Fandom: Dragon Ball Z Characters: Gohan, Videl

Gohan Son was sitting in a storage room with his girlfriend of two years, Videl. They were hidden away from the rest of his family and friends. There were hoping that no one would see them because if found like this, someone would suspect that the two teenagers were up to something suspicious.

“I didn’t think that we were ever going to get rid of them,” Videl sighed. Not believing that she was hiding in a storage room from a toddler and two hyperactive children.

“Hopefully they won’t find us,” Gohan said, looking around the corner of some crates they were currently hiding behind. “I don’t really want to have them to pour their love potion all over us.”

“You don’t think that it will actually work, do you?” Videl asked her boyfriend.

“I don’t think it will work the way that they plan for it to work. Knowing Trunks they have been playing in Bulma’s lab, and whatever it is that they have made, it’s probably toxic,” Gohan informed her.

Videl gulped not believing how dangerous the three children could be where they were all together. “Why are they making a love potion for us when we are already dating?”

“I think that my mum has put ideas into my brother’s head that we don’t really love each other because my mother isn’t a grandmother yet,” Gohan answered keeping his ki as low as possible. “Seems like they have recruited Tarble.” Gohan sensing that the younger brother of Vegeta was now following the kids around.

“Someone’s coming,” Videl said, hearing footsteps coming into the storage room, moving closer to Gohan as someone came through the door. Both sighed in relief as the light was turned on, and no sign of children were anywhere.

“What are you two doing in here?” Bulma asked, seeing Gohan and Videl sitting beside some boxes. She had a look on her face that suggested she’d managed to catch them in the act of mischief.

“We weren’t doing anything,” Gohan said, nervously hoping that Bulma wouldn’t jump to the conclusion which of course she already had.

“Hiding from the three little kids and their love potion,” Videl answered, rolling her eyes at her boyfriend who hadn’t given a reason for them hiding.

“Why are they trying to cover you in a love potion? You have been dating for two years now.” Bulma stated the same as Videl had already asked.

“Mum doesn’t think our relationship has been progressing fast enough. Goten has got the idea that he needs to help us. He has recruited Trunks and Marron.” Gohan answered.

“Ahh,” Bulma said. Understanding what her friend was like. “If they left you both alone they would get more progress then harassing you.”

“Bulma, is there something that you are looking for? We can help you find it if you like?” Videl offered.

“Yeah, I don’t think the kids will try anything while we are with you,” Gohan said, hoping that Trunks would be scared off by his mother.

“I’m looking for the old baby things,” Bulma mumbled only just being heard by Gohan.

“Wow, I’m surprised. Congratulations. I had no clue. I mean you’re older than my mum, so I didn’t even suspect …” Gohan said, sensing a faint ki signature from Bulma that was not hers. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t sensed the baby sooner. He had known as soon as his mum was pregnant with Goten.

“I know, I didn’t suspect a thing either. I thought that I was going through menopause.” Bulma answered.

“What’s going on? What does Bulma being older than your mum have to do with menopause?” Videl asked. Having not heard Bulma mention the baby things and she also couldn’t sense anything different from the scientist’s ki.

“I’m pregnant,” Bulma said. “I only found out I was pregnant when Vegeta asked me what menopause was after I’d been complaining for a few days. I, of course, told him what menopause is. He looked rather horrified for a few seconds, then started laughing. He told me you’re not going through menopause, your pregnant and walked off.”

“How was Vegeta able to tell when you didn’t even know?” Videl asked.

“Vegeta could sense the baby’s ki,” Gohan explained.

– DBZ –

Gohan and Videl were moving the baby things down the hall to the room that used to be Vegeta’s bedroom; hoping that they wouldn’t run into the children while Bulma wasn’t around.

“Goten,” the very familiar voice of Gohan’s mother yelled out. “Gohan, have you seen your brother?”

“Last time I saw him he was with Trunks and Marron trying to pour something onto Videl and I,” Gohan answered his mother.

Gohan and Videl both notice the change in Chi Chi’s behaviour and then looked at what they were holding.

“Is there something that you two are not telling me?” Chi Chi asked, looking at the two caring baby stuff.

“I don’t know what you are talking about Chi Chi,” Videl said, pretending to be a bit clueless to the fact that Chi Chi was grandchild crazy.

“The baby stuff.” Chi Chi pointed. “Why do you have all that baby stuff?” She asked in anticipation.

“Bulma is sorting through things and asked us to help,” Gohan said to his mother. “Do you want to help? We have to move it to the room that used to be Vegeta’s when he first came to the planet.”

“Why would Bulma want baby stuff moved into Vegeta’s old room?” Chi Chi asked the two suspiciously.

“You should ask Bulma that,” Videl said stopping Gohan from answering.

“Um Videl,” Gohan said nervously “Run!” dropping the baby things that he was holding and grabbing his girlfriend’s hand.

Chi Chi blinked and looked at all the baby things on the floor, picking some of the things up only to have them knocked from her arms a few moments later when two blurs came past her.

“Trunks, Goten wait up,” Marron said running down the hall followed closely by Tarble.

“Marron, what are you and the boys doing?” Chi Chi asked the young girl.

“We are trying to give a love potion that we made to Gohan and Videl,” Marron answered sweetly.

“But Gohan and Videl are already dating and love each other. Why would they need a love potion?” Chi Chi said worried that the pair’s relationship wasn’t as good as it appeared to be.

“It’s because they are not married yet and don’t have a baby,” Marron answered almost making Chi Chi melt. “We want someone new to play with.”

– DBZ –

Gohan and Videl had now locked themselves in Vegeta’s Gravity Room. Finally escaping the children once again.

“Is Vegeta going to kill us if he finds us in here?” Videl asked her boyfriend, hoping Vegeta would stay away.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” Gohan promised, hoping that he would be able to protect himself and the girl he loved from Vegeta if he was to find them touching his property.

“So what now?” Videl said, starting to get bored with the constant hiding from the children.

“We could study,” Gohan suggested looking for the capsule that he carried everywhere with his university assignments.

Videl just sighed. “We are in the gravity chamber, and your first thought is study? If you were Erasa or Sharpener, your first thought would have been something else. Can’t we practice martial arts?”

“Oh yeah,” Gohan started laughing. “We haven’t practised together in ages. I’ll put the gravity up to ten times Earth gravity. Bulma can handle that so you should be able to.”

“How can you stand this much gravity?” Videl asked. She had trouble moving once Gohan turned the gravity on. “How can Bulma handle this?

“I have trained with Vegeta a few times over the years; I can last a few hundred times Earth’s gravity. Bulma was trying to prove something. She can be very competitive.”

“I keep forgetting that you are part alien and can take more than humans,” Videl sighed. She sometimes still thought of Gohan as the nerd that she met when he started high school.

– DBZ –

Gohan and Videl had been practising in the gravity chamber for around half an hour. Or more to the point, Videl had been training, and Gohan had been giving her pointers.

“What are you brats doing in here?” Vegeta yelled as he opened the door, not happy about finding his gravity chamber already occupied.

“We’re training,” Gohan answered Vegeta.

“While hiding from the kids, they were trying to pour a love potion on us.” Videl finished for Gohan. She had collapsed at the sudden change of gravity.

“I don’t care if you’re hiding, get out,” Vegeta yelled, pointing towards the door.

Gohan was glad that Vegeta hadn’t gone super on him as he often did. Gohan helping Videl to her feet before fleeing the chamber. They hadn’t got far when they both felt something wet and cold hit both of them on the head, and it didn’t stop pouring on them until they were completely soaked. They both tried to escape, and Gohan would have succussed on his own. Videl was not fast enough to escape. He refused to leave her behind.

“Yes, we finally got them,” Trunks yelled out in triumph.

“Goten and Trunks!” Gohan yelled as the two boys flew off into the distance.

“Goten, Trunks I can’t fly,” Marron yelled out who had been hiding in nearby bushes.

“I’ll take you,” Tarble offered. He had been following his nephew and Goten and was finding that he was unable to keep up with the two hyperactive children.

“Let’s go and get cleaned up,” Gohan said, taking his girlfriends hand and walking back into Bulma’s apartment.

“What do you think their potion does?” Videl asked, hoping that she wasn’t about to sprout extra limbs.

