Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of its characters.

Countdown

Tuesday: Three Days to Date

The school was abounding with rumors about Videl and Gohan's date. Apparently, someone had overheard Erasa's prattling at the mall, and the gossip spread like wildfire. Needless to say, most of the girls were none too happy that she had stolen 'their' Gohan. A lot of the guys were upset too, their delusions of being the one to date the daughter of Hercule Satan. Their looks of jealousy disgusted Videl. Even Sharpner joined in.

Gohan sat with them as always, studiously ignoring the looks he was getting from bitter jocks and pining girls. He didn't say a word to anyone, even Erasa, appearing too preoccupied to notice anyone else. He simply stared straight ahead during the entire class. He didn't even take notes.

At lunch, he was uncharacteristically absent. That was fine by her. She was still working out the details of how she would get Gohan to talk. It wasn't like he ever revealed anything important when other people were around anyway. Still, she couldn't keep some part of her from wishing he was there.

Gohan was using the time to hunt down Krillin and fill him in as promised on what exactly he was doing in high school. The prospect of this filled him with dread, but it had to be done. Otherwise, Krillin would most definitely make his life miserable.

He found Krillin in the gymnasium where a class was just finishing up. The kids were slowly walking away, many rubbing their sore limbs and cringing with each step. When he caught sight of Gohan, he motioned subtly to follow, then led him through the locker rooms into a small, undecorated office. Krillin took the seat behind the desk, but his guest ignored the other chair, preferring to stand.

"Okay, Gohan, you mind filling me in here?" His friend pled. "I don't hear from you for years after the Cell Games, and then you show up at Bulma's with a device that reduces your power to practically nothing. When we ask you about it, you vanish into mid-air. Now, I find out you're going to high school, but you won't tell me anything unless we're in private. What gives?"

Gohan had been rehearsing what he would tell his old friend, who knew him too well for lying to be an option. He would skip some personal stuff, but now was the time to spill the beans.

He began, "After I defeated Cell, I started training almost non-stop so that nothing like that would happen again. For six years, I pushed myself to my limits." He described his training and adventures, leaving out the recent milestone of reaching Super Saiyan 3. "A year ago, though, I couldn't take it anymore. So I stopped my training and moved to Satan City to be normal. I lived there a year working for Bulma before I decided to go to high school, mainly because mom always wanted it." He ended with a brief overview of his time in high school up the that point.

"But why the ki suppressor?" Krillin asked when he had finished. Things just weren't adding up.

"It's to help me be normal." Gohan knew it was a half-truth at best.

"Uh-huh, right. And why did you stop your training? What do you mean you couldn't take it anymore? I mean you're a Saiyan! You live to train and fight."

"Not anymore."

The answer stunned Krillin. He had known Gohan since he was a kid, and was attuned enough to the boy to notice that something was seriously wrong, even though his voice didn't betray a thing. Reading in between the lines of everything Gohan had said, he could discern that the kid was having some major issues, but didn't want to talk about them with anyone. He guessed it had to do with his father. He wished he could help, but didn't know how. So, he decided to back off for the time being.

"You should probably get to lunch. There's not much time before class," Krillin said abrubtly and flashed him a knowing smile. He would continue to keep an eye on the most powerful being in the universe.

"Thanks, Krillin. See you in class!" Gohan ran off, relieved that it was over.

Gym class continued where it had left off the previous day. Everyone but Gohan and Videl was sparring, and Krillin would go around instructing one group at a time. The remaining two students sat in a secluded corner, both meditating. No mention of that weekend was made. Gohan gave her the same instructions as before, but did not leave this time. He sat there with her, engaged in his own mental exercise. Occasionally, he admonished her to relax when he noticed she was tensing up. Calming her mind was proving to be more difficult than she had expected.

Wednesday: Two Days to Date

The next day, in the middle of class, Videl's communicator rang. She rushed from the school to deal with another hostage situation. She still had not returned by lunch, leaving her friends alone to eat, talk, and, in the case of Erasa, gossip.

"So, Gohan," Erasa began playfully, "You excited for this Friday?"

"Yeah, nerd-boy," Sharpner interjected, "Tell us. What are you really doing this Friday? No way Videl would agree to go on a date with you!"

"Sharpner," the girl sighed, "Videl asked him! I was there. I should know."

The self-absorbed muscle head's jaw dropped. In his mind, it was impossible for Videl to want anyone but him.

Gohan was unwilling to continue this line of conversation. "Let's talk about something else," he suggested.

"Okay!" Erasa agreed surprisingly quickly, "How about your wardrobe? You're going to need something special for your date with Videl. I'm guessing you don't have anything like that, and you know what that means…" She let the phrase dangle long enough for Gohan groan inwardly as he realized what he had just gotten himself into. The bubbly teen finally screeched, "Shopping!"

When she heard Gohan groan, she stated firmly, "You and me are going to the mall tomorrow after school and that's that. It'll be fun!"

Videl returned a short while after lunch. There had only been two thugs, but they had been packing some serious fire power. Videl Satan was smart, though. Instead of charging head in for a kamikaze assault, she had snuck in through a window around back and set herself up to dive bomb the two buffoons. A kick to the neck and a foot sweep later, and both were on the ground, moaning in pain. It was a quick job, but some paperwork and the press had caused her some delay.

In gym, she continued her efforts at meditation. Distracting thoughts and feelings continued to stand in her way. The closest she got to calming her mind was when she almost drifted off to sleep. She was beginning to get frustrated at her lack of progress. Sure, it was only her third day, but shouldn't she be getting at least a little better?

Both of them studiously avoided discussing their plans for Friday.

