Quick Study
Videl couldn't believe her miserable luck. All day long everything had been going wrong, and it made her want to scream. Or punch someone. Or both. Both sounded nice.
First there had been breakfast, where she woke up and found out that someone had messed up ordering the food that week and came back from the market with a massive amount of spinach, Videl's least favorite green. In order to use it all up before it could go bad, their chef decided to incorporate the veggie into all his dishes for the week, which her father wholeheartedly approved of but Videl absolutely did not. Still, there was nothing she could do but attempt to choke down a spinach and mushroom omelette and try desperately not to gag on her breakfast, which was far from the best way to start a morning. Then her father spilled coffee all over the trigonometry homework she'd been reviewing when he got excited about some news report about a speech he had given the day before. Her trig teacher, Mr. Cartesian, was super strict about sloppiness and would mark a paper down if it was crumpled or stained, even if the work was otherwise correct, so she'd have to recopy the whole thing now if she wanted to get a decent grade.
Dejectedly shoving her ruined work into her school bag and grabbing her boots, Videl decided that there was nothing she could do but try and recopy the work during homeroom and her first period Science Class, where they had been dealing with a solid month of substitute teachers. She never ended up making it there, though on her way there, since she only got about halfway to school before her communicator blared to left her know there was a crime in progress.
The news of the robbery at Satan City Bank actually excited her at first, since it gave her an outlet to take her aggression out before school. Unfortunately her jetcopter was still out for repairs, which meant she'd have to try and get to the bank on foot. It was on her way to school though, so Videl was sure she'd make it with time to spare and probably even beat the cops there since they had to navigate through morning traffic. So she was more than a little surprised when she got to the scene and found that the criminals had already been apprehended even though there wasn't a police car in sight.
"What happened?" Videl demanded to the shell shocked man sitting on the steps to Satan City Bank. She blinked down in surprise then the man wordlessly offered her his wrists before looking up again and finally noticing the fear in the man's eyes.
"I tried to rob the bank," the man confessed to the stunned teen. "And a week ago, I robbed the convenience store on the corner of Satyr Street and Demon Drive. I stole a car about six months ago, and took a kid's bike when I was a teenager after I beat him up-!"
"Whoa, whoa! What are you doing?" Videl asked taking a step back in confusion. This was weird, and not at all what she had been expecting to deal with when she arrived on the scene.
"Confessing to my crimes," the self proclaimed bank robber told the teenager earnestly. "You're Videl Satan, right? You work with the cops. If you take me in, then he won't come after me."
"He? Who's he?" Videl demanded, eyes narrowing.
"I don't know. I don't want to know. I just don't wanna make him mad. I don't wanna end up like them," the crook told her, glancing anxiously over his shoulder and into the bank. Following his gaze, Videl's eyes widened when she saw the four men tied together in the middle of the bank's lobby. Leaving the shaken man standing on the steps, Videl slowly made her way into the building. After a quick glance at the civilians revealed them all to be fine, the girl focused her attention on the unconscious criminals in the middle of the room.
It quickly became clear to her that the men had taken a beating. Three of the four were badly bruised, and one looked like someone had beaten his face in with a brick. Glancing around, Videl noticed several guns that had been discarded off to the side, next to a pile of spent ammunition. This wouldn't have been all that remarkable, except one of the guns had been twisted like a pretzel.
No way can that be real. Videl thought to herself, walking over to the gun and picking it up to examine it. It felt like solid metal in her hands, but what on earth could have managed to mangle the weapon so much? It looked like something out of a Saturday morning cartoon, for crying out loud! Tearing her eyes away from the gun, Videl once again looked over the civilians that were lingering nearby. Her eyes eventually settled on a blond man in the bank's uniform who was trying to reassure an older woman. Setting her jaw in a determined scowl, Videl half marched over to the man, crossing her arms in front of her as she gave him her steeliest, most no-nonsense look.
"What happened here?" She demanded, eyes never leaving the man as he jumped slightly at suddenly being addressed by the teen before his eyes widened in recognition.
"Videl Satan?" he said, looking surprised at her appearance.
"Who did all this?" Videl asked, slightly more impatiently this time.
"I… I don't know. It all happened so fast," the bank teller told her, looking dazed as he shook his head. "One minute, there were a bunch of men with guns robbing the safes, and the next thing I knew some teenage boy came in. He beat them all up with his bare hands, and walked out of here like it was no big deal."
"It was so cool!" a little boy jumped in, looking excited despite the harrowing experience he'd just been through. "He caught bullets with his bare hands! And he hit one of the bad guys so hard that he went flying right into the wall!" Videl's eyes widened when she looked in the direction the boy pointed and saw an indent in the drywall where the robber had apparently been tossed.
"Did anybody get this guy's name?" Videl asked, frowning to herself. Knowing that someone was running around doing her job didn't sit very well with the junior martial arts champion and she wanted to make an assessment of this newcomer as soon as she possibly could, before he could potentially become a threat.
