"Are you ready?"

"Not really," said Gohan as he settled into an ungraceful fighting stance. "You've been a tiny bit scarier to me ever since you took down those thugs."

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Videl. "I want to see what you managed to soak up from that last session. You can listen to someone rattle on about how to fight as much as you'd like, but it doesn't stick until you try it yourself."

"So how are we going to about this?" asked Gohan. "I know I'm not ready to give you a proper fight, even though I'm back on my feet now." He brushed the top of his bracelet with his fingertips, hopeful that Bulma's invention would come through for him when it counted.

"I want you to land a solid blow on me," Videl answered a few moments after placing a finger to her chin. "I've built my entire fighting style around speed, so that's what I can demonstrate the best. You can jack yourself up on all the steroids in the world, but there's no point if you can't touch your opponent."

"Shouldn't I be trying to dodge your attacks instead?" questioned Gohan. Although he supposed there was no way out of this now, the youth figured there was no harm in trying.

"We'll get to that soon." Videl thumped her palms together with a smirk. "You're still too scared of hurting other people. Just to stop things from getting boring though, I'll mix it up with a counter attack every now and then."

Gohan gulped audibly. He took a step forward and placed his arms in front of his body, like Videl had demonstrated the other day.

"Whenever you're ready." Videl beckoned for him to attack her with her hand as she lightly bounced up and down on her feet.

Gohan took another half-step forward to bring himself closer and then lashed out with his fist. Even though he was restraining himself, his movement felt more sluggish than usual. Either Bulma's device was doing its magic, or Vegeta was correct about him slacking off.

Videl leapt to the side, dodging it with ease. Despite many late-afternoon crime fighting escapades as Saiyaman, Gohan couldn't tell whether Videl was going easy on him or not because he was sure that even his mother would have used the opportunity to knock him off balance.

Shrugging that thought off, he kicked at his newest fighting mentor with his opposite foot in a simple feint, which forced her to jump back towards her original position - right into his outstretched fist which clobbered her in the shoulder. Gohan panicked, concern breaking out onto his face when he noticed her wince and just when it felt as though time itself had stopped, she grinned.

"Smooth going," she muttered to herself. "Normally, I'd call that a lucky hit, but I think I underestimated you. When we go again, I'll make sure to up the ante."

Gohan beamed in relief. Bulma had come through for him after all.

…

"What are you looking at?" asked Sharpner.

Gohan turned his gaze towards the ground. "Nothing much."

"You don't have the knack for lying," tutted Sharpner before tapping the side of his head. "And besides, I have eyes, y'know?" He finished by gesturing towards Erasa and Videl who were setting up their lab equipment on the other side of the room.

Gohan shrugged. "I'm just trying to figure her out."

"Good luck with that one." The blond snorted. "I've been trying for the better part of six years. Anyway, looks like you need a partner?"

"I guess I do," said Gohan, blinking as he realised that the rest of the class had already partnered up. He was stuck with Sharpner for better or for worse. "I'm a little surprised that you want to pair up with me, if I'm honest. We didn't exactly have the best of starts."

Sharpner shrugged. "I've got to pass somehow. And besides, Erasa and Videl are cool with you so I guess I am too."

"Cool with me?" Gohan repeated nervously. It still hadn't fully registered that Videl had ceased hounding him and had bought him a brand new television. That was almost a bigger heel-face turn than when Bulma somehow got Vegeta to wear a pink shirt.

"You can play it like that if you want," said Sharpner before smirking mischievously, "but I know for a fact that the two of you were up on the roof this morning."

"It's not like that," Gohan protested, much to Sharpner's amusement. He could practically feel his face flush red. "How'd you even find out about that anyway?" he asked as he began to set up the equipment needed for the experiment they had to conduct.

"I know you're new, but I thought you'd catch on quicker than this," sighed Sharpner. "There isn't anything that goes on around here without Erasa finding out about it half an hour later. Trust me. And I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that she's not exactly great at keeping things to herself either."