“No idea but I guess that we are going to find out eventually,” Gohan said, hoping that there would be no effects. If it actually worked wouldn’t that mean that nothing would happen because they were already in love with each other?

– DBZ –

Gohan was getting changed in one of the bedrooms while Videl was in the bathroom. Both had capsules with a change of clothes.

“Gohan, can you help?” Videl shouted from the bathroom.

“I only have my underpants on,” Gohan shouted back.

“I don’t care this stuff’s gone hard, and I can’t get my shirt off,” Videl shouted, “Just hurry up and help.”

“Okay,” Gohan said sheepishly walking in to help his girlfriend out of the shirt that had turned solid.

“Um I broke your shirt,” Gohan said, watching the shirt crumble.

“I’m going to kill those kids when I get my hands on them. That was my favourite fighting shirt,” Videl said, trying to bend down to pick up the pieces of her shirt, to find herself overbalancing and unable to move her legs to stop herself from falling.

“Are you alright?” Gohan asked, looking at his girlfriend laying face down on the floor.

“Can you help me get my pants off as well?” Videl screamed in panic. “Because I don’t want to be stuck like this forever.”

Gohan kneeling down to help his girlfriend out of her pants before she’d even requested the help. Her pants breaking the same way as her shirt and his own clothing.

Gohan was brushing the remains of Videl’s pants away when he heard the door open. Both the University students looked up to see an excited nine-year-old and a shocked mother.

“Yay the love potion worked, I’m going to be an uncle,” Goten said gleefully.

“But you two aren’t married yet!” Chi Chi shrieked. “I want grandchildren, but I would like for you to be married before you took that step to get me my grandchildren.” Chi Chi started to lecture. It was the first both young adults had heard on the matter. Normally she was encouraging them to make her a grandmother already.

“This is not what it looks like,” Gohan said standing up realising that he only had his underwear on. He blushed while his mother had seen him in his underwear plenty of times. Videl, on the other hand, hadn’t. She didn’t like being seen in her underwear by anyone. She hid behind Gohan as much as possible.

“This is so embarrassing,” Videl said wishing that everyone would leave them alone.

“Goten and Trunks were playing in Bulma’s lab,” Gohan started to explain getting interrupted by his mother.

“Trying to get me to concentrate on the mischief that your younger brother had done so that I can forget yours and Videl’s actions is not a very nice thing to do Gohan Son.” Chi Chi continuing her lecture.

“But mum I haven’t finished yet,” Gohan said, interrupting his mother and hoping she wouldn’t bring out her weapon of mass discipline. “Goten and Trunks made a love potion for Videl and I. We were running from them all afternoon, and when we came out of hiding from Vegeta’s gravity machine, they poured the so-called potion all over us.”

“The potion made our clothes solid, so I couldn’t move, and I had to ask Gohan to help me get mine off since my strength wasn’t enough to destroy my clothing,” Videl said still hiding behind Gohan pointing out the hardened clothing on the ground. “I think that it has done the same to my hair,” Videl said as she demonstrated trying to move some of her hair.

“Goten is this true,” Chi Chi asked the young boy.

Goten stared at the ground as he nodded. “I’m sorry, Videl and Gohan. I’m sorry, mummy.”

– DBZ –

Videl was back at the Son house and was sitting in Chi Chi and Goku’s bathroom in a bathrobe as Chi Chi tried to wash the love potion out of Videl’s hair. Gohan was upstairs in the boys’ bathroom having a shower.

“You’re going to make such a wonderful daughter-in-law one day,” Chi Chi said while washing Videl’s hair. She’d got a solution from Bulma that helped but still took a long time. “And a wonderful mother.”

“I don’t think that I’m ready for that yet. I mean I am still nineteen,” Videl answered wishing that this subject didn’t have to be bought up regularly.

“You’re already older than I was when I got married. When I was nineteen, I had been married for a year and had a beautiful baby son.” Chi Chi said dreamily “You should’ve seen him, he was so cute. Don’t get me wrong, Goten was a beautiful baby, but there was just something about Gohan, maybe it was because he is my first. I would love grandchildren, especially if they are anywhere near as cute as what Gohan was when he was born.”

Back in the upstairs bathroom, Gohan has finally found a solution to getting the love potion out of his hair, the only problem was Videl wouldn’t be able to do the same thing to get the solution out of her hair.

“Why did you power up to Super Saiyan, son?” Goku asked who came inside curious about the sudden power fluctuation that came from his eldest son.

Gohan relayed the adventures of that afternoon. “Instead of making us fall more in love like they had planned it turned our clothes and our hair rock hard,” Gohan said turning back to normal and checking that his hair was no longer cement-like.

Goku looked confused for a few seconds before asking “Don’t you love Videl anymore?”

“What!” Gohan asked, confused as to where this question was coming from. “Of course, I still love Videl. Why would you even ask if I still love her?”

“Then why did Goten and Trunks pour love potion on you?” Goku asked, scratching his head.

“Because they want Videl and I to get married and have a baby,” Gohan said simply turning to get a towel so that he could have a shower when his father left.

“Well, why aren’t you guy’s married yet? Your mum and I were already married and had you at your age.”

“I want to finish my study first. It’s my top priority at the moment,” Gohan answered.

“We aren’t always going to be living in times of peace, son. This is the perfect time to get married and start a family. Trunks, the one from the future told me that the you from the other timeline never got married and never had any children because you were constantly fighting. The other version of you didn’t have time for anything except fighting for his life and training to become stronger or time taken up recovering from serious injuries.

“What would happen if we ended up in a time of war? You wouldn’t have time to finish your studies? Would you have time for Videl?” Goku asked, leaving the bathroom, leaving Gohan to think things through properly.

– DBZ –

Gohan and Videl were sitting underneath one of the many trees on the Son’s property. Videl was running her fingers through her hair amazed that Chi Chi was able to get the love potion out without shaving her head.

“You look pretty,” Gohan said blushing.

“I’m wearing your mother’s clothes,” Videl said, wondering how any boy could think that their girlfriend was pretty while wearing their mother’s clothing.

“It’s the third time that I have seen you wearing a dress in two years,” Gohan said blushing even more if that was possible.

“I don’t like dresses. Your mother gave me another wedding and grandchildren lecture,” Videl said, rolling her eyes.

“Believe it or not, my dad gave me one as well,” Gohan said, still slightly confused why his father had given the lecture in the first place.

“I mean we’re not ready to get married. We’re still too young,” Videl said, trying to think up more reasons than the too young excuse that she kept using.

“Even though we’re already older then my parents when they got married,” Gohan said, wondering why his parents got married so young in the first place. “Plus I still have to study.”

“My parents got married while my mum was still studying to become a teacher,” Videl said, wishing that her mother was still around to ask advice. “And she didn’t have to put her study aside after she was married.”

“Will you marry me?” The squeaky voice of Videl’s boyfriend asked.

“Did you just ask what I think you just asked?” Videl asked wondering if she heard correctly considering they were both trying to come up with excuses not to get married. All Gohan could do in response was a nod. “Where did this question come from all of a sudden? I mean we have been trying to avoid the marriage thing since we started dating, why now?”

“What my dad said. If we ended up in a time of war, would I still have time for you? I realised that I want to spend every single moment with you. Whether it’s in a time of peace or war,” Gohan said, knowing that he meant every single word.

“Yes I will marry you Saiyaman,” Videl said, leaning over to kiss her boyfriend, not believing that Gohan had asked her and that she said yes.

“Gohan and Videl kissing under a tree,” said a voice from in a tree above them. ” G.”

“Goten how much did you hear,” Gohan asked, still bright red.

“You asked Videl to marry you,” Goten shouted, jumping out of the tree and running towards the house, “and I’m going to tell mummy.”

“Goten you get back here now!” Gohan shouted, chasing after his little brother.

“Gohan, stop him,” Videl screamed flying after her boyfriend and her soon to be brother-in-law.

“Mummy, daddy. My love potion worked,” Goten shouted out at the top of his lungs. “Gohan asked Videl to marry him.”

Also posted at:

Fandom: Dragon Ball Z Characters: Mai, Shu, Pilaf

“Are we really villains?” Mai asked her two companions. She was drinking a strawberry milkshake.

