-ShadesRaditz: your review(Y) aha I love Maron in TFS, simply excellent.
-Nova.81: Oh the triangle-y goodness, don't think I'm done with 17 just yet, oh no!
-nikki-michelle: you are simply lovely! I'm glad you are enjoying this story.
Please read, review and more importantly ENJOY :)
Love: HerosReprise
DB – High, the teenage life…
Chapter Nine – Now I see
Radditz entered the Mess Hall on Friday morning, holding Barry Allen in the air 'Simba' style. Radditz and Mai were both miming the words to My Heart Will Go On – Celine Dion which was playing through Mai's iPhone 4 speakers.
"What the hell is wrong with you guys?" Chi-Chi asked.
Mai just glared at her and continued her song.
"They have to give back Barry today I'm guessing," answered Krillin.
"Thank God," 17 exaggerated his satisfaction.
Mai stuck her tongue out at him as Radditz stole the only seat left at their small table.
"Hey, I was saving that for Turles!" Chi-Chi complained.
"Just sit on his lap," Radditz winked at her, "I'm sure he won't have a problem with it."
Goku frowned at the topic and got up to get seconds for his breakfast, he really wasn't in a mood to talk about or to Turles, especially on an empty stomach.
Radditz pulled Mai by her arm onto his knee since she didn't have a proper seat.
"Hey Mommy" he cooed into her ear.
"Hey Daddy"
"Please stop calling each other that, it's creepy," Launch complained.
"But we think Barry may speak his first words soon, he'll only say 'mommy' or 'daddy' if he hears it enough," Mai responded and poured two glasses of juice, handing one to Radditz.
"Ok, creepy sociopathic pretend parents in denial aside, did you guys hear about the fight last night?" Yamcha asked
"What fight?" Tien queried.
"Apparently, the Cold twins were ganging up on Vegeta and those guys again as always, but Turles stepped in beat the fuck out of them, both of them," Yamcha retold the story he heard from Burter and Jeice.
"What?" Chi-Chi demanded, surprised he hadn't said anything about it before.
"Yeah they were saying he was so mad he just ended them. Pretty decent huh? I don't even think Goku could have done that," Yamcha and the other guys were quite impressed.
Chi-Chi loved a good fight, but in the parameters of the Martial Arts. She hated when the talent got mixed up with violence and brutality. She preferred fighting for the sake of exceeding your own personal boundaries and becoming the best.
"Weird, he didn't say anything about it last night," 17 pondered.
Radditz frowned a little, his best friend didn't say anything to him either, and that was something he expected he would at least mention.
Turles, Broly and Nappa entered the Mess hall together and pushed in front of Goku in the breakfast bar line.
"Hey, do you mind?" Goku growled.
The three ignored him and remained in their position. It was rather childish, but an assertion of dominance all the same.
Goku just folded his arms and watched them purposefully empty the breakfast bar so he would have to wait even longer. They laughed in his face as they sat at their own table.
A little hurt at the sight, Radditz pulled his arm around Mai's waist and hugged her in close for comfort. He was not prepared for his friend to return to their previous clique without him, and without even saying anything to him about it. Mai shifted on his knee so that she could look him in the eyes.
'It'll be alright' she mouthed and decided to take everyone's mind off of the incident and tell them all about how Barry and Gure and Tarble's daughter would grow up and get married and make mechanical grandbabies. She went into great detail what the wedding would be like and how Radditz would probably be the first to cry. He grinned at her wild ridiculous imagination.
Just before first period, the students needed to report back to their dorms since a random inspection had taken place whilst they were eating. Vegeta had specifically avoided breakfast so he could hide all of the cigarette boxes and his vodka flask in one of the spare dorms he managed to jimmy open.
No prohibited items were found in any of the dorms but the students had to return all of their clothing and other items which had been thoroughly searched through to their rightful positions.
Chi-Chi fixed her stuff up and then went to look for Turles, luckily he was still in dorm 2. She was glad he hadn't moved back in with his old friends yet. She asked if they could speak alone and 17 and Radditz politely stepped out to get to first period classes.
"Are we ok?" she asked.
"Yeah, why wouldn't we be?" he shrugged, as he continued to repack away some of his clothes into a drawer.
"Well you just didn't tell me about the Cold twins, or sit with us at breakfast," she stated, not particularly mad, just curious how he really felt.
