Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ
...
Videl chewed upon the back of her pencil, the wooden utensil resembling something reminiscent of a children's chew toy than something a high schooler would use to write their notes. Her eyes rarely flicked over to the board where the teacher continued to scribble notes about the days lesson while going into further detail verbally; this too did very little to stimulate Videl's mind, his words simply going through one ear and out the other without truly processing.
The raven haired girl's eyes were zoned directly at the back of head of Gohan, the teenager who had not only defeated her in combat but completely obliterated her without a single piece of effort made on his part. From the single punch he had thrown (even though she knew that he hadn't meant to and had only acted on instinct) she knew that his strength was far greater than his own, it was possible that the teenager could even put up a decent challenge for her father.
That was a praise she had never given anyone before and possibly never would do again.
"You okay V?" asked Erasa from Videl's side, the blonde paying about as little attention to the class as her best friend was.
"What, yea of course," said Videl as she tore her eyes away from the back of Gohan's head for one of the first times during the day. "What makes you think that something is wrong?"
"Well the way that you're staring at the back of Gohan would make someone think that you may have a crush on him," said Erasa behind a cupped hand into Videl's ear, her words near silent as to not draw any unwanted attention. Sadly Videl's reaction did not mimic that of her friend's previous wording.
"WHAT!" she shouted and only by the coincidental ringing of the bell prevented the entirety of the class turning in her direction. It still managed to draw the eye of a few people and Videl found herself slinking underneath her desk slightly in order to try and get the attention off of her to little effect. Thankfully the curious glances only lasted a little while before they all gave up and they made their way off towards the cafeteria to get their hands on the best servings of the lunch on offer.
"Well that just told me everything I needed to know," said Erasa with a smug smirk upon her face as she began packing away her belongings. Even if her hunch was wrong she couldn't help but enjoy teasing her friend in this kind of manner.
"No, no it did not," said Videl through gritted teeth as she got to her feet, Erasa doing the same thing to her side. "I don't know what you're thinking but you're wrong."
"I think you know what I'm thinking and I think that you think that I'm right," said Erasa.
"...you lost me on that one," said Videl having not quite understood Erasa's words before shaking her head. "That's not the point though, I do not have one of those things for Gohan."
"So what do you call spending all class staring at him then?" she asked.
"There's just something about him, something..."
"Alluring?"
"No."
"Enticing?"
"No."
"Mysterious?"
"..."
"Bingo."
"Quit it will you," said Videl as she stepped out of the classroom, Erasa close behind her. "For the last time, stop talking about it, there's nothing going on."
"Well do you want me to find out if Gohan's got anything for you?" asked Erasa.
"What, no, don't you dare," said Videl threateningly but Erasa didn't seem to care as she started skipping down the hallway with the rave haired girl giving chase afterwards. They didn't get far however because as soon as they turned the first corner Erasa found the person she was searching for while Videl had hoped she would have had more time to prevent the blonde from doing anything drastic.
"Ah Gohan, just the person I was looking for," said Erasa as she rolled from the balls of her feet to her heels and back again. "There's something I wanted to..."
Erasa didn't get a chance to say any more as Videl's hand covered her mouth, gagging the blonde much to her surprisement. "Excuse us a moment, there's something I'd like to talk to Erasa in private about," said Videl as she dragged the girl away, back around the corner from whence they came. Gohan meanwhile just stood there trying to figure out what was going on but despite all of the studying he had done as a child he had no clue.
"Erasa, what do you think you're doing?" asked Videl under her breath so that only Erasa could hear.
"Giving you a push start towards a romance," said Erasa which caused Videl to rub her eyes with her forefinger and thumb.
"Do you ever think about what I want and that possibly this isn't what I want to happen," said Videl trying to clarify her situation.
"Hmm...nope," said Erasa cheerfully as she tried to make her way back to where Gohan was only for Videl to grab her shoulders and hold her in place. "What V? It's about time you actually did something that normal girls do instead of always being yourself."
"What's wrong with being me?"
"No, I didn't mean it like that V and you know it," said Erasa calming her friend down. "What I meant was that for once in your life, actually be somebody that doesn't stand out from society but actually is a part of it."
"You know what Erasa," said Videl breaking everything the girl had said down. "If by some chance, the thing that you said I had for Gohan was real, then maybe, just maybe I'd think about taking your advice on this one. However, there's something else I need to ask him so you can get whatever ideas you have out of your mind because it's not happening now."
"But it may still happen," said Erasa picking up on the fact that Videl had put the word 'now' at the end of her statement.
