Chapter 3: Welcome to Hell

The two teens flew together, in silence, all the way to Satan City. Noca wasn't used to this way of travelling, but he was getting the hang of it. Luckily, it wasn't too long of a journey, and he wasn't in the mood to show any weakness in front of Pan. He wasn't sure why, but it wasn't worth creating anymore issues. The time was closing in to 8:15am, so there was still plenty of time before school started but they were getting close to Satan City. The silence had been incredibly awkward and Noca was just waiting to land and meet with Bra because for some reason he thought that would be better. At least it would be something more than complete silence.

Noca did pick up on something along this journey, however. Pan wasn't just in a bad mood with him, she had something else on her mind. She seemed more distracted than ignorant. Noca felt weird asking her what was wrong, he didn't think they had any sort of rapport to be able to start a conversation about feelings. Noca flew closer to her so it was almost like they were side by side and he started to glance in her direction. Pan noticed this but hoped he was just showing he was still there. Pan had to admit she did almost forget he had been behind her the whole time, but now he was just floating in the corner of her eye and that began to frustrate her.

"What is it?" She asked, stopping and glaring towards the boy. Noca stopped and wobbled in the air a minute.

"It's nothing… I was just… ugh, lost in thought?" Noca said, a questioning tone as if he wasn't sure that was a good answer. It wasn't.

"What are you thinking about while staring at me?" Pan asked, clearly unsettled. Noca seemed to squirm a little bit, he felt put under a lot of pressure all of a sudden, but it was true that he had just been staring at her. He cleared his throat.

"I just… I thought… it seemed," Noca stumbled over his words and thoughts, not certain with what he should actually say. Pan's frustration only increased.

"Tell me!" She snapped.

"You just seem to be in a weird mood since we left for school, like something is bothering you…" Noca said, feeling like he should be moving away from Pan and leaving her alone now. Pan sighed.

"Not that it's any of your business but I have a hard time at school, ok?" Pan said, hoping that was a satisfying enough answer. She moved to carry on flying towards Satan City. "I just don't want anything else to make things harder." The implication being that Noca was that something else. She started to move on and Noca continued to follow. He decided it best not to press on anymore.

There was a new intrusive thought taking up refuge in Pan's head now. Noca seemed worried about her, he actually seemed concerned. She didn't like that. They weren't friends. Plus, how could he even tell that something was wrong?

The rest of the journey returned to the relative silence of the first part of their journey, only this time it was much more awkward than before. Luckily, they weren't too far from the city and they could land soon. Upon arrival the two teens met with the blue-haired Bra, who seemed just as energetic as before.

"Good morning, looking forward to your first day, Noca?" Bra asked, rushing up and grabbing Noca's arm, beaming up at him. Noca raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

"No," he said, bluntly. Pan scoffed silently, already walking ahead of them.

"Oh, don't be like that!" Bra said, pulling on Noca's arm as they walked along. "You'll be fine, it'll be fun!"

Pan scoffed again.

"No, it won't," She said, turning to glance back at Bra. The blue-haired girl pouted and looked to Noca again.

"It'll be just fine, ok, trust me," Bra said, trying her best to assure Noca. He was clearly nervous, even though he did his best to hide it. "When we get in, I'll introduce you to the Principal, we'll get your timetable and go straight to our first class. You'll be in all the same classes as us!"

Pan sighed, clearly not a fan of that fact.

"You two can do that, I'm going to my locker," Pan told them as they rounded the corner and began walking towards the school gate. "I'll see you in class."

"Ok, seeya in a bit. Come with me, Noca." Bra continued to drag Noca along as they all walked through the gate, Pan walked on ahead towards the building while Bra dragged Noca towards a man standing to the side, watching all the students walking in. Noca tried to look around and take in some of the faces of all the new people. It was a lot of people. Noca's nerves weren't dissipating anytime soon.

"Principal Dawson!" Bra said as she walked up to the man. He was average height for an adult, wearing a navy-blue suit with a white shirt and orange tie. He had short, combed back greying hair, and a thick moustache.

"Good morning, Bra," He replied. He was well spoken, and quite posh. He smiled at the girl and then his eyes fell upon the boy beside her. "Ah, this must be Noca. Nice to meet you." He held out a hand for Noca to shake. Noca did so.

"Yeah, he's my cousin," Bra said, clearly lying, but they needed some sort of story. The Principal held up a hand.

