[AN: Just so you know, Chapter 11 has had a few rewrites since I first published it. I was going to talk a little bit about Percus and Woody in that chapter, and I didn't realise I forgot about it until it was published. It's been fixed now.

And can I just say how great it feels to be writing this again? This chapter was actually really enjoyable.]

"And that's what happened."

Gohan stood in Bulma's office for the fourth time in over 2 weeks, explaining what had happened at the circus.

Bulma was frowning. "And Videl didn't want to come and report back?"

"Videl…was in a hurry to leave." As soon as they had flown past her place, she had decided to rush back to her house, although not before leaving that scarring remark. Oh, and by the way? We're still not dating. Like she had to leave it on her terms. She couldn't even admit that 'that was fun' or 'it wasn't too bad'. She had to end that conversation by explaining she was still…what…upset? Mad? Either way, she didn't want to talk to him.

In the meantime, Bulma was pacing around her office.

"Maestro's gone. Percus and Woody have gone. And now Sonata has gone. It can't be a coincidence. They all know each other."

"Who's Percus and Woody?" asked Gohan blankly.

"Two of his friends from college," Bulma answered. "They're in their early twenties, and left college a few years ago. Their names were on that address book you gave me."

"Oh." Gohan sat still, not entirely sure of what to say. Then, his thoughts from the circus trip came flooding back. "Do you think they're there…to help? To help make sense of these Android blueprints? If they went to his college, surely that means they're smart."

"Not necessarily," Bulma replied. "Professor Locrian implied that they left because their grades weren't up to scratch. I doubt they'd be able to help with technology as sophisticated as that."

"Unless…"

"Unless they're not there to help comprehend it," Bulma finished, taking the words from Gohan's mouth. "Unless they're there for test subjects."

Hearing the words spoken out loud seemed to add a sense of finality to it all. The meaning those words implied spread through the air, chilling the atmosphere. If this had been before Majin Buu, before his potential had been unlocked, Gohan knew he might have shivered. Facing Androids wasn't something he would have been looking forward to, even if he knew he was stronger than them by far.

"I mean, we don't know that's what they're there for," he tried to assure himself, and Bulma. "They might have just…gone on a camping trip, or something. It might not be Androids."

A small smile was on Bulma's face, but it didn't meet her eyes. "It might not be. But I don't want to take any chances. I've failed to stop Androids before. And I don't want it to happen again."

"Stop Androids?" Gohan was confused. "But you didn't fight them! I didn't even fight them!"

Except…didn't I fight Dr. Gero at some point? I think I was trying to save Piccolo. Wait…why was I trying to save Piccolo? Piccolo could have handled it. He was much stronger than me, back then.

It was getting harder and harder to remember individual battles. They had started to meld together in his long-term memory. A fight with Freeza on Namek would suddenly transition into seeing Trunks arrive from the future, on Earth. He'd be running after the Androids, only to find himself at the Cell Games.

It was just so long ago. He had been so young. No one else at school or even in his life remembered vividly what they had done when they were 5. Was he doomed to eventually forget? When he was younger, he thought he'd never forget what had happened to him. But now…he wasn't so sure.

"I'm not saying I want to stop them by fighting them," Bulma answered. "I want to stop them by finding them before they can be built. That was what I suggested everyone do with Dr. Gero, and no one listened."

"But that might have been for the best," Gohan said. Bulma was indirectly criticising his father, and it rubbed Gohan the wrong way. "If it wasn't for the Androids, Vegeta wouldn't have come on our side. Piccolo wouldn't have been who he is now. We wouldn't have Dende, and Shenlong would only grant one wish instead of two."

Bulma turned to him, fire suddenly in her eyes. "And what about you? If the Androids hadn't come, you could have lived a normal life much sooner! Are you saying you wouldn't have wanted that?"

Gohan could only shrug. "I've never lived a normal life, Bulma," he answered, matter-of-factly. "And if we hadn't been training, I wouldn't have been able to go beyond Super Saiyan."

"And that's a problem?"

"Well…either way…it doesn't matter what happened. It might have been hard, but that's not important. All that matters was, in the end, I was a lot stronger. That's always a good thing. It means I'm able to protect all of you, if something comes up."

