"H-Hello?" Lime responded, not knowing who this girl was. Determined to change that, the brown haired martial artist in training swallowed nervously and ventured forward, "Who are you?"
"Oh. Sorry. Where are my manners?" Acknowledging the question appropriately, the traveler from the stars bowed her head in greeting towards the young girl and began with her customary introductions. "My name is Kana; I am a part-time privateer and freelancer for the Planet Trade Organization that resides over the four quadrants of space. I am also a good friend and former rival of Gohan's… as well as his future mate." To emphasize that last point, the light user reached down and gently wrapped her hands around the unconscious Saiyan's palm in a comforting gesture. When she beamed at the boy, she completely missed the surprised blink from Lime and the baffled ones being thrown at her by both Videl and Zangya. "When my senses picked up an enormous surge of power coming from this sector, I knew almost instantly that it had to be Gohan, so I flew over here as quickly as I could."
It took a couple of seconds for the processing to take place, but when Lime and Videl eventually figured out what this Kana girl meant by 'mate', their faces flashed a deep shade of scarlet. Zangya's did as well when she also figured out the concept for herself, leaving her kneeling there staring at the girl with her mouth agape and shoulders slumped.
"M-M-M-MATE?" Videl choked out, this being the first time she'd ever heard that word used in this kind of context. Her response was almost an exact mirror image of Gohan's when he first heard the word from Kana six to seven years prior. Quickly growing frustrated when her normal instincts soon kicked in, the teenager then shot the woman a snarl, "Like hell you are!"
"Oh? Do you disagree?" Kana asked, tilting her head at the obviously flustered girl.
"Of course I do!" Videl snapped, pointing at the intruder threateningly while she continued to smile back at her as if what she'd just said was perfectly normal. "You think you can just waltz in here from out of the blue and start spouting this nonsense inside of his home? Things have changed around here in the years you've been gone, so let me make this nice and clear for you! Gohan is my boyfriend now… got it?"
"Boyfriend?" Allowing the word to slide off of her tongue a couple of times, the galaxy traveler smiled. "Oh. So… in other words… that would make you his life partner here on earth, is that correct?" the Seirei asked, causing the crime fighter to recoil a bit. Upon throwing the youngster a pleasant grin, she then nodded to the short haired girl and saddled up closer to her peacefully snoozing prospect. "Very well. If you have staked you claim over him as his first, then I am perfectly fine with being his second."
"Wait… what? Second?" Videl blurted, not sure what to make of this. "What the heck does that mean?"
"The quadrant of space that I originate from allows for both males and females in society to have multiple life partners. It is a practice that is done on numerous planets, including my own, and is considered a way of life by many. The princess of Orta has seven male life partners, each of whom she loves dearly," Kana stated, looking all proud as she watched the face of the girl in front of her flicker through different shades of red. When the orange scouter appeared over the fiery girl's right eye and blinked through a few paragraphs of information from the earth's databanks, the Seirei smiled, "I understand it is a tradition that is also practiced on this planet. So why stress the little details? I don't mind sharing him."
A long silence soon fell over the room. It was incredibly hard to ignore the bewildered faces on both Videl and Zangya, and even more impossible to overlook Lime's baffled one. It was only after some time was taken to think it over that the latter of the trio took one look down at the demi-Saiyan before then turning to face Videl.
Lime smiled cheerfully, "Considering our options, that doesn't sound like a bad idea."
"Hang on… you're actually agreeing with her?" Videl asked, looking across at the girl as if she'd just grown a second head.
Her friend in the checkered top shrugged, "Hey, if you ever find yourself stuck at the base of a mountain with only two roads to take, the quick and easy path is always the best one, right? Besides…" Lime then shuffled over and took Gohan's other hand, whereas the flame haired visitor continued to watch quietly from the sidelines. "We're not talking about a normal guy here, so why fight with each other when we can simply split the reward evenly?"
Taking a little bit longer to register to the words herself while Videl continued to look like a stunned guppy, Zangya then turned to the crime fighter with a more collected expression slowly coming into play. "She actually makes a fantastic point."
The Champ's daughter's gaze snapped in the Hera's direction, "Oh, don't you start!"
Sharing a grin with Kana, which she gladly returned, Lime then held up her hand, "I call dibs on being third!"