They were in a cafe instead of at a local bar since they’d accidentally wished themselves into children with the Dragon Balls. No-one was going to serve alcohol to people who appeared as minors no matter how old their identification said they were.

“Of course we are Mai,” Emperor Pilaf replied. “We want to take over the world that makes us villains.”

“I don’t know boss,” Shu said, agreeing with Mai. “That is our overall goal, but we don’t exactly do anything else that is really evil, like other criminal organisations.”

“Because of our lack of villainous plots, the rest of the organisation left us years ago. It’s only us three now. Has been for years, we cannot even recruit more people despite trying. How are three people going to rule the whole world when we cannot even manage an organisation? If we do manage to somehow take over how are we going to manage?” Mai asked her boss.

Shu nodded along in agreement. “Yeah, what Mai said. Our biggest rivals, the one who stands between us ruling the world didn’t even recognise us. They were kind to us and invited us to that birthday party.”

“Well, that just means that we have to do something really evil to make up for it.” Pilaf replied to his two henchmen and closest friends.

“Are you kids done? Do you want anything else?” One of the waitresses asked them kindly.

“No thank you, ma’am,” Shu replied.

“It was a really nice meal,” Mai agreed.

“We’ll be leaving now. But thank you,” Pilaf said to the woman.

The three got up and left the cafe, Shu leaving a small tip. The waitress smiled and waved as they left.

They gathered in the local park, sitting in the fort. The other children leaving them alone.

“We’re losing our touch.” Pilaf ranted. “What type of criminal organisation pay’s for their food and are kind to the waitress staff. We even left a tip!”

“I don’t think we had much of a touch to lose, sir,” Mai told him. “We were never that good at the criminal thing anyway.”

Shu nodded again. “Yeah, whenever we steal something we leave a note telling them that we would bring said item back or leave money to pay for the item and we do after we are finished with it. We do return items. If something happens that we can’t bring it back, then we send them money.”

“And we nearly caused the success of the world being concurred, but it wasn’t by us. It was by King Piccolo who we released.” Mai continued.

“Okay, we’re awful at concurring the world. Instead we’ve been opening it up for other villains.” Pilaf admitted. “But we are still villains. Aren’t we?”

“Maybe we need to give up on the concurring the world thing boss,” Shu suggested. “I mean we’ve been trying for a really long time now. Goku is now a grandfather; he was only a little kid when we started out. Go for something smaller.”

“Think of it this way sir, do you really want to spend all that time trying to stop other people concurring the world if we do succeed?” Mai pointed out the reality of what they would face.

“But we’ve been trying to concur the world for years. It will be sad to stop. I can’t think of anything that we would do instead,” Pilaf said.

“Maybe start with something small, like rebuilding your kingdom?” Mai suggested.

“That’s a great idea, Mai! I will rebuild my kingdom. Once my kingdom has been rebuilt, I will re-evaluate my plans.”

“How about finding the Dagon Balls to wish us back into adults?” Shu suggested. “I wanted to be younger, but not this young?”

“Do you think if we asked nicely that Bulma would let us use the Dragon Balls?” Pilaf asked his two henchmen friends.

“What harm can asking do?” Mai said. “If she says no we are stuck like this until we grow up. If she says yes, we get to be in our mid-twenties again.”

“Why mid-twenties?” Pilaf asked.

“My voice was still breaking when I was in my early twenties.” Shu agreed with Mai.

“I had horrible acne that only cleared up in my early twenties. I don’t want to have acne again.” Mai said.

“Okay, mid-twenties it is.” Pilaf agreed. “What are you going to do with that little boyfriend of yours, Mai? Won’t Bulma be mad?”

Mai gulped. “He’s not really my boyfriend. Now let’s go and hope his mother doesn’t kill me. Age ourselves first and then work on the kingdom.”

They had gathered up the courage, and Bulma had agreed to meet them. “Are you kids here to play with Trunks? I’m afraid he’s not here at the moment. He’s out with his father.”

Mai sighed in relief; she really did not want to see Trunks.

“No, you see. We’re the Pilaf gang.” Emperor Pilaf told her. “We want to borrow to the Dragon Balls and wish ourselves older.”

“Mid-twenties to be precise,” Shu told Bulma.

“We used the Dragon Balls to wish ourselves younger, but weren’t specific and the Dragon turned us into children. I do not want to go through puberty for a second time.” Mai explained.

Bulma laughed. “I don’t know how I didn’t see that before. Sure I’ll help, as long as you guys promise not to take over the world again.”

“We’ve decided that we no longer want to rule the world.” Pilaf told Bulma honestly. “Too much effort to stay in charge from other people that want to conquer the world.”

“We are going to rebuild Emperor Pilaf’s Kingdom. And after that, we haven’t decided what we want to do.” Shu told Bulma.

“But we won’t promise that we won’t be villains anymore. We’ve been villains for our whole life, and do know anything different. We can promise that we won’t conquer the world.” Mai said.

“Or mess with you guys,” Shu added.

Pilaf and Mai nodding in agreement with Shu.

They were themselves again. Bulma had wished them all back to their mid-twenties. They didn’t even have to wait since she already had the Dragon Balls. They stood in the ruins of the kingdom, a place they hadn’t returned to since Goku had turned into a giant monkey ape thingy and destroyed everything.

“Looks like we don’t have to think of another goal anytime soon boss. We have a lot of work to rebuild your kingdom.” Shu said.

“You two get to work, my Kingdom won’t rebuild itself.” Pilaf ordered them.

“Yes, boss.” Mai and Shu said together.

All three happy to no longer be children and working towards a goal that they could actually succeed in. Then they could work out what type of villains they wanted to be.

Also posted at:

• Fanfiction.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11587953/1/I-think-we-are-villains
• Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24677416
• Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/902463185-i-think-we-are-villains

Fandom: Dragon Ball Z Characters: Gohan, Videl, Sharpener, Erasa

Celebrations were in full swing with the parties planned for the upcoming public holiday that Wednesday. The chatter amongst the students was excited as they planned their day off.

“I’m going to have the biggest party ever,” Sharpener bragged. He was always throwing last minute parties. He liked to wait to see if someone else was doing something better first before he made his own arrangements.

“Oh, can I come?” Erasa asked, jumping like a hyperactive child.

“Of course babe, it wouldn’t be a party without you,” Sharpener answered. He put his arm around his oldest friend. “Wouldn’t be a party without you.”

“Gohan, you can be my date.” Erasa pulled away from Sharpener and clung to Gohan. “Are you alright?” Erasa asked when she did not get a reaction. He usually pulled away after a nervous laugh when she flirted with him.

“It’s time to party.” Sharpener cheered. Watching with concern as Erasa picked Gohan’s hand up and moving his arm around like a puppet. Sharpener moved so that he was standing the other side of Gohan and then joined Erasa in trying to get their friend to respond. Both concerned seeing nothing but hollow eyes staring into nothingness. “Nerd-boy, you in there. Earth to Nerd-boy.”

“What are you doing?” Videl asked startled both the blonds into dropping Gohan’s hand.

“Trying to get Gohan’s attention. Something’s wrong with him. Wow, you look terrible. You okay?” Erasa let go of Gohan and raced over to Videl when she noticed she wasn’t her normal self. “What’s wrong?”

“Something’s wrong with Videl?” Gohan asked, still in a trance-like state. But it was more than they had out of him before.

Sharpener snorted. “Of course you notice Videl but not us. Why are you both depressed? This is a time to celebrate. No moping allowed,” Sharpener cheered.

“Why does it have to be a celebration for my dad?” Videl yelled out, drawing the attention of the other students in the class. “There were other people at the Cell Games as well. Why couldn’t one of them have beaten Cell instead? That way, I wouldn’t have to put up with the stupid celebration and my dad’s big ego every single year for the last seven years.”

“But that is the day that you’re family came into wealth. You were two weeks away from being evicted if your dad didn’t beat Cell. You would probably be living on the streets now or with your grandma.” Erasa reminded Videl how far her family had come money wise.

“But I don’t get to spend much time with my dad anymore,” Videl said, sounding like a spoiled child that didn’t want to share a toy with anyone.

“Babe, come to my party that will keep your mind off everything,” Sharpener suggested.

