Chapter
Five
Serena grinned to herself as she walked to the school at
6:30 in the morning, dressed in designer jeans and a pale blue top
with a matching blue jacket tied around her waist and a violet
knapsack, which she held onto in her right hand.
'I'm a
calculus professor, I get to stay for free at a hotel, I know what my
dad's like, and no one cares about who I am here. Could life get
any better?'
She was halfway up the school walkway when
she heard someone shout, "Look out!"
On instinct from all
her years of fighting demons, Serena sidestepped, dropping her
backpack, and spun around just in time to avoid a speeding baseball.
The ball struck the wall and she sighed in relief as she heard the
loud thud. It might have broken a bone if it had hit her.
Picking
up the ball, she tossed it up once, testing to see if it had cracked.
"Whose ball is this?" she called, watching boys run toward
her.
A muscular guy with long blond hair waved his hand high
in the air, and she whipped it back at him, surprising him so much
that he almost didn't catch it. "You should watch where you throw
things," she suggested, smiling as she turned.
Many boys
stared after her, drooling as she entered the school building. A few
of the girls smacked their boyfriends and the rest stared after her
jealously.
"I wonder who that is," Videl whispered to
Gohan.
He shrugged. "Well, whoever she is, she has quick
reflexes."
Videl grinned, glad that her boyfriend wasn't
like the other guys. He didn't even know the meaning of the
word 'flirt'.
The clock soon reached 7:25 and everyone
stampeded inside to prepare for their classes.
Smiling
slightly, she and Gohan entered their first period class together,
Calculus AP. That was one of the few classes they had with each
other. The only other times they met in school were physical
education, lunch, and if they met each other during passing
period.
When they entered the room, they found that everyone
was whispering excitedly.
"Hey, what's going on?" Videl
asked a friend of hers curiously.
"Oh, didn't you hear?
There's a new professor and she's supposed to be really young,
too!"
Videl shrugged, sliding into the seat beside her
friend. "What's the big deal? And where's our old
professor?"
At that, Gohan looked up from his book. "Oh,
you mean Professor Tsui? He retired last week."
"Oh."
The
last morning bell rang at promptly 7:35 and everyone looked up
expectantly as the door clicked shut.
"Oh, she must be a new
student," Videl's friend whispered as the beautiful young woman
from before turned and walked to the front of the room.
Everyone
quieted down and looked at her curiously as she stood in front of the
desk, smiling calmly at their stares. She acted very strangely for a
new student.
She got everyone's attention when she began to
speak in a musical voice with a mysteriously serene and positive lilt
to it. "Contrary to belief, I am not a new student. My name
is Professor Tsukino, and I will be teaching you all. It's a
pleasure to meet you."
Everyone's mouths dropped and they
stared at her in disbelief. She was their professor? Unbelievable!
She couldn't possibly be any older then they were!
"Are
you really our new professor?" a male student with spiky
brown hair asked.
Professor Tsukino nodded calmly. "Yes, I
am your new calculus professor. And I can assure you that I am well
certified to do this. Now, the first thing we will do today is take
attendance. Then I can begin torturing you, as my job description
states."
Everyone groaned and let their heads drop as the
professor smiled and began to read off the list.
She suddenly
paused and looked up. "Son, Gohan?" she asked, her voice
trembling just slightly.
"Here," the scholar replied,
glancing at her strangely.
Videl looked up as well when she
heard the professor stop. Did she know Gohan?
"Are you all
right, Miss Tsukino?" Gohan asked her.
After a moment,
Professor Tsukino nodded and then a smile crossed her porcelain
features again. "Yes, I'm fine," she replied softly. Then she
looked down again and continued on, the peaceful smile remaining on
her face.
Videl and Gohan exchanged glances but said nothing.
There wasn't really much left to do but wait until after class to
talk about it. Gohan finished the calculus problems fairly easily and
then sat silently, lost in his thoughts until Videl asked for a
little help and when class was dismissed.
Videl and Gohan
talked as they did bench presses. It was strength training, a class
they had together during 4th period.
"Do you think she's a
bad guy?" Videl asked Gohan curiously as she lifted 125 pounds
without much effort.
Gohan shook his head after a moment, his
eyes thoughtful, meanwhile lifting 200 pounds without even breathing
hard. "No, I don't think so. I don't sense any bad vibes from
her. In fact, I don't sense anything strange about her at all.
Maybe she was surprised to have me first thing in the morning because
I'm the top student. She might've seen me at the tournament,
too."
"That could be right," Videl agreed. "I hope it
is."
"So do I," Gohan replied softly. "So do
I."