"DON'T JUST GO MAKING DECISIONS LIKE THAT IN FRONT OF ME!" Videl practically screamed, her hair standing on end while her cheeks glowed red with fury. "THIS ISN'T UP FOR DEBATE!" As it currently stood, she was very gradually losing touch with the reality she was brought up believing to be the absolute norm in society. But now that aliens from different corners of the universe were getting involved, she found herself being sucked into a culture and way of life that she just wasn't used to.
Lime was more receptive to the idea than she was and, as a result, she was steadily losing ground in the argument.
Now it sounded like fighting over Gohan was just a trivial and pointless matter.
"Come on, Videl. I think this girl is making a lot of sense," Lime exclaimed, imploring to the girl's more logical and diplomatic side while she continued to hold her spot alongside the half-Saiyan. When she saw the flustered girl look at her, she leaned towards her and smiled sweetly, "It's a fair deal. I mean… what have you got to lose?"
In order to get a better scope on the situation, one had to look at this entire situation from a distance. Upon calming her nerves and forcefully halting her irritated huffing, the crime fighter from Satan City took a moment to analyze the competition.
Videl loved Gohan. She could admit that freely in her head. The fact that he reciprocated her feelings instantly and asked her out immediately afterwards proved that he had feelings for her as well, if his intergalactic outburst against Set wasn't proof enough already. However, relationships were a fickle thing and love could be expressed in more ways than one. The meaning could also be twisted and warped depending on the degree it was given and received.
As of right now, what Videl could see was that there were a few girls out for her crush's heart and she could list them all off of the top of her head one after the other.
All Paprika wanted out of life was to watch Gohan drift in and out of consciousness while he was slowly disemboweled. Videl dismissed her immediately.
Lime, who'd known Gohan since before she'd even met him, was vibrant and cute, and when dressed in the right outfit, could pull off being either hot or dazzling. She was a year younger than them and, while she was nowhere near as strong as the crime fighting youth or could even be considered to be in the same league as the Z-fighters, she more than made up for her shortcomings with enthusiasm, intelligence, and energy. What was also scary was that she was receptive about her feelings towards Gohan and, if push came to shove, Videl knew that she wouldn't hesitate to move in for the kill.
However, while the farm girl was indeed passionate and lively, her personality didn't even come close to being as open as Erasa's, who was notorious for flirting with Gohan every time the two of them were together. You didn't need to take her physical strength into account since it was practically non-existent, but the girl had something that neither Videl nor Lime had. She could rely solely on her good looks to sway the game in her favor and, if you factored in her bubbly and cheerful personality, she was a perfect match for any man in any division. It's what came with the territory of being the hottest girl in school and the best friend to Videl Satan. Though her true feelings towards Gohan were an enigma, she was aggressive and fearless, something that Videl considered a major threat.
Then there was Zangya. She was older and much more mature than any of the other girls in their group. However, while she did have experience and good looks on her side, as proven by her profession, she had a short temper, she was brash, acted more like a boy than anything else, and was completely hopeless with technology. In the span of about three months, she'd managed to ruin a perfectly good microwave and a fully functioning, five-thousand zeni oven. Earthling incompetency aside, she was still knowledgeable in other areas of life, especially fighting, and she was the second/third strongest fighter on the planet. What's more, she seemed to be rather passive aggressive in her feelings towards the demi-Saiyan and, despite fighting in her own bracket and not showing much interest, Videl suspected she was working her way in from a blind spot.
She didn't know much about this Kana girl. However, the raven haired fighter knew right away that this alien merchant adored Gohan, as she'd practically traveled across the entire galaxy just to see if he was alright. That pretty much told her everything she needed to know about the Seirei's feelings.
This then left her.
Videl was a textbook firecracker and tomboy. She hated dressing up in fancy clothing, she was hostile towards other men, and she loved to fight. But while this did appear as a form of weakness to some people, this didn't at all affect her relationship with Gohan. In fact, the boy loved her passion, her personality, and her company. They also had a lot in common and could talk to each other much easier than with anybody else. However, there was a catch. While she did consider herself to be as good looking as Lime and Erasa, which she obviously was, they were much more feminine, and more in touch with the latest fashions. If Videl had to accurately place herself amidst the competition, she would have to be in the upper middle.
If she took the hard and treacherous path, she knew she would have to fight against all of them. But right now, two of the girls in the room were making a new proposition and, from the looks of it, it was starting to catch on real quick.
