Chapter Ten: Party Night pt. 2
Chichi called after Bulma, but it was no use. She was already locking herself inside the bedroom, probably not to come out until the party was over. She turned back to Vegeta with fire in her eyes. How could he do something like that? Especially with Maron! After all the times he cursed her life and complained to Goku about her insanity and how he wished she would just leave him alone. What in the world could have persuaded him to be with her? Escort her to a party. Have his arm around her shoulders and his head resting calmly in her hair.
She knew the answer to that question, but it was sick, so she didn't want to dwell on it. She felt horrible about telling Bulma to stop worrying about Vegeta, but the fact was that her fears had been dead on. He was with Maron. Chichi just hoped that it wasn't in more ways than one.
She had about enough thinking by the time Vegeta was in reprimanding-range. She stormed over to him, her fist shaking in the air over her head.
"Vegeta Ouji! What in the world do you think you're doing! Have you any idea what you've just done?! And I never invited that slutbag! So, why'd you bring her here?!"
"Excuse me?!" Maron guffawed, wrapping a delicate hand around Vegeta waist and pulling him to her. Chichi was shocked when he didn't push her away or resist.
"Vegeta… What are you doing?" she asked again, but her voice had lost all its fire. Now, it sounded more like she was pleading with him to go back to being normal, because, as far as she was concerned, this was not normal. This wasn't Vegeta at all.
"What does it look like I'm doing, raven?" he asked droopily and Chichi finally saw it in his eyes. He wasn't normal at all… He was completely wasted! She didn't know how much alcohol he must have consumed this time, but she knew for sure that it was more than enough to kill a human. Luckily, he wasn't one. "I was invited here… So I came."
Maron held tightly to his waist and Chichi noticed that it wasn't just for fun and entertainment. It was also to hold him upright. He looked like he was about to fall flat on his back and pass out. And he was holding onto Maron because he knew his equilibrium was way off, as well.
"Vegeta…" Chichi didn't know what to say, so instead, she turned to Maron. "What happened?" she asked accusingly, and Maron knew very well that Chichi meant 'what did you do to him.'
"He just drank too much. What does it look like?"
"You better not have done anything to him, or I swear, bitch, you'll pay dearly."
"I didn't do anything. In fact, we made a bit of a deal. So he was the one who came to me a couple hours ago. And I assure you, I didn't do anything to him that he didn't ask for, raven!" Chichi's face went red. Everyone knew that Vegeta was the only one who called her by that name. Maron probably just stole it from when she just heard it a few moments ago.
"Where's Ka… Kakarot?" Vegeta asked, but not before he hit the ground. Maron's arm had slipped and he lost his balance.
"Vegeta!" Chichi called, bending down next to him. Goku was at her side in the next moment and Chichi looked up to find that the music had stopped playing and all eyes were on Vegeta and the rest of them, Chichi, Maron and Goku. She wished they would just go back to whatever they were doing, but she knew that wasn't going to happen unless she kicked them all out. She could feel her body heat rising at everyone's eyes burning into her back. They were all staring and it certainly bothered her. She knew that when it came to Vegeta being drunk, memories would be flowing into the watching crowd like a tidal wave, and now they would want more gossip to spread around to the people who weren't coming to the party and even family members. It would be a disaster if Vegeta did anything at that moment. She guessed that was the reason why Goku had come so quickly when he realized what was going on. If there was anyone who could stop Vegeta from doing anything, it was most definitely Goku.
"Don't tell me he's drunk again," Goku said heatedly. They all knew that a drunk Vegeta was even less fun than a sober Vegeta.
"Don't look at me," Maron said, her hands in the air as if they were pointing a gun at her chest in warning. Goku glared at her anyway. Chichi did the same. The crowd watched on.
"I saw… a seraph," Vegeta muttered drunkenly, his mouth on the floor.
"A what?" Goku asked, and Chichi couldn't help but smirk a bit. She knew exactly what Vegeta meant. And she knew that it was no seraph that he had seen.
"Bring him upstairs," she told Goku, a plan forming in her mind, "To my bedroom. Okay?" A few whispers rippled through the crowd when they heard that Chichi wanted Goku to put the hottest boy in Orange Star High in her bedroom. A couple whistles were heard, as well as a few inappropriate chants. Goku rolled his eyes and just nodded at his girlfriend, picking Vegeta up off the floor and placing him over his shoulder. Vegeta whined and moaned about something, but it was inaudible, so Chichi decided that it wasn't important enough to figure out.
