After lunch - and a few relatively uneventful classes - Sharpener, Erasa, Videl, and Gohan were headed to their last class of the day: gym. Sharpener was going on about how he looked forward to showing Gohan how a 'real' athlete did things. Gohan, however, wasn't paying any attention. He was too busy trying to come up with a way to somehow hide his strength.

Gohan had never really been around many humans that weren't abnormally powerful, and he had no idea what passed as 'normal' when it came to strength. He hoped he could just sit on the sidelines and wouldn't have to actually do anything. He couldn't risk doing something out of the ordinary, especially with Videl around.

By the time the four of them had reached the gym, Gohan had himself thoroughly worked up. He didn't realize how high-strung he was at that moment until Sharpener patted his shoulder and he let out a loud yelp.

Sharpener jumped a bit. "Whoa, Brains! Chill! I was just trying to tell you that we need to get changed." He was too caught off-guard to make any of his usual smart comments.

"Wow, Gohan," Erasa giggled a bit, "you must be really nervous!"

Videl nodded. "Makes sense," she scanned his torso quickly, "I doubt gym's his favorite subject." She was about to chuckle at her own remark when she saw the offended and slightly hurt look in Gohan's eyes. She disguised her almost-chuckle with a curt cough. Man, that sounded a lot less rude in my head. What is wrong with me today? I'm not usually like this with civilians.

The emotion in Gohan's eyes left as soon as it had come. He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah…"

Sharpener cleared his throat. "Well, Brains, we better get changed!" Before Gohan could respond, he was dragged into the changing room, while Videl experienced something similar with Erasa.

"Alright Videl, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Videl stopped fiddling with her locker to look up at her usually bubbly blonde friend.

"With you and Gohan!" Erasa looked around before continuing. "You've been treating him like a petty criminal all day!"

"W-what are you talking about?" Videl knew what she was talking about. "No i haven't!" She knew she had been, and she had no idea why. She was convinced he was hiding something, but she didn't really have any reason to suspect him of anything. She didn't have any reason to believe that he was anything but a normal teenager. Why was she suspicious of him again? A vibe she got? She shook her head at how ridiculous she was being.

"Hello, Videl!" Erasa waved her hand in front of her friend's face. "That thoughtful expression tells me you know exactly what you've been doing!" She huffed, "be nice to Gohan, he's new!"

Videl sighed. She knew Erasa was right. "Yeah, okay," she frowned, "I'll try."

Gohan, meanwhile, had been sitting on one of the benches in the men's changing room, waiting for everyone else to leave before changing. He had briefly wondered why there were separate rooms for girls and boys, but he shrugged it off as just another weird thing about 'normal' society.

"Hey, Brains!" Sharpener had seen Gohan brooding on the bench and decided to try and cheer him up. He didn't know him very well, but there was just something about Gohan looking down that made Sharpener uneasy. He lifted his hand to pat Gohan's shoulder, but decided against it. "Aren't you gonna get changed?"

"Oh, well..." Gohan decided he didn't have to lie for this one. "I'd rather wait until I'm alone…"

Sharpener laughed. The laugh was cocky, but not unkind. "Ah, I get it. You don't want people seeing how much muscle you don't have!" Sharpener flexed to himself and gave Gohan a smile that was somehow both comforting and condescending. "Don't worry, there are stalls you can use behind there." He pointed to an odd cinderblock wall that just kind of ended about four feet from the end of the room.

"Thank you!" Truthfully, Gohan didn't think he would make it out of the changing room on time every day if he had to wait for everyone else to leave. He skipped happily to one of the stalls, gym bag in hand.

Sharpener just shook his head at the sight. Kid's like a dog…

"Alright, kids," the coach clapped his hands, "today you'll be battling it out in the great sport of baseball!"

The four sort-of friends had regrouped. All were wearing tank tops and shorts. That is, except for Gohan and Videl; the former wearing a navy blue long-sleeve t-shirt with gray sweatpants and baseball cap, with the latter wearing her usual large white t-shirt and black shorts. Erasa had winced upon laying her eyes on Gohan's outfit, but elected not to say anything.

Videl decided this would be her opportunity to be a bit nicer to Gohan. After all, she didn't want this poor kid thinking she hated him for no reason. She mustered up the friendliest voice she could. "Hey, Gohan. Aren't you hot in that?"

Erasa bit back a chuckle at that comment, but no-one picked up on it.

Gohan examined his shirt briefly before looking back up at videl. "Not really, no. I like long-sleeves." He nodded in agreement with himself.

"Who care's about that?" Sharpener adopted his usual self-assured smile. "Hey, mountain boy, you know what baseball is?"

Gohan didn't catch the mocking tone of Sharpener's question. "Well, I've read about it. Never played it, though."

The gym coach cleared his throat, ending their conversation. "Team captains are Sharpener and Videl. You may begin when you're ready."