"I'm sorry Chi-Chi, I just honestly don't really like your friends. I mean, the guys in this dorm are ok, but the rest, especially Kakarot, I just can't stand."
Chi-Chi frowned a little, having her boyfriend get along with her friends meant a lot to her, but at least he was honest about it.
"Ok…" she said, "what does that mean for us?"
He walked to her and lifted her into a comforting hug, smiling and kissing her cheek.
"It means, I want to be with you," he said, which she couldn't help smiling at, "But, if it's alright with you, I will just have my own friends as well."
Chi-Chi supposed she was ok with that, she knew she would never stop hanging around her own friends for him so why should she ask him to do the same. But she was worried how it would turn out and what it would mean for them in the future.
"Ok" she smiled and kissed him on the forehead.
As the uneventful day drew to a close, Mai and Radditz fake cried, well their friends couldn't really tell if it was fake any more, when they gave Barry back and also received the highest mark in the class for the project.
After school most students were either getting picked up by their parents or heading to the train station to get home for the weekend.
"So you're not coming home again?" Tarble whined to his big brother.
"Why would I, I already saw the woman early this week," Vegeta retorted and placed his arms over his chest.
Tarble felt a little defeated and didn't bother asking any further, walking away to catch his train.
In their dorm room Chi-Chi and Bulma were packing their suitcase for their long awaited trips home.
"So you're going to see your dad Chi?" Bulma asked
"Yeah, he's picking me up soon, what about you, are you going home to West City?"
"Yeah, but Dad has to finalise some things in the lab before we leave, and I'm going to the Robo-Tech lab room to continue my project until he is ready to go."
Chi-Chi had noticed, Bulma had been spending a lot of time on this project which was not even due for several more weeks and was supposed to be done with a partner.
"Anyway, I can't wait to see Mom again, I miss her," Bulma added.
Chi-Chi smiled at the memory of Bulma's hair brained mother. The lady probably already had all sorts of baked treats ready for her husband and daughter to come home.
"Ok, well, have fun and I'll see you Sunday night," Chi-chi said on her way out to meet her father.
"You too," Bulma smiled and gave her best friend a big hug.
Bulma had asked Vegeta to meet her in the Robo-tech lab room at 4pm sharp. They were supposed to have had their designs finalised but had spent most of their class time bickering over whose ideas were stupider.
At 4:20pm Vegeta wandered in, a bored expression taped on his face. He found her on her hands and knees setting up a bunch of equipment, a small robot already partly constructed.
Her face was dirty from the greasy equipment parts she was handling and her hair a dull mess. She had been working on this for some time now.
"Your late," she announced without facing him, "I don't like to be kept waiting Vegeta."
He took a look at the poorly constructed red robot she had placed in the centre of the room on a blue sheet.
"I thought this was supposed to be a group project and this looks really stupid," he huffed. They were only supposed to have their idea finished not actually have started on the construction.
She scowled at his insolence.
"Just, don't say anything for 10 minutes please," she growled, as she turned some other strange equipment on.
She put a white half headset on her left ear which had a red transparent glass that covered her left eye. She fiddled with some buttons on the head set and the glass displayed a computer interface, which she continually navigated through until she found what she was looking for.
"Here, put this on," she pulled it off of her face and handed it to him.
"W-"
"Don't!" she held up her hand, "Just do it, and say nothing," she narrowed her eyes.
Annoyed, at her nagging tone, he put it on reluctantly. She had a second one that she slid over her face as well.
"So I did some research on this superhero called Daredevil."
Vegeta raised his eyebrow at the mention of his childhood hero.
"He was blinded by toxic waste, but as a result his other senses were heightened and it gave him this 'sonar vision' type of thing. Now watch this."
Bulma turned the lights to the lab off and with a remote turned on the dodgy red machine. It began to move around the floor, making an annoying vibration noise.
"Flick the scouter on," she motioned to Vegeta to click the top button on the headset. He did so.
Through his right eye, he could see only a blue sheet and a brick like red robot driving around aimlessly.
Through his left eye however, looking through the 'scouter,' the robot took on a more human appearance. Very similar to the actual 'Daredevil' from the comic books Vegeta used to read so many years ago.
