Twenty pairs of eyes locked onto him, and the sight made him silently curse his mother.
"Ah, you must be the new kid," a middle-aged man said. Shaking the half-Saiyan's hand, the teacher invited Gohan inside.
"Class, we have a new transfer student today," he announced. "Why don't you introduce yourself, son? Tell the class your name and where you moved from."
Gohan cleared his throat. Public speaking wasn't ideal, but he supposed he could handle a simple introduction. "Hi," he started. "My name is Son Gohan. And I actually didn't move from anywhere, it's just the first time I've been in a public school. I've been home-taught my entire life."
Nodding, the teacher added, "Well, that certainly explains the excellent grades." Turning to Gohan, he said, "Go ahead and find a seat. You're just in time for us to begin."
The man walked back to his desk, fiddling with the lock on his briefcase. Gohan stood dumbly for a second, scanning the room for an empty chair. Spotting one, he moved up the stairs on the side of the room.
"Hey, Son," the girl next to him whispered. "I'm Erasa. Nice to meet you."
"Oh, hi," Gohan replied. "Nice to meet you, too."
She giggled at his manners before facing the blackboard once again.
"Huh, so this is high school," Gohan silently mused. "This isn't bad at all."
He had hoped the morning lessons would be interesting, but it seemed that his mother had already taught him what they were learning.
He grimaced as his stomach growled again.
"Alright, class," his teacher said. "I'll see you tomorrow. You are dismissed."
"Ah, lunchtime," he muttered to himself, a goofy grin plastered across his face. He wanted to run straight out of the room, but settled for a fast walk instead. Reaching his new locker, he fumbled with the combination for a minute before opening it. Retrieving his lunch, he placed his book bag inside.
"Hey, Son!"
Gohan spun around, startled by the voice behind him.
Erasa stood nearly a foot and a half shorter than him, her short, blonde bob just reaching his pecs.
"Oops!" she said, sheepish. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
"You're fine," he gushed, a little embarrassed by his reaction. His nerves were nearly fried from years of combat, but he hoped it didn't show. "I was just heading to lunch."
"Do you wanna sit with me and my friends?" she offered. "It must suck to not know anybody."
"That'd be great, thanks," he said, grateful for the companionship. He shut his locker, careful not to dent the flimsy steel. They walked side-by-side to the cafeteria, Erasa's purple lunch box dangling from her fingertips.
"So, you were homeschooled?" She asked, holding the door open for him.
"Thank you," he said, following her into the large space, cluttered tables spaced only two feet apart. "And yeah, my mom's made me study from the moment I could start to talk."
"Why didn't she ever enrol you in a regular school?" Erasa inquired, making small talk as she searched for her friends.
Gohan frowned. "I don't actually know," he admitted. "My mom's always been a little crazy, but she means well. She probably thought I'd be smarter if I had individual attention or something."
"Well, I think it worked," Erasa said with a wink. Gohan felt his face flush. "Wow, thanks," he said. "I sure try."
"What's Nerd Boy doing here?" A deep voice said. Gohan looked down to see a boy about his height and build sitting next to a girl with dark hair. Since Erasa was so friendly, Gohan had been expecting her friends to be much the same. It seemed he was mistaken.
"Hush, Sharpener!" Erasa admonished. "His name is Son, not Nerd Boy!"
"Son?" Gohan interrupted. "You can just call me Gohan if you want."
"Wait, is Son your first name or your family name?" Erasa asked, taking a seat. Gohan sat next to her, a quizzical look on his face.
The girl with dark hair lifted an eyebrow. "You introduced yourself as Son Gohan, right?"
Seeing him nod, she frowned. "That's unusual," she continued. "Most people around here use the modern naming system. You know, first name before last name. Where do you live?"
Gohan blinked. "Wow, you're perceptive," he said with a grin. "I completely forgot about that! I live on Mount Paozu."
"Mount Paozu?" Sharpener inquired. "Where the hell is that? There's no mountains around here."
"It's in the 439 East Mountain District, on the edge of the Ox Kingdom."
"Whoa," Erasa said, surprised. "No wonder you were homeschooled. I bet there's no school near you anyway!"
"So why are you all the way out here?" The dark-haired girl asked. Her brow furrowed in disdain, as if her blue eyes dissected his every word. "I know the Ox Kingdom is fairly small, but surely you guys have a high school there."
"I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name," Gohan said politely.
He received a series of strange looks. "You mean, you don't recognize her?" Erasa asked.
"What?" Gohan replied, equally confused.
"Videl is Mr. Satan's daughter," Sharpener scoffed. "Geez, you don't get television out in the countryside?"
Gohan recoiled, quickly looking to Videl for confirmation. Her expressionless face stared back at him, as if daring him to challenge the claim.
"Oh," Gohan said flatly, his good mood quieting down a bit.
"Oh?" Videl repeated.
Closing his eyes in a grimace, Gohan had a feeling his classmates wouldn't like what he was about to do next.
"Sorry, I should get going," he lied. "I just remembered something else I have to do."
Mouth agape, Sharpener watched Gohan pickup his untouched bento boxes.
Sharpener leaned forward. "Seriously?" he asked. "You meet the champ's daughter and you act like you've got better things to do? You should be thanking her!"
Videl opened her mouth to silence her rowdy friend.