Serena's hands trembled as her eyes skimmed Gohan's
calculus assignment. There wasn't a single wrong answer in the
lot.
'I can't believe I just met my brother. The vibes
coming off him were so strong and pure! It was like having my own
vibes reflected at myself. I didn't realize we were so alike! I
still don't know how I'm going to handle everything. How do I get
to know my father and my brother? It'll be even harder because if I
try to get close to Gohan, everyone'll either think he's a
teacher's pet or that I have a crush on him! That'd be gross! Dad
is even a harder problem. I don't know if we'll ever meet again.
A conference would be good but why would I call a conference? Gohan's
a perfect student. Oh, what have I gotten myself into?'
With
a groan, Serena set down the paper and simply wrote 100 on the top.
That was the last paper so she could leave for the day. It was only
4:30 but almost all of the other teachers were gone already.
She
became so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice when a
man crept up behind her as she left the school building. She didn't
even remember locking her classroom door. It was mostly an automatic
thing that took no thought whatsoever.
Her eyes widened in
surprise when someone placed a hand on her shoulder.
"How
much for the night?" the bald-headed man asked.
"What?"
she asked, her brows furrowing in confusion. "How much what for the
night?"
The old man rolled his eyes. "How much money for
the night, babe?"
"What?" Serena shrieked,
slapping his hand away. "I am not a prostitute! Leave me
alone!"
"Oh, playing hard to get, are we?" he teased.
"How about ten thousand yen?"
"I said NO! Go away, you
creep!" Serena screamed in his face.
Just as he was about to
reach for her again, a fist hit him so hard he skidded about 10 feet
and then fell over, unconscious.
"Are you all right, honey?"
a kindly voice asked.
She turned toward her savior and smiled
gratefully at the older woman. "I am now. Thank you,
ma'am."
"What's a girl like you doing walking around
where there are no people? It's not safe. By the way, my name is
Chi-Chi," the woman added.
Serena smiled at the black-haired
woman with her hair tied back in a bun. She looked exactly like a
mother should. 'Wait a minute! Chi-Chi! That's the name of my
mother! This has got to be a coincidence!'
"It's
nice to meet you, Chi-Chi. My name's Serena, I was just leaving the
school. I'm a new professor."
"You're a
professor?" the woman asked in disbelief. "But you're so young!
You must be a genius!"
Serena looked down blushing. "Well,
not exactly. I just had a lot of free time on my hands."
"Well,
why don't you come over tomorrow night to meet my son? He does need
a tutor. You are qualified to teach children, right?"
Serena
nodded. "I can teach anyone, but I'm not sure I'd be a very
good teacher.
"Of course you would!" Chi-Chi exclaimed.
"If you can teach high school students, you can teach anyone!"
She
smiled, blushing again. "Thank you. I don't have anything to do
for the rest of the day, how about I come see the little boy with you
right now?"
Normally, she wouldn't have gone with the
woman without checking up on her background but the woman gave her a
sense of security that she hadn't felt in such a long time.
"That
would be wonderful!" Chi-Chi exclaimed, picking up her forgotten
groceries. She had dropped them as she went to hit the
man.
Purposely stepping on the man's hand as they walked
passed him, Chi-Chi smiled again at Serena. "That man deserved it.
He obviously had no morals."
The silvery golden haired girl
smiled back. "Thank you again, Chi-Chi. But where did you learn to
hit so hard?"
"Oh," a smile crossed the older woman's
lips again as she reminisced in old memories. "I was a fighter a
long time ago."
"Wow," Serena whispered. "That's
amazing!"
Chi-Chi nodded. "I wish our house were closer to
the city but my husband likes the country too much."
"Oh,
how inconsiderate of me!" Serena exclaimed, smacking her forehead
with the palm of her hand. "Chi-Chi, can I help you with your
groceries?"
The woman smiled. "Thank you. You are a very
kind young woman."
"Thank you." Serena blushed again as
she took one of the two paper bags filled to the top with groceries.
"How far away is your home?"
"Uhhhh..." At that,
Chi-Chi stopped. "Well, actually, it might take a few
hours."
Serena almost fell over. "Your house really is in
the countryside, isn't it?"
"Well, yes," she admitted
truthfully.
"Do you think we would get there quicker if we
jogged?" Serena suggested helpfully.
"Do you think you can
jog that far?" Chi-Chi asked in reply.
The silvery blonde
grinned and nodded. "Sure! I'm used to running a lot. I've
never run long distance before though."
"That's all
right, if you're used to running then I'm sure we can make it
there in no time."
After much running and then pausing to
catch their breaths, they finally reached the house an hour and a
half later.
"Whew!" Serena exclaimed as she waited for
Chi-Chi to open the door. "Now that was a workout!"
