Chapter Eight: Basic Math
It was a rather normal evening at the Son house. Goku was playing with his youngest son, Goten, and his best friend, Trunks, who had flown over for dinner. Chi-Chi had a mess on her hands she was tending to. Further down the hallway, in one of the bedrooms, light music and no small amount of giggling could be heard, along with the often whirring of an electric pencil sharpener.
In his room, Gohan was trying to finish up his homework from the previous day. Behind him, his girlfriend sat impatiently on the edge of his bed, often looking over his shoulder to see how much more he had left to answer.
"You know, you could always leave that until the morning…" Videl purred in a mock seductive tone as she wrapped her arms around Gohan's neck. "I'll only be here for another hour or so…"
"Yeah, I know, but this is really important!" Gohan nervously pleaded. "If I don't pass my final, I'll need every last scrap of homework to make up for it!"
"'If I don't pass my final, I'll need every last scrap of homework to make up for it'" Videl mimicked. "Gohan, the day you actually fail any sort of test is the day my dad actually fesses up about the Cell Games!"
Gohan really couldn't deny her claims. He was, after all, the highest ranked high school student not only at Orange Star, but in the entire world. Even so, he wasn't going to take any chances. Chi-Chi's wrath made even the strongest of grown men shiver in fear. He did not wish to be the one who invoked it.
"I'll be done in just a couple minutes, I promise. Just chill till then, 'kay?" Gohan requested. He placed a quick kiss on Videl's forehead.
"Oh, fine." she grumbled with a pout. "But as soon as you put the last mark on that paper, you're mine." She threw a mischievous grin in his direction. Just out of curiosity, she picked a mitten up off the desk and held it up. After a moment of deliberation, she was sure Gohan's face could match the shade of red they had been dyed. Having little else to do, Videl studied the contents of Gohan's room. She had been in there before, but she never got to see anything in it, thanks to the sleepwalking act she'd had to perform to avoid being caught.
"Whoa… Amazing!" She exclaimed as various awards caught her eye. They covered an entire wall; awards from the school, from the city, from organizations she'd never heard of, but was pretty sure were top-notch academic societies. There were ribbons and certificates in frames, medals and miniature trophies. The light reflecting off of them dazzled her.
Reluctantly taking her eyes away from the shiny objects (like a bird, they attracted her) she turned to see the various framed pictures on his bookshelf. There was one from his twelfth birthday, which featured his entire family (including his 'extended family'-- sans Vegeta, of course). Another one showed himself, Goten, and Goku, from when his father made his big return at the Tenkaichi Budokai. The one that really caught her attention was the one in the biggest frame.
"Gohan… When was this taken?" She asked, staring at the large photo.
"Which one?" Gohan replied distractedly, as he chewed at the end of his pencil.
"This one of me flying…This was so taken without my knowledge. I hate getting my picture taken, because they always turn out like crap. This one, though…!" Videl's voice reflected a mix of flattery and embarrassment, mixed with a wry tone of mock irritation.
"I snapped that one, actually!" He cheerfully replied, rubbing the back of his head. "You looked so happy, and I just couldn't resist! I had it developed right away so I could have it in here with the other ones."
"Well... its really great, Gohan." She told him, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, and then got back to her rummaging. Within a couple minutes, something else caught her eye; a long black box sticking out from under his bed. Her interest piqued, Videl reached down to retrieve it, when Gohan's foot lightly kicked it out of reach.
"Hmm… Something in there you don't want me to see?" She accusingly questioned, blue eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"No! No! It's not anything like--"
"Then it's fair game," Videl interrupted with a smirk, stretching to pull the box back into reach. She held it for a minute, turning it this way and that, considering it from all angles. Every now and again she'd frown, and hold it as if weighing it for substance. Her eyes narrowed a couple times, scrutinizing the sides as if they'd magically changed from the last time she'd checked it there. Gohan chuckled beside her.
"Prolonging the agony?" He inquired eyes and lips smiling.
"Curiosity is not agony," she retorted. "It's torture." She grinned, and finally slid the lid off.