"Wait!" Maron called, "I'll come, too. My Vegeta needs me!"
"He needs you as much as he needs a bullet through his head," Chichi growled, pulling her back by the forearm. Maron shoved Chichi away and a group of boys called out, "Catfight!" and before she knew it, Chichi was thrown to the floor as people all around gathered and watched.
Goku turned as he reached the platform of the stairs and dropped Vegeta to the floor. He heard a growl emanate from the other Saiyans mouth, but Vegeta could handle a tiny fall like that, so he had no worries. He then ran to Chichi's side and lifted Maron up by around the waist until her feet lifted off the floor. Then he walked to the door and placed her down outside, on the porch step.
"We had a deal! Vegeta promised! I'll tell her everything! He promised!—"
"I think that doesn't matter anymore," he calmly replied, and then slammed the door in the aquamarine's face, enjoying her expression before the loud noise of her screams reached his ears.
Goku walked back over to Chichi to help her up, but she was already standing.
"Thanks, sweetheart," she said, smiling up at him and brushing herself off. People had started going back to their business when they realized that the entertainment was over.
"Hey!—" Goku yelled, watching a group of girls prodding at Vegeta on the platform of the stairs. "Cut that out!" He ran over to them and lifted Vegeta back over his shoulder as the girls whimpered and stalked away. Some even left the party because of it. Chichi called to him that she'd handle the hosting for a few minutes while he worked things out upstairs. Goku nodded, even though he didn't know exactly what she had meant. But he soon realized the intended message when he reached the bedroom door to find that it was locked, and a small energy signal inside was crying. He identified the signal as Bulma and wished that he didn't have to get involved. But nonetheless, he knocked on the door anyway until it opened a crack.
"What do you want?" she asked sadly, poking her head out to see who had interrupted her. She opened the door when she noticed Goku, but when he stepped inside, she jumped, noticing Vegeta as well. "What happened to him?" she asked, wiping away her tears with her forearm and pretending not to care. Goku sighed and placed him on the bed. His eyes were closed, but Goku didn't think he was asleep; just tired and resting his eyes.
"Maron came in with him like this. He's really drunk. She said something about a deal with him for not telling you about us. But I don't think that Vegeta has to worry about that deal anymore. Maron is a hard person to strike a bargain with. If she ever tries to make a deal with you, turn tail and run because she really doesn't do anything for you. All she wants is something in return for nothing."
Bulma just nodded, knowing that her deal with Maron had already been broken. She stared unemotionally at Vegeta, but she knew that some emotions were trying to break free of her hold on them. She wasn't sure which ones, but she knew that if she didn't hold them in, they would burst out like a popped balloon.
"I couldn't help but notice that what got you upset was seeing Vegeta with Maron."
"I'm not upset," she said defiantly, but looked down when a betraying tear fell from her right eyes.
"After you left, we found out that it really had nothing to do with that. Believe it or not, Vegeta is a man that never goes back on his word. If he promises something, you know damn well that he's going to do whatever he told you. Unfortunately, he made a promise to Maron that, like always, he couldn't go back on. She said that he came to her, which means that she made him do something. I don't know what that was, but I can assure you that it's over and done with. And he still hates Maron's guts." He smiled.
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Bulma asked angrily. "Because it doesn't. I saw him with his hands on her and his head in her hair. That was no promise. He was actually enjoying it!"
"He's drunk, Bulma. He was holding onto her because he was about to pass out. And obviously, he did," he said, pointing to the pathetic figure on the bed. An irritated noise came from him and Goku let out a detached laugh. "Well, I guess he's not totally out, then."
"I don't believe you. He was with Maron. That's all that matters."
"The proof for him being drunk is right in front of your eyes, Bulma. And I just told you why he was hanging on Maron like that. He could barely stand! And that isn't all that matters. Don't you remember anything I told you from before? And I don't know about you, but I think it's clear that he did all of this so that you wouldn't find out about him. About us. But now you know, so that's what matters!"
Another grunt came from the bed and Goku walk over to him and turned his head next to Vegeta's mouth so he could hear what he was saying. After a few moments, he lifted his head back up.
"Yeah, I told her," he finally said, "A few hours ago actually."
Vegeta let out a loud groan and put his hands on his head.
"How much did you drink?" Bulma asked him, and Goku turned, surprised that she was actually talking to him. He only responded with another low grunt, so Goku translated for him.
