Thanks, leebee14 and Merifaye. :-) And sorry for the wait, everyone it's been pretty busy with college. The next chapter is still in progress, but I figured it would be safe to upload this one for you.
Chapter Nine
At Capsule Corp in West City, Vegeta was on a mission. His target, however, was nowhere to be found, and so, given no other choice, he hunted down the blue-haired female. He didn't bother with niceties when he found her, there was no time for such luxuries that she likely would have preferred.
He stalked up to her, fists clenched in frustration at his sides. "Woman, where is your father?"
"Dad?" For once, Bulma made no protest to being called by that name. Maybe it was his expression, Vegeta decided, which he couldn't quite force down from showing the turmoil in his mind. "He's at the office, but I don't think he'll be available until this evening. Is there something I can help with?"
"No." He didn't want her knowing yet, because she would tell the weakling and he didn't want this getting out. The female had been hidden away for a long time, and more subtle investigations had not yielded anything in the moments he had been able to search throughout the past couple of years. He liked to believe he could be patient, and this had definitely been a test of his patience as he began to realize the female Saiyan was either dead or actively hiding from him. Maybe she didn't realize it was him?
Vegeta turned away, muscles in his neck twitching in his frustration. Hadn't he promised her his protection? It rankled at his honor to be doubted in his word like this. "Just tell him I need his assistance with something," he muttered to the human woman.
"Well, all right." She didn't stop him from stalking back outside, and he was immensely grateful for that. He wasn't sure what had prompted this sudden desire to find Kokoro once and for all, and he didn't want to be distracted from mulling over that problem. Perhaps it was the tournament fighter, and the reminder that additional fighters could be potentially useful? But he didn't particularly want to involve the female in this, it would be too dangerous and she was too weak last he saw her. Maybe it was just the ferocity with which Buryu handled Dor that reminded him of a Saiyan. For a moment he had actually considered that it might be Kokoro herself under that mask, but immediately he dismissed the thought. Aversion to men aside, Kokoro had been too docile, too…submissive, was the word he wanted. This Buryu Yokai was clearly not the sort to just do as she was told, no questions asked.
With a growl, Vegeta tossed the thought away. It didn't sit well, not knowing these things. Maybe he should take on a more active search for the female. The old scientist might be able to help him there, so he would start with that.
. . . . . . . . .
"Mom, we're home!"
Kokoro caught the door before it could bang against the wall and closed it gently behind her as Riku ran ahead. By the smell of it, Miu had spaghetti going for dinner, and her heart clenched even as her mouth watered at the prospect of such a familiar meal from her own home Before. There was always a bittersweet nostalgia whenever Miu made the dish, an exotic favorite at home since her mother had been American. She imagined it had been a difficult transition for her mother to move to Japan, like she had to this strange new Earth with its strange clash of cultures. She remembered now that there had been pyramids, even, until Piccolo destroyed them in his training. She would have to rant at him for that.
The thought made her grin, and she let it loose as she paused to unwind the scarf from around her head. She could rant at people! Well, only Piccolo for now, but if she ever told them she was from another reality then she would be free to scold them to her heart's content. She had a lot to say to Bulma about her moments of idiocy when it came to men, Roshi had already faced her wrath on multiple occasions, Yamcha needed to decide once and for all if he was going to stick with Bulma or not if she remembered correctly, Chi-Chi needed to have it explained that Gohan could still be a brilliant scholar despite his training to be a warrior, Vegeta— …and her train of thought died there with a cold shiver, not even willing to conjure the image of how he might react to a rant from her. Or, even what his reaction would be to finding out she knew of Raditz and Nappa's deaths ahead of time.
She folded the scarf, placing it on the back of the couch in the living room, and scrubbed her hands across her face. And there it was, what she always avoided: Vegeta, and the idea of him finding out who she was. Had he even been looking for her? She'd sensed his energy moving around the planet, sometimes, but she wasn't sure if he was looking for high ki levels or if he was just killing time, or something.
"Long day?"
Kokoro turned to face the blonde woman who entered from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a bright yellow towel. Riku had gotten it for his mother's birthday, saying the color reminded him of the woman who had become something like another mother or an aunt to Kokoro. With the way Miu had gotten all sappy over it, an outsider would have thought it was a bundle of flowers. But practical things sometimes were the best, Kokoro was discovering more and more often. The widow did what she could to provide for her son, but the two were unable to afford many luxuries. Honestly, if Kokoro hadn't managed to sneak some groceries into the storeroom—though Miu was probably well-aware of where they came from—then her participation in the meals probably would have drained the tiny family of funds long ago.