Confidence dwindling, Videl was about to respond to Lime's question when she then noticed another thing while she was sizing up her 'opponents.' From the way the brown haired girl had undid the top buttons of her shirt in an attempt to look good for Gohan, she was able to show off a great deal of her assets. Due to the manner in which she was sitting as well, it made it impossible for Zangya to ignore her appearance either, with both the teen and the Hera staring at the girl's rather prominent chest.
Kana's was also modestly large, but her bust wasn't as big as Lime's. Nevertheless, both Videl and Zangya started staring enviously at the two young women's cleavage before then looking down to check their own.
A split second later the orange haired woman found herself leaning against the wall with her hand against it, her head low and a proverbial raincloud hovering overhead, and Videl sat there, glaring at Lime with her eye twitching.
"Damn it…" both girls thought in unison.
In the midst of feeling absolutely miserable, Kana suddenly teleported over to where Zangya was and wrapped her arms around her. The Hera gave a startled shriek when she felt the cheerful alien rest her chin in the crook of her neck, before then glancing over her shoulder to see the girl leering at her. Their little show in the corner also attracted the attention of Videl and Lime.
"So… you like Gohan too, huh?" the flame haired girl asked in a chipper tone.
"W-What?" Zangya exclaimed, blushing and feeling a little bit uncomfortable from having the former alien invader so close to her. "No! Of course not!"
Kana chuckled, moving her body into the girl's back and causing her to stiffen nervously, "It's okay. You don't need to be so nervous about it. Trust me. If you just open your heart and allow your instincts to guide you, we can all hang out with Gohan together…"
"Th-That's not what I'm miserable about! Get off of me!" the Hera shouted, trying to worm her way out of the girl's grip while she continued to tease her.
Was it teasing? The victim couldn't tell.
"Come on. Loosen up. Let your feelings decide what's best and leave your mind open to trying out new things." She then playfully blew on the young woman's ear, causing a shiver to run up the Z-fighter's spine.
"I don't know what you're talking about! Get away from me, you creep!" By this point the woman's composure was completely gone.
So far the score was exactly how it stood: two of the girls were open to the idea of sharing, one was abstaining, and another one was against the whole thing. Guess which one was which.
In the end, the entire conflict in the room left Lime kneeling quietly on her own looking over her demi-Saiyan crush, whereas Videl sat alone, immersed entirely in her thoughts. Upon further contemplation over the situation, the young crime fighter started feeling hot and bothered in a variety of different ways.
On one hand she was all giddy and excited about being with Gohan as girlfriend and boyfriend, whereas another part of her was clamming up about being with the other girls… and the positives and negatives that came with it…
A lot of these things that came to mind were friendly and good-natured… whereas a lot of the other things weren't exactly considered age appropriate. Videl shook her head fiercely as a result.
The whole situation was raising so many different emotions and feelings inside the raven haired teenager, as well as stuff she never thought she'd even consider. It was beginning to mess with her mentality and all Videl could do was kneel there and squirm with the most annoyed shade of red burning brightly in her cheeks.
It was a good thing Gohan was unconscious for all of this. Because as the noise escalated, all the half-Saiyan did was stir, roll over in his sleep, and start snoring a little bit louder. The yelping and giggling of the girls didn't even bother him one bit…
Chi-Chi, who was standing in the kitchen tending to the family's next meal, could hear everything going on inside her house. Ever since she allowed that Kana girl in through the door after learning she was a friend of her oldest son, a big smile appeared on her face as she started humming cheerful tunes to herself and the sounds of wedding bells began reverberating through her head. A part of her was pleased to know that her son had so many friends and another part of her was ecstatic that he was also so popular with the ladies.
Clearly he had absolutely no problems in the wife-department.
While all this was going on, outside Gohan's window and at the top of the nearby hill where the old oak tree stood, the cowl-wearing form of Paprika could be seen standing there, leaning against the trunk with her arms folded, and staring down at the Son's domain. Upon seeing all of the girls arrive and begin arguing with each other over the unconscious Saiyan, all the white haired demon could do was watch and consider the following words.
"You know, in hindsight, I'm so glad I'm here right now," the young Makyan thought while an amused smile formed on her face.
The trials of love were always entertaining to watch.
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