Chapter Five

Her One Condition


"I'll ask ya' one more time. Who the hell are you?!" the scrawny criminal sputtered indignantly, taking a step back from the newcomer in the flashy costume.

Like he was in any position to give orders. His gun was in pieces, he was clearly not the muscles of this law-breaking duo ━ his accomplice was out cold anyway ━ and he was facing a man who could crush metal like it was nothing. Perhaps barking orders was his way of grasping at some sense of reality where things like this couldn't actually happen, where he wasn't outclassed by some weirdo who'd somehow dropped from the sky. Not gonna do him any good though.

The caped vigilante didn't seem to mind the order, though. He stood tall and proud, his smile widening. "I'll tell you as promised. I am…"

He trailed off to strike a pose. His right arm went upward to his left while pulling back his other arm and closing his hand into a fist at his helmeted head's level. He followed with… sideway jazz hands? Videl didn't know what to think anymore, yet apparently she hadn't seen the worst of it, as the disguised man with questionable taste resumed his speech to introduce himself.

"… an agent of justice who will never let the world be contaminated by evil!"

Videl wanted to look away, yet somehow she was transfixed ━ like watching a particularly gory and bloodied scene in a scary movie ━ as he followed his claim with a series of ridiculous poses ━ yet looking one hundred percent serious while he performed them.

He mimicked an airplane with his arms then ran in place for a few seconds, then with his legs and arms wide apart, he bent down sideways and hit the ground with his right palm. Then, facing the crook once more, his feet a meter apart and pointing outward, he bent his knees and crossed his arms in front of his head, then spread them out once more, before slowwwly (was he trying to be dramatic?) moving his gloved hands, bending his wrists to point his closed fingers on either side of his helmet.

"The Great Saiyaman!" he announced while holding the pose.

Videl stared at him, not quite sure what she had just witnessed. Was this guy for real? Was this another one of her dreams? As little sense as that conclusion would make, seeing as she'd been dreaming about her future, not her present, it still seemed more plausible than anyone thinking that they weren't making a complete fool of themself with that godawful routine.

"He's so… ridiculous…" she mumbled to herself.

The superhero stood tall, apparently oblivious to the baffled stares he was getting, or maybe mistaking them for amazement.

"Resistance is futile," he told the crook, his voice booming with confidence and righteousness. "Cuff him, Videl."

Her brow creased as she picked up the pairs of handcuffs that she had thrown aside to properly kick the giant crook's ass. Not only did that guy know her name, but the way he addressed her didn't feel like they were strangers who had just now met for the first time. Videl may be a public figure and sometimes people recognized her, but they wouldn't usually use her name; she was more known as "Mr. Satan's daughter."

It had to be Gohan. It sounded like him, too. Yet, still, Videl wasn't one hundred percent sure. Granted, Gohan had proved yesterday that there was more to him than the shy new kid who got perfect scores at the school's entrance exams, what with his physical prowess at the baseball game, not to mention the way he lost his temper and showed that he could be quite stubborn too. And, yes, indeed, her visions of their ━ hopefully now erased ━ future together depicted that he could be pretty silly at times; the bizarre poses weren't that unfamiliar to Videl, come to think of it, though they were somewhat more toned down in her dreams.

Was it actually Gohan under the disguise? Videl was having trouble believing that she would've ended up falling for someone so lame and ridiculous if she hadn't known any better.

Meanwhile, the criminal gritted his teeth, his facial traits contorted with indignation, anger and fright all at the same time, looking as though getting caught by such an absurd character was the worst part of ending up in prison. It didn't look like he was ready to go down without a fight, however; he reached behind him and threw a smoke bomb at the Great Saiyaman's feet, before jumping in his air-car and making a run for it, his bazooka falling off the roofless vehicle from his reckless driving.

When the smoke cleared, neither the runaway perpetrator nor the superhero was on the road. Videl heard the Great Saiyaman say something from above and raised her head. Her breath hitched. He was floating up there, his cape flowing to the wind.