Gohan was suddenly aware that Bulma was staring at him, a strange expression on her face. It reminded him a lot of his mother, back when he was very young. It was like…he had impressed her by reading a very complicated passage from a book.

Bulma could only shake her head.

"You really are your father's son."

Walking through the school gates for the start of yet another week, Gohan spied Sharpener at his locker. He went over to him, a lot less reluctantly. Knowing that Sharpener did legitimately want to be friends with him had made things a lot easier. For the longest time, Gohan had been sure Sharpener had only stuck with him because of Videl.

And speaking of Videl…part of the reason why Gohan had gone straight to Sharpener was because…Videl had decided to start ignoring him again. He tried to catch her eye that morning, but she immediately buried herself in her locker. He guessed he had to 'give her some space' again.

"Hey, Son." Sharpener waved. He seemed to be acting a lot more casual in his presence, although Gohan still hadn't forgotten his admission that his friend was still scared of him.

"Videl's not speaking to me again," Gohan informed him, gloomily.

Sharpener cringed. "Again? What did you do?"

"I don't even know!" Gohan moaned. "It must have been…I was doing something with her over the weekend, but as soon as that was over, she decided she didn't want to even talk to me!"

Sharpener blinked. "Wait. You mean to tell me you actually got together with her? Already? That's pretty incredible."

"It is?" Gohan was still confused.

"Well, it's only been…what…a bit over a week since you broke up? Videl doesn't normally crack that quickly."

"But if she…'cracked', like you said, then…why has she decided to go back to not talking to me?"

"It's because she's ashamed," a female voice echoed behind them.

Erasa bounded up to them. "She's ashamed that she couldn't keep her distance, so now she's all embarrassed to even see you again. She gave in first, and she normally never does that. She must really like you."

"How did you manage that, anyway?" asked Sharpener. And then his eyes widened. "Did you…like…did you and her-"

"Oh, my god, Sharpener!" Erasa exclaimed. "You don't just ask that! And he didn't. If they did, Videl would have told me. For sure."

"What are you talking about?" Gohan asked, completely lost.

Erasa took one look at Gohan's innocent expression, and immediately turned beet-red. "I-It's nothing," she stammered. "Nevermind. Just…what were you doing on the weekend?"

Deciding not to enquire into Erasa and Sharpener's strange behaviour any further, Gohan answered, "We went to the circus."

Erasa's eyes lit up. "Ooh! The circus! That's so cool!"

But Sharpener was frowning. "You took her on a date to the circus?"

"It wasn't a date!" Gohan exclaimed. "We were doing detective work!"

Erasa believed it, but Sharpener still seemed a little suspicious.

"Gosh, it's been so long since I went to the circus!" Erasa piped up, cheerily. "How long ago was the last time they were here?"

Sharpener stared, in thought. "A few years, at least," he answered. "But I know they definitely came-"

"-after the Cell Games," Gohan answered.

They both turned back to him. "Yeah," Sharpener replied. "How you know? Did you go, as well?"

"Of course not!" Gohan exclaimed. It would have been ridiculous. Going to the circus would have been like…going to the Tenkaichi Budokai, without knowing his father or Vegeta would be there. There'd be absolutely no point, because nothing would have impressed him. "And even if I wanted to go, we live so far from everywhere else. There wouldn't be anyone to tell us when and where it was performing in the first place."

"Well, the circus is always fun," Erasa continued. "Maybe, one time, if it starts again, we can all go together. All 4 of us!"

"That's assuming Videl starts talking to me again," Gohan answered gloomily.

And then, as if right on cue, he saw Videl walking past them in the corridor, carrying her books. The moment she saw the first glimpse of him, she immediately turned away and quickened her pace up the stairs.

Gohan could only stare at the blank space where her back used to be.

"…I just…don't understand," he sighed.

"You don't understand girls?" Sharpener joked. "Don't worry. None of us do."

But Gohan shook his head. "No," he said. "I just don't understand humans."

Upon hearing that, Erasa and Sharpener exchanged concerned glances. Gohan, still staring at the empty stairs, didn't seem to notice.

"So, how did you guys die?"

They were in their literature class. The teacher had just left the room, saying she needed to get a DVD of a movie they were about to watch.

In the meantime, a boy from their class, lanky, with a pointed face and scattering of freckles, had brought up the question. It had shocked everyone into silence.

