Chapter 5: An Ordinary Day Out
Tuesday 19th September Age 791
Being back in school was a little awkward for Pan. That morning she woke up to her parents in a happy and enthusiastic mood, helping to lift her spirits and wipe away any anxiety she had about facing the consequences of her actions towards Chloe. Not that she though she should get away with it, she had performed a violent action while at school, and then just left without saying another thing. She understood if her teachers decided she needed to be punished, but Pan was just thankful that her parents did what they could to ease her into the day.
She had breakfast at the table with her family, as per usual, and then went off to meet up with Bra so they could head to school together. The blue-haired girl was a little worried about how Pan would act but was relieved that her best friend was in a positive mood. That positivity was shaken a little bit when they finally arrived at school, with Pan doing her best to stealth her way through the school and get into her lessons without bumping into the Principal, or Chloe and her friends. Unfortunately, Pan did still share classes with the girls, but there was a confidence in believing that Chloe wouldn't want to antagonise the girl again. Not right away.
Pan did find enjoyment when she saw Chloe's face and noticed the brand-new black eye she had. While the damage was still present on Chloe's face, Pan knew she had no reason to worry about any new conflicts. It would serve as a strong enough reminder.
The first half of the day was pretty long and boring, aside from something that sparked alive in Pan's mind, reminding her of the night before. Reminding her of what she had felt. That energy, that emotion. There it was again. It was starting to get on her nerves. Out of nowhere this had started happening to her and she wasn't sure why, but it was almost as if her own emotions were being affected by what she could sense. There was an urge to talk about it, to let someone know just what she was going through. Nobody would understand it.
With those thoughts and feelings on her mind, the day seemed to drag by slower. It didn't make sense, you would think that with a pre-occupied mind the day would flash by for her, but the annoyance and confusion that it delivered only caused everything to slow down. Eventually, it was lunch time and Pan found herself taking her food out of her locker and walking outside with Bra. The two of them sat down together but Pan was still in another world. Even the task of trying to avoid teachers wasn't something she cared about any longer, her mind was far too distracted.
"Yo, Earth to Pan," Bra said, her voice bringing Pan back into the moment. She shook herself away from her thoughts and looked over to her friend. "You alright?"
This posed a dilemma for Pan. Should she tell Bra? Would she even care, let alone believe her? Bra was always a good friend and was always there to listen when Pan needed to talk, and vice-versa. She could trust her friend with the information, that wasn't part of the question. It was just whether or not she would understand it. There was no harm in it.
"I keep feeling something," Pan muttered, her nerves almost stopping her. She didn't even know if what she said made sense to Bra, but it was the only way she could think to describe it. At least, that was the simplest way to say it. Pan looked up to see that Bra did have a questioning expression on her face, but she could tell that it meant Bra wanted Pan to continue, carry on with what she needed to say. Pan sighed. "I think I'm feeling someone's power level."
"It's probably someone we know," Bra suggested. Pan shook her head.
"No, it's not. It's unfamiliar, yet…" Pan trailed off, looking away in thought.
"Yet…" Bra said, trying to grab Pan's attention back to the conversation. She leaned forward so that she was in Pan's peripheral vision. The black-haired girl turned back to her friend.
"I feel like I know it. The energy, I mean," Pan said, feeling like she needed to clarify. "It's so weird but I feel what they're feeling…"
Pan trailed off again. Bra could see hurt in her best friend's eyes. She couldn't put her finger on why that was but could only assume that Pan was being completely truthful with her. She really felt something, and it was more than just a power level. Pan breathed a heavy sigh and blinked a couple of times as her eyes started to water a bit. She did her best to hide any sign of tears, or sadness.
"They are in so much pain, and they need comfort," Pan continued. Bra sat back a little, trying to think over the information. She was analysing all data and trying to find something that might be important or necessary to help her friend. Pan could tell Bra was just over-thinking everything and grabbed her friend's attention back. "Forget about it, Bra. It's nothing."
Bra look back at Pan and smiled weakly.
"Ok, if that's what you want," Bra said, "Just let me know if it keeps occurring. Don't hold it in."
Pan nodded and wore her own weak smile. Trying her best to move on from all of those thoughts. From her lunch break onwards, she pretty much felt nothing more, until near the end of the day when there was something in her that made her feel like she needed to get something off of her chest, but she knew there was nothing. It didn't take her long to realise that it wasn't her own thoughts or feelings. They belonged to the owner of this new energy that she was connected to.
It wasn't far from her thoughts for the rest of the school day. She was completely distracted from her schoolwork, meaning she had extra homework to deal with that night. That didn't matter to her though, for some reason this energy still mattered. She was developing an emotional connection with someone that was nowhere near her, and it was someone she didn't even know. That scared her. She found herself staring out of the window right up until the bell went for the end of the day. She snapped back into the moment and realised the day was over.
