Chapter 9: A Little Rusty

Sunday 11th March Age 792

Instead of having a training session that day, Gohan had invited Vegeta over for some reason. Noca and Pan were both surprised to see the capsule jet arriving, but apparently Gohan had planned this the previous night. The Saiyan Prince had even brought Bra along.

"I'm sorry that we haven't been able to do much sparring," Gohan said to Noca as Vegeta stepped out of the jet and walked over. "I'm not as fresh as I should be, so that's why I invited Vegeta to come over. He's going to help me get back into the swing of things."

"You've gone far too soft. I need to show you how a true Saiyan continues his training and keeps focussed," Vegeta said, arms crossed, standing side on to Gohan and glancing at him over his shoulder. Noca was definitely intrigued by Vegeta's way of thinking and he definitely got an intimidating feeling from him.

"Just observe for now, you'll learn a lot from us, I'm sure of that," Gohan said, motioning for Noca to stand at a safe distance. Pan had certainly made sure to be there for that spar. She couldn't remember the last time she actually watched her father train, so this was a very exciting moment for her also. Maybe if this helped increase Gohan's fighting spirit he would be more inclined to give Pan more training. Bra was just happy to see her friends. She wasn't too interested in fighting.

"So, how are you two getting on?" Bra asked her friends, as soon as she sat beside them. Pan and Noca glanced at each other and then looked to Bra.

"Yeah, we're good, right?" Pan said, looking back to Noca. He nodded to her and smiled at Bra.

"I'm happy to hear it. Can't believe it took so much effort for you to become friends," Bra said, showing that it was like having a great weight lifted off her shoulders. There would be far less tension when the friends all spent time together. Bra looked back to the adults preparing to spar so she missed the brief moment when Pan and Noca looked at each other and smiled.

Vegeta started to raise his power but there wasn't a lot of commotion or showing off of energy. He just slightly moved into a competitive stance and narrowed his expression. Noca caught a glimpse of the energy emanating from the Prince of Saiyans and he was definitely drawn to it. Gohan's energy growth seem much more subtle but sudden, there was a difference in his power. He didn't seem to have to raise it, it just felt natural.

"Come at me with everything!" Vegeta yelled as he stiffened his stance, clenched his fists, and powered out his Ki. His aura a light blue. Gohan slowly moved into his stance and responded by powering out his own Ki, which gave off a white glow.

Noca, Pan, and Bra were all sitting on the grass, watching what was unfolding before their eyes. Noca seemed to inch a little close as the fighters showed off their power, Pan was also very intrigued. Bra just looked at how interested her friends were and tried to feign that level of interest also.

Vegeta smirked before springing from his position and flying towards Gohan with some force. He smashed a fist right into a raised arm from Gohan. It had been a heavily telegraphed attack and Gohan was quick to defend against it. Noca was amazed by the speed.

Vegeta pulled back and prepared to rush in again. He stepped forward, jabbing a fist right for Gohan's head. Gohan, wearing a Gi reminiscent of his father's, narrowly dodged the incoming fist by moving slightly to the side. But then Vegeta, in his regular Saiyan armour, threw in a kick to try and take Gohan by surprise but the younger of the two Saiyans jumped over the leg and twisted in the air, aiming his own punch down on Vegeta.

The Prince caught it and pulled Gohan down, turning, and attempting to throw him into the ground. Gohan managed to flip just right so his feet landed first and he powered up, pushing back and taking Vegeta with him. Vegeta groaned and powered up as well, creating enough energy to stop Gohan's momentum and hold them both in one spot. Gohan's arm was still being held onto by Vegeta, but it was being held behind his back, so in this position the Prince technically held the advantage.

Vegeta decided to try and take control and use his advantage. He hooked his leg around Gohan's and tripped him up, pulling him back and threw him down on the ground, following it up with a punch aimed right down for Gohan's face. Gohan rolled away, avoiding Vegeta's fist as it plunged into the ground.

Gohan rolled and jumped back up to his feet and flew back in towards Vegeta with a great burst of pace and he managed to slam his knee into the side of Vegeta's face, knocking the Prince away. Vegeta fell back and had to jump up and flip to land back on his feet in a stable position. He rubbed his cheek with his fist and smirked.

"After all this time, you still think you're better than me?" Vegeta questioned. Gohan chuckled.

"Never, I just know I can still hold my own against you," Gohan replied, moving into his stance again. Vegeta scoffed and powered out his aura again. The onlookers knew this was more than just a simple spar in their eyes. It was always going to be more intense than that, and it was only just beginning.

Vegeta darted forward again and this time he jabbed with a right, which was pushed away by Gohan's left hand, so the Prince followed up with a jab from his left and that was also pushed away, this time by the right hand of Gohan. Vegeta cursed and raised his left leg in an attempt to kick Gohan in the head, but the younger of the two managed to block that kick. Gohan then grabbed Vegeta's leg with his left and turned into Vegeta, twisting and slamming his right elbow into Vegeta's gut.

