started to narrow with poorly disguised contempt.
The teen soon relaxed and hugged his girlfriend to him, kissing her on the cheek with a Tim Allen-esque grunt. Giggling, Erasa did the same to him, him then returning the favor, until they finally resorted to making out on the bench, oblivious to the displeased and critical stares of the adults... and horrified looks of Gohan and Videl.
Deciding that it was getting a bit too ... icky ... Gohan stood and wandered off to the lunch table, grabbing a tray as he noticed Videl do the same. He couldn't help but grin to himself; she was probably sickened by the over-all cuteness of the scene. As Gohan turned back to the buffet in front of him, he let out a breath and closed his eyes in ecstasy. Thank Kami that lunch was after crafting.
The lunch at the camp was pretty loose, rules-wise - all you had to do was eat, and you had about an hour to do so. If you finished early you were allowed to head back to the cabins to do whatever, as long as you got back to the Main Hall by the scheduled time.
Gohan finished what had been, until recently, a plate covered with a mountain of food in five minutes, to his classmate's amazement. Dumping them off by the washing counter, he glanced back at the Hall before running out the door to jog at a steady pace to his cabin. He wanted some peace and quiet to do some homework that his mom had given him to do over the break. As always, she was concerned that if he didn't study at all during the week he'd forget all of the education content he learned at school and return home an idiot.
Studying wasn't a problem for him... in fact, he didn't mind it at all. However, Sharpener, Erasa and Videl seemed to. When Sharpener was around he'd make fun of him constantly until Gohan would end up arguing back, forgetting entirely about his studies. When Erasa was around, she'd talk incessantly until he wouldn't be able to concentrate on what was placed in front of him. And when Videl was at the cabin at the same time ... well, being around her at all made Gohan incredibly nervous, which didn't help with the curious looks she would cast at him and his books every few minutes.
After charging into his room Gohan hopped onto his bed, grabbing a book with one hand and a pencil and paper with another. Flipping the book open to the book-marked page, he immediately started reading, taking a few notes in the margins along the way.
After twenty minutes of studying, the Saiyan's eyes slowly began to droop. Another five minutes and his pencil dropped from his hand as his body flopped onto its side. Ten minutes later, he was knocked out completely, snoring loudly as he fell further into a deep sleep.
Okay... something's missing.
Videl quickly scanned the Main Hall's occupants. There was Sharpener, there was Erasa, there was that idiotic head counselor... Wait.
Son Gohan!
Stifling a laugh Videl examined the room one last time to prove to herself that Gohan was definitely nowhere in the vicinity. Lately that kid had been doing a lot of stuff she'd never expect him to.
What's next, Mr. Gohan? First, you skip crafting then don't show after lunch.
Videl sighed and fell backwards slightly in her seat. The fact that Gohan had left as she had and had returned only minutes after her own return was really getting to her. What was also annoying her already tired mind was that he'd seemed very spooked when Sharpener and Erasa began talking about it in front of her, particularly when she'd stared at him as if to read his thoughts. He looked like a deer in headlights or, in this case, a Gohan in front of a very suspicious Videl.
What were you doing, anyways? she questioned an invisible Gohan.
She sighed again, turning her head to face the podium. Time to listen to another speech by the famed idiot himself, Counselor Rob.
Gohan awoke with a yelp as he rolled off the bed and hit the floor, a nearby cabinet shuddering with the impact as it rained several large text-books down on his head. Grunting as each thudded on his forehead, chest and splayed legs, Gohan grimaced until the books stopped falling. Shaking his head slightly as he absentmindedly rubbed at his growing bruises, he tried to remember what happened before he'd fallen off the bed and gotten whacked soundly on the head.
"Okay..." he spoke quietly to himself. "First, I helped Videl as Saiyaman, had lunch..." he ticked off each activity on the tip of his finger. "Then, I came back here and studied and fell, aaasleeeep.. Oh, holy heck!"
Shoving the books out of his way the Saiyan ran to the door, leaping into the air as soon as he got outside. Okay, so the Main Hall wasn't that far away and everyone was in it... his conclusion? They wouldn't see him coming over by air.
He was right. Landing in front of the large building only minutes later, Gohan ducked down and crawled through the door, trying to avoid anyone noticing him. Fortunately all of the adults were focused intently on the speaker while the students that did notice didn't care about his late entrance.
Slipping into an empty seat that was, coincidentally, next to Sharpener, Gohan let out a long breath in relief. Thank Kami. Thank Dende. Thank any other God there was up there. He wouldn't know what to do if his record got smudged even the tiniest bit, and if his mom found out.
The blonde-haired teen suddenly nudged him with an elbow.
