Chapter 6:

"Satanic Fabrics, how may I help you? Oh wait, you're those two high schoolers that came in on friday right?"

"Yea."

"Oh right, let me see, I wrote it down around here somewhere. . . . Oh! Found it! Let's see, you were asking for some orange and blue spandex right?"

Lime nodded and pointed at Gohan. "How much do you think we'll need to make a costume for him?"

"Him?"

The store clerk scanned Gohan up and down and asked, "are you going to layer the spandex on him?"

Gohan said, "Yea, I kind of want it to look like a gi."

"A gi? Ummm, alright."

He pulled out a measuring tape and measured Gohan's sizes, going from bottom to top.

"Hey, do you mind if I ask who you're cosplaying as?"

"Oh," Lime chirped in, "we're making a superhero short film for our Intro to Film History class."

"Ohh, sickkk, that's awesome dudes! Hope you guys get an A."

"Haha, thanks."

"Alright, I got you guys covered, gimme a sec" he said before going into the backroom.

Gohan couldn't help but feel a little nervous, this was his first time in a fabric store and he had no idea what to do. Luckily Lime had taken charge and was doing most of the talking for him. He sighed internally and thought to himself, "I really am useless aren't I?"

When the clerk returned with the fabric, Lime took it and said, "Alright then. Hey, do you guys have any masks? Like domino masks or something?"

"Totally, totally, it's right over there," and he pointed at a rack with some assorted masks on them.

Gohan walked over and began picking out some masks. There were masks that had lenses in them that obscured his eyes and there were also regular masks that showed his eyes. Lime got on her tiptoes and managed to rest her head on Gohan's shoulder. She turned to look and see Gohan's expression, but he barely acknowledged what she did. She pouted a little and turned back to the masks.

She pointed at the lensed ones and said, "Don't pick those. They don't let people see your eyes. It'll make you seem less human."

Gohan nodded his head and agreed. He finally picked out a full domino mask that also covered his nose. He looked at himself in the mirror and realized, "Oh crap, I forgot about my hair. What am I gonna do about that?"

"Hmmm," Lime put her hand on his head and tried flattening down his hair, but it immediately sprang back up.

Lime got off Gohan's shoulder and asked the clerk, "Excuse me! Do you have any idea how to make sure his hair isn't seen?"

"His hair? Is it just naturally that spiky?"

Gohan nodded and the clerk sighed to himself? "Well, I suppose we have three choices, he could wear a hat, he could use a hood type mask, or he could wear a wig."

Gohan asked, "A hat?"

"Yea, they were more popular with superheroes in the thirties and forties, but I think it could work."

Lime grabbed a fedora off the rack and put it on Gohan's head. She snickered and pulled out her phone, taking a picture.

She cleared her throat and said, "nah, it doesn't fit you." Lime then took the hat and put it back on the rack.

Next they put a wig on Gohan. They tried out a bunch of different colors and styles, but finally decided on a brown wig in messy bangs.

"Yea, it'll make you seem more normal, and make you look more welcoming than that bug headed antennae helmet you wore before. Besides, it think it looks kinda charming on you."

After getting everything together, Lime went up to the counter and asked, "How much for all of this together?"

The clerk scribbled down a couple numbers and said, "Alright dudes, that'll be 7000 zeni."

Just as Gohan was about to reach for his wallet Lime said, "Here."

"Sweet dudes, I hope you guys get an A+ on that project."

He then took a bite out of his sandwich and waved the two off.

"Wh-"

"Shhhhhhh, just take it."

"I can't possibly, I'll pay you back, here," said Gohan. He then pulled out his wallet with a cute little bear on it.

"Let's do it this way. Consider it my Gohan Airlines ticket for the rest of the year."

"Gohan Airlines?

"Yup! Now I have a ticket to take me home each weekend."

"Ehh, you didn't have to go that far. I would've taken you home each weekend regardless of you paying for the fabric."

"No way, that wouldn't sit right with me."

"No, really, I can't let you pay f-"

"Shhhhhhhhhhhh, just accept. That's how I'm passing physics."

"*sigh* There's no changing your mind is there."

"Nope! "

"Alright then. You wanna go out for ramen then? My treat!"

"Ramen?"

"Yea, do you want to?"

Lime seemed to contemplate something in her head for a few moments before shrugging her shoulders. "Sure, why not. Do you know a place?"

"Nope."

Lime promptly facepalmed before saying, "I know a place nearby. My friend works there."

"Oh really? Cool, let's go."

As they walked to the ramen shop, Lime said, "You know, I was really surprised when you sad ramen."

"Eh? Really? Why?"

"It's kind of taboo for a guy to take a girl out for ramen."

"It is?"

She nodded.

"Why?"

"I don't know. . . something about it being unromantic or something."

