Versus 3: Eclipse

--All That You Slight--

It would have been the test to end all tests if Bra hadn't become a master of that territory. In the past it was atrocious how little she knew about the subject, but now she was a bona fide genius in every category of study known to man. There was nothing she couldn't tackle. She could overcome all odds. Her power rating in every aspect of her life had sky-rocketed to unphathomable heights. Every domain of existence was now within her hands...

"So, Bra. What do you plan on doing about your would-be boyfriend?" Pan asked from what seemed to be a great distance.

Now, why did she have to bring that up? Bra was rolling around in her own success like a pig in mud, and along came the spider that was Pan with her poison bite.

"I'll deal with that in my own time," Bra said confidently. She honestly had no idea what to do about the situation with Goten. They were still 'just friends'. Sure, she should be happy that the man is even willing to be around her after what she'd done to him, but her life felt incomplete as things stood presently. Even with her new knowledge of history and the inevitability of improved grades, there seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel for her. There was only the never-ending tunnel of educational success and life-love loss.

"Your own time may be too late," Pan told her.

This girl thought she was so smart. She should just mind her own business. Pan didn't even HAVE a boyfriend, yet she felt the need to give Bra advice on relationships.

Bra just gave her a tired look.

"I really want to see you two together. I want to see my best friend happy and I want to see my uncle happy," Pan stated.

Bra looked around. "Shhhhhh! We can talk about this later. I don't want the entire student body to find out about this. We've worked really hard to keep this from everyone in the school," she whispered.

"Fine. We can talk after school. And we have a lot to talk about," Pan said.

--lunch time--

Bra was wandering through the hall with her eyes on her cd player. She was listening to Blue Oyster Cult's song 'Feel the Thunder'. The haunting feel of the music along with the nightmarish lyrics always sent a chill down her spine. Of course, the majority of BOC's lyrics were nightmarish in a way. They always told the kinds of stories that plagued your sleep. Not to mention their talent with the instruments were highly under-rated. Music magazines often overlooked this absolutely phenominal band and wrote them off as just another Black Sabbath. Their lack of respect for this band was enough to make anyone physically ill.

As Bra contemplated sending massive amounts of letters to these so called rock experts concerning that very matter, she heard someone call to her.

"Hi, Bra," Goten called. He walked up to her. "Do you ever eat lunch?"

Bra stopped and looked up at him. "Lunch...?" She'd said it like it was a foreign concept to her. "Of course, I eat lunch. When I have time, that is." She smiled at him.

Goten smiled back.

That smile always made her feel something that not even music could make her feel.

"Well, I was gonna pick up something to eat," Goten told her. "Wanna come with me?"

"Yeah," she answered almost too quickly. "Yeah, I'd like that."

They started back down the hall and out of the school. "I've got some really good news for you," Goten began. His smiled broadened.

Bra looked at him. She hoped that he had decided to be with her again. But as she'd learned from past experiences, she had to wait and see what this good bit of news was.

"I graded the tests from this morning. You got a 97," Goten said. "I was really impressed." He looked at her. "But it makes me wonder where I went wrong. Why was your new tutor able to help you when I couldn't?" Goten asked as they got into his capsule car.

Nick's new method of teaching had paid off. She couldn't believe she had been tricked into actually learning the stuff, but if it worked, she shouldn't complain.

"Well," Bra began. "I didn't want to tell anyone, but there's really no reason to hide it." She sighed. "Nick wrote songs about history and played them at his shows. Before I realized what was going on, Eroder had already taught me most of what I needed to know..." It was a little embarrassing for her, but she may as well have told him outright that she was tricked into learning it.

Goten started driving. "Really? So, he taught you through music. That was...smart." He cleared his throat. "So, what do you want to eat?"

What an interesting atmosphere. Bra watched Goten out of the corner of her eye the whole time. Then she shrugged. "I didn't really have anything in mind." The only thing that was really on her mind at the time was how she could get Goten back. And it was little moments like these that she should use to work on it. But how?

"Well, I was thinking pizza," Goten said. He grinned. "Yeah. Pepperoni and red peppers."

As Goten's stomach made a loud sound, Bra's made one too. She blushed. "Oh, boy. I guess I'm hungrier than I thought," she told him with a laugh.

"I guess we both are," Goten laughed as well.

They ordered some different types of pizzas, then headed back to his classroom.

Once they started eating, Bra decided to break the silence. "Well... I never realized how long lunch time was." She laughed nervously. Why was she so uncomfortable all of a sudden?

Goten nodded, his mouth stuffed with pizza.

When Bra looked at him, she couldn't help laughing out loud. "How in the world did you get sauce around your eyes? We just started eating." She reached over and wiped the sauce from the side of his face.

Goten just watched her and swallowed everything in his mouth.

There was a long silence.

Bra kept her hand on Goten's face and studied the way he was looking at her. She wasn't sure how to react. All she knew was that there was a shared feeling there. So it was up to her to do something about it.

She slowly placed her other hand on the other side of his face and looked into his eyes. She was determined to show him one way or another that she wanted their relationship to be something more.

Goten looked away. "Bra, we shouldn't." He put his hand around one of her wrists.

What? Who was piloting this ship anyway? She thought she was the one in control. Maybe she was going about this the wrong way. She had to be tactical. She'd learned a little something about war and its politics. There had to be a way to use it to get what she wanted in her life.

Bra smiled. "You should be more careful with your pizza." The confused look on Goten's face made her curious as to what he really wanted to happen. But she removed her hands from his face and hoped that she had made a good rebound from that last attempt. Her plan now was to withdraw from this battle and try again when they were in a more private setting. School had proven to be bad news no matter which way you sliced it...

And speaking of slices...

--after school--

Pan and Bra had gone to Goten's classroom in order to get their tests so that they could take them home to be signed. Once again, they were the last to arrive.

"Mmmmmm, smells like pizza in here," Pan said.

"Still?" Goten asked.

Pan looked at Goten and frowned. "I can't believe you had pizza without me. Some uncle you are. I was stuck eating cafeteria food. Bleeeeh!"

Bra laughed under her breath.

Goten looked at the ceiling. "I don't think you're here to give me a lecture. You're here for your test, right?" He held a folded test in each hand.

Pan took the one he held toward her and looked at it for a long time. She smiled.

"I'm very proud of you, Pan. You really improved," Goten told her.

"Wow. I got an 82. That's a B," Pan sang. She looked at Bra. "How'd you do this time?"

Bra took her test from Goten and looked at it. Sure, she already knew what her grade was, but seeing it written in pen made it believable. She looked at Pan. "I got a 97," she replied nonchalantly.

Pan looked surprised. "No way! This is great! Your mom'll HAVE to let you off punishment now."

Goten smiled at Bra. "And then we can get back to sparring."

Bra nodded to him.

Yeah. All was well that ended well in the educational spectrum. Bra had conquered the unconquerable domain that was history. Now she only had one more fall to climb.

--End All That You Slight--

--Hey there. That was another episode of Versus 3. Thanks for reading it. And let me know what you think.

--You people have been giving me all kinds of compliments. I truly thank you for that. I try to make it interesting and understandable. You seem to like a lot of it, but if you ever run across something you're not sure of or something you don't like, let me know. As always, thanks for the reviews. And I'll see you next time.