Family Day

AN: Yay! I'm back. I've missed two contests, but I should be able to participate in the rest. This is written for SweetestIrony's sixth contest, with the theme of 'family'.

The glossy sheets of paper of the school's newsletter were not something that usually delivered very informative or useful news. For the past month they have been reporting dense statements about unimportant school affairs or the state of the school's well-being. Well, it was not that those were insignificant to a student in Orange Star High, but those were not something that would usually interest them.

Not unless a new holiday has been declared.

And this month's case, that was exactly the issue.

"Family Day?" Erasa piped cheerfully. "That's so cool!" She browsed through the newsletter to further receive any more information, but the one-liner from the front page was the only thing she could get.

"I don't care what kind of day it is; I'm just glad that we don't have to go to school for it," Sharpner explained, looking at the same line that his friend was.

The students were hushed by the teacher, who apparently was also caught off guard by the sudden turn of events. They were not informed of that sooner, and most of the staff had to discover the new holiday at that same morning as well. It was surprising; after all, the board of education of this particular city was not the most lenient around. With their reputation as the home city of the 'Great Hercule Satan', there was no way the government could allow their youngsters to fall under par.

Everyone had become anxious after receiving the news, and hoped that it would not be false.

"So, class, as you can see here, it seems as if we have a new holiday. It's coming up next week on Monday…," he announced what every student already knew. However, the declaration coming from the teacher was almost like a firm confirmation of the fact, and most of the youths began to cheer. "I think we should all be grateful here; we're given the chance to spend time with our family. Apparently, we don't get to do just that nowadays, so I hope you express your gratitude by making the most of this day. You're not the only ones getting the day off; your parents should be too. Now, I don't exactly know how this is going to work, because I'm pretty sure that there are some occupations which have not been approved to be included in this holiday. Let's just hope that at least most of your family members are available for some 'quality time' on that day.

"As well, there is something that was not written here which is worth notifying you about," the teacher continued. "As staff, we had been informed that a new provincial bill has been passed which states we are no longer allowed to give you homework during the holidays."

If the class had been happy with the news of Family Day, now they were even happier. There weren't only cheers and laughter, but the more hyperactive students had stood up on the tables and began throwing random papers around as if they were confetti. The man in front of the class had much trouble gathering the attention of his students back again for the lessons to resume.

Everyone was too fidgety and excited to pay attention to anything that he taught, though. Most kept passing a few notes to their friends, trying to get some appointments, dates, meetings, whatever else they wanted to plan for Family Day.

"Hey, Videl!" Erasa whispered to her friend sitting beside her.

"What?"

"Do you want to come over for dinner? You know… you and your father?" the blonde smiled.

Knowing already that the invitation would not be accepted by her parent, Videl assumed that it was safe just to turn it down now.

"Nah, it's alright. Spend the day with your own family," she said smiling back. "Thank you for asking though."

"No problem, girl!" Erasa winked. "If you change your mind, tell me."

"Psst… Videl!" another whisper beside the dark-haired girl came.

"What?"

Sharpner smirked, "Do you want to invite my family for dinner? You know… you and your father?"

The pretty face before his eyes disappeared momentarily, as it was replaced by a split second vision of wood, and then darkness…

The whole class halted their business.

"What is going on back there?" the teacher demanded harshly.

"Nothing," Videl stated simply, refusing to explain the small 'accident'.

Gaining a bit of consciousness, Sharpner picked his head up from the table, a large red mark etched clearly on his forehead.

"What's the problem?!" the teacher questioned again.

"Uh…" groggily, the jock tried his best to answer. "I think…I think we need a new desk, sir. I, uh… unintentionally smashed my head on it."

Videl kept her glare unwavering, wanting for the millionth time for the young boy to learn his lesson. However, just like usual, she knew that it was a hopeless wish when he turned his bruised face towards her, and sent her a dirty smile. She rolled her eyes, and turned her back to him so she would no longer be able to see him.

When she faced the opposite direction, a worriedly looking half-Saiyan met her view. Gohan sent her a curious look, but all she did was to ignore it as well.

"You've got to relax, girl," Erasa commented.

The concerned remark fell on deaf ears.

-o-

Family Day was not terrible, Gohan decided. In fact, it was quite a wonderful day. His mother prepared a nice little feast for lunch, and his Grandpa made sure that he did not have any plans to attend. He did not go out of their home many times, but there were occasions that the citizens of his old city wanted to meet with him to discuss certain matters. That confused Gohan a few times; his grandfather was no longer their king and so their problems should not concern him any longer. But there were lots of things that confused Gohan anyway.

