Hey everyone! I'm back again. I want to say a special thank you to all the reviewers. Your support is inspiration enough for me to continue writing.

Anyway, as you all probably figured out by now I don't own DBZ.

Last Time...

I'd better keep away from her as much as possible. I can't afford anything to slip.

With that final thought, Gohan loaded the dishes into the massive dishwasher and programmed the cleaning bots to clean up the mess they made, before heading for the gym. He definitely wasn't going to get anymore sleep tonight.


Training Day Two...

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Videl had barely drifted off to sleep before the wake-up call she'd come to dread resonated through the room. Sighing in annoyance, the dark haired girl got up and looked over to the bed on the other side of the room only to find it unoccupied. She looked down at her hands and sighed again, this time in depression. She was finally getting Gohan to trust her, to open up to her. But then she just had to be stupid and make things weird between them. She should not have invaded his personal space like that.

With another deep sigh, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and grabbed the first set of workout clothes she saw. Running to the bathroom, just in case he decided to come in, Videl changed before going downstairs to the gym.

She took her seat with the other advanced students but to her surprise, neither Gohan nor Mirai were anywhere in sight. She sent an inquiring glance over at Sharpner who shrugged in response.

Suddenly a loud shriek reverberated from a room on the far side of the gym. They'd never been in it so they assumed it was some type of storage locker. However, as Bulma emerged screaming at a very bloody and bruised Gohan, supporting Mirai, who wasn't in a much better shape, it was safe to say they were wrong. Videl's heart stopped as she looked at the battered body of her classmate. What did they do to each other? Was this because of last night? She dreaded to think so. Her first instinct was to run to help him, but a sharp look from Lime convinced her otherwise.

"Dammit! You boys couldn't spend a damned week without beating each other to a pulp!" Bulma raved at the two teenagers, as they staggered behind her in obvious pain. "You guys never heard of talking about your feelings! I swear you're just like your fathers! Like a bunch of Neanderthals! Just get in the regeneration tank and out of my sight!"

So they do this stuff all the time? No wonder Gohan has so many scars on his body! This is dangerous! The dark haired girl looked on in mute shock.

As the trio left the room, Krillen spoke up, awaking the students from their daze. "Well everyone!" he said. "We're going to go on to the second phase of our training today."

The students looked at him, barely registering his words as they still reeled from the gruesome scene they had just witnessed. Videl raised her hand. "W-what happened to them?" she asked when Krillen acknowledged her.

Krillen smiled at her. "They were sparring," he answered simply.

"Sparring?" the girl asked dubiously. "They call that sparring? They could have killed each other! How could you stand by knowing they were doing this and not stop them!"

Yamcha scowled at the girl. Who was she to come in a dictate how they did things? "They have been training like this for years now. They know their limits," he supplied sharply.

The Satan girl glowered back. "Well obviously they don't," she responded with a superior air. "That type of fighting will only land you in the hospital or even worse, the morgue!"

"Look!" Krillen replied, obviously irritated. "There are fights that do not occur in the confines of a tournament ring. There are times where you have to fight to the death in order to survive. Their trainers made sure they were ready for that. In the real world and on the battlefield there are no rules!"

Videl still was not shaken. "Of course there are rules! What do you think the police are for?" she responded haughtily.

Yamcha stared the girl down before responding. "Not every city on the planet lives in the peace that Satan City does. If you live in a city torn apart by chaos with a gang destroying everything and everyone in sight, what do you do?"

The girl stared right back at him. "Knock them out and call the police!" she replied easily.

"There is no police!" Krillen responded with an impatient look. "This city runs by the rule, kill or be killed. A life doesn't matter because no one gets into trouble. Can you simply knock out a criminal army that is ten times stronger than you? Who's to say they won't kill you first?" Krillen responded.

She looked down at her hands, unable to answer. Could such a world exist? She never felt afraid when taking down the criminals she fought. She knew she was stronger than them and she knew she had the police and the Gold Fighter to back her up. But what if they didn't exist? Would Satan City have become this hell hole if her father hadn't saved them all from Cell? Now that she looked at it, it was definitely possible. She'd seen violent, angry mobs protesting a legislation passed by the government that they didn't like. If their very lives were in danger, who's to say how much worse their response would be?

Yamcha clapped his hands once. "Alright, if you have no more questions, let's get back to training!" he said. "I need you all in one group for now."

The students submitted, moving from their various parts of the gym towards the center. They looked up keenly at the martial arts masters, hoping today wouldn't be as bad as yesterday.

Krillen tossed a capsule over to the far corner of the gym, releasing a puff of smoke. Slowly, the fog dissipated to reveal several turtle shells, each about the size of a large back pack. There were three different colors, green, blue and orange. "From now on, we will be training under the Turtle style of martial arts. This type of training is going to increase both your strength and your speed. You will wear this turtle shell every day, all day. The only exceptions are when you are sleeping, showering or on your days off. Advanced students, you have the orange shells, intermediate students the blue shells and beginners, the green shells. Grab a shell and let's get to it."

Videl and Sharpner walked confidently over to the pile, grabbing an orange shell each. As they moved to pull them out of the heap, their eyes simultaneously widened. How the hell did they expect them to carry this on their backs all day? They had to weigh at least fifty pounds!

