My Life's Stranger Than Yours
(A/N: A quick response to Myth Anime's review. Funny thing, Roshi wasn't exactly the first person who came to mind when I decided what to do about Videl's training. I had a few different inspirations on that, mainly Goku and Piccolo's weighted clothes (obviously), Goku's training on King Kai's planet (I know Videl isn't training with Gravity here, but I figured having her ENTIRE body under the influence of extra weight would be a similar scenario), and for all the Yu Yu Hakusho fans out there, Genkai's Spirit Cuffs. Also, I decided against having any of the Dragon Ball characters train Videl for a few reasons the main one being that all of the other Z-Fighters are leagues ahead of Videl, so I doubt she'd be able to handle much of their training, which is why I opted to use one of the masters from Ranma. While still insanely more powerful than Videl, I figured it'd be less of a stretch to have a Ranma character train her since they'd also be far below anything the Z-Fighters can do, and Cologne seemed to be the best bet. As for whether or not Videl and/or any of the Ranma characters will get a serious training session with the other Dragon Ball characters, you'll just have to stay tuned. With all that said, let's get to it)
I've Got a Secret! The Pros and Cons to Intensive Training
After Akane left the Cat Café, Cologne and Shampoo quickly pulled Videl aside to quickly give her a rundown of what her duties were. Given how hard it was for her to move with the Ki Restraint Uniform on, she was delegated to simply bringing orders to tables. Cologne figured the extra weight of carrying plates would be a nice bonus to the already heavy sensation.
"So, I'm just a waitress?" Videl asked.
"For the moment, but as you start to adjust to the feeling of the uniform on you, you'll gain more tasks along the way and we can move to the practical part of your training in no time," Cologne assured her.
"Flying Girl better no make mess. Nekohanten still business to run and have reputation to uphold," Shampoo warned.
"That reminds me, if you drop any of our customer's orders, I'll increase the time you have to stay here by 15 minutes for each ruined order." Cologne added.
"Wait what!?" Videl exclaimed.
"Come now, isn't it reasonable that anything that causes this restaurant's business to deteriorate deserves a proper penalty?"
Videl held her tongue.
"If you wish to get out of that uniform as soon as possible, you simply have to not screw up. Easy right?" Cologne sneered.
Videl barely had a moment to think up a response before pair of patrons came through the door.
"Good evening Grandma!" said one guy.
"We'll have the usual," the other added.
"Well, looks like this crash course is ending sooner than expected. Shampoo!" Cologne ordered.
Barely needing her Grandmother's signal, Shampoo quickly got to work in cooking the two regulars' their food. In a speed comparable to Ukyo's with her okonomiyaki, Shampoo quickly produced two large bowls of ramen.
"Now's your time to prove yourself." In an instant, Cologne attached the choker to Videl's neck, and the uniform activated, forcing Videl down to her knees once again.
It took a minute, but Videl managed to get back on her feet, using the nearby counter to hoist herself up. Turning to the two Amazons, a large plate with both bowls on it was shoved in her face by Shampoo.
With a grunt, Videl took the plate in her hands and almost dropped it immediately. Thankfully, she managed to keep it from hitting the floor and the contents in the bowls from spilling out. Normally, it would've been relatively simple to carry the food, even despite it having some heft to it. With the extra weight on Videl's body however, she really had to strain herself to keep everything from falling.
"Flying Girl better get moving. Customers no like when food gets cold." Shampoo informed her.
'Gee, you think?' Videl thought sardonically.
With the food in hand, Videl could only take a small step forward as she made her way out to the dining room. She had only managed three steps before her body began to tremble with exhaustion.
It hadn't been too long, but the two customers were starting to wonder where their food was. Turning towards the kitchen entrance, they spotted the straining Videl with their order.
"Oh, this place has a new waitress!" said the first one.
"Must've just hired her. Just look how slow she is."
"Who cares about that, look how cute she is!"
"Meh, she ain't as cute as that one red haired chick they had before. Just look at her boyish haircut. Not much to see upstairs either."
As the two guys muttered on, Videl, fuming from having heard all the wrong snippets of their conversation finally arrived at their table.
"Thank you for waiting!" Videl said in a faux pleasant tone. With a pair of loud THUDS, Videl harshly set their orders down on the table, and gave a forced out, "Enjoy!" before limping back to the kitchen.
"Dude, you think she heard us?" one of the guys asked.
They received their answer in the form of Videl turning back to glare daggers at them.