"Saiyans can consume a lot more alcohol than humans can, as Vegeta has demonstrated countless times for us, but let's just say that if you drank half as much as he did, you would have died within the hour from alcohol poisoning."
Vegeta slowly lifted himself up to a sitting position as Goku headed for the bedroom door.
"W-Where are you going?" Bulma stammered, not ready to be alone with the guy who had threatened her life while he was so drunk like he was. It seemed like the most likely way for her to die.
"Chichi's going to need my help in about a minute or so, and I don't want to make her wait. It'll be fine, Bulma." He began to walk again, but turned around, "Just… If he starts to cry out in pain… Come get me immediately, okay?" He tried to smile, but couldn't as he left the door wide open and headed back down the stairs to help Chichi.
Bulma looked over at Vegeta, who was now sitting up, his hands behind him for support.
"So, you're my seraph," he said slowly, his head moving in odd ways. There was a clearly alcohol-caused smile spread over his face.
"Are you an alcoholic?" she asked angrily, not quite sure what a seraph was. She didn't think she wanted to find out, either.
"What does it look like to you?" he asked happily, the smile still on his face, but before Bulma could give a sarcastic answer to his rhetorical question, his arms collapsed and his head hit the bed behind him. "I want to get up," he said, "Help me get up." He reached out both his hands and waited for a second before the effort became too much for him and he let them fall back to his sides.
There was a long pause between them. Bulma didn't want to break the awkward silence in the room. The noises from the party downstairs were back to normal. She guessed the excitement was still lingering in the atmosphere, but the topics for discussion had changed to schoolwork or something else that was unimportant.
"Shut up!" Bulma jumped at Vegeta's rumbly voice. He laughed. Clearly seeing her start like that was his intent. "You don't talk much, do you?" he laughed.
"Not to people who want to kill me," she replied softly. She barely heard herself speak, so when a response came, she jumped again.
"I don't want to kill you," he smirked at another jump on her part. "I could never kill you. You're too important."
"Important?" she cautiously questioned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
There was another long pause.
"I want to get up," he repeated, not answering her question. "Why won't you help me? Are you afraid?"
"Yes," she spat, "In fact I'm very afraid."
"Of what," he asked happily, rolling his head from side to side as he stared at the white ceiling.
"Of you, you moron." She meant to make it sound demanding, but it came out as a mix of sadness and anger. She felt a tear drop from her eye to the bottom of her chin, and she stared at the dark part of the carpet where it landed and soaked in.
"Why? Why do I frighten you like that?"
"What do you care?" she spat again.
"I don't want you to be afraid of me. Why would I want that?"
"Why wouldn't you?" she asked, folding her arms and turning her head away from him in rebelliousness. She felt a little stupid for talking to a drunk like this. After all, everything he said would be a cause of his being drunk. Nothing would be truthful…
"Because, then you wouldn't want to be around me," he stated flatly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He frowned for a moment, but then the same drunken smile came to him face. "And that's what I wouldn't want."
"I'm leaving," Bulma said, uncrossing her arms and heading for the door. "If you want to kill me, just make it fast the next time you see me, okay? Because I really don't enjoy being afraid of my own bedroom, thank you."
When Bulma reached the second step down, she heard a loud thump and turned around to find Vegeta on the floor, his face in the carpet, and one arm outstretched in her direction. He mumbled something she didn't understand and made a show of an effort to reach out even farther with his already outstretched arm. Bulma sighed and went over to him, bending down.
"What the hell are you doing? You're such an idiot." She helped to flip him over onto his back to find that the smile was back on his face. His eyes were lightly shut and his arm was still in the direction of the stairs, unmoving. He opened his eyes and looked into hers. Bulma found it difficult not to look away from those piercing black eyes, even as jubilant as they were because of the alcohol he had consumed earlier.
"I just said I don't want you to leave. Why would you go?" he asked, a playful sadness in his eyes.
"Well, I just said I was afraid of you, so the real question is why didn't I leave sooner."
"What can I do?"
"What?"
"Can I do something that won't make you afraid of me?"
"Yes. You can let me leave."
"I didn't stop you before," he said with a smirk. "You came back because you wanted to."
"Wrong. I came back because your face was stuffed in the carpet, and I wasn't sure if you could breathe or not by the way you were motioning for me to come back."
"That's a start," he said happily.
