Hey everyone, been a while since I've updated, sorry for taking so long to bring an update for y'all… Now regarding some comments, thanks for the wonderful feedback. Regarding AztroZ's comment, sorry about my grammar, it's something I'm trying to fix, English isn't my first language and I sometimes struggle with grammar or sentence structuring, something I hope to fix with time. I might go back and fix some of the chapters and bring up their word count by a bit as well. So till then I hope this chapter fixes that a bit.
Now as for why it's taken me this long to come out with another chapter… Well, let's just say I've been busy with college once again as I've decided to take summer classes to catch up, not to mention I've been job hunting as well so my writing time will be cut short a bit. Hope you all enjoy this chapter :)
Also, there will be an author's note at the end regarding my other stories and upload schedules.
Disclaimer: I Do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, or Dragon Ball Super, they are all owned by Akira Toriyama, Funimation, Toei Animation, and Fuji TV, please show some love to the original source as this probably wouldn't exist without the official release being supported as much as it is.
"Kikoho!" Attack names
"Hey it's me Goku!" normal speech
"Doodoo doodoodoo imma chargin my attack" Thoughts
A few weeks had passed since Gohan joined Orange Star Middle, and so far he was enjoying his time at the school. He and Sharpner would usually hang out during gym class, or they would also hang out in their dorm and play video games, or in Gohan's case, study from time to time. The same could be said for Erasa, they would typically hang out in their Biology class or Computer science class, and when they weren't talking about bugs or code, they would hang out with Sharpner and annoy him, she was like the little sister he's never had; who knows maybe if his father were still alive, he probably would've had had a little sister. Overall, his relationship with both blonds was close, Sharpner being the older brother in their dynamic, and Erasa being the little sister, the only one that he wasn't as close with was Videl, he didn't really know how to approach her if he was being honest with himself, it was like she was trying to keep him at arm's length at all times whenever both of them were by themselves.
Don't get him wrong, he has tried to talk to Videl about Martial Arts before, and while they did speak a bit about different martial art schools, and teaching styles out there, she wouldn't speak more about anything. Gohan's brought it up to both Sharpner and Erasa before, and they would usually tell him to give her a bit more time, she wasn't one to trust people easily given how she's the "World Champ's Daughter". Not to mention people have tried to get close to her before so that they could meet her dad, or to see if they could be friends with her to see if she would give them money, or the latest new thing, simply because she was rich. Gohan didn't really understand what Videl was going through, but he understood why she was trying to create a distance between both of them, after all, it was easier to say goodbye to a stranger than someone who you used to call a friend.
As much as Gohan tried to show her he had no ill intentions, he made no progress in holding a conversation with her, then when he first started trying to hang out with her with both Sharpner and Erasa present. He eventually relented after a week of trying to be her friend, and let her go at her own pace, taking more time in hanging out with Sharpner and training Martial Arts together, with Gohan learning Hercules' fighting style (which consisted more of offensive and heavy attacks, with not many moves to defend), and Gohan would teach Sharpner the basics to the Demon style, often helping each other grow, bonding over their love for martial arts; similarly Gohan would often help tutor Sharpner in Math and Reading, helping in better explaining how to solve the issues in his homework. Regarding Erasa on the other hand, Gohan got along well with her, seeing as both of them were in the same Computer Science class, and they had a shared love for education as well, suffice to say, they were like two peas in a pod. Besides Videl's reluctance in accepting Gohan as a friend, Gohan was having a blast in school, he really felt like he was in his element, given that his mother would force him to study to become a scholar at the young age of four, mingling with people his age, and making friends is just an added bonus. If he had gone to school seven years later like he thought his mom would plan for, he might've not been as social as he is now, being shy, awkward and meek, at not knowing how to interact with other people his age. He did wonder if Videl would ever come around, and see that he wants to be her friend, not because of who her dad is, but because he wants to be friends with her.
— One Month Later —
Gohan sighed, It had been a month since school began, his bond with Sharpner and Erasa had grown stronger in that month, often hanging out with each other every chance they could, but every time Videl would tag along, she would hang out with Erasa mainly, often using her to communicate with him. He just wished that she could see he was genuinely trying to be her friend, and not someone who would use her dad's name to have bragging rights, or take advantage of her for her wealth. On the brightside, he's made small progress with Videl, often making small talk before homeroom began, or giving her tips on her stance for martial arts (that one actually resulted in her yelling at him, and saying that she knew what she was doing). Walking out of his Computer Science class, he saw Erasa following him to their next class "Do you think it'll be possible for Videl to see I'm trying to be her friend?" he asked as his posture slumped forward in defeat.
"She's a very guarded person, she'll eventually come around. Don't give up just yet, Gohan." She said, trying to cheer the hybrid up. Upon reaching the next class both Gohan and Erasa sat together as they waited for their teacher to arrive, and like the past month, class passed by in the blink of an eye. Walking out of the Math building, Gohan and Erasa walked out looking tired, as smart as they were (and ahead of the curriculum as well). It was boring listening to the teacher drone on and on about quadratic equations, and the linear formula. "Glad we're done with that class for the day" said Erasa as she stretched, loosening up her muscles, and rubbing the tiredness away from her eyes. Turning towards Gohan, she gripped the handles of her backpack and smiled "Say Gohan, you free this evening? Sharpner, Videl and I were planning on going to the city, you down to go with us?" she offered, silently hoping he'd go with them.