"She heard us!" they said in unison.
Once Videl stepped through the curtain into the kitchen, she instantly took a knee, straining to keep herself up, her energy being spent.
"Not bad, for a first timer. Not bad at all," Cologne praised.
"No…sweat…." Videl panted.
With a satisfied look on her face, Cologne removed the choker from Videl's neck, turning the uniform back to a basic set of clothes again, causing Videl to completely plummet to the floor.
"Huh? Hey what are you-?"
"I think a brief rest is in order," Cologne cut her off. "Those two out there were just a warmup. Believe me, you're going to need all the energy you can spare for what comes next."
Videl's face once again turned blue. If it had taken everything she had just to deliver a single order, what was she supposed to do when the place was sure to get busy? She hadn't had much time to wonder as another customer quickly stepped through the front door.
"Take five. I'll handle this next order, but then it's back to work," Cologne instructed.
Videl sat down on the counter as Shampoo quickly produced a bowl of food and Cologne swiftly served it up to the customer before hopping back into the kitchen. A short time later, after the previous customers had left, more people arrived in larger, but not unmanageable groups.
"On your feet Ms. Videl. It's time to get back to work."
Videl sighed as Cologne put the choker back on, activating the uniform. The Elderly Amazon then pogoed out to the dining hall and began to take orders while Shampoo got to work cooking them. A short moment later, Videl could be seen holding a pair of bowls in hand.
"Well, here goes everything."
[Later That Evening]
The Cat Café had finally closed its door following a steady stream of customers. All in all, however, it wasn't as bad a rush as Videl had initially expected. Sure, the work was still beyond tiring with the weighted suit, but it wasn't completely unmanageable. What did irk her however were all the lecherous comments from various male guests, many of them being boys at around her age. Thankfully, nothing escalated beyond words.
Once all three women were assembled in the back room, Cologne removed the choker, deactivating the suit and Videl's body dropped to the floor, a quivering mess.
"Well, you did reasonably well for your first night," Cologne praised. "Not a single dropped order."
"We do get complaints about food take too long to be served," said Shampoo.
"Tis to be expected with a new hire," said Cologne.
Videl got back up on her shaky legs, and responded, "That was tough…but surprisingly not…terrible."
"Well I'm glad you feel that way, considering you'll have to do it all again tomorrow," smirked Cologne. "Now go home and rest up girl. Something tells me, you're going to need as much of it as you can get."
[A few moments later]
Thanks to her lack of energy, the flight home was a long one as Videl was unable to go at her usual speed. Flying was STILL the much better option than walking, especially since Videl hadn't brought her plane with her. Grasping and lightly massaging her tired muscles, Videl let out a sigh.
'If I'm already this drained after only one day, how long can I even keep this up for?'
She decided to worry about that later as her house finally came into view. As she landed, the only thoughts going through her mind was the intentions to take it easy for the rest of the night and ease the strain of fatigue with a nice hot soak in a bath.
"I'm home!" Videl called.
"Oh, you're back Ms. Videl!" greeted one of Mr. Satan's servants.
"Is my father home?" Videl asked.
"He actually wanted us to tell you that he'll be coming home later for a while. Something about some business to take care of with the reconstruction of the dojo that got destroyed," the servant informed her.
'Hmmph, that's just like Dad. Still can't say I blame him.'
"Alright then." Stretching out her limbs, Videl informed the servants not to disturb her for the night, unless there's an emergency. As far as she was concerned, she earned that bath.
[Three Days Later]
Over the next few days, Videl had gotten into sort of a pattern when it came to working at the Cat Café. Though she had managed to get the hang of working at the Cat Café with the uniform, but no matter how much work she seemed to get done, the weighted uniform just seemed to feel just as heavy as when she first started. Videl knew that gaining muscle didn't happen just overnight, and since raising ki worked on the same general principle, she was willing to hold any questions she had about the results of her training…at least for now.
One other small issue she had was her friends. Working at the Cat Café took a toll on Videl's body. At various points in the day, someone would point out how Videl looked to be quivering, no matter how she tried to hide it. Her friends could tell that something was up. Each time they asked questions though, she continued to remind them that she told them she'd been training hard, though only Gohan knew the reason why. For now however, that seemed to be enough to quell their curiosities, but Gohan couldn't help but remain skeptical.