Goten was especially happy to spend an entire day with his brother without anything that would distract his attention. No stupid homework or assignments. Just him and his big brother!

"Gohan, Gohan, look at me! Look at me!" Goten jumped up from the head of a giant green dinosaur, capturing its attention immediately. The monster threw its head back, irritated, and released an angry howl.

"Whoa!" the seven year old lost his balance, but managed to hang on to one of the dinosaur's horn.

"Gohan!" he called once again. "Look at me! Isn't it just adorable?"

Goten's older brother quickly flew up to where the child was dangerously swinging himself.

"No, Goten! Don't do that. Get down from there!" the teenager warned. "You'll hurt yourself. Besides, can't you tell that the creature isn't enjoying it?"

The little boy looked up to where the animal was howling desperately, tears already almost spilling from its incredibly enormous eyes.

"Aww, don't cry, please!" Goten begged, releasing his hold on its body part and suspended himself in the air. "There you go. All happy now?"

Naturally, the dinosaur did not understand the spoken words, and within a few seconds, it escaped from the vicinity that the two boys were hanging around.

"Aww, don't go!" Goten called, but it did not return. "Aw, Gohan! I scared it away!"

"Well, now you learned your lesson. Next time a big lizard comes along, just watch. Don't touch it," his older brother reprimanded.

"Okay,"

A voice belonging to a woman called over the pair. Their 'playground' was not very far away from their house, but still quite ways away. How Chichi's voice managed to penetrate the distance, both boys did not know. Perhaps it was their Saiyan genes that enabled them to hear from so far away, but Gohan highly doubted it. When his mother needed something, there were no obstacles that she did not dare to rid.

"Gohan, darling, I hope that your old mother is not bothering you," the mother of two called out, an obvious request hidden behind her statement.

"Oh, of course not mother! Why would you be bothering me when I'm playing with Goten, and you're there fixing dinner?"

The Ox Princess narrowed her eyes at her son's naivety. "I meant, I hope you won't mind if I bother you," she corrected.

"Oh, yes ma'am!"

Her sons quickly flew back towards their house to meet their mother. Once close to the entrance, the Ox Princess quickly thrust a bunch of shopping bags into her older son's arms.

"We don't have any more food for dinner. Go buy some," she bluntly explained. Along with the bags, a stack of cash was placed inside the pocket of his pants. "There's the money. Now go."

"Oh… okay," was all Gohan could mutter.

"Wait. Here's the shopping list," his mother was making it very snappy. He guessed she probably really needed those things. A roll of paper was unwound before his face, revealing a list that was almost as long as half of his body.

"Wow… that much?"

"Yes. I mean, you're not just shopping for dinner here. We're seriously out of food. Got to make that shopping for the rest of the week too! With how you two eat and all, I just don't know where else to find the money to feed you."

"Mommy, are we poor?" Goten questioned, looking up to Gohan's pockets where the money was securely stashed away.

"Yes, honey. We are."

"Aren't you a princess?"

"Yes. Mommy is a very very poor princess."

"Oh."

Chichi turned back to her eldest.

"That's why we are depending on your big brother here to save our monetary situation. He needs to win that World Tournament that's coming in two weeks so that we'd actually have more than enough to pay for the food I place on your table!"

"Eh…" Gohan sweatdropped nervously. "Thanks Mom."

"You're welcome sweetie. Okay, return soon. I really need those ingredients, and if you don't come back in time, you just might have dinner after midnight. It takes a while to cook, you know!"

"Ah, right."

With that said, the teen blasted off to the direction of the nearest store… which happened to be miles away.

'No wonder Mom got Dad to take driving lessons before,' Gohan thought. If none of the men were available to fly to purchase the grocery for her, it would have been extremely difficult for her to shop. He guessed that was the case over the years. He really should be more understanding of his mother. She did a lot for the family that went unappreciated. Not necessarily by him; he knew that he made sure to thank his Mom for everything that she tried to do for them. He couldn't blame his brother; he was too young to understand those.

It was more his father. He knew that Goku was really never around much to see and just to value the family had. Well, he was never much around period. Goku had strange ways. That much he knew. He also knew that his father loved fighting and he loved to eat. He never backed down from challenges, and would almost always find methods to defeat the next strongest monster. He was the most kind-hearted man that had lived, always sacrificing those that were important to him just for the sake of the world. Always sacrificing his family… Sometimes, the young half-breed wondered when his father actually started caring less about them that these 'sacrifices' became almost second nature. The hard resolve was never apparent. He made those decisions within a second. Were they that disposable?