The blue sheet was transformed into a bird's eye view of a busy city at night and 'Daredevil' began jumping between rooftops. Other crims and thugs who were not visible through his right eye, were appearing through the scouter and being attacked by the red robot.
It was unrivalled the most amazing thing he had seen and to think she had built it from scratch. It was as if he was previously blind and could now see.
After a couple minutes of Vegeta staring in awe, the robot began to malfunction, with sparks flying and smoke beginning to form.
"Ugh, No! You stupid robot!" Bulma grumbled and flicked the lights back on, pulling her scouter off, attending to the bot.
Vegeta was still utterly amazed at the display, regardless of the malfunction. He wondered how long she had spent on this. The scouters themselves were amazing on their own yet she had somehow captured the essence of a character he remembered all too well.
"Woman, I thought this was supposed to be a group project?" he shouted again, when he realised that she had basically finished the assignment for them.
"It is you jackass, I could really use a hand you know this is only like 1/8 of the way to being completed." When it came to academics, Bulma was a perfectionist.
Although Vegeta was certain if they showed this project to Dr Gero now she would have produced the best assignment he had ever seen, he was interested in how much better it could get.
"Anyway, what do you think? Are you happy with the concept?" she asked lightly, still focusing on fixing the bot.
Impressed was an understatement, it was amazement that Vegeta was feeling, but there was no way he would admit that to her.
"I guess it's ok," was his toneless response.
Bulma smiled largely, "You really do like it," she laughed, knowing that that was the closest he may ever come to telling her she was actually good at something.
She started launching into a bubbly explanation of all of her ideas and when and where they would meet up to accomplish them and by what particular timeframe.
He wasn't really listening to her but noticed she began to step backwards almost into the path of her scouter was on the ground.
"Watch out," he said lightly and he slid an arm behind her back pulling her forward clear from stepping on her little invention that was the most impressive element to her project.
Locked in a close proximity, his arm wrapped strongly behind her, he did not immediately release her from his grip. Her crystal blue orbs for eyes gently meeting his coal dark mysterious ones. "Thanks," she breathed back.
A light knock on the lab door, tore them from the unusual embrace. Vegeta's scowl returning to his face as he pushed her away and picked the scouter up, off of the ground. Dr Briefs appeared in the doorway.
"Sweetie are you ready to leave?" he asked.
"Yeah dad, just give me a minute to pack up," was her sickly sweet reply.
Vegeta rolled his eyes and began to exit not bothering to help her pack everything up.
"Vegeta, do you need a lift home? Or to the train station?" Dr Briefs offered as he walked past.
"No," he mumbled, "Thank you."
Bulma's eyes widened at the strange manners Vegeta display. 'Weird,' she thought.
The students had a refreshing trip home, well most of them did. Launch was as miserable at home as she was at school, even seeing her parents didn't managed to cheer her up out of the slight depression she had recently fallen into.
Bulma's mother did in fact have a variety of baked goods waiting for her, which when Bulma told him about her visit home, Goku made a mental note to visit Bulma in the future, any chance he got.
Bardock was happy to see his two sons and Eruca was disappointed Vegeta didn't make the effort to come back but didn't let that spoil her time with Tarble.
Chi-Chi was happy she got to see her dad although was feeling rather miserable come the following Saturday which was the 8th anniversary of her mother's death.
She made a big deal about staying strong and not needing to go home but inside she felt a bit like a mess. Perhaps it was because the past week at school has been particularly difficult.
Chi-Chi found that Turles seemed to spend most of his time with his other friends. He hadn't swapped back dorms yet, his reason being he was still hating Vegeta and was doubtful that would change. She was upset that Turles wasn't making as much time for her, nor had he even taken her on a proper date yet.
She also found that she was spending a lot more time with Goku, who she shared almost all her classes with. He was very easy to talk to and never demanding of information which Bulma was at times. He was simply considerate and kind to her, which she really needed from Turles at that point.
In the Rec room on the Saturday afternoon the group was hogging the couches. 'The group' included Goku, 17, Radditz and Mai who were on the main couch, having an intense Xbox tournament, which somehow Mai was dominating at.
Chi-Chi, Gure and Krillin who were sitting on the second couch waiting for their turn to play although Chi-Chi couldn't care less if she got a turn or not, she wasn't in the mood.
