Chapter Three: Hang In There Gohan! (Gohan Spends the Day with Mr. Satan!? Pt. 1)

Gohan tried opening his door as slowly as possible and winced as the door creaked.

Geez, you think with all this money, Mr. Satan would be able to get quieter doors, Gohan thought to himself as he peeked into the hallway.

Luckily it seemed that no one had been disturbed by the noise, despite the early hour. Well, perhaps whatever money Hercule Satan hadn't spent on his doors had gone to sound-proofing. Either way, Gohan was grateful as he made his way down to the kitchen undisturbed on an early Tuesday morning.

Unfortunately for our protagonist, there had been no getting out of the special "lessons" from the day before, and Gohan now had to endure a multitude of sympathetic looks from his classmates. He appreciated Erasa coming to the defense of his father, but he wasn't sure if he liked the consequences. Although the best thing to come out of it by far was that Videl had stopped grilling him for answers about his strange behavior.

Gohan shook his head as he tip-toed into the student kitchen. It was only five in the morning, but Gohan was hoping to get an early breakfast in so that he didn't freak anyone out with his huge appetite. Yet another thing that could set him apart if he wasn't careful. As nice as Videl was being right now, that didn't mean it couldn't change at any moment.

So, Gohan gathered together as much food as he could and started cooking. Gohan knew that a cooking crew was supposed to come in at six to start breakfast for the highschoolers, but hopefully he could prepare his breakfast and eat before they arrived. Then he could get in a quick training session by himself, take a shower, and make it back to the kitchen to "eat" with the rest of his classmates.

'Getting in a proper meal's probably going to be the hardest part' Gohan thought mournfully as he started shoveling eggs into his mouth. After all, he wouldn't be able to eat like he was used to for lunch and dinner, so he'd have to rely on early breakfasts and midnight snacks to get the nutrition he normally got at home.

When Gohan finally finished his breakfast of eggs, toast, bacon, and rice, he let out a content sigh and patted his bulging stomach. At least he could count on having a good three meals a day when he got to Bulma's. It would be easier to sneak around in a place he knew like the back of his hand. Plus, Mrs. Brief always had snacks on hand. The only downside was Vegeta and Trunks. He loved hanging out with Trunks, of course, and training with Vegeta was always...interesting, but neither of them understood his need to appear normal. The two of them together had less subtlety than Mr. Satan in front of an audience.

"Well, I can worry about that later," Gohan said aloud as he got up. He cracked his back and started to stretch his arms out in preparation for his warm up. Although first he carried all his plates over to the dishwasher and started the machine up. Hopefully, the catering crew wouldn't think anything of it.

Gohan started to stretch some more as he walked over to the students gym that Videl had shown them the day before.

"What are you doing up so early?"

The voice echoed from behind Gohan and made him squeak just a little bit before he turned around sheepishly, already knowing who had caught.

"Oh, uh, Videl! Fancy seeing you here so early in the morning?"

Videl narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, her arms crossed. She quickly gave up though, her goodwill of yesterday seeemingly still affecting her today.

"Breakfast is in thirty minutes," Videl said, obviously putting effort into making it sound like normal conversation and not the inquisition. "Why are you heading over to the gym?"

"Oh, well, I got up early to have a snack and get to the gym," Gohan said, rubbing the back of his head as he pointed his head down toward the petite girl. "I figured I didn't want to make a fool of myself in front of your dad and everybody else today."

Videl's face finally softened a bit as she considered the wimpy(-looking) guy in front of her.

"Well, I wouldn't worry too much," Videl said. "Dad won't go to hard on you. I told him that your mom made you focus on your studies instead of training. He feels really bad about yesterday, so he'll probably try to make up for that today."

Gohan laughed nervously, hoping that it could be mistaken for anxiety about training with Hercule, but he was really nervous about holding back. Of course, not saying anything about what actually happened at the cell games was probably going to be really hard as well. Sometimes it just got on his nerves that nobody knew the truth even though it was for the best. Oh well.