Before Videl could respond the two girls were interrupted as the person they had mentioned on several occasions tilted his head around the corner. "Is everything alright?" Gohan asked.
"Yes, everything's fine," said Videl with a nervous laugh before composing herself. "Erasa and I just needed to sort some things out is all."
"Okay then," said Gohan. "Was there something you wanted to ask me earlier?"
"There is," said Videl which surprised Erasa a bit, not having expected her friend to have answered positively. "Yesterday you did something which I have to say I didn't expect of you. I was just wondering if later on you could show me just what you were capable of."
"Wait, you two already did something without me knowing?" asked Erasa with her thoughts going on a complete tangent to what Videl was actually talking about.
"Yea, we did something after class yesterday," said Gohan which caused the blonde's eyes to widen.
"It's not what you think," said Videl turning towards Erasa. "Stop that train of thought right there."
"Fine, fine," said Erasa knowing that she wasn't going to get anywhere at this stage, she'd already had her enjoyment for the day.
"Wait, so you want to spar again?" asked Gohan which caused Erasa to clue on to just what was going on.
"I want to see what you're actually capable of and I think I learned yesterday that I need some more training before I catch up to you," said Videl which caused Erasa's eyes to go wide. This in turn caused Videl to quickly turn her head towards her best friend. "Not a word."
"Lips are sealed," said Erasa taking a step back.
"Isn't there somebody you could call, someone who taught you as a kid," said Videl.
"Well there are a couple people," said Gohan as he rubbed the back of his head. "Do either of you two have a phone I could borrow?"
"Here ya go," said Erasa as she pulled one out of her pocket. "Just don't look at any of my messages okay."
"Wasn't thinking of it," said Gohan as he grabbed the mobile out of Erasa's hand. He paused for a couple of seconds as he wondered just who he should call for such an occasion. Vegeta was automatically off limits, the Prince of Saiyans wouldn't even consider holding back with such an opportunity to fight with him. Gohan was pretty sure it was impossible to contact Tien, he was pretty certain that the triclops didn't even own a phone of any kind. Yamcha was the logical option but somehow he figured that he would never hear the end of it. Piccolo was also out of the equation as Gohan knew that despite not even being able to contact the Namekian that having him there would cause more problems than anything else. With his limited connections however, that left him with only a single option. "Alright, let's see," he said as he started putting in the numbers, backtracking slightly as he realised he had gotten two of the digits round the wrong way.
A couple of seconds passed as Gohan placed the phone to his ear and heard the ringtone on the other side and prayed that they answered. It didn't take long for the person on the other side to pick up. Sadly it wasn't the person Gohan was hoping it was going to be.
"Hello."
"Uh, hey Eighteen," said Gohan quickly noticing the confusing looks that both Erasa and Videl gave him. "It's Gohan."
"I figured," replied Eighteen with her usual deadpan voice. "Is there a reason you called me?"
"I was actually looking for Krillen," said Gohan rubbing the back of his neck, wishing that the two girl's who stood nearby would stop staring at him.
"You're out of luck, he's off running errands for Roshi," said Eighteen just before a loud noise went through the speaker of her phone, something reminiscent of a truck.
"Are you on the mainland somewhere?" asked Gohan.
"Yea, I just took Marron down to the park, can't keep her cooped on the island all the time. Why did you need Krillen?"
Gohan considered turning his back to the girls at this stage but didn't want to seem rude. "Well I kind of accidentally got into a fight yesterday and a girl wants to know what I'm actually capable of and well..."
"What school do you go to?"
"What?"
"Considering you're having interactions with girls, I have to assume that you're at school at the moment. Tell me which one and I'll meet you there after class."
"Wait, you're saying that you want to come and fight?"
"Wasn't that obvious?"
"Fine, I go to Orange Star High in Satan City," said Gohan with a sigh of defeat. "School finishes in a couple of hours."
"I'll be there," said Eighteen before the line was disconnected.
With another sigh, Gohan handed the phone back to Erasa, the blonde the first one to ask a question. "Eighteen, is that like some kind of pop name or did her father have some mental problems?"
"Not sure, never really asked," lied Gohan, knowing that if he told the two girls the truth that they wouldn't believe him anyway. "Alright, she's agreed to meet up with us after school. Will there be somewhere private where we can do this? After all, I don't think anybody would believe it if they saw Videl Satan of all people watching two people stronger than her fight."