After finally arriving at the Cat Café, Videl was met by an angry looking Mousse who seemed to be expecting her. The two had gotten reacquainted on Videl's second day on the job where he took over cooking duties for Shampoo while she went off on deliveries. There was some brief friction between the two given their first encounter, but generally they were neutral towards each other.
"So, you're back again."
"Nice to see you too Mousse." Videl greeted.
"I must admit, I didn't expect you to endure the old mummy's training for this lon-!"
"Mousse have no time to talk to Flying Girl! Get back to work!" Shampoo chastised. "Flying Girl hurry and put uniform on! Nekohanten extremely busy today!"
"Extremely…?"
Videl paused as the sounds of commotion filled her ears. Opening the door to the restaurant, her eyes widened as every table in the establishment was filled to capacity.
"What…what the hell is going on!?" Videl exclaimed.
"Apparently, word spread that we got a 'cute new waitress' and every young man within the city limits wanted to see for themselves," answered Cologne who hopped in out of nowhere.
"Wait…do they mean me!?" Videl asked.
"Worry about your reputation later. Right now, all three of you get to work! We have to clear this place!" Cologne ordered.
Shampoo quickly gathered up a large box of food and strapped it to her bike before riding off while Mousse hurried back to the kitchen.
Videl could only look on in imminent dread as Cologne tossed her the uniform. 'I don't see this ending well.'
[Some time later]
Videl could be seen standing side by side the one and only great Saiyaman before a crowd of countless spectators at the World Martial Arts Tournament. The beloved duo fist bumped before each of them took a fighting stance.
"You better not go easy on me just because I'm a girl!" Videl shouted to her opponent. The opponent in question stepped forth revealing himself to be none other than Ryoga Hibiki, who had somehow miraculously arrived on the scene.
"I don't have time to waste with you," said a dismissive Ryoga.
A determined look in Videl's eye, she quickly darted at Ryoga who poised to launch a counterstrike. With a single palm strike to the gut, Videl was launched far back and into the spectator stands with a loud, defeaning…
CRASHH…!
"Wha-!? OOF!"
Rubbing her sore spot, Videl shakily picked herself up, and quickly realized that she was in fact NOT fighting Ryoga at a Tournament, but was instead in class at Orange Star High, and all eyes were on her.
The teacher at the front of the classroom let out a sigh. "Videl, I'm sure you're very busy what with helping out the police and whatnot, but please, try to do your best to get the proper rest at night so then you won't have to do it here in class, okay?"
A furiously flushing Videl sat back in her seat as more than a few chuckles emanated from some other students. All it took was a single glare from the Champ's daughter to shut them all up.
"Okay students back to work," The teacher instructed.
Once the teacher went back to his lecture, Gohan leaned over to Videl and whispered, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she replied.
"What happened girl?" Erasa interjected. "It's not like you to fall asleep like this, no matter how boring this class is."
"It's nothing, just up later than usual," Videl dismissed.
"But Videl…"
"You three! Quiet!" the teacher reprimanded him.
Gohan, Videl and Erasa, silenced themselves, but eyes were still on Videl.
"Videl, be honest. What's really going on?" Gohan whispered. "Does this have to do with your special training?"
Videl flinched as the events from yesterday replayed in her mind.
[Yesterday Evening]
The Cat Café was in total disarray. As if the large crowd of customers wasn't bad enough, they all started getting testy due to Videl's slow service. The icing on the cake however was all the lecherous stares and comments Videl kept receiving. Her uniform wasn't overtly alluring or anything of the sort but given that many of the customers were boys from Furinkan High, they were pretty easily pleased. Things only got worse as many of them recognized her as Mr. Satan's daughter and the already insane workload became all but asinine as many more patrons flooded the restaurant.
Determined not to let the workload overwhelm her, Videl began waiting tables at a faster than previous, but still rather slow pace. It took a lot more effort on her part for her to move even the slightest bit faster, but she managed to fight through the strain…for about a couple of hours or so.
On her way to serve up another order, Videl's body finally gave in and she crashed to the floor, the food she was carrying spilling out everywhere.
With a sigh, a disappointed looking Cologne quickly replaced the discarded food and served up the customer, before bounding over to Videl.
"Perhaps this was a bit too much for a newbie." Cologne thought aloud.
Even after getting the choker removed, Videl was unable to pick herself off the floor. Every ounce of energy in her body had been spent and soon she began to feel faint. A short few seconds later, her consciousness faded.
Before Cologne could call for someone to help Videl off the floor, a familiar face entered the Cat Café in the form of Akane, who gasped at the scene of Videl on the floor.
