Chapter 24: Feelings Of Exhaustion

Darkness. That's what was in sight. Nothing, but utter darkness everywhere. The all too familiar blackness was where the young boy Gohan found himself in. ~ Great, of all places I'm back here. Really, why can't I just have a normal dream for once? ~

Gohan was know speculating whether or not to walk into the blackness like he would always do. Each time he did, something bad always happened. And if he didn't, they might just come to him anyway. So, he decided to just move forward.

With each step he took he wondered how long it would be until something would happen. He kept his whole senses on high alert. Watching carefully for any movements, listening to any sound that should not belong.

~ Nothing so far. ~ He thought, but he knew darn well not to let his guard down. He was right not to because from the corner of his eye there was movement. Quickly, he formed a ki blast and threw it at the spot. The light and smoke faded and nothing was there.

Scanning for more things, Gohan became aware of a figure about to attack him from behind. He leapt to the air and threw a energy volley. Once again, nothing was there. And frankly the saiyan hybrid was starting to get annoyed with the same games.

~ This is hopeless. I'll never be able to see them like this. ~ He smiled. ~ So, I guess I'll just have to make my own source of light. ~ With a yell, he powered up into a super saiyan. A golden aura now surrounded him, creating a light in the darkness. ~ Okay, now where are they... ~ Gohan couldn't sense any power levels, so he couldn't do much except wait for the next attack.

It seemed like a couple of minutes had passed before a bunch of creepy mumbling could be heard. Gohan instantly got into a defensive pose. It was those same shadowy figures that had attacked him last time.

They slowly started to form a circle around the half saiyan. He knew exactly what they were planning to do. Quickly bringing his hand to his forehead, Gohan used the Instant Transmission technique to disappear from the spot. He appeared from above throwing a punch at one of the figures. The shadowy figure moved to the side dodging the attack.

It then grabbed Gohan by the arm, and threw the young saiyan into what seemed like a invisible wall. "Oww. That was smart." He quickly got up and launched himself at the shadows. Each punch and kick Gohan would throw would just be evaded.

~ Nothing seems to be working and I can't throw energy blasts either. It just goes through them. ~ Then, from underneath the ground a pair of hands got him by the legs. A shadow emerged as it extended it's hand and threw Gohan forward into to the ground and then back again. This process was repeated several times and there was nothing the kid could do to break loose.

Finally it let him go and threw the saiyan harshly into the ground. Gohan slowly got up and vanished from the spot. He appeared above one of the shadows and managed to punch it in the face, but like the ki blasts, his hand went straight threw it. "W-what." Was all the young saiyan could say in shock.

How the heck was he supposed to defend himself if everything he would lash out at these things would just go through them. ~ What am I supposed to do now? ~ Thought Gohan as he trembled a bit.

The shadow saw Gohan's fear and seeing him wide open, it managed to get several punches to the half breed's face. It then hit him in the stomach sending him to the ground, but still Gohan stood. ~ What the hell do I do? I-I can't defend myself. And there's no use in going ssj2, it'd just be the same story. ~

The shadowy figures all started to slowly make his way towards him. ~ Well, there's not much I can do, but I won't go down without a fight! ~ Gohan powered up and cupped his hands. "Ka Me Ha Me Haaa!" He threw the wave forward as the blast seemed to hit them. Once the smoke, cleared not a single thing was in sight.

"Did I actually manage to beat them?" Asked Gohan to himself. There was no way of really telling since he couldn't sense any sort of power from those things.

The silence was then shattered with a faint laughter. ~ Now what? ~ Gohan wondered as he scanned the whole area. All of a sudden he was attacked by one of the shadows as it engulfed itself around him. Gohan tried to fight it off, as he thrashed his hands around. Things only got worse as the other shadows appeared and did the same thing. "N-No stop!" He yelled as they slowly made their way inside the saiyan. "Aaaah!"

- () -

There was a loud thud as Son Gohan fell out of his bed. He had apparently been tossing and turning in his bed and the cause of it had made him fall off. He got up as he rubbed his head, but not due to have fallen, but because of the same mysterious headache.

"Gohan! Are you alright sweetie?" Yelled Chichi from downstairs. She had obviously heard the thud from his room. "Yeah, don't worry about me mom. I'm fine." Yelled Gohan back. "Well, hurry up down. Breakfast is almost ready." "Okay."

Gohan sighed. "I wonder what that dream means. It can't be him, besides I was pretty confident that I defeated that freak."

A couple of minutes later, Gohan came downstairs. He smiled slightly as he saw Goten. "Hey there, squirt." Said Gohan, ruffling his hair. Goten giggled a little at seeing his older brother.

Gohan sat down, still rubbing his head. "What's wrong Gohan?" Asked Chichi worriedly as she could see that her son was looking a bit troubled and moody. He looked up and spoke, "Nothing's wrong, really." He said putting up a more cheery look. Of course all that was a lie. Gohan actually felt kind of exhausted as if he had really been fighting in reality.