"Nuh-huh. He looked weird though. He was all glowy and gold, and his eyes were totally green. No black part to them at all, you know?" the boy told her. Videl's eyebrows furrowed together at that information, a little perplexed. That didn't sound natural at all. Maybe he wore colored contacts to help disguise his appearance? But why would some random passerby go to those sort of lengths not to be recognized if they were going to jump in and stop a bank robbery? It wasn't like that was illegal or anything
...Unless there was more going on here than it seemed.
Videl's eyes narrowed a little as the gears turned in her head. It all seemed a little too coincidental in her eyes. Some random teen with the strength to stop five armed robbers bare-handed just happening to have a disguise on hand so that witnesses wouldn't be able to positively identify him later? That seemed like less of a good samaritan in the right place at the right time to help and much more calculated and intentional. Like this so-called hero knew something was going to happen and, instead of contacting the authorities so it could be stopped in the first place, this guy decided to use it to show off and get people to notice him for some reason. To what ends, Videl couldn't say, but it definitely didn't look innocent from where she stood.
Before Videl could ponder this any further she heard sirens blare out from the streets, heralding the arrival of the police force. With one last reluctant glance around the bank, the crimefighter left to speak to the chief about what had happened. She couldn't do anything now, after all. The rest of the scene had to be left for the CSI to pick over and find clues. As she pushed opened the glass doors that separated the outside from the bank, Videl heard her cell phone chime off to alert her to an incoming text. Frowning a little, the girl pulled it out to check and make sure there wasn't some new emergency somewhere, but quickly relaxed when she was it was from Erasa.
[guess wht? we got some1 2 fill in 4 Mattur!] the text read. Videl's eyes widened a little in surprise at the news. Principal Stern finally hired someone? The man was notorious for being exceptionally picky about his staff, which was one of the reasons why Orange Star High School had such a good reputation. And ever since Ms. Mattur had to leave and make the trip back to her home in North City to take care of her ailing mother they'd had a parade of substitute teachers, which was frustrating for Videl. Science had always been one of her favorite classes and it sucked to have it reduced to busy work from subs while they struggled to get a new teacher hired in.
Glancing up from her phone, Videl double checked to see if the chief was busy, and saw him addressing some of the cops that had arrived on the scene, issuing out orders for how to proceed. It'd be some time before he got over to her to ask for her account, so Videl had time to shoot a quick text back to her friend.
[Seriously? For real this time?] Videl asked, interested in seeing how much Erasa knew. Her friend was Orange Star High School's queen of gossip, after all.
[ 4real!]
[hes some super genius CapCorp]
[miss comma said hes young. just outta school hmself]
[super cute 2, i here ;)))]
Videl rolled her eyes at that, a smile of fond exasperation making its way to her face.
[Down girl. Your parents will murder you if you try to flirt with a teacher, even if he is young.] she reminded her friend with a grin. She had to admit though, the news that their teacher was going to be a little closer to their age did sound somewhat promising. Someone in their mid to late twenties remembered being a teenager much better than the fourty, fifty, even sixty year old teachers who were in charge of the other classes.
[boo]
[ur no fun V]
[If your idea of fun is hitting on a new teacher then I'm happy to hear that.] Videl retorted.
"Miss Satan?" The Police Chief called out as he approached. Videl hastily shut her phone off and slipped it back into her pocket before turning her attention completely to the man approaching her. While many of the cops she worked with used the phones on duty as long as nothing more important was going on, she still didn't want to be accused of being unprofessional on the scene of a crime since her age sometimes made it hard for the officers to take her seriously.
"Morning, Chief," Videl greeted with a nod of respect.
"I take it you got the witness reports?" Chief said knowingly, smiling slightly when Videl gave an exasperated sigh in response. "We've already gotten a few reports about what happened, but it all seems a little crazy if you ask me. Did you happen to see anything?"
"Sorry, I must have just missed it. Everything was already like this when I got here," Videl admitted grudgingly.
"Quick work. Whoever did this was in and out in under five minutes. And I have ten eyewitnesses swearing they watched him fly off like some kind of superhero."
"You don't honestly believe that, do you Chief?" Videl asked, scoffing a little at the comparison. Her father had taught her long ago that heroes were human, not flashy show offs with crazy powers. That was why she worked so hard to apprehend criminals, so that other people knew that too. She wanted to be a symbol of hope, someone who inspired others to be strong, just like her Dad did.
"Don't get so riled up, Videl," the Chief told her with a chuckle, clearly seeing how much this newcomer irritated the young fighting prodigy. "I'm sure we'll get to the bottom if this soon. We've already got the bank to agree to hand over all their security tapes, and I have a patrol car about to head out to check the areas in the direction our mystery hero was seen flying off in."
"Glad to hear it," Videl said with an approving nod before sighing in frustration. "Unfortunately, I'm probably not going to be able to help much now that the fighting is all over. I'd better head back to school. We have a new teacher who's starting today, so I want to make a good first impression."
"Would you like a ride?" The Police Chief offered kindly. "The patrol car who's going to be looking for our golden friend is heading that direction anyways. Officer Beat and Officer D'Patch can drop you off before they start their search."
This newcomer flew off towards her school? What could he have been heading for in that direction? Did he think that she was already there, and he was trying to to intercept her maybe? After all, if she'd had her jetcopter, she would have been in class when she got the call about the robbery, so that was entirely possible. Filing this theory away to consider later, Videl gave the Police Chief a small, grateful smile at his offer.
