Yuki woke up the next day with a smile on her face. There'd been no nightmares this time like there had been the last few nights, only dreams of an aurora-covered sky. As she changed out of her pajamas and headed into the kitchen, she recounted the events from the previous night… it hadn't ended - or began - on the best of notes, but overall it was an experience that most people would never even dream of having. And Cell had gone out of his way to strike up a peace offering and give it to her. But why?

She mulled over possible reasons over a plate of waffles. Was he really just being nostalgic? Did he really miss the 'old Yuki'? She threw those questions out there, but he'd just frowned and shot her an unamused look… so who knew what his real reasoning was? If she had actually succeeded in her quest to annoy the crap out of him, why didn't he just send her packing? So… he wanted her around, and he wanted her to be 'old Yuki'. But that's all she knew at this point. Everything else was just speculation, really.

But now they had a truce. "Oh… that's right!" Her eyes widened and she dropped her fork. They had a truce! Which meant there would be no annoying each other, which meant she could ask him questions! Instead of sitting there at the table musing over questions in her mind, she could go out there and just ASK STUFF.

She jumped up with a smile and peered out the window. Cell was standing out there in his default off position, and there were so many things she wanted to figure out! Maybe she'd find his weakness? Maybe she'd save the world? And as her smile grew bigger, the 'old Yuki' that Cell had so wistfully referred to came bubbling up to the surface. She threw open the front door… and paused.

There at her feet lay a capsule. "What's this?" She bent down and picked it up, looking it over inquisitively. Cell must've put it there. It was a plain capsule with no numbers or other markings on it to designate what it was. Her eyes shot to Cell, but he was facing away from her and off in his own little world.

Feeling a little bit uneasy, she tossed it forward, praying it wasn't a bunch of human skulls or a giant dead whale or some other weird thing meant to pull a reaction out of her… and then her jaw dropped.

It was her car.

Well, not her car, but it was the same color and model, only it was in MUCH better shape than the old one. She ran her hand over the hood, smiling. Her poor old car had been reborn! "I… I can't believe it! It's my car! Cell, are you serious right now?!"

Cell smirked to himself. So Yuki liked his 'present'. Hopefully that would rekindle their recent truce after he'd let his curiosity get the better of him and wound up dropping her out of the sky… He turned around to face her. "I'm assuming from your expression that you're satisfied with the gift."

"Oh my god! Oh my god I can't believe you went and got me this! This is amazing! It's the same model and everything! It's even the same shade of blue, which isn't even a factory option color, I had it repainted!"

"When I set out to do something, I do it well."

"My car! Old Blue is back! I loved that car!" Without a second thought, Yuki sprung up onto the stage with a big grin on her face and threw her arms around him. "Thank you so much!"

Cell froze, wide-eyed. She was going to hug him? He looked down in shock at the happy little woman whose face was currently buried in his chest. How very gutsy of her… he couldn't deny being a little impressed by her fearlessness. He chuckled and patted her on the head. "You never fail to surprise, do you? Now, as much as I enjoy you showing me your little leech impression, may I remind you that I'm the one who destroyed your car in the first place?"

Yuki's smile dropped and she stepped away from him. "That's right, you did… I take back that hug then, you dick! You might've gotten me a new car, but that just makes us EVEN as far as I'm concerned."

"Considering the disrepair your original car was in, I'd say that puts me out ahead actually."

"Well…" She looked off to the side, tapping her finger against her chin. He was being pretty nice this morning… in her excitement she'd accidentally hugged him without thinking and he didn't toss her into the upper reaches of the atmosphere, so she'd definitely call that being 'pretty nice' for him. Now was the opportune time to learn more about him, so arguing about the car was right out. After all, she'd already learned a little just by hugging him… he was warm so he had to be warm-blooded, and that armor of his was most definitely an exoskeleton from what she felt. Honestly she should've figured that out when she was slung over his shoulder the other day, but it's hard to pay attention to details when you're wondering if you're about to die… Still morning and she'd already learned two things! She was on a roll. "Look, I came out here with a plan. But thank you for the car, I guess."

