Author Notes: Ahhhhhhhhh (okay okay, so I split the chapter because it got waaaaay too long for my taste; sorry for the suspense but enjoy the tension?)

Pairing: Goku x Chi-Chi

Words: 6,808

AU Setting: High School

~!~Just Another High School Romance~!~

~!~Part 12: I Searched For You (Section 1)~!~

He walked to school in silence. One hand in his pocket, the other holding his school bag over his shoulder. Stepping alongside the road with a frown on his face, the mild heat made him long for his bike as sweat dripped at the back of his neck.

Goku sighed. He hadn't expected her to take his bike. He hadn't expected her to leave at all, really.

A part of him wondered if Chi-Chi had left because of him, because of what they'd done in the woods. He was sure everything had been fine. He'd asked for permission every step, not wanting to make any mistake but still having that urge driving his moves. He'd even backed off as soon as she said 'no.'Weird, though, how he was so worried about doing the right thing around her, about how those urges had happened in the first place. He didn't understand why Chi-Chi was the only girl he knew to open up such feelings within him.

And he didn't really understand why she had left, either.

Fingers brushed against metal inside his pocket, and he hummed a bit to himself at the reminder of his cell phone. Maybe he should have called her. With the way it had kept him up all night, he really should have tried calling. But if she had left him, then that meant she wanted to be alone, right? If she felt safe enough to go back to her apartment on her own, then he wasn't going to argue. Let her do what she wanted. After their sparring, he felt confident that Chi-Chi could take care of herself. Unless Tien himself came for her, then she'd be perfectly fine.

Not that he wasn't worried.

Of course he was worried. His grandfather's words to wait 'til the morning had been the only thing holding him back last night. He would have raced all the way to her apartment on foot. In the middle of the night. Instead, he'd been convinced to hang back, especially after his grandfather had discovered what intimate acts they'd done.

Hang back. Wait for a phone call. Sleep it off. See her at school in the morning.

His legs moved faster at the thought. The faster he got to school, the faster he could find Chi-Chi, and the faster he could ask what he'd done wrong.

Such were his thoughts as he walked to school, each step reminding him of the fact that his own girlfriend had stolen his bike. Or, well, borrowed, he was sure. Still, it meant his trip took longer. It meant he was late when he finally did arrive at school. It meant he had to spend time in the office explaining that he had misjudged the time it would take to walk to school since he was so used to simply riding his bike.

It also meant Goku missed the first message sent to his cell phone, as he was far too busy talking with the office staff to notice the beep in his pocket.

By the time he sat down in his class, his mind was far too preoccupied to even think of checking his phone. At least at first.

School was boring, and it was hard to pay attention in class. As always. Only now his mind wanted to concentrate. Chi-Chi had drilled it into him after all the hours of after-school work. Usually, thinking of her made it easier to focus on the teacher's lecture. After all, if he could imagine Chi-Chi yelling in his ear about the importance of paying attention… Well, it helped. The same way thinking of her helped on his tests.

Except for now.

Thoughts of her made his focus drift. Where had she gone? Why had she left? Was she okay? She had to be. He didn't want to picture her in trouble. It made a sick feeling hit his stomach, made him shift around awkwardly in his chair, made him tap on the desk.

Made him reach for his cell phone.

Although phones were expressly forbidden in class and Goku wasn't one to purposefully break the rules, the itch to check his messages was far too strong. He couldn't pay attention right now anyway, so why should it matter? His hand was already on the move, slipping the phone out of his pocket, sliding it onto his desk next to his open workbook. He may not have been practiced in the art of hiding his phone in class like some of his friends, but he still knew it was a good idea to try and not appear so obvious about it.

Flipping his phone open, tapping it to pull it out of its lock mode, Goku gasped and leaned forward in his chair at the sight on his screen. A message was waiting for him. How long had that been there? He'd stared at his phone all night so it had to have been recent. Whenever it had come in, he opened it now and held his breath, heart pounding in his ears when the sender was revealed to be none other than Chi-Chi.

Don't search for me. It's a trap. I'll be fine. Love you. Sorry about the bike.

"What?!"

The exclamation left his mouth before he could hold it in. His hands shook as he pressed them against the desk, staring down at the message, re-reading it as all the words slowly processed. As he realized what it meant.

Chi-Chi was in trouble. Chi-Chi was in trouble. Chi-Chi was in trouble.

