Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z
...
Videl sat in class, her eyes long since having been drawn away from the lesson that was going on at the front of the room. Her gaze had been fixated on the back of Gohan's head long enough for her pen to represent not only a writing utensil but also a dog's chew toy.
She was still finding it so hard to believe that she was sitting mere feet away from somebody who had stepped up to fight Cell. Videl had watched him on the television getting thrown across a barren wasteland, driven into the ground and quite literally fight for his life all while he had been no older than she had been at the time.
Before he had even stepped foot into high school, Gohan had been fighting to protect the planet.
While this had been something of a revelation in and of itself, it had only caused her to come to the realization that there was so much more that she had yet to uncover. She, along with the rest of the world, had watched as Gohan had been violently assaulted against an opponent whom had actively been trying to end his life.
All she could try to comprehend right now however was the fact that Gohan, as a child, had survived against an enemy who had massacred armies. Videl had bore witness to having watched Gohan survive on an island when he was little more than a toddler, as insane as that was to even think of in the first place. Then, without having known it at the time, she had watched a child her age go up against a planetary threat.
She was more than aware that her thoughts were practically on repeat by this stage, each time Videl managed to think she had solved one part of the puzzle another part showed itself. The more she thought about it, the more she found herself concerned about the person in front of her.
She had been around her father's gym long enough to know that people simply didn't get strong. Professional fighters spent countless hours improving their strength, pushing themselves towards a higher limit. From what she had bore witness to, especially with having seen him surviving on his own, Gohan just seemed to be naturally strong. Or perhaps it was better to say that he was unnaturally strong.
Terrifyingly strong.
No child should ever have had that much power at their fingertips. She was strongly starting to consider the possibility that Gohan could very well have destroyed the island he had been abandoned on as a child if he hadn't been able to properly control his abilities. Had that been why he had been sentenced to such isolation, so that he could learn to control this inhuman strength away from people he could accidentally hurt? It made sense, but that didn't explain why Gohan had been born with such power to begin with.
One thing which she did recall was that as a child, Gohan had been kidnapped. Whether this was before or after his time alone on that island, she was unsure of. It wasn't a standard kidnapping either considering Gohan had made mention that he had cracked his kidnapper's armour. It was only because she had spent so much time going over Gohan and Krillin's demonstration period that she could even recollect that small detail.
It was something that had caused her more than a sense of worry.
A standard kidnapping did not have the kidnapper wearing body armour which then begged the question as to why this individual was wearing such protection in the first place? Were they aware of Gohan's strength, even as a child, and had tried to protect themselves that way? If that wasn't the case then she had no knowledge as to why this kidnapper was taking such measures in the first place.
It was clear however that it hadn't been a random kidnapping, no matter what way she looked at it. Gohan had been targeted, very possibly for his strength. Had they been able to successfully tear Gohan away from his family, he very well could have been morphed into a child soldier. With his strength, Gohan would have been able to tear his way through any resistance with ease.
Videl knew that everything she was conjuring was all hypothetical and she wasn't going to pry the boy for answers. Chances were that he was unaware of the reasons plus it also had likely been a traumatic experience, one that he had forgotten either intentionally or otherwise. Nobody went through an event like that and come out the same way.
A swift poke into her shoulder caused Videl to visibly flinch before whipping her head around to look at Erasa, her friend giving her the cheekiest of smiles. Immediately Videl could interpret what that smile was and she looked towards the teacher, doing her best to ignore Erasa. The blonde was undoubtedly assuming that Videl had spent the last however many minutes staring at Gohan.
She had to set herself a reminder to let Erasa know that she din't have a crush on Gohan.
She was just staring at him because she was curious.
That was all.
All of it.
...Maybe?
It wasn't that she wanted to spend time with him outside of their training schedule. Like going to the park, or maybe the beach and getting some ice cream.
The resounding thunk caused by Videl driving her head into her desk caused everybody in the class to look at her in concern. "Umm, are you alright Videl?" asked Erasa from her side.
"Just...peachy," retorted Videl, gesturing for her teacher to continue the lesson while she cleansed her thoughts.
...
"So what was all that about?" asked Erasa as she prodded at her lunch.
"Nothing," said Videl defensively.
"Videl, you drove your head into the desk with enough force to nearly crack it. You're not one to openly give yourself a concussion," said Erasa sternly. "So I'm going to ask you again, what was that about?"
"And I'm going to give you the same answer, nothing," declared Videl before shoveling some of her lunch in her mouth.
"Do you think Gohan would be impressed by the way you're eating?" Erasa's verbal jab had an immediate effect as Videl found herself coughing, expelling chunks of food onto the table. "Eww, gross."
"Yeah well that's what you get," said Videl once she had regained control of her breathing before using a napkin to clean up the mess she had created. "Anyways, you've seen the mountain that Gohan eats and how he eats it. I don't think me having a few big bites will faze him."
"So...you're trying to impress him by..."
