"F-Fiancé—"

"Shut up."

"Miss Videl—"

Finally, Videl Satan turned to face him, glaring. "How many times do I have to explain that this is for both our good?"

"B-But what will my mother say when she learns that I'm already engaged?" Gohan sputtered.

She groaned exasperatedly. "Listen, Gohan-sensei, I told them that you were my fiancé because I don't want them to know that Papa had made you my bodyguard."

"What's wrong with that?" he asked cluelessly.

"What's wrong? WHAT'S WRONG?!" She looked at him as if he just asked her why the sun wouldn't appear at night. "Well, for one thing, I'm supposed to be the daughter of the Grand Martial Arts Champion and I have no need for bodyguards." She started to tick off with her finger. "Secondly, Videl Satan has her own reputation for being independent and very capable of defending herself. She doesn't need any protection."

"Third, do you look like a bodyguard?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

He looked down at his usual get-up and then shrugged. "Should fashion sense count for a bodyguard's job description?"

She glared at him again. "Don't get smart with me, Gohan-sensei."

Immediately, he grinned sheepishly. "OK, sorry,"

She turned around and resumed walking. "Anyway, doesn't it please you that you are linked to the daughter of the number one hero of the world?"

Silence.

This irked her. She whirled around to face him angrily, but stopped. Gohan was gazing at her thoughtfully.

'W-What?" she snapped.

"Must you always see yourself as the 'daughter of the grand martial arts champion'? Can't you refer to yourself as Videl Satan?" he asked after a while.

This struck her. She immediately made an about face, but didn't make a move to walk away. She was still contemplating on what he said.

Of course, she was proud of her father. Very, very proud. The people of the whole world may applaud him, sing him praises, and glorify him, but she would do that and so much more just for her Papa. She was his number one fan all the way.

And his reputation was one of the best things that he had given her, as well as the responsibility to care for the city she loved dearly.

She had been perpetually contented with that.

But after what Gohan said…

Who was Videl Satan really, aside from being the daughter of the grand martial arts champion?

All of a sudden, she realized that all these years she thought she basked in the spotlight of the city's attention, she was merely dancing under the shadow of her father.

Of all the people who knew her, only one identity of her was known—that she was Mr. Satan's daughter.

But who knew Videl Satan?

"M-Miss Videl?" Gohan's voice snapped her out of her trance.

She shook her head vehemently, then continued to walk.

Gohan caught after her. "Miss Videl, are you alright?"

She didn't speak; the lump in her throat was proving too difficult to calm.

"I-I'm so sorry…" he murmured, much regret in his voice.

"S-Sorry?" she couldn't help but speak. "Sorry because you upset the daughter of your employer, the World Martial Arts champion?"

"No. I'm sorry if I hurt my fiancée's feelings."

That prompted a tear to streak down her face. She wiped it away angrily and threw her schoolbooks on him. "Awhile ago you didn't like the idea of you being engaged to me! Why the sudden change of heart? If it's because of pity—"

He caught the textbooks calmly and placed them inside by bag carefully. "I didn't say I didn't like it. I was just asking why you had to lie to your friends."

I didn't say I didn't like it. The words registered in her mind, making her eyes wide and her cheeks red. "But why couldn't you just accept my idea easily a minute ago?"

"Because I don't want you to lie," he explained quietly. "Lies will steal your peace of mind, and I don't want that to happen. But if you consider it very important to continue with your story, then I will go along with it."

"Is this because of pity?" she asked again, looking at him straight in the eye.

"No."

"Obligation?"

"Partly."

"And your other reasons?"

He didn't even blink. "I want to become the fiancé of Videl Satan." And he smiled at her boyishly,

She felt her heart skip a beat. Quickly regaining her composure, she turned her back on him, arms crossed. "Is that so? Well, Gohan-sensei, since you insist, you have to start your duties now."

"Duties?" His face drew a blank.

"Well, you should take me out on a date."
"DATE?!" It was a word

"Yes." She turned to him once more, puzzled. "Date, as in go out. Haven't you taken any girl out on a date yet?"