"Don't worry, your mother explained everything," He assured Bra, with a smile again. He seemed friendly enough, Noca noted. The principal started to sift through some of the files he was holding and soon pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to Noca. "This is your timetable. I trust Bra will be more than willing to help you settle into our fine school. We're happy to have you."

"Thank you," Noca said, nodding politely before being dragged away by Bra again.

"We even managed to get you a locker right by ours, isn't that cool?" Bra said, hoping that Noca would show even the slightest bit of enthusiasm that she seemed to have in abundance. Noca smiled, confused at what else he should say or do. He just started to nod. He had no time to be dwelling on this stuff, this was just a small obstacle he needed to get through so that he could have the training he craved.

Bra grabbed what she needed from her locker and told Noca to leave anything he didn't need for the first lesson in there and they'll come get things before the next lesson. Noca only had his own supplies at that point, he didn't have any textbooks because they would be supplied to him in the lessons, so he just decided to take his notebook and any supplies needed for the first class.

When they arrived at the class everyone was beginning to file in so Bra and Noca joined, quickly taking their seats beside Pan. The classroom was laid out like a small lecture hall, with enough space for about thirty to forty students. Noca registered that there were about thirty-two, including himself. Noca took the seat next to the aisle with Bra next to him and Pan on the other side of her. Pan continued to look unhappy.

"This is Pan's least favourite class, she hates our teacher," Bra informed Noca.

"He's an old fool, and a creep," Pan said, clearly harbouring a lot a frustration. Noca eyed her up, trying to determine what was going on in her head. Bra was about to protest what Pan had said but the teacher walked in. Noca had to admit, he looked like a mess. He had unkempt hair that was long and messy, and he had stubble on his face that he seemed to neglect. He looked very tired.

"Settle down," He groaned, trying to get the last few students that were talking to stop, "Does everyone remember where we were last week?" He asked, slowly sitting down at his desk and opened up a laptop that he connected to a projector that faced the whiteboard at the front of the classroom. He looked at the register as it flashed up and scanned the class, clearly knowing them all well enough to tell who was in and who wasn't, but then he noticed someone different in the class and a different name on the register. "Noca Brief? You're related to Bra?"

Noca's eyes went wide as he was addressed and the whole class turned to look at the new kid. Noca cleared his throat.

"Yes," He muttered, but the teacher heard him.

"You're new then?" He questioned, looking back at the laptop and marking Noca as present.

"Well duh…" Pan muttered, only so Bra could hear. The blue-haired girl shook her head, a smirk on her face and Noca looked towards Pan, having heard it as well.

"Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself, Noca?" The teacher asked. Noca swallowed and felt his mind go blank. He glanced to Bra who gave him a reassuring smile. Noca cursed in his head. That wasn't all that helpful. He looked back to the class.

"There's not much to say, my name is Noca, I'm Bra's cousin. I just moved here," Noca said, hoping that would be enough. The teacher was satisfied enough and went back to the lesson. Noca sighed and tried his best to follow the class. He started to look around the room, taking in the faces of the people who he would share a class with. None of them seemed to be paying any attention to him anymore, but he could hear a small group of people talking amongst themselves. There was four of them sitting close together.

"A new kid? We should introduce ourselves to him after class," one of the boys suggested. He seemed to be a little bigger than his friends and had messy brown hair.

"But he's a Brief?" one of the others said, a skinny blond.

"So, we'll just say hello," the first one said.

"Yeah, we'll say hello," another added, showing a clenched fist and laughing. He was wearing glasses. The first one glanced Noca's way and noticed that Noca had was looking around. The young Saiyan had to make sure it didn't look like he was looking that way because then they would know he could hear them, somehow. They were talking in whispers after all.

Pan had also heard the conversation, and she had to admit to herself that she didn't like the fact they were already targeting Noca for some reason. Treating him like someone they could pick on easily. Pan may not be fond of Noca but that didn't mean she thought it would be fair for people to treat him differently. She already knew what that was like herself. She looked to Noca and noticed that he was looking their way as well.

This opened up to some confusion. Did that mean Noca could hear them as well? They were talking so quietly, and Pan's stronger hearing was the reason she could hear them. Why could Noca hear them? She also noticed something else, Noca didn't look pleased about their conversation either. She tried her best to grab Noca's attention without speaking. Bra noticed Pan was trying to do so and nudged Noca. He looked to Bra who motioned to Pan. Noca looked to Pan.