"Well, as long as it's just for today," Gohan said, mostly to himself.

Videl glared at him again, making Gohan jump and wave his hands around a little as he realized how bad that sounded.

"I mean, I'm sure the rest of the class wants a chance to spend time with Mr. Satan," Gohan offered. "I know that Sharpner is really excited for it, and some of the other guys too. Uh..."

Gohan blinked in wonder when Videl started to laugh. It was full-bellied laugh too, and Videl soon started clutching her stomach.

"No, it's okay," Videl said, wiping some tears from her eyes as she caught her breath. "I get what you mean. It's just, almost everyone is the complete opposite, so it's a little weird to hear something like that and know that it's genuine."

"Oh," Gohan said.

For some weird reason, Gohan noticed that Videl's eyes were a really pretty shade of purple. After laughing so much it was like they were sparkling, and Gohan wondered why he'd never seen that before.

'Of course, she is normally glaring at me,' Gohan thought with a frown, and quickly put those thoughts away.

"So what were you going to do in the gym?" Videl asked curiously.

"Well, I figured I'd do some of my dad's old routine," Gohan said. Of course, if Videl was going to join him, he would need to cut it down severely in order to make it look like it was doable by normal human standards. "You know, push-ups, sit-ups, and all that."

"Do you need any help?" Videl asked, looking a little skeptical. "It's pretty easy to injure yourself if you don't know what you're doing.

"No, it's okay," Gohan said. "I mean, I say I haven't trained since my dad, but my mom works out with me. She said it's as important to keep in shape as it is to study. She just didn't like it when me and my dad overdid it or when it cut into study time."

"Oh, well, okay then," Videl said. "I guess, I'll just wait for the catering crew and help them set up for the students."

"Yeah, I'm not going to do much," Gohan told her. "Just a warm-up and then I'll join everyone else for breakfast in a bit."

"Alright then," Videl said. "See you later."

She waved a little and ran off to the kitchen. Gohan let out a sigh when she finally disappeared behind the kitchen doors.

"Yeah, this is going to suck," Gohan said, thinking yet again about the rest of his field trip.

Videl got to the kitchen just in time to let in the caterers and to help them bring in the food supplies for the day. She was in the middle of directing them when she heard it.

"Hey, that's weird. This dishwasher's full of dishes."

Videl whipped around to look at the open dishwasher stuffed full of plates, pots and pans.

Could it have been...? Videl shook her head. It was probably just her dad's students having a midnight snack. She'd have to tell her dad to go harder on them if they had this much energy to eat through the night. She wouldn't want them gettting fat.

Gohan wiped some of the sweat off his brow as he finished his 1000th crunch, and looked over at the clock sitting on the wall.

"Crap!" Gohan said, wiping his shirt off and replacing it with his back-up. "I'm almost late for breakfast!"

Gohan quickly left the gym and headed toward the kitchen where he could see his classmates crowding around the entrance waiting for the doors to open.

"Over here Gohan!"

Gohan looked up and saw Erasa waving at him with a petulant looking Sharpner at her side.

"Hey guys!" Gohan yelled as he jogged over to them. "What's up?"

"Nothing yet, Gohan," Erasa said with a smile. "Just waiting for the catering crew to open the doors."

"Yeah, I'm starving," Sharpner said, frowning. "Hey, I bet I can eat more than you can bookworm! Ow-"

Sharpner rubbed his side where Erasa had jabbed him with her nails. She glared up at him slightly.

"I thought you agreed to be nicer to Gohan!" Erasa scolded him.

"Um, guys, it's okay," Gohan tried to placate them, forcing a grin and holding his hands out in front of him.

"I was being nicer!"

"Calling him names isn't being nice."

"Really, it's okay!" Gohan said loudly to get their attention.

The two blondes finally stopped to look over at him, their eyes wide and blinking.

"I know Sharpner didn't mean anything by it," Gohan said. "I'm not mad."

