Disclaimer - Knock, Knock? I don't own it, damn it!
Note - HEY LISTEN! He he, uhh I added an extra scene to chapter 2 so if you wanna read, it's like, in the middle, where Gohan's walking to his first class, k? I added it in because it's true, that chappie is a tad slow going. I'm just tryin' to build up my favorite demi is all! Wheee heee! Sorry for any inconvenience.
Don't Marry Me
Chapter 2 - A Better Mouse Trap
'God, Mr. Hacteer's forehead looks like a bulbous snow globe...'
Videl had started getting the glazed look of an ADHD kid who'd been talked to longer than one minute...
...and it was not a very appealing sight.
The intelligent in the throes of boredom is just about the most stomach turning thing in the world, because you know they could be out inventing cures for cancer or building a better mouse trap. At least, that was what the raven haired girl believed.
Glancing sideways, Videl noticed Erasa's attention had been caught up by something occurring at the classroom door. It had to be something phenomenal, like a nuclear missile explosion, to make the ditsy girl pause and look for longer than thirty seconds... Not that she had anything mean to say about her friend's cogitating ability, or, lack thereof... Oh, wait, that had been mean hadn't it? Choking off a snort, she looked in the direction the blonde was, and bit her lip with interest.
It appeared they had fresh meat at Orange Star.
Even though she generally liked to think of herself as a caring individual, Videl also had a 'pick on people just a little, teensy bit,' naughty streak that couldn't be denied. Hey, what could she say? A newbie always gets narked on a little, and she never purposely hurt anyone... Well, except for that one time when some girl thought she might grind the famous, "Satan's" face into the dirt; that fucking bitch went down faster than a fish eating Auntie.
Smirking a little, she turned her head to follow the new student's progress across the front of the room. A couple of the noisier people had decided to pipe down, but there was still too much gabbing and muttering to hear any of the conversation occurring between Mr. Hacteer and the dark haired kid. It didn't matter though; the teach always introduced someone new. It was kind of like a right of passage.
For the next few minutes she tuned out what was going on down and at the front of the room, opting instead to doodle some cartoons of the "Gold Fighter." Humming lightly, her sharp ears caught the newbie's nervously declared name at least.
Son Gohan.
Swirling the sound of it around in her head and deciding she liked it, Videl went back to drawing funny pictures of little super dudes beating up ugly bad guys.
That is, until she felt Erasa's delicate fingers poking her shoulder.
Not noticing the sudden deathly silence of the other kids, she turned her head irritably, and harshly ground out,
"What is it, Erasa?"
The bubble headed blonde made a slight pointing gesture to the left of them. Confused by her actions and the pinkening of her cheeks, the pretty teen swung swiftly to the side and got an eyeful of silver belt buckle and OSH uniform pants. She followed the pants up to a shirt, and then to a face that was smiling embarrassedly.
"Uh, Hi, is this seat taken?"
Restraining the laughter that was itching to surface, she smirked and motioned him to sit. He smiled back and slid into the chair with a subtle efficiency that didn't get by her unnoticed. 'Oooooooo...Hotness...' Videl thought while shifting her crossed legs subtly.
The collective breath of the class was expelled over the episode between Orange Star's strongest and the newbie, prompting them to continue with their own private conversations. Mr. Hacteer was still trying to do the morning attendance.
Three faces didn't go back to their previous activities though, and continued to stare openly at Gohan; one filled with not a little malicious intent, another with obvious infatuation, and the last was cooly inscrutable. Fumbling a little with his notebooks, the demi teen slouched down a bit in his chair, already prepared to take a nap. It had been a long while since he was up this early to do something.
"Hey, new boy, do ya know who you're sitting next too?" A masculine voice barked from the row behind.
Rolling her eyes a bit, Videl swung the back of her hand against Sharpener's chest without looking; silently telling him to shut his mouth. It was at that moment, however, Erasa decided to add her high pitched squealing to the Q&A session.
"Yeah," she giggled a little, "That's Videl Satan! Don't you know? Her father's the one that saved us in the Cell games!"
The blue eyed girl grimaced a bit at what her friend said, but having promised her father that she would never speak anything about the games, shut off the words that were forming on her tongue. She glanced at the boy who was crouched low in his seat, and waited calmly for his reply.
Gohan fiddled with his pencil a little, (Heh, fiddle, pencil) and then peered to the right through slitted eyelids upon hearing the two tow heads addressing him. He smiled, a sweet one with an almost imperceptible edge of steel to it, and said,
"Really? Your Dad, huh? I heard it was someone else, some Gold Fighter or something. But, then again, you can never really believe rumors and tabloids."
Videl couldn't help it; she laughed joyfully at the subtle sarcasm issuing from the new kids mouth. Any other person, with no attunement for tonality, would have been unable to pick it up; his fairly polite and vacant expression would've prevented it.
Ha, If he kept this up, she was sure to have a very good friend by the end of the month. It was ridiculously refreshing to hear someone speak without stuttering at her beauty or begging for an autograph.