"Thank you, Chief. I'd really appreciate a ride," she said, following the Chief as he made his way over to Beat and D'Patch to get her the ride. At least this way, she stood a chance of making it to class in time, or at least not too late to get a read on the new teacher.
Maybe things were starting to look up for her.
Unbelievable. Un- FREAKING -believable.
For a second, Videl wondered if this was some sort of elaborate prank or something. What kind of high school hired a teenager to teach science after all? But, as said teen took his place comfortably in front of the classroom and introduced himself to his stunned students, Videl was forced to accept that this was no joke.
So much for her luck turning around. Of course with the morning she'd been having she'd find a way to charge into the new teacher like some sort of out of control bull, then proceed to insult his clothes and spend a good few minutes making it clear that she thought he was beneath her before she found out that the other teen was her new homeroom and science teacher.
Now that she was privy to that little fact, part of Videl wanted to find a nice comfortable rock to hide under for the rest of the school year, until her embarrassment finally faded.
"I just earned my Masters in Education last year from West University, and spent a couple months student-teaching at Senior High School in West City while and part timing at Capsule Corp and studying to get my Doctorate of Science," Mr. Son- as Mr. Chawak firmly reminded the class to address the new teacher- was informing the shell-shocked teens cheerfully as he casually walked around the front of the classroom. "After I finished the semester, I decided I wanted to try and teach somewhere a little closer to my home while I work on my thesis for my doctorate, which is why I chose Orange Star High. I spend most of my free time reading or hanging out with my little brother or friends of the family, and I also like exploring the mountains near my home."
Videl had to hand it to him, despite his age 'Mr. Son' almost seemed professional as he rattled off his rather impressive credentials. She was starting to see why Principal Stern had agreed to hire the apparent genius. As someone else who spent a lot of time trying to be taken seriously when she was the only teenager in a room full of adults, Videl could almost respect him for being able to compose himself so well that you almost forgot how young he was. Unfortunately since she was watching the new teacher closely, Videl caught the way he was clearly trying not to laugh every time he looked in her direction and it took everything in her not to scowl right back at him.
She knew she made an idiot of herself in the hall earlier, did he really have to rub it in?!
"Does anyone have any questions for me before we get started covering the curriculum for the rest of the year?" Mr. Son asked, smiling encouragingly at the students. He hadn't even finished speaking before Erasa's hand was high in the air, a bright smile on her cheerful round face that had Videl instantly suspicious of the other girl's intentions. She hadn't forgotten the texts she got that morning, and now that she actually saw this new teacher for herself- "Yes, you there Miss…?"
"Erasa. Erasa Rubba," Videl's blonde best friend introduced herself happily to the new teacher. "Do you have a girlfriend?" Giggles erupted throughout the class as Mr. Chawak scowled up at Erasa, face going red. For her part, Videl just sighed, burying her hands in her face in dismay. Really? Was Erasa REALLY going to be that shameless?
"Miss Rubba! That is NOT an appropriate question for an educator!" Mr. Chawak said hotly as Erasa did her best to look innocent.
"It's fine, Mr. Chawak. I get a lot worse from my University friends and colleagues at Capsule Corp.," Mr. Son assured the older teacher with a sheepish smile. "No, Miss Erasa, I don't. And I'm not looking to change that any time soon no matter how much my mother has started demanding grandkids now that I have my diploma," some of the students laughed again at the look of long suffering on the young teacher's face as he said that, though Videl got the sense it wasn't actually meant as a joke.
"Have you ever met Bulma Briefs?" a studious brunette near the front asked eagerly, eyes sparkling with interest as the mention of Capsule Corp.
"Sure have. On top of being a brilliant scientist, Bulma's a long time and loyal friend of my family," Mr. Son answered, an honest and affectionate smile making its way to his face as he spoke of the infamous woman.
"If you're so smart or whatever, why'd you decide to be a teacher?" Sharpner asked rather rudely as he gave the teacher an unimpressed look. "I mean, couldn't you be making a billion zeni doing science stuff at Capsule Corp instead of slumming it here?" Erasa gave Sharpner a disapproving frown at his tone, but Videl leaned forward, interested in hearing how their new teacher answered this question when she saw his perpetually cheerful grin fade slightly for a more serious expression.
"When I was a kid I had a teacher who helped me through some pretty crazy stuff. His guidance saved my life, and gave me the strength to step up and take care of my family after we lost my Dad. So when I got to University and had to think more seriously about what I wanted to do, I realized that I wanted to be like him. To be there for someone the way my mentor was there for me." The serious, sincere confession had Videl's eyes widening slightly as the room fell silent in the wake of the teacher's response, making the teenage genius fidget uncomfortably in front of his students. "So, uh… any more questions?" he asked, looking a little anxious. Most likely he regretted getting so personal in his answer to the blond jock's question. He must not have realized how dropping a bomb like that on a bunch of teenagers could make things instantly awkward.