"Videl! Cologne what happened!?"
"Nothing much, the poor girl just wore herself out. Not surprising really, I mean have you seen this place today?" said Cologne. "Regardless, take her upstairs. Let her rest for now and when she wakes up, tell her I'd like to have a word with her."
[End Flashback]
Videl tensed as she remembered the disappointed look on Cologne's face when she woke up, as well as what she said afterwards.
"You exceeded my pretty low expectations from you, but given all your big talk, I'd have thought you'd last a little longer than this."
Still, she tried her best to assure Gohan that she was fine. "I may have gone a bit overboard but trust me, it's nothing I can't handle."
Gohan nodded his acceptance, but somewhere deep in the back of his mind he had a feeling that things weren't as fine as Videl tried to make them out to be.
[After School]
Videl once again headed to the roof and took off into the sky. Unbeknownst to her however, a certain half Saiyan watched her take flight from the roof.
'There's something Videl's not telling me.' Gohan thought.
Staying behind until Videl was out of eyeshot, Gohan popped his costume on and ascended into the air himself and followed far behind her above the clouds to keep himself out of sight, keeping track of her by sensing her energy.
'I have to admit, I feel a little guilty about spying on her like this…but I've got a feeling in my gut that says I should keep an eye on her.
Gohan's continued to shadow Videl until he finally saw her descend.
'Where's she going?'
Landing on a nearby rooftop, Gohan discarded his costume as he watched Videl run up the sidewalk and stop in front of a building.
"Cat Café? Does that mean it's a restaurant?" Gohan thought. "She said she was training for her match, so why would she come to a restaurant right after school?" Gohan continued to think up possibilities as he tried to figure out his next move. Both confronting her directly and continuing to stay hidden had their share of pros and cons, but Gohan was at a bit of a loss on what to do next.
"What are you doing?"
"GAAAAAH!"
A male voice startled Gohan out of his thoughts and nearly spooked him off the roof. Regaining his balance, Gohan turned around to come face to face with, "Ranma?"
"Yo!"
"What are you doing here?"
"That's my line, cause last I checked, you don't live in this town," Ranma replied.
"Well…Videl's been acting a little strange lately and I wanted to find out why so I…kind of…"
"So you're spying on her." Ranma plainly stated.
"NO-! Yeah…maybe…" Gohan shamefully admitted. "Well…she used to spy on me when she was trying to find out who Saiyaman was…so this makes us even…right!?"
Ranma only stared at Gohan with a blank, confused expression. "Dude, I have no idea what you're talkin' about…"
"Right of course, you wouldn't know about that…" Gohan chuckled. "Ranma be honest. Does me spying on Videl make me a bad boyfriend?"
"Uhhh…?"
Ranma stammered as he hadn't expected Gohan to just ask him that kind of question.
"I uh…can't really say. I mean, normally it probably would be a bad thing…but if you're just tryin ta look out for her then…I guess not…"
Gohan sighed. He didn't know what to expect from Ranma, but he clearly didn't want to hear 'that'.
Ranma paused for a moment. "Gohan…when you said Videl was actin' strange, strange like how?"
"Well, she would always come to school looking tired, leave me and our other friends as soon as school let out, and just earlier today, she fell asleep in class," Gohan explained.
Despite the dismissive look on Ranma's face, he too was curious as to what Videl was up to. The two boys turned back towards the Cat Café where they witnessed another familiar female face appear.
"Hey wait a sec, is that Akane?"
Sure enough, the foul tempered tomboy jogged up the street before dashing inside the Cat Café.
"I wonder if she's meeting with Videl," said Gohan.
"Wait, Videl went into the Cat Café?" asked Ranma.
"Yeah."
Ranma's face had a look of realization on his face. He wasn't 100%, but he was sure he had an idea of what the girls were up to.
"I wonder..."
"Wonder what?"
"Gohan, wait here!"
"Hey wait!"
Gohan fruitlessly called after Ranma who bounded away onto the streets below.
[Inside the Cat Café]
"I have to admit, I didn't think you'd be back again, especially after that performance yesterday," said Cologne.
Videl stood firm, her uniform already on. "Hey, just because I overdid it yesterday doesn't mean I'm gonna call it quits," Videl exclaimed.
"Hmph, your stubborn nature reminds me so much of the bridegroom, it's almost laughable," Cologne chuckled. "Still, after your little 'misstep' yesterday, you're going to have to really push yourself if you intend for me to keep this training going."
