Over the next few days, Gohan spent the majority of his time settling into his six-to-seven hour a day attendance at high school, which had been cut and pasted right into his schedule. On first blush this seemed like a bit of an issue, where the demi-Saiyan wouldn't be able to do anything he would consider worthwhile or valuable. But as it turns out, him going to Orange Star High not only introduced a great deal more diversity into his day-to-day activities, it also gave him the shot at a normal life he'd always dreamed about. To put it in simple words, his first week was terrific.
In his hours spent during and outside of class, the demi-Saiyan's schedule bounced from doing subjects he already knew all about to meeting whole groups of new and interesting faces. Like at the start of his second day for example, the instant he walked in through the front gates of the campus, he was immediately set upon by a swath of the institute's numerous club presidents. Representing the track and field and martial arts clubs respectively, the group of elected officials attempted to get the newcomer to join their organizations, saying that he would 'be a big win for them' during the competition dates and that he had 'a ton of potential'. However, the boy politely declined each and every one of them, and they accepted his apologies with grace and form.
While a couple of them did give him a couple of days to think about it, the young warrior already had his heart set.
Throughout the rest of that day, Gohan used his time exploring the school as thoroughly as possible, getting a bead on his timetable, engaging in hushed conversations with his friends, and also getting used to the hundreds of eyes he could feel drilling into the back of his head and the whispers that came with them. As it turned out, word of his stellar and odd demonstrations at the various student organizations the other day had managed to filter out from their respective fields and across the network known all around as the gossip chain. Erasa, being a major player in that area, said to the young hero that his performances were a massive hit and that he'd become the hottest thing among the school's new arrivals.
As flattered as Gohan was to learn about this, a part of him was still a little bit ashamed and embarrassed at himself for allowing his various 'talents' to get out of hand. Despite the fact that he'd practically made a side-show of himself that entire afternoon, a lot of the kids seemed to think it was fantastic, and he was receiving a tidal wave of attention because of it. That's not even counting the fact that a lot of people were now hearing rumors about how he and Videl were officially an item.
Whether this was a good thing or not he would find out later. However, based on what Sharpener told him afterwards, after seeing how strong the young man was and who he was best friends with, he concluded that he wouldn't be having any problems with bullies. After a lot of the kids saw the ridiculous stunts he pulled, he'd be surprised if anyone tried anything to get on Gohan's bad side.
Videl had seen her boyfriend get mad before and she could say with absolute certainty that it never ended well for the antagonists… ever.
Aside from all the whispering and staring, as well as having a lot of the girls he came into close contact with ogling him, the days following were awesome for the half-Saiyan. While the bonds between him, Videl, Erasa, Lime and Touya grew that much stronger, Gohan also found a friend in Sharpener and a couple more in the students around the school. Though the blonde jock had come off as a rogue and a really cocky sort of guy, Gohan grew to like and respect the sports star. He was able to learn a lot from him, particularly about how he interacted with a lot of the other blokes around the campus and with Touya. The banter they shared often involved a lot of insults, blatant expressions of innuendos and teasing, but at other times they were also able to share genuine conversations with one another.
Though they acted a lot more reserved around the girl members of their group, the two boys really let each other have it when outside of their circle. The young Saiyan took this as typical male, human teen interactions and something that friends often did with one another to keep the bonds between them strong. It sure worked well between the rowdy pair and, despite all of it, no feelings were hurt or genuine insults were made. It was really great.
Time spent in class was also an interesting experience. The primary status quo shared across the broader range of the institute was that everyone was to remain silent during lectures and kept busy during work minutes. For the most part, the students respected this code of practice and behaved smartly all throughout the lessons. But every once in a while this chain was broken, with the teachers often having to confront a couple of the students for their behavior. This was either in the capacity of restoring order to the classroom by administering swift discipline or sharing banter with the students during discussion periods. This fluctuated between teachers and Gohan observed these various interactions with both fascination and, at often times, amusement.
But the one other thing he found out during class time was, because of the structure some of the lecture theatres had, he was able to share whispered conversations with the kids next to him. Sometimes it was Erasa and Videl, and sometimes it was Sharpener and Touya. Either way, whenever the teacher was going through a longwinded presentation or the class was recording notes or doing work during study period, Gohan always found time to chat with the people next to him.
A couple of times they were caught, but none of them were penalized for it in the slightest. They only received warnings.
Putting aside the homework, the lectures, and the whispers, the young Saiyan's first week at school was great. At the end of every day he would hang out with his group, say farewell, head home, and give his family a brief retelling of what'd happened to him. And every time he hit the hay he would then think about what else would be in store for him tomorrow before nodding off.
