Tricks, a Dragon Ball fanfiction, chapter 10

The mysterious explosion on Papaya Island was the main topic of discussion the following day before the lessons started. Since most of the victims (the number of dead had raised to seven, two of the students passing away during the night due to their grave injuries) were their age, the students of Orange Star High School felt a certain sense of connection to them. They were enraged but also shocked that something like that had happened. There was a leak from the investigation team that had confirmed that the explosion was a terrorist attack by as yet unknown perpetrators and Gohan's class buzzed with the news.

"What I don't understand is how they pulled it off," Erasa said, playing with a pen. "I mean, the explosion demolished the whole wing where the classroom was. That would take a lot of explosives to do. Where did they get those?"

"You know as much as the rest of us," Sharpener remarked. "Which is close to nothing."

Gohan kept quiet. He might have known the truth about the 'explosives' used but as far as the identity of the guilty party, he was as much in the dark as everyone else. He knew Bulma had asked Krillin, Master Roshi, Tien, Chiaotzu and Yamcha to make inquiries among the ki users but it was going to take some time. Gohan had been shocked at his own ignorance when he had found out just how many martial arts schools still used ki practices. He had really thought he and his group of friends were the only ones.

"You have been really quiet, Gohan," Erasa noticed and Gohan mustered a weak smile.

"I'm trying to think of who could have done such a thing and why. It doesn't make sense."

"Criminals rarely do things that make sense," Videl commented and looked up from her drawing of what looked like some kind of a diagram, as far as Gohan could see. "And terrorists are just trying to cause as much pain and suffering as possible. They might have targeted Papaya High School just because it was on an island. Or because it was close to their base of operations. Or far from it. Or they didn't have any reason at all."

"So what now? Anyone anywhere can be attacked?" Erasa asked.

"Most likely. As long as the attackers remain anonymous and don't reveal their goals, police have no way to anticipate their actions."

"Kind of wish I had superpowers like Saiyaman," Sharpener quipped and Videl sat up straighter.

"That's it!" she exclaimed. "He can help out with this!"

She pulled out her communicator and Gohan realized just in nick of time what she was about to do and turned off his own communicator, now built into his watch. Videl frowned at the device.

"He's not answering. I wonder why?"

"Maybe he's busy," Erasa suggested. "You know, saving people and stuff."

"Hmm," Videl put away the communicator but the frown remained on her face. "He better be."

Gohan let out a relieved breath. With the Monday events overshadowing the rest, he had forgotten his encounter with Videl in the Crane Style dojo. Though his reaction back then still didn't make any sense to him. He was physically superior to Videl - taller, stronger, faster, he could fly and yet she could still mentally break him to pieces with a single glare. Maybe it was a female thing, Gohan realized. After all, all of those things had applied to his mother as well and she was well capable of controlling his father with a single look. Still, none of the other females he knew was able to make him feel like that. Then again, none of them was a fighter.

Gohan looked at Videl out of the corner of his eye. She was chewing on her pencil, scribbling down words on a piece of paper. That was it. Videl, even without any ki training, was unconsciously using her energy to radiate a killing intent, strong enough to influence even him. Gohan was impressed. With proper training, Videl would be a force to reckon with. Maybe he should hurry up and find her a teacher.

---

"Videl, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure, Gohan. What's up?"

"I was thinking about your request to find you a teacher," Gohan started, both of them walking down the hall. They had a free period coming up so there was enough time to discuss everything. "You said that any style focusing on speed and legwork is fine. The guys I know are all using their own styles but most of those styles can be traced back to Master Mutaito's School."

"I know that name," Videl frowned thoughtfully.

"He was the one who ended Demon Kings' Piccolo first reign, three hundred years ago," Gohan supplied. "He had two students who both set up their own schools. The Crane School and the Turtle School."

"Wait a moment," Videl said, holding up a hand. "The Crane Hermit comes from one of those schools?"

"He founded the school," Gohan replied and Videl shook her head.

"It can't be. You just said it happened three hundred years ago."

"Do you believe in the myth about the fountain of youth?" Gohan asked and watched as Videl's face lit up in realization.