"I took Mama to the city library once…"

She sweatdropped. "Another person aside from your mother?"

"Hmm…Aunt Bulma!"

Videl sighed, but she couldn't deny that she was satisfied with his answer. "Don't you know of other places you can take girls to aside from the library?"

"G-Gee, I'll think of something…"

"Well, you better think fast. I want you to take me out tomorrow."

"TOMORROW?!"

"Yes, is there a problem with that?" she asked testily.

"O-Of course not." He scratched his chin. I think…

Certainly, she wouldn't have to know that he had no idea yet of how a date should be, even though he often could hear his Uncle Krillin and Uncle Yamcha talk about that word a lot of times.

That's it! He would just have to ask those two on how to do a date properly. Surely, they could give him the proper answers!

-------------------------------------

"What?! You're dating the only daughter of the Grand Martial Arts champion?! Way to go, Gohan!" Laughing, Yamcha slapped his back.

"It is NOT exactly a date. I-It's…" one of the whims of Videl. Gohan sighed. He still couldn't understand why he let Videl suggest this. After all, it was just a pretend thing, right?

But he knew better than to reason out with the girl.

"Well, whatever it is, Gohan, let me tell you that you came to the right place," said Krillin, grinning. "Do you know that when I was a little younger and before I met my lovely wife, I was a REAL ladykiller? Whew, women just couldn't get enough of me!"

Yamcha nodded. "Anyway, Gohan, here the things you have to keep in mind. Be punctual, bring flowers, compliment her in every possible way, and most importantly. bring LOTS of cash."

Gohan gulped. "Gee guys, it sounds really…complicated. Are you sure I can handle this?"

"Have faith on yourself, young man! Never underestimate the charms you inherited from your father!" advised Krillin.

"W-What should we do?"

"Well, if you would take her out to dine, then you can eat. And converse, of course," suggested Yamcha.

"Ok." He nodded and jotted that down on his notepad. He needed all the professional advice he could get. After all, this was his first date.

Trunks then entered the room. "Hey guys! What are you doing?"

"This is adult talk. Don't join us," said Yamcha at once, face serious, as if their group was discussing the plans to bring world unity and peace.

"If Mom hears you talking about the night club you guys went to last week—"

The two grown-ups immediately panicked. "How did you know that?" Yamcha asked when he recovered.

Trunks rubbed his nose proudly. "Hah! Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I couldn't understand what kind of insane pervertedness run in your mind!" He then turned to Gohan. "Hey, your girlfriend is on TV, beating the hell out of the hostage-takers live!"

"H-Huh?" He immediately sprinted towards the television. And indeed stood Videl, fighting with three men double her size. His jaw dropped. "Oh boy!"

"Your girlfriend's too belligerent," said Vegeta, who was seated on the sofa, watching the TV scene too.

He sweatdropped. "A-Actually she isn't--"

Screams of pain made him freeze. He instantly turned his attention to the television once more. Videl kicked the hostage-taker's face.

"Are you going to tell me where you hid the manager of the mall?" she barked.

Gohan immediately got up and placed his shades on his eyes. It was time to get into action too. He jumped out of the window, forgetting to bid goodbye.

Vegeta groaned audibly. "Bulma, did you happen to give Kakarotto's son the sunglasses I got from Krillin?"

"So you really had been taking inventory of your wardrobe and accessories." Bulma's smiling face peeked in through the door. "Such improvement!"

"Knock it off with the sarcasm," he muttered. He just couldn't help but notice that the eyepiece went better with him.

------------------------------------

"You'll never make me tell!" smirked the hostage-taker. "Wherever that idiot is hidden, he must have already suffocated."

Videl's fists clenched. She couldn't help but hate this man so much. Normally, she could squeeze out the answer from these criminals easily, but in this particular incident, it seemed that the devil had penetrated the soul of this man. He kept on hinting that it would be for vain if they try to search the building for the hostage, for he could already be dead.

"Miss Videl, we still haven't found anything!" announced the head of the police search team.

She turned to the smirking criminal. "Will you still insist on not cooperating?"

"If I tell you that I won't cooperate, what will you do?" sneered the man.