For a moment, Videl considered the other teen as he squirmed around, desperately looking for an out of some sort as everyone else stared at him and the silence only grew more tense. A large part of her wanted to just let the new teacher suffer. He had no problem laughing at her earlier when she felt like an idiot after making a fool of herself in front of him, after all. But tempting as that was she was actually starting to feel a little sorry for the guy. He clearly had no idea that his confession would cause the sudden shift in atmosphere. People just didn't know how to deal with heavy topics if they weren't expecting it to come up in a conversation. Videl ought to know, since she'd had to deal with similar awkwardness ever since her mom died.
With that in mind, Videl took pity on the other teen and raised her hand in the air, getting a relieved smile from Mr. Son when the motion caught his attention.
"Yes, Miss Videl? You have a question?"
"Why science?" Videl asked. It seemed like a safe subject compared to the much more personal questions her friends had asked, and she was genuinely curious. "I mean, if you wanted to get into teaching, then couldn't you have picked any subject, or maybe teach little kids instead of at a high school level?"
"I've always liked maths and sciences. Part of that was growing up around Bulma. I got to see a lot of crazy and cool things in her lab ever since I was a kid, and it always impressed me. Mostly, though, I just like finding out why things are the way they are. Science is about the knowledge of the world we live in, pure and simple. Learning the whys and hows of everything around us, and life itself. Everything from the smallest bacteria to the vast galaxy we live in can be explained when you look at it from a scientific point of view, and it's all fascinating to learn about." A lot of the class seemed to start losing interest as their new teacher explained this, but Videl found herself getting intrigued. She'd always been an inquisitive girl after all, so she sort of understood where the new teacher was coming from. Mysteries and puzzles fascinated her, which was one of the reasons part of her mind was lingering on the strange crime scene she had seen this morning.
"Then can you explain the crazy stuff that happened at Satan City Bank this morning?" Videl asked, curious to see if her new teacher could offer some sort of explanation for the strange new hero. To her surprise, her question seemed to make the new teacher go white as a sheet for some reason.
"T-the bank? This morning?" he repeated with a anxious laugh as he rubbed the back of his head, a nervous tell if Videl ever saw one. "Sorry, but I don't know anything about that."
"She's talking about the Gold Fighter!" Erasa supplied helpfully. "I hear he's some hero who's spent a lot of time helping people in West City, but this morning he was spotted stopping a bank robbery here in Satan City! He uses all kinds of cool powers to beat up all the criminals, like flying and shooting energy from his hand and stuff!" He was from West City originally? Videl made a mental note to corner her friend later to see where she got this information from.
"Oh please," Sharpner scoffed. "Everyone knows those are just a bunch of phoney tricks. Like those guys from the Cell Games. None of it's real."
"I'm not saying it's real, Sharpner. I'm asking if Mr. Son can explain how someone can set up tricks like that so quickly." Videl snapped, a little annoyed at the blond's condescending tone. "He was in and out in under five minutes, according to the witnesses. That's not a lot of time to stage so many stunts," turning her attention back to the teacher, who seemed increasingly uncomfortable with this line of questioning, Videl pressed the subject once more, "can you think of anything that can do that? Things that make it seem like someone has superpowers or whatever?"
"W-well, I suppose so…" Mr. Son answered, visibly uncomfortable at being put on the spot with this question. "But unless I see for myself what these… ah, these tricks were, it'd be hard to make a guess. I've never seen this… erm… y-you called him the Gold Fighter? Anyway, I've never seen him before in person. You know, face-to-face. So I can't make a theory without any sort of foundation to build from."
"You've never seen him before?" Videl asked, frowning in confusion. "But… he's supposed to be from West City, right? Didn't you just say you spent a lot of time in West City going to school and working at Capsule Corp?"
"Well… yes… but it's a big city! I guess I just never ran into the guy, you know?" Mr. Son said with a loud laugh that sounded painfully forced. Videl wasn't buying that excuse for one minute.
Surely if someone was running around doing crazy stunts and stopping crime, it's be a hot topic for gossip, right? How was it that someone like Mr. Son, who had just told them about how he had been curious ever since he was a child, never heard of such a strange person? Why did he seem so reluctant to talk about the subject with them?
"Anyways, I think that's enough questions for now, right? Why don't we start talking about the curriculum for the rest of the year and what we'll be studying?" And with that, Mr. Son pulled a stack of papers out from his briefcase and began passing them out to his students.
Videl reluctantly accepted hers from Erasa when it came her way before passing the rest of the stack to Sharpner, but never even glanced at the sheet of paper that now sat before her on the desk. Her eyes were fixed on the tense form of the new teacher as he began to write on the board, narrowed and intense as they considered the young genius and tried to figure out the reasoning behind his odd actions.
"You're brooding again."
Videl snorted a little at Erasa's observation as her blonde friend slid into the seat next to hers, not even glancing up from the trig homework she was trying to recopy as she bit viciously into her apple. Since she missed homeroom and actually had to pay attention in all three of her morning classes, she hadn't had time yet to try and recopy her work and was forced to try and get it done during lunch.
"Oh don't give me that, you totally are. You've been brooding all morning. You're gonna have wrinkles before you turn twenty if you keep scowling that much, you know that right?"