"So what did she say about what we were doing up there?" asked Gohan. He wasn't particularly keen to end up at the centre of more rumours.

"'Sparring but I don't expect that to last for too long' were her exact words, I believe," Sharpner replied as he ran a hand through the ends of his hair.

"Does Videl normally spar with people on the roof?" The black-haired boy couldn't help but feel Sharpner's nonchalant attitude implied that this was something of a regular occurrence.

"Nah, I heard the story of how you got jumped the other day and how Videl's decided to make sure you know how to throw a punch," explained Sharpner. He tried extra hard to look disinterested, brushing at his shoulder as Gohan placed a beaker full of green liquid over a bunsen burner and began to heat it. "This is a rough place if you're not careful. People aren't going to be as nice as they are out in the country."

Gohan refrained from mentioning that the only people from 'out in the country' that he had any interaction with were his mum and little brother. "It can't be that bad. Videl was literally beating herself up because she wasn't able to help any sooner."

"Saiyaman might have only shown up a few weeks ago, but she's always had a tendency to play superhero," reflected Sharpner. "You're right, though. She was pretty torn up about it."

A silence ensued, both men hesitant to say too much about the topic. Gohan added a few grams of a thick powder that had been provided to them in a jar into the bubbling liquid and stirred it through, noting down his observations about the reaction that occurred.

Finally, Sharpner broke the silence. "Gotta hand it to you though, Brains. Don't think I've ever seen Videl obsess over one person so much, for good or bad."

Somehow Gohan felt he wasn't just trying to make small talk.

…

"Oh, it's nice to see you again, Videl," said Chichi as she eyed the girl at the door. "Do come in."

"You too, Mrs. So-"

"Chichi," insisted the widow. "I'm not getting any younger, but being called 'Mrs. Son' makes me feel twice my age."

"Alright, 'Chichi' it is," replied Videl with a warm smile as she stepped inside the house. She wondered for a moment if her own mum would have insisted that her friends do the same.

"So what brings you by on a school night?" Chichi tried not to sound too pushy. "I'm fine with you training Gohan, but I don't want it to come before anyone's education."

"Actually, that's just it," Videl explained. "Gohan promised to help me out with a Chemistry report."

"I know I'm a mother of two, Videl, but I wasn't born yesterday," said Chichi with a slight shake of her head. "I know there's something you're not telling me."

"Fine," huffed Videl, careful to not get too frustrated, "I want to make sure Gohan actually watches those tapes I sent over to him."

"Oh, where are my manners?" Chichi asked before hitting herself on her forehead. "I forgot to thank you for your generosity with the new television. It really wasn't necessary."

Videl snorted. "I just wanted to make sure Gohan couldn't worm his way out of it. You've raised a great kid and all that, but I swear I've never met someone with so many excuses for everything."

"He's always taken time to get comfortable with people." Chichi let out an exasperated sigh. "My one regret about living all the way out here in the countryside is that he rarely had a chance to socialise with kids his own age growing up."

"I was kind of the same," Videl admitted. "After my mum died, my father and I moved around a lot so he could focus on his martial arts. I was never in one place for long so it was hard to make friends and after a while, I stopped trying. Once he defeated Cell, it just felt like everyone who approached me was fake."

Chichi looked like she wanted to respond, but thought better of it after a few moments of deliberation. "Gohan's probably studying in his room. It's just past the kitchen there; you can't miss it."

Videl shrugged, figuring that Gohan's mother was peculiar if nothing else. She continued through the building, admiring the cosy home with more detail this time. The floor was spotless and the place was well-heated, but there were numerous scuff marks along the walls and in the corners. True to his mother's word, she found Gohan sitting by his desk with a few different textbooks sprawled across it.

She knocked on his door, even though it was open. "Hey, Stranger."

He turned around, a surprised look on his face. It looked as if he was trying a little too hard, almost like he somehow knew she was coming. "Oh, hey Videl! What are you doing here?"

