Chapter 3: Training

The next morning Vegeta changed into the restricting fabric of his school clothes. Vegeta ate his meal and grabbed his school bag. Before walking out the door he made sure his tail was secure under his shirt and pants. He walked out of the house and breathed in some fresh air. The young Saiyan exhaled before taking off into the sky.

At school he once again was overwhelmed by the massive amount of teens pushing their way through the front door. He made his way to his locker and tried to get it open so he wasn't late for class again. Not wanting to have destruction of school property on his record only on his second day in, he didn't try too hard.

"Locker not agreeing with you again." came a voice from behind him. Vegeta turned fast to see a smiling Chikara. Today her outfit consisted of long sleeved, black and purple striped, shirt. which was hang off of one shoulder. Her pants were ripped; her shoes were the same; and her gloves were the same. Vegeta let out a grunt Chikara took that as a 'yes'.

She stepped around him to the locker. Like the day before she pulled back a fist and hit the door hard. It again shook then swung open. "There you go, Vegeta." Chikara said patting him on the shoulder. He flinched a little under her touch.

As she walked away Vegeta looked at her. I do not have feelings for this female. She down right disgusts me.

At lunch Vegeta was invited to the same table as last time. He sat next to Chikara again and did little talking he mostly listened to the conversations of the young Earthlings.

As the bell rang everyone said goodbye and walked on. But Vegeta was stopped by Goku.

"Can I ask you something?" Goku asked. Vegeta shrugged. "Do you fight?"

What kind of a question was that? He was the Prince of Saiyans, of course he liked a good fight. But then again the student he unwillingly socialized with didn't know that. Probably would think he was crazy if he said that.

Vegeta hesitated but he answered, "I … Yes."

"Great, why don't you join us at the Turtle Hermit School?" Goku had a wide smile planted on his face.

"That wouldn't be a good idea I might hurt some of them." Vegeta regrettably said. He really didn't care if he hurt some weak Earthling but his cover would definitely be blown with all the questions about his unearthly strength.

"Don't worry we'll go easy on you." Goku chuckled.

Vegeta felt dumbfounded, this guy actually thought that he was afraid he might get hurt. Vegeta was going to say something but he saw Goku had a look of thinking on his face. Then he said, "We can train together alone till you feel you can go up against the others."

Vegeta knew that answering no was not an option. So he agreed. If I hurt him he might reconsider.

"Okay, meet me at the gate to the schoolyard. We can find a nice open area." Goku exclaimed.

"There is a lot of open field where I live." Vegeta suggested.

"Wonderful! See you later." Goku waved as he headed for his class.

For his last period Vegeta again walked passed the school garage where he saw Chikara in the same attire from yesterday. She was joined by her sister. Chikara didn't notice him or maybe she was ignoring him. But Vegeta didn't mind. He watched her for a moment as she lifted a piece of metal and used a blowtorch to seal it in place. He scoffed as he walked on to his class.

Chikara had been working on many things since the beginning of school but this machine, this project, was the best and most important, she had to finish it. She was working on the body of the machine so that it could stand the wind sheer of flight.

"Hey, Chikara." came a voice from behind her.

Bulma threw her arm around her sister's neck. "So you hear about the dance coming up?"

Chikara nodded, "I'm not going so don't ask."

Bulma recoiled, "What! I can't believe you're not going. You don't have to bring a guy."

Chikara sighed, "I don't care, if I have to wear a dress then forget it." Chikara walked over to a wall with many hanging tools. She picked up a blowtorch that was sitting on the table below the other tools.

"You should go maybe you can find a sucker … I mean guy who is brave enough to dance with you. That new kid Vegeta is cute. He'd be a good choice." Bulma snickered. "And I think he likes you. You like him too, don't you?"

"I'm more interested in the upcoming tournament then a stupid dance and some new boy. What a waste of time."

Bulma sighed, "Fine, have it your way, but you'll see, you'll wish you had gone." And with that she left Chikara to continue working on the car.

Why would she even think that I would go to some stupid dance. I have more important things to do with my time.

Suddenly Chikara felt like she was being watched. As she welded a piece of metal to the side of the car frame she glanced over to see Vegeta. Just as she saw him he turned and continued down the hall.

That day after school Vegeta met with Goku as promised and they both headed to the field around Vegeta's home.

