Chapter 10

Lime looked out around the tower of bowls that Gohan had built for himself. Sharpner had introduced Gohan to this sushi buffet after helping him out with talking about Erasa. It was a local restaurant but since Sharpner knew one of the chefs, he always came here to help support and promote the place. The last time Gohan was here, Sharpner immediately regretted bringing this bottomless pit to his buddy's place, but he couldn't really say too much.

"Hey, uh Gohan?"

"Yea, what's up?"

"I think you're scaring the kitchen staff back there."

Gohan looked down at the fortress of bowls and plates he had constructed and sheepishly turned around to look at the kitchen. Over many years, Gohan had trained his senses, especially during his training with Piccolo and learned the distinct scent of killing intent. The black miasma was overflowing from the kitchen and it's sharp knives were pointed straight at Gohan.

Gohan looked down at the bowl of udon he was scarfing down and looked back up at Lime and asked, "What do I do now?"

"I think it's time to pay the bill and leave."

After a myriad of unpleasant looks from the staff, Lime suggested that Gohan leave a big tip to appease the customer service gods and they left.

"Well, then , the night's still young but I'm stuffed. Why don't we take a walk?"

Lime grabbed Gohan's hand and they began to walk off through the city. The old winding streets of downtown Orange City had been preserved when Orange City was renamed Satan City and a new City Hall was declared. The newer sections of the city were built in a grid pattern but the old streets were built in ancient times and there was hundreds of years of history in those roads.

While they walked around, the narrow alleys and small holes in the walls beckoned them to explore.

"Hey Gohan!"

"Hmm? What's up?"

Lime pointed at a huge mural in the backend of an alleyway.

"Check it out!"

Before them was a scene of old Orange City back when the city was just a small port city. Featured prominently were a couple, one leaving out to sea on a ship and the other waving at the other. There was a heart with a pair of initials inside it painted on the ship. The years were apparent on the paint, fading the colors and cracking in spots.

"JJ and EP."

"You think one of them drew this?", Lime asked.

"Probably. I wonder where they are now."

"Hopefully happy together. Oooh! Let me take a picture of it!"

Lime took a few steps back and pulled out her phone.

"Hmm, it's kinda dark. Could you use your ki and light up the mural a little bit Gohan?"

Gohan nodded and floated up a little bit and formed in his palm, a small radiating ball of ki. Gohan's ki was a clear white and gave the entire alleyway a clean glow.

"Oooh! That's great! Thank you!"

Lime took a few different photos from a couple different angles before putting her phone away and reaching up to take Gohan's hand.

"Alrighty then. Hey Mr. Son?"

Gohan almost didn't realize she was referring to him, before responding, "Yes?"

"You know, the Fall Ball is next week, and I don't have a date yet. I was wondering, maybe Amarillo would like to go with me," Lime said, while winking at Gohan.

Gohan's brain began to steam as he tried to comprehend Lime's implication.

"You know, he is the captain of the soccer team, I'm sure he'd be fun to go with, but . . . I was wondering if this one guy would ask me instead."

"T-this one guy?"

"Yea! You might know him actually. He's about your height too."

"I might know him?"

"Yep, he's got spiky hair like yours, a pretty cool costume he likes to run around in and you know what, I think he's pretty good looking."

"I-is he me?" Gohan asked.

Lime ignored him and continued, "Well . . . if he'd ask me out to the Fall Ball I'd go with him, but alas, I don't know if he's going to."

Gohan's brain was performing mental gymnastics to try and figure out what to do.

Lime pretended to notice Gohan and said, "Oh! I didn't notice you there, don't mind me. I'm just a simple girl, espousing her troubles. Don't mind me, Saiyaman. Come along now," Lime said while dragging Gohan around by the hand.

"Wait wait wait, Lime."

"Hmm? What is it?" Lime asked. As she turned around, she whipped out her puppy eyes look.

"I umm."

Lime waited for a few moments before turning around and dragging Gohan off to the nearest subway station.

"Wait, Lime."

This time, Lime didn't turn around and instead kept marching on.

"Lime, do you want to go to the Fall Ball with me?"

Lime stopped dead in her tracks and Gohan nearly crashed into her. She didn't turn around before saying, "I don't know. Amarillo IS the captain of the soccer team y'know?"

Gohan's jaw nearly dropped to the ground, but luckily for him, Lime turned around with a cheeky grin and picked up his jaw for him.

"Yes, I'll go with you Gohan."

As she said that, she tiptoed up and gave Gohan a peck on the cheek. Gohan's cheeks flushed red while Lime chuckled at him.

Lime patted him on the shoulder, "Well then, Mr. Chauffeur, I think it's about time you take me home."

Gohan took a moment to gather himself before he nodded and picked her up. After looking around to make sure no one was around, he pressed the button on his watch to switch into his Great Saiyaman costume and began to fly off into the sky.

As they flew off into the curtain of darkness that surrounded the city, they didn't talk much. The great expanse of the void seemed to hug them both. Like they were the only two people in the world. Lime dug her face into Gohan's back and slowly but surely, she began to hear his heartbeat. She didn't know whether or not flying was physically exhausting for Gohan, but his heartbeat was fast.

Lime took in the moment, making a note of the way she felt. Nervous. Happy. A little unsure of what to expect. Warm. Comfortable. "That's it," she thought. Comfortable is what she felt.

After Gohan dropped her off, Lime turned around and put a hand on his heart.

"Gohan?"

"Yes?"

"I'm really glad I met you again."

Gohan took a moment to think about what to say. He wrapped his arms around her and replied, "I'm glad I met you again too."

They stayed like that for a while.

Finally, Lime broke apart, and said in a faux british accent, "Alright, you'd best get along now."

Gohan chuckled and after a moment, began to fly off. Once he was out of sight, she buried her head in her bag and felt the urge to scream.