Vegeta grunted in discomfort and threw his hands forward, throwing out a Ki blast that pushed Gohan away. The younger man flipped back and landed down, losing footing slightly. Vegeta saw that slip up and darted immediately, thrusting a punch deep into Gohan's gut. The Prince twisted his fist and Gohan coughed a little.

"Perhaps you aren't as good as you think you are," Vegeta said, scoffing and pulling his fist away, backing up a little. Gohan reached a hand for his stomach and took a couple of breaths.

"Like I said…" Gohan started, before powering out his aura which started to spark, if only for a moment before settling down again. Vegeta backed up from the intensity but saw that Gohan was standing up straight again. "I'm a little rusty." He finished.

The half-Saiyan flashed forward and attempted to strike a kick into Vegeta's head, but the Prince ducked under it and aimed a fist towards Gohan's ribs. The younger Saiyan caught the older man's fist but didn't see the next one coming that caught him in his lower back. Gohan arched, letting go of Vegeta's other fist and the Prince quickly phased from view. Noca visibly shifted forward when he noticed Vegeta's burst of pace.

The Prince appeared above Gohan and slammed his fists down in a hammer motion, smashing Gohan down into the dirt, creating a cloud of dust. Vegeta quickly turned to look above him, so the eyes of all three teens followed and there they saw Gohan dropping down quickly, a blue light glowing beside him. Vegeta knew what it was and braced, landing down on the ground and planting his feet.

Gohan let out a cry, saying only the word "Ha" as he thrust his hands forward and unleashed a Kamehameha on his opponent. The wave soared down towards Vegeta who only threw his hands up and caught the attack, pushing back on it with just the energy he could muster from within rather than using any of his own signature attacks. The blast rippled, and the waves could be seen in the grass, and the teens could feel it rumbling over near them.

Vegeta growled and yelled out as his aura flashed golden, as did his hair and he seemed to muster up the energy to push back on the blast enough to make it even between the two. Noca was even more intrigued upon seeing Vegeta's transformation, and this drew the attention of Pan. She knew his secret, he was a Saiyan, but he clearly had never seen a Super Saiyan before, and probably didn't know what one was. She smirked and looked back towards the clash.

Gohan started to groan as Vegeta's pushback showed to be quite overwhelming, but Vegeta wasn't having the greatest time. He only managed to push back because he transformed into a Super Saiyan, doing his best to level the playing field with how much of his unlocked potential Gohan was deciding to use.

The energy wave was unable to contain under the immense pressure from both sides and exploded in the centre, it wasn't the greatest ever Kamehameha, so it wasn't the most intense of explosions, but it caused enough of a shockwave to cause Bra to lose her position on the ground and fall over, but both Pan and Noca remained still.

Vegeta put his arms down and stood up straight, dropping back to his base level, while Gohan descended and touched down right in front of the Prince.

"You've gotten sloppy," Vegeta said, turning his back and walking towards the house.

"You were holding back," Gohan snapped back. Noca watched as Vegeta walked past him towards the house and the Prince glanced down at the boy.

"That was great, dad!" Pan said, jumping up and walking over to Gohan.

"Thanks, but I've got a lot of training to do if I'm going to be ready for the tournament," Gohan said, offhandedly. Vegeta stopped walking and Noca got up to his feet.

"A tournament?" Pan asked, her enthusiasm showing. Vegeta turned around and met Gohan's eyes, but then the half-Saiyan looked to Noca. The teen froze as both of them looked at him. Pan saw where her father was looking and started to feel a little disappointment, and for a second, Noca felt that too.

"I want you to compete, Noca," Gohan said, walking to him.

"What? Me? No…. why?" Noca questioned, starting to feel like there was a lot of sudden pressure put on him.

"Isn't there an age limit, and a junior division?" Bra asked, looking to Noca, hoping it would ease him a little. But Gohan shook his head.

"For twelve-years-old and under, yes, but Noca's thirteen," Gohan said, smiling. Noca was at a loss for words and looked to the girls for support but he noticed Pan was deep in thought.

"I don't think I should," Noca said, looking back to Gohan.

"I'm your teacher, and I say you'll learn a lot of great lessons from it," Gohan said, still smiling. He walked over and put his hand on Noca's shoulder. "I think you're more than capable of showing your strength in that situation."

"I hope you know I plan to compete too!" Vegeta snapped, gaining all the attention.

"Of course, Vegeta. The more the merrier," Gohan said, chuckling. "We have a lot more training to get on with." Gohan said, turning back to Noca.

