Saved By The Sun

A few miles away, Vegeta had put quite a bit of distance between them and the vampires. Feeling safe, he stopped and gently put Toushiro down before looking back to make extra sure.

Vegeta: "We'll be safe here for now, but it won't take them long to find us."

Vegeta looked up towards his captain and was surprised to see the young captain shaking in fear and cowering at him.

Vegeta: "Toushiro, what's wrong?"

Toushiro: "S-Stay back, V-Vegeta! D-D-Don't come near me!"

Vegeta wasn't sure what was going on with the young captain. As he tried to take a step closer, Toushiro pointed his sword at him!

Toushiro: "I mean it! Stay away!"

Ok, now Vegeta was really confused!

Vegeta: "Toushiro, what's gotten into you?"

Toushiro: "You're a vampire aren't you!?"

The saiyan prince suddenly realized what had his captain so scared of him. He thought he was a vampire like everyone else!

Vegeta: "What makes you think I'm a vampire?"

Toushiro: "Fangs, pale skin and dark eyes!"

Fangs? Sure Vegeta's upper eye teeth were a tad bit longer than average but they weren't what you'd call fangs. Piccolo and Dende were the ones with fangs, not him.

Vegeta: "I've always had these, you know that."

Toushiro: "Still... How do I know you aren't a vampire?!"

Vegeta raised an eyebrow with a look that said: you're really gonna make me prove it, aren't you. With his eyes never leaving Toushiro, Vegeta grabbed the tip of the boy's Zanpakuto and brought it up to his face. Toushiro watched as the saiyan used the tip of his sword to slice a shallow wound across his right cheek. The second Vegeta released the sword, a small amount of blood ran down his cheek, as he had hoped. Vampires don't bleed so this proved that Vegeta wasn't a vampire. Vegeta just smiled and wiped the blood from his cheek as Toushiro relaxed.

Vegeta: "I'm still the liveliest person here in the Soul Society."

That was both figurative and literal as the saiyan prince was still a living person amongst a world with nothing but souls of the dead. Toushiro breathed a huge sigh of relief. He was very glad to see that his second lieutenant wasn't a vampire. But what about the pale skin and dark eyes?

Toushiro: "If you're not a vampire, then why is your skin pale?"

Vegeta: "I was training around some white sandstone rocks. The dust gets everywhere and sticks like nobodies business."

Toushiro: "And the dark eyes?"

Vegeta: "Lack of sleep."

Toushiro: "Ohh, phew... Sorry for pointing my sword at you, Vegeta. As you can see I'm a little scared right now."

Vegeta: "A little?"

Toushiro: "But how is it that you're not a vampire?"

Vegeta: "It's kinda hard to bite someone who knows how to haul ass, ha ha ha!"

Translation: they couldn't catch him. Toushiro just chuckled. But the laughing soon stopped. They had a big problem. Toushiro and Vegeta were the only ones in the Seireitei that weren't vampires. Although he was strong, Vegeta could not fend off everyone on his own if they decided to attack as one. Especially with Toushiro in tow. They'd need help. As to where to get help, Toushiro had no idea. But Vegeta seemed to have an idea.

Toushiro: "What are we going to do, Vegeta? How can we kill the Head Vampire without becoming vampires ourselves? And for that matter, how are the others going to be restored if their blood is gone?"

Toushiro watched in bewilderment as a sly grin spread across the saiyan's lips.

Vegeta: "I think it's time I took you to see Baba."

Toushiro: "Baba? You mean Fortuneteller Baba? That old woman who rides that crystal ball all the time?"

Vegeta: "That's her."

Toushiro: "But what can she do?"

Vegeta: "She's going to help us with our first problem."

Toushiro: "And the second?"

Vegeta's grin only got bigger.

Vegeta: "Heh heh... Shenron."

Toushiro: "Who's Shenron?"

Vegeta: "Wait and see."

Toushiro: "But I wanna know now!"

The saiyan chuckled. Sometimes Toushiro was just so innocent that it was cute! Toushiro knew about Baba from Goku and the others and had seen her once before, but he's never actually 'seen' her. And as for Shenron... The young captain had no clue as to what Vegeta was talking about.

Vegeta: "Come on! Let's get out of here while we can."

Toushiro: "Ok."

Vegeta: "Follow me and stay close."

Toushiro: "Right."