The girls grabbed their stuff, went back to their lockers and left the school. The day was over, they had the rest of the afternoon and evening to do whatever they wanted. Pan made a mental note of the homework she would need to do when she got back home, or to Capsule Corp., wherever she decided to go after her weird day.
She didn't get a chance to make her own decision though. There was a phone-call from her Mother which took precedence over anything else.
"Hey Mom, I'm just out of school. What's up?" She asked, hoping that it wasn't anything bad.
"Are you free right now?" Videl asked. Pan brushed aside the thoughts of doing her homework and mentally freed up all her plans.
"I am, I'm with Bra at the moment," Pan answered, looking over to her friend. Bra seemed intrigued.
"Do you want to come and meet me? I'm in Satan City Mall with my old school friend, Erasa," Videl asked. Pan immediately sensed a slight excitable tone in her mother's voice. She had not seen her best friend in a long time and Pan had heard a lot about her. She had only met Erasa a couple of times though.
"Sure, Bra and I will head right over there," Pan said, looking to Bra again. The blue-haired girl put both her thumbs up with a smile. Pan shook her head. "I'll see you soon, bye."
Pan hung-up the phone.
"We're meeting my mom at the Mall, she's with an old friend," Pan said as the girls started to walk along down the street in the direction of the mall. Bra mentioned that she had been wanting to head there to pick something up for a few days but kept putting it off. Pan was pretty much nodding along to that conversation, occasionally dropping in with a one-word answer. She was still distracted by the energy, at least a little bit. She was also a little excited to see Erasa, but she couldn't ignore the fact that this energy may be a threat. Maybe it would be worth telling her mother about.
The girls arrived at the mall and went in to find Videl. They were meant to meet outside of a specific shop, so Pan and Bra were on the lookout for it. It didn't take long for Pan to find her mother and standing next to her was a blonde woman she immediately recognised. Standing next to that woman was a girl who must have been the same age as Pan and Bra, but she appeared to be very shy and was standing very close to Erasa. That must be her daughter.
Pan and Bra caught Videl's attention and she started to wave them over. Pan walked up and greeted her mother with a hug, Bra got a hug too.
"You remember Erasa, right?" Videl asked, motioning to her friend. Pan nodded and smiled.
"Of course, I do," Pan said, walking up to Erasa as the bubbly blonde took her best-friend's daughter into a tight hug.
"It's so good to see you again Pan, it has been far too long," Erasa said, releasing the hug. Bra just stood and did a little wave. She wasn't familiar with this woman, but she had heard a lot about how she went to school with both Gohan and Videl. Bra was polite so she introduced herself.
"Hello ma'am. I'm Bra, Pan's friend," The blue-haired girl said, holding her hand out for a handshake. Erasa chuckled, taking Bra into a little hug as well.
"It's great to meet you. God, these kids are all grown up now," Erasa laughed again as she looked back to Videl. The two old friends were locked into a conversation about their children while Pan stood and listened in, enjoying seeing her mother in a very happy mood with her friend.
Bra, however, had her attention gripped by the girl standing with them. She was also blonde, although she wore it in a ponytail, showing that she had significantly longer hair than her mother, who had always opted to have it short. The girl was wearing a plain white shirt with a grey skirt. Almost like it was just traditional formalwear for school. That's when she spotted the badge attached to the strap of her backpack. It was an Orange Star badge.
"Hi, you go to our school?" Bra asked the girl. She seemed surprised that Bra started talking to her and appeared to get a little nervous. Erasa noticed Bra was talking to her daughter and turned to the girl.
"It's ok, you can introduce yourself, these are family friends," Erasa said to her daughter in a soothing and sweet tone.
"Hi, I'm Kiera," The girl said, sort of with a little mutter so it wasn't easy to hear her. Erasa put her hand on her daughter's shoulder and looked to Bra.
"She only just started at the school today, it's been a little hard for her to settle in since we moved so we delayed her starting date," Erasa explained. "I took her out of school early today because she's been feeling really ill because of all this stress."
"Well, you don't have to be too nervous in our school, you can hang out with us, right Pan?" Bra suggested, turning back to the black-haired girl standing next to her mother as well. Pan stepped over.
"Yeah, definitely, you're more than welcome to hang around with us," Pan said, enthusiastically. Kiera appeared to perk up but was still a bit nervous. Erasa smiled but had something to interject with.
"The only problem, she won't be in any of your classes. She's actually a year younger than you two," Erasa explained.
"That's ok, we'll be more than happy to have lunch with you," Bra said, still keeping happy and enthusiastic about it.
"And you'll have no problems making friends in your classes," Erasa assured her daughter with a kiss on the head. Kiera stepped away trying to wipe the kiss away, prompting a chuckle from the two mothers. Erasa turned back to Pan and Bra, "Thank you, girls. This will be good to help her get settled."
"Girls," Videl said, getting the attention of all the children, "Why don't you all go and browse around the shops so Erasa and I can have a proper catch-up."