XXX
(The following Monday)
The sound of the bell ringing throughout the school signaled the start of another exciting day and, as the students in Gohan's class slowly ambled to their seats, one particular person had decided to sprint up to his.
Slamming his books down on the table in front of him, a heavily panting Touya nearly collapsed into his seat while the rest of his peers slid into theirs. Swallowing a few times between breaths, the brown haired sweaty boy then looked up when he heard a chuckle next to him and saw Sharpener and the rest of his friends grinning smugly in his direction. Even Gohan, who had a text book opened up in front of him, was looking across at the teenager in the button-up shirt and shorts staring back at them.
After catching his breath, the young athlete gave them all the business, "What?"
"Barely made it again," Sharpener commented in a sing-song voice, which was hilarious to hear coming from the tone-deaf sports player, "And with only two seconds to spare."
"Why not give us some variety and actually be late for a change, Touya-kun?" Erasa asked while grinning down the row towards the newcomer.
"That shouldn't be too difficult," the blonde jock continued, looking across at Videl and the others. "On top of doing his hair and making it as messily perfect as possible, perhaps he should start doing his nails as well. It'd do wonders for him at his next cheerleading practice or whatever sport he's doing now."
Still breathing hard, Touya glared, "Fuck… (pant)… (pant)… you…" Straightening up from his desk with a groan, the man then wiped the sweat from his brow and directed his ire on his fellow battle ball teammate. The instant he did, a sly look quickly spread across his face. "And why are you so early today, Sharpener? Forget to jerk yourself off this morning?"
The jock sitting next to him frowned at the question. When Touya started snickering, the jock, sprouting a smile of his own, reached over and attempted to punch the brat in the arm, leading to a playful fist fight in the row when the blonde threw a few jabs and his friend parried them easily.
"Ha-ha. Very funny," Sharpener exclaimed, laughing along with his classmate for a few more shots. This led to Videl shaking her head at the duo and Gohan sharing a grin with Erasa.
However, when the demi-Saiyan's eyes met the bubbly girl's captivating blue ones, he suddenly saw her stiffen and look away awkwardly, which had him pause in confusion.
Before his momentary balk could linger on into question, the class suddenly stirred when the sliding doors making up the entrance to the room opened and a teacher ambled into their midst. Her sudden appearance prompted all of the kids who were still standing to return to their chairs, cutting Sharpener and Touya's horseplay short and ushering the late arrival into his seat. By the time everyone was down, the lecturer was already by the desk with her books down and a stack of papers in her hand.
"Looks like you made it with extra time to spare," Videl whispered towards her bespectacled classmate sitting on the other side of Sharpener. "Lucky you…"
"You can say that again," the sporty kid exclaimed exhaustedly.
When the smartly dressed teacher, a woman with shoulder-length, silky brown hair, wearing a yellow summer dress and a green sweater, turned to face the class, she placed the papers and her hands in front of her and beamed warmly up at her students. "Good morning class. You probably don't recognize seeing me around the school, but I was told by the principal that you all knew that I would be coming in today." Her eyes twinkled with excitement when she looked upon the curious stairs of her children. "My name is Mio Hirasawa. Starting from right now, I'm going to be your new homeroom teacher. Since I just moved into the city last week, I've been unable to get acquainted with the institute until only a couple of days ago." She then bowed to the students when she saw that all of them had their eyes locked onto her. "I look forward to teaching all of you over the next year to come."
An approving murmur started up amongst the students, with the girls whispering how pretty this Mio lady was and the guys showing just as much interest in her good looks. Even the students up in Gohan's row viewed the lecturer with great interest and satisfaction. The demi-Saiyan in particular, upon setting his book aside, sensed a gentle and kind spirit emanating from the woman and beamed just as brightly as she did when her gaze panned over the class.
Of course, while the student body was initially clamoring with excitement at having a new instructor, their whispers and chatter were soon silenced when the woman raised her hand to address them once again.
She did so by holding up the stack of papers in her hand. "Now… as much as I would like to take the time to get to know each and every one of you, I'm afraid we're a little bit strapped for time. Would anyone like to take a guess as to why I was late for class this morning?" the incredibly innocent sounding educator asked with a giggle.
The sight of the papers being waved about in the air had a couple of the students closest to her station slump their shoulders.
"Not a pop quiz," a girl's voice moaned out.
Mio, eyes closed and a sweet smile in play, nodded her head affirmatively, "That's right." And with that announcement, the entire class, sans Gohan and a couple of the other more intellectually competent kids, shared a collectively groan of despair. "Since I'm new here and will be taking on both your math and literature classes, I feel that the best way I can get to know all of you in the shortest amount of time is through a quick diagnostic assessment. So… let's see how much all of you have learned so far."