"A plan?"

"Yep! You wanted curious little Yuki back, well, you got her." She grinned. "I'm going to figure you out today. Field study!"

"Figure me out, hm? I admire your optimism, but I doubt you have this little field study of yours well planned out."

Yuki slowly walked around him, looking him up and down. Why did he still have a stinger if he didn't need to absorb people anymore? There seemed to be a difference in material between the black areas of his exoskeleton and the green areas… the former looked like it added reinforced protection to his more vulnerable areas. The top of his head, his shins… and whatever those things were on the sides of his head probably amplified sounds by a crazy amount.

Cell smirked, his eyes following Yuki as she walked circles around him. "Admiring my perfect form, are you?"

"Admiring, huh? Maybe I'm just captivated by your 'uniqueness' or something, how about that? That's probably the nicest way to put it."

"I suppose that's fair. I find myself captivated by your… pulchritude."

"What?" Yuki stopped walking and raised her eyebrow. She didn't know what the hell 'pulchritude' was, but judging from that sly little half-smile on his face, it was probably something mean. "Are you trying to insult me with some unknown antiquated word so I won't know what you're saying? You are, aren't you?"

"Who knows?" He shrugged.

"…don't think I won't look that word up later!"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll forget."

Yuki moved closer to him and boldly took his hand in hers, bringing it closer to eye level. Black fingernails, sharpened to a point. "…neat."

He frowned and jerked his hand away quickly. "…neat? How about you make your little observations without grabbing at me? Does that sound fair?"

"I like your manicure. Your nails are nice."

Cell lifted up his hand, and his 'nails' shot forward into long black talons about six inches in length. Yuki gasped. "Oh my god, you're like Wolverine! That's amazing!"

"Another superhero, I'm assuming. But yes, it is 'amazing'."

"So why are your nails black?"

"Because they are made of the same material as my wings."

Yuki sighed. Cell wasn't being very cooperative with her efforts to figure him out. "So… speaking of wings, you don't really use your wings here to fly, I noticed. They didn't move much when we were up in the air. What are they for then?"

"Aerodynamics, mostly."

"They give you a really intimidating silhouette, you know."

"That's very kind of you."

She rolled her eyes. "So how strong are your wings?" She moved behind him and ran her hand lightly over one. It felt a bit like… resin. Obviously it wasn't, but it had that same feeling. They seemed pretty tough, though.

"Don't do that." He growled and lifted his wing up slightly, pushing her away from him. She was being very 'hands on' today. It was perplexing and not something he wanted to try to figure out right now. But… this was what he wanted, after all, right? Yuki back to her old self? Maybe he should've been careful about what he wished for… or at least more specific.

"They seem pretty strong. How are the joints? If you put your wings out horizontal, could I sit on them?"

"I thought we had a truce. Remember? We don't annoy each other?"

"I'm not trying to annoy you, I'm just curious, geez."

"Regardless, you are not SITTING on my wings."

"Whoa, fun police over here!" She threw up her hands. "No fun allowed!"

"You're here with me, the man who will soon be responsible for the extinction of your species, waiting patiently for the end of the world. I wouldn't think you'd find that 'fun'."

"Isn't that the best time to have fun? Knowing you're going to die, so wanting to make the best out of the time you have left?"

"…as long as it doesn't involve bothering me, have all the fun you want." Before he could say anything else, Yuki lifted up her head and stood up on her toes as high as she could, moving in closer with a huge grin spread across her face. Their noses were nearly touching. He blinked, wide-eyed, wondering if it would be better to stay still or back away. What the hell was she doing? What the hell kind of 'field study' was this?! It called to mind the moment he'd first met her… she'd followed him curiously, and no matter which route he took - to stay still or to walk away - she still pursued him relentlessly.

"You have pink eyes."

Cell said nothing. He continued to stand still, watching her movements carefully.

"And your tongue is purple. So are your cheeks."

"…is that a problem?"

"No, it's cute!" She pulled away just as quickly as she'd moved in.