"Wanted to ditch again, hmm Gohan?" Before the shocked Saiyan could reply, Sharpener continued on. "I know it's addictive, man, but you should save it for the most boring classes at school! I mean, at least when we're here, we don't have to even look like we're paying attention."
Laughing nervously, Gohan didn't even attempt to respond as he turned back to watch Rob at the podium. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Erasa doing a thumbs-up at him while mouthing the words 'So you're finally loosening up! Cool!'
Gohan frowned only slightly, not enough so that the others would notice it.
They have me all wrong. Not like I ditch by choice! The only reason I do is because I'm doing even better things that are more important than listening to some guy talk or doing craft-work! Everything I do is getting twisted into the wrong stuff.
Soon the head camp counselor finished his speech and directed the classes outside.
"Separate into groups of four!" he yelled over the crowd's chattering.
Erasa pumped her fist in the air as she grabbed Gohan, Sharpener and Videl in a tight hold, claiming them as her group via group hug.
"Now, we'll make the plans for the baking contest!"
Gohan froze in place as Erasa pranced around them, occasionally grabbing Sharpener for a hug while lightly punching Videl on the shoulder, making him reminisce of Goten on his most hyper days.
Cooking?! Baking?! What! No! They can't be serious...
"Here are your menus for what you will be cooking, along with the recipes. You may add or subtract anything from them accordingly as long as they relatively represent what is listed on the card pages. Alright? Now, you guys head back to your cabins. I'll see you all in exactly..." Falling silent, Rob raised his watch-hand up in front of his face with an extravagant gesture, before nodding with an all too-cheery grin and turning back to his audience with a flourish. "...In exactly one hour! Now, go off and plan, kiddies!"
The group of teens trooped back to their cabin and immediately headed for the sitting room, Sharpener and Erasa claiming the couch while Videl and Gohan each took the single chairs on opposite sides of the room.
Sharpener grabbed the TV control and was about to flip it on when Erasa suddenly yanked the remote out of his hand and flung it to the other side of the room, batteries flying. Startled, Sharpener faced his girlfriend, expression blank.
"What was that for?" he complained, taken aback and displeased with his lack of television power.
"We're supposed to be looking over these recipes, Sharpener, and I'm pretty sure that we need to establish some team-work here if we seriously want to win anything!"
"But cooking is girl-stuff..."
"Sharpener!"
Erasa cast a looming glare at Sharpener who immediately cowered at the edge of the couch with a soft whimper, nodding his head submissively. Relaxing, the blonde-haired girl drew the papers out of her back pocket and unfolded them at the center of the coffee table.
Gohan leaned forward to examine them, and almost fainted from shock. The counselors expected them to make whole, full-course meals! They were to make peach cobbler for the final dish and for the main one, they were to make a stir-fry with assorted veggies and such, depending on their creativity.
Of course, along with the meal there were to be beverages; for the drinks they had to come up with a delicate tea for the first meal, to help accent the tastes, then bring out a shake for dessert, different flavors (and decorative freedom) recommended. The meal should be enough for the four of them.
Drawing back, Gohan rubbed his temples sadly. That meant that they'd have to eat whatever they came up with, so there was no way they could just lose on purpose by making horrid food without any effort and only a small amount. With the way he ate, they'd have to make enough to feed a human army, equaling out to one hungry Saiyan.
"This can't be that bad!" Erasa commented as cheerfully as possible while the others looked on, doubtful looks crossing over their faces.
"N-not that bad?" Videl stammered, pointing a shaking finger at the large slip of paper peeled out before them. "We have to make a complete meal! And we have to eat it! And it has to be enough to feed all of us..." she faded off as she turned his head slightly to stare at Gohan, who suddenly seemed very interested in the carpet and its lack of design.
"Oh, yeah, that's right..." Erasa tapped a finger on the side of her head worriedly and then brightened. "Gohan, do you think you can chill on the chow for the contest? I promise I'll cook you some more stuff when we get back to the cabin!"
Gohan grinned, relieved, as he nodded. Okay, so now he wasn't going to be a handicap to the team. Another plus was that Erasa was one very, very good cook, even though she acted like a ditz most of the time and had a tendency to drop more eggs than she'd fry.
"Alright, let's get some plans going! We have until the end of this week to do all of this crap and we gotta get everything ourselves. Who's gonna do the shopping? ... Well?" Erasa lifted her head from the menu and looked around the room, bewildered at the sudden lack of comrades. "Hey, where did everyone go? ... GUYS!"
Rob looked over the papers in his cabin, leaning back against the chair with his arm swung over the side. Satan Videl, my new target. He grinned wolfishly, flashing rows of bleached white teeth. Once he showed her his real personality, she wouldn't be able to resist him. He wouldn't let anything stop him during his climb to power.