When blue eyes had started laughing, all Gohan could do was stare and try to keep his stomach from doing forty million flip-flops. 'Jeeze, she's damn pretty...' he had thought while fingering his notebook. There was something about girls that laughed alot...Well, in general he didn't like them laughing at him at all, but, shit, he didn't even know how to describe the alien feeling. Yet again, another backlash for living like a hermit since the day he was born.
"So, 'uhhh, Gohan' was it? That was funny, and you're right; tabloids and rumors are a bunch of big fuckin' bullshit...Especially, when they're about me."
Eye's flashing with humor, Videl inquired softly,
"Where do you live exactly? I mean it has to be someplace miraculous, to inspire perfect scores on the En-Exams."
The dark eyed boy blushed a little at mention of the Orange Star tests; confidentially, they had been a piece of cake, and since there had been over an hour of time left when he was done, he had decided to take a nap to pass it. Recalling only vaguely afterwards, a large amount of humiliation when someone poked him awake because of his snoring.
Looking straight at the pretty girl, Gohan answered,
"I live in the mountains, about 200 miles south of here. It's a killer getting to school in the morning though."
"...Wait a minute! How in the hell do you make it in time! You got some kind of jet, or do you just get up at three a.m!"
Videl tapped her fingers irritably on the faux-wood desk, completely pissed off that the new kid was trying to yank her chain already. People usually waited until they knew what impressed her, and, even then, there wasn't much that did.
Sharpener laughed out loud, however, and said,
"A duh, wow, you must really love learning and shit! Damn girl, why you even talkin' to this fruit? You could be talkin' to me."
To tell the truth, Sharpener was majorly pissed off that some newbie managed to do something he hadn't been able to since grade school. Sit right next to Videl Satan, instead of behind, and manage a pretty civil conversation.
That put Son Gohan first on his list of people to fuck up.
"Will you SHUT UP, Sharpener! Dammit, do you only speak to hear yourself? Really, let the air out of your fucking fat head."
Blushing now, the blonde hunched his shoulders and decided to look at Erasa. At least her face and tone were always welcoming.
"Oh, Vidi," the ditzy girl piped up, "That really wasn't called for."
She giggled and then spoke to the other tow head,
"Don't worry Sharpie, I still think you're a sweetie!"
Videl rolled her eyes, then turned her attention away from Gohan and back onto her girlfriend,
"Erasa, Sharpie is a kind of permanent marker, which I'm pretty sure you've been sniffing, and not his name. Besides, he knows I don't mean it, I just don't like being interrupted."
The blonde was quiet for a moment, trying to process if what was just said to her was insulting or not. After a few minutes she squeaked up, slightly offended,
"Oh, I know what a Sharpie is! Mother write's my name on my things with them all the time!"
Videl and Gohan sweat dropped anime style at such blatant lack of intelligence. Sharpener was just confused and asked the two girls stupidly,
"Wait, you mean it's bad to sniff markers?"
Videl covered her mouth, trying to smother the bubbling laughter, and wondered for the hundredth time why she was friends with them. Looking back towards the new kid, she recalled the reason.
It was because they weren't demanding people.
Something that she could safely say wasn't very common in most aspects of her life.
"Anyway-"
But the pretty teen was cut off before finishing the rest of her sentence, as Mr. Hacteer had finally managed to get everyone settled for class. It wouldn't occur to her until much later, that somehow, without even trying, Gohan had barely said anything about himself.
It was about thirty minutes into class when she started feeling the fatal stages of boredom.
Sighing, she turned her head to look at Erasa, who was writing something on the open page of a note book. And they weren't class notes.
'Isn't Gohan a total HOTTIE?'
Videl glanced nervously to her left and spotted the foxx in question reading dutifully from his text book. She pinkened a little and had to admit it, he did have a nice body from what she could see, and the way that he moved suggested his knowledge in using it. Clicking her pen open she wrote an answer in the blonde's fluorescent pink binder,
'Even though I DON'T want to admit it, YES! He's the best looking piece of ass I have seen around these parts in a long while'
Giggling a little at first when she read the reply, Erasa proceeded to quickly smother it upon seeing the other girl's stern glare. She then quickly jotted down something else,
'I hope he has Gym with us! I can just imagine him in shorts and a tank top - Total drool fest'
Smirking, Videl thought the same thing to herself. She shifted a little and brought her attention back to things at hand; once and while indulging in little bouts of random fancy.
The next few periods of the school day had been boring as dirt, and the pretty teen was almost brain dead by the time she reached Gym class.
"Oh Vidi, I'm so glad we have P.E together! I couldn't stand being all alone! All these girls play, like, soccer and stuff! They might hit me with balls or something."
Sighing heavily, Videl tightened the draw strings on her exercise shorts and took a quick look around the gym. Their class appeared to be rather large, and included Sharpener and Gohan among a few others she knew.