"Why?" Gohan replied without thinking. The venom in his voice made Videl blink in surprise. "It's not like she did anything."
"What's your deal?" Sharpener demanded, smacking his hands down against the table. "Her dad's literally the strongest man in the world, which makes her the second strongest. She could kick your ass in the blink of an eye!"
The last of Gohan's restraint broke away, and he felt annoyance spark through his veins. Feeling his back begin to tingle, the boy turned to leave. He certainly didn't want to lose control and transform in front of ordinary humans.
"Shut up, Sharp!" Videl yelled. "I'm not a damsel in distress. I can fight my own damn battles!" She turned to Gohan. "And you. I'm guessing you're not a fan of my dad, huh?"
Her tone of voice had changed, and Gohan didn't quite know if she would be angry with him. "You could say that," Gohan answered, trying to answer honestly without coming across as rude.
Nobody spoke for a few seconds. Vid looked like she was contemplating something, and finally said, "Well, I'm not gonna blow a gasket over that. It's weird, but it's a relief not having another guy in this school fawn over me."
The rest of the table gaped in response, but Gohan smiled in relief. There was definitely something different about that girl. He supposed she was cute- despite The Talk his mother had given him, he still didn't feel anything in particular toward girls. He wondered if she would at least make a good friend.
"Well, what kind of car do you drive, Gohan?" Erasa said, trying to further diffuse the situation. "Since you live so far away, you must have a really good one, right?"
Videl eyed the tall boy as he answered Erasa, telling her that he flew to school on a fairly fast jet.
"The schools in the kingdom are fairly isolated, which is why I wanted to come here instead," he added. "Orange Star High is actually closer to my home than either of the two high schools in the kingdom-"
While Videl didn't believe her father had defeated Cell, she never imagined she'd encounter someone who didn't worship her father. It was refreshing to say the least, and she decided she would tolerate the strange boy.
After lunch, their history class passed by rather uneventfully.
"So, we have one more class, right?" Gohan asked. Right after their teacher had left, Sharpener went to the front of the room to goof around with his friends, and Erasa was taking her time in the bathroom.
Videl looked up at the sound of his voice. "Yep," she said, noticing the empty seats next to them. "We've just got Biology next."
"Cool," Gohan said. "I love biology. It's probably my favourite subject."
"Really?" Videl asked, deciding small talk wouldn't be a total waste of time. While she didn't particularly find him interesting, she wouldn't go so far as to be rude to him. "My favourite class is probably gym. Why weren't you in our class by the way?"
"Oh, I requested a study period instead," Gohan said. "I don't want to take gym in case I fall behind academically."
"Wow, you really are into books," she muttered, wishing she hadn't asked.
"Are you into martial arts like your dad?" Gohan asked, hoping you keep their conversation going.
She visibly perked up. "Yep," she said proudly. "In fact, I plan on taking away his championship belt later this year."
"Wait, when's the next World Martial Arts Tournament?" he asked, wondering if he misheard her.
"It's in a few weeks," she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You mean you didn't know?
Seeing him shake his head, Videl shrugged and said, "You should come watch me fight. You might learn something." She smirked.
Thinking it over for only a moment, he replied, "Well, why not? Sure, I'll be there."
He returned a smirk of his own.
"Absolutely not."
"But, Mom-"
"I said no, Gohan!" Chi-Chi yelled over her shoulder.
"Why though?" he questioned. "Think about how much fun it could be."
She tensed. Scrubbing the dirty pan harder, water splashed around the rim of the sink. The stubborn Son family had been arguing since Gohan came home from school that day, and neither was making any headway in the conversation.
"No, Gohan," she repeated. "Tournaments are dangerous. Did you know I almost watched your father die at the 23rd? And do I need to even remind you what happened at the Cell Games?"
"Wait, is that why you were so against me learning how to fight as a kid?" he asked, understanding lighting up his dark eyes. "Because Piccolo almost killed Dad?"
"Yes," she breathed, the sound barely audible over her incessant scrubbing. Noticing the pan had been clean for quite some time now, she abruptly stopped.
When Chi-Chi turned around, Gohan saw the tears gathering in her eyes. "As a little girl, I fought only for fun. But your father… he fought to save the world, over and over and over again. And that's something I will always regret him passing on to you."
"Mom," he said, feeling lost. He hated to see her so upset, but he had a duty to uphold. He didn't know what to say- any comforting words would only be lies at this point.
She knew that, too. "Don't say anything," she said. "You don't have to tell me everything's going to be alright, or that you'll never fight again. Because I know that there will come a time when you have to. But I'm hoping it's not for a very, very long time."
He took a step forward and wrapped his arms around his mother's shoulders. "I love you, Mom," he said, firm. "And I won't fight in the tournament if you don't want me to."
She squeezed him. "Thank you, son." Letting him go, she took a step back, craning her neck to look at his face.
"But I'm sure it'd be fine to go see your friend fight," she said, placing her hands in either side of his face as if inspecting him. "You cheering her on isn't as bad."
He brightened. "Really? Thanks, Mom!"
She nodded, removing her hands to resume washing dishes. With a small smile, she watched him from the corner of her eye. He walked to his bedroom with a spring in his step, clearly off to a good start at his new school.
She sighed, murmuring, "I wish he didn't have to grow up so fast."