When the girl had no choice but to admit that her dreams were indeed visions of her future and not mere fabrications of her subconscious, she had also been forced to come to the unpleasant conclusion that her father was wrong when he affirmed that Cell had used tricks and hidden bombs to terrorize the people of Earth. But, in that case, it meant that the monster's super strength and superpowers had been real, and by extension, that everything Gohan and his friends and family could do was real too, that no magic tricks were involved.

Despite that knowledge, Videl felt amazement as she watched the superhero hover in mid-air with nothing holding him up. Maybe a part of her had hoped that her father had been right about the tricks, because it would mean that her dreams, while having some truth to them, may have had some fiction to them as well. It would mean that maybe she wouldn't have ended up as a bland housewife, that maybe she didn't need to worry about what she would become later and could just let her life follow its natural course.

"I won't let you get away!" shouted the Great Saiyaman before flying off after the lawbreaker.

He was definitely not using any tricks to fly. And that meant…

Videl swallowed thickly, the sound her throat made suddenly feeling deafening in the currently deserted road. She had pushed the thought far, far in the back of her mind, focusing on trying to find out more evidence on whether her visions depicted reality or fiction, distracting herself from the impending truth. She hadn't wanted to think about it or even address it, because it would mean that her whole life was a lie and her father was a fraud.

She sucked in a sharp breath. Her father was a fraud.

The Great Saiyaman floated back, holding the unconscious criminal by his suspenders. "What should we do with them, Videl? Bring them to the station?" He touched the ground and tossed the man over his knocked out accomplice.

Videl frowned. Once again, he was addressing her as though he knew her. So it was Gohan, wasn't it? As much as she had hoped it wouldn't be, everything seemed to point at her new classmate.

"We can leave them here," she replied. "I'll call the police with my communicator."

"Okay, good."

She squinted as she observed him from head to toe. He was the same height, roughly the same build, had the same voice… It had to be Gohan. But Videl wanted to make sure.

An idea formed in her head; it was silly and probably wouldn't work, yet some part of her believed that it was dumb enough to do the trick.

"Thanks for your help, Gohan," she said, making sure she sounded natural. "By the way, how did you get out of class?"

"Easy, I asked to go to the bathroom," he replied with a smile, stepping right into her trap. "I should hurry and get back, for that matter."

She turned her head and chuckled against the side of her hand. He didn't even notice. "Yeah, you should. See you later."

He beamed, then rose two fingers to his helmet in salute, "See you later, Videl."

And then he simply took off. Videl's lips twitched, and then she put her hand over her mouth to muffle her sudden fit of laughter. Doubled over, her other arm over her stomach, she laughed into her palm. She couldn't believe how gullible he was! He didn't even notice. It was like he forgot he was in disguise.

Damn him ━ he was adorable.


Gohan hummed a joyful tune to himself on his way back to school. What a nice change! Maybe Videl was starting to warm up to him. He was glad that she didn't seem to resent him after their altercation yesterday after school. Maybe they could become friends after all. She had even thanked him for his help in apprehending the perpetrators.

Wait a minute…

Gohan froze in mid-air for the second time that day, as his mind replayed his fresh exchange with Videl. His face fell. Just now… Videl had called him by his name ━ his real name, not his superhero one. Lowering his head to look at himself, he was indeed met with the green tunic of his disguise.

"Gah! I'm so stupid!" He tried hitting his forehead with the palm of his hand, but his helmet was in the way. Gohan grumbled to himself as he resumed flying. He really was an idiot.

How did she know it was him? And to think, he didn't even realize she had said anything out of the ordinary, stupidly answering her and confirming her guess for his identity. How could he let himself be fooled so easily?

She had to be psychic. How else would she have figured out who he was? His disguise was perfect; Videl shouldn't have been able to see through him that easily, let alone on the very first time he appeared before her as the Great Saiyaman.

Gohan landed on the roof of his school, heaving out a sigh as he pushed the button on his watch that replaced his cool costume with his everyday clothes. He had to talk with Videl. He had to find out exactly what she had on him and whether she planned to do anything with it. So far, she hadn't told anyone, and maybe she wasn't going to do anything, but he had to make sure.

In the meantime, he did need to hurry and get back to class. He hadn't been gone for too long at least, barely over ten minutes.

