Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or its characters.
Author's Note: It really took some time, I know, but here it is chapter 7! School has started again and I'm quite busy. The final year for sure is hard. But I know that you really don't care about this, so just enjoy my work :)
Towards Tomorrow
Chapter 7 – Let's go to the mall
Fantasy, abandoned by reason,
produces impossible monsters;
United with it, she is the mother of arts
and the origin of marvels.
- Francisco de Goya
What a shame for the prince of all Saiyans. He was degraded to sit next to a woman, not able to drive this machine properly, to hide his tail and to wear this pathetic excuse of vesture.
But what wouldn't he sacrifice for his king and the galactic overlord? He made a list in his mind of what he already learned about the human race.
1: They like to communicate. A LOT.
2: If he wouldn't kill them all off, they would kill themselves if they let this woman continue driving.
3: Their taste of clothing was disturbing.
''Woman, you'll get us killed!'', Vegeta shouted, not honestly concerned.
''Oh, shut up! You survived a spaceship crash! And for your information: I am a good driver! Never had any accidents.'' He noticed that criticsm always upset her and he enjoyed her anger. Everytime she was angry with him, Vegeta noticed, how she wrinkles her nose. He studied her habits from time to time. On Vegeta-Sei, no one had such a significant and telling mimic. It fascinated him how openly this stupid woman showed her emotions.
''I disapprove that. Where are we going to anyway? If we survive this ride, of course'', he provoked her even further. The woman gritted her teeth but obviously decided to swallow her comeback.
''At first we buy you proper clothes for the party tomorrow and then I intended to buy some liquor, as well. And at the very end of our shopping trip, I am going to find a nice dress for myself'', she informed him while enumerating the things she had to do today with her slimsy fingers.
Well, what time could that take? Half an hour, maybe, Vegeta thought.
A short time later they pulled into a giant parking lot that belonged to an even bigger building. It was almost as big as his palace on Vegeta-Sei. It really impressed him. It's coat of paint though appeared to be spalling and the beige color had faded because of the sunlight touching it every day. The building had a lot of windows, really wide panorama windows, everybody could simply look inside. What human being was living inside of these walls, he wondered, at least a prince.
But to his surprise a lot of people made their way in and out through the strange door. It opened by itself, it seemed. Everytime someone was walking towards it, it opened and after they had entered it closed again. And the other way around, as well. And not a single one of the trespassers appeared to be royal, at all.
''And that, my friend, is my second home: The mall'', she proclaimed exitedly. Did he hear that correctly? Did she really call him her friend? And what for god's sake was a mall? He was shortly to find out.
The woman parked the driving machine and made her way to the entrance, Vegeta following short after, being quite curious what he would find inside of these walls.
It was brighter inside of the building than outside, everywhere shining and blinking signs that tried to hash the people's attention. Vegeta saw moving staircases and people dressed in animal costumes, handing papers to other people. It was very loud as well, thousands of people talking and music playing in the background. There were crying children and mothers shouting at them to calm down, school girls laughing hysterically at some boy's jokes. Two dogs barking at each other, a man in a uniform running after a teenage boy, shouting at him. It was cruel.
''Woman, I want to leave this place immediately'', he informed her, trying to stay calm.
He had faught in the cruelest battles, defeated the loudest enemies but still, he could not handle this situation in this god damned mall. He had no power to control what was going on, had no idea how to act casually, to fade in with the mass, to outsmart his opponents, but before, even defining who his opponents were. The old lady with the obviously cheap wig and the little stroller infront of her in which she wheeled a cat, he was sure, meant no harm.
The blue-haired harpy turned around, looking him straight in the eye. She was surprised and could really not understand why he would possibly want to leave, it made the impression.
''But we just got here! We have things to buy! I would be considerate of your well-being, but we really have no other choice. We make it quickly, okay?''
She gave him a warm smile and this feeling returned. He looked away, cross-armed.
''Alright'', he hissed. ''Woe betide you if you dawdle, woman''
''Great! Come on, let's hurry then!'' She longed forward and before Vegeta could guess what she was about to do, she grabbed his hand and pulled him after her. He could have easily crushed her hand but he didn't. It was so small and fragile and also warm and soft. To his dismay he liked the feeling of her holding his own hand. But he banned that thought from his head the second after it came to his mind. He didn't do it, because he had to behave to get more information, he told himself. He was on a mission, he was here to study this weird species.