"I felt like flying somewhere in my jet-copter today." Videl shrugged. "Besides, said you'd help me with that Chemistry report."

It took a moment or two for a look of realisation to dawn on his face. "I didn't think you'd want to get started on it so early."

"I don't, but I need to start taking Chemistry a little more seriously," said Videl. "I mean, it's not like I'll fail or anything, but I've been struggling recently."

"Is that so?" asked Gohan.

"No, not really," she admitted before the corners of her mouth twisted upwards in a smirk. "I wanted to make sure that you've been putting that new T.V. to good use."

The blank look on Gohan's face was all that she needed. "Oh… right, I did watch a fight the other day."

She sighed. "I'm not even surprised."

He smiled apologetically. "I'll tell you what… why don't you let me put these Biology books away and we can watch a few rounds together?"

Videl felt compelled to threaten him and promise to extract revenge on him for wasting her time during their next training session, but instead, she just nodded.

"Well, I didn't come all the way over here to do Chemistry homework."

…

"Dinner will be another hour or so away, but this should help tide you over until then," said Chichi as she placed a plate of dumplings on the coffee table in front of the sofa. The new television was loud and blaring in her face as a purple-haired fighter tried to use her feminine wiles against someone dressed like a monk.

Videl eyed the plate of food sceptically before glancing towards the mother and son. "Are you sure that's going to be enough?"

"It might be more for your benefit than Gohan's," Chichi admitted with a laugh. "After a filling meal, he and that brother of his rarely last more than twenty minutes before they go looking for more food to shove in their mouths."

"It's sad that I don't even doubt that anymore," said Videl, shaking her head as she tried to dispel the mental image of the two Son boys pigging out. She had never been a stickler for table manners, but even she had her limits.

Once Chichi had disappeared, Videl grabbed a pair of chopsticks and reached for the plate of dumplings. She popped one in her mouth and chewed purposefully before turning to address Gohan, satisfied.

"This isn't the most conventional fight you'll ever see," she said upon seeing his flustered face. She couldn't stop herself from breaking out into a fit of laughter; his utter bewilderment at some of the tactics on show was just too much. After a few moments, she managed to calm herself down enough to continue. "It's useful for displaying how important it is to remain focussed on the task at hand, though."

"I think he's trying pretty hard to be fair," said Gohan as he gestured towards the dark-skinned monk who was attempting to resist his opponent's outlandish advances. "Talk about an interesting matchup."

"Oh, you have no idea," Videl said with a knowing smile as the match finally ended with the monk knocking the temptress out with a swift chop to the back of the head. "Trawling through these fights used to be my version of Saturday morning cartoons."

"I was never really a fan of those either," admitted Gohan. "I always felt that exploring my backyard was so much more interesting."

"You've got to take me adventuring around here sometime because you never stop talking about how great it is," Videl said absentmindedly before robbing her student of the chance to respond. "Ooh! Pay attention to this fight and you'll see what I meant about the whole cartoon analogy."

A pot-bellied child in an orange uniform frantically made his way on stage to fight against a terrifying pterodactyl-like creature that looked to be at least ten times his size. Within seconds, he was flung into the arena's brick wall by the monster's gargantuan tail.

Gohan coughed nervously. Videl spared him a glance; he was shifting uncomfortably on the edge of his seat and fidgeting with his fingers. Nothing too out of the norm for the boy who was decidedly not Saiyaman so Videl chalked it down to him feeling uneasy at seeing a child on the receiving end of such brutality.

"It has a happy ending."

She offered him a reassuring smile. She didn't know much about his childhood, but given what she already knew about him, she wagered it wasn't a large leap to assume that his parents had been harsh disciplinarians. Social awkwardness, a reluctance to engage in violence, introversion — all the signs seemed to point in the same direction.

He met her eyes with a smile plastered on for her benefit. After a moment or two, he broke the tension. "I don't know how I'd go about even imagining how to fight something like that."