And, Yamcha and Bulma, who were sitting together on an arm chair drinking coffee and having their own polite conversation, discussing the progress of their Robo-Tech projects or lack of progress in Yamcha's case, he was finding it very difficult to work together with Launch. Launch was off sulking in her dorm which she had been doing most of the week and Tien was studying for his finals which were coming up in a couple of months.
"Hey guys?" Tarble asked as he walked in. But was responded to with waves and a variety of 'not now's', from the couch dwellers.
"Mom, sent me a bunch of movie tickets for the Cineplex and they're going to expire soon, do any of you want to come?"
"Right now?" Krillin asked.
"Tonight at 7," he said.
A variety of excuses came up and only a few said they would want to go. Most of them had a lot of study they wanted to get done or other crap like that. Tarble didn't really care who came as long as Gure would come and she said yes straight away.
Chi-Chi decided she should go. She felt if she didn't do something to distract her about her mom, she might start crying.
"Turles, will you come see some movie with me and my friends?" Chi-Chi asked later that afternoon when she found him typing on his laptop at his desk, in his dorm.
The idea really didn't appeal to him, he was sick of Chi-Chi's friends, Kakarot especially, but the rest of them were no better.
"I'd rather not, I have to catch up on an English paper anyway"
Chi-Chi was beyond upset at his refusal. If he thinks that he can just get by, without taking her anywhere or put any effort in he has another thing coming. Especially when she is the one to suggest a date that he doesn't even have to pay for or organise, how dare he refuse.
"Fine," she said through gritted teeth, and he realised he had upset her.
She turned to storm out and he got up from his desk chair, "Wait Chi-Chi," he called. But she had walked away far too quickly.
After Mai and Radditz claimed they were 'busy' whatever that means, the two has been inseparable since the baby project but no one was sure if they were actually together, only Goku, Chi-Chi , Gure and Tarble walked down the quaint street to the small Cineplex together.
The Cineplex had about two cinemas, and seated maybe 35 people maximum. It was very rustic, and kind of romantic. The four really didn't care what movie they saw, it was nice just to get away from the school for a bit and do something else.
Tarble and Chi-Chi went to get popcorn and candy bar treats whilst Gure and Goku found the best seats, there didn't seem to be anyone else in the cinema, so they took the middle row.
"Why are you so nervous?" Chi-chi asked Tarble, who was acting so strange.
"I'm not" was his stoic response, plastered with a scowl.
"You know, sometimes you are a little like your brother" she commented.
He frowned, "Fine, I guess… I want to impress her."
Chi-Chi's eyes went wide. She's been spending too much time worrying about Turles, she didn't even realise there was something going on with Tarble and Gure.
"Oh my God, that's great!" she was genuinely excited, immediately deciding the two would be perfect for each other. "I mean, don't try too hard to impress her. She probably would just like it if you be yourself."
"You think that's enough?" he questioned the advice.
"Of course it's enough" she smiled, and he eased up a little.
Chi-Chi returned with two large popcorns, in the hope that Goku would at least leave her a quarter of one of them.
"Goku? Are those 3D glasses?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool everything is in 3D," he said, looking around the theatre.
Gure and Tarble just face-palmed at the idiot, "I tried to explain to him before but he didn't believe me," Gure whispered to Tarble and they lightly laughed.
"Oh Goku," Chi-Chi sighed and grabbed the glasses from his face, she lightly brushed her fingertips to his cheek in the process.
"See, now I can see your lovely eyes and you can see the 2D movie."
He smiled brightly, his usual dorky grin she was thinking he was smiling at her but he was actually looking at her popcorn waiting patiently for her to pass it to him, like a dog waiting to be walked.
"Here you go," she said handing him the huge bucket.
"Thanks Chi! You're the best," he smiled brightly at her.
The opening credits started to roll and Tarble sank into his seat a little too anxious to pay attention. Whoever came up with the idea of seeing a movie as a first date really didn't think it through, you couldn't talk to each other, you just had to awkwardly make a series of lame moves without knowing if the other person thinks your sane or not.
Gure lifted up the armrest that was between them and she moved in closer to him, sensing his apprehension. This made him a little more relaxed. He put his arm warmly around her as she leaned her head onto his shoulder, this was exactly how he wanted it to go.