"What's a start?"
"You don't want me to die," he said matter-of-factly, and Bulma rolled her eyes.
"That's because I'm nothing like you."
"Opposites attract," he said happily, his head rolling to one side as his voice faded out. Bulma stood up again, preparing to leave as Vegeta's eyes gently slid shut again. "Will you help me up now?" he called as she reached the doorway. She looked at the ground, back at Vegeta, and then to the ground below her once more before finally responding.
"No," she said simply. But it wasn't before she reached the platform on the stairs that she realized that her voice had actually sounded apologetic.
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"Bulma! Hey, how's Vegeta doing?" Chichi called, waving to the aqua-haired teen coming down the stairs. She was wearing an apron that read, 'Kiss the Cook'. It was so not original, but it seemed to fit her perfectly anyway. There was no doubt in her mind that every time Goku saw it, he really kissed her.
As soon as she touched the floor of the downstairs floor, many people's eyes seemed to be drawn to her like red and white magnets to a thin copper wire. People turned and stopped dancing while the music still played. What were they staring at anyway? Did everyone know that she had been up there with Vegeta? Was that why they were staring at her like that?
17 was at her side in the next moment, starling Bulma.
"Hey there," he said. He was obviously buzzed and an empty glass beer bottle was in his left hand. Bulma smiled shyly in return, but backed away towards the kitchen and Chichi.
"You see?" she said happily, "Didn't I tell you that you look great?"
"I think they're looking at me because they know that I was up there with Vegeta, Chichi."
"So what?"
"I don't know. What if they think that we were… you know. I don't want any rumors to spread about us. I don't even like him. I hate him."
"Don't be like that. And who cares what other people say about you? If they want to spread rumors, then that's their problem, not yours. Your true friends will stick up for you. Other than them, who else could you possibly care about and what they think of you? They don't even know you."
Goku came over to Chichi and wrapped his big arms around her from behind. He then addressed Bulma. "How is he?" he asked, and Bulma didn't have to wonder who he was asking about.
"Drunk," she replied with a smirk, and he smiled back.
"I know that part," he said, "But how's he doing? Is he okay? Did he say he needs anything?"
Bulma paused. "How can you care so much about him?" she asked, and an unfitting frown creased Goku's once upbeat features.
"Because he's my friend, Bulma." He looked offended and she wished she hadn't said anything about it.
"Sorry," she replied quickly. "It's just that he doesn't seem like the person that someone else would care about. And I don't mean any offense by that."
"None taken," he said, but the frown didn't leave his face, so Bulma guessed he had taken some offense anyway. "But Vegeta and I grew up together on our planet. When Saiyans are born, they're paired with another newborn, and they become partners for life. Some even get teams of three or four when they're born, but Vegeta and I were made partners because of my low power level when I was born. It's ironic now, because I'm stronger than he is, but he's the prince of all Saiyans, so our elders believed that the strongest warrior should be paired with the weakest to make the team even. They also wanted the prince to have someone on his team that was obedient and yielding to him. This seemed more likely with me because they believed I would grow up to be one of the weakest Saiyans ever born, easy to boss around, I guess. But instead, they got a little bit of a surprise and by the time they noticed their mistake, it was too late. We were already on our first purging mission when we reached the age of nine, and we knew each other. I knew his weaknesses and strengths, and he knew mine. We were a team for life, and that was that.
"So when you ask me how I can care about someone like him, I guess you could say that he's saved my life countless times, and I've saved his just the same. I know him better than anyone in the universe, Bulma. So, yes. I care about whether or not he's feeling okay right now."
"He's doing fine," Bulma replied, after a couple seconds of silence passed between them. Chichi put a hand on Bulma's shoulder.
"Goku doesn't mean any harm by that. You know that, right, Bulma?"
"No, of course," she said, shaking her head at the ground and slowly shutting her eyes once and then opening them to look at Chichi as she lifted her head to show that she was fine.
"Who did you leave with him?" she asked and Bulma cocked an eyebrow.
"What do you mean, who did I leave with him?" she asked, confused. Goku looked at her in surprise.
"You mean, there's no one up there with him now?" he asked, already heading for the stairs.
"No. Why? Is that bad?" she asked him, following after in a bit of a rush.
"Bulma," Chichi said, running behind her as they reached the stairs, "Didn't you consider that everyone in this house knows that Vegeta was up there with you, and now you're down here, and he isn't?"