She scoffed - "The bigger they are, the harder they fall" - but inwardly she was still trying to unravel the young man in front of her. She could see Chichi running a tight ship, so to speak, but it was difficult to see how that translated to the cues in Gohan's behaviour Videl was picking up on. Her hatred of nosy people who had nothing better to do than gossip all day began to clash against her fundamental desire to solve every case as she contemplated pushing for more answers. She didn't want to overstep her bound-

"Oh wow, a snack!" an excited voice squealed, snapping her out of her thoughts as Gohan's younger brother - Goten, was it? - came into focus. Her eyes narrowed. "I'm starving!"

"Those dumplings are for Videl," Gohan scolded his brother with a voice so firm that it almost sounded fatherly. "You need to ask her permission if you'd like some."

"Oh, okay," said Goten as he slumped his shoulders and made a big show of dragging his feet along the floor as he approached her. "Can I have some of your dumplings, Videl? Pretty please?"

Videl, for her part, was too busy wondering why she'd never bothered to give Goten more than a cursory glance before to pay attention to his forced attempt at a pout. She couldn't tell what was more suspicious, the peculiar hairstyle or the way the baby fat still framed his cheeks. The last name, the clothes, hell, even the first syllable of his name… it was all starting to add up quicker than Gohan's sums in Math class. It was only when Gohan's head turned towards her too that she realised she still needed to respond.

"Oh yeah, go for it, little man," Videl blurted out tactlessly. She was met by a cheer from the young boy who promptly reached for a dumpling with his fingers and scarfed it down.

As Gohan reprimanded his younger brother for not thanking Videl for her generosity, Videl's eyes darted between the image of a young Son Goku squaring off against a terrifying monster and Goten's ecstatic protests. The resemblance between the two was so strong that Videl couldn't help but wonder if Goten was the result of a cloning experiment, or if Gohan's father had stumbled across the fountain of youth.

"Leave some for Videl!"

Videl's mind drifted away from the brothers' bickering to why Gohan had not said anything if that was indeed his father fighting against some kind of grotesque behemoth. Obviously, the man was dead and Videl knew as well anyone that a deceased parent was a sore spot that was best left unexposed, but surely her protégé would have mentioned that his father had won a World Martial Arts Tournament if that's all there was to it.

Only one thing was certain: this warranted further investigation.

…

When Videl got home that night, it was far closer to midnight than she would have preferred. She tiptoed through the hallways of her mansion, hoping not to attract the attention and subsequent fervent questioning of her father, before making it to her room and beelining for her computer.

There were so many unanswered questions about Gohan that she couldn't imagine any case she would ever be assigned as a detective would pose so much intrigue. Questions surrounding Son Goku and his connection to her classmate had stewed in the back of her mind for the better part of the past three hours and now it was time to finally get some answers.

Was he really Gohan and Goten's father? How had he come to pass? And perhaps, most importantly, why hadn't Gohan mentioned him to her yet?

Within moments, her computer was powered on and she was entering words into a search engine. She hit the enter key and eagerly scoured every pixel on her screen for new information. Son Goku was a martial artist and student of the Turtle School, renowned for his success during the 21st-23rd World Martial Arts Tournaments. He was the winner of the 23rd iteration, defeating runner-up Ma- blah, blah, blah. There was nothing she didn't already know here.

Videl frowned, alert to the fact that she would have to get up in seven hours. If she wanted to find something that would help answer her questions, she would have to dig deeper. She bit her fingernails as she thought about cornering Gohan tomorrow and making him answer her questions, but ultimately decided that was a bad idea. The last time she had jumped to conclusions about Gohan hadn't exactly gone to plan, after all.

She couldn't help but shake the feeling that she still owed him one for her inaction that day, so, she reasoned as she refined her search, helping him move past the potential trauma of his father's death would go a long way towards paying off that debt.

It took at least ten minutes and she came across all kinds of interesting folk tales about the former champion - most peculiarly, about him taking down some kind of red army all by himself - before she stumbled across a documentary that seemed promising. As the video buffered, she read its description: ZTV's Jimmy Firecracker sits down with the World Martial Arts Tournament Champions of days past and investigates how their lives have changed since lifting the gold belt. Perfect.