"You can't be serious!" she exclaimed. "It's real?"

"Very much so. Both Crane Hermit and Turtle Hermit, or Master Muten Roshi, are that old. They have always been rivals, too. But anyway, my Dad, his best friend Krillin and Yamcha all trained with the Turtle Hermit. Tien and Chiaotzu were students of Crane Hermit until they split from him over their differences in martial arts philosophy."

"Good for them," Videl muttered and Gohan grinned.

"Yeah, I guess so. So, I don't know about Yamcha, he has talked about retiring from fighting completely last time I saw him, but I think Krillin, Tien or Chiaotzu would be willing to take you on as a student. Krillin would probably be the best choice. He's living with Master Roshi still, he has in fact become the true successor to his style, so you could benefit from both of their knowledge. Besides, Krillin is physically close to you, on the short side..." Gohan trailed off at the poisonous look Videl threw his way.

"Yes, I'm short," Videl clipped her words. "There is no need to point it out constantly."

"Sorry," Gohan apologized, though he didn't understand why she was angry about it.

"So you think Krillin is the best choice of a teacher?" she asked and Gohan nodded.

"Yes, I think so."

"And what about Tien and Chiaotzu?"

"Well, from what I could see, the Crane style is more aggressive and, well, reckless. There are several techniques that could be dangerous to the user's health."

"Sounds good," Videl quipped and Gohan remembered that this was the girl who had gone looking for an old martial arts master because she wanted to learn how to fly. Krillin's style might have been more suitable for Videl physically but mentally she was actually better suited for Tien's tutoring. Tien had a temper of his own, something which Videl possessed in abundance. Maybe Tien could teach her basics and then Krillin could take over to fine tune her abilities? That was an option, too.

"On second thought, I think Tien would be a better teacher for you, at least in the beginning. After all, you can only profit from learning more styles. It makes you more unpredictable in fight."

"So which one is it going to be?" Videl asked and cocked her head to the side quizically.

"I'll give a call to Tien and see if he's willing to take on a student. I'll let you know."

"Okay. And Gohan, I might not have said it before, but thank you," she smiled at him and Gohan smiled back automatically, once again becoming aware of how pretty Videl actually was when she smiled.

"You are welcome."

---

The dinner at the Son house that evening passed as usual at first. Goten was shoveling in his food at incredible speeds while still being able to talk Gohan's ear off by telling him all about his adventures during the day before demanding to know about Gohan's day. He pouted when he heard that his big brother had nothing exciting to share with him at which point Chichi interjected with a comment of her own.

"Well, I'm glad that you had a boring day at school. I know I can't stop you from helping people and I don't want to, either, but your studies are important as well."

"I know, Mom," Gohan answered with a mouthful of food which he swallowed hastily at Chichi's glare. "I asked the Commissioner to only call me during the school time in a case of emergency."

"Good," Chichi said and a brief silence followed before Goten spoke up again.

"Gohan?"

"What is it?"

"Trunks said his Dad is stronger than you. Is that true? I thought you were the strongest."

Big brown eyes stared questioningly at Gohan and for the first time in years Gohan felt a flicker of shame for neglecting his training so much. It was clear his younger brother saw him as a hero and he was about to disappoint him.

"I'm sorry Goten but Trunks was right. At the moment, Vegeta is stronger than me."

"But why?" Goten insisted.

"Because I don't train anymore."

"But-" Goten was about to ask more but Chichi stepped in.

"That's enough, Goten, stop pestering Gohan. Finish your dinner, go wash up and change into your pajamas," she ordered sternly but then her tone softened and she added. "I'll tell you a goodnight story about your Daddy, okay?"

Goten whooped, gobbled down the last food on his plate, jumped out of his seat and hugged Chichi tightly before speeding out of the kitchen and towards his room. Chichi shook her head with a laugh.

"So much like Goku," she commented before she stood up and started gathering the bowls and plates from the table. Gohan quickly swallowed his last bite and stood up to help.