They entered the first store that only sold men's wear. It was softly illuminated and very open with symmetrically arranged racks. The clothes looked expensive and elegant but still they didn't meet Vegeta's requirements. Vegeta didn't bother to look around, the woman was already making her way through the store, releasing his hand.
He waited near the entrance and watched her collecting different pants and button-down shirts that had the colors of the rainbow. Normally, he didn't care what he was wearing but he was sure that he wouldn't want to wear a violet pair of pants or a bright yellow jacket.
When she had finished her collecting, she came back to him, handing him the dozens of different pieces of clothing. Shirts, pants, shoes, even underwear and socks in all kinds of colors.
''Would you try that on, please?'' The look she gave him really spoke for itself. She was having the greatest of times.
Vegeta looked around, there weren't many people in this store. He put the pile of clothing to the ground and started to strip off his T-Shirt. Bulma was watching speechlessly at first, guessing what he was about to do and when she finally realized she made hasty gestures with her hands and tried to hide the partly exposed Vegeta from everyone's gazes by jumping and dancing around in front of him.
''Oh no, Vegeta! Not here! In the changing room!'' The woman stopped him right in the move, pulling his shirt down again.
''You don't want the old lady to have a heart attack, do you?'' Vegeta turned around to find an old woman with a shocked expression on her wrinkled face. The blue-haired woman giggled rather amused.
She handed him back the things he was told to try on and showed him where it would be appropriate to change. In the changing room, he searched through the pile and then decided to take random things to try on, not knowing what would fit together and what wouldn't. Where he came from it was rather common to wear one-piece suits.
The pair of bright yellow pants he chose were pretty tight and the pink button-down shirt tauted over his back.
''Do you already tried something on?'', she asked him from outside.
''I won't show you. This is ridiculous!'', he answered, looking at himself in the mirror.
''Oh, come on! If you don't come out, I will come in!'', she threatened him.
That woman was such an enigma, why was she acting as if they were close to each other?
''Alright, alright'', he said while opening the door. And she? She tried to hide her amusement. Quickly she put a hand onto her mouth to hide her smile but he already saw it. He narrowed his eyes. No one was allowed to make fun of the prince of all Saiyans.
''Stop laughing, stupid woman! This isn't funny at all! I will not wear this!''
''Well, I guess you need a bigger size. Plus that are definitely not your colors'', she stated. ''Even though the slogan might fit.'' For sure she was referring to the words Bad Man, written on his back.
She was not the only one laughing; two boys only a few meters away were looking at him and started laughing, as well, not trying to hide it.
''Is he gay, or what?'', one of them said.
''For sure he is, look at him! He's a faggot!'', said the other one.
Vegeta was about to explode. He knew what the term meant, he had heard it before on another planet. That was to much, he would punch the living shit out of these two shitheads. He made one step, when a small hand on his chest stopped him. Before he could say anything, she already started talking.
''Excuse me? Have you been talking about my boyfriend, here? I have to disappoint you two close-minded idiots. He is not. And just for your information, if he was, it would be a great loss for all women. He is simply doing me a favor, because he's a real man and not a brainless school boy. But I feel sorry for you two, the only women you'll ever get to kiss, if you continue to be that childish, are your mothers, I guess. You are lucky that I am here, otherwise you two would be dead on the ground, so say thank you'', she said.
The two boys were speechless. They simply stared at her in shock. You could tell that they wouldn't have expected such words from such a small and nice appearing woman. The slightly smaller guy tugged on his friend's sleeve like a scared infant.
Vegeta made another step forward. ''The woman wasn't kidding. So say thank you'', he growled.
Fear struck the boys' faces.
''Thank you, Miss'', said one of them.
''Yeah, thank you'', said the other one.
And then they quickly left the store. The woman next to him laughed loudly when they were out of sight. ''Well, that was fun. But now change, it really does look terrible. Try the dark blue suit, I think the color suits you most.''
With that she pushed him back into the changing room. He searched for the mentioned suit, while thinking about what she had said a minute ago. She used the term boyfriend and loss for all women. What had gotten into her to say such things? Was it just to browbeat the boys? How dares she to call the Saiyan prince her boyfriend? He was the one chosing his mate, not the other way around. And surely he would never choose that annoying harpy. She was not worthy enough to be with a prince. She was nothing. Someday she would find a weak human boyfriend, have a couple of kids with him, be unhappy for the rest of her life and dreaming of the prince's mate's life. Pathetic. Vegeta was sure.
After a while of searching, he found a pair of dark blue pants and a white button down shirt. He put both on and also a jacket in the same blue tone. Then he stepped outside to show the outfit to the woman.
