To Wear Armour in Times of Peace: Chapter 5
"You're too distracted," Vegeta yelled. "Either fight me at your best or get out of my sight."
Gohan sighed as Vegeta returned the Gravity Room to Earth's normal amount. "I had a rough day," the boy grumbled in defense.
Thankfully, he hadn't gotten in trouble for the ordeal at lunch earlier in the day. No staff or faculty had been present during Gohan and Videl's fight, and none of the students had the heart to try and get Gohan in trouble. After all, what teacher would believe he had beaten up Videl Satan, of all people? Some spectators thought if they perhaps didn't speak about the incident, then it would seem less real. Not to mention that many students had a newfound respect for Gohan because of his strength, which frustrated the half-Saiyan to no end.
"I don't recall asking," Vegeta replied, pointing to the exit once more. Gohan rolled his eyes, but trudged out of the GR, knowing better than to argue with the full-blooded Saiyan.
Gohan bounded through his room and into his personal bathroom, the door clicking shut just as he stripped down. The nude teenager felt a thousand times lighter as the cool air conditioning tickled the perspiration clinging to his skin. Cranking on the shower, the boy stepped in without waiting for the spray to warm up. The freezing water stung his bruised body, but it seemed to refresh Gohan's mind. He washed his thick, spiky hair slowly, wishing he could spend the rest of his life in the shower. That would be simple, right? He laughed as he lathered and rinsed the rest of his body. No Videl Satan, no Hercule worshippers, no bullies, no Erasa-
A fist hurtled toward the bathroom tile in front of him, cracking the shiny surface on impact.
"She probably hates me now, anyway," Gohan mumbled.
He didn't know what feelings he had developed for the friendly blonde, but it was an entirely foreign set of emotions for the boy. Part of it felt like physical attraction- that much he understood. Yet another part felt much deeper than that, like some sort of unspoken connection between the two that sparked everytime she looked at him.
"Not that she'll ever speak to me again," Gohan lamented. "Not after today."
Knowing his relaxation had come to an end, he turned the shower head off and quickly tossed the curtain aside.
"She probably thinks I'm a monster," he said, fear making his voice tremble as he peered at the fogged mirror, his reflection cloudy and distorted.
"Who thinks you're a monster?" A childish voice said.
Throwing the bathroom door open with a groan, he stomped out to confront the intruder, a towel haphazardly held in front of him to preserve some modesty. He spotted the mess of purple hair lying on his mattress.
"Trunks! How many times have I told you-"
"I know, I know," the little boy said. "But I did knock, I swear! I knocked for, like, ever and you didn't answer!"
Gohan rolled his eyes. He wrapped the towel securely around his waist before taking a seat next to the child. "What is it, squirt?"
"Mom told me to remind you that tomorrow's my first day at Orange Star Elementary," he rambled. "So don't forget to wait for me before you leave in the morning, because I'm not allowed to fly by myself, remember? And to fly me back when school is over, too. And she said it'd be totally fine for you to get me ice cream on the way back!"
The older brother groaned once more in dismay. His sculpted abs rippled as he lowered himself back on the bed. Arms crossed behind his head, he stared at the ceiling. "I doubt she mentioned the last part," Gohan commented, "but I'll think about it if you behave."
"Yay!"
"Are you excited? Not for the ice cream, but for the actual school part?"
The six-year-old shrugged before turning to rest the back of his head on his brother's bare stomach.
"Not really. Mom has all these rules about being careful around the other kids," he snorted. "Normal kids sound lame."
Though he knew he shouldn't, a small chuckle escaped Gohan. He composed himself before saying, "I know, buddy, but it's what's best for us. Who knows, you might find a cool half-alien friend to hang out with."
"As if."
"Well, think about it," Gohan said, poking his brother's tanned, chubby cheek. "You look pretty human, and other people won't know you're an alien by appearance alone. So how are you supposed to know if there's another alien in your class? They could look just like the other humans, too!"
Trunks picked up his head and rolled onto his stomach, chin now resting on his brother's chest. "No way," He said, blue eyes full of wonder. "Why didn't I think of that? Now I really want to go!"
The teen ran one hand through his brother's straight, lilac hair, trying to comb it back in place. Though not nearly as unruly as Gohan and Vegeta's hair, the boy's fine human hair tangled easily if he moved around too much. The younger boy winced as Gohan pull a knot from his hair.
"Gohan, have you made any friends yet? Even regular human friends?" He said, sounding uncharacteristically timid. Gohan's hand froze. He knew Trunks probably felt insecure at the thought of not making friends in his new school. "So should I answer truthfully," Gohan thought, "or lie to make him feel better?" He settled on a half-truth.
"Well, there's this one girl that's really, really nice," he said. "She even shared her cake with me at lunch!"
Wide eyes looked at him with incredulity. "She shared her food with you?" He said, not quite believing his ears. "Was it good?"
"Delicious," Gohan grinned.
"Do you like her?"