“Nice try Sharpener, but no thanks,” Videl said, a slight grin sneaking its way through. She turned her attention to the zombie-like state that the new kid was in. “Why are you so sad?” Videl enquired.

“My dad died …” Gohan started to explain but was interrupted before he could continue.

“What are you even doing at school if your dad died?” the shocked blond girl asked. “You should be home with your family.”

“It’s wasn’t recent, babe. Was it?” Sharpener asked. He wouldn’t put it past Gohan to put his education before personal matters.

“It will be seven years ago on Wednesday,” Gohan answered, trying to get the images of his last moment with his father out of his head.

“Wow, that is the same year as the Cell Games happened,” Erasa said.

“My dad died the day of the Cell Games,” Gohan answered. “He was one of the only people that was killed by Cell that didn’t come back. It was my fault that he died.”

Sharpener remembered something from the news stories from after the Cell Games. “It was rumoured that some of the people that died and came back during the time of King Piccolo didn’t come back after Cell. Did your dad die then?”

“No, it was another time when I was little. That was my fault too. I killed my dad twice,” Gohan said, tears now streaming down his face.

“How could it be your fault if Cell killed your father?” Videl asked. “And I am sure that other time wasn’t your fault either.”

“I made a stupid mistake, I was too cocky, and because of that it cost my dad his life.” The teenager answered in hysteria. “The time before, he died trying to save my life from my uncle who kidnapped me. If I wasn’t around, if I stayed home with mum, he would have survived that day.”

“Cocky! You?” Sharpener started laughing, trying to imagine Gohan being cocky.

“Your uncle kidnapped you,” Erasa gasped.

The teacher chose this moment to come into the class and stopped in surprise when she noticed it was the class genius and his three friends were the ones disrupting the class.

“Don’t worry Gohan, school will be back on Thursday,” The teacher said jumped to the wrong conclusion about why her prize student was upset.

“It’s not about that miss,” Videl said. The crime fighters tone unsettled the teacher. She’d never seen or heard Videl looking so upset.

“Something happened between you two didn’t?” The teacher suggested knowing the mischief that some of her students could get up to.

Sharpener went into another fit of laughter, trying to imagine Gohan and Videl in a relationship.

Videl turned red at the suggestion. It went over Gohan’s head what the teacher had suggested.

“Believe me, it’s nothing like that. I would know.” Erasa answered, confusing the teacher about the sudden behaviour changes of Gohan and Videl. If nothing had happened between them, then why were they both so upset?

“Can we go?” Sharpener asked, holding back giggles.

“If it means that the students that actually want to learn, get a chance to learn, then you may leave,” the teacher answered. She didn’t usually like to dismiss students without good reason. They wouldn’t get anything done while Gohan and Videl were both in that state. She watched as Sharpener and Erasa helped the hysterical genius out of the classroom followed by the grumpy crime fighter.

“Miss, can I go as well?” One of the boys in the front row asked.

“If you even think of disrupting my class you will get detention for a week.” The teacher scolded. “That goes for all of you.”

There were some grumbles from the students about Videl and her friends getting special treatment from all of the teachers and wishing that they were close friends with the crime fighter. One question that came to the minds of all the students was why she was friends with the people that she hung out with? And why did she go to their school in the first place? Weren’t famous kids meant to go to exclusive schools that cost a zillion zeni to go to?

Sharpener and Erasa had spent the whole day attempting to cheer Gohan and Videl up while setting up for Sharpeners Totally Awesome Party for Cells Defeat Day.

“So what are you going to do for your day off if you aren’t going to come to my party?” Sharpener asked.

“I’m going to spend the day with my mum pretending that I’m not upset and that I still don’t blame myself for what happened while trying to keep her from crying the whole day. Oh, I just remembered that I have to hide the television. We normally have to buy a new one every year after the anniversary of my dad’s death.”

“What does your dad’s death have to do with getting a new TV?” Erasa asking the question that everyone else was wondering.

“Any mention of the Cell Games reminds my mum that my dad was killed by Cell. She gets angry and takes it out on the television,” Gohan said, remembering the first anniversary of his father’s death. His mother threw the television which narrowly missed six-month-old Goten. The only reason the television didn’t hit Goten was Gohan catching it. His mother hadn’t thrown the TV again after that incident, but she did hit it with her frying pan or punch her fist through it on more than one occasion. One year she had somehow got hold of a machine gun and blasted the TV to smithereens.

“Earth to Gohan.” He heard a voice saying bringing him out of thoughts of every anniversary so far. Erasa was sitting in front of him, waving her hand in front of his face. She smiled when he jumped back.”Destroying a TV sounds like something Videl would do,” Erasa piped up when she saw he was back in the land of the living. “I was at Videl’s the day of the Cell Games. My parents died near the start of the Cell stuff. I was missed because I was at a sleepover at Pira’s. I walked home from Pira’s house, finding only my parents clothes on the floor. Pira and I lived close to one another, so they allowed me to walk between our houses. It was strange only finding the clothes, but I didn’t think anything of it at first. I just assumed my parents had gone out in a hurry. I started watching TV. I was looking for cartoons. But ever channel was the same thing. That was how I found out about Cell.” Sharpener went over to comfort Erasa who had broken down in tears. “I ran back to Pira’s because they were the only people that I knew close to my house. By the time that I got there,” Erasa choked up. “They were the same as my parents, just clothes. He had been so close. And everywhere I looked around was more clothes. Everyone was gone. I was alone. I was so scared.”

“I don’t think I actually know anyone that was absorbed by Cell,” Gohan said imagining that it was his mother and friends in the place of Erasa’s family. “I don’t know what I would have done if I came home to find my mum and grandpa’s clothes lying on the floor like that.”

“The times of Cell were pretty bad, I died, I was absorbed. It was the scariest thing that had ever happened,” Sharpener said realising how lucky he was to be alive after dying. “We evacuated the city and were in a camp with hundreds of other people. They all got together, and with the remainder of the money we had hired this guy, I think his name was Taio or something like that. He built a shelter that was meant to keep Cell out and keep us safe. It was just almost completed when this blond kid came and blew up the shelter. Telling us, we were stupid if we thought something like that would be able to keep Cell out.”

Gohan felt so guilty, was it his fault that Sharpener and his parents had been absorbed? He was the one that had blown up the shelter that Sharpener was talking about.

“That kid was right, so many of us in one place had attracted Cell. He would have come either way. With how quickly that building was built, it never would have been strong enough.” Sharpener finished the story.

“How did you end up at Videl’s?” Gohan asked the crying blond girl after seeing that Sharpener wasn’t going to continue.

“I ran from Pira’s house trying to find anyone that was alive, but finding no one,” Erasa said barely above a whisper. “I think it was about two days that I went from place to place, breaking into houses to get food and sleeping in a cupboard and even in a washing machine under clothes hoping that Cell wouldn’t find me. I heard someone enter the house that I happened to be hiding in. I ran to find a better hiding spot, but he heard me. I almost died of fright and collapsed with relief when it wasn’t Cell standing before me. The person that saved me was Hercule. I had broken into his mother’s house. He’d come to check on her, but she had been absorbed like everyone else.”

“Grandma brings it up every time we visit her, reckons that we let her die on purpose,” Videl said, wishing at times that her grandmother had stayed dead. Videl punched the disco ball angry with herself that she would wish that anyone was dead, especially a blood relative.

“Anyway, Hercule took me to where he was hiding Videl,” Erasa said, “and that is how we became friends and why I was with her when we watched the Cell Games. When all the cameras were wiped out, Videl got really angry and threw the remote control at the TV screaming for it to work and then got up and started kicking and punching it. She kicked the screen in.”

“My grandpa said that my mum picked the TV up and started shaking it and then threw it when the reception was lost for the Cell Games,” Gohan said, a shiver running up his spine at another similarity that the girl he went to school with had with his mother. “I wasn’t home at the time, I was out with dad. Telling mum that dad had died to protect me, that he wasn’t coming back was the hardest thing I ever had to do.

“How did you die?” Erasa asked the ghost-white jock.