"See!" Sharpner said with a smile as he threw an arm over Gohan's shoulders. "Gohan here gets it. It's a guy thing, Erasa. You wouldn't understand."

"Hmph."

Erasa threw one last glare in Sharpner's direction, crossing her arms as she did before smiling again and walking over to Gohan's other side.

"So Gohan, are you excited about your training session with Mr. Satan?" Erasa asked cheerfully.

"Uh, yeah," Gohan said, trying to be as convincing as possible.

"Urgh, I'm so jealous," Sharpner said, clenching a fist and tightening his grip around Gohan's neck. It didn't really hurt, but Gohan tried his best to look uncomfortable. Which he was so he guessed that worked out fine. "I mean, I know he's doing it as an apology about your dad, which sucked by the way, but still..."

Sharpner bit the tip of his thumb and looked off to the side, trying to hide his face. Although his other arm was still clamped tight around Gohan's solid neck. Gohan moved a little bit with him to make it look like he was being pulled on.

"Well, I guess, maybe I'll tell him to focus on some of you guys too? I don't want to take up all of his time," Gohan offered.

Sharpner looked down at Gohan hopefully.

"Aw, man, I don't want to take away your time with him. I mean, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Sharpner said, obviously trying to be reluctant, but his excitement was more than obvious to his two friends.

"I don't mind!" Gohan said. "I'm still spending time with... Hercule, but, uh, it's more fun if everyone else gets to enjoy themselves too. I'll bring it up when we go over to the gym."

"Thanks Gohan," Sharpner said, giving Gohan a noogie. "You're the best."

Gohan just laughed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly when Sharpner finally let him go.

"As long as you're okay with it, Gohan," Erasa said. "Oh look! The doors are opening."

Gohan and Sharpner looked over at the kitchen doors with wide, hopeful eyes. Their eyes only got wider when the tantilizing scents of pan-fried meat and eggs wafted over them. Gohan gulped nervously. It was going to be painful limiting himself to just a helping or two.

'Just one more week here,' Gohan reassured himself. 'Just one week.'

Gohan walked out of the kitchen with Erasa and Sharpner. Videl, who had joined them for breakfast had ran off ahead to the gym so that she could warn her dad that they were all on their way.

"Wow," Erasa said, picking at the sleeves of her white T-shirt, clearly uncomfortable being out of her normal sleeve-less tank top. "Videl really is putting a lot of effort into this. I can't wait to get to Capsule Corp so that she can relax."

"But that's kind of her personality right?" Gohan suggested. "She wouldn't go around helping the police and stuff if she didn't want to, either. I dunno, it just seems like she wants to help."

"I guess so," Erasa said thoughtfully, her pointer finger tapping her chin lightly as she looked toward the ceiling. "Wow, Gohan, I guess you understand Videl pretty well, don't you?"

"What, uh, I, no," Gohan sputtered, his cheeks going red as his hands went wild trying to deny what she was (probably) implying.

Sharpner looked displeased as well. He crossed his bare arms over his muscle-shirt clad chest, and scowled.

"I thought it was obvious," Sharpner boasted haughtily. "I just didn't want to say anything. You know, since it was really, really obvious and all."

"Uh-huh," Erasa said, rolling her eyes.

The teenagers all filed into the spacious gym, their teachers keeping them in line as they all tried to run ahead in their excitement. Almost everyone was happy to be in the gym so early in the morning, even the girls who were usually disgusted with early morning gym classes. They were getting the once-in-a-lifetime chance to train with the world-renowned hero, Hercule Satan, after all.

Soon they all made it into the gym, and sat down in rows, waiting patiently while looking excitedly around. The whispering cut off when another pair of doors opened up, and they looked on curiously as their fellow classmate, Videl, walked through.

"Okay, everyone!" Videl began. "My dad's getting ready with the rest of his students. Just sit tight for a bit and we should be getting started soon!"

Everyone started whispering excitedly again, and Videl walked over to where Erasa, Gohan, and Sharpner were sitting.