"That's Billy and his friends," Pan said, motioning towards the group they had been looking at. Noca internally cursed because that meant Pan noticed him looking. "You can hear them too, right?" Noca seemed at a loss for words and didn't have any response to that. Luckily for him, Pan did. "It must be because of your knowledge of Ki, yeah? Helps make your senses stronger."

"Must be, I'm only just learning myself," Noca said, smiling weakly.

"I can hear them too, and don't worry, they used to bully me and Bra in lower school years. They're assholes." Pan said. Bra nudged Pan for her choice of language.

"Does he still bully you?" Noca asked.

"Just verbally, he wouldn't touch us now, I think he has a little bit of decency in that regard," Bra mentioned. Noca thought on that and looked towards the group again.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine," Noca said, turning back to his notebook.

"I know you will," Pan muttered. Both Bra and Noca looked towards her. Pan looked up and noticed. "Because he's being trained by my dad," Pan confirmed, with Bra sending her a teasing smile. Pan shook her head and went back to her own work. Bra looked to Noca and smiled before doing the same. Noca was a little confused but thought best to ignore it.

The day went on and lunchtime arrived. Noca felt as if he had done a decent job of following the lessons and what the teachers were saying and did so without much difficulty. However, he wasn't used to being in the classroom setting. He just kept quiet and did the work. It was different. He missed the way things had been before. Noca left the classroom with Bra and Pan, following them up the halls back to their lockers, from where they would retrieve their lunches. Videl had prepared lunch for Pan and Noca, and this was the part of the day that the teen had been looking forward to the most.

As they took their stuff out of the lockers somebody was approaching them. Bra was talking to Pan about something and could see who was coming their way. It was Billy with his group of friends. They all seemed to be joking amongst themselves, but Billy was sauntering through, eyes fixed on Noca. Pan noticed the drop in Bra's expression and turned to see what had drawn her attention. Pan wasn't sure what was going to happen but didn't do anything to stop it or keep the situation settled.

Billy grabbed Noca by the shoulder, attempting to do so in a friendly way.

"Hey, new kid," he greeted. Noca tensed up at feeling the contact and turned to see Billy smirking at him. Noca pulled back and closed his locker.

"Hi?" He said, a questioning tone. One of Billy's friends chuckled.

"I just thought I'd introduce myself, I'm Billy," The boy said, folding his arms in front of him. "This is my crew." They all said hi, none of them said their names.

"Yeah, the girls told me who you are," Noca said. Billy looked over Noca's shoulder and saw Pan and Bra leaning against the lockers, waiting to see if something would happen. Well, Bra wanted the trio to just walk away and ignore the situation. Pan wanted to see what would happen.

"You're new so I think I could help you get used to the place," Billy said, trying to sound as friendly as possible, but it was pretty obviously he had some sort of ulterior motive.

"I'm ok, thanks. Bra is plenty of help," Noca said, smiling weakly, trying to at least show he was friendly. Noca only had bad experiences with the other kids back in his village, so he was wary of everyone. "Sorry. We're gonna go for lunch now." Noca said, turning his back on Billy, which was apparently the wrong thing to do. Billy reacted instantly by pushing Noca in the back, with all his strength. The Saiyan boy slipped forward and fell down, managing to put his hands out to stop himself. As he fell Pan backed up, almost as if to make sure he didn't accidently hit her, but Bra reacted by immediately going to help him up.

"Are you ok?" Bra asked, helping Noca to his feet. He brushed himself off and nodded to her. He picked up his lunch, which had survived, fortunately, and he turned to face Billy.

"That was a bit uncalled for," Noca said, finding some of his confidence. Even the girls noticed a change in demeanour. Bra kept close, trying to get Noca to walk away by subtly tugging on his arm. Noca didn't move anywhere, he just stared at Billy. The rest of his friends seemed to stand at the ready, like they were going to jump him. Some people gathered to watch but most people weren't interested in seeing someone bully the new kid. Maybe this happened all the time. Noca didn't know. He only knew how much he couldn't stand bullies. He took a breath and turned away with Bra.

Billy moved towards Noca again and grabbed his arm, attempting to swing the Saiyan teen towards the group of friends he had in waiting. Noca was carried towards them by the momentum but managed to balance himself out instantly and stood his ground. Noca clenched a fist and was about ready to punch but he felt something grab onto both his arms. One of Billy's friends was holding him back. Noca could anticipate what would happen next as Billy moved towards him and swung a fist. Noca moved his head, almost instantly, and Billy ended up punching his friend instead. Noca managed to get free and moved forward as Billy attempted to swing another punch but he twisted, lost his balance and fell into the friend he had just punched. Both crashed into a heap on the floor, groaning and trying to get up but kept stepping all over each other.