Gohan shook his head. He should not be thinking about a good spirit that way. Son Goku was an angel to everyone who knew him.

But Goku was also his family. It was not fair.

Seeing the nearest store within his line of view, Gohan prepared to land. Even his closest neighbours, which were still far away, did not know that his family had strange super powers. Well, maybe they suspected it; after all, the Sons were known for their unsurpassable abilities in martial arts, but none knew the reasons behind it. Gohan did not want the suspicions to deepen any further.

The majority of the groceries could be purchased from there. They were slightly expensive than average, but the boy understood that transportation was scarce up in the mountains. His mother usually bought their things from here, so he knew she wouldn't mind the extra charges. He bought what was available there, but decided to leave them on hold; it would be difficult to travel to other stores with him carrying those. He thought that he'd first perform a scavenger hunt for the rest of his mother's needed ingredients in other markets, and come back for the ones he'd bought here.

'Eggs, bread, tomatoes, salt…" he went down the list of items. "Got those. Let's see… bowls and plates. Gee, Mom must really be breaking a lot of these. Oh, I know where I can get a very good deal for those!" the Saiyan thought.

He gently thanked the old man who owned the small store, and told him that he would be back to pick up the things he purchased after a little while. He then went out to blast off towards Satan City.

The super market in a big city was too crowded when he got there. Gohan could barely get through the throng of people who were madly grabbing random objects into their pushing carts. If they were not randomly grabbing, they were walking briskly by him or yelling across the aisles for friends to come over and help pick the right type of apples. Or orange. Or pears. The atmosphere was just very different.

Fortunately -and much sooner than he thought- Gohan had found the shelves where the kitchenware were neatly stacked. From there, he picked up several plates and bowls, wondering how many exactly his mother needed. He settled for five each; if they were too little, he would buy more next time. If they were too much, he could return them on his way back from school the next day. Deciding the he should probably pay and move on to the next item on the list, Gohan turned around to head for the cash register only to bump into a certain somebody. The fragile objects in his arms almost dropped to the ground, but he held on to them tightly.

"Watch where you're going!" the person snapped.

The eldest Son looked down to meet a pair of familiar cerulean eyes.

"Videl?" he said.

The girl in front of him appeared surprised to meet him there as well, but there didn't seem to be a change in her mood.

"Be careful next time!" she continued.

"Yeah, I'd sure be," Gohan replied. "Nice to see you though," he added.

"Sure," was the only reply he received. The young crime fighter continued on her way down the aisle.

"Videl!" he called back. "How's your Family Day going?"

Videl stopped on her tracks for a moment just to listen to the question. Without responding, she proceeded to walk away from her classmate.

'I can never figure her out,' Gohan thought, and finally made his way to pay for the plates and bowls.

When he went outside to resume his shopping, he spotted Videl once again. She was walking briskly ahead of him, hands tucked tight in the pocket of her hoodie, head bowed slightly. She seemed a bit different today to him. The people who were passing by her did not acknowledge her presence like they usually did; none of those 'Oh my goodness, it's Hercule's daughter,' chatter came her way. Some tried to wave to her, and she would just nod. Her usual proud aura was damp and her fierceness was lost. It was quite ironic since the day was beautiful. It was a bit late in the afternoon, and the orange glow of the sun was still gorgeous enough to brighten up even the artificial nature of the busy city. Everyone else who was passing by seemed happy enough. However, none of those energized the young martial artist.

"Videl!" he called.

She turned back to look at him just to see who it was that called her. Finding out that it was once again him, she rolled her eyes and went back to walking, this time twice as fast.

"Videl, wait!" Gohan called.

She stopped moving, and turned back.

"What do you want?" she asked, face exasperated. She took her hands out of her pockets and laid them on her hips, a pose usually done when he was being threatened or blackmailed.

"Nothing," he answered. "I was just… you looked sort of upset. And I was wondering what was wrong."

"I look sort of upset?" she mocked sarcastically. "Gee Gohan, you're observant!" Turning her back to him again, she walked down the side-walk, leaving the boy to continuously catch up to her.

"Videl, look. I don't know why you're angry with me…"

"I'm not angry with you!" she interrupted, not bothering to look at Gohan. "There. Are you happy? Can you leave me alone now?" she frowned.

"Sure I'd leave you alone," he replied. "I just want to ask…"

"Okay. What is it that you want to ask me so urgently that you can't wait until tomorrow?" she interrupted him the second time in a row. She finally stopped and stared up at him challengingly, as if the wrong question would just make her take off in a second without giving him another chance to speak with her.