When they got to Vegeta's home they went inside. Vegeta went to his bedroom to change his clothes; Goku went to the bathroom to do the same. Goku looked around the house, it was small, but well fit for the number of people that lived in it. He pulled out his training clothes and quickly changed.

As Goku walked out of the bathroom he was looking to find Vegeta but instead almost bumped into a very big muscular man. Goku stopped short of hitting the man. He looked up at him to see he had a mixed expression of confusion and anger.

Goku gulped then spoke, "Hi, I'm Son Goku. I'm a friend of Vegeta's. You must be his father?"

"Guardian. Name's Nappa." The man said.

"Nappa? Your early." Vegeta said as he emerged from the bedroom.

"Vegeta who is this kid?" Nappa asked the young teen.

"He will be a training partner of mine for awhile." Vegeta responded.

Nappa snickered softly, "Okay but don't go hurting each other." Nappa said patting Vegeta on the head. "Oh, by the way Raditz won't be home tonight he got stuck with the graveyard shift."

"Fine, fine." Vegeta waved off.

Goku and Vegeta began there training shorty after some stretches. Vegeta was caught off guard by how well Goku was doing. Goku as well was surprised at Vegeta's fighting know how.

Toward the end of their training Goku threw a punch that knocked Vegeta to the ground. When he hit the earth his shirt came untucked and his tail became exposed.

Goku exclaimed, "Wow, you have a tail!"

Vegeta scrambled to his feet. He tried to pull his shirt down but it was to late.

"Cool, I thought I was the only one!" Goku laughed. "Well I don't have it anymore. Can't remember how that happened."

"Wait. What? Like this one?" Vegeta uncurled his tail from around his waist.

"Yeah! Exactly. I thought I was the only one! I didn't know other people had them too. Bulma and Chikara told me no one else had tails!"

"Wait, wait, wait a minute," stammered Vegeta. The pieces of an unknown puzzle began to fall into place. "Kakarot?"

"What?"

"You're Kakarot? You're Raditz's brother?" Vegeta could hardly believe it. "Why didn't you finish your mission? What are you doing here?"

"Wait. Now I'm confused. What's a Kakarot? Is that a food?"

"It all makes sense now. Your power." Vegeta ran a hand through his own bangs. "But then what are you doing here? Why are the people of Earth still alive?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You were sent here to purge the planet when you were a baby! Don't you remember your mission?"

Goku scratched his head. "Why would I kill everyone on Earth? I'm trying to protect people. Not hurt them."

Vegeta was stumped. "Did you… did you suffer a head injury or something?"

"Well, my grandpa told me I fell once as a baby. I've got a killer scar back there. Wanna see?"

Vegeta crossed his arms, deep in thought. "Yes, that would make sense. A severe enough concussion might change behavioral patterns or natural instincts. You really have no idea what I'm talking about?"

Goku laughed. "Nope. Not at all."

"I'm a Saiyan," began Vegeta. "You are too. We are a warrior race from the planet Vegeta. There's only three of us left in the universe, not including you."

"Now you sound like the one that's hit his head," said Goku. "And I Thought your name was Vegeta."

"It is. I'm the Prince of Saiyans. The planet is… was named after the royal family."

"Was?"

"It's gone now. Destroyed by a tyrant named Frieza. He's the one that killed the rest of our race."

Goku sat down in the grass. "This is crazy. It's too much."

Vegeta sat down as well.

"Who're the others?" Goku asked after a moment.

"The others? Oh, the other Saiyans," Vegeta said. "Nappa, the one you met, and Raditz, your brother. They are my guardians. We deserted from Frieza's army, and we're laying low on Earth for a little while."

"Hey," said Goku. "Can you, um, not say anything to anyone about my powers? No one really knows about it except Bulma, Chikara, Chi Chi, Krillin, and Yamcha. I don't really want anyone else to find out."

"I just gushed my entire life story to you and claimed to be an alien from outer space, and now you're asking me to keep your secret?" Vegeta laughed. "Kakarot, you're too much."

"If you're an alien, I guess that makes me one too," reasoned Goku.

"Fine," said Vegeta. "If I keep your secret, then that means you keep mine too. No blabbing about anything I just told you. Not even to your friends. Deal?"

"Deal," agreed Goku. "As long as you don't call me Kakarot around them."

"I guess that's fair."

Goku punched Vegeta lightly on the shoulder. "Vegeta, I think this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Vegeta punched Goku back a little harder. "Don't push your luck, Kakarot."