Some of the onlookers were laughing, others were disappointed that there wasn't much of a fight, and the people that didn't care or take notice stayed the same. Noca felt his annoyance at the situation dissipate and he collected up his lunch, again, and walked off with Bra. Pan looked down at Billy on the floor chuckled to herself and followed after Bra and Noca.

"You realise you're gonna be his top target now," Pan said, hoping to get some sort of rise out of Noca. The boy seemed to write it off.

"Too bad," He said, disinterested in the idea of some random boy wanting to beat him up. Noca had to admit to himself, he was coming to terms with the fact that he was stronger than the average person his age. He would be able to defend himself, especially as he attained more control.

"Can we all just try to stay out of trouble," Bra said, finally getting to sit down and eat her lunch. They all sat and enjoyed their lunch until the bell went, signalling the end of lunch and the start of next period. The day seemed to be getting away from them.

For a first day at school, it seemed to go very quickly as far as Noca was concerned. He almost expected it to be longer but maybe that was because he would have the learning hours in his village, and then he had his working hours. Every day was busy and filled to the brim with jobs and chores. Sure, he wasn't as active while at school, but at least it wouldn't be too intrusive.

As the trio headed out of school together Noca was starting to feel something itching in the back of his head. He reached to scratch but quickly realised it was internal, a feeling. He glanced at Pan and could see she was becoming visibly unsettled. There was only a tiny clue, but her brow twitched as she looked dead ahead. Noca looked up and could only see a couple of girls standing together by the gates but something told Noca this was what Pan was unsettled by. Noca wasn't sure why he knew Pan was unsettled or why he said what came out next.

"Pan, calm down," Noca muttered, just loud enough so she could hear him. Pan turned to look at Noca, confused at what he said, but he was already looking ahead. She made a mental note of that but was quickly reminded of what had drew her attention in the first place. Chloe.

"Good afternoon, ladies," Chloe said, sounding extremely pleased to see them, although it was sarcastic.

"What do you want?" Pan didn't have the energy to deal with that drama. She just wanted to go home and chill out. Chloe chuckled and started to act like she had been offended.

"Oh, come on, I just wanted to say hi to your cute friend," Chloe said, leaning towards Noca. He seemed oblivious to what was happening and was focussed on Pan in the situation. She was very unsettled. "Hi, I'm Chloe." She said winking. Chloe's friend beside her was looking at Noca too. He noticed and looked over to her. She blushed a little. "That's Alice."

"Oh," Noca said, coming to a realisation. "You're Chloe?" Noca said, questioning it but also completely getting it. "I've heard about you."

"You have?" Chloe said, feeling a little excited.

"You have?" Pan asked, confused by that response. Even Bra was perplexed.

"Yeah… your Mom mentioned it," Noca said, not knowing if that was overstepping boundaries into Pan's personal life. It had just been a warning from Videl to look out for Pan in the event that Chloe shows up to cause a scene.

"Oh, have you been crying to your mommy about little ol' me?" Chloe asked, making a baby voice and laughing. Alice was a little amused also. Pan, Bra, and Noca were not. Pan tensed up and was ready to say or do something, Noca clocked on to that.

"Judging by what Videl said, surely you were the one crying to your mother when Pan punched you in face, giving you a black eye," Noca said. Pan didn't expect Noca to know that and the boy disregarded the boundaries again, but Pan had to admit she was impressed by Noca's control over the situation. Chloe was speechless. Bra and Alice both looked at each other, unsure of what would happen now that a third party had joined the Chloe/Pan rivalry.

"I… she ugh…" Chloe was trying to find a way to turn it against Pan but was starting to realise that Noca was already on their side. She was embarrassed now and turned to Alice. "Let's go."

The two girls walked off together and once they were gone from view Pan let out a stifled laugh.

"Ha! That was great," Pan said, playfully slapping Noca on the arm. "You really shut her up." Noca smirked to himself, hoping this was a step towards getting Pan to actually see him as a friend and not a threat. Pan carried on walking out of the school grounds, a smile on her face, even though she was still thinking about how Noca knew she was getting tense, and why her mother thought it was appropriate to tell Noca about her school drama. It didn't seem right to her and it made for a very tense journey home after Bra had departed for West City.

