Chapter 2

Bardock stared up at the ceiling of his classroom, leaning back on his chair. The class was silent. The only noise that was heard was the pencil scratching the paper as the students took the test the teacher gave out. He had finished his a short while after it was given and was now balancing a pencil on his upper lip in boredom.

He glanced over at Pan to see her doodling in her notebook. She had finished around the same time he had and he knew she was dying to get out of class just as much as he was. Being locked in a classroom for over 5 hours was overwhelmingly boring. There was only so much a half-saiyan could take before they blew a hole in the wall and flew out of there. The only reason they didn't do any of that was because of their mother. If they feared anything other than actual villains, it was their mother's wrath.

His eyes moved around the classroom, taking in the occasional sleeping student or those who still hadn't finished the test. The black orbs wandered to a random girl who wore earrings that had large pink puff balls dangling.

He furrowed his brows, tilting his head curiously. He stiffened when the back of his neck stung. He lowered the seat's front legs to the ground as his vision was suddenly filled with a familiar sadistic face.

The stinging pain soon turned into a headache inducing throbbing. Bardock breathed deeply, trying to remember his mother's soothing words and his father's deep, even voice. Beads of sweat gathered on his head as he fought the internal battle against whatever the hell was going on in his head.

This was not the time to be getting visions. These were peaceful times. These people didn't deserve to go through another disaster. He wasn't going to let that happen again. He wasn't-

"Bardock?"

The images left the half saiyan's eyes as a familiar voice cut through. He swallowed dryly and turned to the owner of the voice. He forced a chuckle when he saw worried brown eyes staring down at him, "Hey, Tekka."

"The bell rang. I'm surprised you didn't hear it," Tekka informed. He tilted his head with a light frown as he gazed at his friend, "You okay? You look a little pale."

Bardock shook his head as he massaged his forehead. He patted Tekka's shoulder with a forced grin when he stood from his seat, "I'm fine, Tek. Just had a headache that won't quit."

As they walked out of class to catch up with Pan, Tekka spoke up a bit nervously, "You sure it's cool that I join your group for the project?" He grinned sheepishly at Bardock's incredulous raised eyebrow, "Sorry. I just wanted to make sure Pan was okay with it."

"Why wouldn't she be?" Bardock asked skeptically as they walked out of the school's front entrance.

The dark haired human waved his hands with a shaky laugh, "Just asking." He lifted his head and smiled when he caught sight of the two they were looking for, "Pan's over there with Gine."

"Hey, Tekka," Gine greeted once the males made it to them. She gave a short nod to Bardock, "Bardock." He could barely see her black irises through her slight glare.

Bardock shared a glance with his sister who only smirked amusedly. He sighed mentally and scratched his head as he followed the rest of the group to Tekka's jet copter. Being in a jet copter for over two hours was not something he wanted to endure. This was one of the many reasons he wished Pan would let him tell their friends about their abilities, but Pan insisted that some people were still uneasy around those who had the same abilities as the androids.

The two humans were orphans, having lost their parents either before the attack with the androids or the natural causes during the cyborgs' rampages. Tekka lived with his grandparents while Gine lived in a foster home with many other kids whose parents weren't revived after the deaths of 17 and 18.

Pan met Gine when she started middle school after she had gotten back to the original timeline. The two instantly hit it off and became friends. They mostly connected through their shared but small interest in martial arts. Pan informed her new friend of how martial arts ran through the blood of her family while Gine told her that she had only dabbled in it in hopes to be like the golden fighters who fought the androids and saved the city.

After Gine revealed a close, terrifying encounter she had with the androids, Pan decided to keep her powers a secret and insisted her brother do the same. Gine was a great friend and she was not going to lose her just because she and the androids shared the same abilities.

Bardock met Tekka when he got back to the timeline but before school started. The two met when he accidentally bumped into the human on his way to Capsule Corp. The half saiyan male hadn't wanted to make any friends with humans since he felt the only way he could be happy was to be able to be himself, he actually himself fond of the soft spoken human.