This time he continued his story. “We fled from the site of the Cell protection structure with some of my parent’s new friends. We thought that being in the middle of nowhere was remotely safe, but we were wrong.” Sharpener said remembering the last moments of his life. “Cell had us trapped in a cave with nowhere to run. I watched as Cell picked people off one by one starting with adults followed by teenagers and then the elderly leaving the children till last. He absorbed us kids youngest to oldest. It was horrible; Cell absorbed my baby sister while she was in my arms. There were only four of us left. I remember Lime fighting till the very end; she was the closest to my age out of the people that had escaped. She tried to fight Cell till the very end. A few moments later, I was absorbed, I assumed the two older ones after me.”

“Lime died,” Gohan said. He knew that she had to be the same Lime that he had known. “I should’ve let her drown; it would’ve been a nicer death than being absorbed by Cell. It was a miracle that she survived when Cell absorbed her family, and then almost drowned a few days later and then a few days after that to actually die.”

“Wait, you’re the guy that saved her from drowning?” Sharpener said, seeing his friend in a new light. “She said that he had blond hair.”

“I had blond hair for a couple of months when I was younger,” Gohan said hoping that they wouldn’t link him to the kid from the Cell Games with that information. “Mum started crying about me turning into a delinquent the first time she ever saw me with blond hair.” Gohan managed to chuckle.

“If she had drowned she never would have got to live again,” Erasa said.

Gohan knew that she was correct.

“What were you doing in that area anyway?” Sharpener asked, “that is a couple of hours away from the 439 mountain district.”

“We ran out of food. Mum wanted something nice,” Gohan answered with a grin for the first time that day. “It was for my birthday party. We had a picnic, it was like everything was normal for a few moments. We could forget about Cell for a few hours.”

“Birthday?” Videl asked. “When is your birthday?”

“Eleventh of May,” Gohan answered.

“Why didn’t you tell us it was your birthday?” Erasa asked she liked everyone knowing when her birthday was.

“I didn’t think that it was important,” Gohan said with a shrug. “Besides my mother makes a big enough deal about my birthday every year I didn’t want anyone else to know.”

“Eighteen is the only important one to worry about. Next year when you turn eighteen we will have a big birthday bash,” Sharpener said already planning Gohan’s birthday party.

“I turned eighteen the other day,” Gohan corrected.

“Dude, you’re the same age as me,” Sharpener said shocked that the class nerd was the same age as him. “I thought that you were the same age as Erasa and Videl.”

“How come you only started school now, shouldn’t you go straight to college?” Videl asked, “You’re smart enough to be in college already.”

“My mum kept going on about getting a high school diploma,” Gohan answered. “She also said about meeting people my own age and that college wasn’t the place to make friends.”

“That’s stupid, college parties are the best,” Erasa said who had been to her fair share of college parties.

“My mum wants me to be concentrate on studying when I start college,” Gohan said. He would be forced to do so much more studying then he already did when he started. He was not looking forward to that.

“Do you do everything that your mother asks you to do?” Videl shouted sick of the goody-goody act that Gohan always portrayed.

“I don’t do everything my mum says. Maybe if I did everything that she asked my dad would still be alive.” Gohan said. His mother hadn’t wanted him to fight in the Cell Games. She had begged him not to go, to stay home with her.

“Stop blaming yourself,” Erasa said as the light mood disappeared as quickly as it came. “The times of Cell were dangerous and terrifying.”

“Which is why we celebrate the fact that Cell is dead,” Sharpener said, not feeling as festive anymore.

“Why did it have to be my dad to beat Cell?” Videl shouted. “I hate being famous, I hate being rich. I want to be normal. Like you three are.”

“Videl I’m not normal,” Gohan answered without thinking.

“You’re more normal than I am,” Videl answered.

“I live in the middle of nowhere,” Gohan said, trying to prove that he wasn’t normal without saying too much.

“Many people do. I live in a mansion,” Videl said back.

“My grandfather lives in a castle,” Gohan said. Maybe it was time to open up a little. These people were his friends. He didn’t need to keep everything from them.

“Is it an old one or a new one?” Erasa asked. That little girl inside her that wanted to be a princess showing through. “Does a handsome prince live there, oh and a king and a queen and a princess. Is the prince single?”

“It’s probably not that type of castle,” Sharpener said in fits of laughter trying to imagine Gohan as a prince.

“What’s so funny about that?” Gohan asked as clueless as ever.

“Which royal family?” Videl asked, having met quite a few royals.

“Let’s not talk about them,” Gohan said, trying to move the conversation to another topic.

“So it does have a royal family,” Erasa squealed in excitement.

“They might be someone that I’ve met, like Princess Mioku from Gurumes?” Videl asked. She had clashed with that princess on a few occasions.

“Mioku is a princess?” Gohan said, “She hates me because I accidentally pushed her down a set of stairs and broke her arm when I was three.”

“You met Princess Mioku when you were three?” Erasa said with excitement, “is she the one that lives in that Castle where your grandfather lives?”

“No, her grandfather and my grandfather are friends,” Gohan answered with the first thing that came to his mind. “Let talk about something else, like Cell.”

Videl’s watch beeped. “Duty calls.” She sighed.

“I should head out. School is over for the day, and my mum worries when I come home late. Enjoy your party on Wednesday,” Gohan said, waving to his friends. Talking about what they had gone through with Cell had helped.

Slide after slide was displayed on the projector of Goku as a baby with Grandpa Gohan, a lot of pictures of Bulma and Goku, Goku and Chi Chi.

They were up to slides of Gohan as a baby when Goten spoke. “I wish that there were pictures of me as a baby with daddy.”

“I know that he would love to be in photos with you,” Bulma said. She was hoping that Chi Chi and Gohan would add more, but they were both non-responsive.

It was better than previous years when Gohan seemed almost suicidal with his depression and blaming himself over his father’s death. This year was more thoughtful and quiet. Maybe school was doing good for him.

Chi Chi was angry at Goku for not coming back. Bulma feared that if Goku stayed dead too much longer, he would lose Chi Chi forever. Chi Chi loved Goku to death, but Bulma occasionally got the feeling that Chi Chi was ready to move on.

There was also no destroyed TV’s this year which was another plus though she had noticed that there were no TV’s around to destroy. Maybe they had already been destroyed or removed beforehand.

“Gohan, how’s school?” Bulma asked, trying to bring up some light chitchat.

“It’s good,” Gohan answered, trying to put on a happy face in front of his mother. “I almost let it slip yesterday that Grandpa is the Ox King.”

Bulma smiled, glad that Gohan was now talking.

“Is that a bad thing?” Bulma asked.

“Probably not. I’m just want to be normal.” Gohan replied.

Gohan looked up as Goten started laughing. “Big brother, your hair looks funny in that picture.”

“Our trip to Namek,” Bulma said, wondering how Chi Chi ever managed to get Gohan’s hair like that.

“I wonder how all the Namekian’s are?” Gohan asked, forgetting why they were watching slides in the first place.

“My poor baby getting sent to space like that.” Chi Chi said, in a lighter mood than she’d been in for previous anniversaries.

“I enjoyed space. I learnt so much that you can’t learn from a textbook.” Gohan answered. His mum’s eyes sparkle at the mention of education.

“I want to go to space,” Goten whined.

“I want to go as well,” Trunks said enthusiastically. “Can we go to space, please?”

“You’re too young to go to space,” Chi Chi answered sternly.

“I agree,” Bulma said, “and space is a dangerous place.” Bulma smiled, they were all going to be alright.

Gohan just ignored the two adults hoping that they wouldn’t remember that he was younger then the boys were now when he went to space. Though he was a lot more mature than his brother and young friend when he was a child.

Gohan was in a happy mood when he returned to school the next day. Most of the day had been spent talking about old times and remembering the good times that they all had together. Krillen and Maron had come by in the afternoon, and it was nice seeing the two adults that he was closest to, that had always been a part of his childhood. Gohan watched as Videl skipped into the classroom, something that he had never seen before. He didn’t take her as the type of person to skip, that was more Erasa’s sort of thing.

“You seem happy today,” Gohan said, as the teen hero sat down.

“My dad spent most of the day with me,” Videl said happily. “He was away in the morning for some ceremony but was back before lunch. I got to spend the whole time with dad and grandma.”

That’s great about your dad spending time with you.” Gohan answered with a smile. “I spent the whole day with mum and my brother Goten and a couple of close family friends.”