"Longer even than I expected," she confirmed, stretching her arms over her head with a muffled groan at the way her back ached. She left the sash around her waist, as, while her name and face had been revealed to Miu, her identity as a Saiyan had not been. It was for this reason—aside from not wanting to make Miu feel guilty for being unable to feed her properly—that she often ate a big meal before returning to the house for dinner. It was going to be even more difficult to keep up with it all when she went to Capsule Corp, she suspected, but she would have to deal with it.
Miu picked up easily on how she wilted at the thought. "What's wrong? Riku seems subdued, even, and that boy is the definition of lively."
Kokoro shook her head. "Nothing bad happened, don't worry. But something's coming, something I need to train for, and I think that I'll need to go to West City for that. I handed off the role of Protector to Riku this afternoon."
"Oh." Miu's hands twisted up in the towel. "When will you be leaving?"
"I'll wait a couple days," she decided on the spot. "I challenged Riku to a game of hide-and-seek, and I intend to fulfill that promise. And I need to prepare, and explain to the village that I will be absent. It is simply not possible for me to just up and leave, nor do I wish to."
The tension in Miu's hands left, and the woman smiled. "Good. That's good. Come, dinner is ready and Riku's drooling is leaving puddles on the floor."
Kokoro laughed and removed her coat, folding it up and leaving it on the floor. "Impatient brat," she said fondly, and followed Miu into the kitchen for the meal.
. . . . . . . . .
"Someone, help me, please! Someone, please, help me, save my son! Please! Please, help!"
Her clothing torn, her skin scratched and filthy, Kokoro ducked through the screaming crowd and leapt over toppled stalls. A woman was crying, her anguish echoing what she herself had once felt when her own family was in danger. She had failed them then; she wouldn't fail this woman now.
"What is it? What's happened?" she demanded of the grieving mother the instant she reached her. The poor woman's blonde hair was torn out of its bindings, and her face was smeared with blood, mud, and tears. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot when she raised her head from equally filthy hands, and she looked at Kokoro as if she were an angel sent from heaven.
"It's my son," she gasped, "Riku. They— they took my boy! Please, you have to help me!"
Kokoro knelt in front of the woman and gripped her shoulders. She figured she must look frightening herself, head wrapped like a mummy and her entire body smelling of death and ruin, but she offered what comfort she could. "I'll get him back, I promise. What does he look like? And did you see which way they went?"
The woman raised a shaking hand and pointed, face buried once again in her other palm. "He— He has blond hair like me, and— and his father's green eyes. He's only nine, why would they take him?"
She knew the answer, but she also knew it would be counterproductive to tell it to the boy's mother. Slavery, sport, maybe he put up a fight and they wanted to teach him a lesson. So she put a hand on the woman's hand and stood up, moving off in the direction she had pointed. "Get to somewhere safe," she ordered. "I'll bring the boy to you as soon as I have him."
Kokoro was gone before the woman could formulate an answer. Five minutes in a ki-powered flat run later, she came upon the bandits' camp, a temporary setup far enough away not to have been noticed but close enough to attack from effectively. Raiding parties had started to return, groups of ten carrying captives and stolen goods. She watched carefully as the prisoners were dropped into a pit covered over with a wooden cage, and braced herself in anticipation. She couldn't take on all of them head-on, not yet—she had only been training for a month with Roshi, and all her other skills were only ones she had picked up on her own in the six months before going to him. But sneaking…this was something she had trained herself to do for years, her own survival depending upon not being noticed. If she could get down there without being seen, she had a chance at getting the villagers free.
The young woman settled herself behind her chosen tree to wait, knowing her chances were best if she waited for nightfall. There was a crescent moon tonight, thank goodness, or Kami, or whoever and whatever. She hadn't decided what to do about her tail yet, figuring it was something she didn't want to consider lightly as it wouldn't grow back without a wish, so she had taken to keeping an eye on the moon cycle, hiding away during the night at the time around the full moon.
She looked up through the leaves to the darkening sky above. Master Roshi would be wondering where she was, but he would understand. He knew she wasn't normal, and would wait for her to return from wherever she had wandered off to this time. She always came back, always returned for the training which had become her life.
The shadows strengthened in intensity as day retreated to the far side of the world. One of the bandits started up a generator, turning on strategically placed golden lights around the camp, then retreated into one of the Capsule Houses. Now it was just the perimeter guards and those stationed at the cage, and these she could feasibly take out. If she was quick and quiet, then she knew she could do this.
