>>6154233A mere 5 centimeters away from Videl’s face, Maple shouts, <span class="mu-s">“PEPPA HAD A MEDICINE BALL DROPPED ON HER HEAD! DID YOU DO IT, <span class="mu-i">DID YOU?”</span></span>
In the face of one of the strongest persons on the planet’s hysterics, instead of backing up, Videl Satan snarls. “Hell no!”
Maple glares at her, her teeth clenched and huffing… then backs off, descending to the sand chair. She reclines in it and lets out a sigh, which starts a coughing fit.
Now a bit disgusted, Videl crosses her arms, looking away from the well-respected former champion and savior of her mother. …ugh, she is the savior of her mother. May as well. “I could smell the smoke on your breath. You really shouldn’t, Ki is Qi and Qi is Breath. Forget about way down the line, if you get in a fight today and you can’t breathe right, you’ll lose. Big time.”
Maple gives her a pained grin, half chuckling and still coughing. “Thanks for looking out for me, sweetie. But I wouldn’t worry about it, cuz… I’ve died before. May as well live a little!”
Videl shakes her head. “No, you can’t live a little. You have a lot to live for, Maple.”
Maple smiles up at her. “...well, damn.” She laughs, looking over her notes once more. “Just got told. Tell you what, I’ll give you a ring if I survive the day, I do have some fights ahead of me.”
Videl lets a puff of air out her nose, and uncrosses her arms. “So any other questions for me? And why are you so sure I didn’t after I said I didn’t?”
Maple presents a pamphlet on The Noble Eightfold Path, and explains, “I have the power to tell when people are telling the truth by following these eight simple steps, you should check it out sometime! And I do have more questions, I just needed to get the easy one out of the way.”
Videl nods… “‘The easy one.’ That was the easy one?”
Maple nods, and pokes her notes, “Though she got hit with a medicine ball and passed out, after reviewing her memories with telepathy, she had a clear enough vision of your friend, Erasa Paru, laughing at her misfortune from a window above.”
Videl shakes her head, “That makes no sense. Erasa wouldn’t-”
“That is what Peppa experienced. She had doubts that Erasa could aim a medicine ball to fall on her from a third-story window, and figured you,” Maple regards Videl with a grim look, “had hated her enough to help Erasa with this prank.”
“...” Videl looks down. “She thinks I hate her?”
Maple continues, “Peppa thinks there’s a reason for it. Ever since the Valentine’s Day Incident, the two of you have been distant.”
“...”
Continuing, Maple lists off, “She roped you in on holding the class up for a bag inspection, she wouldn’t tell you what exactly she was looking for, but she would be forced to confide in her cousin, and then seemingly assaulted her cousin to the point of bleeding. And before you could determine what happened, she left to go see Izzy in private, against your advice.” With a sigh, Maple admits, “Yeah, she was asking much of your patience that day.”