Gohan and Videl both watched as the two blonds entered the classroom.

“Are you two okay?” Gohan asked, wondering if they should even be at school.

“They’re fine, both have hangover’s,” Videl answered, glad that she didn’t go to the party. She’d probably have to arrest her friends if she saw what they had been up to.

“Isn’t Erasa underage?” Gohan whispered. Videl nodded, and Erasa groaned.

“Why can’t the public holiday be on a Friday?” Sharpener complained. “I want to sleep.”

Gohan watched the reactions of several students as the teacher came in and as she made slightly more noise than usual. He turned to see Videl smile at each reaction from the students. He wondered where they would all be a year from now and how the next anniversary of the Cell Games and his father’s death would go. A part of him hoping that next year his dad would finally be in his life again.

Also posted at:

• Fanfiction.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7381123/1/Depresaversary
• Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24553321
• Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/898469852-depresaversary

Fandom: Dragon Ball Z Characters: Gohan, Videl, Chi Chi, Ox King

Gohan was sitting in his classroom at school. It was the second lesson of the day, yet the teenager couldn’t concentrate on the class. He couldn’t even sleep through class like he normally did. He sat looking out the window, worried for his grandfather. The Ox King had caught the flu the week before and was having trouble shaking his illness. While he was sick, he’d been staying with the Son family instead of in his castle. Gohan could see that his mother was concerned for her father. It was unlike his grandfather to be sick more than a few days. Both he and his mother were worried while Goten was oblivious. The youngest member of the Son family was excited to have his grandfather staying with them even if he was not well.

A distinct beep was heard from the watch of the girl sitting next to Gohan. Videl stood already heading out of the classroom. The beep was an alert for a crime happening somewhere in the city that Videl would be assisting with. Happy for the distraction from his thoughts of his grandfather, he watched as the junior cop ran into one of the office ladies when she came through the door. The office lady fell to the floor.

“I’m sorry, Miss Demetrio,” Videl apologised, helping the young woman up.

“That’s quite alright, you may be able to help you … I mean me,” she said slightly dazed from not only being barrelled over by Videl but from her previous phone call. The phone call which had brought her to the classroom. “Is Mr Gohan Son here?”

“He is; up the back,” Videl pointed to Gohan who was gathering up his books.

“Would you like to see Gohan?” the teacher asked, she was used to having her classes interrupted with Videl’s police work. The sooner the disruption was taken care of, the sooner she could return to teaching.

“I would,” Miss Demetrio answered.

Gohan walked down slowly to the front of the class and out into the hallway with the office lady. He had a feeling that he wouldn’t be coming back for the remainder of the classes. He had already planned to follow Videl as Saiyaman, something that no longer was in his plans if she told him what he already suspected.

Videls curiosity got the best of her. Instead of rushing out for police work, she stayed standing outside the classroom hoping that whatever she’d been called to wasn’t urgent. Gohan and Miss Demetrio either didn’t notice she was there or if they did notice, they didn’t care.

“Gohan,” Miss Demetrio said in a quiet voice of concern. “We had a call from your mother …”

Gohan didn’t let her finish what she was going to say. “Grandpa, did she say if he’s alright?” Gohan panicked. That would be the only reason that his mother would call the school, right? Actually, there were several things but considering his grandfather’s current health that was the most likely.

“No he’s not. Your mother has asked that you come home as soon as possible,” she said, confirming Gohan’s fears.

“Gohan, do you need a lift home?” Videl asked.

“No thank you Videl, I’ll be able to get home on my own,” Gohan managed to squeak out. 

“No Gohan, I insist, you shouldn’t be driving while you are this distressed. I’ve never seen you like this before.

He knew that she meant well, but he would get home quicker on his own.

“Thank you for your kind offer,” he bowed to her and then was gone before she had a chance to follow him. 

Gohan tried to calm himself down. He had to be strong for his mother when he got home since she would only call him if things were bad. He looked down at the city below him noticing fire rising up from a building, knowing that had to be the job Videl just got called out for. Without a second thought, Gohan activated his watch. He had forgotten to activate it before he left the school. Now in costume he flew down to the city below and into the burning fire. 

He could sense five ki’s from the building all growing weaker. He first flew into the room with the strongest two ki’s and found a little girl hugging a dog and crying. Gently the young superhero picked up the dog and his young master. He threw his cape around over the pair to help protect them from the smoke. He flew to the next room where he could sense another ki; this one belonged to a bird that looked very close to death. Nursing the dog and the girl in one arm he ripped open the cage with his free hand and removed the bird. “Can you look after him for me?” He asked the girl who gently took him in her hands. With a task to do she stopped crying.

He made his way to the next floor, he could sense a ki that seemed to be making its way towards the balcony. Gohan watched as a cat jumped out the window and without thinking jumped after it. The cat, however, was fine and landed on all fours. Safely on the ground, the cat ran straight to a frantic man who calmed down once the cat was in his arms.

Since he was already out of the building, Gohan flew to the ground. He unwrapped his cape to reveal the girl and her dog.

“My baby!” a lady yelled. Gohan gave the young girl over to her mother. She reminded him of his own mother.

“And our dog as well.” The girl’s father smiled, taking the canine from him.

“Thank you for looking after the bird for me. You were really brave,” he said. Taking the bird back.

“Thank you, Mister, you’re my hero,” the girl said, kissing him on the cheek.

The parents thanked him multiple times before he was able to free himself to find the birds owner.

“Does anyone own a bird?” Gohan asked, holding the bird out gently with his free hand.

“Peaty.” A girl slightly older than Gohan shouted. “I can believe that you saved him.”

“I’m not sure if I saved him miss, there was a lot of smoke and birds aren’t as hardy as other animals.” Seeing the bird close to death saddened the young hero.

“Whether Peaty lives through this or not, I thank you Saiyaman; for attempting to save him no matter how small he is,” the girl said through happy tears, giving Gohan a peck on the cheek.

Everyone cheered as a firefighter came out with a young man, sensing the building again Gohan could tell that there was nothing else living in there, be it human or pets.

“Is that everyone, officer?” Gohan asked in his superhero voice. If there were deceased in the building, he would help recover them for the families sake.

“We believe so Saiyaman,” the officer replied. “Everyone who lives here is now accounted for.”

“In that case, I’ll be off.” He flew into the distance and heard shouted requests for him to help put out the blaze and help with the clean up afterwards. Typically he would help, today he didn’t have time. He’d already wasted too much as it was. He had to get home as soon as possible.

Videl arrived just as some girl kissed Saiyaman on the cheek. He had outdone her again! Not only did he arrive first; he saved a little girl as well as a dozen animals, at least, that was how the witnesses were reporting it. Saiyaman had the better deal when it came to crime fighting. 

1. He had powers.
2. He didn’t seem to get hurt often.
3. And most importantly, he didn’t have the paperwork that went with it like she did.

Hoping the cops hadn’t noticed her, Videl made her way back to school. There was no way that she was going to do paperwork without doing the real work first. She told the chief that Saiyaman had got there first and that she was returning to school.

“Videl, do you know where Gohan is? He generally comes back when you do.” The blond girl asked when after ten minutes Gohan still hadn’t returned.

“He went home after he spoke to the office lady. His grandfathers sick, and he was asked by his mother to come home as soon as possible,” Videl explained.

“I hope his grandpa is okay,” Erasa stated sincerely.

Videls thoughts were back on Gohan, she hoped as well that her friend would be okay. She really should have insisted on going with him. She didn’t have his contact phone number to call to make sure he got home safely. She could not ask Erasa for his number, she’d make assumptions that simply were not true.

Gohan didn’t bother with going through the front door. He flew straight into the window on the second floor that his grandfather had been staying in. He usually was scolded for flying through windows, but not this time. His mother was crying. His grandfather, he couldn’t sense his grandfather’s ki, the older man was to still for the Gohan’s liking.

 “Grandpa, no he’s … this isn’t possible, he only had the flu,” Gohan stuttered. Taking his grandfather’s hand, feeling that is was already cold.