"Erasa, no one is going to hit you with a ball as long as I'm around, O.K? There's no one stupid enough."
The blonde smiled vapidly and replied,
"Oh yeah...! That's true!...Heeeeyyy, you see Gohan? I was sooo right, he's hot shit in a tank top! Mmmmmm, I'm drooling Vidi...You think he'd go out with me?"
She did a double take at Erasa's speedy words.
"Uhh, I thought you liked Sharpener?"
"Oh, well, I suppose I still do. But hey, maybe I can make him jealous by dating Gohan! Oooohhh, I bet I could find out if he has the hotts for you too! Did you see his face in Hacteer's class when you laughed? I thought he was gonna jump you! Hahahahahahaahahha!"
The pretty teen turned cherry pop red and could barely sputter out a good defense,
"NO! W-what the fuckin' hell, b-but Erasa, I, I, d-don't even know the dude! Geeze, quit acting dumb, and NO, I don't think you can make Sharpener jealous that way! Errrrrrr..."
Giggling like a loon, the ditzy blonde bounced over to the volleyball net all the girls would be playing at. Still angry and still red, the dark haired girl stomped over a moment later to take a position closest Erasa's. It was another few minutes until everyone heard the screeching Phys Ed teacher,
"ALL RIGHT VERMIN! TAKE YOUR POSITIONS AT THE NETS AND I DON'T GIVE A CRAP WHAT TEAM YOU WANT TO BE ON! JUST GET TO IT QUICK OR YOU'LL ALL BE RUNNING LAPS NEXT TIME!"
Hurrying quickly to meet Ms. Connell's demands, the class took their places without complaint.
After all, the bitchy cow was an ex-marine...Or at least that was what the rumors said.
Gohan situated himself in the first row at a net, where he could have more fun smacking the ball. A stockily built guy with green hair stood to his left, and a red headed kid with pockmarks stood to his right; Sharpener was on the opposing team, his desire being to show up the new kid.
"Hey Gohan, you know how to play volleyball? Connell says we're not supposed to spike it, but everyone does anyway..."
Raising an eyebrow, the demi-saiyajin said nothing in response, only urging the blonde to continue.
"Let's make this interesting, huh? Whoever gets the first spike offa the other, gets...how about 100 zeni? Sound nice? I'm sure a country bumpkin like you could use it! Ha ha!"
Gohan smirked and nodded his head in agreement. What was it about rich fucks that made them think they were better than everyone else?
"ALL RIGHT! TWO GAMES, ONE FIVE MINUTE BREATHER BETWEEN! YOU GOT IT!"
The class gave a half hearted "yeah" and then turned back to their opponents.
"O.K, START IT UP!"
And for the next twenty minutes the only thing that could be heard were grunts, pounding feet and smacking hands against rubber-plastic.
Gohan was playing well, (he had to dull down his power to practically nothing, of course) and hadn't let the ball hit the ground once in his area. The red headed kid, unfortunately, sucked at the game, so he had to compensate for him. That made it at least a bit more interesting.
For her own part, Videl was playing with usual anger and vigor, never letting the other team score even if she had to dive bomb for the ball. Huffing and sweating, she glanced to her right and spotted the newbie; her mouth hanging wide open when she saw he hadn't even started to breathe heavy yet. 'Geeze, guess I was right 'bout him knowing how to use his body! He most definitely has to be a martial artist or something...' she thought while punching the ball back over the net.
During the next ten minutes, she had caught herself sneaking peeks at Gohan more than a couple times. And more than a couple times started to feel drool pooling in her mouth over the lithe movements of his body. The problem with that, unfortunately, was her lack of attention messed up the girl's game. So after the sixth missed ball, Connell, who was notorious for her favoritism to anyone other than Videl, began to scream,
"SATAN! QUIT GIVING SON THE ONCE OVER AND PAY ATTENTION TO THE GAME! YOU CAN CHECK HIM OUT ON YOUR OWN TIME, GIRL!"
Every single person in the gymnasium froze, shooting a look back and forth between the two previously named individuals. The more nefarious students, starting to point and whisper viscously; somehow, even though it had been years since grade school, that old chant 'whoever and whoever sittin' in a tree,-' was making it's miraculous come back.
Videl had never felt more humiliated then at that moment in time.
She was ready to go rip shit on Ms. Connell.
Red faced and puffing out breathes like crazy, she backed up slowly, looking at the door as if it was her Nirvana and the Gym was the depths of Hell. Erasa tried to ease up slowly, wanting to calm her down a bit, but found that Videl most assuredly did not want to be calmed. Whispering quietly, the blonde said,
"Hey, Vidi, it's okay, everyone knows that Connell's a mega bitch! No one's going to think anything 'bout this tomorows..."
Not trusting herself to speak for a moment, the pretty teen, after a few minutes, managed to calmly get out a reply,
"...You know what Erasa? I think I'm gonna go for a little walk. Tell that fuckin' LOUD MOUTH SKANK that I'm running laps instead!"