The first guard fell with a quiet gurgle. She struck at the neck, aiming to knock out but also not checking to see if he was alive after that. There was some small measure of guilt in the idea that she might have killed him, but she assuaged that with the knowledge that these men had no problem with ruining peoples' lives with murder and slavery. It was her own kidnappers all over again; this time, though, she could fight back.
She got the last guard out of the way with cold efficiency, and as her tail cramped beneath her sash she remembered how much savagery she was capable of by the mixed curse and blessing of her blood. She would have to be wary of that, if she didn't want to go giving herself a head wound. But for now the prisoners had begun to notice the acton outside their bars, and some reached grasping fingers for her. "Help us!" some whispered, having the sense to keep quiet. She sliced through the cage with her ki, and when the first captives climbed out of the pit she directed them to the north.
"Go that way," she whispered, "and no noise! There are more bandits inside the houses. Wait until you can no longer hear them, go further, and then run back to the village as quick as you can. I'll deal with these goons."
They followed her instructions carefully, and soon only one lingered. He had been helped out of the pit, being too short to climb out himself, but for some reason he stuck around. "Can I help?"
She took in his blond hair and green eyes and short appearance and shook her head. "No, kiddo, you get back to your mother. She's missing you, and is very worried."
"'Kay." He watched as she snuck up to a truck holding explosives and crept after her. "Are you making sure the bad guys can't hurt us again?"
"Shh. Yes, this batch, at least, if I can catch them by surprise. I'm only a student myself, so I can't fight as well as I'd like. Now go home, Riku."
Riku pouted at her and retreated. "I'll be waiting at the edge of the run zone," he promised.
"Riku—" But he was already gone, and she couldn't tell him to keep on going. Well, she would just have to pick him up and run when the fireworks started, she decided, and dropped her first bundle of explosives next to the nearest house.
. . . . . . . . .
"Ah, Vegeta, Bulma said you were looking for me?" The old scientist was in his lab now, tie tossed next to his computer and arms elbow-deep in some mechanical device. He appeared to be building something engine related, but Vegeta didn't overthink it.
"Yes," he said, dropping into the chair next to Dr. Brief with little concern for decorum. "I need you to search for someone for me, a woman… Her name is Kokoro, and she arrived on this planet with Raditz four years ago."
Dr. Brief's hands stuttered, and he put down his tools to prevent breaking something. "Another Saiyan?" he asked in surprise. "I thought you and Goku were the only ones left."
Vegeta looked away. "Her existence was kept a close secret as Frieza would have killed her in an instant had he discovered who she was. So we sent her here to Earth when Raditz came for Kakarot, and I suspect she's been blending in with the population or hiding in the wilderness somewhere ever since. She would potentially be…useful in the coming fight, given her Saiyan blood, especially if she's been training as I ordered her to. But she is hidden from me, and I cannot sense her. She might have also learned to suppress her power level, whatever there might be of it."
"Oh." The scientist blinked rapidly, then turned to his computer. "Do you have a surname I can use?"
"Saiyans have no surnames, and if she did then she didn't say."
"Well, I'll search for that one name, Kokoro, and you can browse through the results. I can't promise anything, but if she's obtained documentation in order to fit in and didn't change her name then she will be in here."
The prince struggled with his next words, but the matter was important enough to him that he didn't entirely mind saying them. "I…thank you, Dr. Brief. That is all I require."
"Oh, it is no problem at all, dear boy. But, Vegeta, I should probably warn you that this Kokoro of yours may not want to be found. If she's learned how to use ki and sense others with it, then wouldn't she have sensed you and sought you out by now?"
Vegeta stood and marched away. Dr. Brief was right, of course, and he had been tumbling that around in his own mind for the past two years. Why would she seek him out, as frightened as she had been? She didn't trust him, she had said, and given her manner of escape from Raditz's pod this fact hadn't changed. So why would she even welcome his search for her?
Dr. Brief called out after him. "I'll let you know when the list is done!"
He nodded and walked on. He wondered if she had cut off her tail as Kakarot had and, also, if she was even still alive. It would be nice, he decided, but he wasn't going to bank all his hopes on that. Despite her promise not to die, she had seemed broken enough when with them to take her own life, and weak enough that she could have been murdered easily. And having had a taste of freedom, would she want to risk losing it in finding him?
He probably wouldn't, he admitted finally to himself, and with a ragged sigh he went to get back to training.
Uploaded 11/24/14