"It's Family Day," Gohan stated quietly.

Videl rolled her eyes. "Yeah, so? I know that."

"How's your Family Day been?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. "It's a mandatory holiday, but the celebration is optional. I've decided that I won't celebrate it. For me, it's just a day off."

"Why won't you celebrate it? I mean, it's a nice thing that the government did for us. You should take advantage of it."

"Take advantage of what? I have nothing to take advantage of!" she exclaimed. It was evident in her expression that he was only making her more upset. She even looked more irritated than she had ever been. No, it was not the type of annoyance she had displayed when trying to figure out if he had indeed been Saiyaman; it was dissimilar. It was more like an internal struggle… or something else that Gohan could not entirely figure out.

"Sure you do! Take advantage of the time you have with your family. Everybody is doing it."

"Just in case you didn't get enough time to get to know me, I'm not exactly one to 'go with the flow'. Besides, I lack that something that 'everyone' seems to have, okay?"

"Of course you don't! Everybody has a family!" Gohan smiled.

"Well, I don't!"

Gohan could have sworn that her voice had cracked on that last word, but seeing her furious and frustrated façade, he began to think otherwise of mentioning it to her. She tore her gaze from him and left. He was sure that even if he called her back, she would not even consider turning back around.

Clutching the plastic bags he held with one of his hands, Gohan decided to go back to his own grocery shopping. He strolled back up the side walk, observing his mother's shopping list closely. There were only a few left, but they were the ones that a person would not normally find in an average store. Sometimes, his mother preferred… odd things to cook. She was a very curious and experimentally inclined woman.

Just then, something caught Gohan's eyes. Turning his head to a newspaper stand by the edge of the side-walk, he read that morning's headliner.

'The Champion of the World Halfway across the World!' it blasted in big bold letters, as if it was the best thing that the man has ever done; he visited a country on the other side of the planet to dedicate his time and money making people happy over there.

A small tinge of disappointment overcame the teenager, and a slight understanding towards his fellow female friend washed over him.

-o-

The sun was almost setting. Family Day was almost over. It was not crappy; it was just a bore… and a pain. But it was not so bad. Videl got a day off, and miraculously, even the cops had not called her that day to assist some poor old woman to cross the street, or grab a stray cat from a rotting tree, or punch the lights out of a criminal who just did not know any better. It was a good day. It was also a bad day. Videl decided that rather than trying to figure out what her time had been like, she would just call it a day and leave it alone. It would be over anyway in several hours.

Grabbing a thin flat stone from where she was standing, she gently swung her arms across her side, flinging the rock within a flick of her wrist. It skipped over the top of the lake four times before it swallowed it down.

Videl changed her mind then. She was glad that it was Family Day, because otherwise the small provincial park at where she was would have been flooded with people. This time, there were only a couple of people other than her that was out there to appreciate nature. Not many city people wanted to appreciate nature. No, not when they had 'family' to appreciate. Sometimes, they could juggle the two together, but Videl had found that that was a very rare case. With city people, anyway.

"That was an impressive throw,"

Videl looked to her side and saw the same man she had interacted with earlier that day approaching her.

"Gohan," she sighed. "You again?"

The half-Saiyan chuckled, but did not answer. Instead, he walked right up to her, just to stand beside her where she was on the bridge over the lake. He leaned on the length of wood that made up part of the fencing to prevent people from falling.

"You know what I don't understand?" he asked.

"You? Uhm… dating?" she took a wild guess.

"Well, there's that and then there's… men who are nice enough to help so many people in places far from their home, when there are people who need them just as much in their own backyard."

Videl did not comment.

"It's very kind of them, I have to admit," Gohan continued. "Don't you think so too? That it's nice of them and all?"

"Sure," she answered lamely.

"But… I think that it's very inconsiderate… or naïve of them to ignore their own neighbours… or family."

"Gohan, please don't talk about my situation that way," Videl said, some bitterness in her articulation.

"I'm not talking about your situation though, Videl," Gohan stated kindly, looking at her.

The young woman gazed up at Gohan, trying hard to find some mockery or charade behind his words. She could not find any, so she looked away.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"You don't have to be."

There was silence for a while. Videl picked up another stone to skip it across.

"It would have been so nice to spend a day like this with my father," Gohan said.

"Please don't start this," the smaller of two pleaded, the bitterness long gone, and instead in its place was just pure loneliness. "Stop telling me that you know what I feel."

