Hello ya'll. Been awhile since I posted anything on the sight. For that I apologize. I've been working on a fic that I've just lost inspiration on, not to mention I lost a chunk of it due to a hardware failure on my computer. I've been lost ever since...kind of.

Also, SweetestIrony is moving to a new contest format. Instead of a contest every month, we'll be having one every other month. The month deadline is still the same; we're just taking a breather so that everyone can gather a bunch of writing mojo. So expect an update on this story every two months.

Theme=Autumn Sunset

Not really a sunset in this one but there's definitely Autumn. Enjoy.

Autumn was an interesting time of the year. Situated in between summer and winter, it gave off nice, sunny days with cool temperatures. Sometimes it got a bit chilly but it was a very good time of the year, especially for those who didn’t like intense heat or cold.

But like all good things, there were a few drawbacks; the biggest one involving dead leaves. Falling off tree limbs, the once thriving life would dry out into a withered likeness and scatter about on the ground.

So when Gohan had been asked to help his friend Videl to rake leaves at her house, his first thought was ‘How hard could it be?’

He forgot to factor in that Videl’s house just happened to sit on ten acres of land.

Normally, when the head of the Satan house wanted his multiple yards cleared of dead leaves, he’d send out his dedicated pupils to do the job. For some reason, every single student of Hercule Satan’s wanted to set foot on the hallowed land, no matter what they had to do to do so. Unfortunately, thanks to a sudden wave of flu infections, none of Hercule’s worshipers could jump at the opportunity to clean up the mess.

So naturally it fell to Videl to handle the mess; and there was no way she was gonna spend, only Kami knows how long, cleaning up foliage. She was gonna spread her misery with anyone dumb enough to volunteer.

So far, she had tricked…err…persuaded the Son boy and the two blonds into helping her.

Standing on the patio, the four high school students, decked out in cold weather clothes and jackets due to the chilly air, stared out into the sea of brown, orange, and red leaves. It was gonna take quite some time to rake this mess up.

“So…tell me again why we have to do this?” Sharpner spoke up, looking at the endless waves of nature’s collateral damage.

Videl sighed. “Because the people who usually do this got sick with the flu.”

“How do you want to do this?” Gohan asked. “Should we go solo or go off into pairs?”

“I say pair,” the Satan girl said. “We can take shifts on who rakes and who holds the garbage bags.”

“I like the sound of that,” Sharpner said. “Here Videl, you can start raking and I’ll hold the bag.”

“I guess that means you and I are a couple,” Erasa said to Gohan, giving him a smile and a wink. “Perhaps we can make this more fun than it has to be…just the two of us…”

The Satan girl began rubbing her temples. This was not how she wanted to spend her day—working with a perverted jock while her best friend got her thing on with a boy in her backyard. Nuh uh, no way was that happening. “I have a better idea. I’ll partner with Gohan.”

“Huh? But why?!” Erasa whined. “I wanted to be with Gohan!”

“Yeah! Let Erasa be with Nerd boy,” Sharpner agreed.

This time, Videl scowled. “This is my house, so I call the shots. You two are working together and that’s final!”

The blonds backed down, grumbling as they began making their way to the edge of the patio. However, before they stepped off, the Satan girl spoke up.

“And before I forget, be careful while raking. I don’t want anyone triggering any of Daddy’s booby traps and getting hurt.”

All three of the girl’s friends jerked their heads to look at her. “B-booby traps?” Sharpner stuttered.

The daughter of Satan rolled her eyes. “Yes, booby traps. Did I stutter?”

“But…why would your dad have traps out here?” Gohan questioned.

“To make sure no boys can sneak into the house. He doesn’t want anyone with a Y chromosome anywhere near me; especially at night.”

A silence fell over the group. They all knew Hercule was protective of his daughter but to rig one’s backyard to become a war zone was a bit excessive.

Eventually, the two teams of teens ventured onto the lawn and began their menial task. As the sun made its way through the sky on its familiar path, dead leaves disappeared from the dying grass. Over by the patio, a nice pile of black trash bags sat, growing higher with each added bag of leaves. Those bags were soon accompanied by the jackets the students wore as the day warmed up. If one were to see this sight, they would say the teens were accomplishing something as the size of the pile grew.