"Hey, Videl," Sharpner said as he gestured toward the empty space he had saved for her. Erasa and then Gohan sitting on his other side.

"Hey, Sharpner," she said as she passed him by and sat on the other side of Gohan.

Sharpner bit back a sob as he turned away, pulled out his handkerchief and bit into it to hold back his jealousy.

"Hey, Videl," Gohan said. "How are things going with your dad?"

"Hm," Videl hummed, her mouth twisting a little as she thought of the hot mess that was her dad. "He's okay, I think. He's just preparing to put on his usual performance."

"Ahahaha, right, of course," Gohan said cheerfully. "Should, uh, be exciting!"

"Of course, it will be Gohan!" Sharpner exclaimed, having sufficiently recovered from the subtle slight to his affections. "This is Hercule Satan we're talking about. Everything about him is exciting!"

This was too much enthusiasm for even the regular fans of Hercule Satan, and most of the people around the pumped-up Sharpner were wincing at the scene. Luckily, they didn't have to endure it for much longer.

Finally, the moment they had all been waiting for had arrived, and the mighty Hercule Satan made his entrance. Needless to say, it had the flair worthy of such a noble warrior. The doors banged open, smoke poured from the entrance, and a majestic figure could be seen making his way through the haze. Hercule had donned his regular training attire, with the addition of his pure white cape, and his championship belt tied securely around his waist.

"Good Morning my young pupils!"

No one could say that Hercule Satan had ever lacked enthusiasm, and this morning was simply another example of that. Some of the students flinched at the volume he was able to achieve, but most simply chanted a delighted "good morning" back to the self-proclaimed hero.

"Now, as you know, today you will be begin training with me and my disciples!"

Satan pointed to the small group of proud looking fighters behind him.

"The first part of your trip begins today with me! Here you will learn to harness your physical and spiritual strength into a force to be reckoned with! Just know, you cannot achieve this through anything other than HARD WORK!"

Hercule looked proud as he surveyed his awestruck crowd.

"There are no tricks here! No lightshows and no weapons! We fight man to man!"

Videl coughed loudly and glared at her father. Hercule lost his bravado for a second and glanced at her sheepishly.

"And woman to man, and woman to woman!" He amended to his daughter's satisfaction.

"Now, since I promised to take care of the training of the young Son Gohan personally!"

Hercule took the opportunity to point Gohan out (much to his displeasure).

"The rest of my disciples will separate you into groups and begin teaching you the basics! I will, of course, make sure to drop by each group to monitor your training! So no slacking off! Let's begin!"

Gohan groaned as Hercule's students began introducing themselves and pairing people off into groups.

"Are you excited Gohan?" Erasa asked him excitedly.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Gohan said. "I, uh, just don't want to take up too much of his time or anything."

"Don't worry about it, Gohan," Videl said to him. She was looking over the room, hands on her hips, watching to make sure everything was running smoothly. "Dad made a promise, and he always keeps his promises. He won't see it as a burden."

"Uh, right."

Gohan contemplated his next course of action. Should he approach Mr. Satan right now and hope that he quietly agreed to leave him alone or should he just wait until tomorrow? Unfortunately the decision was taken out of his hands when Mr. Satan came over and stood proudly in front of him, fists on his hips like his daughter. However, the cape made him look more like a character on a children's television program rather than an authority figure like his daughter.

"Gohan!" he shouted. "Are you ready for the BEST day ever?!"

"Uh, sure?" Gohan said, for lack of anything better to say at that moment.

"Alright, come with me!"

Hercule turned to the rest of the room that had divided itself into groups of four and had attached themselves to one of Hercule's students.

"Now, I'll be gone for a bit to keep my promise to Son Gohan here! BUT! Don't think that I won't check up on you guys later! If any of you show any promise, I MAY let you in on some of my super secret training techniques! HOWEVER these must be EARNED!"

