Chapter 2

It was a morning like any others for Bulma Brief, the younger daughter of one of the best scientists on Earth. Dr. Brief, as people often called him, was the person to invent the technology called the Hoi-Poi Capsules. A tiny capsule, able to fit into one's pocket, can contain things far bigger than itself, ranging from household appliances to a whole fully furnished home. Their usefulness had made them a worldwide phenomenon. Dr. Brief became a millionaire in a week and had founded the Capsule Corporation in West City to further improve and expand his inventions. The second floor of the three stories tall building was where she was, enjoying her usual refreshing morning bath. It was always a good thing to do before school. A nice hot bath to prepare her for a long boring day ahead.

Bulma had lived up to everyone's expectation as the daughter of such a brilliant scientist. She was the smartest girl in the junior high she was attending. But when you were so good at most of your classes, going to school became a dull thing to do. Needless to say, the blue haired girl was not expecting much when she woke up that morning.

Bulma leaned back, letting herself sink lower into the warm, foamy water. Maybe she should ask Vivian if she wanted to go get some new dresses at the mall after school. She heard there was a sale going on too, better go check that out before that annoying chick Cindy did. Yesterday, during breaks, Cindy had taken her boyfriend around school, showing him off to everybody like a new pair of shoes. She just wouldn't shut up about him and had taunted Bulma for not having one. It was so frustrating, yet true. Despite her intellect and (at least according to her and her mom) good look, Bulma hadn't been so lucky with her love life. She had tried dating a few boys but it all didn't end well. She actually didn't mind that much, but Cindy's behaviour was getting way out of hands.

"I wish I had a boyfriend...I'll show that bitch."

Her daydreaming words had been interrupted abruptly by a really strange sound, like something was moving really fast and-

CRASH!

Before her very eyes, an unidentified object broke through the roof, taking half of the bathroom along with it. The object crashed into her backyard, creating a gigantic crater.

Bulma was dumbfounded for a whole minute, her mind refusing to register what had just happened. Then came the panic. She climbed out of the tub, grabbed her towel to cover herself and looked out of the hole the thing had made on her house. She could hear her mother's shrieking from downstairs. Her father was on a scientist conference in North City so she wasn't so concerned about him. But sweet Kami, what had just happened?

After it had shot out a blast of cooling air, the round spacepod hatched open. The long haired saiyan stepped outside. He took in a breath of the fresh air and smirked. He had almost completed his grand escape. Only one more step.

Raditz levitated himself out of the hole, he turned to face the sphere one last time. It was his favorite.

"Goodbye old friend." He raised his hand and blasted it as hard as possible. Similarly to his old "comrades" 's pod, it cracked, and exploded on the inside. He used his finger to shoot smaller energy blasts at the left over parts just to be sure. Then once all of that was done, the saiyan just burst out laughing.

For once in his miserable life he laughed wholeheartedly. It was awesome. He had taken his revenge on the two bastards, and got away scratch free! From now on, he would have no one tell him what to do. No more space conquests, no more freaking creepy Frieza soldiers, no more senseless beatings. At least not until they figured out where he went. For now, he should just enjoy this. There were so many things he wanted to do, but afraid of ruining the saiyan image. Vegeta was always so serious about it.

So, the first thing he did, after destroying his only way of getting out of the planet, was to un-warp his tail. It had gotten so stiff after a long time it was made to stay around his waist. And this time there was no Vegeta or Nappa to reprimand him about it. So yeah, fuck saiyan etiquette. He looked down at his tail, amused by its movement. Then,

"YOU ALMOST KILLED ME YOU FREAKING HAIRY SON OF A- AAAAARGH! WHAT ARE YOU? A DRUNKARD? YOU BETTER GET OVER HERE AND FIX THIS OR PAY FOR THE DAMAGE!"

A female (he guessed) shrieking distracted him. He looked behind him but saw nothing. Then his eyes followed the continued sound of cursing and yelling to the second floor. There it was. An assumedly female Earthling, almost naked with a soft cover around its body. He was a bit surprised as to how similar their body structure and his own seemed. But then again, he noticed no tail on her. The female continued yelling in the galaxy universal language, though certain terms was unfamiliar to him. He ignored her though. After a whole year in space, he was starving, and the Earthling didn't seem to possess any food on her.

Then, he noticed another female coming out from one of the doors below. This one was blonde, taller and had a funny expression on her face. She came out and paused in surprise at the sight of him. She put a hand on her cheek in shock when she also saw the hole and smoke behind him.

"Oh my. Young man, are you hurt?" she asked cluelessly.

The blue haired female upstairs had stopped yelling when she saw the blonde woman. But soon looked angry again.

"Mooom! He caused this! Look what his stupid plane done to my bathroom!" The younger female raised her voice again, though not as annoyingly loud as before.