One look at the yard told a completely different story.

Though they had been working for hours, the four youths had only gotten about fifty yards away from the patio; sweat rolling down the faces of three of them. Oddly enough, only Gohan wasn’t perspiring throughout all of their work.

And of course, due to her being his partner, Videl noticed this.

The Son boy couldn’t help but feel a shiver crawl down his spine. He could feel it all the way into this toes; someone was glaring daggers into the back of his head. If only it was someone other than Videl.

“So tell me, Gohan,” the dark headed girl said after awhile. “Why is it you’re the only one not sweating?”

“I-I’m not sure what you mean,” the demi-saiyan replied, still working at the leaves as he made a neat pile of them.

“We’ve been out here for quite some time. It’s starting to get warm out here and we’ve had to take off our jackets. Everyone except for you. Yet, you’re the only one not sweating. Why is that?”

The boy flinched. He knew he should’ve partnered up with Erasa. At least she’d be too busy raking the leaves to notice his lack of being normal, or so he thought. He still wasn’t sure what she was getting at when she said they could make this fun.

“Well? I’m waiting.”

“Uhh, shouldn’t we focus more on raking?” Gohan spoke. “The more we rake, the sooner we’ll be done.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been at this all day. We’re gonna have to spend the next few days on this little project so you might as well tell me what I want to know.”

The Son boy froze. Oh Kami no, he couldn’t do this for multiple days on end! With the determination Videl had, all of his secrets would be spilling out of him before he could stop himself. This was bad; this was really bad.

“Well…you see…” he stammered.

Videl’s eyes bored into his head. “Go on.”

“I’ve lived my whole life in the country, so I’ve had to spend a bunch of time outdoors—”

Suddenly, the Satan girl was right in front of the boy, scowling up at him. “So what? I’ve been outside too and I’m drenched with sweat.”

Gohan began shaking his hands in front of her, his rake falling to the ground. “I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant that I grew up outdoors so I’m use to different temperatures.”

Videl continued to glare. “That makes absolutely no sense. You should be sweating regardless of different temperatures.”

Damn, she was good. Videl was like a dog with a bone; once she was after something, she wouldn’t stop chasing it until she caught it. Why, oh why, did she have to be smart too? Oh what wouldn’t the Son boy give for some intergalactic tyrant to land on the planet just so he could take over the world.

Hello? Anyone? Damn, did all the galactic tyrants die off with Frieza or something?

“Now you listen to me,” Videl said in a deadly tone. “I know you’re hiding something. Stop coming up with excuses and tell me what I want to know or you’ll be learning how to drink your food through a straw.”

Suddenly, a loud explosion erupted across the yard, a cloud of smoke rising into the air. Both dark haired teens jerked their heads to look at the cloud before they ran over to see what was the cause behind it.

When they arrived, the two found Erasa staring wide eyed at a charred Sharpner as smoke wafted from his body. Apparently, the blond jock had found one of Hercule’s booby traps.

It was as if time stood still; that was until Sharpner fell to the ground, twitching every once in awhile.

“W-wow…” Erasa stammered before her mind was completely overwhelmed from shock, causing the blonde to faint.

“I think…we should call it a day…” Gohan finally said after awhile.

Videl nodded her head slowly in agreement. However, before she could voice her concurrence, the Satan girl remembered her face off with the boy next to her. There was no way he was getting out of it that easily.

Whipping around to look at him, Videl’s scowl appeared on her face once more. “Oh no, you’re not getting out of this that easily. You’re gonna tell me what I want to know right now!”

Gohan stared at the girl for a few moments before sighing out loud. “Okay, fine. The truth is I’m from an alien race of warriors that are use to harsh conditions.”

Videl stared at the Son boy for quite some time before she snorted her contempt. “Fine, keep making excuses. I’m just not in the mood to deal with this anymore.” Moving over to Erasa, she picked the girl up and began carrying her back to the mansion. “Just pick up Sharpner and bring him to the house, okay?”

Gohan just stared at the retreating girl. Well, he had told her the truth and look where it got him. A peeved Videl and two unconscious friends.

Kinda made him wonder what Videl’s reaction would be when she found out he was telling the truth.

To nikkii: Glad you liked it. Thanks for reviewing.