"O-oh, d-do you want to go somewhere else then?"

Lime leaned in a little closer and said, "Gohan, that's usually a line people use after a nice dinner."

Gohan scratched his head and asked, "Ummm, I don't know what that means."

Lime sighed and said, "Ugh, forget it, we're almost here anyways, let's go."

Lime opened the door to the small japanese ramen bar. The smell of the ramen broth immediately hit her in the face and she smiled as she heard her friend greeting her from behind the bar.

A athletic girl with black hair tied up in a hairnet greeted the two at the door. She wore a small chef's cap on her head and had paused from chopping up some vegetables.

"Welcome! Two peo- eh? Lime?"

"Hey Rami, yea just two people."

"Oh, just take a seat at the bar."

Rami, pulled out a couple menus from underneath the counter and gave it to them.

Rami went back to chopping up vegetables, but constantly glanced over at the two. She paid particular attention to Gohan and everything about him. She couldn't help but wonder who this guy was.

The ramen place itself wasn't anything special, it was actually kinda grimey. The ramen from this joint was very well known though and it was undoubtedly one of the most delicious ramen in the city. Which is the reason why Rami applied for an apprenticeship here.

After a few minutes, Rami walked over to the two and said, "Hey Lime, it's so good to see you, I haven't seen you since last year."

"Right? We don't have any class this year which sucks."

Rami sighed and asked, "and who's this?"

"Ah, I'm Gohan. It's very nice to meet you."

"Are you Lime's boyfriend?"

Gohan's face blushed red and he babbled unintelligibly until Lime stepped in, "No, he's not my boyfriend. He's a little bit too much of an idiot to accomplish that."

Gohan didn't know how to respond to that so he just nervously laughed and scratched his head.

"I see, I see. Well, do you have your orders ready?"

"Yea, I'll have a Miso pork ramen."

"Alright, and for you, Gohan?"

"I'll have a tonkotsu ramen please."

"Okay, the food will be ready soon. Thank you!"

She ripped the note from the pad and placed it on a rail above the counter. She then went back to preparing the ingredients for the next batch of broth.

"She seems nice."

"Is that the impression you got from her?"

Gohan nodded.

"Well, she is a nice girl, but at the same time, she's also a bit of a jock. She's on the wrestling team and has pretty much beaten all the guys, except for the captain."

"So how do you know her?"

"We had world history together."

"Ohhh, that's really cool."

"Is it? I know you're a transfer but surely you had world history at your old school right?"

"Huh?"

"Hm? Did I say something weird?"

"O-Oh, I uhh, didn't go to school before this."

" . . . Eh?"

"Yea, I was homeschooled or had tutors teach me things. I never went to school before."

"B-but you had perfect scores on the entrance exams."

Gohan chuckled and said, "I had a lot of time to study."

"So you've never went out like this with friends?"

"Nope."

"And you'd never been in a classroom?"

"Ahaha, no, I haven't."

Lime took another look at Gohan from top to bottom as if he were a completely different person.

"What? Come on, it's not . . . that weird is it?"

"It's pretty weird dood. Wait you were sheltered your entire life? Your family seemed pretty normal though."

"Well, I guess. I haven't exactly had the most normal life though."

" Well, I don't think anyone expected the person who beat cell to have a normal life."

"I guess that's true too. . . Oh! Now that I think of it, I should introduce you to ."

"Mr. Piccolo? Why does that name sound familiar?"

"Ehehehe, you might know his father, Daimyo Piccolo."

Limes eyes widened as she immediately remembered reading about the Piccolo attacks.

"Y-you mean you're friends with that demon?"

"Well, he's actually an alien, but I suppose he used to be a demon. He also used to be God."

Lime sat there for a moment and tried to digest what she had just heard.

"Gohan?"

"Yes?"

"How do you know him?"

"He raised me for a year, he's almost like a second father to me."

Lime put her hand in Gohan's shoulder and said, "you poor thing."

Gohan looked at her weirdly but noticed that the food had arrived.

"One bowl of Tonkotsu and one bowl of Miso Pork?"

Gohan nodded and the chef placed the two bowls in front of them.

"Looks great, thanks!"

They are the ramen together and looked at Rami, working hard in the kitchen. It was at that point that they both understood why Rami would want to work in such a grimey ass place. Who wouldn't want to learn how to make such good ramen?

After Gohan footed the bill, Gohan and Lime were about to go home when Gohan said, "wait, don't go home yet. Let's go somewhere else."

Lime stared at Gohan's face with a dead expression, unsure of whether or not Gohan really understood what he said.

"How about now? We've had dinner sorta. Can I use that line now?"

Lime sighed and punched Gohan in the stomach.

"Idiot."

Shorter chapter but I like it. Please drop a review cause, any advice is really appreciated.