That night Noca struggled through his first piece of homework, resisting the urge to try and push his friendship on Pan immediately, even though she would be able to help him out. Pan had to resist the urge to confront her mother about her privacy and how much Noca needs to know. She wasn't in the mood for more arguments. They all ate dinner together and Noca decided to get an early night. Not that it did much good. Noca's night wasn't peaceful at all. In fact, it was unsettling. Noca was plagued by nightmares.


Noca was training in the fields by himself. He jumped up into the air, using his newfound ability to fly, and threw punches and kicks, coming up with some brand-new movements and fresh ways to attack. He dropped down to the ground and shot a couple Ki blasts. He was really getting the hang of things. He shot the final blasts and stopped, dropping to a knee and taking a few heavy breaths. It was such a clear day, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun was blazing with ferocity.

So, when Noca noticed the sky being slowly invaded by some of the darkest, uninviting clouds he had ever seen, he had to admit he was beyond confused. He stood up, continuing to look up, just as some raindrops started to fall. Noca held his hand out as the drops fell into his palm.

"This isn't right…" He whispered to himself.

Some thunder and lightning started to streak through the sky and made everything seem suspicious, creepy, and dangerous. There was a sudden loud crash heard in the distance and that managed to grab Noca's full attention. He swung around and started to run towards where the sound had come from.

That's when he noticed something familiar. It was just like something he had seen before, he was certain of it, but he didn't completely recognise it. It was certainly a person, Noca could confirm that from the silhouette. Noca likened the size of this stranger to someone he had met before. They were tall, bulky, intimidating. Noca immediately fell into defensive mode, anxious about what might happen next. He put his guard up and let the shadowed man make the first move.

The towering figure started to move closer, causing Noca to back away slightly. He felt scared. Why was he scared? He was more than capable of standing up for himself.

"Back off!" Noca yelled, fear overcoming him. He had lost all confidence and was losing control of his feelings. In his head he knew he could remain strong, but his body wasn't listening.

The stranger reached an arm up into the air and brought it down towards Noca with heavy power, but the Saiyan moved quickly to dodge it. Another fist flew towards Noca and he stuck his arm up to block the incoming strike. As the stranger's fist connected with Noca's arm there was another loud thunderclap in the distance. Noca tried to throw in his own attack but the shadowed figure disappeared leaving Noca disoriented and worried about what would come next. There wasn't a trace of the stranger remaining.

"Where are you?" Noca screamed through the heavily falling rain.

Noca was completely unaware of the cause of the madness, but he somehow managed to sense something behind him and moved quickly, dodging the incoming attack without too much of a struggle. He jumped up away from the figure and as he went to throw a Ki blast down, he was instantly struck by an intense bolt of lightning. There was a brief moment where the teen felt as if all the power from that bolt was completely absorbed within his body.

It felt like he wielded a power greater than anything before. Energy flared up around him and shocked through his entire body. It was only for a brief moment and then it was all gone. Noca fell to his knees, blown away by the sheer depth of power he felt. It proved to be Noca's downfall as the silhouetted figure stepped forward for another attack. He stood over Noca and as the Saiyan slowly looked up a huge fist dropped down towards the boy. Suddenly, everything went black and…

Noca woke up. He shot up in the spot and stared right ahead, she had to stifle the urge to scream out and tried to calm his breathing. He felt like he had been doing three hundred laps around the field. He was drenched in sweat, his breathing was rapid, as was his heartbeat, but he was also shivering.

"What on Earth was that?" He asked himself, pulling to the edge of the bed and standing up. As soon as he got to his feet, he felt lightheaded and wobbled on the spot. How had that happened? It was only a dream, but it was almost as bad as the last one he had when staying with Holline. He turned to look at the clock noticing it wasn't too long until he had to get up to start getting ready for school. He sighed and moved towards the bathroom.

Meanwhile, in the bedroom down the hall, the other Saiyan teenager in the house was just waking up. Pan had felt a strange spike of energy in her head while sleeping and it was enough to zap her awake. He reached over to grab her phone but as she touched it there was a strange static shock that travelled through her hand. She shook it off and cursed before another strange sense zapped through her head. Her eyes were drawn to the window and she felt something. Something that she hadn't sensed in about a month. Not since Christmas. It was that power from before. The big difference this time; it felt close, closer than it had ever felt before. Pan rushed to her window and looked out, trying to narrow her senses, but she couldn't track it.