"I'm not brooding, I'm thinking. Try it some time, why don't you?" Videl snapped back.
"Oooh, extra snarky today. Something IS bothering you," Erasa said, observing Videl with a knowing grin. Videl groaned mentally, hunching over her homework a little more and hoping that her hair hid her blush. She knew better than most that Erasa was a lot sharper than most people gave her credit for, but she still didn't expect the bonde to figure her out so easily. "Come on, Vi. Out with it!" Videl bit her lip for a moment, hesitating, before sighing in defeat. What the heck, it wasn't like she had anything to lose, right?
"I was just thinking about that new science teacher…" she said, only to cringe when Erasa gave an excited squeal.
"Isn't he just the cutest?!" She asked excitedly, grinning at Videl in eager excitement. "And I can't even believe he's our age! Well, a year younger than us, but still! That's nuts!"
"Yeah. Nuts." Videl muttered darkly, frowning to herself. "He's kinda weird though, don't you think?"
"He's some kind of genius, right? They're supposed to be a little out there," Erasa rationalized with a shrug. "He seems alright, though. Not stuck up or whatever like some smart people get sometimes, you know? And he's got a nice butt."
"Why is that even something you check?!" Videl demanded, giving her friend an irritated look. "It doesn't matter that he's our age, he's still our teacher. You can get in a LOT of trouble if someone hears you talking like that."
"Oh come on," Erasa scoffed, not seeming terribly concerned as she started in on her lunch. "That's nothing. You should have heard Angela earlier, talking about how she'd love to get detention with him and see if she can get him to spank her with a ruler."
"Excuse me?!" Videl said, affronted. "For crying out loud! He's not even that cute! Kinda scrawny and nerdy looking actually, if you ask me."
"Relax, Videl. We're all just joking around," Erasa told her friend, chuckling as Videl grumbled slightly under her breath. Secretly, Erasa suspected that her friend was a lot more affected by the new teacher than she was willing to admit, which was why she was getting so agitated over the girls who were more open about their attraction to him. But if she kept pressing the subject, Videl would just get more and more stubborn about pretending she was above all that. Better to let the subject rest for now, and bring it up again when Videl let her guard down. "So what's the big problem with him, anyways?"
"Just… it's kinda weird, don't you think? That he was in West City that long, but never heard of this Gold Fighter guy before today."
"Not really," Erasa said, shrugging. "The Gold Fighter's always been more of an urban legend than anything. Not many people have ever seen him, and no one's ever got a picture or anything before he swooped into the bank today. And like Mr. Son said, West City's a big place. Besides, there's all sorts of weird stuff that happens around Capsule Corp. Ever hear about that giant dragon thing they did when we were kids?"
"Giant dragon thing?" Videl repeated, giving Erasa a confused look.
"See? My point exactly," Erasa grinned back. "I remember it because I was there when that happened, visiting my aunt. The whole sky turned black and some crazy looking dragon thing popped up right in the middle of the City! You could see it for miles and miles, it was so wild! But even though it it was weird and lots of people saw it, you've never heard a word about it for years, until just now. So is it really all that impossible that Mr. Son just never heard about the Gold Fighter before today?"
"I guess not…" Videl conceded reluctantly with a sigh. "But then why was he acting so nervous and weird when we were talking about it?"
"Well, it's his first day here. Who's to say that he was nervous about that?" Erasa said sensibly, making Videl frown a little. She had to admit, that was a good point too. It was entirely possible that the new teacher was just nervous about his first day on the job. But be that as it may, the timing of his nervousness just seemed strange to her. He hadn't seemed bothered at all talking so candidly about taking care of his widowed mother and young brother after his dad died in front of a room full of strangers, but as soon as the class got invested in the Gold Fighter, the guy was practically sweating bullets. It just seemed a little skewed to Videl.
...But then, Erasa had a point, about geniuses like that being weird.
"Maybe you're right," Videl said, resting her chin in her hand as she stared thoughtfully out the window nearby. "Maybe I was just hoping there'd be a connection there, so I can track down this so-called Golden Boy a little faster. I wanna know what he's doing in my city."
"You don't need to stress so much, Vi. I'm sure you'll figure out this Gold Fighter guy's deal soon," Erasa reassured her friend with an encouraging smile. Videl grinned back, feeling a little better at her best friend's unwavering confidence in her. "Speaking of, think you can give me a call when you corner the guy? I've seen the pics, and Mr. Tall, Blond, and Mysterious is yu~mmy!"
"Don't you have anything better to do than drool over cute boys all day?" Videl asked her friend as she rolled her eyes, though a bemused smile tugged at her lips.
"Not really, no," Erasa said, grinning unabashedly. "Have you seen the photos yet?"
"Not yet. You know I keep my phone in my locker during class, Erasa," Videl said as she filled in a few more questions on her worksheet. "The chief contacts my communicator during an emergency, and anything else can wait until after school. I've got better things to do during class than play Snack Attack or send text messages."
"Goody-goody," Erasa teased. Videl grinned back, not even bothering to deny it. Why should she? She was proud to stand as a symbol of strength and integrity for her city. As the daughter of the man who saved the world she had a lot to live up to, and Videl had every intention of rising to the challenge.