Reeling back in surprise, Gohan's reaction told his brother all he needed to know. "What?" He said, dumbly.
"Ooh," the boy sang. "Kissy kissy! Gohan wants to do kissy kissy with a girl!"
"I do not!"
"Yes, you do!"
"Nuh-uh!"
"Uh-huh!"
Trunks made obscene smacking sounds with his lips, and Gohan pushed the boy off of him and onto the floor. With a thud and a cry of surprise, the noises were soon replaced by laughter. The boy peered over the edge of the bed, still crouched onto the floor.
"You know girls have cooties, right?"
"Cooties?" Gohan said quizzically. For a kid with little social interaction, Trunks sure found out about the weirdest things.
"We don't have cooties," a third voice said. The two boys turned to see the door open, revealing Bulma's grin. "And if we do, you two definitely would have caught them by now."
"Moms can't give cooties," Trunks argued. "You can only get them by doing grown-up kissing."
Gohan raised an eyebrow. "Grown-up kissing?" He asked, sitting up.
The boy nodded with a serious expression. "It's when big kids and grown-ups kiss. They do funny stuff with their tongues and-"
"Trunks!" Bulma snapped. "How many times have I told you to leave when Master Roshi is watching TV?"
Gohan sweatdropped. Do people really kiss with their tongues?
"Aw, but mom-"
"No buts, mister," she said. "Dinner is ready, boys. Come on down when you're dressed, Gohan."
Trunks leapt from the floor and out the room before Bulma could leave the room. She giggled at her hyper little boy before turning back to Gohan.
"Please don't let him get into any trouble tomorrow," she said, knowing Gohan tended to be a pushover when it came to watching Trunks.
"Don't worry so much, Bulma," he smiled. "Tomorrow will be just fine."
Erasa stomped her foot, aggravated that Videl still wasn't get over her loss. "Videl, you've been on his case from day one!" She interrupted." He wasn't lying about flying here, and he wasn't lying about knowing martial arts. So what is your problem with him now?"
Videl took a step back in surprise. "Don't… Erasa, please don't tell me you like him," she deadpanned.
"Of course I like him! And you should too," the blonde added. "He's a very likeable person."
"You know what I mean!" Videl yelled in exasperation. "Erasa, he's up to no good. Until I can figure out what's up with him, you can't hang out with him anymore!"
Erasa froze. "Excuse me?" She said, hurt evident in her voice. "Are you really that jealous that you would-"
"Ladies," a rough voice interrupted. "Please take your seats. We will be getting started any moment now."
Defeated, the girls did as their teacher asked. "And he's just gonna skip today, too?" Videl continued in a whisper. "That's like running from the cops- only guilty people do it!"
"Videl!" Erasa furiously whispered back. "Enough already! We'll finish this conversation later."
Rolling her eyes, Videl slumped back in her chair, eyeing the empty seat on the other side of Erasa. Just as the teacher started to call their names for attendance, the door creaked open and a figure slid into the room.
"Mr. Son-Briefs," the teacher scolded. "Where have you been?"
"I'm sorry," the boy gushed, holding out a tardy slip. "It was my little brother's first day at the elementary school, and my meeting with his teacher ran over. I'm sorry, sir," he finished, bowing.
Looking at the slip, the teacher nodded. "Don't make a habit out of it, okay?"
"Of course, sir."
Gohan trudged up the stairs, hesitating when a foot stretched out into the aisle. Carefully stepping over it, he saw a few faces drop on disappointment. "They know I have perfect test scores, and they've seen me beat up both Sharpener and Videl," he thought. "And yet they still think I'm dumb enough to fall for that?"
He sat down in his usual seat, avoiding Erasa entirely for the time being. He had no clue what he should say to her, but thankfully he would have an entire class period to figure it out.
"Are you avoiding me, Gohan?" Erasa said as soon as their professor left the room.
Startled out of his thoughts, he looked at Erasa. She bit her lip, eagerly waiting for his reply. Her thick lashes curled gently as she blinked slowly at him. Or maybe it was just his imagination. Either way, it left him feeling dazed and he hesitated before answering.
"I thought you'd be… mad at me?" He asked, uncertain.
Erasa cocked her head to one side. "Why would I be mad at you?"
Gohan looked around the room, now completely sure that Erasa was messing with him. Seeing the bewildered look on his face, the blonde replied, "Because of what happened with Videl?"
He nodded dumbly.
She sighed. "I was worried," she admitted, "but Videl is a tough cookie." She turned to catch the black-haired girl scowling at her, and Erasa smiled as she looked back at Gohan. "But as I've already informed her, it wasn't your fault. She goaded you and attacked you…" she trailed off before lowering her voice.
"And what she said about your dad was just awful," she whispered. "So I don't blame you, Gohan."
He looked at her in awe, not quite believing he had been forgiven. "Erasa," he blurted out loudly.
The blonde looked at him, startled by his outburst. "Yeah?" She asked, lips slightly parted in confusion.
He needed to say it before his courage failed him. This may be his only chance today!