"I'm not. I'm just talking about what I feel," he continued. "You don't have to say anything about if you don't want to, but all I'm saying is that I really wish my father was here. Family Day would be so different with him here… and I just badly wish that I got to spend today with him."

Videl was no longer skipping stones on the lake. Instead she was just throwing them aggressively as if the mere act would seep out all the frustration from her.

"And you know what else I wish to happen? I wish that you wouldn't feel so bad about your state. I wish you would just stop acting like you're being victimized by not having your father around."

The female fighter did not comprehend how Gohan could just speak about those things without showing even the slightest bit of anger or dissatisfaction. It did not even appear as if he was blaming her for her actions, and still she felt like her whole cynicism was her fault. He was looking at her sort of odd, as if he did not know what he should look like.

The stone in her hand found its way across the space between them, just to bounce off the older teen's chest.

"At least you have a mother, a grandfather, and a brother," Videl said. "What do you think I have?"

"You have Erasa's offer. Did you take it?" he asked simply.

Another rock hit Gohan's arm.

"Videl, you have no idea how many people would want to be with you right this moment. And please, don't be so violent!"

Hercule's daughter threw the remaining stones she had on the ground, hitting the wooden bridge roughly.

"No, actually I don't. I can't think of how many relatives I have that bothered to call me just so they can celebrate with me," she spat resentfully.

"Vi, friends are family too!" Gohan exclaimed. He bent down to pick up the rocks she dropped, and took her hands just to place them back there.

"I know that you don't want to celebrate this day," he added. "But I do. And I want to celebrate with every single member of my family that is here, because they could be gone in the next second. So throw those things at me if you want, if that's your idea of celebration. I don't mind. Just please, Vi…"

He could no longer continue as he watched the small pieces of hardened earth fall back down. Small drops of water fell with them, tainting the old wood a darker shade. It was only then Gohan realized that they were not water, but tears rather.

"All I wanted was some time with my Dad," Videl explained in a small voice, not daring to look up. She brought the hand that had not been holding the stones up to her face to wipe away the wetness from her eyes. When she did look up, it was as if she had never cried at all. She looked across the lake.

"Me too," Gohan replied.

"You know…" Videl began quietly. "I don't think I would have even minded it if Dad was away because he truly wanted to help those people. But I think he just did it for publicity. I… I guess that is what bothers me. That he chose fame over me."

The girl tried to chuckle so that she would not resort to crying.

"I thing I would have minded it less if he chooses the world over me, but fame… it's such a stupid thing."

"I'd be careful of saying that, though."

She looked up at him.

"The world, I mean," Gohan corrected. "…if he chooses the world over you. It's not a very good feeling either."

"It's better than what he's chasing after now."

"True, true."

Videl picked up the fallen rocks. One by one, she half-threw, half-skipped them on the lake until they were all gone.

"Gohan?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for hitting you. I want you to know that it's not my nature to throw rocks at people. I was just upset."

"It's alright. I know you better than to assume you stone your friends."

"Are you sure? I don't watch my strength when I'm angry. I'm pretty sure I hurt you,"

"Nah! It doesn't even feel like you've hit me at all! No bruises or anything," Gohan assured.

Videl's eyes narrowed, her suspicious nature creeping back again. This caused the half-Saiyan to retrace his replies.

"Well, you know, maybe I don't feel it now. But I won't doubt it if I came out with some sort of bruise later on…" he trailed off, waving his hands in front of him frantically. "Hehe."

The narrowed eyes did not go away.

"I'm sorry anyway," Videl said again.

"It's alright, really. Vi, listen… I meant what I said about me wanting to spend my Family Day with every single family member I have."

"Oh okay. Yeah, I get it. You don't have to stick around, really. I'm going to be alright," she replied. "If you need to go meet with your other relative, that's fine."

Gohan smiled, "I also meant it when I said friends are family too."

Videl realized what he was trying to tell her. A wide grin appeared on her face, partly out of gratitude, and the other out of shyness. She was not usually the type to be flattered so easily, but she was not also the type to be given kindness without the giver expecting something in return from her.

"There are a few hours left of Family Day," Gohan continued. "And I'm really still in a celebrating mood."

He stretched out his hand to her.

"Please, Vi?"

She chuckled happily out loud and took his hand.

AN: Family Day is real where I live. It was made official last year in… February, I think, if I remember correctly. As far as that homework law goes… last time I remember, that was real too. It's just up to the teachers whether they break that law or not!

Happy half-year anniversary to everyone in SweetestIrony! Friends are family too. ^^