Hercule marched out of the gym with a look of smug satisfaction on his face as he left the excited and chattering students behind him. Gohan stood there awkwardly for a moment, not quite sure what he was supposed to be doing until Videl came over and gave him a sharp nudge in the back.

"Well, go follow him!" she said, not unkindly.

"Right," he said, looking apprehensively at the back of Hercule Satan and then at his friends.

"Don't worry Gohan!" Erasa said encouragingly as she began to stretch her legs. "You heard him. It'll only be for a little bit and then you'll be back in our group!"

"Right," Gohan said again. Although this time he felt a little better knowing that he wouldn't be with Mr. Satan for the whole morning.

He broke out into a light jog so that he could catch up with Hercule (who thankfully hadn't noticed he wasn't right behind him just yet).

How bad could this be?

Apparently it could be that bad, Gohan learned as he sat sweating in front of the unique being that was Hercule Satan. Unfortunately, the sweating wasn't from any kind of light work out (which would have been easy enough), but from pure confusion and secondhand embarrassment as Hercule went into the second hour of his speech about heroism and bravery.

Gohan sat patiently on the ground in front of the posing martial artist, letting the words wash over him and fade into the background. The spot they were in was nice enough. It was just on the edge of the estates forest and a small waterfall was not even 30 feet from their location. Gohan himself sat under the shade of a large, leafy tree watching as the morning sun climbed higher and higher into the sky.

A sense of peace washed over him as he stared at some the puffy, white clouds floating across the clear blue sky, and he found himself wishing he could go flying. Unfortunately that was one of the things he would have to give up on this two month field trip.

However, this state of mind almost made Gohan miss the end of Hercule Satan's lecture.

"And THAT my young friend is why you should always try your hardest and not let anyone get you down. I'm sure after some time you'll be a great fighter just like your dad, and maybe even like me one day! So are you ready to begin?"

Gohan blinked at the short, dark-haired man as he flung his cape off and let loose a series of punches and kicks into the air.

"Uh, Mr. Satan?"

Gohan got up slowly as he glanced warily at the flailing figure in front of him. Hercule paused in the middle of his latest punch and blinked a few times in surprise.

"Yes, Gohan?"

"Um, I hate to say this, but it's almost 10 o'clock. Didn't you say you were going to check in on everyone in an hour or two?"

Hercule stared at him and blinked a few times again before looking at the position of the sun in the sky.

"Woah! Is it that late already!"

Hercule stared up at the sky for a moment, scratching his head before going to collect his cape.

"I'm sorry Gohan! I guess I just got carried away there! We'll continue your training tomorrow! I promise!"

Gohan thought this would be the best moment to mention his idea. 'It's now or never,' he thought.

"Uh, actually, Mr. Satan," Gohan began, thankfully succeeding in catching the flamboyant man's attention. "I was thinking, you don't really have to do this. I mean, I'm perfectly happy being trained just like everyone else! And, I'm sure that there are others that would really appreciate and use your training. More than I could anyway..."

Gohan trailed off as he noticed the look Hercule was giving him. Gohan only just managed to keep the look of horror off his face as he witnessed a full-grown man giving him puppy eyes.

"Not that I don't appreciate your offer!" Gohan said quickly. "I do! It's just that, well, you know..."

"You- you want me to go back on my promise?"

Hercule's lower lip began to tremble and Gohan knew he had to think fast.

"Uh, N-no!"

Gohan face was distressed as he waved his hands around in front of him.

"Nothing like that! No going back! Just, uh, easing up on it? Why not personally see to the whole class. I mean, I just want to share such a great experience with my friends is all."

Hercule rubbed his eyes with his hand before tilting his head back up to stare, unblinking, at Gohan. It was kind of creeping Gohan out, but he knew better than to say anything.

"A hero should always make sure he's fair, right?" Hercule seemed to ponder aloud. "I mean, focusing on one person wouldn't be fair, and if I still trained you personally, along with everyone else, I wouldn't be breaking my promise."

Gohan was silent, and more than a little confused, as he watched Hercule twist his words around into something resembling his original idea.