"And as I've said numerous times in the distant past, I am not cute."

"Purple and pink are more on the cute end of the color spectrum than terrifying."

"Let's change the subject, shall we?"

Yuki sighed. He was getting really annoyed… a change of subject was probably a good idea. Maybe give him a compliment? "You know, you smell like a vegetable garden. Cucumbers and potting soil! It's kinda nice. Gardens are very comforting, you should take that as a compliment!"

"I comfort you? Are you studying me, or are you flirting with me? I'm quite honestly at a loss." He frowned.

She pursed her lips. Now what was she supposed to say? This was starting to get a little weird. She couldn't tell if he was joking, or if he really thought she would flirt with him. Like she would flirt with the guy who destroyed her car and a million or so people. How full of yourself can you get? Geez.

"…you smell like plumeria."

"Really, you can tell that? I use plumeria body lotion… can you just identify flowers by smell?"

"I can identify many things by smell. By sight. By sound. Another one of my many talents."

"Phft, well, you know you plant plumeria flowers in soil and then they grow." She smiled. That was a good metaphor. Very nice and poetic. …but instead of making a comment, Cell stood there staring at her incredulously. He opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but then closed it. Wonderful, now what'd she say wrong? "Why are you staring at me like that?!"

"Was that some sort of sexual euphemism?"

"N-no! Christ!" Her face flushed bright red. Now things really WERE getting weird… she hadn't thought any of this out very well. He was right, she didn't have it well planned out at all. And now Cell probably thought she had some weird thing for him. Awesome, yay. "I-it was supposed to be… I don't know, symbolic! Like I'm here spending time with you, but I'll grow stronger and come out a better person because of it… or something…"

"Well, you're not very good at coming up with proper metaphors, now are you? Perhaps you should just stick to obscenities. A failed attempt at symbolism can lead to… strange misunderstandings." He grinned wickedly.

"You asshole."

"There you go."

"All right, well, anyway… this field study is over. I need to regroup and come up with actual questions that you're not going to make perverted jokes about."

"So it's my turn, then?"

"Your… turn? What?" She took a step back. There was that gleam in his eyes again, the same one she'd seen right before he dropped her out of the sky.

With one fluid motion, he placed his hands on her waist and lifted her up into the air. "An interesting specimen! I wonder what I can learn?"

"H-hey! PUT ME DOWN! What, is this some kind of payback?!" She struggled against his grip.

"Oh? What's wrong? Don't you want to be studied?" He dropped her roughly. "Don't you want someone to poke and prod at your body while asking silly, mundane questions?"

"W-well… no… but-" Before she could finish her sentence, Cell reached out and poked her on the forehead with one finger.

"Don't poke me! Now you're just being-" Another poke.

"HEY I'M SERIOUS! YOU'D BET-"

Poke.

"STOP TH-"

Poke.

"OKAY! Fine!" She angrily swatted his hand away. "I get it! Geez."

He smiled. "You don't like that?"

"No, I don't!"

"Why not?"

"Because!" She placed her hands on her hips. "It's rude!"

"See? Now you're getting it."

"But-"

"Is it rude, or is it not rude? It's either one or the other. Don't skate around your answer like an indecisive fool."

"Okay, it's rude! Geez, sorry. Maybe if you just answered my questions I wouldn't have to figure it out for myself."

"Ah, so should I start asking you personal questions about your anatomy? Wouldn't that also be considered rude?"

"…FINE. In that case, I'm going to sit around and try to imagine what all your parts are for. Maybe I'll get it all wrong and make weird assumptions! Would you like that?"

"Oh, I don't know." He smirked and poked her forehead again. "Would you like me to sit around and imagine things involving your parts?"

"I get it already! God, it's hopeless talking to you!"

"So why do you keep doing it?"