"I thought we weren't supposed to talk about it," said one of the other students.

Gohan remembered it vividly. Once they had all arrived back at school, the principal had sat everyone down in the assembly hall. Everyone was tense, expecting some sort of punishment. As for Gohan…he was half-convinced that the principal had somehow found out who he was, and was going to tell the entire school. Videl had tried to assure him that wasn't the case, but he still wasn't fully convinced.

It wasn't until the principal mentioned how Majin Buu was defeated by Mr. Satan that Gohan was able to relax.

"I'm sure this has been a very…difficult experience for all of you," the principal had said, his deep voice still touched by concern. "And I know a lot of you would prefer if you could simply forget…"

You're going to forget, Gohan had thought. We're going to use the Dragon Balls and erase all of your memories. But the balls weren't active at that point. They still weren't active now.

"And as a result, I'd prefer it if people didn't mention the events of the past few days, especially in large crowds. Many people still have traumatic experiences, and that's perfectly justified. But this school will have trouble operating if we have constant reminders of how we died. For now, it'll be best for everyone if we act like these most recent events didn't happen."

It had become a blanket ban. It hadn't been strictly enforced, but the students still listened to it. Or at least, they had.

It had been 2 months. Perhaps everyone had truly gotten accustomed to thinking about it as part of ordinary life.

"Well, Miss isn't here, is she?" The student continued. "I'm just curious how you all died. You did all die, didn't you?"

There was a scattering of murmurs, before Videl, sitting two seats away from him, like always, decided to contribute to the conversation. "Everyone died," she said softly. "Majin Buu didn't spare anyone."

"Well, except your dad," added someone else.

"I-" Videl started to protest, but seemed to decide against it.

"I'll start," said the first student. "I died after the first broadcast. We were in the city next to them. As soon as we saw what they did, we tried to run. It turns out Buu was coming after us next. I think I was blown up."

"I was blown up, too!" added one of the guys.

"I wasn't blown up," said a girl. "I was turned into candy."

"Me, too! I was in that first city! I heard a voice saying they were going to destroy it, and they did!"

And then everyone started to raise their voices, discussing their own deaths.

In the meantime, Gohan sat in silence, mulling over how strange the situation was.

For him, discussing death didn't have the same stigma that normal humans seemed to associate with it. When dying could be easily reversed by a magical wish-granting dragon, his family often treated death in the same way they treated vacations. "I was just dead. It was no big deal." His father, especially, had no problem with it. For him, dying hadn't only been inconsequential, it had been beneficial. The first time he had died, he had managed to visit Kaio-sama, and learnt the Kaio-ken and the Genki Dama. The second time…that was part of the reason he had been able to achieve Super Saiyan 3. Both times, dying had probably been for the best.

But after a few minutes, the first student seemed to notice Gohan's silence.

"Hey, Gohan," he asked, with, for some reason, a grin plastered on his face. "How did you die? Did The Great Saiyaman stand a chance against that monster?"

"Well…" Gohan had actually been thinking it over. He actually wanted to answer the question. Everyone else had been doing it, so why wouldn't he? He didn't want to be left out. But he couldn't be entirely truthful. I died in the explosion when Majin Buu destroyed the Earth. Then he'd have to explain why the Earth was still standing, and he'd have to go into Porunga, and Namek, and Kaioshin, and then they'd probably think he was really crazy.

The easiest thing was to just explain it as close to the truth as possible.

"We were in a rough spot," he explained. "Majin Buu had found my brother and my family friend, defenceless. He was probably going to kill them. I was getting all overconfident and I stepped in, positive that I could protect them."

The moment came to Gohan's mind, as vivid as ever.

Bolstered by the power the Elder Kai's ritual had given him, he had slowly stepped up to Majin Buu, filled with a confidence that he had never experienced before.

So, you want to fight me? The monster had asked, a grin still on its face.

Fight you? Gohan had replied, starting to smirk. No, I want to kill you.

"But even then it was stupid," Gohan continued, his voice steadily rising. "What was I even trying to do? Stop Majin Buu? Like that was going to happen!"

And then everything started spiralling out, the classroom seeming to fade before his eyes. All he could think about was his failures, and his presumptions, and his…his stupidity!

