When a Hero Disappears

The awakening (part 2)

Chapter 12: The awakening (part 2)

"Time to wake up," Bulma walked to the window and drew back the curtains. Sunlight lit up the room much to the chagrin of the Saiyan hybrid. He let out a moan of protest as he buried his face between his pillow and something satisfyingly warm.

"I'm tired, please, can we do this later?" his voice was muffled.

"We both know that you won't feel like it then either. Come on Gohan, at least let go of Videl, she has to go to school."

"What has Videl got to do with it?" he raised his head in confusion and looked at his godmother with tired eyes. Bulma answered the boy only by pointing back at his bed with a smug grin on her face. He looked at what she was pointing at, right at the back of said girl's head. She held her hands in front of her face to hide her embarrassment. Reflexively, he let go of the small of her waist, which he had apparently held on to while fast asleep, and distanced himself from her. His face was bright red when he realized he'd just snuggled up against her and had buried his face into the back of her neck.

"I guess the movie was tiresome?" Bulma couldn't help but smile. When she went to check on Gohan last night, she found the two in a deep sleep. She decided to let them be, as they both could use their rest. Bulma had turned off the TV on which the movie was still running and had thrown a blanket over them so they wouldn't be awakened by the cold of the night. But now they had to get on with the order of the day. "I've prepared some sets of my old clothes for you, Videl, so you don't have to go to school in the clothes you slept in. I think all of them are suitable for fighting crime, so pick the one you like. They're in the bathroom. After you have freshened up, you'll be taken to Satan City."

Videl sat up straight, still quite red with embarrassment. "Thank you, but I won't be at school on time, even if I hurry. So don't bother."

"Nonsense. If I remember correctly, school starts in about an hour, so you'll have plenty of time. My husband will take you to your school."

"Wait, not Vegeta!" Gohan exclaimed. "Can't Yamcha bring her?"

"Yamcha is already in Satan City. And I think we've asked enough of him, don't you think?"

"How on Earth did you manage to get Vegeta to help in the first place?"

"Well, he's in a really good mood lately," Bulma obviously didn't want to engage the subject. "Now take off your shirt, I need to run some tests."

Taking that as her cue to leave, Videl went to the bathroom door that was attached to Gohan's bedroom. She couldn't help but glance at Gohan one last time before going in. The boy looked very ill: his natural color had disappeared from his face and his locomotion had deteriorated greatly. But damn, what a great body he had. With a light blush, she stepped into the bathroom, giving Gohan his privacy while Bulma checked his vitals.

Gohan's bathroom was very basic, with only the necessary items provided. Videl turned on the shower. Her clothes did indeed smell a bit, so she was actually glad that Bulma had some spare clothes she could borrow. After she had undressed herself, she took a quick shower, using the bar of soap present. She still couldn't understand how there was enough time to get to school when her school was so far away. She expected Bulma to have some kind of very fast means of transportation that wasn't yet on the market.

After drying off from her shower, Videl walked over to the sets of clothing Bulma had prepared for her. She could tell the scientist had worn them in her early days, and from the looks of it, she was quite adventurous. She chose the one she would feel most comfortable in if she had to fight crime. They were olive drab trousers with a cropped right leg, accompanied with a basic white T-shirt, matching elbow pads, a pair of Nax boots with built-in shin guards, and a green pouch strapped to the left thigh. Videl chose to keep on her own fingerless gloves and abandoned the shoulder pad as it had Bulma's name on it. That might be a bit too much for school anyways. She looked in the mirror and although the clothes were a little too form-fitting for her liking, she was quite pleased with the way it looked on her. She decided to put her hairbands in later so her hair could dry first.