"I don't know." She frowned. Why DID she keep doing it? That was the million dollar question… He was being a little bit of a dick right now, but it wasn't so bad. It was kind of fun, actually. Maybe she was just a masochist? That had to be it. Plus after that aurora… there had to be a nice guy in there somewhere. Maybe a nice guy who didn't want to destroy the world? …maybe? She sighed. Probably not. But that didn't mean she couldn't try, right? After all, if he could be nice to her, he could be nice to other people, right? "I guess in a weird, twisted way, I still kind of like you. You can act like a dick all you want, but you made that aurora for me, so I'm sure there's something nice underneath all that douchebaggery that's worth looking for. So yeah, I'm going to hold to our truce, try not to bug the shit out of you, and consider you a friend for the time being. How about that?"

Cell cocked his head to the side curiously. A friend? What a strange answer. And a delusional hope that he'd change his ways… if he hadn't thought Yuki was back to her normal self before, he certainly did now. "I… tolerate your existence. And I suppose I'm less bothered by your happiness than I am by your angry slinging of obscenities. But only slightly."

"Boy, for someone who claims to 'tolerate' me, you put on a spectacular act of hatred."

"Oh I just naturally look angry, but I promise you I'm jumping for joy inside."

"So not only are you sarcastic, but you also have resting bitch face?"

"I don't know what that is."

Yuki grinned and stifled a laugh. "…never mind."

Cell narrowed his eyes at her in annoyance. From the way she was trying her hardest not to laugh, it seemed to be some sort of massive insult. He made a note to look into that later.

After their little back-and-forth, Yuki headed back inside to 'regroup', leaving Cell alone with his thoughts. So… he tolerated her existence. That had probably not been the best thing to say. She'd most likely try to take advantage of that, just as she had everything else in her strange little quest to both study him and rile him up. But as he was loathe to admit to her earlier, her presence was something he'd grown accustomed to. She was always around, but… Suddenly his train of thought halted and he turned to look over at the house with wide eyes. She was always around. The week he'd spent with her back then, the four days now so far…that had been a large part of his waking life. Nearly half of his time awake had been in the presence of Yuki. The other half being the few days it had taken to reach his perfect form, and the time spent unsuccessfully hunting down the androids in his old timeline. So that was it. She'd been, and continued to be, a constant yet bothersome companion to him. How inconvenient.That was a weakness, and that was something that could prove to be troublesome. But what to do…? He turned away from the house and settled his eyes on something in the far distance. Something that was not yet close enough for any human to see, but he could see it clear as day, headed right for his arena. How delightful.

Yuki was sitting at her desk fiddling around with her laptop when she heard the knock on her door. Cell was knocking? That was strange. Usually he waited for her to come out there. She stood up and shuffled over to the door, opening it just a crack to look out at him with an inquisitive expression. "What is it? And what's that noise?"

"If I were you, I'd pack up your house and move elsewhere."

"Oh, I don't think so, we had a truce remember? I thought you were a 'man of your word'. I'm not going anywhere! So there."

"All right." He shrugged. "But I don't think they will be as understanding as I."

"…they?"

Cell moved to the side and, without a word, pointed out into the distance at the giant army heading their way.

Yuki gulped. Tanks and jets and missile launchers and soldiers… the Royal Defense Force. "Right. They. Of course." That was all the convincing she needed. She stumbled out of the house in a panic and quickly capsuled it. "What do I do? What do I do?!"

"Why, you sit back and watch the fireworks, of course."

"Are you fucking kidding me?! They're going to kill me! Haven't you ever heard of the concept of 'friendly fire'?!"

"Well… I unfortunately promised not to kill you myself, but wouldn't it be convenient if they did it for me?"

"W-what?" Yuki's heart sank in her chest. Was he serious? So that's all this was, some tense promise he made that he actually hated being forced to stick to. She thought they were getting along now… maybe there wasn't anything nice in him after all.

Cell threw back his head and laughed. "Such a dejected expression! I can almost feel the distress and abandonment radiating from you." He quickly lifted her up and scanned the landscape, searching for a suitable place to put her. "It was a joke, of course. I would never abandon my evil henchman."

She frowned, but… at least he was holding her like an actual lady and not like a damn potato sack this time. She closed her eyes and clung tightly to his neck, bracing herself for the inevitable slingshot upwards.