As he ran back to class, Gohan couldn't help wondering if his superhero career was over before it could properly begin. He hoped not ━ but it all depended on Videl now.


Beating up bad guys had a knack for working up her appetite, so, when the bell for the morning break went off, Videl was eager to buy herself some snacks and started toward the classroom's exit.

"Hey, Vi, where you off to?" Erasa called after her, standing on the elevated third row.

"I'm famished," she replied simply.

"Oh, yeah, good idea," Sharpner commented, getting to his feet. "I feel like some waffles."

Erasa turned to Gohan, who was done packing up but was still on his seat. "Wanna come with, Gohan?"

Videl scowled, glaring daggers at the blonde. This again? She just wanted to get herself some snacks, and not only did her friends invite themselves to come with her ━ which, okay, was a frequent occurrence and, no, she didn't really mind ━ but now Gohan was joining them too? Erasa couldn't keep ignoring her feelings like that. Even if, yes, it was rude to exclude Gohan and he was new there and all, Erasa couldn't keep trying to force them to become friends like this.

Slowly, Gohan stood, and his motion drew her gaze to him. His brow was furrowed, and his eyes seemed unfocused as he stared at the desk, his fingers drumming on the books that he held close to him.

"Actually," he said, raising his head and looking straight at her, his arms moving along his sides, and the shift was so abrupt that Videl didn't get the chance to avoid eye contact this time. A newfound determination shone through his coal eyes, and the girl found herself unable to look away. "Can I speak with you alone, Videl? It's really important."

The misleading inquiry was inevitably followed by a chorus of "Oooohhhh" among the kids who hadn't left the classroom yet. Gohan's head turned from side to side, a look of confusion on his face.

Videl gritted her teeth. That stupid boy. Didn't he realize what he just said sounded like? No, of course he didn't. His brain only seemed to be good for studying.

"Looks like the new kid has a crush," someone snickered.

"Hey, didn't Gohan run after Videl after school yesterday, for that matter?"

"Oh yeah, I heard about that."

"Way to go, Gohan! Good luck!" laughed someone else.

Her traits hardened and her fists clenched as her classmates snickered and giggled at the situation. Great. Just great. Now they were getting the wrong idea, which was exactly what she had wanted to avoid. If not for Gohan, they wouldn't have remembered that piece of gossip from yesterday. Damn that boy.

"It's got nothing to do with that. I don't have a crush on Videl," Gohan denied calmly, starting down the steps to the front of the classroom. He was so assured in his claim that it put a stop to the teasing at once. Just like that.

A contradictory feeling rose in her at that moment. Videl pursed her lips and turned on her heels. "Fine. You can come with me while I get something to eat."

She should be relieved at the turn of events, and more than that, at the fact that Gohan wasn't developing feelings for her ━ it was the intended goal to prevent her visions from coming true, after all. It made no sense at all that she would be upset after his honest affirmation.


Gohan stood aside, leaning back against the wall by the vending machine, silently watching Videl put in coins and make her choice. She picked up a bag of chips and wasted no time opening it. A sigh of content escaped through her nose as she munched on the salty snack, and the sight made Gohan crack a sideways smile.

"Didn't you have breakfast this morning?" he asked, tilting his head to the side in curiosity.

Glancing his way, her narrowed eyes studied him, like she wasn't sure how she should take what he just said.

He scratched his hair. "Did I say something wrong?"

Videl shrugged, continuing to eat her chips. "Not really. But that's not what you really want to ask me, is it?"

"Um…" He took a step forward and looked around them, his head turning from side to side. While most kids seemed to have gone outside for the break, they weren't alone in the hallways. "Can we go somewhere more private?"

She waved him off, before mimicking his earlier position and leaning back against the wall. "It's fine. nobody's paying attention."

"Okay…" He was still reluctant to speak in the hallway, but Gohan figured he just needed to be vague enough so that anyone passing by wouldn't understand without context. "About earlier… How did you know…?"

He trailed off and looked at his feet, embarrassed that she figured him out so easily. What if she wasn't even psychic and he was just that bad at hiding his identity?