"Gohan, Gohan, Gohan," Hercule said, all traces of tears gone from his face, and instead an almost smug, but knowing look was on his face.

"Uhhh..." Gohan still wasn't sure if he should interrupt the man's thought process, wherever it might be headed.

"Gohan, my boy!" Hercule said boisterously, the spring back in his step as he clapped the teenager on the back with great energy. "You should have told me that I was compromising my image as a just and fair hero by giving you so much special treatment."

Gohan wondered how Hercule managed to come to that conclusion. He also wondered why it felt like he was being scolded even though the man was agreeing with him (sort of).

"I still owe you a debt," Hercule went on, turning sharply while letting his cape sweep off his shoulder to flutter in the wind. "So, I still want to give special attention to your training. BUT I want to give everyone some quality training time with champ. That's why they're here right?"

At this, Hercule burst out laughing, and Gohan winced, rubbing the side of his head as the man's signature gawffing echoed through the woods. Luckily, Hercule stopped just as abruptly as he'd began. And Hercule turned his head to look sheepishly at Gohan over his shoulder.

"But, uh, you know," Hercule began while poking his index fingers together a few times meekly. "I really am sorry about what I said. About your dad, I mean. I honestly didn't know. I- uh, know that nothing I say can really make up for that so..."

Gohan honestly didn't know what say. He had to admit, he was a little touched, but at the same time pretty weirded out. After all, this was the guy that called him, his friends, and his family liars and fakes every chance he got. Not to mention, he unrightfully took credit for defeating Cell. Not that Gohan wanted that kind of publicity, but... it was the principle of the thing.

However, Gohan couldn't deny that it was genuinely heartfelt apology, and that Hercule did do his best to be a positive role model (in his own way). Unfortunately, realizing this didn't magically make the right words appear before him, so he just had to wing it and hope for the best.

"Um, thanks... I guess?" Gohan said, figuring he couldn't go wrong with some expression of gratitude. "Uh, you don't have to keep apologizing, I understand. And, it's been forever since dad died. I mean, don't worry about it."

Gohan started to get a little frantic again when he saw the tears in Hercule's eyes make a regroup.

"Son, you shouldn't talk that way about your dad!" Hercule sobbed, throwing himself at Gohan to give him a hug. "He fought and gave up his life like a true hero!"

Gohan laughed nervously and patted Hercule on the back a few times, wondering what was wrong with what he said. It had been a while since his father had died, and it wasn't like Gohan wasn't used to it already. It was just a fact of life. Sometimes dad died and sometimes he came back to life. Gohan figured he'd see him again eventually. Hopefully, not for a long time, but still.

"Gohan," Hercule said once he had calmed down. Thankfully, he'd stopped crying, but he still held on tightly to Gohan's shoulders. "I realized that there is something more important right now for you to accomplish than hero training. I know now that you've lacked a father figure in your life for all these years and you don't know how special such a bond can be. When I think of my own daughter..."

Hercule took a moment to lift a hand from Gohan and bite down on one of his knuckles, clearly in some kind of emotional pain. Gohan thought for a moment that he sort of resembled Sharpner.

"So," Hercule said, finally releasing Gohan, and putting his hands on his hips. "Clearly, I should spend more quality time with YOU, not with your training. We'll head back to the others, but during lunch you should come eat with me and Videl!"

"Uh, what?" Gohan stared at the afroed man blankly, clearly not absorbing the words being thrown at him by the exuberant hero.

"I won't take no for an answer!" Hercule called behind him as he began walking back toward the mansion, fists still resting on his hips.

Gohan watched him go for a moment or two before exhaling heavily. What exactly had he gotten himself into?

Sorry for the long wait everybody! Hopefully, a long chapter makes up for it? I promise that I haven't abandoned this story, but it's not the only thing I have on my plate, so updating is a little difficult to manage. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this (I know that I love writing Hercule), and I'll try to pump out a new chapter as soon as I can.

Anyway, cheers~