"Now there's a nice spot." And with that, he shot into the sky and landed lightly on a high cliff a short distance from the arena. "From here you can watch all the fun."

He dropped her onto the ground. She was a bit dazed from the sudden takeoff, but nothing worse for the wear. Looking down from the cliff, she could see the arena, as well as the massive army headed straight for it. And as she watched Cell fly back off towards his ring, she knew it was an army that had no hope of even scratching the surface of him, much less defeat him. Why the hell would they do this? They had to have seen what he was capable of! Why would they run off to their deaths like that? She didn't want anyone else to die. Knowing full well what was about to happen, she felt the tears begin to well up in her eyes. She watched as the army surrounded him on a nearby cliff, and she watched as they bombarded him with every weapon they had… only for them to reel back in horror to discover he still lived. And she watched, in fear and desperation, as he held out his hand. In one sweeping motion, the entire army was annihilated. They never stood a chance. The world's military, wiped out in less than a second. Gone.

Before she had the chance to fully process it, Cell had returned, picking her up and bringing her back down to the arena. They both stood, eyes locked on each other tensely, as the wreckage in the background threw up billows of smoke… and probably the ashes of incinerated soldiers. It made her sick. "…why? Why would you kill them? You weren't supposed to kill anyone else yet…"

"No, I wasn't supposed to go around slaughtering the 'innocent'. There was nothing mentioned about defending my arena." He crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a little half-smile.

"I… I…" She could feel her stomach tying itself in knots, her hands balled into tight, shaking fists… her head was pounding as she struggled to keep herself from breaking down into sobs right in front of him. "I… I HATE YOU!"

Cell gaped at her, stunned, taken aback by her sudden outburst. "Wh-"

"I HATE YOU!" She attempted to shove him backwards, unsuccessfully, and ran off the stage, throwing her house out from its capsule and slamming the door as she bolted inside.

She fell down face first onto the couch and cried into a pillow. Cell was a murderer, and she always knew it… but she'd never had to witness it firsthand like that. He'd killed so many people, and somehow her mind just wrote it all off as a side note. It was never something she had to witness, it was never something that seemed real and tangible… but now it was. He killed that entire army. He killed all those people in those cities… and a new thought hit her that make her sick to her stomach. Who knows how many people died when he destroyed that mountain range? All because he was trying to show off and get some reaction out of her… and when he did, all she could think about was the fact that he was being childish by treating her like an ant under a magnifying glass, and then slightly annoyed that he called her an evil henchman. She didn't even take a second to think about the loss of human life.

"What the hell is wrong with me?!"

She was pulled away from her grief when she heard the voice of the Monarch coming from the TV. He looked so incredibly sad, just like her. Just like everyone else. "Everyone throughout the world, this is your Monarch. As you have witnessed from that earlier broadcast, the combined forces of our military were dealt a destructive blow by Cell. …I am accountable for everything. I am terribly sorry. There was nothing else that we could have done. To be completely honest, there is nothing we CAN do…"

Yuki sat up and sighed. "No, I'm accountable for everything… I'm sorry…"

"…however, please do not panic! A savior, such as the young boy who defeated Piccolo Daimao so long ago, may yet appear again."

She perked up. Piccolo? Cell had mentioned him… someone who defeated Piccolo? Did the Monarch mean one of the Saiyans? Maybe Goku? He was right… maybe Goku could save them all from this whole mess that SHE caused. Because she sure as hell couldn't. But if the Monarch knew about it, maybe there was some information out there she could find as well? She walked over to her desk and sat down, intending to do a few searches for Piccolo Daimao. But as she sat there in front of the search engine, a little thought crossed her mind. Cell's stupid outdated insult. The one he thought she'd forget about. Well, she'd show him!

"Let's see… pulchritude… 'Great physical beauty and appeal'?" She pursed her lips. So he hadn't insulted her at all, he was just complimenting her and didn't want her to know. Either that, or he was being a sarcastic dick again. She growled and rubbed her temples. What a confusing guy. …maybe she should go back out and make some comment about it? And also ask about Piccolo, since he probably knew more than anything she could find online?