Chi-Chi was not paying attention to the movie initially either, in fact she just watched Goku inhale almost two large popcorns in awe. His bright eyes were glued to the screen and a look of confusion evident in his face. He kept asking her who the guy in the hat was, and if he was coming back into the movie soon.
"Goku that was a commercial for another movie," Chi-Chi sighed.
"Oh"
A normal person would find his simpleness difficult to deal with. Chi-Chi didn't mind it at all. In fact she felt it was refreshing to be around someone who didn't act like they knew everything. If Goku was anything, he was genuine.
Even though she had a boyfriend, and his fingers were most likely covered in a layer of popcorn butter part of her wished he would hold her hand. 'Friends can do that right?' she thought.
She peeked at Tarble and Gure from her peripherals. She didn't think they were in the plutonic category anymore. Which just reminded her that Turles should have been the one here making her feel better on this particularly hard day, not Goku.
Chi-chi placed her face in her hands for a moment.
'What's wrong with me?' she wondered, 'Turles is great, he may be acting like a dick right now, but he is still great. Isn't he?' she continued to doubt herself, and question all of her decisions.
'If only mom was here, she'd know what to do' she thought.
"Chi-Chi? What's wrong?" Goku whispered.
"Will you come with me to get some air?" she asked.
"Ok," he smiled, probably grateful he would have an excuse for not following the movie.
Goku nodded at Tarble as he followed Chi-Chi out. She walked quickly to the fire exit, and stood next to a pillar in the open air, watching the moon in the sky.
She thought back to moments in her childhood when her mother would talk to her about the moon, about how it was placed in the sky just for her, to protect her from harm.
"My dad used to tell me that the full moon heals all," Goku said as he arrived by Chi-Chi's side.
"What do you mean?"
"When I was very young, I used to cry a lot. Everything just seemed to upset me," he chuckled at the long since vanished truth. "Whenever I was particularly sad, my dad would sit me on his lap and bring outside to look at the sky. He told me that the moon had special powers, and would heal all wounds, even a sore heart."
Chi-Chi felt tears pull at her eyes, those words were almost synonymous with what her mother had told her. She didn't want to think of her mother anymore, it wasn't fair she was only 8 years old.
"I believe him, you know. My dad"
Chi-Chi wrapped her arms around Goku's waist, burying her face into his chest so that she could hide her tears. Perhaps it was something about Goku's kindness that reminded her of mother a little.
"I'm sorry about your mom Chi," he may not be book smart, but he certainly understood what Chi-Chi was feeling at the moment, "I'll bet she was as lovely and pretty as you."
She tore her face from his chest, 'how dare he pay me such a divine compliment,' she felt a rage burning in her gut, 'how dare he be so strikingly beautiful in the moonlight.'
Her arms betraying her, with all her might she raked her fingers into his spikey ebony hair. She noted regardless of its appearance it actually felt clean and soft. She pulled his face onto her, placing her soft lips onto his without protest. Her anger manifested into a deep vengeful kiss.
His unrehearsed kissing manner was of no deterrent, she simply wanted to punish him. For being so horribly perfect. She grasped his large arms sliding her hands up his shoulders and around his neck, Deepening her kiss, her desire.
He was reluctant, partly because he was new to the whole concept, not that he hadn't thought about it with her before, but he was mostly reluctant because he was under the impression she was not free for his arms, for his kiss. After failing to hold back for any longer he brought his arms around her lower back and cuddled her in towards him.
Softening her angry demeanour he pulled away from her to allow her to breathe. He glided his fingers under her chin, and gazed into her chocolate brown eyes that he wished he could dry from tears. He held her in close for a moment longer, stoking her soft black hair allowing her to let her sorrow free in his arms.
She returned the strong embrace, a feeling Goku was particularly new to. The corners of his mouth curling into a hint of a smile as he held her in close to shield her from the cold of the night.
He was hoping she would be the first to speak, since he was certain he would probably say the wrong thing and wreck this blissful moment, but it was silent for some time, until he began to feel her shiver.
"Chi, take my hoodie," he whispered into her ear.
She took it and slipped it on, it was incredibly oversized, it felt as if it hadn't been washed in a while and the orange was a hideous colour on her… she loved it. She could smell him on it, on her.
'What am I doing?' she began to panic. She desperately tried to bring back a logical thought process. Turles was so far from her mind she actively had to try to return him to her immediate consciousness. 'What have I done?'