She skipped through the introduction and the first few champions until some of the fighters she recognised began to pop up: King Chappa, a legendary warrior with an afro that would make her father proud and Jackie Chun, a weirdo whose words were eccentric as his fists were powerful. Now certain that they were going through the fighters in chronological order, she skipped to the end of the Tien Shinhan's segment and waited for Goku's to begin.

A brief summary of his fighting style and cameos at the World Martial Arts Tournament ensued before finally, the camera faded to black. Except, when footage resumed, the name Son Goku was not printed on the bottom left of the image. Instead, there was only a puzzling Anonymous.

Videl stared at her monitor, befuddled, before her eyebrows rose in realisation as a nonchalant woman with her hair tied in an all-too-familiar bun came into focus.

"Unfortunately, at the time of recording this folks, Son Goku has been dead for two years," said the interviewer, speaking powerfully into his microphone. "Thankfully, Anonymous - a former opponent of his - has agreed to talk with us about him."

The anchor's implication - that Chichi, of all people, had fought in a World Martial Arts Tournament - came as a shock to Videl. Instantly, any lingering thoughts of pushing off her research to tomorrow disappeared.

"Now for those of you at home who haven't studied your tourney history, Anonymous here just so happens to be Goku's widow," said Jimmy, with a hint of a smirk on his face. "Of course, in a first for the World Martial Arts Tournament - which, believe me, is no mean feat - Son Goku famously proposed to Anonymous, otherwise known as Chichi, just moments after knocking her out. The pair had a happy marriage and two children together."

"Actually, I was pregnant with my youngest when Goku passed," Chichi interrupted.

"I see," said the interviewer as he pushed the bridge of his glasses higher up his nose. "So what can you tell us about your lives after that famous tournament which, of course, Goku went on to win? Rumour has it Goku swapped fighting for farming!"

"I'm afraid not," said Chichi with a smile about her. Videl admired the way she could talk about her late husband without faltering. "Although he decided to move on from participating in tournaments, fighting remained a very big part of the person he was 'till his last day. The years were kind to the two of us; we settled in the countryside, where Goku had grown up, and started a family."

"Interesting," murmured Jimmy. "Is there any sentiment within the household attached to perhaps following in Goku's footsteps between your two boys?"

"I don't think so. I want the boys to make Goku proud by knuckling down and studying hard to find success," said Chichi. "I want better for them, instead of resigning them to a life where they'll be counting how many teeth they still have in their mouth by age twenty."

"I apologise if I'm speaking out of turn, but given that it's my job to ask the difficult questions — have you fallen out of love with martial arts?" asked the well-renowned interviewer. "Are Goku's accomplishments any less impressive now that his belt's had time to tarnish?"

Chichi huffed at the veiled suggestion. "I'm not some hussy who married my husband for his accomplishments. I married him because I love him. Just because I want more for my children does not mean I've forgotten how incredible Goku and all his achievements are."

"Well, that's a resounding no, folks," said Jimmy as he turned to face the camera. "So there you have it. How's monkey-tailed, pot-bellied Goku holding up fifteen years later? Gone, but still remembered fondly and sorely missed by those he left behind."

The video drew to a close, paying homage to all the tournament champions in a montage pieced together from footage of their fights. Her father wasn't included because the segment itself had been produced to build up anticipation for the tournament he would go on to win, after the tournament had finally come back from a long hiatus following Goku and Majunior's stage-annihilating final.

Videl rubbed her eyes as she tried to process what she had just seen. In looking for definitive proof for a link between Son Goku and her classmate, she'd gotten more than she had bargained for.

The question that remained on her mind as she tossed and turned in her bed that night, unable to get the sleep she so desperately needed, was why Gohan had chosen not to even mention anything about his father as he battled a terrifying pterodactyl on the television in front of them.

…

This chapter was brought to by Kakarot Son.

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