"Are you trying to kill us?" Videl asked, breathing laboriously due to the heavy weight on her back.

Krillen smirked, glad to put the haughty girl in her place. "Don't be such a wuss! When we were training under Master Roshi, Goku and I had to carry one hundred pound turtle shells on our back for three months straight! And we were only around twelve years old!"

Videl's jaw dropped in bewilderment. How was that even possible? Anyway, she was no weakling! Anything they could do, she could do as well, if not better. Determined to prove her worth, she desisted from commenting further on the matter.

"Ok, now if you guys are done complaining, beginners, take a lap around the gym then perform the katas you learned yesterday. Intermediates, you go with Yamcha and he'll give you your instructions. As for the advanced students, since Gohan isn't here to instruct you, you will be helping the palace workers." Krillen said.

The advanced students looked at each other, feeling insulted. They were supposed to do chores all day? How was that supposed to help them? It was ridiculous. However, fearing another tongue lashing from their instructors, they followed the servant who had come to get them out of the gym. He was a rather tall man in his mid-thirties with dark hair, olive skin and well developed muscles. He made no attempt to start a conversation, choosing instead to set his dark brown eyes ahead. As they stepped outside, he turned to face them. "You, and you," he said, pointing to Sharpner and Videl. "Go out in the forest and gather some wood. Usually, Prince Gohan and Goten do it but it seems the young master is in the infirmary. We need about five trees worth. Here's an axe for each of you."

"How are we supposed to carry it back?" Sharpner asked.

"On your backs," the man replied simply as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Krillen also requested you run the entire way."

The two friends grimaced at each other but ran off, the axe on their shoulders.

"The rest of you will be gathering water from the river to fill our 1000 gallon cistern," he said, handing each of them a beam with two buckets on the ends.

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Five hours later, all the teens were back in the gym, panting and gasping for air yet again. Well, at least they all were conscious this time.

"Alright guys, you go to the kitchen and get some lunch," Yamcha said.

Before the words were fully out of his mouth, the students dashed for the lunch room. Never were they so happy to hear the word 'lunch'.

Videl smiled. Maybe this is how Gohan feels when the bell rings for lunch. At the thought of him, Videl cringed, the memory of his battered body replaying through her mind like a broken record. She really hoped he was ok.

She didn't have to wonder long because as they stepped through the kitchen doors they saw Mirai and Gohan and gobbling down everything in sight. What was remarkable was that they didn't seem to have a scratch on them! How was that possible? Gathering her resolve, Videl strode over to the Saiyan boy. She was confused and when Videl was confused, she was angry.

Gohan groaned as he sensed her coming. There was a reason he didn't stick around for training today. Noticing the determined look in her eye, he just knew she had a million and one questions he wasn't ready to answer. Sighing, he pushed his plate away, got up and walked out of the room, away from her. Needless to say, Mirai gobbled down Gohan's leftovers in little to no time.

Videl stood, rooted to the spot in shock. Did he just walk away from her? The sinking feeling in her stomach from this morning returned with a vengeance. He was avoiding her. How was she supposed to fix this? Against everyone's expectations, she didn't follow him but calmly filled her plate and sat down to eat.

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About five minutes later, Videl felt a shadow over her. She looked up with a scowl which clearly stated that she didn't want to be bothered, only to find her best friend returning her glare. With a huff, the dark haired inclined her head slightly and the blonde girl sat down across from her.

Erasa looked at Videl expectantly for a long while before speaking up. "Ok, who are you and what did you do to my best friend?"

Videl looked up in confusion. "What are you talking about Erasa?" she asked.

"I'm talking about how you let Gohan walk away from you like that when I know you've been worried sick about him. The Videl Satan I know would have gone after him and demanded an explanation!" Erasa said, getting straight to the point.

Videl gave a half smile. That was exactly what she would have done if she hadn't been the cause of it. Now she just didn't know what to do. "I think it's my fault he did that," she confessed.

Erasa raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Why would you think that?" she asked in confusion.

Videl looked down at her half-eaten plate of food then said, "Just promise you won't tell anyone."

Erasa's eyes widened. What could have possibly happened between the two of them that her best friend would be so fidgety? She really hoped she wasn't pregnant or something. "Cross my heart," Erasa replied gently, using the phrase they'd employed since kindergarten.

"I kind of invaded his personal space," she confessed quietly.

"What do you mean by that? Did you walk in on him in the bathroom? Please don't tell me you were snooping through his stuff again," Erasa replied with a groan.

Videl shook her head. "No, nothing like that," she replied. "We were eating and then we were playing around and the next thing I knew our faces were this close!" Videl babbled, putting about a half inch space between her index fingers.

"Whoa, girl," Erasa said patiently. "Start from the beginning."

Videl exhaled sharply then related last night's events to her friend. "And now, he refuses to even look at me!" she finished, a depressed look on her face.

Erasa, put her hand on Videl's shoulder sympathetically but inside, she was ecstatic! Videl had had a romantic moment with Gohan and now the two of them had no idea how to deal with it! It was so adorable! They were moving much faster than she thought! She knew just how to get them back on the right track.

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Thanks for reading!