Giving a sharp glare to the rest of the class she yelled,
"And IT'S NOT TRUE!"
So, without another word, she turned, stomped smartly out the doors, and jogged over to the track field. Knowing full well that her little remark was going to land her in detention later.
After the champ's kid had left the building, a buzz of noisy gossip erupted, temporarily pausing the volley games.
"Hey, who the heck is Son!"
"I never heard of him, he new?"
"Shit, I been trying to get her since tenth grade!"
"Videl ain't nothin' special!"
"Yeah, just cause she got money and shit..."
Erasa, angry about the treatment of her friend, screamed at the Phys Ed teacher prompting the shocked woman into quick action.
"SHUT UP! ENOUGH TALKING, IT'S TIME TO GET YOUR HEART RATE UP! GET BACK TO THE DAMN GAME!"
Shrilly blowing her whistle, Connell jotted down Satan's name for later punishment.
Gohan hadn't moved an inch from his spot since he heard the teacher's yelling; hand hanging mid swing on it's way to serving the ball. Blushing himself, he didn't even have enough courage to turn and look at what happened to Videl after the 'loud mouth skank' comment. Slowly reacquainting himself with movement after a few moments, he glanced at Sharpener upon hearing him loudly talk,
"Ha! Connell's blind, Vidi was most definitely looking at me, not some dumb ass like Son, the fuckin' stupid one! Nya, nya! Guess, guess where he's from? Godamn redneck-ville! Uh, I like mah sister a 'cause she be the only purty thing around, uh, here. A duh!"
The couple daft cronies surrounding Sharpener laughed loudly at the moronic joke. It seemed their brain capacity was limited to only one or two syllable words. Quite annoyed now, Gohan smirked, tossed the ball high in the air, and spiked it straight at the brain-dead blonde's face.
And to think, he had really considered letting the other boy win their bet, so it wouldn't look funny that a 'country bumpkin' had beaten the crap out of a rich, city boy.
His father would've been proud.
Hell, Vegeta probably get a kick out of it himself.
The end of class saw the demi teen with 100 zeni in his pocket and a pretty wide smile on his face. It had been amusing watching the different colors Sharpener's face turned when he handed over the cash; some color, of course, had been major bruising from the volley ball, but that hadn't detracted from his enjoyment one bit. The other people in class had been awe stricken at the newbie's show of skill in handling a volleyball and it had been nice getting a couple high fives.
Sighing a little though, he recalled not seeing Videl come back from running laps, as he had found out she had done, afterwards from Erasa.
It was probably an accident though...
She was probably looking at something else; like the game maybe...
After a while Gohan seemed convinced that this was the reason, and managed to finally dislodge the mental picture of laughing blue eyes from his brain. For a while at least.
Being last in the showers, he had to flip the lights off on his way out. This didn't cloak his senses though, in fact, it enhanced them quite a bit. So, when he caught sight of pale-ish colored hair and a body skulking around, it wasn't the least bit surprising.
The smell also gave away the loser's identity too.
It was Sharpener.
Sighing, and ready to return home after such a long day, Gohan tapped him gently on the shoulder so as not to scare him, and asked sharply,
"You wanna talk to me Sharpener?"
Jumping a little, the other boy whipped around and backed up toward the locker room exit, where a little sunlight could be seen filtering through.
"Uhh, yeah! Umm, outside RIGHT NOW Son!"
Scratching the back of his head in annoyance, he followed the blonde outside into the cool air. Autumn had always been his favorite season; everything would change color and die, and the heat wasn't so bad. Sort of like how in the Summer it would be blistering, but as soon as the moon came up and the shadows came out, it was cool and very quiet. Anywhere it was fall reminded him of being at home with his dad.
Blowing out a soothing breath, the demi-Saiyajin stopped and waited for Sharpener to say his piece.
"I just want you to know, you fuckin' hick bastard, that I don't give a damn what you do, just as long as you stay the hell away from Vidi! You got that!"
Pushing a pair of sunglasses onto his face, very obviously trying to cover up a black eye, the oafish tow head frowned. Gohan raised his eyebrow and replied,
"...Why is it any of your business if I want to talk to Videl or not? Jeeze, I think she made it clear a couple of times that she didn't care for you-"
Pausing the rest of his sentence, he dodged to the side as Sharpener came at him with a fist. It was funny how his senses bordered on pre-cognition when it came to very, slow people.
"-or are you really that dense, you don't realize it?"
Smiling calmly, he decided the blonde's shades would look better on him. So, without further preamble, he socked Sharpener lightly in the stomach, forcing the breath out of him and the glasses off of him. Still smiling, although now it looked more like a smirk, Gohan caught the flying Ray-Bans deftly between his thumb and index finger.
"Seeya later Sharpie."
The moron fell over with a loud plop; definitely out of commission for the next hour. Chuckling a little, the demi teen clutched his bag tightly over his left shoulder and slid the shades on over his eyes. Then, he ran off to find a good hiding place for take off.