"Speaking of, what is my current progress? And how much longer will I have to do this?"
"That all depends on you Cologne answered. "Although, I will say that you're progressing much faster than I initially anticipated. If anything, you should be glad that your current skill level and familiarity with Ki control is making this proceed much smoother than someone who's just getting started. It shouldn't be too long before we can get to the practical portion of the training."
Videl managed a prideful smile. It was rough, but it was reassuring to know that she was getting results…even if she didn't really feel it.
"Just try not to overdo it again," said Akane. "The last thing you want to do is sputter out when you're this close to the next step."
"Also, Flying Girl passing out create more work for Shampoo and Great Grandmother. It good for business but get annoying really quickly."
"Okay, I get it. I'll try to pace myself." Videl proclaimed.
Unbeknownst to the four women, a pair of prying eyes and ears were listening in on their conversation. The Cat Café was currently 'Closed for Lunch' as it were, but that didn't stop one Ranma Saotome from slinking his way through the still unlocked front door and eavesdropping on the girls' conversation.
'So that's what's goin' on here. Videl's been gettin' trainin' from the Old Ghoul,' Ranma realized. 'Wonder what kinda trainin' they've been doing though…'
Ranma's thoughts were interrupted as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his waist causing him to let out a surprised and disgusted yelp.
"Oh Shampoo! At last we're finally alone!" exclaimed Mousse.
"Put your glasses on stupid!" Ranma yelled kicking Mousse in the face.
The Male Amazon complied and his expression sorely soured as he took a fighting stance.
"Ranma Saotome!? What are you doing here!?"
"None of your business!"
"Ranma!"
The boy in question froze up as a familiar female voice called out his name, a feminine pair of arms threw themselves around his neck and a soft set of female assets pressed into his sides.
"S-Shampoo!?"
"I so glad you come to date Shampoo yes?"
"Th-that ain't why I'm here!" Ranma declined.
"Then by all means…ENLIGHTEN US!" came the furious voice of Akane who proceeded to toss a bucket of water over Ranma and Shampoo.
"KYAAAAAAAAA!"
[Meanwhile]
As Gohan waited on the foor for Ranma to return, his expression perked up as the sound of a shrill shriek filled his ears. 'Was that a scream? What the heck's going on in there!?' Wasting no more time, Gohan hopped off the roof and hurried over to the Cat Café.
[Back in the Cat Café]
Female Ranma proceeded to dart around the restaurant in a fearful frenzy as the now cat Shampoo remained attached to her face, much to the confusion of the spectating Videl.
"Akane, what's wrong with Ranma?"
"Never mind that, just get some hot water!" Cologne ordered.
Though still confused, Videl simply complied and darted back into the kitchen.
After a few moments of darting back and forth around the restaurant, Ranma finally managed to peel Shampoo off her face and toss her away.
"Shampoo! I'll save you!" called Mousse.
In an attempt to capture the flying kitten, Mousse proceeded to launch a pair of chains at the Jusenkyo cursed animal. However, his glasses having been knocked off earlier following Ranma's initially fearful outburst, Mousse's attempt was less than successful. Completely missing Shampoo, Mousse's chains instead shot over to the approaching Videl who had returned with a kettle of water.
"WHAAAAA-!"
As Videl stumbled over Mousse's chains, the kettle flew out of her hands, ironically, in the same direction as Shampoo.
In the next moment, a boy with spiky black hair burst through the door. "What's happen-!?" Before he could finish his question, a tiny purple kitten dropped into his hands, followed by a sizable splash of warm water.
A now scarlet faced Gohan could only stammer incoherently as a curvaceous, busty, and very naked girl with purple hair suddenly appeared in his arms.
"AIYAAAAAAAHH!"
"GYAGHHHHHHHHH!"
(A/N: How the hell did I manage to get a new chapter out in just over a week? Whatever the case, this chapter was surprisingly easy to write. I guess this is what happens when your motivation is just surging and an idea you've had simmering on the back burners of your mind finally manages to come to light. So, Videl's training starts to A.) Bare fruit and B.) Take its tolls and Gohan the ever-protective boyfriend returns to action only to come face to face with a scene more bizarre than anything he's ever seen before, and the kid's been to outer space before. Next time, the Nerima ward gets properly introduced to everyone's favorite half Saiyan as the training continues)
PS: At the time of this chapter being uploaded, my birthday will have just passed earlier in the week so…Happy Belated Birthday to me!