''I have to admit: That suit looks really good on you'', she said, slightly blushing.
''Everything looks good on me'', he responded arrogantly. That was a lie, the previous outfit looked terrible even on him.
''For sure, mister prince. Get changed and we buy that. Then we have done a third of the things we have to do, already!''
They had bought the suit for Vegeta and Bulma bought the liquor her father needed for his birthday party. After they carried the bottles to the car, they returned to the mall and to a store for women's clothes. Bulma really enjoyed the shopping trip but also noticed that Vegeta hated it as much as she loved it. But he surprised her because he did everything she had told him. Something was different. Sure, he still was rude but it seemed like he was trying to behave. But also as if he was observing something, monitoring something. He never relaxed, never lost his focus, never stopped concentrating. But still, somehow he was different. That didn't fit at all. But for now she enjoyed it, probably regretting it later.
Vegeta seemed relieved when he found a chair for him to sit down. This trip exhausted him more than a six hours training with his comrades.
Bulma looked around the small store. They hadn't the greatest assortment of dresses but every single dress they had was something special. That was why Bulma preferred this store to others. It had charme and a nice atmosphere and the sales assistants were always friendly and patient with her.
She chose a simple red dress with short sleeves and a low neckline, ending shortly above her knees, a green one that was cut rather tight, sleeveless and had a lace belt around the waist, and also a yellow one. But she wasn't sure about the last one, because it might not fit to her hair.
Bulma got into the changing room and put on the red dress. She liked it, it was plain but somehow very elegant. She left the changing room to ask Vegeta about his opinion. He was still sitting on the chair and didn't bother to look up.
''So, what do you think?'', she asked him shyly.
He took a look at her. ''You look like a prostitute'', he simply stated.
Bulma turned around again, blushing fiercely. Just because the dress was red didn't make it a prostitute's dress. She couldn't even bring herself to respond to that statement. But she still had two others to try on.
Vegeta thought that she looked like a frog with the green dress on and like a clown with the yellow one. Bulma had reached her limit of tolerance.
''Alright then, what shall I wear then? Green looks froggy, red looks cheap and yellow clownish. So what would you advice me to wear?'', she shouted.
''You simply have no taste, woman. That is the problem'', he responded, laughing meanly.
''So, I guess you could pick me the perfect dress, huh? Well, go on. I will wait in the changing room'', she said, leaving him alone.
To be honest, she hadn't been serious. She was just frustrated and decided to return tomorrow without him. What did she think? After all, Vegeta still was an alien prince, arrogant and rude and not used to being around human women. It was naive of her to think that he would change in just a few days. Probably it would never happen at all. The day his friends would come to find him, he would leave and never come back. She should definitely stop acting like a teenage girl and give up on him. He was not going to change that was just an illusion.
She was just about to put on her normal jeans again, when a hand reached over the door and threw something inside. It landed next to her feet. She picked it up and discovered that it was a dark blue dress. The material was soft and flowing. It was floor length. Where did it come from? Did Vegeta really - ? At first she hesitated but then decided to at least try it on and was surprised that it looked stunningly beautiful on her. The dress had short loose sleeves, embroidered with golden and red beads that even reached to the neckline, it was tight around her chest. Below her waist it loosened, flattering her feminin hips. The dark blue made her cerulean eyes shine bright. That's the one, she thought exitedly. And Vegeta had picked it for her. Maybe he had fashion sense after all.
She changed again into her pair of jeans and her plain white T-Shirt with the words 'Capsul Corp.' on it and left the small cabinet. She wouldn't show it to him until the birthday party when she would do her hair and put a nice make up on.
''So?'', he asked, smiling arrogantly.
''I'll buy it. It's great, really'', she said, trying not to sound to enthusiastic.
He seemed pleased with himself and stood up, ready to leave.
They bought the dress and left the mall, not saying a word to each other. The ride home was also rather quiet. From time to time, she started to sing along to some songs she liked, but Vegeta always gave her a dunning look and she stopped. She couldn't sing, didn't even catch one right tone, but you could see, it was fun to her.
Home again they brought their purchases inside of the house. Before Vegeta could leave again to continue training, she stopped him.
''Thank you for coming with me, I had a great day'', she said and reached up to him, kissing him on the cheek. Vegeta appeared shocked, unsure about how he should react to her act of affection. But before he could destroy the moment with a rude comment she turned around and ran upstairs. She wanted the day to end like this, holding on a little longer to her illusion.