Orange Star was quite an interesting place.
Out On The Track Field
Videl couldn't believe Connell, the bitch, had given her a month's worth of detention.
Perched on the South bleacher's railing, she studied the azure sky for a long while; wondering vaguely if rain was in the forecast. It was strange, but she'd always been partial to Fall rain. Something about the icy drops hitting heated cement and equally heated bodies, just rubbed her the right way. Like a mother's soothing hands scratching the back of a child's head.
Sighing at the thought, the pretty teen slid down off the metal bar and grabbed her textbook from a near by bench. Usually, she would've left the offending object in her locker or with Erasa, but the blonde had a doctor's appointment, and Videl had never set foot inside a school building after hours. It was just a matter of principle.
Making her way onto firm ground, she started a bit at the sight of Gohan dashing out from behind the North bleachers. Instinct kicking in, Videl immediately ducked down so as not to be spotted. 'What the hell is he doing...? Well, maybe this is my chance to find out if he actually does take a jet to school.' She snorted a little at that thought.
The pretty teen continued to watch, while tucking a loose strand of hair back into her pigtail, as the new kid made his way off of the grounds. Being a naturally curious and persistent person, she couldn't help but to follow quickly after his retreating form.
Orange Star was located on one of the main streets heading toward the busy center of West City; so when Gohan popped out onto the sidewalk, he was hoping to sneak into an out-of-the-way back alley before Videl could spot him.
Yes, he knew the cute girl was tailing him.
Impossible to overlook, the energy that surrounded her was like a bluish tickling of the senses, calming and disorienting at the same time. The demi-saiyajin had never felt anything quite like it before. Ha, maybe that was the reason he hadn't been able to concentrate in class that day.
Speedily threading his way through mass numbers of people, he wished desperately for the empty, quiet space of home. After being jostled a couple times by two rude businessmen and a hyper little girl, Gohan seriously considered the possibility of just going Super right then and blasting off into the air. It would be funny as Hell seeing everyone's shocked eyes and slack jaws if they saw that.
Brightening suddenly, he spotting a likely looking take-off point between two close sitting buildings. He dashed forward into the alley and jogged down toward a green dumpster sitting against a fence at the end. A dead end at that.
Judging the possibility of being spotted to be almost non-existent, he levitated for a second, and then shot off into the sky, heading for home on Mt. Paozu.
"Heh heh, just weren't fast enough for me."
It was strange, but ever since he had met Videl, there had been a vague feeling of recognition...
Oh well, maybe it was just some bad sushi he ate.
On The Ground
Videl grumpily pushed a drunk looking man out of her way, trying like crazy to catch Gohan and not scream like a banshee at everyone while doing it.
"Damnit," she muttered quietly, "Where the hell did he go?"
Putting great effort into squeezing by a rather hefty woman, she spotted the tail end of an orange pair of pants making it's way into an alley. She sighed a little in relief and pursued aforementioned clothing with startling quickness.
Not pausing to look if her quarry was actually in between the buildings or not, she called out triumphantly while turning the corner,
"Ha, ha, guess who caught-"
The pretty teen opened her eyes and peered into the shadows,
"-you..."
Sagging a little in annoyance, she growled a bit and shifted the textbook in her right arm to the left one.
Really, what was it about boys that made them so antsy in their pantsies?
Well, that wasn't exactly her problem...
To be completely truthful, Videl was just pissed that the new kid had somehow slipped off. Cracking her knuckles distractedly, she turned around to make the usual walk home. With all the curious thoughts flinging around in her head, however, it was highly doubtful the amble would be an enjoyable one. 'I'm going to find out about you Son, count on that...'
A Week Later...
"Class," Mr. Hacteer called out brusquely over the din of talking students, "I want to make an announcement that in a few weeks time, we have been so kindly invited to visit Capsule Corp.! As most of you should know, an opportunity such as this does not come along often, so, I am asking in advance that everyone be on their best behavior, for you represent this school at all times, on and off the property. While leaving this period today, please make sure to take home a permission slip for signing. Now, open your books to page 123 where we will be taking a look at some history of the European language..."
Videl looked on boredly as the teacher started drawing horrible versions of land masses with a dry-erase marker. Looking to her right she saw Erasa and Sharpener talking animatedly with each other about the upcoming field trip. Smiling a little herself, the pretty teen had to admit some excitement at visiting one of the biggest conglomerate corporations ever created. Hell, every one knew that C.C had made West City what it was, without it, they'd be little more than a hic village town.
"Hey, Vidi, isn't this awesome? I so wanna see if they'll give out free stuff! I could sure use another capsule for my red Porsche"
Erasa giggled insanely at the thought of her new car and tugged her tube top down a little flirtatiously. It was quite obvious she was trying to keep Sharpener's attention on herself and no one else.