Raditz snickered at the word 'plane'.

Normally, he would have to kill them. But he was a free man now, so he decided to let the people on this planet live. Oh, it felt great to be able to 'decide' something. Just then, his stomach growled so loud he wondered if the two assholes in space could hear it.

The blonde woman smiled sweetly. "Oh are you hungry dear?"

The saiyan looked at her, still a bit of suspicion lingered in him.

His stomach growled again.

He nodded. Suddenly a bit embarrassed because of how she stared at him.

"Oh poor boy~"

He was even more surprised when the blonde woman wasn't afraid to come over, put a hand on his shoulder and started pushing him toward the house. Now that she was next to him, he realized he was a whole head shorter than her. "Come on dear. No one should be starving at the Brief's. Come inside, I'll get you something to eat~"

"Moooooom! Didn't you hear what I just said?!" He could hear the blue haired one's voice raining down from above as he was pushed through the door.

"Oh my, how long had it been since you last ate something?"

Mrs. Brief asked, tilting her head curiously. She had never seen anyone eat so much in her life. The teenager she brought into her home had just cleared her whole refrigerator, and still demanded more. She had to take more food from the pantry and called the family chef to make more. Even the young cook was shocked to see it.

"I suppose I'll have to go make a call to the delivery service or we'll all have nothing for lunch..." The man had said before leaving.

"One year." The long haired teen replied, not looking up, still gorging himself.

"Really, dear? Why is that? Did you run away from home?" The woman asked with real concern. Though she had already guessed since she knew some parents wouldn't like their child having such a rebellious hairstyle.

The strange boy glanced up as he swallowed a mouthful then wiped his lips with one hand. He shrugged. "Something like that." He then pointed at the empty plate of takoyaki. "This stuff is good. You got more of it?"

"Oh sure. I'll tell our chef to make you another plate." The cheerful woman giggled.

"Make it five." The boy raised five fingers, now chomping on a drumstick.

"Oh I love to see young people so eager for food. My daughter Bulma keep refusing to eat because she afraid of getting fat. I think youngsters like you kids should enjoy your food so you can grow strong and healthy. Oops I'm rambling again. Anyway, you should try the sweets I made."

She put a jar of cookies on the table for him. But suddenly, the jar was snatched from the table by pale, young arm.

"Mom! You can't just feed anyone who comes to our house, let alone some drunk-flying delinquent who broke half our second floor!"

There Bulma stood, with her chest puffed, folding her arms. She had now gotten herself into a stylish outfit: A blue denim skirt, a black and white striped sweaters, a black choker on her neck and a pair of sneakers. Her hair now dried and tied up in a pony-tail. Even after such event, the girl still had time to dress up for school. She even had her makeup on. It was as if nothing on Earth could make her leave the bedroom unprepared.

"Oh but Bulma, dear, this poor young man is starving."

"What about our home? Who's gonna fix it?" Bulma stomped over and stood face to face with the long haired stranger. She snatched the food away from his hand and proceeded to point a finger at him threateningly. "Now you listen here! I don't know who you are, and I don't care, but you have destroyed our home, ate all of our food and made a mess in our kitchen. So you had better pay up! Or I'll have the police take care of you."

The boy just looked at her, then as if thinking she wasn't worth talking to, snatched the plate back. Surprised but still wanting to stand her ground, Bulma pulled the plate back. The long haired boy growled angrily and pulled the dish toward him, and Bulma along with it.

"Kyaa."

The blue haired girl slid across the table, unable to resist the boy's strength. She closed her eyes to avoid the food on the way and ended up landing on the stranger's torso. Despite a layer of armor, she could still feel the warmth of his body. They both stared at each other, her face really just inches from his. Bulma's face turned red. Her heart started pounding. She hadn't been that close to a boy in a long time. Her last boyfriend was actually a year ago.

It was when they heard the voice of Mrs. Brief coming back into the room that snapped them back to reality. She pushed herself away from him and realized her clothes were covered in sauces and pieces of food.

"So I just called the chef, he said he will bring more food over in 30 minutes- Oh my, what happened to your clothes?" The blonde woman stood in surprise at the doorway.

"I- He- Ugh!" Bulma stomped in frustration, her face still a bit red. "I'm going to be late for school. I'll deal with you later, you- hairball! You better done something to fix the damage when I get back or else!" She turned back to point at him once again. "And you smell like crap!"

"Bulma, dear, language." Mrs. Brief scolded softly.

Raditz had quickly gotten over the little quarrel with the young female Earthling and just focuses on the food. By the time he was satisfied, the amount of plates and bowls had nearly reached the ceiling. He was amazed by the unexpected good result of his random choice of planet. The food was far better than anything he had tasted before in space and the Earthlings seemed to be too hospitable. At least aside from that blue haired one.