"Do you want to… go out sometime?" He asked, his voice lowering with each syllable. He could feel the crimson heat spreading across his face, and he momentarily cursed his human blood. He'd never seen Vegeta or Goku show outward signs of embarrassment. Yet, Gohan seemed to make a fool out of himself every chance he got. Hopefully she would let him down easy- and quietly, so no one else could hear. That would be ideal. Or perhaps she could break the news to him in a letter-
"I'd love to."
Gohan's brain melted.
"What? Really?" he asked. Surely he had heard her wrong.
She slid his notebook toward her, and in her glittery purple handwriting, she wrote down an address.
"The Satan Day Parade is tomorrow and I've been dying to go," she said, her eyes twinkling under the classroom's fluorescent lights. "Pick me up at six?"
All he could do was nod. "Is this real?" he thought. "Is this really happening, or is this all a dream?" The question raced through his mind a thousand times over, but the boy genius couldn't seem to reach any sort of answer. He didn't know. But Gohan knew if he spoke again, he might just fuck something up.
And so the boy simply grinned.
Trunks plucked a black crayon from the sharing bin.
"Kindergarten is for babies," he thought. The other children in his classroom could barely write their names, let alone draw. Fifteen human kids currently filled the small classroom, positioned on the carpet while they colored caricatures of Hercule Satan. Many of them disregarded the lines entirely and even overlapped complimentary colours, resulting in ugly brown scribbles. Trunks rolled his eyes. "I am so killing Mom. And Gohan!"
"What are you drawing, Trunks? His teacher asked. The young woman carefully gathered the folds of her skirt before kneeling down next to the Briefs boy.
"My big brother, Gohan," Trunks mumbled. "He's the strongest in the world. Or I guess second strongest, after Dad."
His paper featured a humanoid with tall black hair, dressed all in dark blue except for his red belt. A smaller figure stood next to the first, presumably Trunks with the purple circle of hair.
His young teacher's brow creased. "But sweetie, we're supposed to be making pictures for the Satan Day celebration tomorrow while we wait for everyone to get picked up," She gently prodded. "How about I get you a new piece of paper-"
"I'm good," Trunks cut her off.
Shaking her head and the strange child, she left the boy alone when she saw a man enter the room.
"Hello, sir, what can I-"
"Gohan!" Trunks yelled. His seat fell to the ground as he dashed for his brother. Wrapping his short arms around Gohan's long legs, the older half-Saiyan nearly fell over from the forceful hug.
"Hey, squirt," he laughed. "Happy to see me?"
"You bet! It's been so boring here," he mewled. "Why can't I go to the same school as you?"
"One day, little bro," Gohan answered, ruffling the boy's hair. "One day when you're as tall as me, okay?"
"That's gonna take forever," he complained. "Can we at least race home while I wait?"
"Sure, why not," Gohan grinned.
Bidding the teacher a farewell, the Briefs boys walked around to the back of the school. Sensing no one around, the boys lifted off, shouting the through the skies in an improvised game of tag.
"You have a what?" Bulma screamed.
"Lower your voice, woman," Vegeta sneered, setting his fork down, "Or I shall lower it for you."
Ignoring her husband, Bulma stared at Gohan. "I can't believe you have a date!" She squealed again, her hands clutching her bosom in excitement.
"What's her name? What does she look like? Where are you taking her?"
"Are you gonna do that kissy-kissy stuff?" Trunks said, wrinkling his nose at Gohan.
"Trunks!" Gohan hushed, before taking more pasta into his mouth. "It's really not a big deal, Bulma-"
"Not a big deal?" Bulma repeated. "How could it not be a big deal! You've never showed an interest in girls before!"
At Vegeta's snickering, Gohan groaned. "Can we not talk about that in front of everyone?"
"Well, it's true!" Bulma defended. "Even Trunks peeks in on Master Roshi's dirty movies sometimes. But I've never once caught you with any kind of-"
"Jeez, Mom, did you have to say that in front of Dad?" Trunks complained, noticing the way his father had looked at him in revulsion. It was well known that Vegeta didn't experience attraction to 'weakling humans,' with only Bulma being an exception.
"Ooh, is it one of the girls I met at your school the other day?" The female scientist gushed. "Is it the blonde or the dark one?"
The teenager sighed, deciding to tell her. "The blonde's name is-"
"Wow, you sure know how to pick 'em, Gohan," Bulma said with a wink. "At least let me help you pick out what to wear. She's so pretty that you really can't take her out looking like… that."
She gestured to all of him.
Gohan's fork dropped to his plate. He eyed his high-waisted yellow pants, white t-shirt, and black vest. "What's wrong with the way I dress?" He pouted.
Trunks laughed. "Wow, you mean you don't dress like that ironically?"
Shooting the kid a glare, Gohan looked back to Bulma. She looked so excited, and Gohan couldn't help but wonder how his real mother would've reacted. A pang of sadness welled within him, but he never let it reach the surface.
With a deep breath, he agreed to Bulma's help.