"Why? Every time I feel you… why do you disappear?" Pan asked the void of the early morning sky. She pulled back into her bedroom and sighed, realising it was time to get ready for school. She was eager to talk to Bra later about that energy, the only other person that seemed to take it seriously.

That day at school both Pan and Noca were trapped within their thoughts, within the events of the previous night. Noca was quiet and lost in his own thoughts, he was reserved to keeping to himself for the whole day. Bra did enquire why Noca felt that way and he manage to brush it off by saying nerves about school. Bra would have pushed with her inquiry, but Pan had interesting information for her. Pan told Bra about feeling that power, managing to move the topic away from Noca and what he was feeling.

She explained to Bra that it had felt closer than ever before, but she didn't get any help narrowing down her feelings. Bra didn't have any sort of answers and Pan realised she shouldn't have expected so much. She spent the rest of that week pondering the power level and hoped she would get a chance to feel it again, and it only led to more restless nights. Noca spent the rest of the week training his mind to ignore the dreams. He couldn't let nightmares get the better of him. This led to more isolation than before and restless nights. Neither teen was finding sleep but neither knew what the other was feeling. Maybe if they spoke to one another they would find some common ground, but both were stubborn.

Noca realised he needed to clear his mind and do so in a new and fresh location. He had spent most of that week in Satan city but knew very little about the place and decided that after school on the Friday he would take some time to himself and explore. He would spend some alone time in Satan City.


Friday 2nd February Age 792

There was just one more day of school to get through before Noca could do what he wanted. Like the previous four, Noca expected it to be just the same as all the other days, only at the end of this one he wouldn't return home right away. Noca was right, and the day was just the same as the others. The boy kept to himself most of the day, trying not to interfere with the girls' lives, even though Bra would try to bring him into their conversations. Nothing seemed to come of it though, Noca couldn't shake the oddly uneasy feeling that had coursed through his head the whole week. Pan, on the other hand, was dwelling far too much on her strange energy.

There was some tension growing between the trio as both Pan and Noca had become distant. Bra felt stuck in the middle, trying with all her might to get everyone to talk. She failed at her attempts, although she did still have conversation with Pan at times. It was Noca that decided he didn't want to be a part of things. Pan almost took offence to Noca omitting himself from any conversations. Why was he suddenly too good for them?

The end of the day arrived rather quickly, and the trio headed towards their lockers as usual. They grabbed their bags as they normally did, ready to walk out the doors and head off home. Just as normal as ever, right? Well, no. Something different did happen this week. Someone nervously approached the trio and cleared their throat. Noca looked out of the corner of his eye and saw a boy standing close to Pan and he was nervously looking down at his feet. Noca looked away but tried to keep his attention on the situation.

"Hi, uh, Pan?" The boy said, getting the girl's attention. Pan turned.

"Oh, Daisuke, right?" Pan questioned. She had probably spoken to this boy before, she certainly recognised him. He had brown skin, and straight black hair that was neatly combed to the side. He was a little taller than Pan, probably the same height as Noca and he wore a button-down white shirt, and a pair of black trousers. Typical formal wear for the school day. He nodded and smiled when Pan said his name.

"Yes, that is me," He said, chuckling nervously. Bra nudged Pan gently and made a suggestive sound. Pan tried to avoid blushing and looked into her locker.

"What is it?" She asked Daisuke, unsure of what he could possibly want, although she had an assumption.

"I was just wondering if… well, you wanted to go the movies with me some day? If you want…" He asked, still very nervous about the whole situation. Pan looked in the corner of her eye at him, still standing there, very stiff and still. She could see he had a friend peeking around the corner at the end of the hall and had probably been pushed into doing this. She sighed and closed the door to her locker.

"I'm sorry," She started, looking up at him. She could see the boy's minuscule hope slip away and he hung his head in disappointment. "It's not you, I'm just not interested in hanging out with boys right now…" Pan turned away nervously and looked at Bra with her own nervous expression. Bra just giggled. "Sorry, Daisuke."

"I… are you sure? I mean, it could be fun," Daisuke said, finding a little bit of confidence after being rejected, and hoping he could change Pan's mind.

"I'm sorry. I have to say no," Pan reiterated, turning away and walking off with Bra. Noca followed after them, eyeing up Daisuke as he walked past him. He seemed a little annoyed but kept it down and walked back to his friend. Noca caught up to the girls in time to hear them talking.