"Yeah, I'd have to say this is real lucky. I wonder how the school managed to finagle a visit to the busiest and most important company around?"
Shrugging their shoulders, the two tow heads sitting close to her went back to chattering about shallow things.
Money.
Clothes.
Cars.
And how God-damned good looking they were.
Sometimes Videl wished with the desperation of a dying man, that she had a few friends with some brain matter, other than older people or cops.
"Achoo!"
Turning sharply to the right, she spotted Gohan hastily whipping his nose with a sleeve. Raising an eyebrow she wondered vaguely why he was late to class.
But more than that, she was irritated at how he managed to slide into his seat without her noticing.
Biting her lip a little, and then smiling (surprisingly more gentle then planned) she said,
"Don't blow your brains out there, Gohan. You're gonna need those to survive."
The dark haired girl laughed a little at the face he made.
"Not feeling to well today?"
The demi teen blinked a couple times after being addressed by Videl. Why on earth was she being so nice? The past five days she had either bullied, or teased him relentlessly...Even though sometimes it seemed like a ploy to get him talking.
...Guess he hadn't pegged her completely right...
It was just that bluish aura of hers! It messed with his senses and made him feel a little funny in the stomach. Like he was either really hungry or had to throw up...or maybe it was her smile...Gah!..Something.
"No, I'm alright," he answered quietly, "Probably just someone talking 'bout me. Heh, more than likely my mother."
"Really? Tell me about it?"
He couldn't help it; she had such an, well, overwhelming countenance, it made him want to spill his guts on everything...Which, was one of the reasons he tried to avoid saying anything about his home and mode of transport to school everyday. Reddening just a little, the demi teen flipped open his text book to the correct page and began to take some notes; even though he knew everything there was to know on European History.
Without looking up, he answered her question,
"Uh, you know, just regular parent stuff..."
Videl grunted and then tried, once more, to engage the new kid in some semblance of conversation.
"You know... You never did tell me how you get to school in the morning."
Coughing just a bit, Gohan was about to put her off again, when,
"Vidi, would ya stop tryin' to talk to him? He's, you know, not that interesting and..."
Sharpener trailed off when he saw the dark haired boy sitting below turn his head up and glare; a small reminder about what had occurred Monday afternoon. Videl didn't notice the exchange, however, because she was looking disinterestedly at the blonde, waiting for anything further he had to say.
Gripping his stomach a little tenderly, Sharpener muttered,
"Nothin' Vid, umm, just wondering if you and Erasa still wanna go for some food this afternoon."
The pretty teen glanced at her girlfriend and watched as she nodded her head happily in reply.
"Yeah, that sounds cool Sharp," glancing back to the left, her smile widened even further, "Why don't we invite Gohan too? I'm sure he'd like some awesome West City food."
Stilling immediately, the demi teen looked up in confusion and waited quietly for an explanation,
"How about it Son? You wanna have somethin' to eat with us? Come on," She cupped her chin in a small hand and stared unblinkingly at him, "I promise it'll be fun. Even Sharpener will shut his big mouth! Well, unless you already got plans with a girlfriend or somethin'..."
Erasa started giggling brokenly at the new kid's extremely red face. Even though the girl was a few eggs short of a dozen, she knew when her friend was blatantly flirting with someone...
And it usually worked in reducing target male to a sorry pile of mush.
"Uhhhh, umm I, ah, huh?"
Videl had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing at his stuttering words. Now, it was time for the coup de grace... Reaching forward with her unoccupied hand, she pushed a wisp of dark hair out of his eyes, letting her fingertips run a little on his skull. She felt her insides squeeze just a little, when he let an almost unnoticeable tremor rack his frame.
"I said," She scooted a little closer, knocking her knees against his, "Do you wanna get somethin' to eat with us today?"
Sharpener scowled a little at the display, but had sort of resigned himself to the fact, a long time ago, that his interest was one sided . He would deal with Videl's rejection the way he always had since puberty; get piss ass drunk, cry for a while, and then crash something shiny and new.
Hey, he could afford it.
He was rich.
Confused, and getting more embarrassed by the moment, Gohan had to calm the unsettled feeling inside him as the dark haired girl tangled one of her long legs around his. He looked into her really big baby blues and swallowed thickly; desperately needing some space or she was going to look down and notice a very big problem.
...It was weird too...
There was a kind of...sweetness, there, in her eyes...
Of course, that was beneath the thick layers of laughter, bravado and challenge.
...And she just had to smell nice too...Like peppermint and something else he couldn't quite name.
Or maybe that 'something' was just her.
"Yeah, yeah, sure, sure whatever, please just-"
"Mr. Son, Ms. Satan, do I have to send you both to the office for talking while I am? Please do the work that I have assigned in preparation for the field trip. It will be graded tomorrow in class, and I'm sure neither of you would like a bad mark."
Mr. Hacteer went back to explaining something to a couple confused students, and the rest of the crowd turned their heads away when Videl started glaring. Hey, they heard what happened in Monday's gym class, and quite a few people had gotten 'the threat' from the hero's daughter and her friends.