With the help of some able bodied students from the front row, the teacher was able to disperse the documents throughout the classroom and come up with a collection of appropriate markers for all of them to complete the questions by. Setting a start time at eight fifty-five and an end time at nine thirty-five, the new instructor then took up position behind the desk and allowed the kids free reign over the quiz. As soon as the second hand ticked over, the sounds of papers being turned over along with pencils scribbling across them soon became the most dominant sound in the room, letting Mio know that all of the kids had thrown themselves right into their work.
The quiz went off to a flying start for a majority of the students. Videl and Touya plowed through it at a comfortable pace, showing where they currently sat in the pecking order. Scoring above the averages, these two go-getters had no problems with the questions whatsoever. Sharpener on the other hand, being the least bookish member of the group, was sitting at his desk with his elbow propped up and his cheek in his hand, staring at the sheet as if he were trying to solve a rubix cube in his mind.
Gohan, as expected, finished his in record time and went on to reading from the textbook next to him. When Mio came up to his row and saw that the group's star pupil had finished, she happily took the paper away from him, gave the boy a pleasant smile, and moved on.
Or at least she would've if she didn't stop over Erasa along the way. When the kindly instructor curiously looked over the girl's shoulder and down at her sheet, she saw the poor blonde was still stuck on question one and was just staring at it with the most hilariously baffled expression you'd ever see on her.
Don't get anything wrong by this one observation. Erasa was a bright girl with good instincts and good grades. Though she wasn't exactly a brain, she wasn't an idiot either. She actually did really well in class when she applied herself and excelled in many of the areas she was passionate about. But… this time didn't count.
In fact she was feeling pretty miserable right now.
Expressing sympathy for the girl, the teacher leaned over and smiled. "Ten minutes left," she whispered, before ambling on, earning a frown from said girl.
Recognizing his friend's plight, Gohan lowered his book, leaned over and beamed fondly. "I can help you out if you're having problems."
Glancing up at the boy with a start, the short haired girl blinked a couple of times when she saw the young man's kind look fixed intently upon her. Blushing slightly at his proximity and at first hesitant in regards to his offer, Erasa then allowed her lips to tug upwards and looked back at the teen in a shy manner. "C-Could you?"
The compassionate teen nodded, "Sure." Making extra certain the teacher wasn't looking in their direction the young warrior discreetly edged over and proceeded to offer his friend some support. All the while, the blonde haired girl sitting beside him didn't dare look the boy in the eye.
Over the course of the next few minutes, all Erasa did was smile, nod, and thank the demi-Saiyan quietly for every question he was able to help her out with, while at the same time maintain the narrow proximity between them. None of the other students in the class even noticed, all except for Videl who, after seeing Gohan point across her girlfriend's page and see her respond to his directions in kind, reasoned that her crush was simply helping her out as a gesture between friends.
Though it did draw a momentary curious blink from the tomboy, the situation didn't alarm her in the least, and so she quickly returned to her own work.
Almost instantly after the crime fighter did so, Erasa, her head held low and her eyes shifting nervously from Gohan's face to her page, smiled warmly before glancing up at him. "So it's official, huh?" the girl whispered, "You've joined the swimming club?"
Stopping for a moment, the boy smiled. "Yep. I handed in all of my paperwork this morning. You're now looking at the newest registered member of the school's swimming team."
His answer to her innocent inquiries put a grin on the teen's face. "Awesome. I'm really looking forward to seeing you in the pool, Gohan-kun." That was the response she verbally gave him. However, it wasn't her full reply, as the remark that she thought of afterwards reverberated through her mind like an echo in a corridor. "Not to mention what you look like in your swim suit."The image of the obviously athletically fit boy clad in only a pair of figure-hugging trunks put a deep shade of red on the girl's cheeks and had her squirming with excitement.
"Thanks." Unaware of the visions rampaging through the girl's head, Gohan merely beamed back at his friend and nodded. "I'm looking forward to it too." He then saw Erasa smile back at him before returning her attention to her test sheet, prompting him to do so as well and continue with his hushed instruction.
Bringing up his right hand to point at the third question, he began explaining to his classmate how to come up with the answer for the equation splayed out across it. But just as he was whispering the steps to her, the blonde suddenly noticed on his wrist the gem stone bracelet she'd given him last week and, realizing he was still wearing it, smiled joyfully in his direction.
When the ten minutes of writing and checking time came and went, the teacher then told everyone to put their pencils down and proceeded to collect all of their sheets. Once all of the papers had been piled up onto her desk for checking, she then told them to carry on with the task they'd been assigned from last lesson and to continue drafting.
Needless to say, that'd been a real interesting start to the morning.
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