Mrs. Brief had decided it was time to intrigue him about his origin. She kept trying to make him talk while she was putting the plates into the dishwashers. Now too full, the saiyan had gotten sleepy and too lazy for talk, but since she had fed him, the teen had tried to keep her company. So far he had learned her name was Panchy Brief, wife of a scientist, and mother of that crazy blue haired chick. (Speaking of the chick, he had caught a glimpse of her stomping pass the kitchen in a new outfit, sending him an angry glare as she did.)

"Raditz? That's an interesting name. Are your parents farmers?" The woman smiled.

"No." He leaned on the chair, putting both hands behind his head.

"Then what do they do?"

"My mother butchers animals. My father takes over planets."

Panchy was dumbfounded for a moment, then put a hand over her mouth and giggled. "Aw. You kids and your video games."

"I don't know what that is."

"You don't? I'll have Bulma show you later. So, where're you from?"

"Planet Vegeta"

"I've never heard of such place before."

"It exploded. A meteor hit it."

"... Oh. So your hometown is gone?"

"Yep."

"And your parents?"

"Didn't make it."

"What about your relatives?"

"They all died in the impact. I was away from when it happened."

There was silent, and then the blonde woman started sobbing, which made the saiyan turned to look. No one had ever cried hearing his story before. Most people had joked and laughed about it. So it was surprising and awkward for the teen to see Mrs. Brief's face full of tears.

"I'm so sorry I asked, dear. You must have been terrified." She walked over and attempted to give him a hug, to which he dodged.

"It's- it's fine. It's been years. I've gotten over it." Replied Raditz uncomfortably. He never had to deal with such things before. Usually, when people cried, he ended up killing them…

"It's just so sad. I could never imagine my Bulma living without her parents." The woman sniffed. "If -sniff- if you have nowhere else to go -sniff- you can live with us here. I'll talk to my husband, don't worry." She stepped closer, still wanting to give him a comforting hug.

"I- " Raditz backed away and felt his back pressed against the wall. He was cornered. And saiyans weren't fan of being cornered. The teenage saiyan clenched his fist and punched through the wall behind him to make his escape. He jumped through the hole on the wall and just broke through the window of the next room. He stood panting against the wall outside the building, heart racing fast. He wasn't ready for that.

"My goodness, young man. Did you just break through my window?" A voice out of nowhere made him jump. Ever since he had lost his scouter, Raditz felt like he was half blind. His senses had been relying on the device for so long he couldn't sense someone creeping up on him without it.

He turned to look and saw a male Earthling. He looked older than the other two he had encountered with the thick moustache. His hair and facial hair were both light purple in color. He had a pair of glasses on his face and wore a suit and tie. The man was also carrying a suitcase.

Shocked by his sudden appearance, Raditz couldn't utter a word. He looked at the window then at the man.

"Oh honey, you're home?" Mrs. Brief's voice saved him the trouble. The blonde woman looked at her husband through what was left of the window with her eternal smiley face.

"Yeah. The neighbors called me. They said something happened to the house so I wrapped things up early." Mr. Brief answered his wife, the cigarette on his lips moved up and down.

At the reminder of what had happened, Panchy broke out crying again.

"What happened? Is Bulma alright?" Surprised to see his wife in such a state, Dr. Brief urged her. His first guess was that something had happened to their daughter.

"No, she's fine. It's something else." Mrs. Brief cleaned her eyes with a tissue. She then proceeded to tell him about Raditz and what had happened, along with his tragic backstory.

The saiyan didn't know why he decided to stay. Could be that he was curious to see what was going to happen, could be all the food he had had clouded his better judgment.

"My god. So you are the only survivor?" Asked the scientist in shock.

Seeing no harm in telling them, he answered anyway. Maybe if he make them feel pity enough they would give him more food later. Now that sounded like a plan. "There were two others. But they like to beat me up so I took a spacepod and ran away."

"That's horrible." The man exclaimed. But then he blinked in confusion. "Wait, did you say space-pod?"

"I did."

"As in?"

"It's a spaceship. But it's round so they called it-"

"So you're from space?"

"Uh huh."

"Like. Real space? Not something like the Yogurt Space?"

"What's a yogurt?"

"Sweet Kami! Where is the pod?" The man put both hands on the boy's shoulders and shook him eagerly.

A few minutes later, Dr. Brief's heartbreaking cry could be heard throughout West City. The poor scientist was hugging what was left of the space pod, crying uncontrollably.

"NOOOO! ALL THE TECHNOLOGY! ALL OF THEM! GONEEE! WHYYYYYYY?!" He held the blackened pieces and continued weeping.

Raditz watched him in confusion. It didn't make sense to him why someone would cry for a space pod, especially when they didn't even know what it was a minute ago. What was wrong with people around here? But watching him like that did make him feel bad a little.