“Gohan, my baby. You’re home at last.” Chi Chi screamed and grabbed her oldest son in a bear hug. “My daddy’s gone, and there was nothing I could do! It’s all my fault! I should have taken him to a hospital.” She sobbed into his shoulder, and Gohan cried with her, blaming himself just as much as his mother blamed herself. They should have done more. He had to remind himself that a little girl, her dog and maybe Peaty the bird were still alive because he did go to school. His grandfather would have put their lives ahead of his own.

It was hours later, and everyone in the Son family had red puffy eyes and streaks of tears down their face. Gohan was up in his room looking out the window, holding a textbook which he’d tried to use to distract himself; which had only succeeded in making the book soggy with his tears. Gohan’s mobile phone rung, in a zombie-like mode he picked up the ringing device.

“Gohan, is your grandpa alright?” The voice on the other end of the phone asked.

“Videl?” Gohan managed to whisper out. He was amazed at how croaky his voice sounded when he said her name.

“Yes, it’s Videl. I got your phone number from the student directory. Did you get home safely? Is everything alright with your grandpa?

“He’s gone, I was too late. He was already gone when I got back. I should have been faster travelling home. No, I shouldn’t have gone to school today. Then I would’ve been able to spend a few more moments with him.” He continued rambling on about what he should have done differently.

Videl was not sure what she should be doing, Gohan was crying on the other end of the phone. She’d never heard him cry before and worse, it sounded like his grandfather died before he was able to get home. Her kind classmate was blaming himself for not getting there in time to not finding a cure or realising that he was that sick. She didn’t know what to do so she just sat there listening while Gohan got it all of his chest.

“I’m sorry about your grandpa. I’ll let Erasa and Sharpener know at school tomorrow if that’s okay with you.”

“Sure Videl, thanks for listening.” Gohan managed a smile as he hung up the phone. He felt a lot better after talking to Videl, he turned to see his little brother standing at the door.

“Gohan, can I sleep with you tonight?” The younger boy asked, his eyes red, tears and snot streaking down his face.

“Sure,” Gohan smiled as his brother ran and gave him a hug and started sobbing.

“Mummy said that we can’t use the Dragon Balls to wish grandpa back.” The young boy cried, looking at him with so much hope. He wished that he could tell his little brother their mum was wrong.

“No, we can’t. Grandpa died of natural causes, he can’t come back.” It hurt for Gohan to say that. They couldn’t change anything.

“But why can’t the dragon bring back people that die of natural causes?” Goten cried. “I want my grandpa!”

Gohan just held his brother till he cried himself to sleep, before leaving the younger boy curled up on his bed. Gohan made his way downstairs, a capsule on the table which contained his grandfather’s corpse.

“Gohan, are you hungry?” Chi Chi asked her oldest as he stood in the doorway.

“Not really,” Gohan replied, making a move to sit next to his mother. “What happens now?”

His mother knew what he meant without asking the full question.

“I’m going to have to return to the Ox Kingdom and let everyone know what happened.” Chi Chi answered. “Someone is going to have to take over as ruler of the Ox Kingdom.”

“Who was next in line for the throne?” Gohan asked. He really didn’t know if the Kingdom followed a lineage of eldest to eldest or if it followed male succession. Either way, he or his mother would end up ruling the country.

“I was supposed to be next in line, I stood down from my responsibilities a long time ago, when I had you. I’m not sure if I’m still in line for the throne or if you are.” Chi Chi responded.

Why hadn’t he taken the time to learn more about his grandfather’s family? He knew that one day he would be King. Why hadn’t he prepared? He prepared for everything else. Preparing to be King would have been preparing for his grandfather’s death and possibly the death of his mother, depending on how succession went. Something he hated thinking about. Something that had now caught him off guard.

Bulma had chosen Gohan’s costume well for Saiyaman. It was a tradition for the Ox family to wear a costume of some sort and a helmet. His mother was wearing a helmet which looked like it had a fin on top, a white cape with a purple dress. Looking at older photos of his mother, he was glad that she was wearing a dress since it seemed like when she was younger, she wore a bikini with the cape and helmet instead.

“So we just go out there and announce to the world that grandpa is dead?” Gohan managed to squeak out. He didn’t want to do this. He didn’t want to tell the world that his grandfather was dead. He would be revealing his identity as well, tying Saiyaman to the Ox Kingdom and from there, it was not hard to work out that Saiyaman and Gohan were the same person.

“Pretty much,” Chi Chi answered fussing over her sons Saiyaman costume. Wiping away imaginary dust and fluff. She’s already removed everything that was legitimately on his costume over an hour ago.

“Princess Chi Chi, may I interrupt?” A butler by the name of Renji asked. He had worked for the family for many years.

“Of course,” Chi Chi replied. His mother stopped fussing over his costume, turning to face Renji.

“This is Miss Videl Satan. She has been hired by the Palace for your protection.” Renji introduced the last girl Gohan expected to be at his grandfather’s house.

Videl couldn’t believe it, she gets a job to protect the Ox Kings family and who does she find already there Saiyaman! She didn’t want this job if it required working alongside Saiyaman to protect the royal family.

“I’m quite capable of looking after myself. I don’t need this child looking after me!” Chi Chi snapped.

“Who are you calling a child, old lady!” Videl snapped back, covering her mouth hastily. She couldn’t believe that she had just called the Ox Princess, an old lady. That was no way to talk to clients she had been hired to protect, even if they were rude.

“What about your son?” Renji asked he didn’t seem to keep up with the media so wasn’t aware the Ox Prince was also known as Saiyaman to the public.

“I think I can look after myself,” Gohan replied. Not believing that Renji had suggested Videl, the girl he was always rescuing from danger should be protecting him.

“You’re the Ox Prince?” Videl was in shock. The young Ox Prince was nervous because he knew it wouldn’t be long until everyone found out that Gohan Son, Saiyaman and the Ox Prince were, all the same, person. Heck, he didn’t even know he was known in the Kingdom as the Ox Prince until recently. “Saiyaman is the Ox Prince?”

“Y-ye-es,” Gohan replied. He knew that Videl would work it out very soon who he really was especially since he hadn’t used his superhero voice once since she had been there. “Mum, this is Videl-“ he didn’t get to finish what he was going to say.

“Renji, may you please leave now. Miss Videl can stay,” Chi Chi said, sounding just a little bit sinister. Chi Chi turned her attention to Videl once Renji was gone. “Now who are you, and why do you want to protect us?” 

“Because the police from your Kingdom suspect foul play with your father’s death and want to protect you from whoever hurt your father. Plus it’s my job to protect people. Do you really not know who I am?” Videl replied.

“My father died of natural causes. There was no foul play involved at all. I was with him when he passed away.” Chi Chi replied with a cold tone. “And I don’t believe that the police would send a little girl to protect people.”

“Little Girl! Look, Ox Princess, I am not a little girl. You should know who I am. Everybody else does,” Videl snapped.

“Should I?” Chi Chi snapped. 

“Mum, this is Videl, who I go to school with. She is Mr Hercule Satans daughter.” Gohan said before the arguing could continue. He was about to reveal his real identity in a few minutes to the whole world, so he thought he may as well get Videl out the way now since she was already here. Besides, she might come out onto the balcony when the announcement was being made and who knows what she would do. The thing he did know was, she would be angry if he didn’t tell her himself.

Videl stood in shock, Saiyaman just said that he went to school with her. But she still had no idea who he could possibly be. Unless he was the boy at school whose, grandfather had died that week. Like the Ox King, had died this week. That didn’t make sense there was no way that Saiyaman could be-

“Gohan?” Videl stuttered.

Saiyaman just nodded his head.

A maid had entered the room while everyone was standing in silence. “Princess Chi Chi, Master Gohan, the press conference is about to start.”

The maid also confirming that Gohan was, in fact, Saiyaman and the Ox Prince which made Gohan even more glad that he’d chosen to speak up when he did.

“Thank you, Miruku,” Chi Chi replied.

Videl stood in silence as she watched Chi Chi fuss over Saiyaman, Gohan again.

“Now Gohan, do you remember what you have to say?” Chi Chi asked her son in a motherly tone.

“I do,” Gohan gulped, he hated the idea of public speaking.

“Videl, can you make sure no one comes through this door?” Gohan asked he knew that if he didn’t say anything, his mother would kick her out and then he would have to deal with an annoyed Videl next time he spoke to her. “Thank you for listening,” he said so his mother couldn’t hear.