After eating breakfast Gohan headed for the door. "Are you sure you want to go to school today? You don't have to if you're not feeling well." Said Chichi. At that comment Gohan felt slightly annoyed. He really wasn't sure why he felt that way, but then he was pretty mad at the fact that the dream with the shadows had popped up again. He only assumed to himself that he felt a bit moody because of that.

"It's okay mom. I feel well enough to go to school." Chichi spoke, "Alright, but if you start to feel sick make sure to call me, okay." "Okay, bye mom." "Bye sweetie."

With that Gohan powered up and took off in the direction of Satan City. It wasn't long before the city came into view and with a little more flying, so did the school. Gohan landed on the roof and made himself to his first period.

He arrived to the room and as he made his way up the stairs to his seat, Erasa spotted him and spoke, "Hey Gohan!" He sat down next to her. "Hi Erasa." "Hey, how come you weren't in school yesterday? Were you sick?" "Yeah, I had a fever that's all." Said Gohan. Sharpener who had been listening chuckled at this. "Yeah right. C'mon Gohan we all know that's not true." "What do you mean?" He asked curiously.

"Well, for one you're always ditching class whenever you want." At that comment, Gohan realized what Sharpener was talking about. Gohan had always made some excuse to leave class and he always did take a while to come back, but that was only to help Videl fight the criminals. Of course nobody except him and Videl knew that.

"So, really. Why weren't you here?" Asked Sharpener. "Oh c'mon Sharpener, give him a break. If he told us he was sick than that's the truth, right Gohan." "Yeah, that's right." Said Gohan.

The rest of the period went on as usual, except that Videl came in about fifteen minutes late due to having been stopping another batch of bad guys. As she made her way to her seat, she was shocked to see Gohan in his. "Gohan, what are you doing here? I thought you were still sick." He looked up from his book. "Well, I was, but I feel better now." Videl narrowed her eyes, "Oh really. When I went to see you yesterday, that's what you said and then your fever suddenly came back."

"Hahaha. Yeah, well don't worry about me. I feel back to 100% now." Said Gohan. That was more or less true. He didn't have the fever or headaches now, but for some reason he felt exhausted a little bit.

Erasa spoke, "What do you mean when you went to his house Videl?" She smiled. "Oh I get it. You guys have been secretly dating right and you went to his house to have a date." Said Erasa, a little teasing in her voice. "W-what!" Yelled Gohan, falling out of his chair.

That happening everybody started laughing as the teacher looked at Gohan. "I know that this material could be dull Gohan, but please do not fall asleep in my class." Said the teacher harshly. Gohan got up, "Sorry sir." He said sitting back down. "Now, then back to what we were discussing..." Started the teacher.

"Sorry about that Gohan." Whispered Erasa. "No it's okay, that was my fault." She turned to look at Videl. "So, tell me girl. Why were you at Gohan's?" ~ Oh man, she better not tell them about the flying lessons or my secret. ~ Thought Gohan. Videl seemed to sense Gohan's worry as she gave him a reassuring look.

"Well you guys know that Gohan's parents are famous martial artists and I wanted to get a chance to meet them. Isn't that right Gohan." She said giving him a wink. "Ugh, yeah that's right." Sharpener spoke, "What. You went to meet the famous Son Chichi and Son Goku and you didn't invite me!"

"Oh that's cool. Next time you should invite us too Gohan." Said Erasa. "So Videl, were Gohan's parents pretty cool or what?" "Yeah his mother was nice and his baby brother was really cute too." "Well, what about his father? Didn't you get to meet him?" Asked Erasa. At that comment Gohan got a little sad. Sure he didn't feel guilty any more, but it still hurt not having his father with him anymore. And Videl noticed this.

Videl whispered to Erasa, "Well I would have, but his dad passed away almost a year ago." She hoped that the fact she was whispering was enough indication to change the subject, but no such luck. Erasa turned to Gohan. "Oh, I'm so sorry Gohan I didn't know. Do you mind if I ask how he died?" "Erasa!" Said Videl harshly.

Gohan slightly smiled. "No it's okay. Well, ugh, he died at the Cell Games fighting against Cell." "What, your father was at the Cell Games!" Said Sharpener. Gohan nodded. Erasa spoke, "Wait, I thought that all the people that Cell killed had been some how brought back to life." "Yeah, well unfortunately he wasn't one of them." "Oh..." Said Erasa quietly. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Erasa was gonna say something else, but was stopped by a hand to the shoulder. It was Videl who shook her head. And so the rest of the period went on as usual and so did the day.

The bell rang, signaling that it was lunch time.

A young saiyan boy was sitting alone at a lunch table enjoying his meal when Videl went to sit next to him. "Hey Gohan. I wanted to say sorry about Erasa earlier in first period. I tried to signal for her to stuff it, but she obviously didn't get my message." Gohan looked at her with full understanding. "It's okay, really. You don't have to worry about me. I mean it can be hard at times, but I've learned that there's no point in being sad all the time." She smiled. "That's true, but hey if you ever want to talk I'm here. After all I know what it feels like." Gohan smiled. "Thanks."