Thursday: One Day to Date

Lunch was an exercise in awkwardness. Gohan and Videl had no idea what to say to each other. Sharpner was busy fuming, but didn't want to incur the wrath of Videl by commenting. Erasa babbled on, as usual, but earned only grudging, one or two word responses in return. And so, the meal was eaten in relative silence, punctuated by a few meaningless questions about the weather or homework or such.

Gym was not any better. Hardly anything was said between the two as both were involved with their own mental struggles.

Videl still couldn't seem to get herself to ignore all the external and internal distractions. She was never a calm girl, but her life as daughter of the champ and crime fighter had amplified her natural agitation. She had always had to be extremely alert and perceptive. Her mind was constantly running at high speed, catching and analyzing every detail so that she could protect herself and the people she loved.

Meditating required her to go against her nature. She needed to learn to somehow control her mind and reach a state of mental peace that always eluded her no matter how hard she ran after it. Every step she took toward it only served to push her target a step away. It was immensely frustrating.

The bell rang, ending her internal game of cat and mouse.

She exhaled loudly, upset at yet another failure. She opened her eyes to see Gohan standing up. Joining him on her feet, she looked up at his face. He was usually extremely calm after meditating, but today he looked tense. He just stood there, looking off into the distance, as if dreading something.

He spoke, "I promised Erasa I'd go shopping with her today." It was a solemn pronouncement, as if he had just informed her of a death in the family. His eyes and face conveyed a picture of total seriousness. Videl couldn't help herself. She laughed. Hard.

Gohan gave her a quizzical look, but soon started chuckling despite himself. It really was quite ridiculous. He didn't know why, but pretty soon he was bellowing right along with her. He laughed like he hadn't in years. Laughter begot laughter, leaving the two having a difficult time coming down from their hilarious high.

Eventually, though they managed to regain control of themselves, though not without intense effort. When they did, the veil of awkwardness seemed to have vanished, at least to Videl.

"Are you shopping for Friday?" she inquired, suppressing the giggle the rose in her throat.

"Yeah, she doesn't think my wardrobe is appropriate." Gohan grimaced, but couldn't keep the Son grin off his face for long.

She smirked, "Well now you'll get to feel my pain. She forced me to go on Monday! Good luck, you'll need it."

As it turned out, he would have infinitely preferred to have the luck not to have been dragged into shopping with the energetic self-proclaimed fashion 'expert.' No amount of luck could help him on their little excursion. By the end of it, he could have sworn they had traversed the entire mall at least five times and only bought three outfits. What was it about shopping that could make even the toughest Saiyan warrior exhausted within minutes? It was surely one of the great mysteries of the universe. Bulma should really look into it.

And so, thanks to a little help from a conniving friend, Gohan and Videl were ready for their date.

Friday: Day of Date

Friday had arrived at last, and the apprehension of the "couple" was steadily rising. However, the immense awkwardness between the two was no longer present, making normal conversation possible.

At lunch, the discussion mainly centered around the safe topic of shopping. Gohan and Videl argued together in vehement opposition to their shared least favorite activity. Erasa, of course, animatedly expounded on all its supposed merits. Sharpner, surprisingly, agreed with Erasa.

"I need to have plenty of clothes that show off my muscles properly, especially my arms," he explained and flexed his biceps to make his point. That got laughs from everyone.

By gym, the two were getting nervous. She didn't know about Gohan, but she could not focus enough to even try to meditate. She was fairly certain she would fail anyway. So instead, she spent the time thinking and worrying about that evening.

She wanted to set Gohan at ease, to make him feel comfortable enough to trust her with at least some information about his life. After all her prying, she still felt like she knew next to nothing about the guy. Why couldn't he just trust her? Was there something she could do?

The whole date setting was uncomfortable to her as well. What should she say? How should she act? Surprisingly enough, Videl's aggressive personality, intimidating glares, and threats of violence had not earned her many dates. Only one, in fact—and that had not gone well at all...but she wouldn't think about that.

Oh, and her father's proclamation that anyone who dated her had to be stronger than him might have contributed to the situation as well. It wasn't that no one ever asked her, but she was always suspicious of their motives. She rejected the precious few that went against all odds to try.

This presented a problem. There wasn't much of a chance for her to make Gohan feel comfortable if she was on-edge herself. As it stood, the date in all likelihood would take an extremely awkward turn, which did not serve her purposes at all.

The bell rang. She noiselessly got up and left Gohan without a word, continuing to contemplate the dilemma on the way home.

Gohan left soon after her. Absorbed in his own world, he had hardly heard the bell, but he eventually stood and went home as well. He walked, as always, but he hardly noticed the other people on the sidewalk besides as faint ki signatures to be avoided. 10 minutes later, he arrived. He pushed open the building doors, turned down the familiar hallway. A door labeled 102, the soft turn of a key, a squeak of the swinging hinges, and he was in.

This was his sanctuary. The silence and tranquility in his apartment soothed him. It was familiar. There, he could rest and recuperate before that night. There, he spent hours regaining the near perfect emotional control he had had before the first day of school. He would need every bit of it for his date.

His date. It was an inconvenience that he should have foreseen and avoided. His first instinct when he had found out about his blunder was to simply tell Videl that he had misunderstood. Krillin had quickly informed him of the folly of that idea. It would cause more problems than it solved.

So, he was stuck with a date with the daughter of Hercule Satan who was determined to expose him. He still didn't know why she had even asked him out. Was it just a part of her scheme or something else?

In the end, it didn't matter; he would treat it the same way. He would make sure he kept all sensitive details about his life hidden. He would not allow his focus slip. He would not allow himself to get attached.