Pan told him it was because Tekka had great admiration for the gold fighters, including a certain super saiyan who was 10 years old at the time that Bardock's interest was peaked, but it was because Tekka reminded him a bit of their present timeline father that they actually became best friends.

He had wanted to show Tekka his powers, but with his promise to Pan, he held in any comments of what had happened 7 years prior and shoved any urge to use his powers to the back of his mind. If there was one thing Bardock didn't want to do, it was break a promise to his sister no matter how much he disliked it.

In turn, Pan was fond of Tekka as well, but when it came to Bardock and his friendship with Gine; well, those two had some issues to work through.

"Welcome home," Videl greeted with a smile when she saw the four enter. "It's nice to see you two again."

Gine smiled while Tekka grinned, politely saying, "Thank you for letting us study here."

The mother of the half saiyans chuckled, "You're most welcome, Tekka." She turned to her children questioningly, "What are you guys studying for?"

"Group project," Bardock answered, giving her a kiss on the cheek before heading into the kitchen. He stuffed a muffin in his mouth and spoke around it, "Where's Dad?"

As Pan took the two into her room, Videl addressed her son, "Your father's out training with Vegeta and your grandfather. He said he'll be back in time for dinner."

Bardock huffed a laugh, "Doesn't he always?" He shoved a few cookies in his mouth and was making his way to his room when his mother caught him by the arm.

Videl gave him a stern glare, "Can I trust you and Gine in the same room together?"

"Come on, Mom," Bardock mumbled, a small blush rising to his cheeks. "It's not like we're gonna tear down the house. It was just one little spat that happened months ago."

"A spat that almost turned into an actual fist fight," Videl corrected. She gave a sigh, "I just don't want you two arguing again. I can tell your headaches haven't gone away and whether it has to do with a sickness or not, I don't want it getting worse."

At his shocked gaze, she scoffed, "Do you really think I don't know my own son's ticks?" She rolled her eyes and patted his cheek, "I'll be making dinner in a few hours so make sure you guys study hard before you get distracted by food." She grabbed his last cookie and made her way to her room.

Bardock pouted at the lost snack before he grudgingly walked over to his room. He resisted the urge to make a comment about everyone gathering in his room mainly because he knew their father didn't allow any boys in Pan's room and because he didn't want to start an argument with either of the females in the room.

"Have you guys figured out a subject for this project?" He asked as he sat down on the floor next to Tekka. Gine had taken his desk chair while Pan was laid out on his bed, going over the notes each of them had taken.

Pan chewed on her pen thoughtfully, "I don't know. It's either when Grandpa Goku won the World Martial Arts Tournament, Grandpa Hercule won the World Martial Arts Tournament, or how the androids came to be and how they were destroyed."

"I voted on the latter," Tekka threw in quietly, wincing when Gine narrowed her eyes at him. Poor kid; he wasn't used to those kinds of stares yet.

Gine frowned, "I don't want to do anything that has to do with those cyborgs. I'd rather do something about the tournaments."

Bardock groaned, burying his annoyance as he rubbed his temples when he felt the familiar pricks of pain begin again, "I'd rather not. I've had to hear those stories way too many times to count." He ignored Pan's elbow that sharply hit his ribs.

"Then this should be easy for you."

A sharp inhale. "Are there any other topics we can do?" Bardock asked as he pushed the heel of his hands into his eyes in hopes it would stop the insistent throbbing in his head.

Tekka flipped through his notes and blinked, "Well, apparently, if we do a report on the upcoming tournament, it'll be the same as doing a presentation on any of these topics."

Pan clapped her hands and threw the human male a grateful glance, "Well that's settled then. We were already going to the tournament, so now all we have to do is split the work on whatever happens."

While Bardock was glad the topic was decided with little fanfare, he couldn't help but dread the idea of the upcoming tournament once he felt his scar heat up painfully.