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Outside of his training spot, he could feel his mother up and making breakfast, the villagers of the neighboring towns beyond their property waking to greet the day ahead and, a little bit further away but on fast approach of their home turf, he sensed the familiar ki signature of Videl on the move.
And she wasn't alone either.
Smiling towards the horizon, Gohan turned back to his teacher, who he was now standing upright and back in his weighted training gear, "Thanks for agreeing to come by today, Piccolo. I really appreciate the help."
"No problem, kid," the Namekian replied calmly. "When I heard you were planning on taking a student of your own, I immediately became curious. So I decided to keep a closer eye on you to see how you handled it in case you didn't ask for my help. I'm really interested to see how you plan on starting her off. She wants to learn how to become a fighter like us, right?" Seeing the young Saiyan nod elicited a grunt from the towering warrior. "Then she should know that she's got a lot of hard work and long days ahead of her."
Gohan nodded, wrapping his fingers around his belt and holding it in a manner that his father often did, "I was thinking of starting Videl on some running laps of the countryside. Get her used to the routine before introducing her to the energy based material. I need to see how well she's doing in the physical department first and whether she has a good enough grasp of the basics." He then grinned a little bit, "If she does well on her first day, maybe I'll throw in some of your stuff to see how she'll cope swimming in the deep end."
"Sounds good to me," Piccolo replied, finding some mild amusement at the idea of his student using a few of 'his' teaching methods. As cruel as that sounded, he was positive the demi-Saiyan would be a little tamer in his approach to teaching than he was while he was teaching the ankle-biter all those years ago. "Don't forget to teach her how to dodge."
"That's lesson one," Gohan chirped, running a hand through his gravity defying hair. "Wait here for a moment. I'll be back in a bit." After straightening his gi up, he then took off and began leaping across the fields towards his home, leaving Piccolo and Zangya standing out on the grass.
Gohan made it to his front door just in time to see a tiny speck appear over the horizon in the direction of Satan City. When he stopped and waited, he saw the dot get closer and closer before eventually taking the shape and form of a familiar yellow jet-copter.
The craft soon came to hover above the Son family home. Its engine hummed loudly as it slowly came to settle on the grass a few yards in front of the Super Saiyan. When its skids settled and its ignition cut, the boy watched the side door open up and his friend pop out of the passenger seat.
The sight of her brought a smile to Gohan's face. "Morning, Videl."
"Morning, Gohan-kun," the raven haired youngster replied, hurriedly making her way over while the other door to the copter opened up as well. "How are you doing?"
"Great. You?"
"Packed, rested and ready to go," Videl answered, clenching a fist before having a look around his property. Finding not one front yard but an entire expanse of rolling hillsides with forests and mountains in the distance, the girl's eyes shimmered with awe and wonder. "Wow… so this is where you live?"
"Yep. This is our home," Gohan stared, placing his hands on his hips and turning in the same direction his visitor was gazing. "My family owns this entire region. It's also the same place my dad grew up in when he was a kid." He then pointed towards a small, oriental style house sitting not too far from the dome-shaped building that was the central element of their residence. "That's his old home, the one great grandpa used to own… or should I say adoptive great grandfather."
Videl nodded in acknowledgement. "It's very nice. All of it is." She looked back at the youngster standing in front of her, "So… wanna give me the grand tour?"
"Of course. Whenever you're ready," Gohan said.
Before he could set off though, another voice interrupted them.
"Hold it right there, sweet pea," the booming voice of Hercule Satan spoke up, drawing the pair's attention towards the copter to see the man with the afro cut step out from behind it. Adorned in casual clothes consisting of a jumper, jeans and shoes, the big man appeared before the two kids looking proud and confident. "Now, before I let you go off with this boy, I just want to remind him not t-GAHAWHOA!" Until he spotted Gohan, of course.
The still transformed Saiyan smiled and waved pleasantly at the gob smacked champion, "Hey, Mr. Satan."
Jaw hanging open and appearing absolutely shocked, the man with the afro hairstyle laughed nervously and waved, "H-Hello. Uhh…" Staggering forward slowly, the man stood before the much shorter boy in a hunched over position. "So… you were the one my daughter was talking about training with, huh?" There was no way he could forget a face like that. His spiky blonde hair and gi was a dead giveaway.
Videl sighed and glared across at her father, "Of course he is, daddy. Who else did you think I was talking about? Were you even listening to me?"
"S-Sorry, dear. I… I knew who you were talking about. It's just… it's taking a lot of time for me to wrap my head around all this," the world champion replied, looking between his daughter and the boy in front of him nervously. "I mean, the last time I saw him like this was at the Cell Games… fighting against that green freckled monster. He saved my life… ALL of our lives. Hell, he saved the entire planet."
A smile spreading across her lips, Videl stepped over to her friend and tugged on his sleeve, drawing Gohan's gaze over to her. "Yeah. It's kind of his job," the raven haired girl informed, smiling fondly up at him.