Shaking her head in exasperation, Erasa pulled out her own phone and tapped on the screen a bit before turning to show Videl what she had found. Curious, Videl leaned in and took the phone from her friend to see what this new interloper looked like.
The photo was grainy and low quality, clearly taken from the bank's security cameras during the scuffle. The low quality made it hard to actually see any clear details of this alleged 'Gold Fighter,' but it was at least decent enough to get a general idea of the young man's appearance. Grudgingly, Videl had to admit to herself that Erasa was right and the guy was pretty good looking with his short blond hair spiked in a wild, daring sort of way that just screamed 'rebel,' and a face somehow struck a compromise between delicate and powerful. He was all high cheekbones and a strong jawline with intense eyes in an exotic shade of blue-green that reminded her of the ocean.
He stood tall and confident in the photo, shielding the civilian hostages from the armed robbers with his body and looking way more heroic than Videl thought he had the right to, considering that he wasn't welcome in Satan City in the first place as far as she was concerned. He wore an indigo gi that was tied at the waist with a red belt that matched his wrist bands and tucked into brown shoes. His neckline dipped low, showing off the definition of his muscular chest, and the sleeveless top gave an unrestricted view of his toned arms. Thanks to all her personal experience as a fighter, Videl's keen eyes could easily tell that the mystery boy's build was geared towards practical combat, not the show muscle she had half expected when she heard about the flashy tricks he performed while taking down the criminals. That was something of a pleasant surprise for Videl, which left her intrigued.
Interestingly enough, the Gold Fighter's build didn't seem to suggest favoritism between power and speed in his fighting. A rather curious thing, since many fighters tended to focus more on one over the other. The study of martial arts was so vast and varied that at some point every practitioner had to learn to specialize based on their strengths. For example, her father preferred to focus on power, hitting hard and taking his opponents down with as few strikes as possible. Videl herself, on the other hand, was a speed demon. Even if it took her a little longer to win, Videl still liked knowing she was fast enough to get out of the way of her opponent's strikes, and that she could counter any blows sent her way and turn her opponent's power against them. Where Mr. Satan's specialty was his offence, Videl's was defense and redirecting her enemy's attacks.
Videl was usually really good at figuring out how her opponent would fight just by looking at them. After all, a fighter's physique tended to reflect where their focus was with their art. But the Gold Fighter didn't have any such tell. He was one of the rare few who she would have to face in person in order to grasp how he'd handle himself in a fight. And she was a little surprised to realize how much she wanted to face this guy and figure him out. She should have thought that some lame trickster was beneath her as a fighter, and yet...
"Oooh, look who's drooling over cute boys now!" Erasa said coyly, grinning at her friend deviously. The blonde didn't even try to hide her delight at Videl's interest in this new warrior.
"I'm not drooling," Videl scoffed, rolling her eyes as she handed the phone back to her friend, "just trying to build a profile and see if I can figure anything out."
"Suuure you are…" Erasa giggled as Videl gave her the ugliest look she could manage. "But seriously though, isn't he gorgeous? Look at that body! I wouldn't mind flying off into the sunset with a guy like that."
"Pretty boy show offs aren't my type," Videl said disinterestedly as she returned to her homework. "I prefer a guy with substance."
"Brains over brawn? So like Mr. Son then? Is that why he was bothering you so much?" Erasa asked innocently, grinning when Videl's writing hand jerked in surprise at the question, leaving a long, deep gouge of lead across her paper.
"That is NOT what I meant!" Videl snapped, face burning as she tried desperately to erase the mark she just left. "Besides, do you honestly believe a guy like that has the guts to challenge my Dad to a fight so that he and I could date? He's probably never lifted anything heavier than a textbook before in his entire life." Not that Videl really cared much about her Dad's stupid rule about how she couldn't date anyone who couldn't beat him in a fight. It worked in her favor for now since it kept creeps from bothering her so she could focus on what was important, and if she ever did meet a guy who she liked than she was fairly confident she could get her dad to back off and let her be. So far though, she hadn't met any boy who she deemed worth dating. Sure, she had the odd crush here or there, but no one she liked enough to actually pursue.
"Relax, Vi. I'm kidding," Erasa said with a grin. Videl gave her a dirty look before scowling down at her ruined worksheet and blowing out a frustrated sigh of defeat.
"I'd better talk to Mr. Cartesian and see if he will give me an extension on my homework," She said sourly, gathering up both of her ruined attempts at her trig homework to show her teacher and standing up. There was no way she had enough time to try and recopy it a third time before class, after all. Hopefully, the normally merciless man would take pity on her and give her enough time to correct her work so her grade didn't drop.
Walking down the hallway, Videl frowned to herself as she got lost in thought about the new teacher. Erasa's little joke about her liking him was way, WAY off, but she still couldn't shake a niggling feeling that there was something off about this Mr. Son guy. Something about him was setting her on edge, but for the life of her she just couldn't figure out what it was and it was driving her crazy.