"Sure I did," she replied defensively, "But then why is Goku so worried?"
"Remember when I told you that everyone is out to get him for their own reasons back in school? Well, every girl in this house now knows that he's in my bedroom, alone, and extremely drunk. And every guy knows that he's all alone and almost passing out without the aid of someone beating the crap out of him."
"Oh…," Bulma said meekly, realizing exactly what Chichi was talking about and picking up the pace, taking two steps at a time. Goku was already at the top of the stairs and grumbling something under his breath.
Bulma crested over the top of the stairs and saw Vegeta, sitting up on the bed with his shirt off. A group of four girls were fighting with two boys, yelling at them to stop. Bulma noticed one of the boys as Sharpner, and two of the girls were Maron and 18.
"Who let her back in here?" Chichi asked violently, pointing at Maron. "I sent you out! That's an invitation to stay away, if you didn't notice!"
"Cut it out, Sharpner!" 18 was yelling, and Bulma almost screeched when his fist started flying towards her prettily made up face. But 18 caught his fist, mid-swung, and twisted it until the blonde boy was cringing on the ground. The boy that was with him kicked upward in hopes that it would make contact with 18's arm and break Sharpner free, but her other hand swung around and grabbed his leg. Bulma gasped when she lifted both of the boys off the ground as if they were as light as a feather, and threw them back at the ground. She heard something snap, a scream from Sharpner, and then both boys were standing again, facing 18 like raging bulls.
"You asked for it, bitch!" they yelled, but Goku took off and stood in front of 18, guarding her. Bulma had the quaint feeling that she didn't need to be guarded, but she knew that Sharpner and his crony would be taken care of sooner than later.
"Cut that out!" she heard Chichi yell to the other three girls. Bulma glanced over at them on the bed with Vegeta and raced forward. Maron was laughing as she reached to pull off his boot. The other two girls had their hands over their mouths as they giggled uncontrollably. Vegeta's eyes were closed, but one hand was on his head. Bulma guessed that he was starting to get the dreaded headache and felt sorry for him, but not before she tackled the first black-haired girl she got close enough to. Chichi went straight for Maron, probably still angry about her faked departure. She also surmised that these two were the ones who had let her back in after she was ordered to leave.
The second girl grabbed Bulma from behind and lifted her off the black-haired girl with some effort and a couple grunts. Bulma mentally laughed at the irony that her weight was now helping her.
"Get off me!" she yelled, throwing her arms back and hoping they hit something important or something that would really hurt. But nothing made contact, so she continued flailing, hoping that she could break free of the second girl's grasp.
But before she knew it, Sharpner's crony was tackling the two of them, and Bulma was thrown from the girl's arms as the black-haired girl dug her freshly-manicured nails into Bulma's left forearm. She yelped and slapped the girl across the face, sending her head whirling. The nails came loose, and Bulma looked down to find blood dripping down her arm. She shook the feeling of pain away as the second girl was back on top of her.
"Vegeta's mine, you whore!" she screeched, pulling on Bulma's hair. The black-haired girl was on top of her as well in the next moment, and out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Chichi punching Maron in the mouth. She gave a holler of encouragement and shook a fist in the air for her friend, but the two girls on her didn't notice. They were completely focused on Bulma. And it was obvious that the only thing they really wanted was Vegeta. Bulma felt a little weird defending the boy whom she now hated, but with her adrenaline rushing as it was, she couldn't help but think that this was the best party she had ever been to in her entire life.
She let out a war cry and threw herself at the black-haired girl again, but the second one held her hair tightly and yanked her back. She saw 18 and Goku scaring off Sharpner's crony as he raced down the stairs in retreat, but Sharpner wasn't leaving just yet. He held his hand as if it was broken, and Bulma remembered the snap she had heard before.
Bulma reached behind her until she felt the hand on her hair and dug her nails in as hard as she could, but leaving her hands above her head, the black-haired girl threw a punch in her stomach. Bulma coughed up saliva, but dug her nails in even deeper, persistent on getting her hair free.
When Bulma felt the tug on the back of her head loosen, she yanked her head forward and made to throw herself at the black-haired girl again, but not before she noticed Vegeta. His eyes were open and he was staring at her in what looked to be awe. He tried to sit up, but fell back down, the drunken smile taking place on his face like before. Bulma scowled at him. Even while he was drunk like he was, how could he be smiling at a time like this? He was such a jerk, she concluded.