Goku almost stepped away and rushed out of the classroom, out of the school, right then and there. Nothing else mattered. His mind jumped into overdrive, trying to think of what it could mean. Where could she be? Where had they taken her? Taken… The anger started to fill in, dropping inside, rising up from the bottom. Tien was going to pay – and pay dearly if Chi-Chi had been hurt at all.

"Son Goku."

The calm but slightly annoyed voice snapped him out of his anger. Goku blinked, eyes training to the owner of the voice, the one who had stated his name. Oh. His teacher was standing next to him, holding out her hand. Goku felt his sheepish smile form on his face as he glanced around and realized his current position.

In his shock, he must have shouted out loud instead of keeping it all internal. His hands were pressed against the edge of his desk, and he was on his feet, leaning forward and down. Rising in an effort to rush out to rescue Chi-Chi, he was sure. Staring down at his phone instead of actually moving because -

"Your phone, Goku," the teacher said, clearing her throat. "You know the rules. And sit down. You're disturbing the class."

At the directions, he habitually fell in line, handing his phone over, sinking into his seat. He wasn't an intentional troublemaker by any stretch of the imagination, but he wasn't known as a perfect goody-goody kid, either. He'd had outbursts like this before, and he'd been in school when he got the news about the attack on Yamcha, too. Much like then, Goku was forced to comply with school rules and sit in silence. Worry in silence.

Listen to his ringtone go off in the hand of the teacher. Forced to imagine the worst as he had to clench up and try not to react. The teacher ignored the call, turned the phone on silent, and then set it at her desk.

Goku gripped at his own desk with tight fingers, staring at his cell phone for the rest of the lecture. Lunch couldn't come fast enough.

~!~

By the time lunch break finally came around, he was a mess. Apologizing to the professor and tripping over his words in his effort to get through the polite motions as fast as possible. A quick bow to beg forgiveness, and then finally he got his phone back. Flipping it open, his eyes searched immediately to figure out who the missed call was from, and as soon as he saw the name, his rapidly beating heart dropped into the pit of his stomach.

Chi-Chi…

She'd been trying to reach him. All this time wasted with him sitting in class and she had tried to reach him. She needed help. Just like when she'd called about the threat. He needed to go to her. He needed to find her and -

"Hey, Goku!"

Lifting his head away from his cell phone, Goku blinked as sunlight hit his eyes. Sunlight? Oh. He must have wandered outside. He hadn't even gotten food yet. His stomach growled, clenching inside, telling him to go and find sustenance. But for once something more important was on his mind.

As well as the fact that his best friend was standing in front of him, hands in uniform pockets, cap on a bald head. "Krillin."

"Yeah, hi," Krillin said. "You look a little out of it. Everything okay? Where's Chi-Chi?"

Instantly, his face paled, fingers shaking around the phone in his hands. "She's uh – I don't know."

Krillin's eyes narrowed. "You don't know?"

Goku shook his head, brought a hand up to dig into his hair. His heart was still hammering in his chest. Hearing and saying such words out loud, her name especially, made it all the more real.

"I think she's in trouble," he whispered. "I don't know where she is, but she took my bike and then sent me this message and -"

Krillin's hands came out of his pockets. "Whoa. Slow down, buddy. Let's go sit down for now. I bet Yamcha can share a little of his food 'cause you haven't eaten yet, have you?"

Shaking his head numbly, Goku followed his shorter friend over to their typical picnic table. Their little lunch hang out place claimed early in their first year. Yamcha was already there, a tray of food half-finished as he continued to pick at the remnants. Goku's eyes noticed the food, the bread rolls especially, and immediately his stomach growled in angry anticipation.

"Hey, Goku, what's up?" Yamcha said as he moved over to let Goku sit down. "Something wrong? You're usually the first with food."

His mouth opened slowly, but Krillin beat him to it, even with a whisper. "Chi-Chi's missing."

"Chi-Chi's -" Yamcha blinked, eyes widening in sudden understanding. "Wait! 'Missing' as in -"

"Shh," Krillin's finger went to his mouth. "Don't let a teacher overhear you. We might have to skip school."

Yamcha's eyes immediately settled, his mouth frowning. "That bad?"

Krillin nodded. "Yeah, so keep it down."

"Right," Yamcha muttered, eyes training back to Goku. "So what happened?"

With a groan, Goku pulled at his hair. How did he explain? He should have been with her. He should have chased after her. Instead of being worried about upsetting her, he should have just trusted his gut instincts. It may have prevented everything or he would have at least known earlier. The whole night… she could have been in trouble since last night. That was so much time for so much to go wrong.

"Whoa, Goku," Yamcha said, breaking into his thoughts, hand on his arm. "I think you're gonna need your phone. Set it down before you break it."