"I had to blow it up so they won't be able to track me." He shrugged.

"Well, it's already gone, dear. Why don't we all get inside and have some drinks?" Panchy put a hand on her cheek and tilted her head.

Dr. Brief sighed. He stood up from the wreckage but still stared at it. "Perhaps some part's still undamaged. I'll bring it into my lab later." He then turned to the young saiyan. "As for you, my boy, if you are planning to stay on Earth from now. How about you come leave with us? I would like to hear more about your life in space."

"Live with you?" Raditz blinked. He did liked having a place to sleep and all of the food he had from their kitchen were delicious. He was about to accept the too good to be true offer, but a thought crossed his mind. Did he really deserve this? The old man wanting to know about his life in space made the horrible images of the time he slaughtered a family of aliens came to mind, along with all his other slayings.

Influenced his mother, Raditz wasn't entirely cold hearted. More than once he had purposely let those running from him get away, mostly if it was a mother and child. But whenever Vegeta and Nappa were there, they would make him finish the job. And he had to, or they would have deemed him worthless (not that they hadn't already) and kill him like the rest of the planet's inhabitants. He had told himself to like it, forced himself to laugh along with his comrades, but sometimes he thought about the look on their faces when he was alone. The look of shock, hopelessness and pure terror. Gine once told him she hated it and so never wanted to be a conqueror. Raditz didn't think much of it before. As a child, he wanted to be a great warrior like his father and did enjoyed killing. However, ever since the day his parents were gone, he had developed a soft spot for families. Unlike his two comrades who hated their parents, the long haired saiyan was devastated to lose his. He knew what it was like to lose someone he cared about. But unlike his mother, he had to get the job done for his own sake and thus, it was either kill them all so they wouldn't be separated, or let them live to grief together while he get belittled by the other two saiyans. Most times it was the former option, as his pride didn't allow anyone, especially Vegeta, to have a chance to think lesser of him.

No, with such a record, he deserved none of this. These Earthlings had been kind to him because they didn't know anything he had done. If they had, they would be running or attempt to chase him away.

"So? What do you say?" The old man's voice pulled him back to the conversation.

The saiyan looked at both of their eager faces. Made up his mind, he took an intimidating stance. His head held high and his arms crossed.

"HAHAHAHA YOU FOOLS!" Laughed Raditz. "You have been tricked. I'm not just any alien from space. I'm a Saiyan, a race of alien conquerors. I have come here to take over your planet and sell it to an evil galactic overlord! And now that you idiots have fed me, I have enough strength to slaughter you all!"

The couple blinked at him then looked at each other. They seemed more confused than scared. It looked to the saiyan that some demonstration was needed.

He formed an energy blast in his hand and shot it toward the building. With a loud explosion, another large portion of the building was blown off. Both of the humans stared in shock.

My goodness. That was Bulma's bedroom." Dr. Brief sweat-dropped.

"Oh dear…" Mrs. Brief sighed.

"That's just the tip of my strength, Earthlings." Raditz laughed. But then, he stopped when he saw their expression hadn't changed. "Doesn't that scare you?"

"Raditz, my boy, if you had really wanted to kill us, we wouldn't be standing here." Dr. Brief puffed his cigarette.

"I- You-" Raditz gasped in disbelief. The old man had a point though…

" So, are you going to live with us, dear? We'll take care of everything. And maybe you can go to school with our sweet little Bulma. You look to be around her age!" Mrs. Brief clapped her hands together.

"I- You people are Crazy! I have killed thousands and millions of people on other planets. My hands have been stained in blood ever since I was a mere child." The saiyan teen yelled, ignoring how his tail was nervously dropping between his legs. "Would you still want to keep a cold blooded killer in your home?"

"As long as you agree to not do that anymore~" Said the blonde woman, completely missing the point.

"I LITERALLY JUST BLEW YOUR HOUSE UP!" Screamed Raditz.

"Oh don't worry, sonnie. I'll call someone to fix it all up in no time." Replied the scientist without a care in the world.

Raditz stood dumbfounded, then hung his head low in defeat. "Fine then…"

"So you agreed?" Asked Panchy expectingly.

"Do what you want… "

"Oh my! This is great!" She clapped excitedly then lunged forward to hug him again. This time, the saiyan didn't dodge. He was too busy trying to let all of the weirdness sink in to even care when she pulled him inside while her husband made a phone call.

A strange, yet familiar feeling swelled up in his mind. It felt warm. Like… Like when his mother would give him a welcoming hug when he got home.

But they were complete strangers…

Perhaps…

No...

Maybe…

But…

The young teen thought of sneaking away, but then, he looked up at Mrs. Brief, at how cheerful she seemed and the thought crossed his mind.

He wanted to stay.

Author's note: Thank you guys for telling me about Tights. I didn't know xD