And so the two enjoyed each others company until both Erasa and Sharpener would arrive.

It was now fifth period. Not much was happening, just the usual until a beeping sound was heard from Videl's watch. It was another batch pf crooks again. Videl looked at Gohan, asking if he was gonna help. He nodded his head. With that she took off.

A couple of minutes later Gohan raised his hand and asked if he could be excused to the bathroom. "Well okay, but if you don't come back quickly you'll get detention you hear me Gohan." Said his teacher, knowing all too well that Gohan sometimes didn't return to class. "Yes Ma'am." He got up and left the room. ~ Oh well, it looks like I'm gonna have detention. ~

In the air Gohan changed to his gi and went super saiyan. Locating her ki, he took off into that direction.

Upon arriving, Gohan saw that it was five men that were trying to rob a jewelry store. Videl had already taken care of two of them so that only left three. She was currently fighting one of the men. Gohan noticed that another was ready to fill her with bullets. ~ Oh no he won't! ~ In a flash he quickly karate chopped the gun out of the bad guys hand and with another knocked him out.

Everything was going pretty smoothly, but then the same headache came crashing back at Gohan. Along with it he felt as if his strength was being zapped. He winced at the pain, trying to regain his composure.

Trying to ignore the pain and sudden feeling of fatigue, Gohan didn't notice a figure creeping up behind him. Just as Videl knocked out one of the men, she noticed. "Gold Fighter watch out!" But it was too late, the bad guy hit Gohan in the head with his gun making the saiyan fall to the ground. Normally a hit like that wouldn't hurt, but with the headache back it did.

Laughing the man pointed the gun towards Gohan. "Looks like this is the end for you!" Videl had already started running forward to help, but the man turned around deciding to shoot her first. Gohan opened his eyes, knowing that if he didn't act Videl was done for. He extended his foot, managing to knock him off balance. With another kick, he sent him up to the air only to come crashing back down, unconscious.

Videl ran to Gohan, now that all of the bad guys were taken of. "Gohan are you alright!" She said kneeling next to him. He slowly got up. "Yeah. It's just that my head hurts." He said holding his head. Videl placed her hand on his forehead. "Hmm. Well, you don't have a fever this time. Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" She asked in concern. "Don't worry. It's tolerable, so I'll be fine."

Videl got out her capsule which held her helicopter. "Do you want to ride with me or would you rather fly?" Gohan who was now no longer in ssj or his gi spoke, "I'll ride with you. I don't think I can fly right with this headache." "Alright."

On their way back Gohan broke the silence between him and Videl. "Hey Videl, how much time has passed since we left class?" "Well, it looks like almost 20 minutes." At that Gohan groaned. "Man, that means I'll have detention tomorrow. I don't even want to face our teacher right now. She'll surely be mad."

Videl laughed. "That does stink. At least I have an excuse, but you don't unless you want to reveal who you truly are." "No way! I don't want all that publicity." "Why not? It's not that bad." He smiled. "Well, maybe for you, but don't you get annoyed with all those reporters?" "Yeah. You have a point there."

"So, I guess you're feeling better now?" Asked Videl, noticing that Gohan didn't look like he was in pain or anything. "Actually yeah. I feel fine." "Don't you think it's strange that those headaches just suddenly come back and then suddenly vanish so fast?" Responded Videl. "I don't know, maybe you should go to a doctor to check them out." "I guess so."

As Gohan finished that statement, Orange Star came into view. "Oh well, it looks like I have to face the music." Said Gohan. Videl looked at him feeling a little bad for the saiyan. "Well, what do you say if we just ditch the rest of the school day and just go hang out?" Gohan was shocked to say the least. "Are you serious?" "Well yeah, I mean fifth period is almost over and we have p.e. next. It's not like we're gonna miss anything important. Besides we're the smartest kids in school so we know all this stuff already."

Gohan was thinking about it. "I guess so, but if my mom finds out about this. I'm dead." Videl laughed. "Don't worry. I don't think she will. Remember today in p.e. We have a sub so we can just say that he made a mistake and marked us absent. You know how subs can be."

Gohan smiled. "Well okay." Videl smiled as well. "Alright then, where do you want to go?" "I don't know. How about we just go to the mall and walk around." "Okay." She said changing course.

"So, what made you want to ditch? I didn't think it was like you?" Said Gohan. "Eh, school. It's boring to say the least. I guess I just wanted to do something else for a change." "What about your dad. Won't he be mad if he finds out?" Videl's eyes narrowed. "Yeah right. He's so busy he won't even notice. Don't get me wrong he's a great father, but he's not always there."

"And what about you? I didn't think you'd have the guts." Gohan laughed a little. "Yeah well, like you said school is boring and I learned this stuff since I was like four." Videl was surprised by this. "No way." Gohan nodded. "Really, my mom made me learn all this at that age. She's really crazy about me being a scholar." "Wow. Well it looks like we made it here."

Getting out both of them entered the mall, enjoying each others company.

A/N: Hope u liked this chapter! And hopefully it didn't seem too out of character for them to want to ditch class :P

Well, please review!