Chi-Chi
smiled at her affectionately and then beckoned her to enter. "I'm
surprised you could actually run with me! Most people would be left
behind the way we ran!"
Serena grinned back at her. "I've
always been told that I'm good at running," she replied. Her eyes
saddened as she thought about the person that had teased her about
that. 'I miss you, Raye.'
Chi-Chi, noticing the
sudden change in her new friend's mood, cheered her up by
announcing that she would cook them up a snack as a reward for
running so well.
Serena grinned. "I would help you,
but I don't know how to cook. I'm sure you wouldn't enjoy food
poisoning."
Chi-Chi laughed and then went into the kitchen,
telling her to make herself comfortable in the living room. Her
husband and both of her sons were out with their friends. Apparently,
her husband was at a place called Capsule Corps to spar with a friend
of his. Her oldest son was on a date and her youngest son was with
his father.
Serena smiled as a rich aroma filled her nostrils.
The smell was making her mouth water and her hands tapped out a
rhythm on her lap idly.
She stood up and spun around in
disbelief as a familiar baritone rang through the air. "Chi-Chi!
We're home!"
"Goku!" she whispered. 'I was right!
She is my mom! I've been lucky so many times this
week!'
The man looked up and his brows furrowed in
confusion. "Uh, hi, what are you doing here?"
"Uh...
I-I-I came with Chi-Chi!" she exclaimed. It really didn't matter
that she had answered the question a second later when the wall
collapsed inward.
Chi-Chi ran out of the kitchen at the loud
boom and blinked rapidly as plaster dust flew in her face. Serena,
who had been closest to the explosion, had dust thrown in her face,
blinding her and filling her lungs. Tears streaming down her face,
she began to cough uncontrollably and ran toward where the Sons
stood.
"Serena!" Chi-Chi exclaimed. "Are you all
right?"
Serena tried to nod but only coughed again. "What's
going on?" she managed to gasp, wiping her face on the sleeves of
her jacket.
Goku stepped in front of them protectively and
shouted out, "Who are you? Show yourself!"
A heinous laugh
filled the air and a shadow formed in the clearing dust. "I am
Malkaya. I serve my master, Chaos! I was sent here to relieve you of
your energy, and that's exactly what I'll do now!"
Serena
groaned as she was thrown back against a wall, a vine-like tentacle
strangling her. The same was happening to Chi-Chi. The tentacle
crackled with some type of electric energy and began to zap their
power.
Goten and Goku had managed to dodge the things and they
ran to help out Serena and Chi-Chi. The moment they touched the
tentacles though, more sprouted out exactly where they touched it and
began to drain their energy. Then more tentacles shot out from the
monster and wrapped around their ankles and their wrists as
well.
Goku tried to fight back and normally the monster would
be a pulp now but almost all of his energy was gone already.
'Damn!
This thing works fast!' Serena thought frantically, wrapping
her hands around the vines with a determined thought. 'By the
power of Mars!'
The monster screamed and recoiled from
her as the emblem of Mars lit up in red on the back of her hand and a
fireball appeared between her palms, singing the demon from the
inside.
Goku stopped struggling and stared in disbelief. He
was the only one still conscious besides Serena.
"You've
gotten yourself a death wish!" Serena growled angrily at the
shocked monster.
She threw out her right hand and shouted,
"Mars Power!"
The symbol of Mars burned on her hand again
and a fireball appeared in front of her palm. Lifting her hand up in
front of her agilely, she pulled it back, and Goku was surprised to
see a bow and arrow of fire appear before her. Aiming effortlessly,
she let the arrow fly into the heart of the monster. Goku lost
consciousness as she let go of the arrow.
"You may have
defeated me, but, in the end, Chaos will win!" the monster shrieked
as it alighted and then burned to a pile of ashes. Four different
balls of energy floated above its ashes, and Serena reached out to
them. The one burning the brightest flew into her chest and she
closed her eyes as a comforting warmth filled her being.
She
then took the one that she guessed belonged to Chi-Chi and eased it
into the woman's body, laying her out on the floor. She then did
the same to Goten and then Goku, in order of who seemed to be in
danger the most.
After she set Goten on the couch and brought
out blankets and pillows for Chi-Chi and Goku because they were too
heavy for her to lift, she surveyed the damage.
"Look what
I've done to their house," she whispered sadly. "And I haven't
even been here for two days. I bet they'll hate me forever now. Why
does everything always have to go wrong?" she choked on the last
few words and fell silent.
'My family will hate me
forever.'
She sat down against a piece of the wall that
was still standing with her knees pulled up to her chest and her head
resting on them, and she began to cry.