Why had he even attempted to fight Majin Buu in the first place? Surely he knew, deep down, he wouldn't be able to do anything. He had never been able to do anything! He wasn't his father!

You really are your father's son, Bulma's words echoed through his mind.

But you're wrong, Bulma! He thought. If I really was my father's son, I would have been able to stop Majin Buu then and there! I wouldn't have failed! Because my father never fails!

And then his voice came back to him, almost surprising him.

His voice growing louder, he kept talking, continuing on, reaching a crescendo,

"Because…when was the last time I ever did something useful in my life without-"

"Gohan!"

A voice, a high voice close to him yelled, cutting into his mind like a razor.

Instantly turning to its source, Gohan realised it was Videl. And she was staring at him with…concern, her eyes wide, her mouth slightly open in shock, her expression paused, like she had been holding her breath.

And then, when Gohan looked down to his desk, he realised his fists were clenched. And shaking.

He stared at his hands, the shaking steadily stopping under his gaze.

What had he been doing? Why had that happened? Why had he suddenly felt so…angry?

But now that he was suddenly aware of himself, Gohan's high emotions seemed to fade away instantly.

"So, basically, I tried and failed. And Majin Buu…yeah, he killed me."

The class was suddenly silent. Everyone in the room was staring at him with a mixture of emotions. Some seemed sympathetic. Others were looking with pity. But there were other expressions – expressions that he didn't fully understand.

The questioner hesitated, trying to break the awkward silence. "Uh…so…does anyone else want-"

But then he abruptly stopped. The teacher had just come back into the classroom.

She looked suspiciously at the surprise silence the class was in. Had she figured out what they had been talking about?

Fortunately, she dismissed it. "I've got the video," she said. "Now, let's continue the lesson."

As the video started, Sharpener cautiously leaned up to him.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Gohan answered automatically. Now that he knew what he was doing, that sudden anger had abated almost instantly. It was completely gone. And, in fact, he didn't even know how it had come about in the first place. Now, when he started thinking about Majin Buu again, even when he started to think the same thoughts, that sudden anger never came.

Clearly, it was a one-time thing.

Once the lesson was over, and Gohan was walking out of the classroom, he received an unexpected interruption.

"Uh…Gohan?" An unfamiliar voice rang out through the halls.

Gohan turned around. It was one of the guys in their literature class. He couldn't remember his name. There was just too many people in different classes. He didn't remember everyone, yet.

"Um…hi," Gohan said, a little confused. What did this guy want?

His classmate looked at him, hesitating. But then he blurted out, "I just wanted to say…it was really brave. What you did."

"Huh?" That was the last thing he was expecting.

"What you did," the boy clarified. "You knew you didn't have a chance, but you still jumped in there to save your brother. That…that takes guts, man. When Majin Buu found me, we were running away. I bet if Buu was going to kill my little sister…I wouldn't be brave enough to step in. I'd probably run away and save myself."

"But…" Gohan wanted to object. But I thought I had a chance, he was going to say. It wasn't bravery. It was almost the opposite. I only faced him because I knew I was stronger than him.

But the classmate had misread Gohan's hesitation. "Hey, I know it may not have meant anything in the end, but…sometimes, in a time like that, when we're all going to die, anyway…it's the thought that counts. I wish I had half the courage you had."

"Well…" Gohan realised there was no point in arguing. "Thankyou, I guess."

The classmate shook his head in disbelief. "I just don't know how you did it. I need to thank you. For at least trying to help."

But, as Gohan watched his back as he left, all he could think was, I don't know if I deserve your thanks.

It had been such an unusual comment. So out-of-the-blue. Had something triggered it?

He started walking away from the classroom, only to pass Videl and Erasa. When their eyes met, Videl still looked concerned.

This time, Gohan dismissed it. He was fine. He might have lost control a little bit when he started thinking about Majin Buu, but…he was still fine. He hadn't completely lost it. That would never happen. It hadn't happened for years. And the last thing he needed was for everyone to treat him like he was young and emotionally vulnerable again. It had been 7 years since Cell. He was almost a grown adult now.

He was fine. He was absolutely fine.

…right?

[AN: Unfortunately, this story still isn't getting a strict update schedule. I've gotten past one hurdle, but I've got a few more to go before it's clear sailing until the end.]