Her head tilted and eyebrows furrowed as she tired to make sense of the contents. She cautiously reached inside and fingered the top layer, then carefully lifted it up to see the second. Each layer was different from the one before, yet they all seemed to have one thing in common—their apparent purpose. Videl gasped as this realization dawned on her. If they'd been put in chronologically, oldest to newest, then these had to be…
"Gohan!" she demanded," Are these…?"
"Yeah. All of my old battle uniforms. All the way up to my fight with Buu." He replied solemnly. Videl, on the other hand, was ecstatic. She knew the basic details about Gohan's past, but he never elaborated on it. This was her chance to learn more about him, finally. The fabrics of the outfits were worn and torn in some places. Many were still dirty, and several had places that were stitched and re-stitched. She sorted carefully through the tattered garments, making sure not to injure them any further, until she came across the only pieces that were damage-free: His Saiyan battle armor from Namek.
"Ok. What's the deal here? You get this thing restored or something?" She jokingly asked, laughter in her voice. So that's why he was hiding these! He wanted to get 'em all restored before he showed 'em to me! She grinned at the thought. A vain Gohan? Too funny. Not to mention great blackmail material, if it was true…
"No."
And suddenly, Videl's jaw was on the floor. "No way! You fought that nasty lizard guy, as a kid no less, and he never even put a scratch on you?!"
"That's right. Kinda cool, eh?" Gohan replied, a grin working its way on his face. It wasn't entirely the truth, but no one was there to pin him on lying-by-omission…Sure, he hadn't had a scratch on him or his uniform, but he really had Dende to thank for his own health. Besides, he kind of liked the awestruck look Videl was giving him. Why ruin it? After his moment of glory, he let Videl have her way with the box and turned back to his work. For the next ten minutes or so, they both focused entirely on their tasks, and disregarding the shuffle of papers, the turning of pages, and the rustling sounds coming from Videl's corner of the room, silence ensued.
Gohan glanced up from his work to check the clock and yawn. He stretched, and then tossed a glance at Videl.
"Say, Vi. How are you doing in this class anyways?"
"Which one?" She replied distractedly, the box still holding her rapt attention. She was finally starting to figure out where his fascination with full-spandex bodysuits came from, and the prospect left her in a happy fantasy world.
"Honors Algebra." He said, dusting his eraser leavings off his scrap paper. Videl's head snapped up and her eyes grew wide, happy fantasy land having gone POOF in less than two seconds, flat.
"I ALMOST FORGOT SOMETHING!" she exclaimed, scrambling up from her sitting position and dashing to the living room. Before a minute had passed, she returned, backpack in hand and hastily unzipping it. Pulling out a binder, she shuffled through papers hurriedly and triumphantly placed one before him. "Sorry 'bout that. I needed you to help me with a problem on here."
"Let me guess. That's the real reason you're here?"
"Yes, Gohan. That's right. In fact, I've made out with you, faked my car being broken down, and hung out with you all this time, just so I could steal homework answers. Yes. Guilty as charged." Her voice oozed sarcasm, earning herself an embarrassed glare from Gohan. She hid a smile and suppressed the laughter bubbling up as his face grew pinker and more flustered.
"THAT'S NOT FUNNY, VI!" He yelled, causing her laughter to burble over.
"Relax, sweetie. I'm only kidding." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and pressed a finger firmly on the homework she'd set in front of him. "Now gimme some help."
A few minutes later…
"So, you understand it now?" Gohan asked confidently. Videl looked up at him, and back at her paper a couple times, then looked back at her boyfriend matter-of-factly.
"Nope."
"But Videl!" Gohan exclaimed, shock evident in his voice. "That makes three times now!"
"Hey." She interrupted, placing a finger to his lips. "It's not that big of a deal. I'll just copy your work, per usual." She then said with a wink and a smile.
"But what if this is on your final, Vi?"
"Simple. I'll just write in 'My dad owns your job' and I'll get the credit for it. Easy." She responded, her voice oozing sarcasm again.
"Just try it."
"I don't get it."
"Then we'll just have to pull out our handy-dandy… textbook!"