"Oh," he said, blinking down at the cell phone, at how his fist was clenched around the device. He quickly dropped it on the table. "Right. I – I just – I don't know what to do."

On his other side, Krillin reached over and snatched at the cell phone to hide it in his jacket. "Let's start from yesterday then. You two had detention together, didn't you?"

"Heh," Goku cracked a smile at the memory. "Yeah."

Recounting the day turned out to take a lot less time than he was expecting, even with Yamcha getting him side-tracked by asking lewd questions. He'd been over at her apartment again, boarding up her window after the brick had broken it. Everything had been tense but otherwise fine because they were together. He could still smell the stew she had cooked if he tried hard enough. And then Chi-Chi had asked to go to his house, so they did. Where they sparred out in the woods, and then -

"Holy shit you actually went that far with a girl on your own?" Yamcha blurted out. "I thought after the party incident, you two would be pure and innocent for the rest of high school at least. What did she taste like?"

Heat spread across his face at the question, tongue feeling weak and dry all of a sudden, rethinking his decision to share such a detail in the first place. "Uhm."

"Yamcha, not the time. I think Raditz is rubbing off on you," Krillin snapped before leaning in to talk to Goku. "Forget the minor details, Goku. After that you say she took your bike and you haven't heard from her since, right?"

"Uh…" Goku nodded slowly, "Yeah."

Leaning back, Krillin nodded, arms crossed as if he had it all figured out. "All right, then. The best place to start is her apartment then, right? Since they figured out where she lived. Pretty crazy that Chi-Chi went back alone after all that. I thought she was the cool-headed type."

Yamcha snorted. "Yeah, right. She's a firecracker, remember? She's got Goku wrapped around her finger. But besides that, if she left shortly after they got a little intimate, it makes sense. You don't really think straight after a moment like that. Trust me."

With a groan, Goku lowered his elbows to the red table, hands going to his head, tugging at the wild edges of the spikes of his hair. So it was his fault. He shouldn't have gone that far with her. She really had left because of -

"Goku," Krillin murmured, hand on his shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up over past decisions. There's no telling what's really to blame or what really went through her mind, okay? Look, we'll get her back and everything will turn out fine. Eat something first. Then we'll take my bike to her apartment and see if we can get any leads."

He glanced to his friend. "Your bike?"

"Yeah," Krillin nodded. "You know how it works at the temple. We take turns with the one bike."

With another snort, Yamcha shoved his tray in front of Goku. "I'll catch up later, then. You'll barely fit the two of you on that thing. But Krillin's right. Eat something first."

A hum, a nod, and a mild acceptance of their plan as Goku sat up a little straighter on the bench. His hands reached for the stuffed bread rolls immediately, stomach growling even as his mouth watered at the mere scent. He would eat a little. Then go with Krillin. Leaving school early might get them in trouble if a teacher noticed and reported them, but it was better than trying to sit through the rest of the day doing absolutely nothing.

His heart still hurt in his chest with how anxious he was feeling, but at least now he had a plan of action. He'd have to remember to thank Krillin for stepping up to help so quickly. The guy was definitely one of his closest friends for a reason.

~!~

Traveling by Krillin's bike was a little strange at first. Goku sat on the seat, facing the back, one foot resting on the spoke in the back wheel, his other leg resting over that one at the knee. He kept his arms crossed and glanced over his shoulder at his buddy as they raced away from the school.

Krillin had his feet on the pedals, of course, but he was leaning forward. Far forward. Pressing into the handlebars. Back barely against Goku's as they rode down the street.

Thankfully, no teacher had spotted them. Or at least, none close enough to approach them and keep them from leaving. Goku was sure he'd walk into school tomorrow meeting a detention slip, or worse. He knew his grandfather would scold him about this decision for sure later.

But Chi-Chi came first. Before all else, he had to think about her safety.

"It's up this way," Krillin called, "Right?"

With a blink, Goku turned to get a better look at their direction. Familiar buildings and street signs passed by as they went. The sidewalks were pretty much clear, though, since most people were at work. Minus those few who didn't work or who were still on lunch break, he guessed. Still, he was glad he didn't have to be shouting directions the whole time. His mind continued to fret over the possible situations his girlfriend could be in, trying not to think about the worst cases.

"Y-yeah," he said back, clearing his throat to give more power to his voice. "Yeah, it's the complex just up here."

Krillin nodded, his pedaling speed picking up as he pushed his way through the small crowds. "Great. Not far, then."