It all made sense to him. Get the girl, get the father's money... get the fame. He'd make himself seem like the perfect guy to Hercule by meeting him, working at his manipulation until even Videl's father insisted that they date! Through the Satan riches, he'd get the fame and fortune that he truly deserved.
Stopping to run a hand over slicked-back hair that had remained hidden under a baseball cap while in the presence of the campers, Rob allowed a dark smirk to slip again, shuffling through the papers until he came to a manila folder labeled "Satan Videl". Pulling her picture out from the folder he gently caressed it with a cooing sigh, before clutching it tightly in the palm of his hand, crumpling it with unrestrained force.
Through Videl, I will get what I should have always had... and I'm not going to let anyone stop me.
Gohan stumbled out of the cabin, followed closely by Sharpener. Stopping just past the threshold the boy leaned against the side of the wooden building, panting, as he wiped several beads of sweat off his forehead, noticing Sharpener do the same.
Erasa had gone off on another one of her rants when she had realized that they'd all run off to avoid shopping for food. Of course she only picked on the boys, not criticizing Videl since she knew that the girl despised any type of shopping while it seemed that her boyfriend had a certain love for clothing stores for men, along with any hardware shop. Naturally, she assumed Gohan felt the same way. In reality the boy's fascination with stores was limited to those that contained material for martial arts and free, already-prepared food.
Normally he wouldn't even get that worked up during a fight, but Erasa's lecture had been something that he couldn't fight back physically. Instead, the two boys had to sit it out.
Never, ever, am I going to sit through another lecture of Erasas' again, Gohan's mind muttered to itself, the Saiyan agreeing with his inner thoughts mentally.
Standing and stretching his spine backwards with a frustrated groan, Gohan straightened before he turned to steady Sharpener as the man stumbled backwards a bit, clapping him gently on the back as the teen continued to wheeze uncontrollably.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, it's just been awhile since I've had to go through one of those," he managed to choke out before going into another fit of hacking. Evidently, Erasa's lectures took a physical toll on her boy.
After remaining keeled over for several minutes Sharpener finally stood, composure regained. He nodded stiffly to Gohan and headed towards the Main Hall.
Gohan ran after him until he was walking next to him and tapped him on the shoulder. The man stopped and turned his head slightly.
"What?"
"Where are you going to? I mean, not like we're going anywhere--"
"Don't you remember? We were supposed to meet back in the Main Hall in an hour when the Counselor told us, and that'll be in about five minutes."
"Shouldn't we tell the girls?"
A lop-sided grin appeared on Sharpener's face.
"Yeah, we should. Go ahead, Gohan!"
With that, Sharpener broke into a full-sprint, heading directly for the Hall. Gohan watched after his friend's retreating form, his mouth hanging open slightly. Damn that guy! He was making him go back into that cabin with Erasa and Videl... and an angry Erasa at that. Very, very angry.
The Saiyan walked back to their cabin, Cabin #7, and timidly peeked through the door. Seeing no danger he walked in, closing the door behind him.
The other students could hear the sounds of pots banging and horrified screams from several cabins away.
Sharpener snickered as Gohan slipped into the seat next to him, a large bruise already formed on his forehead to accompany his developing black eye. From the looks of it, Videl had pitched in with the beating.
"How was it?" he whispered out of the corner of his mouth.
"Horrible," Gohan replied, wincing as a small cut on the side of his mouth was stretched with the movement of his jaw.
Both Erasa and Videl took seats on the opposite side of Sharpener, Erasa leaning against her boyfriend, all anger spent. She hugged his arm lightly, leaning over to whisper an apology in his ear as he returned the favor.
Videl rolled her eyes with an incoherent mutter as the couple resumed their kissing-fest, thanking god that the counselors weren't watching them at the moment. They weren't, were they?
She suddenly felt a stare upon her form. Raising her head slightly she looked for the source of the look, finally turning her head to the podium. One of the teachers was speaking, Rob standing behind him - and he was staring directly at her.
Her eyes widened with confusion as the head counselor flashed a small, devilish grin. Tossing a quick glance to Erasa and Sharpener, he turned his look back to her and mouthed, 'When are we going to get to that part?'
Videl jerked back in her seat and shot a furious glare at the man as he winked slowly before he turned his attention back to the teacher in front of him. She only settled back in her seat when Rob went up to the podium and began talking; he wouldn't be able to single her out then.
Gohan, having seen the exchange, looked from Videl to Rob with raised eyebrows. What was going on between the two? Feeling very confused and a little agitated, Gohan shook his head, quickly deciding to not dwell on it. After all, girls were a mystery to him, and chances were the camp counselor wasn't all that easy to figure out either.
To be continued...