Videl puffed her cheeks in annoyance at that comment because straight away Gohan was under the assumption that Videl was weaker than the sparring partner that he had summoned. While she knew that there was always the possibility of them being stronger, being told flat out that you were the weaker one was damaging to one's ego. "The gym should be free, if not I'll just tell them I need it and they can find somewhere else."
"Sounds like a plan then," said Gohan before his stomach gave a large rumble, reminding the teenager that this was the time when he stated his hunger. "If you'll excuse me, I need to get something to eat."
Without another word, Gohan started walking away intent on eating his fill while Erasa and Videl stood in the hallway, both of them with questions that would go unanswered for now "Well that was a learning experience," said Erasa. "I didn't even know Gohan knew how to work a phone."
"Erasa!" scolded Videl causing her friend to giggle.
"Lighten up Videl," said Erasa as she started to walk down the hallway with Videl in tow. "I was only kidding. I'm sure Gohan has to know how to work a phone in case he couldn't find a way to get back home after school or something."
Videl grumbled a bit as she reached her locker and started putting all of her school work inside. "Well at least I got what I wanted," she said knowing that now she got an opportunity to actually see what Gohan was capable of.
"You sure you got everything you wanted?" asked Erasa which earned her a gentle shove to the side making the blonde giggle, knowing that she would get future hours of entertainment out of this playful torment.
...
The end of the school day couldn't come quickly enough for Videl and as soon as that bell rang she was the first one out of her seat and out of the classroom, making a beeline for the gymnasium. It didn't matter if she got there faster than Gohan or this Eighteen person but she was determined to not miss a single minute of it. It was surprising then that she found there was already someone in the gymnasium who had not been on the invitation list.
"Erasa, what are you doing here?" she asked as she spotted her friend, both wondering why she was here and how she had managed to get here quicker than she had.
"What, you think after all that stuff at lunch today I wouldn't come watch this?" asked Erasa in reply, actually excited to see what Gohan was capable of if Videl thought herself weaker than him.
"Fine, but like I said before you can't say a word of this to anyone," said Videl as she took a seat near where Erasa was sitting.
"I know, I know," said Erasa with a smile before the two of them patiently waited for Gohan and Eighteen to arrive. Seconds turned to minutes and for a little while Videl even thought that Gohan had decided to run away from this but before her blood could begin to boil the doors to the gymnasium opened. Turning towards the doors, both the girls were surprised to see a young girl run through squealing in joy all the while.
"Careful now," said Gohan as he stepped through with an older woman that took both Videl and Erasa to another level of shocked. "Don't want you to slip and hurt yourself now."
"Okay," replied Marron who only just then spotted the two girls who were still trying to close their mouths. "Are these the people uncy Gohan?"
"Uncy Gohan?" said Erasa in disbelief that Gohan could be an uncle.
"I take it that's them," said Eighteen as she tucked a band of hair behind her ear. "I thought there was only going to be one."
"I guess Erasa decided to tag along," said Gohan happy that nobody else had decided to join the fray. "Hope we're not too late."
"S'all good," said Videl as she did her best to recompose herself. She was startled however to find that Marron had managed to cross the distance between where she had been standing to at her knees in a ridiculously fast time. "Um, hello there."
"My name's Marron, it's nice to meet you, what's your name?" asked the young girl.
"Videl," she replied.
"And I'm Erasa," said the fellow blonde as she introduced herself.
"We have the same colour hair," said Marron as she pointed to the top of Erasa's head.
"Now, now Marron, it's rude to point," said Eighteen which caused Marron to lower her arm. "Alright, let's get this over and done with. I hope you girls didn't have any immediate plans as this may take a while."
Videl nodded in understanding, knowing that she wouldn't miss this for the world.
"This is going to be good," said Marron in excitement as she took a seat on the other side of Erasa.
"It's been a while," said Gohan as he limbered up his shoulders with a quick bit of stretching. "Hope I'm not too rusty."
"Please, you'll be fine," said Eighteen recalling the fact that on the walk to the gymnasium Gohan had made her promise not to go to a speed level that Videl wouldn't be able to see. Of course depending on how much fun she was having she was sure he wouldn't mind if she picked up the pace a little over the course of the fight.
A few seconds passed as Gohan and Eighteen stared one another down, both of them with a smile upon their face for what was to come. In a single instant the two of them exploded towards one another that would make an olympic sprinter jealous. It didn't take long before the two of them were exchanging blows and with every passing second Videl could feel her lower lip drifting ever further away from the top of her mouth.
Little did she know that this was only the beginning.
...
Hope you enjoyed.