"Thank you, Gohan," Chichi said. They fell into their usual routine of Chichi washing the dishes while Gohan dried them and stacked them away. It was comfortable and familiar, the mother and the son working together like that. It was Chichi who broke the silence this time.

"You know that I'm not forbidding you to train entirely, don't you?"

"Mom? I don't understand."

"Gohan, I know that when you were younger I often forced you to study instead of letting you train with your father. But it wasn't because I wanted you to be unhappy. Quite the opposite."

"Mom," Gohan laid down the towel and reached over to take his mother's hand into his. "I know. I don't train anymore because I don't want to, not because I think you would forbid me to do so. It's just... I have had enough fighting to last me at least two lifetimes. I don't have that drive to improve like Dad or Vegeta. Besides," he added in an effort to lighten the mood. "If I really wanted to train, you wouldn't be able to stop me."

Chichi laughed at that.

"So true. All those times you sneaked out to see Piccolo or Goku taking you away for a 'fishing trip'," she made inverted commas with her fingers. "And you both came back with new bruises because 'you had tripped'. I saw right through you, though."

"That you did," Gohan laughingly agreed.

"But Gohan," Chichi got serious again. "Are you completely adverse to training in any form?"

"Why do you ask?"

"It's Goten. He is his father's son through and through and he loves fighting. I have been teaching him basics but he's getting too strong for me. And I can't teach him everything he should know, either. I never learned how to fly, for one."

"So you want me to take over his training?" Gohan asked. The thought of training Goten wasn't that awful. It would be a way to spend more time with his little brother.

"Yes. I know that Vegeta has been teaching him a bit, too, when Goten's over at Trunks' place but it's not a consistent teaching and besides, Goten should learn his father's style."

"And you don't like Vegeta, either," Gohan added teasingly but Chichi surprised him by shaking her head.

"Honestly? I never thought I would say this but he's not so bad."

"Are you feeling okay, Mom?"

Chichi slapped Gohan's arm with a wet dishrag.

"You like the man. So does Goten. Trunks idolizes him. And Bulma's head over heels in love with him. He can't be that awful if he has so many people fond of him. I guess there's something about him that I'll never get but it's enough to know it's there. Enough to trust him with Goten."

"But not Goten's training."

"No, not with that," Chichi sighed. "Call me old-fashioned but martial arts should be passed in the family if the family's there. Goten has you to teach him, so will you?"

"Of course, Mom. You didn't even have to ask."

"Good."

She turned back to the diminishing pile of dishes while Gohan started to think over how his training of Goten should start. Probably a spar to see where Goten stood and what needed to be worked on. But thinking about training reminded him of his promise to Videl.

"I'm going to call Tien after dinner. Do we have his number?"

"I think so," Chichi replied, thinking over it a bit. "Bulma gave me numbers of all of the Z-Warriors the last time she was here. Why?"

"One of my friends wants to learn more martial arts and I told her I would ask Tien if he would be willing to take her on as a student."

"Her?"

Gohan completely missed the intrigued tone in Chichi's voice and replied guilelessly.

"Yes. Her name is Videl Satan. She's Mr. Satan's daughter but she's okay," he added hurriedly. "She accepts the existence of ki and wants to learn how to use it."

"Videl Satan," Chichi repeated slowly. "You mentioned her before. She is some sort of a crimefighter, isn't she?"

"Yes, she's very eager to help people."

"Hmm. And she's a martial artist. Is she any good?"

"Yes, especially given that she has no proper ki training."

"Is she pretty?" Chichi fired off, eagerly watching Gohan's face.

"I guess so. She would be prettier if she smiled more often, though," Gohan added, thinking over his own observation on the matter and not noticing Chichi's gleeful face.

"Well, I'm glad that you are getting friendly with your classmates," Chichi said, closing the discussion for the moment. "I'll finish here, you go call Tien."

"All right, Mom," Gohan said and put away the last plate he was drying. "I'm going to do my homework after that."

"Good boy," Chichi said with a smile. "Now shoo and let me finish."

Gohan grinned and left his mother to work in peace. He had other matters to take care of but for once he felt like things were going in the right direction.

TBC