"Bulma!" Chichi screeched, and Bulma whipped her head around to find her friend in Maron's stranglehold. She yelped in pain, and Goku moved like a bullet to come to her aid. Maron was in the air in the next moment, fighting to get away from Goku's cage-like grasp. But it was no use. He made his way down the stairs to throw her out for a second time as Chichi maneuvered herself to attack the black-haired girl. 18 seemed to be playing with Sharpner, dodging his attacks as if she saw them coming a mile away and laughing when he missed.
Bulma concluded that Sharpner was a pure-hearted jackass, trying to hit a girl like that. If she ever got the chance, she'd sock him right in the nose.
"Hey, Bulma! Watch out!" Chichi called, grabbing the black-haired girl's leg as she tried to kick her. She twisted the girl's ankle around and pushed her forward violently so she had to hop on one foot to keep the bone in her apprehended leg from snapping in half.
Bulma turned to find a fist flying at her shoulder. She moved to her right, surprisingly dodging the attack. She never knew she could move that fast in a tight situation. But the girl had another attack coming from her foot below, and Bulma knew that she wasn't that good. She was going to have to take this one head-on.
But another movement from the corner of her eye gathered her attention. It was Vegeta, and he moved like lightning. She barely saw him move, but when he stopped, the slow motion effect started taking its effect on her again. He was laughing, the girl's leg in his one hand. He pulled her forward until his mouth was right next to her face, and hissed in her ear, "How dare you hurt my seraph."
And then he let her go.
And the girl raced out of the room, nearly tripping over herself as she took three steps at a time. Bulma turned to him, now truly wondering what a seraph was. She wanted to know what a seraph was because she wanted to know what she was to Vegeta. It seemed extremely important to her now. She wanted to know what scared that girl so much. Whatever it was, it was enough to drive the mouse away from the cheese. It was as if someone told the mouse that the cheese was actually on a trap. Or that the cheese was the trap…
Bulma reached her hand out to touch him, to gather his attention, but he leaned forward, and fell back onto the bed in a heap. She saw Sharpner running out of the room after that, and then, when the black-haired girl realized that she was all alone, she ran faster than any of the others to escape from them.
Goku came back up the stairs a few momenta later and smiled at Chichi. She exchanged a private smile in return before Goku was at Vegeta's side, shaking him a bit.
"Hey, you alright?" he asked. He didn't sound worried in the slightest, Bulma noticed. Vegeta's head slightly moved up and down and Goku let out a chuckle at his attempted response. "Feeling a little less drunk yet?" he asked rhetorically, and Vegeta growled at him. "I guess that's a yes."
"That's what you get, big-shot," Chichi said, wagging a finger at the back of his head, "You drink like that, and you're going to get a week-long hangover!" Vegeta groaned in response, but he didn't lift his head to make his voice understandable to anyone.
"Thank you," Bulma found herself saying, much to everyone's surprise. She thought she saw Vegeta's mouth curve into a slight smile, but she wasn't sure because of the shadowing of the carpet on his face.
"I never knew you had it in you to fight when you're full of alcohol, Saiyan," 18 said, walking over to them. Bulma looked up and then over at Goku.
"She knows?"
"Of course I know," she replied, an edge to her voice. "It's not like I'm human or anything. I could tell the difference between your species and his from a mile away. You're quite different, actually. More than you would know."
"What are you talking about?" Bulma asked.
"17 and 18 are brother and sister, but they're also androids," Chichi elaborated, and Bulma's jaw dropped to the floor.
"Androids?! They don't exist."
"Thanks," 18 said emotionlessly. She had an unreadable look in her eyes, but then she turned her head away. "I'd better go get 17. We should start heading out before it gets late. I don't want to have to fly home in the dark."
"You can fly, too?" Bulma asked.
"Who can't?" she asked, the edge back in her voice. Bulma didn't like the tone she used when the edge was there. It sounded too offending for her liking.
"I can't," she stated flatly.
"Well of course you can't. You're only human."
"Krillin can fly," Chichi added in a hopeful tone. Hopeful for what, Bulma didn't quite know.
At the mention of Krillin's name, 18 scowled and turned to storm down the stairs in an angry huff.
"What's with her?" Goku asked, rubbing the side of his head in confusion as she reached the platform and turned out of their sights.