You get 'the threat' and you shut your mouth..
Smiling brightly, with just a hint of nerves twitching her lips, the pretty teen scooted away from Gohan and tried to still the suddenly rapid tattoo of her heart beat.
She really hadn't been expecting that.
It had started out funny just embarrassing him a little, then, well, he started looking at her...Really, looking at her like, he could see right through the flirty act...
And it was intimidating...
And it was soothing at the same time...
Trying to be as subtle as possible, since Mr. newbie and her two friends got scared into doing their work, she started to fan herself softly with a blue folder. It had gotten quite warm all of a sudden, even though the room must've been a cool sixty-five degrees.
Videl started a bit at the brushing of paper near her right arm, but in turning, she found it to be nothing more than a note Erasa slipped onto the desk.
'You okay?'
Smiling a little to reassure the caring blonde, she penciled in an answer,
'I'm FINE silly! I think it's just that burger I had for breakfast catching up to me.'
Strange how her girl friend was sometimes so intuitive about certain things, and then so brain-dead about others.
'Okay!'
Glancing discreetly past Videl's head, Erasa then jotted down something else,
'Wow, I hope you didn't give poor Gohan a boner! I really don't think the guy's used to, you know, flirting'
Rolling her eyes, the other girl answered,
'DUH! I could've told you that! Why do you think I started doing the whole bat-my-eyelashes, touch-his-hair routine? DAMNIT I been trying for a week to get him to do something with us! I made him agree to come ok, AND I made him agree fast!'
'Vidi, your SO bad'
She glanced at her friend and made a dismissive gesture. So what? If flashing a cute smile (as she had learned to do since the paparazzi started flashing bulbs her way) got something quicker and with less fuss, why not use it whenever? No one got bent out of shape over it.
Well, maybe this time she got a little bent out of shape over it...
He had nice looking, broad hands...bet they'd feel real good on her skin too...
WHERE THE HELL HAD THAT COME FROM!
Not feeling to good all of a sudden, Videl stuck her hand up straight into the air and asked to be excused to the bathroom. Upon being given permission, she pushed her textbook into Erasa's arms and walked swiftly from class.
Yeah, but she wasn't going to take a piss.
Reaching down, she clicked on her talkie and tapped into the cop frequency. Her true destination at that moment was the P.D., to see if Dale had any legwork that needed doing. The running around would distract her from analyzing some sudden feelings...
Ugh, fucking attraction...
Back In The Classroom
Poor Gohan...
He was just plain confused by what had happened.
His mother had dished out a few choice words about 'city girls' since school started at Orange Star...Really though, he thought she was just giving her usual over the top warnings and shit, but now?...Maybe she was a little right about their aptitude for, well, forwardness.
Sighing, and closing his eyes to the classroom's florescent lights, the demi teen reflected a bit on something big that happened two days previous.
Flashback
It really hadn't been his fault.
There were just so many people that needed saving from one thing or another, and he couldn't leave them all to rot and die! Turning Super, reappearing as the Gold Fighter, had been the only way Gohan could think of to cover his identity. How the heck was he supposed to know that some bystanders had cameras, and a reporter crew had been near by broadcasting about a new drug rehabilitation clinic? God damnit, the situation had been a freaking bus full of parpeligic children who were unable to escape crashing to their deaths!
How would he have been able to justify doing absolutely nothing?
...How could he have justified it to his father...
Well, that didn't matter so much as putting it in the right light to his mother, who at present, was the real issue. Frankly, Gohan was dead petrified she'd forbid him from ever turning Super, making exceptions only for times when the world was endangered.
Unhappily, he had entered his home with those thoughts weighing at his mind. There had also been another matter which was bugging him too.
Videl.
She had been nosy as hell, teased him until he turned red, and dogged him like crazy about how he had jumped so high while playing baseball in Gym class that day. Which only happened because he had been, eh, distracted, when she bent over near by to tie her shoe. Oh, God, tight ass she had...
...But!
...She had also invited him out with her friends a couple times, and smiled real nice while giving directions, when he got confused about the quickest way to go for his next class...
If the demi teen didn't know any better, he would've put his money on her being slightly bi-polar.
"HEY! GOHAN! How was school! Was it fun! Mom wants to talk to you. Guess what? I SAW YOU ON THE T.V! Ohhhhh, Trunks was soooo jealous! You were on there saving people, and Trunks' family is only on when they do businessy stuff! Gosh it looked so cool Gohan! I can't WAIT 'till I can go to school!"
A little confused at his brother's rushed speech, he was at least able to gather their mom knew about his little, uh, 'hero detour,' in West City. The first couple times during the week he had managed to escape without being photographed, or at least publicized, but it seemed his luck just ran out and now his butt was on the five o'clock news.
He had been hoping that the reporter would give him one more day to figure out a plan.
Guess not.