Chancing a peek around her, Videl bit her lip in a moment of indecision before darting down the hall and skidding to a halt in front of her locker. Quickly dialing in her combination, Videl opened the locker and pulled her phone out from her bag, powering it on and impatiently tapping at the screen until it finished loading and she was able to bring up the search bar. Punching in her new teacher's name, Videl began to read through the results that her search brought up with interest.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much new information gleaned from this online search. A few news articles about a young prodigy graduating from West City University, some speculation as to his relationship with Bulma Briefs from some trashy paparazzo that Videl barely bothered glancing at… Huffing out a quiet sigh of frustration, Videl scowled at the phone in her hand, irritated that she had bent one of her cardinal rules on this chance and it ended up being pointless. She was about to turn her phone off again and put it back when a link caught her eye, making her pause.
Son Gohan- The Mythic Martial Artist
Curiosity getting the better of her, Videl clicked on the link, only to frown in disappointment when she found that the article was about a completely different man who had to be long dead if the dates the article provided were anything to go by. Groaning softly, Videl shut down her phone without bothering to read any more of the article, stuffing it back into her bag and slamming her locker door shut.
Well THAT was a waste of my lunch break. Videl thought sourly to herself, shaking her head in self-reproach before turning and jogging her way down the hall. She had to hurry now to make up for lost time, if she was going to catch Mr. Cartesian before she had to go to her next class. With that thought consuming her, she turned a corner sharply and promptly smacked face first into what felt like a brick wall, her papers falling from her hands and onto the floor as she was sent backwards to land on her rear with an undignified grunt. Videl winced a little as she tried to regain her senses, and she couldn't help but feel that there was something familiar about finding herself in this position.
"We really need to stop meeting like this, Miss Videl," the last voice she wanted to hear right now spoke up from somewhere above her, making Videl groan in her head.
...Very, VERY familiar.
"Sorry Mr. Son," Videl apologized flatly, forcing herself to stay cordial. Despite her misgivings and his age, he WAS still her teacher, after all. "I wasn't watching where I was going."
"Is that a habit of yours?" Mr. Son asked with a grin as he picked up her fallen papers and handed them back to her. Videl accepted them as she pulled herself off of the floor, forcing herself not to blush at the question.
"Not really, no," Videl replied, frowning up at her teacher. "Usually, I'm pretty good about hearing someone coming, but you don't seem to make any noise when you move around, even in an empty hall. Pretty weird, considering what a tall guy you are,"
"Oh! W-well, I had to learn to be quiet when I walk around," Mr. Son said, looking a little sheepish. "Some friends of mine are really sensitive about noise. Sorry, it's never been a problem for anyone before, I'll try to make more noise when I walk from now on." Videl raised an eyebrow at the explanation. He didn't act like he was lying, but at the same time as far as excuses went, that was one of the weirder ones she had ever heard.
"Don't worry about it," Videl said as her teacher nervously scratched at the back of his head. He was certainly an awkward guy, not at all as confident or smug as she'd expect from a guy who was publicly hailed as a genius.
"Is there any reason you're running through the halls again, Miss Videl?" Mr. Son asked, trying to regain a little of his professional attitude from earlier. Videl almost laughed at the attempt, which was oddly like watching a child trying to mimic their parent. Clearly while Mr. Son was okay addressing a large class, maintaining his professionalism was a lot harder for him when he only had one student to focus on.
"I needed to speak to Mr. Cartesian about an extension for my trig homework, sir," Videl replied, showing Mr. Son the ruined sheets in her hand. "I haven't had the best luck this morning with keeping my worksheet clean and legible."
"Oh, I've had mornings like that!" the new teacher grinned widely at her. The expression made him look even younger and a lot more boyish. A less scrupulous girl might describe it as 'cute,' but Videl was a model student who knew better than to even think about looking at a teacher that way. "I remember once I had to do a twenty page essay worth 80% of my grade and of course the day it was due Goten decided to bring home an injured baby boar. It freaked out after Mom found it, and completely ruined the kitchen and all my work. Man, I thought I was a goner for sure!"
"Seriously?" Videl asked, a little bemused to see her teacher suddenly acting like such a teenager at the mention of ruined homework. It also made her feel a little better about the day she'd been having to know that even a guy who got his first college level diploma at the age of 14 had to survive through the same crappy bad luck she had with her homework. "So I take it you had to talk your teacher into letting you redo it?"
"Nope. Redos weren't allowed," Mr. Son said, unconsciously falling into step beside Videl as she began to walk towards the teacher lounge to find Mr. Cartesian. "The professor was really strict about that stuff. At least with me anyways. He said that the school already made too many allowances for me as it was, since they were letting me attend even though I was so young."
"That sounds pretty unfair," Videl said, frowning. "You should have told someone he was singling you out like that."
"It wasn't anything I couldn't handle," Mr. Son said in a dismissive sort of way that would have sounded boastful if he hadn't continued with, "my mother was way more strict about my schoolwork while she was homeschooling me, and honestly I had to deal with a lot worse than a stuck up teacher as a kid and managed to survive that just fine. Mostly, anyways. Besides, it made the coursework a little more challenging for me when the teachers tried to trip me up instead of acting like I was something special just because I managed to pass their entrance exam at a younger age than usual."