"I guess I don't get a choice," Pan finally said, bringing herself into the conversation. Gohan sighed and turned to face his daughter. She wasn't even looking at him, she was glancing down at the ground, and she seemed angry already. Noca shifted awkwardly and cleared his throat softly, but Bra caught his movement in the corner of her eye and found it strange.

Gohan remained quiet, not knowing what he should say. Pan looked up to her father and saw that he wasn't ready to say yes, but he didn't have an argument prepared for why he would say no. Either way, Pan knew that he didn't want her to compete, nor was her going to train her. She just sighed and walked away from them all, heading back inside the house and slamming the door.

"What's wrong?" Videl asked, as she saw her daughter run off upstairs and then heard her bedroom door slam.

Back outside, Vegeta walked over to Bra but looked to Gohan.

"She's a Saiyan and she has a lot of fighting spirit," Vegeta said, looking away before adding the next bit. "She has too much of Kakarot in her." He then smirked and looked back at Gohan. "She would put up a better challenge than most of us."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Gohan said, looking down. He placed his hands on his hips and sighed. "Thanks for the spar, Vegeta." The Prince nodded as Bra threw down a capsule for the jet. They boarded and headed off, leaving Noca and Gohan together in the field.

"It's not my place to say anything… but I think Pan definitely has the ability that you see in me," Noca muttered, keeping his eyes down. Gohan looked to Noca and sighed again, he shouldn't be letting his own insecurities and wants for Pan get in the way, he knew that. Even Chi-Chi let him train with Goku from time-to-time, even though she didn't want him to. Gohan was confused over what the right thing to do was.

"That's all for today, Noca," Gohan said, and he motioned for Noca to head back inside. Noca nodded to Gohan and walked in. He saw that Videl was sitting in the kitchen, seemingly waiting, but not for him. She smiled at Noca as the teen headed up the stairs.

Noca stopped at his door and couldn't get rid of that upset and angry feeling that Pan was exuding. He wasn't sure it was the right thing to do, especially only a couple of days after they had even started to talk to each other, but Noca walked to Pan's room. He knocked on the door lightly.

"Go away!" Pan yelled out.

"Oh… I'm sorry…" Noca said, feeling bad about disturbing her. He turned and went to walk away but heard the door open. He turned to see Pan, and noticed she had definitely been crying, even if only briefly. She wiped a tear away.

"I didn't realise it was you, I thought it was my dad. Mom usually just comes in," Pan said, opening her door wider and inviting Noca in. He hesitated. Pan noticed. "Come in." Noca nodded and walked in, gingerly. Pan closed the door behind her and sat down at the end of her bed, burying her head in her hands.

Noca walked over and gently sat down beside her.

"I just can't believe he refuses to train me, constantly, why is he so against the idea?!" Pan said, almost pleading for an answer, even though she was certain Noca wouldn't have it.

"I honestly don't know…" Noca said, feeling anxious about Pan's response. He cleared his throat and turned so he was properly facing her. "You're strong, I can feel that, I've experienced that." He chuckled upon the memory of their little altercation. Pan smiled but looked away. "I think you should keep doing what you're doing…" Noca started, but that drew Pan's curiosity.

"What do you mean?" She asked, surprised.

"Well, I saw you training on your own one night…" Noca said, hoping that Pan wouldn't be annoyed about it.

"Really? You saw that?" She questioned, feeling almost embarrassed.

"Yeah. Sorry. I couldn't sleep and I noticed you once," Noca replied. "The point is, if you keep doing that then you'll still improve," Noca suggested, hoping it would be enough to help Pan understand that what she was doing wasn't bad. "And, if we get the chance, I can be your sparring partner."

Pan looked up at him again, eyes wide.

"Really? You would do that?" She asked, sounding very hopeful. Noca's brow furrowed and he nodded.

"Of course, why not?" He said, smiling. She smiled back at him and laughed nervously.

"Thanks," She muttered.

"I think that will help your dad see your strength, and determination, and I'm sure he'll allow you to compete," Noca said, and without thinking he put his hand on Pan's. "Just have a little patience." He said, and he smiled as she turned to look him in the eyes, and then down at their hands. Noca noticed and cleared his throat, pulling his hand away and standing up.

"Anyway, I think I'll go and… uh… do something else," Noca said as he nervously backed towards the door. Pan nodded and smiled, awkwardly.

"Ok, see you later," Pan said. Once Noca left she seemed to breathe again, feeling like she hadn't managed to the entire time he was there with her. What was that all about? Why did she feel that way? It was so weird.

Noca got back to his bedroom and sat down on the edge of his own bed, feeling very confused and lost in thought. That was a very odd moment with Pan. The two of them, for the moment, seemed very in-sync and it was new, exciting, and frightening. Noca tried his best to disregard it for the rest of the day. He needed to prepare himself for returning to school on Monday.


Characters Seen/Mentioned in this Chapter:

Noca (OC)
Pan
Son Gohan
Vegeta
Bra
Videl