"Why did you say no? Are you ever going to go on a date?" Bra asked, getting a little pushy with her best friend. Bra actually seemed annoyed about it. Pan shook it off.

"I don't need to think about it now. I don't want it," She made her point, trying to walk faster and get out of the school grounds quicker. Bra and Noca followed her, at a quicker pace. They rounded the corner and headed up the street away from the school. "I don't get why he would like me anyway…"

"Are you kidding?!" Bra snapped. Pan was taken aback and stalled on the spot. "Look at you. Look at her, Noca," Bra said, pointing at Pan and looking at Noca. The boy was shocked by his sudden inclusion.

"What?" Noca questioned. Bra pulled on Noca's arm.

"Look at her and tell me, why would a boy be interested in her?" Bra asked, trying to push Noca into saying something. He looked to Pan and tried his best to not make it look as if he was eyeing her up and just stared her in the eyes. Pan seemed angry and Noca wasn't sure anything he said would fix the situation. He quickly looked away.

"I guess… she is… pretty," Noca said, sheepishly. He started to blush a little bit and took a breath. Bra gasped and Pan tensed up, her eyes going wide.

"You like Pan, don't you?!" She asked, yanking on his arm. Noca tried to pull back, but when Bra was in this mode nobody could beat her. Pan turned around and walked away. Bra noticed this. "Hey, Pan! Wait…"

"Please, stop it, Bra. I don't need any of this ok, you know that I don't like…" Pan snapped back, but she had to stop herself at the end. She looked at Noca as his brow furrowed. He knew what she was going to say, and she actually felt bad. "I can't deal with this." Pan walked away again.

"What happened to her?" Noca asked. Bra looked to him. "She's been so out of sorts this week."

"Well, you've been the same," Bra said. Noca looked at her, confused about what she meant. "Yeah, you've hardly spoken to us since your first day at school."

"Oh…" Noca thought about it. She was right. Ever since his nightmare. "I guess I've had too much on my mind."

"It's the same with Pan. She may not show it but the two of you have a lot in common. Pan's been feeling really off since before Christmas," Bra explained. Noca looked ahead to where Pan had walked off to. "We better catch up to her."

Noca was about to agree but remembered his plan for that evening.

"I forgot to mention, I'm going to head into the city and do a little bit of exploring. I haven't had a chance to yet," Noca explained, looking ahead to Pan again. "Tell Pan… well… tell her I'll be home late, I guess."

Bra said bye to Noca and rushed off after her best friend. Noca watched them go and thought about everything that had happened. Pan had been acting strange since before Christmas, and Pan was about to say something. Noca was sure he knew the last word of that sentence. Him. Pan was going to say she didn't like him. Noca couldn't be completely sure, but he had a feeling. He sighed and walked towards the City centre.

"Hey, Pan, wait up!" Bra yelled as she ran up beside Pan. "What's your problem?"

"What? I don't have a problem," Pan said, stopping and turning to face her friend. She was angry, and a little embarrassed.

"Well, it definitely seems like you do," Bra pushed.

"You know full well I don't care about dating right now, and you didn't have to push Noca into the conversation. That wasn't fair," Pan practically yelled at her friend.

"Because you don't like him?" Bra questioned. That silenced Pan. The raven-haired teen understood that it would have been a little bit harsh had she finished that sentence. "Yeah, I know what you were going to say. That's a little unfair, don't you think?"

Pan remained silent and thought on it. She was definitely acting out a little, but Bra was putting Pan in a situation that she wasn't comfortable with and she didn't like it. Bra needed to understand that.

"I didn't mean for that to come out, but it's not like we're exactly friends. You know I'm not fond of him," Pan said, trying to clarify her position. Bra shook her head.

"No. I think it's something else. I think you do like him, at least a little, and you're not sure how to handle it," Bra said, trying to ease the tension and tease her friend, just a little bit. Pan froze up again and frowned.

"No. I don't," Pan said, bluntly.

"Well, at least try to give him a chance. You guys could get along if you try," Bra suggested. Pan pouted and turned away. It was a losing situation for Bra. Although, Pan couldn't shake one word from her head.

"Pretty."


Characters Seen/Mentioned in this Chapter:

Noca (OC)
Pan
Bra
Principal Dawson (OC)
Billy (OC)
Chloe (OC)
Alice (OC)
Videl - Mentioned
Daisuke (OC)