Hercule, rubbing his hands together anxiously, then nodded to the demi-Saiyan in a very timid manner. "I'm really sorry about taking the credit for Cell's defeat… as well as for that incident at the Intergalactic Martial Arts Tournament you were in. I was… it's just… after your group disappeared and no one stepped forward to claim victory over that monster, I took the chance and came up with that bogus story. At the time I just didn't want to lose face with the public… and I wanted to make sure that the people of earth knew that they were safe. But when it happened again at Cash's tournament, everyone thought that I was the one that beat those freaky alien monsters when the connection cut out. It was a selfish thing to do, I know, and I apologize." He bowed his head humbly to the young man, who leaned back in surprise at the man's actions. "There are no excuses for what I did… and I can understand if you hate me for it…"
Listening to the sincerity in the martial artist's voice, Gohan slowly processed what he said before beaming brightly, "It's alright, Mr. Satan. You don't have to go that far." When he saw the man look up, the half-Saiyan shrugged. "Seriously, my friends and I don't mind. We're not mad that you took the credit for killing Cell or anything like that. As long as the world and the people are safe, than that's good enough for us."
An owlish expression came over Hercule's face, "R-Really?"
Gohan nodded, while both Hercule and Videl listened to him intently, "My family and friends have fought to save the world many times before, and we've never asked for anything in return. It's what we do." The boy tilted his head and grinned. "Honestly, we're glad you took the credit for it. Because as long as people believe you were the one who saved the world from Cell and Bojack, we won't get harassed by the public for it." He chuckled and thumbed over his shoulder, "We already got pestered by the reporters that came by here wanting to ask me some questions about the tournament, but a friendly 'acquaintance' of mine was able to chase them away."
"S-So…" the Champ gulped nervously, "You're really not angry or anything?"
"No. Not at all," Gohan replied, smiling back at the fighter with the mustache and afro cut, "All I want to do is be friends with Videl and have your permission to come visit her whenever I can, if that's okay with you."
"Oh. Well… if that's all, then…" A swell of delight quickly returned to Hercule's face, "you and my daughter can hang out all you want!" the Champ exclaimed, walking right up to the boy and taking his hand, shaking it vigorously to show how grateful he was to him. "For the boy who saved the world from Cell; you have my full permission!" His answer bringing smiles to the two children's faces, the martial arts master then suddenly gave a stern look and glared across at the teen with the blonde hair. Despite knowing he was the one who defeated Cell, the father still mustered up enough courage to say one last thing. "But you listen here… um…"
"Gohan," the demi-Saiyan chirped, "Son Gohan."
"Gohan," Hercule cleared his throat and pointed a finger at him. "Videl is my daughter and the greatest treasure in the world to me. There is not a person or thing alive that can compare to her. She is my little princess-"
"DAD!" the girl shouted, blushing brightly as she glared at her father.
Undeterred, the Champ continued on with his declaration, "Just because you're the boy who saved the world from that bug and those alien scoundrels on that island, that doesn't mean I'm going to take it easy on you regarding my little sugar bee. I expect you to take good care of my daughter and to treat her well, because if I hear that you've hurt even a single hair on her head, then there is not a force on this planet that's going to stop me from coming after you and popping your head clean off of your shoulders! You got that?!"
Almost being shaken by the shoulder, Gohan smiled back at the father and nodded in understanding, "Don't worry, Mr. Satan. I promise I won't let anything happen to her."
"You mean it?" Hercule asked for confirmation. When he saw the boy nod, the man sniffed and pulled away, fists being placed firmly on his hips. "Good. Good. Er… thank you." He then moved back over to the jet-copter and around to the side. Opening the compartment there, he then unloaded a couple sets of luggage, including a pillow and sleeping bag, and set them on the ground beside the pair. "I hope you two have a lot of fun together. And remember; no drinking, no joy riding, no drugs and no s…"
"DADDY!" Videl barked again, looking even more thoroughly embarrassed than before, "We're only eleven."
"Oh. Right… yeah… umm…" Hercule took a moment to think it over, before calmly falling back into continuation. "The rules still stand!"
Sighing in exasperation Videl then heard the door to the house behind her open up, and the trio standing outside turned to see a woman wearing purple, oriental robes with her black hair tied into a ponytail step out into the open.
Quickly spotting their guests, the Son mother smiled and approached, "Hello there. It's good to see you again, Videl." She went straight for their young visitor standing by her son and held her hand out to her, "I'm Chi-Chi, Gohan's mother."
"Oh. Yes. Hello again," the pig-tailed girl straightened up and took the woman's hand in hers, "Th-Thank you for having me here, Mrs. Son."
The woman giggled. "Please, just call me Chi-Chi. Mrs. Son makes me feel too much like an old lady." Placing her hands at her sides, the raven haired mother took a step away and sized her up. "And of course, Gohan's friends are always welcome here. Anything for my sweet little angel…"
"MUM!" the Super Saiyan 2 blushed and scowled across at the woman beaming at his friend.
Giving her oldest boy a momentary look, Chi-Chi turned back to their guest with a cheerful smile, "I hope you're looking forward to your stay here, Videl. I'm sure you're going to enjoy it."
"Thanks so much, Chi-Chi," the youngster bowed.
Gathering up his friend's bags like a gentleman, Gohan held them under his arms and over his shoulder, walked up to Videl, and nudged her lightly. "Come on. I'll show you where you'll be sleeping." Receiving an enthusiastic smile in return, the raven haired girl quickly followed him into the house where they disappeared.
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