"Geek." She muttered to herself. "Fine," she grumbled more loudly. Picking up her pencil, she studied the problem. Random doodles etched themselves onto the paper as she thought about how to work through it. A thoughtful look came over her face after a moment or two of not writing down any figures. "Gohan?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you ever think….that maybe life is like one big math problem you don't know the answer to? You try and try to work it out, but the more you try, the more confused you get, because just when you think you know the answer… you realize you've been doing it wrong the whole time and have to start all over again. And then when you start over, you get closer to the answer, but you still mess up somewhere…"
Gohan studied her quietly. "Someone's gotten introspective," he said softly.
She nodded absently. "Have you, though? Thought that it was all just some big syllogism?"
"I guess so. Every now and then. That box that you pulled out earlier… I take it out sometimes, too. When I do, it's like… it's like I'm taking out a piece of someone else. Someone similar to me, someone I knew once, but someone I don't think I really know anymore." He answered, slightly chewing on his eraser again as he did.
"What do you mean?" Videl asked, looking up at him with her shining blue eyes.
"Someone who made me who I am, but in the end, that's all anyone does, right? People come into your life to teach you something, if you just let them, and you help them grow, too. Who you are is because of who you were, and who you will be is made up of who you are now." Gohan then continued. "Whether you love someone or hate them, they change you. You probably get more out of loving someone, because hatred takes up too much time. And hating the people you once loved is pointless. Every person that used to mean something to you meant something because you wanted them to. No time spent with someone is wasted. They help you grow. They teach you about the person you want to be." He then said, as Videl listened intently. She never knew he could be so philosophical.
"The best thing to do is just take what you've learned and place them on a shelf of your yesterdays. It's better to thank them then hate them, because sometimes things happen and people change. You can't help that. Being bitter doesn't help either person. It just makes it harder to remember. Good times should be remembered as good times, and if you really need to have a reason not to completely hate someone… think of all the bad times that they held you and let you cry. The times when you needed them and they were there. Those are the times that need to be remembered, more than anything else. I think that life gives you people for a certain period of time, and you should enjoy them for as long as you have them, and when you don't have them anymore, you should accept it and move on."
"…You sound like you've lost a lot of people."
"Sort of… Mainly just one person, in particular."
"Best friend?"
"My dad."
"I'm sor-"
He cut her off with a wave of his hand. "The thing is, I've had it out with myself a few times. Why did I get the life I did? Why me? Why did my dad have to be gone all the time? Why mine? And when you think like that, you can get bitter about it. You can blame it on that person. There were days when I hated him for not being around. He did all these great things for the world, but the world meant more to him than his own son?" He then said, a little more emotion in his voice, and Videl swore she could see a stray tear running down his cheek.
"Gohan, your dad..."
"Loves me. Loves all of us. I know that now. But tell that to a four year old. An eleven year old. A kid doesn't think rationally all the time. But one day I decided that no matter what, being bitter didn't help. And when I decided that, everything was clearer. So to answer your question about life, yes, I think it is a syllogism. You're absolutely right. The more we try to figure it out, the less sense it makes. So we should just enjoy it. You know? Videl…?"
As he spoke, tears had started to slide down her cheeks. "Yeah," she told him, "I know how hard it is to tell that to a little kid. Because sometimes I hate my mom for dying. It just wasn't fair…" She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his shirt. "Everyone thinks I'm so lucky because I have everything… but I don't have my mom. And I never understood why."
He circled his arms around her shaking shoulders. For the next half hour, he simply listened. Occasionally he kissed the top of her head as she spilled out all the frustrations, uncertainties, and hurts she'd felt that she'd never been able to let out. Life had been rough for her. He finally realized that even if it seemed as though he went through so much more than other people, normal people put up with just as many hard times and heartbreaks--just different ones. Normal people had hurts that couldn't be wished away, or healed with a senzu bean. Normal people may not get the scars on their bodies, but the scars on their hearts were irremovable, and usually ran deep.
But even though their scars were permanent, the pain could be numbed. Because they had the ultimate painkiller: Their love for each other.
The math problem sat, forgotten, as he let her cry herself to sleep.
End of Part Eight