“May I introduce Princess Chi Chi and her son Prince Gohan.” The spokesperson for the Palace said as Gohan and Chi Chi walked onto the balcony.

A lot of gasps were heard. Not many people were aware of the fact that Princess Chi Chi son was already a grown man and the superhero Saiyaman. This had many wondering how she had managed to keep her eldest son a secret. They were also wondering why the connection between Saiyaman and the Ox Kingdom wasn’t made sooner within the Kingdom.

Sitting in front of a TV in Satan City where Erasa and Sharpener whom Gohan went to school with. They were only watching the broadcast because they knew that Videl had been sent to protect the royal family.

“There is no way that could be nerd boy? Is there?” Sharpener asked.

“I always joked that he was a prince charming and Saiyaman. I never thought I was correct. Who would’ve thought our nerdy little friend was a hero and a prince.” Erasa replied. “Do you think he will still go to school with us? Do you think he will marry me? I always wanted to be a princess and live in a castle. I liked him before I knew he was a prince. Do you think he will let us visit the castle?”

Sharpener shrugged.

“Poor kid, he never liked publicity,” Yamcha stated to his friends from his years of playing baseball. 

“Yamcha, is Chi Chi, the bossy little princess girl who married Goku?” A blue haired woman by the name of Launch asked him.

“She is,” Yamcha replied.

“You knew the Ox Princess?” One of the members of his old team asked him. 

“I actually asked her to marry me,” Yamcha laughed at the memory. He had thought that Chi Chi was going to kill him, so he had asked her to marry him. “Back in the day when I was still a Desert Bandit.”

The other’s started laughing as he told the story of how he’d met Chi Chi.

Gohan looked at the crowd of people and with his Saiyan hearing could make out the occasional comment about the Ox Prince being Saiyaman and other whispers wondering where the Ox King was.

Gohan took a deep breath before he started his announcement. “I Son Gohan, prince of the Ox Kingdom and my mother Princess Chi Chi, are here today to inform you that two o’clock Wednesday afternoon my Grandfather the Ox King, passed away due to illness.” Gohan paused as he let his words sink in for the crowd. It seemed surreal; his mother had broken down crying, which was why she was unable to give the speech herself. Every time she practised, she would break down in tears. Goten was currently at Capsule Corporation with Bulma and Trunks watching the broadcast on TV. 

After Gohan had finished speaking the spokesperson from the Palace informed the public that the coronation of the new ruler would take place after soon after the public funeral. The spokesperson never announced who the new ruler was going to be. They were currently working out who would take over from the Ox King due to Chi Chi having stepped down years before. 

“Are my mum and big brother really a princess and a prince?” Goten asked.

Bulma looked away from the broadcast. “They are indeed, and you’re a prince as well.”

“How come I didn’t know?” Goten asked.

“Your big brother didn’t know when he was your age. You mum told him when he was a teenager,” Bulma answered. “You’re mum wanted you and Gohan to have lives as normal as possible which didn’t happen as she planned for.”

Gohan collapsed once he was back inside and away from the media and broke down in a fresh stream of tears. His grandfather was indeed gone. It hadn’t felt real before, but it felt real now. He was never going to see his grandfather in this life again.

“Do you need me to get you anything?” Videl asked Chi Chi and Gohan.

Gohan shook his head no while his mother requested a glass of water.

It had been decided that Gohan would be the one that would take over from his grandfather and he would need to start preparing for his coronation and his duties once he became King. All the preparation had to be done around school since Chi Chi wasn’t going to let him leave.

“You’re going to need your high school diploma.” Chi Chi argued with her son.

“But mum, all the kids at school are going to pay attention to me,” Gohan complained. “Can’t you homeschool me again?” Gohan begged.

“No, you are going to high school whether you like it or not mister,” Chi Chi scolded her son.

Gohan grumbled about the fact that he would still have to go to school. Even though he loved learning new things, he hated going to school. It was too easy and boring, and he wasn’t learning anything new.

He smiled, him fighting with him mum without either one of them breaking down into tears felt so normal and relaxing. His mother took that smile as defeat, and maybe it was.

He got stares when he did return back to school a week later. Everyone was whispering about what they’d seen on TV. He walked to the back of the classroom, where Sharpener and Erasa were already sitting. He was most nervous about how his friends were going to react.

“Hi Gohan,” Erasa greeted him with her cheery voice and clung to his arm like normal. Sharpener’s greeting was also typical. “We saw the broadcast on TV. We’re sorry about your grandpa. Are you alright?”

“Thank you. I will be,” he replied, taking his seat next to his friends.

He was happy that his friends were still treating him the same as before. Videl was treating him slightly different than before. That was more to do with she didn’t know how to deal with knowing his Saiyaman identity and struggling with seeing Saiyaman and Gohan as one person since she had dealt with Saiyaman as a separate person for so long. He was still expecting an eventual grilling from her once things had settled down, and his grandfather’s death wasn’t so fresh.

Everyone else in the class treated him very differently. Worst of all, even the teacher was different around him. He had people that had never given him the time of day before trying to suck up to him. Thankfully, Sharpener and Erasa both had years of experience with Videl that they were able to weed out those people who meant him harm. He was grateful for his three friends.

“So how come you never told us you were a prince.” Erasa playfully asked him during the lunch break.

“Yeah, it would’ve made Videl less suspicious if she knew you also came from a famous background.” Sharpener laughed.

“I didn’t know I was a prince until the other day,” he replied sadly. “When I was a kid, I thought my grandfathers’ title was just a martial arts fighting name. When I realised he was a real king, even though I knew one day I would be King, it never registered that I am a prince.”

Sharpener laughed hard. “So oblivious. Didn’t you read the history books for class? Your grandfathers mentioned several times. Your mothers even mentioned directly as the Ox Princess.”

They all turned when they were blinded by a flash. Videl was the first one to react, pulling a camera out of the photographs hand and smashing the camera to the ground.

“You aren’t allowed on school property,” The Satan heiress yelled.

“We’re not allowed on school property to take photos of you, there is nothing against us taking photos of young Prince Gohan.”

“You’ll find that my mother’s rather strict when it comes to taking photos of me without permission,” Gohan told the photographer. This was why he didn’t want the credit from the Cell Games. He hated publicity as did his mother.

Unfortunately, it was the first of many incidents with the media. They only got more cunning the closer the funeral and coronation came. 

The private funeral was held with close friends, family and staff of the Palace. Gohan looked around at the people he knew all his life. The people who truly knew his grandfather and not just his title. He squeezed his mother’s hand as she gave the eulogy. His mother and grandfather have always been close, they had only grown closer after her own mother, had passed away when she was a young child. Chi Chi cried and sobbed during the whole eulogy, everyone was silent and understanding at her tears. Everyone here knew how much losing her father meant to Chi Chi, it meant more to her than losing his dad, Goku, which was saying something considering how fiercely Chi Chi loved her husband.

Once his mother had finished her eulogy, friends and family came up to them speaking kind words. Goten and the other children looking lost. This was the first time any of them had been faced with actual irreversible death.

“Gohan, your grandfather, was a great man and king,” Krillen told him. “He lost his way for a while, but found it again and was a better person as a result. I know you will make him proud, that you will be a King that the people will look up to, that the Kingdom will continue to prosper under your rule. Besides you’re the smartest strongest kid I know.”

“Thank you, Krillen.” Gohan smiled. His father’s friend always knew how to make him smile.

“Now you just need to find the perfect woman to be your Queen.” Krillen teased.

Gohan sighed, and Chi Chi perked up at the mention of a wife for her son.

“I already have someone in mind.” Chi Chi grinned. Telling everyone about the boisterous girl the police chief from the city had sent out to ‘protect’ them. And Bulma had a lot to add since she’d seen the news reports with himself and Videl saving the city. Gohan groaned as the teasing started, but managed a smile seeing how happy his mother was. They’d always miss his grandfather, but he wouldn’t want them to mourn him forever.

He looked up at the clouds. “I’ll make you proud grandpa, after all, this is a job I was born to do.”

Also posted at:

• Fanfiction.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11773435/1/Born-to-Be-King
• Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24436405
• Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/894258449-born-to-be-king