Videl exhaled sharply. "Aren't you happy yet with the beatings you got from me? You do realize that a few more blows from me can jeopardize your life already, don't you?"

"So what? I'm not scared to die, and it will be my pride to be the first one to stain the hands of the innocent daughter of the Grand Martial Arts champion!" With that, the man started laughing insanely.

"Shut up!!!" she snapped.

This only made the felon laugh harder. "Tell you what, Miss Champion of Justice. If you manage to kill me, I will use my dying breath to tell you what you want to know. How about that?"

Kill?

Videl stepped back, eyes shaking. "Y-You're crazy…"
"Yes! Yes, yes, and YES!"

"We don't have much time, Miss Videl," said another police officer. "The hostage could die of asphyxiation before we reach him. He had been kept hidden for so many hours already."

That made her reach a decision. She went towards the criminal.

 "I said, speak up!!!" Videl aimed a punch at his stomach, but before she could touch him, a hand held her back.

"Don't." Saiyaman stood behind her, his hand restraining her firmly.

"But didn't you hear them? If I don't do as this insane man says, we will never know where he had kept his hostage!" she snapped.

"There is another way."

"NO! And who do you think you are, meddling with my affairs?" she yelled. "It's absurdity for anyone to cross the path of the daughter of the Grand Martial Arts champion!"

"I am not talking with the daughter of the Grand Martial Arts champion," he said firmly. "I am talking to Videl Satan, the girl who I know is clever enough not to be tricked by anyone."

Her eyes widened.

"Videl Satan won't let anyone boss her around, because she carries a wild spirit of independence. And pressure could not change that." He let go of her hand and turned to the criminal who had stopped laughing.

"W-What do you think…should I do?" she asked at last, hating the feeling of helplessness within her.

"This man, I believe, has conditioned himself to endure the worst of pain, so you may want to do the opposite. Something he did not prepare for." He turned to her and smiled.

Her eyes lit up. "I-I understand now." She then knelt down beside the felon, who was now starting to feel nervous. She took off the ribbon that was binding her hair.

"W-What are you planning to do—" The man's line was stopped by his sudden burst of laughter. Videl was busy tickling him with the ribbon, and since he was tied up by ropes, he couldn't move a muscle to stop her. He was helpless against her tickle attacks.

"Stop! STOOOP, please!!! WAHAHAHAHHA!!!" he cried, laughing so hard.

"Will you now tell us where the hostage is?" she asked, not moving an inch away from him.

"Nooo---yess!!! Hahahahha!!!" The man was catching his breath desperately. "The latch…the latch beneath the bathtub!!! Hahahahah!!!"

Videl looked at Saiyaman and smiled triumphantly.

-----------------------------

As they watched the policemen haul the hostage out of the building, Videl turned to the Saiyaman. "Hey you!"

He stiffened, then sweatdropped. He meekly went to her.

She handed him her ribbons. "Help me with my hair."

He nodded quickly and dutifully began to comb her hair.

"Hey, thanks again," she said quietly. "You saved me…again." She looked down. "B-But…you seem to know me so well…when you talked about me awhile ago…you know me. I know that you know me, Saiyaman." Her eyes shook. "Who are you, Saiyaman?"

Silence.

"You were the one who saved me when I was a child. I can feel it."

"I know."

Her heart skipped yet again.

"I remember," he said quietly. He let go of her. "The hair's ok!"

She felt disappointed. She still wanted to talk!

"Goodbye, Videl. Take care."

"Saiyaman!"

He turned expectantly.

"Won't you tell me who you are?" she asked.

"You said you know me, so why should I introduce myself?" he asked,

She gasped.

" I am Saiyaman!" He made a choreography of his uniform sentai moves as the girl sweatdropped.

-------------------

Videl was walking home when Gohan arrived, panting.

"Miss Videl! A-Are you alright?" he asked.

Her eyes narrowed. "Gohan-sensei, the bodyguard job is over."

He grinned sheepishly.

"Well, it's good you came. Anyway, I'll confirm to you our date." She flashed a grin. "Remember, Gohan-sensei!"

He sighed.

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to be continued