The trio of girls agreed and then walked off together while Videl and Erasa stepped inside a café to have their chat. It was a little awkward at first with Pan and Bra not sure what to say right away. But then Bra stopped when she saw her favourite shop.
"Ooh! Pan. We have got to go in here!" She squealed before rushing out the next part of her sentence. "Remember than thing that I told you that I needed to get. Ooh, I hope they have my size!"
Bra turned around to face the shop and rushed on in. Pan turned to Kiera and chuckled nervously.
"Sorry about her, she gets very excitable very easily," Pan joked. Kiera smiled and laughed a little.
"I actually really like this shop too, to be honest," Kiera said, finally saying some more words. Pan looked to her and smiled. "They had one local to where I used to live."
Pan noticed that was clearly a bit of a sore topic for the young blonde, so she decided to take control and change the situation.
"Let's go see if we can find Bra," Pan said, as the two walked in together. Bra was already picking up a lot of things she liked and Pan just sighed and shook her head. Kiera looked on, a little wide-eyed.
"She really does love this store. Can she really afford all of that?" Kiera asked. Pan laughed again.
"She'll probably burn through all of her allowance if she keeps on like that, but yeah, she can afford it," Pan replied. Kiera still seemed very surprised by the way Bra was.
"So, that's what Capsule Corp. does to you, I guess," Kiera joked. Pan chuckled.
"Yep. She sure is lucky," Pan said, smiling. "Let's see if she needs our opinions on anything."
The trio walked around the shops for some time, with Bra picking up a few things that she liked and even offering to buy something for the other two girls, who both politely rejected the offer. On the little shopping trip Bra learned that Kiera had similar taste to her and even pointed out a few items that the blue-haired girl might like. This then prompted Bra to tell Kiera that she didn't need to dress so formally for school and that she would be willing to help the girl pick out some outfits in the future. Kiera liked that idea. As Bra was just going to pay for things Pan was distracted by something. But not something new.
She felt that energy again, and this time it felt like she was taken out of the location she was in and she completely ignored her surroundings. She prepared herself to feel something intense or bad, but that didn't come. She noticed there was a feeling of comfort. Sure, the negativity and hurt was still there, but for the moment whatever she could feel was in a positive space. Pan smiled to herself and relaxed just as Bra walked over.
"Shall we go back to your mom then?" Bra asked, holding a couple of bags. Kiera stood beside her with a smile. Pan smiled at the two of them and they went back to see Videl and Erasa.
Everybody said their goodbyes after that with Erasa and Kiera heading back to their home, with Kiera happily saying she'll see the girls at school the next day. Pan and Bra shared the sentiment. After that, Videl flew her capsule-jet back to West City to make sure that Bra got home safely and then mother and daughter made their way home. One the way there, Pan was deep in contemplative thought. She was questioning making a decision that she wasn't certain about and worried what her mother would to say.
"You've been very quiet, are you ok?" Videl asked. Pan was brought back into reality. "What are you thinking about?"
Pan remained silent and looked out of the window at the passing fields. Should she really say something? What harm could it do?
"I've been feeling something recently, an energy… I don't quite understand it," Pan finally said, she immediately felt some sort of weight lift off of her chest, but there was still an anxiety surrounding what her mother's response would be.
"As in a threat?" Videl questioned. Pan shook her head.
"No. I don't feel that in this person," Pan explained. If she was to be honest with herself, she couldn't really put her finger on what she was feeling. It was all so confusing.
"Well, if it was a threat, your father or someone else would have felt it too, so I don't think there's anything to worry about," Videl explained, trying to keep the situation calm. She knew it was odd, and she would probably have to say something to Gohan about it, but she had the ability to sense energy and couldn't feel anything. Pan wasn't satisfied with the answer her mother gave her but accepted it.
"It's probably nothing," Pan said, looking away out of the window again.
The rest of the evening went by just like normal. Pan had dinner with her parents, did some homework, and then went to bed. All normal.
Then later that night when she was sleeping, peacefully, something alerted her mind and forced her awake. Pan jumped up in her bed, in a panic, and could feel a huge pulse of energy zap right through her. She was breathing heavily and felt like she had been attacked by something. She was frightened. Something had shot right through her heart and now that she was awake, she could feel it. Fear. Sadness. Rage. All of it had cut right through Pan and it terrified and worried her.
She rushed to her window, opening the curtains and looked out into the sky. As quickly as the whole ordeal had happened to her it all vanished again. She began to calm down and stepped back to sit on her bed. Suddenly, Pan was very tired and lay back down on her bed, looking out of the window, her curtains still open.
"Who are you?" She wondered to herself before drifting off back to sleep.
Characters Seen/Mentioned in this Chapter:
Pan
Chloe (OC)
Bra
Videl
Erasa
Kiera (OC)
Son Gohan