With a huff, she stood up and wiped away her tears, replacing them with a look of determination, and headed back outside.

Cell frowned as he heard her walking toward him. His original plan was to merely ignore her for the rest of the day in hopes that she would calm down. After all, he didn't want to stretch thin the truce that was already on the verge of destabilizing, and he'd rather she didn't hate him. But listening to her lamentations towards the little speech she'd been watching on the television… she even looked up pulchritude. He supposed she didn't yet realize he could hear her in there, even though earlier she'd commented on how exceptional his hearing must be. He turned around, scrutinizing her, as she cleared her throat.

"Piccolo Daimao. Who defeated him? Was it Goku?"

"…yes. It was." Just then, he felt a large ki overhead and looked up. Goku was flying past, probably upset over the damage. Considering what had happened yesterday, he was most likely a bit more on guard than normal. But he'd given the Saiyan his word only that he would stay away from innocent people. There was no deal on defending his ring, and Goku knew it. "You know, that guy." He pointed up.

"Wha… OH MY GOD!" Her eyes widened and she placed her hand over her mouth. "OH SHIT! He saw us down here talking to each other!"

"And?"

"He'll think we're on friendly terms or something! Oh my god, if he didn't think I was a bad guy before, he definitely does now… I can't believe this is happening…"

"Taking into consideration all of his observations so far, I'm inclined to agree with you this time."

"Well, I hope you're happy!" She growled, both her hands placed squarely on her hips. "By the way, I looked up pulchritude! You didn't think I'd remember, but I did!"

"Oh?" He grinned.

"Saying sweet things to someone doesn't work if they don't realize you're being sweet."

"Hm."

"Two can play at that game, you know." She narrowed her eyes at him. "What if I said I'm feeling some kind of Beatrice and Benedick vibe coming from you? See, now you're confused by my reference, see how it feels?!"

Cell threw back his head and laughed. "Beatrice and Benedick, is that so?"

"Yeah, it's from a movie called 'Much Ado About Nothing'. Oh noooo, pop culture! Your one weakness!"

"My dear, that's a Shakespeare play." He smiled slyly. "And I'm quite well aware of it."

She froze. His eyes were locked firmly on her, and there was that little gleam again. That movie was adapted from a damn Shakespeare play. She hadn't realized that. "…well, it was a JOKE anyway."

"I'm sure it was."

If any time was the best time to make an exit, right now was that time. "I'm out." She spun around and marched back to her front door, trying to hold on to some semblance of pride. Cell probably thought she was an idiot for not knowing that was Shakespeare… how embarrassing. On the other hand, she just accused him of having a Beatrice and Benedick vibe, so HE should be the one feeling embarrassed!

Cell yelled after her, in a voice that just screamed delight. "'Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably'!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Gritting her teeth, she threw open the door and slammed it shut before that smirking asshole could say anything else.


I'm sure he yanked that car from a dead guy in one of the cities he emptied. Yuki'd be appalled if she knew that, though. And for those not familiar with Beatrice and Benedick, they're just typical enemies-turned-lovers. But their constant sarcastic bickering is hilarious.

In the show, Day Four marks the end of the Ten Day canon. Seriously, after like noon on day four, the narrator just says something like "Day four comes to an end AND NOW HERE'S THE CELL GAMES!" …fine, more freedom for me then. And now that I've successfully riled up Goku from his relaxation, I can do more stuff with him :3

So Day Four begins, bringing with it a failed attempt at a 'field study'… didn't retain too much information from your college days there, did you Yuki? Now what fun things are in store for our stubborn lovebirds? Maybe they'll break out the Trivial Pursuit? Read some of Yuki's erotic xenomorph fanfiction? MOAR HUGS?! Yuki gets more information on Cell's anatomy than she bargained for, and the 'TV-watchin buddies' reconvene on the couch, next time ON DRAGON BALL Z!