"Stop right there," ordered Videl, cutting Erasa off. "I'm not trying to impress him."
"Because you already have?"
"Look, Erasa, just please stop."
Erasa had already started opening her mouth once more before snapping it shut. Reaching across the table, Erasa's hand grabbed on to Videl's and held it gently. "Look Videl, I'm your friend and the only other person in this school who knows as much about Gohan as you do," she said softly. "Like, if we let it slip that he was at the C Gs can you imagine how people would react?"
It took only a couple of seconds for Videl to clue on to what Erasa was talking about with the letters she had said. It seemed that her friend wasn't actually proclaiming this fact out at the top of her lungs which was surprising in it's own right. Perhaps Gohan had been able to manage to calm her down before she had said something silly. "So...are you good with knowing that he was there...at that time?" asked Videl.
"Once I saw how strong he was, it kinda made sense," said Erasa as she released Videl's hand and sat up straight. "I mean we've heard his story and watched him do some incredible things. You know the kind of guy he is. If he thought that he could protect the world from imminent danger then he'd do it, no questions asked. Honestly it would have been more surprising if he hadn't been at the C Gs."
"You don't think his parents would have tried to stop him?"
"Do you think if they had tried to stop him then he would have just gotten past them without any hassle? Plus what's to say that his father wasn't there? There were a fair few other people there besides your Dad and Gohan."
"That's...true," recollected Videl as she tried to recall the other people who had been there at the time. "There was the man who fought before him who had that same golden hair."
"Oh, oh, oh!" exclaimed Erasa, bouncing up and down. "Do think Gohan's a natural blond? Or did he dye it for the C Gs to hide his identity?"
"Given how long he's been going here, there would have been some sort of trace of gold in his hair if that was his natural colour," said Videl, cupping her chin in her palm. "It does make sense that he would disguise himself, especially if he didn't want to really take any credit for his actions."
"It might have even been a wig!" proclaimed Erasa boldly.
"A wig?" repeated Videl.
"Videl, I know hairstyles and given how much he was moving around and getting tossed left, right and centre, there is no logical way that his natural hair would remain upright the entire time."
"...Point taken."
"I mean, he's friends with Bulma Briefs. I'm sure if he wanted to hide who he really was then it would have been easy for her to whip up some sort of super adhesive wig."
Videl merely nodded her head, her mind going back to the brief conversation she had had with the powerful woman. Considering the events that had happened the following day, it was understandable that most of the chat had been pushed to the furthest corners of her memory.
"Anyways, enough about Gohan," said Videl before taking a bite of her lunch.
"Okay then, what else do you want to talk about?" queried Erasa, leering at Videl.
"Well...umm...we could talk about...you know...that thing?"
Erasa couldn't help but chuckle. "So do you want to learn how to fly so the two of you can go on midnight flights together?"
Videl could feel the red pulse in her cheeks.
...
Hercule sat in his work office, his hands gripping on to yet another tabloid depicting his daughter and his teacher in action. The picture did clearly show the two of them in a role where Gohan was instructing Videl and the article didn't go on to say that there was anything benevolent happening at the time.
It did question however whether or not the relationship between the two would remain as such or change over time.
Hercule had, for the most part, grown tired of these questions being asked. Every time he stepped foot in the dojo, a number of his closest advocates were asking him whether or not he was okay or whether the press was getting to him. He said that it was fine, boasted about how something like that would never get the champ down.
In the confines of his office however it was a very different story. His baby girl was getting photographed at every available moment by these vultures who wanted to tarnish her good name. She was his daughter and he was unable to protect her.
The strangest thing about it all was that he was finding that Gohan really wasn't as terrible a person as he had imagined. The compliments raining in regarding how he was teaching the otherwise unruly children was truly astounding and it did paint him as a good father figure.
Hercule crumpled up the paper in his hands as he tried to drive the thought from his mind. A thought that had been coming into his mind far more often than he dared to admit.
He was a teenager, still a high school student who had far more strength than a kid that age should have and was good with children. Videl was entrapped in an institute where outside of learning, her peers were starting to date one another. She may not have shown any interest in doing so, but it was very possible for her to want to date a guy.
She could choose so many that would be worse than that Gohan fellow.
His main fear however did not stem from the possibility that he would break her heart. Far from it. Such a thing happened and if it did happen, he would be there to help her through the ordeal in whatever way that he could.
The main thing that he was afraid of however was that Gohan was dangerous. Incredibly dangerous.
There weren't that many kids called Gohan, none about that age anyways.
Several years ago he had thrown a severed robotic head to a kid who had been called Gohan.
An incredibly strong kid who had defeated Cell.
Drifting his gaze up to the ceiling, Hercule knew there was no point in pretending the two of them weren't the same person. It seemed as if his past had come back to haunt him in a way that he had never imagined.
Now though came the greatest dilemma of all. How did he go about confronting Gohan about it all? Both the fact that he was aware of who he was and whether or not he had any intention regarding dating Videl.
...
Hope you enjoyed.