"I recognized your voice, and there was something about the way you spoke to me ━ like you knew me. Not to mention, you knew my name."

"Ah, geez…" He hid his blushing face in his hand. "I'm such an idiot…"

Videl turned her head to the side, a faint pink color tinting her cheeks as she continued eating. She scowled in annoyance. No, he wasn't cute. No, he wasn't cute, she kept repeating to herself in her head.

"Is that all?" she asked coldly, straightening up, eager to put an end to this conversation.

"Um…"

His hesitant tone made her look back at him, her frown deepening. What now? What else was there to talk about?

His voice lowered and he scratched his ear and shuffled his feet, his eyes downcast. "You're not going to tell anyone, right?"

She felt a slight pinch in her chest. She felt bad for him ━ Gohan just wanted to live a normal life, but he had been so sheltered growing up that he didn't even know how to appear normal.

"I won't tell anyone," she assured him, and Gohan looked up at her, a bright smile forming on his lips and lighting up his whole face. Her throat tightened.

This was bad. Despite everything, despite her fear of what she had seen in her dreams, despite his silly and lame performance as a superhero earlier, despite her best efforts ━ she was attracted to him, and she couldn't help it.

"But," she went on, and Gohan's smile toned down as he tilted his head in curiosity. "I'm asking you to stay away from me."

His eyebrows scrunched up. "This again…" He sighed. "I was hoping we could be friends. We'll be…" He trailed off and swept his gaze around them, before lowering his voice. "We'll be fighting crime together, too. Why can't we be friends?"

She looked sideways and bit her lip. "Because…"

Videl sighed, unable to come up with anything to explain why Gohan couldn't be in her life. She turned to him. "Look, you want me to keep your secret, right? So just do as I say and that's that."

Gohan crossed his arms, clearly not satisfied with her answer. He didn't say anything for a while, and Videl sighed once more, slowly finishing her bag of chips and stepping away from the wall.

His frown deepened as he watched her get ready to leave. He opened his mouth and inhaled, like he was about to say something, but in the end he closed it and pinched his lips together.

She put her hands on her hips. "What?"

Once again, he looked around to make sure nobody was in hearing range. A faint blush tinted his cheek as he turned back to her. "I was just… um… I was just wondering something…"

Videl tapped her foot, growing impatient by his hesitation. "Well? What is it?"

His eyes were serious as he asked, "Are you psychic?"

Videl raised her eyebrows at the question. She shifted her gaze sideways, holding her chin. Was she? Were her dreams the consequence of some psychic powers she didn't know she had?

"I… don't know," she answered honestly.

"Is that how you know about me? From your powers?"

In any case, Gohan didn't seem to have any trouble believing it to be true, which, in this day and age, was quite uncommon. Then again, she had just found out that her father's word was worth nothing, whereas Gohan had been aware of that fact all along.

"Can you… can you read minds?" he asked, his voice small, hesitant.

Videl gave him a weird look, amused at his conclusion. "No, I can't do that. I just have━" She stopped herself before blurting it out and shook her head. "Never mind. It doesn't matter how I know. Just be sure not to get in my way and we'll be good."

But, apparently, Gohan wasn't ready to let it go. "Did you see something bad? Does something happen to me, or to my closed ones? To my family?"

If she saw something bad… From her perspective, definitely, but that wasn't what Gohan meant, obviously.

His questions reminded her of something that had been nagging her since yesterday, and this was the perfect opportunity to bring it up to Gohan.

"Your dad. Is he really dead?"

Gohan blinked at her. "Well… yeah."

"Are you sure?"

He frowned in confusion. And then his eyes lit up, a broad smile spreading across his lips. "Wait, does that mean he comes back?"

She stared at him.

Wait, what?

"But you said he was dead…? How can he come back…?" It didn't make any sense.

Gohan opened his mouth, looking like he was about to answer her inquiries, but then he closed it and smirked, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

Videl took a step back and shook her hands in front of her. "No way. Forget it."

"Then I guess you'll never know," he said with a shrug, his palms upwards.

Videl grumbled, but she admitted that it was only fair. "Fine. As long as you keep your distance."