Stopping in his tracks, Gohan contemplated going with them "well, homework isn't going to be much of an issue, and mom did say to make friends." nodding, he smiled back at Erasa "sure, i'm not too busy, and the homework they gave us isn't too hard, when will you guys be heading into the city?" he said, thinking of using one of the outfit's Erasa and Sharpner bought him (he still had to pay the two of them back). Smiling that Gohan accepted going out with them, she began to celebrate completing phase 1 of her plan of getting Gohan and Videl together, "Great! We'll be waiting for Videl's butler to pick us up by 5 on the dot, don't be late" she said, walking towards where the female dormitory was. Nodding as he mentally jotted down the time he had to be where they were, Gohan watched as Erasa left, making sure she safely made it into the dorm building, once he made sure she was safely in, he began walking over to the male dormitory building, planning on getting ready soon.
-30 minutes later-
Looking at the clock, Gohan saw it read 4:30, meaning he had 30 minutes left until he had to meet Erasa, Sharpner, and Videl. Realizing he didn't know where to meet them, he walked out of his room, hoping that Sharpner hadn't left yet so he could know where they were going to meet up, upon opening the door, he caught Sharpner as he was about to leave, "Hey Sharpner, you got a sec?" said Gohan before Sharpner had a chance to open the door. As Sharpner turned around, Gohan saw he was wearing a black graphic tee that said 'Respect the pump', along with white Khakis and some brown boots "yeah sure, what's up Gohan?", upon hearing him respond back to him, he cleared his throat, realizing he was staring at Sharpner's outfit a bit too much. Looking up towards the blonde teen, he rubbed the back of his head, the same nervous tick his father had. "Yeah, Erasa invited me to go with you guys, but she never said where you guys were going to meet up. I was just wondering where it was that you guys were going to meet up" he said, slightly nervous, even though he and Sharpner have had a strong friendship, Gohan was still a bit awkward around people his age.
"Oh yeah, Erasa mentioned over the phone that she was inviting you to hang with us. If you'd like, you can follow me." the blonde said , motioning Gohan to follow him out of their shared living space.
Once outside, they walked out to a nearby bus stop, waiting for the bus to arrive so they could head into the city. Still feeling a bit nervous, Gohan turned to Sharpner "Hey Sharpner… I know we've grown closer together as friends ever since we began hanging out after our first day of school… but, we're friends… right?" questioned the young demi-saiyan, wondering if he could maybe confide in Sharpner about the Ki-world. You could call him crazy for introducing someone who viewed Hercule as the world savior, and that Ki practitioners were nothing but tricksters, the usage of Ki as nothing more than smoke and mirrors.
Looking over at Gohan, Sharpner could understand where Gohan was coming from, before he had become friends with Erasa and Videl, he had been the new kid once as well, having changed from West City Elementary over in West City, over to Orange Star Elementary (before it had been changed to Satan City Elementary after Hercule had defeated Cell). Smiling at the demi-saiyan, he nodded "Yeah, you're a very chill guy Gohan. Not to mention, despite being a big nerd, you're very earnest and straightforward when you talk to others, you don't put on a mask, and wear your emotions on your sleeve. Unlike the other student's in our class that pretend they're all that to impress Videl." he said, as he swung an arm over Gohan's shoulder, bringing him closer, before jabbing a finger towards where his heart was "Never change that for others Gohan, it's a good quality to have, and about Videl, don't worry about her, just let me and Rasa deal with her." said the Blonde as he let go of Gohan.
Soon enough the bus arrived, and both of the young pre-teens boarded the bus, and sat towards the middle, as they waited for the bus to take them to their destination. Sitting in silence, Gohan thought back to his conversation with Sharpner, and smiled, feeling like he could bring Sharpner into the fold of the Z-Fighters, he contemplated bringing in Erasa as well, feeling like he could trust his other blonde friend as well. As for Videl, he would hold out a bit more in bringing her into the fold, not because he didn't trust her, but mainly because she would probably call him a flat out liar about Ki, but until they got a bit closer, he was going to be careful in teaching her about Ki.
For now, he'd try to get closer to Videl, she seemed like a good person, and she was pretty too, where had that thought come from? Anyways, for now he just wanted to see how this outing with Erasa, Sharpner, and Videl went.
Hey y'all, sorry for taking so long to write this chapter out, i've just been so busy with college, and work (though i'm now unemployed lol), but hopefully i'm able to write more consistently and not take years to get chapters out. Sorry for rushing the ending too, I typically go with the flow when I write stories, but I'm going to try and flesh out things a bit more next chapter, have an outline, and see where I want this story to go. Until then, I do have 2 new stories I'm going to try and finish writing (seeing as they've been W.I.P's for literal years now lol), so look forward to those.