"I think I get that," Videl said, grinning at the teacher when he gave her a curious look. "Because of my dad, I usually have to deal with people either worshiping me or acting like I'm just some spoiled little Princess who had it easy and almost nothing in between. Both kinda sucked, but the kiss ups are always worse to deal with," shaking her head, Videl tilted her head to appraise Mr. Son once more. "Besides, at least you earned your reputation through your own merit, instead of being in someone else's shadow."
"Wow, your dad's really that famous?" Mr. Son asked, eyes wide with innocent wonder that had Videl freezing on the spot in surprise.
"You don't know?" she said, blinking up at her teacher in surprise. It wasn't often she had to introduce herself to someone. "My dad's Mr. Satan. Strongest Under the Heavens? World Savior? Winner of the Cell Games" This revelation had Mr. Son's eyes widening to the size of dinner plates.
"You're Mr. Satan's daughter?! Seriously?!" he said, looking her over more carefully after this revelation. "Wow. You don't look much like him, though."
"Oh, so you don't believe me?" Videl demanded, narrowing her eyes at the boy next to her before she started walking again, picking up speed a little in an attempt to leave Mr. Son behind. He might've been her teacher, but she sure as hell didn't appreciate him insinuating she'd lie about something like that for attention. The taller teacher managed to catch up to her pretty quickly though, looking a little panicked over her reaction.
"N-no! I mean, yeah! I believe you! Really I do!" Mr. Son assured her hastily. "It's just a surprise is all." Videl felt a prickle of annoyance at the teenage teacher's nervousness. God, he wasn't one of her dad's fanboys, was he? She wouldn't be surprised if he was- lots of people were, after all- but she was a little disappointed. Mostly because having a teacher who was a superfan of her Dad's tended to hark back to the 'dealing with people worshiping her' thing a lot, and it was always a little awkward.
"What, you want his autograph or something?" Videl asked, a little more condescendingly than she meant to.
"Ah, no. No thank you," Mr. Son said, an odd expression on his face. He looked almost amused by Videl's question at first, before a look of realization struck him and suddenly he seemed nervous again, eyes darting every which way as he avoided looking at Videl. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm really grateful for what your dad did six years ago, but I don't think his signature will do me much good." Videl eyed her teacher curiously at that remark. If he was grateful that her Dad defeated Cell and saved the world, his reaction was way different than pretty much everyone else she'd ever come across.
More and more, Videl was finding it hard to brush his continuing weirdness off as something that went hand in hand with his intellect rather than a sign that her teacher was hiding something. She had met way too many hardened criminals with much better poker faces than the strange, nerdy teen currently walking her down the hall not to tell when someone like him was lying or trying to cover something up. And it was frustrating because she didn't have a clue what the big secret was and the things that kept setting her teacher off didn't seem to be connected to each other at all. Before Videl could ponder this any further, Mr. Son suddenly came to a dead stop and Videl realized belatedly that they had made their way to the Teacher's Lounge.
"Please wait out here, Miss Videl. I'll see if Mr. Cartesian is in and can speak with you," Mr. Son told her with a warm smile before entering the room. As the door closed behind him, Videl peered in through the window to watch her new science teacher make his way over to the math instructor and begin a conversation that she had no way of hearing through the door. As the two talked, Mrs. Belle half bounced over to them from the coffee machine, looking eager to speak to Mr. Son. In her haste to get to him though, she clipped the edge of his desk a little too tightly and sent his papers scattering everywhere.
Mrs. Belle was instantly contrite, but the teenaged teacher waved off her apologies as he quickly began to recollect his notes, smiling reassuringly at the secretary as he set them back on his desk before he caught sight of something that made him that had a look of panic crossing his face. Watching from the window, Videl's eyebrows drew together when her teacher quickly grabbed something else that had fallen underneath one of the desks, which she realized was a long, thin red cloth of some sort that he was trying to hide from his fellow teachers. A ribbon, maybe? But why would Mr. Son have a-?
Before she could finish this thought, Mr. Son pulled open one of his bottom drawers and Videl drew in a sharp breath of surprise when she caught sight of an indigo cloth folded neatly inside along with two red wristbands and a pair of brown, cloth-like shoes. Exactly like same as the strange outfit worn by the mysterious Gold Fighter at the bank robbery earlier that day. Before Videl could get more than a glimpse though, Mr. Son dropped the red cloth into the drawer and quickly shut it, glancing around nervously like someone who was hiding a big secret but had absolutely no idea how to be remotely subtle about it. Thinking quickly, Videl darted out of her teacher's line of sight before he could see her standing there, pressing her back against the wall next to the door as she stared in wide eyed shock at the lockers across the hall from her.
Was it just a coincidence? What possible reason could her teacher have for hiding an outfit that looked just like the Gold Fighter's if he himself wasn't somehow connected to the crimefighter he claimed to have never heard of before today? Peeking back into the room cautiously, Videl scowled when she saw Mr. Son was now back to conversing with Mr. Cartesian and Mrs. Belle, who were laughing at something the teen said as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. Mr. Son was definitely hiding something. She was more sure of that now than ever.
And she was going to do everything in her power to figure out what that was.