Gohan's shoulders slumped, his smile fading away. "Alright…" he said, heaving a deep sigh. "It's too bad, though," he added, a wistful look on his face. "I think we'd get along if you gave us a chance."

Videl lowered her head. That's just it. We'd get along a little too well.

Her heart clenched. This felt like a waste. Gohan was a genuinely nice guy; she knew it to be true, she had seen it in her dreams, and she had kept getting the confirmation since meeting him ━ but she had also seen where getting to know him would bring her, how loving him would change her, and that was something Videl simply could not accept.

"Sorry," she muttered ━ and a part of her truly was.

But she had to bottle it down, to lock it away and throw out the key. She had to take her destiny into her own hands.


From the back row behind Videl, a few seats to the left, Paige watched the pigtailed girl glance to the side where an oblivious Gohan was dutifully taking notes.

She had worried for a moment, earlier, when Gohan looked so serious and asked to talk to Videl alone. The teasing from their classmates that followed only made things worse – but then Gohan put an immediate stop to it by calmly refuting that he had that kind of feelings for Videl.

While that had been a relief, Paige had still been worried. When Gohan had said that, the look on Videl's face had seemed kind of... conflicted. Paige wished her powers included mind reading, but, alas, she couldn't know for sure what Videl had been thinking at that moment. But it felt as though...

Could it be that despite her best efforts, Videl was still developing feelings for the new addition in their class?

Of course, she knew Videl would never let anything happen thanks to the dreams she had put in her head, but something didn't sit right with Paige. One could never be too cautious. She had left the classroom shortly after them and followed after the pair. At times like these, Paige wished she could just bring her crystal ball at school again, but she couldn't take the risk of anyone finding it or worse, of misplacing the magical artifact. Yesterday, while it had come in handy, she'd been paranoid about someone catching her with it all day, and that kind of stress was too much for her.

So she contented with watching them from afar as they talked by the vending machine. Paige couldn't help the smirk playing on her lips at Videl's obvious animosity and reluctance to speak with Gohan.

And then something shifted in the atmosphere between them, and they looked like they were having a cordial conversation. Man, if only she could just summon her crystal ball. As powerful as her magic was, it was still limited in more ways than one.

Their talk seemed to end on a more somber note, which relieved the vengeful psychic. Her powers allowed her to feel the regret and wistfulness of the atmosphere between the two. Videl had her head lowered and Gohan sighed deeply, his shoulders slumping. This could only mean good news for her.

Now, as she watched Videl steal glances in Gohan's direction every now and then, apparently unable to focus on the current lecture, a smirk of satisfaction was slowly forming on her lips.

Videl was starting to have feelings for Gohan. It was as obvious as water was clear. Which made this situation all the more enjoyable for Paige, because despite Videl's growing feelings for the handsome young man, Paige knew she would never act on them because of the visions of her distorted future that Paige had made her see in her dreams.

This was perfect. Videl was always going to wonder if she did the right thing, but she was never going to let herself be with the boy she would sooner or later fall deeply in love with – no matter how hard she tried not to. It would be even better if Gohan never actually developed that sort of feelings for Videl, making her love unrequited and causing her that much more suffering.

In fact, she could ensure to keep Gohan's attention away from Videl. Glancing at the spiky-haired boy, Paige gave an appreciative smile at his handsome, boyish traits. He was certainly good-looking. And super sweet, too. It may be a long shot, but there was no harm in trying to get his attention, was it? She certainly wouldn't mind, not one bit.


In case you haven't read the chapters of the manga where Gohan goes to school (which is a shame because it's awesome), the first scene went pretty much like in the manga, only there Videl puts Gohan on the spot and blackmails him while they go back to school in her jetcopter. So, this is where I start to differ from the manga, since Videl doesn't blackmail Gohan and everything that follows is obviously affected by the changes that Videl's dreams provoked.

Thanks to Rockstone, Mr. Me, ieheretic and Feedbacker for their help and company as I wrote. I finished the chapter last night after working on it for two days, and I'm pretty happy with the result. ^^ It hasn't been properly beta'd, but for now I'll have to make do I guess. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter! Don't forget to leave a review, please. ^^

May 9, 2020