"We talked about Krillin in front of her," Chichi said, rolling her eyes in exhaustion from the apparently over-used topic. "She hates that. It's like she has some horrible vendetta against the poor guy. I don't know why she has to act that way. Everyone but her seems to know that he likes her."
Vegeta tried to say something, but couldn't be heard again.
"My thoughts exactly, buddy," Goku said, and Chichi laughed. Bulma giggled a little, but it really wasn't that funny of a joke to her.
"I guess the party's over?" Goku asked, although it was more like a statement than a question.
"I guess so," Chichi replied. "Time to start kicking people out of my house and analyze the damage everyone caused."
"Don't forget about paying the DJ. He's very picky about his money."
"I know. I liked the old one better—"
Bulma purposefully coughed and they turned to her. They paused for a moment and then laughed.
"Sorry, Bulma. Almost forgot you were there." They laughed again, and Bulma joined in. Vegeta grumbled again, and they laughed even harder. He flipped himself over and he was aiming a frown directly at Goku.
"What's up?" Goku asked.
"Ginger ale," he demanded tersely, and Goku turned to Chichi.
"Yes. I've got plenty for an average human, but you… I don't know," Chichi said, and Vegeta snorted in discomfort. "If you're going to throw up, please go to the bathroom, okay?"
He nodded and stood up. He nearly ran into the hallway and rounded the next corner.
"Here he goes again," Goku said, rolling his eyes as Bulma became nauseous just listening to Vegeta as he puked his brains out in the other room.
"If he misses the toilet again, so help me god, I will kill him," Chichi threatened.
"Does this happen a lot?" Bulma asked in confusion.
"More often than I'd like, but no. He does it maybe once or twice a year, but it's an experience you'll never forget… Or one that I'll never forget, because I'm usually the one who ends up cleaning the mess he leaves behind. Trust me, when Saiyans get sick, they throw up a hell of a lot more than humans do, and I'm not just saying that because I hate cleaning it. I'm saying it because I'm dead serious."
"Do you think I should go help him?" Bulma asked, two parts of her torn between which answer she believed she wanted to hear come out of her friend's mouth.
"Whatever. I don't give a damn. If he makes another mess, you'll have to help him save his life… from me! But I don't know. If you think you can prevent him from causing his own death, then yeah, go help him all you want. You'll be doing me a favor as well."
Bulma stood and made her way to the bathroom, wondering if that was the answer she had truly been looking for. She poked her head inside, seeing as the door was already open, and found Vegeta, in the expected position of over the open toilet.
"You forgot something," he said, obviously holding in another round so he could speak to her for a moment. He pointed behind his back without turning his head. Bulma followed his finger to a bra on the floor. Her face went red when she noticed that she had left it there when she had put on the dress she was now wearing. The dress showed off her shoulders and came with a built-in bra, so she had left hers here.
"That's Chichi's," she said, covering for herself.
"I don't think so," he said, and Bulma could tell that he was smiling. "Unless she smells exactly like you."
"Excuse me?"
"Your scent is all over that thing, so I presumed that it was yours. Maybe you should stop stealing other people's things, then."
"Fine, it's mine. You don't have to make such a big deal about it."
"I'm not the one making a big deal here."
"Well someone here is, and it's certainly not me."
"We can go back and forth like this for however long you want, woman. I have all day." He turned back to the toilet and threw up again. The noises he made sounded like he was in horrible pain and Bulma almost felt like crying.
"You look pathetic," Bulma said softly.
"You are pathetic," he replied, thinking that this was a game she was playing with him. She sighed and turned to leave.
"Where are you running off to now?" he called before she reached the doorway.
"Running off? What do you think I'm running from, exactly?"
"You tell me."
"I'm not running from anything, Vegeta. I just think that it's extremely disgusting, what you're doing in here."
"I'm sorry," he sarcastically spat, "If it bothers you that much, then I guess I'll just stop."
"Whatever," Bulma said, annoyed. She rolled her eyes and prepared to exit the room, but then turned back around to face him. "Why did you want me to help you up?"
"What?"
"Before, in the bedroom. You kept asking me to help you up. I want to know why."
"I don't know what you're blabbering about now, woman, but I'd appreciate it if you'd stop."
"When you were wasted, you moron! You were asking me to help you get up when you were on the bed! Why?!"
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Vegeta demanded, and Bulma went back a step. He really didn't know what she was talking about… That was strange.
"Never mind," she quickly said, and then left the bathroom, consumed with many of her own bewildering thoughts.