Keeping close, Toushiro followed Vegeta as the saiyan leaped from rooftop to rooftop. It was much easier and safer for them to use the rooftops then to go back down to ground level. At least up here they could actually see where they were going. After about two hours of leaping across the rooftops and avoiding vampires, they finally made it to the Senkaimon.

Toushiro: "I never thought we'd get here."

Vegeta just smirked. But then he gasped and looked up with a snarl!

Toushiro: "Vegeta, what is it?"

Vegeta: "We have company."

Toushiro gasped just as he heard a familiar voice. He looked up and saw the vampire Ikkaku, Yumichika and Renji standing above them!

Renji: "Didn't I tell ya?"

Yumichika: "What luck that we happened to get here first."

Vegeta: "Toushiro, get the Senkaimon open now!"

Ikkaku: "Trying to escape, huh? Fat chance!"

Ikkaku sprang down towards Vegeta who roared in defiance! He had fought Ikkaku enough to know what was coming first, his sword's sheath. Vegeta took a step back to dodge the sheath and then sprang forward, grabbing Ikkaku's sword in his mouth! Renji suddenly appeared behind the saiyan prince! But it seemed that, even as a vampire, he had a short memory. There were four things you should always avoid from Vegeta and those were: Avoid his teeth, avoid his charge, avoid his hands and most importantly, avoid his kicks! Anyone who's been kicked by Vegeta say that it's exactly like getting kicked by a horse! Renji's never been kicked by a horse, but that changed a second later after one swift kick knocked him out cold in seconds. Just watching it made Toushiro cringe! While Vegeta was kept busy by Ikkaku, Yumichika went after Toushiro.

Yumichika: "Why don't you join us, Captain Hitsugaya? It's so much fun!"

Toushiro: "No way! I like the sun!"

Ikkaku was suddenly thrown into Yumichika! Clearly, Vegeta could easily overpower him.

Vegeta: "And speaking of the sun..."

Vegeta pointed east. A hint of light colored the sky. Dawn had arrived and that meant the sun would soon be rising. Ikkaku and Yumichika quickly grabbed Renji and retreated as fast as they could. For vampires, sunlight was lethal.

Toushiro: "Perfect timing."

Vegeta: "Truly. Let's go."

And with that, Toushiro opened the Senkaimon. Without a Hell Butterfly, they had to go through the Dangai Precipice World. They both ran fast to avoid the Cleaner that regularly comes through. in no time, they were in the Living World. Dawn was turning into sunrise which meant they were safe for now.

Toushiro: "So what now, Vegeta?"

Vegeta: "We head over to Baba's. She'll be able to tell us what to do."

Toushiro: "Good."

And they set off to see Fortuneteller Baba. Vegeta flew into the sky and Toushiro followed behind. By the time they were half way there, the sun had risen. Toushiro followed Vegeta as best he could. He couldn't fly like Vegeta or the Z-Fighters so that made it difficult for him to keep up with the mighty saiyan prince. Looking back, Vegeta saw this and immediately stopped in mid-air.

Vegeta: "Why don't I carry you, Toushiro. It'd be much easier, not to mention faster and time is of the essence right now."

Toushiro: *Pant, pant* "Ok Vegeta."

Toushiro climbed on Vegeta's back and held onto the saiyan's shoulders as they took off once again. With Vegeta in control of their speed, it wasn't long before thy arrived at their destination.

Vegeta: "We're here."

Toushiro peered out from behind Vegeta's back and looked down at the scene. They were in the middle of a wide desert and in the center was a big lake. At the edge of the lake was a palace with two buildings connected by what looked like a circular tournament ring in between them. Slowly, Vegeta descended to the earth below. Once his feet were touching the sandy ground, he let his young passenger off. As he followed Vegeta to the first building, the young captain just looked around the scenery in amazement. It was Toushiro's first time here after all, in fact it was his first time anywhere else aside from West City, the Lookout and Karakura Town. To this day he still hasn't been to Goku's house, Kame House and many of the other places the Z-Fighters and their families were at. Vegeta stopped in the middle of the first building and gave out a loud whistle.

Vegeta: (Whistle) "Baba! You here!?"

Toushiro stopped just behind Vegeta as an old woman siting on a crystal ball came floating over.

Baba: "Still as rude as ever I see."

Vegeta: "Bite me, you old hag. We need your help."