Hanging his book bag neatly on the back of a kitchen chair, and loosening a button or two on his shirt, Gohan rubbed the back of Goten's head while passing slowly into the hall way. Stealing himself just a little, he shuffled quietly into the living room where Mrs. Chi Chi Son was busily dusting and rearranging knic-nacs; an obvious indicator of her annoyance or extra energy. And another indicator that someone was going to get a stern talking too.
"Hey mom...Uh, how was your day? Umm, 'Ten said you wanted to see me for something..."
Her back stiffened at his comment. Any other day he would have laughed, because it was so easy sneaking up behind, and scaring the daylights out of his mother. But she was angry and not in the mood for playing, so he kept his mouth shut.
"My day was just fine Gohan."
The words were curt and bit into his own irritated mood like a poison, effectively making the end of the day even worse. Pushing up his sleeves in an almost habitual manner, the demi teen leaned sullenly to the side of the doorway, and waited patiently for the whole spiel he knew would be forthcoming.
"You WERE NOT supposed to draw attention to ANY of your abilities, IN ANY way. You WERE NOT supposed to be acting like MR. HERO. YOU WERE, however, supposed to be going discreetly to and from school. NO side quests, NO stunts, NO RESCUE MISSIONS! I thought that when WE AGREED you could go to regular school for this last year, I had made it CRYSTAL CLEAR what the stipulations were! Was I UNCLEAR! Did I speak in foreign TONGUE! Do I only talk TO HEAR MYSELF!"
With each shouted word, Gohan flinched a little and watched as his mother emphasized her points by sharply pushing a broom across the floor. He was only a tad nervous she might use the instrument to clock him over the head, but even that 'tad' made him stand up straight and take a loosely defensive stance.
Hey, his natural talent didn't come solely from his father.
"Look, mom, I'm really sorry. I screwed up big time, but I couldn't help it! What did you expect me to do? Keep flying on past, while some poor kids die! NO. What do you think dad would-"
Chi-Chi cut him off with a stern finger and 'tch' sound. Pushing a couple strands of dark hair, that had only recently begun to turn gray, back behind her ear, she put her broom aside and motioned Gohan to sit down.
He did so, albeit, a little warily.
It was painfully common knowledge how his mother's temper would spark from nothing, and he didn't particularly feel like picking wood bristles from his hair incase she felt like reclaiming her weapon. He watched carefully as she sat down next to him and rubbed the bridge of her nose, like her sinuses hurt or something.
"Gohan...Yes, I know I can't stop you, but sometimes, I wish I could. I know that sounds terribly selfish of me, but..."
She turned her head to look at him straight in the face, and in an eerily common gesture, reached up to push some of his bangs out of the way.
"I just want you to be alive, and safe, and happy...I know what your father would've done, okay? And, damnit, I know you'd do the same thing...I can't win can I?"
The last was said in a partly desperate, and partly amused voice. Like an epiphany that was years in coming.
"...Sorry mom...If you wanna know the truth, I think you win a majority of the time anyway! That's gotta cheer you up some, right?"
Turning her head, Chi Chi began to shake with laughter over her son's statement. After a few minutes she had calmed enough to stand, stretch, and move toward the kitchen to start cooking dinner.
"Before the week's up, I expect you to visit Bulma while you're in the city. If you really want to play Superman, I want you to be completely incognito while you do it. I'm not having some second rate tabloid reporter, find out about who you are and then come here to dog your brother and me. Why do you think I chose the recluse life in the first place?...Damn, when I was a girl I had to deal with people all the time because I was a princess of sorts! Stupid Pan-Fry mountain...I was glad when that old pervert Roshi blew it to kingdom come. Bah!"
Gohan blew out a cleansing breath at his mother's exit and then collapsed onto the sofa.
He had escaped certain grounding...
But now it looked like he had to actually get into the business of saving people. The truth was he had only come across the trouble, he never actually pursued it. Well, it would be kind of cool to save people like Spider man or something...
Would he have to think up smart battle repartee too?
Man, all this over a bus load of handicapped kids.
Back In The Classroom...Again
Gohan rubbed his eyes groggily. He had been training harshly with Vegeta as of late, and it was becoming a problem to get up on time in the mornings. Frankly, he thought the older Saiyajin was getting just a tad obsessive; every time he went over there Bulma complained about this, that, and how they weren't doing it anymore. God, like he wanted to hear about that.
Yeah, that reminded him too.
He would have to stop by there again after, uh, early dinner? with Videl and her friends. There was still that promise to his mother he had to keep.
Note - I kinda liked how this chapter came out. And I know Sharpener seems like more of a dick than he should, but I really wanted to type up the last scene. I just think Gohan looks so good in sunglasses...- Besides, I think Gohan was being pretty damn accepting of some of the crap thrown at him, and it's like the first day of school.
And another hit for Neptunes Tsunami, you are bitchin'! Bang, Bang, for the clever little other cookies who got it!