The two captains picked their members one by one until they were left with just two choices. Sharpener picked Angela, so Videl was stuck with Gohan. Great, this guy…

Gohan visibly winced at Videl's annoyed expression. At first he'd thought she'd been onto him, but no he was beginning to suspect that she just didn't like him. He sighed dejectedly. What did I do?

Videl looked at Gohan and shook her head. No, I'm doing it again! Be nice, Videl! She lost the glare she didn't realized she'd been shooting him and tried for a kind smile, but quickly gave it up and returned to her resting face. "Alright, you're on right field." She thought for a moment. "...You do know where that is, right?"

"Right! It's to the right, right?" Gohan laughed a bit at his own statement. If his mouth wasn't covered with that surgical mask, Videl would be seeing one of the dorkiest grins to ever exist. She fought back a smile and tried her best to look annoyed.

"Right…"

Gohan's time in the outfield passed uneventfully, with Videl striking the first three batters out with ease. Gohan was relieved to say the least.

His relief was short-lived, however, as his turn to bat came much quicker than he'd hoped. He trudged to the batter box and tried to emulate what he'd seen his classmates doing.

"Uh, kid?"

Gohan looked up to see the coach giving him a look he couldn't discern. "Yes?"

"You're in the left-handed box."

"Is...is that bad?" Gohan stood upright.

"No, it's just-" the coach sighed. "Y'know what? Whatever you're comfortable with, kid."

Gohan nodded and tried to repeat the position he'd been in previously. Sharpener, who was on the pitcher's mound, snickered at Gohan's posture. What a nerd! I'll just give him a little scare...

Sharpener wound his arm back and smirked mischievously. After a few short moments he threw the ball as hard as he could, right at Gohan's head. Alright Gohan, now show us how much of a wimp you are and jump out of the way!

Gohan furrowed his brow. This doesn't look right! I thought the ball was supposed to be thrown at the bat, but that looks like it's headed for-

The ball collided straight with Gohan's temple. At 90 MPH. Everyone went silent. Sharpener's stomach sank. I-IDIOT! You were supposed to DODGE!

Oddly enough, the only one who seemed unaffected was Gohan, who was just standing there looking confused. The only sign that he had even been hit in the first place was the fact that his head was tilted slightly to the left. What happens when you get hit with the ball again? Oh, right!

Gohan pointed to where he'd been hit. "This means I walk, right?"

The coach picked up his slacked jaw and blinked at him. "No, Gohan, it means you go to the nurse."

"The nurse?" Gohan pouted a bit in thought. "Why? I'm not hurt or anything."

Videl couldn't lie, her first thought was that Gohan was invincible or something. How could he be completely uninjured?! But then she thought about it a bit and remembered reading somewhere that people with serious head injuries sometimes wouldn't feel the pain from it until long after they got hurt. Her eyes widened. What if he has a concussion?

"I'll take him to the nurse, sir!" Videl walked over to Gohan and grabbed his arm, thinking he might pass out suddenly. "He might be seriously injured."

The coach nodded. "Yes, thank you, Videl."

Gohan was baffled. Why were they taking him to the nurse? Was he missing something? And why was Videl gripping his arm like that? He'd need to ask his mom about all this once he got home.

"C'mon, Gohan," Videl said in an unusually gentle voice, "let's go." She began leading him to their destination.

Gohan frowned. "Videl, this is really nice of you and all, but I can walk on my own."

"Maybe for now, but what if you collapse? I don't want you bashing your head and worsening it." Videl was used to tending to injured hostages until the ambulances would arrive, and that's the exact mindset she was in at that moment. All her suspicions of Gohan were temporarily replaced with worry.

Gohan couldn't help but smile. Wow, maybe she doesn't hate me! I guess I'm just bad at reading people.

They stopped in front of a heavy-looking wooden door. Gohan guessed this was the nurse's office. Videl opened the door and carefully guided Gohan inside.

"Can I help you?" The nurse slid out of a small office-looking thing inside of the office on a computer chair.

"Yes, Gohan here got hit right in the temple with one of Sharpener's pitches. I think he might have a concussion or something, he says he doesn't feel any pain."

The nurse's expression hardened. "That certainly isn't a good sign." He stood up and took Gohan's other arm, leading him to sit on one of the cots. "Here, let me examine the injury."

After a few minutes of poking and prodding at Gohan's head, the nurse was left was dumbfounded. "Are you sure he was actually hit?"

Videl put her hands on her hips. "Yes, why?"

"I'm not seeing any signs of injury anywhere. He seems completely fine to me."

Gohan nodded - the first sign of him being conscious in quite a while. "See? Told ya I was fine!"

Videl mistook his playful tone for a mocking one, and she did not like that perceived attitude of his. "WELL EXCUSE ME FOR WORRYING ABOUT YOU!" She sent him a chilling glare before turning around and stomping out of the room. Gohan's jaw went slack.

"Did...did I do something wrong?"

anyone else find it kinda weird that school nurses are almost always women?