When they finally did pull up to the complex, Goku hopped off the bike long before Krillin could come to a stop. His shoes hit the pavement, feeling the heat of the day pulsing into his feet as he raced across the parking lot to Chi-Chi's apartment. Blood pounding in his ears and his breath caught in his throat, surprised to see his bike sitting against the wall. Untouched. Unmarred. But left out in the open.

He bit the inside of his cheek as he filed the information away for later. But Krillin stepped up to voice the question anyway. "Why would they leave your bike?"

Goku shrugged. "I don't know."

It didn't make too much sense. Tien's gang had stolen one of his bike's before (at least he was pretty certain it was them). They liked stealing stuff, especially when that stuff belonged to Goku. Except…

"Huh," Krillin said. "Must have been too excited about snatching Chi-Chi to care about your bike."

A sick feeling hit his stomach. "Excited?"

Beside him, Krillin winced. "Not what I meant. I'm sure she's fine, Goku. I don't think Tien would ever go that far..."

"That far as in..."

"As in don't worry about it," Krillin snapped, hand on his back. "Let's check inside her apartment. You have a key, don't you?"

Goku blinked away from the terrible thoughts, focusing on his friend. The bald-headed temple kid moved away from him, stepping up to the front door of the apartment. A key. They needed a key to get inside. But...Chi-Chi hadn't ever given him a copy. There wasn't any need. They hadn't ever thought of such a detail. After all, if they were together all the time, what would be the point? Except now they weren't together and -

A click and a small creak broke the tense air. Both Goku and Krillin brought their gazes to the apartment door, even as Krillin's hand moved away from the doorknob. Had it been unlocked this whole time?

"Huh, well, I guess that makes sense," Krillin muttered. "She must have opened it before they got to her. Or..."

Narrowed eyes glanced to his friend. "Or what?"

Krillin shrugged. "Or they forced her to open it for whatever reason."

"Why would they -"

"I don't know, Goku," his friend sighed. "But let's go inside and see if anything stands out, okay? Maybe they left you a note."

Taking a breath to steady himself, Goku nodded. He had to think clearly and stop imagining the worst of this situation. Chi-Chi was counting on him to solve this. Counting on him to come get her. Well…

Maybe not.

She had sent a message earlier. A warning message. Something telling him not to chase after her, not to come looking. She was being too brave and he wouldn't listen, not if she was in danger, but that did beg the question…

If Tien had kidnapped her, then why was she sending those messages? Did Tien really let her keep her phone? It seemed sloppy. Incredibly sloppy. If Goku was gonna kidnap someone – which of course he never would – but if he did, he wouldn't let them have any contact with the outside world.

Unless it was on purpose. Unless it was a set up. Unless Tien wanted Goku to… but hadn't Chi-Chi said something about a trap? He bit his bottom lip and groaned. What had she said again?

Reaching into his pocket, Goku realized he didn't even have his phone anymore after his friend had snatched it away at the lunch table. "Hey, Krillin."

"Yeah?" Krillin was still standing in the doorway, peering into the darkness of the apartment, as if afraid of what he might find beyond. "Did you think of something?"

Goku shook his head, trying to keep his thoughts from wondering about Krillin's worry and imagination. "Not really. Just… Can I have my phone back?"

"Oh," Krillin said. "Sure."

His friend reached into his school jacket, pulled out the older model cell phone, and tossed it toward Goku. While he opened his palms, ready to catch the device, Goku noticed that the phone was lighting up. It was on silent so he wouldn't be able to know if someone was calling him, but by the time the phone landed in his hands, he knew. The name flashing across the screen, the subtle vibrations against his fingers. Someone was calling him. Chi-Chi was -

Gulping back a breath, Goku quickly answered the call, cool metal pressing into his ear. "Chi -"

"Oh look who actually answered."

Eyes narrowed. A growl bubbled up from the back of his throat. "Tien."

"Good. You recognize my voice over the phone. Not bad, Goku."

"Where's Chi-Chi?"

"Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Don't play with me, Tien," Goku snarled. "Where's Chi-Chi?"

"With me, obviously."

"You know what I meant!"

"I'm amazed at how worked up you are. You must have been worried all day. Don't worry. She's fine. We're just holding her until you show up, though I'm afraid I did have to drug her a little."

His heart dropped into his stomach, his voice a squeak of a breath. "Wh-what? What did you do to her?"

"Honestly, Goku, I'm not an evil person. She just refused to comply and stay quiet. A little drug to hush her up and keep her from pissing off my crew too much. I wouldn't want them to actually hurt her, you know. I'm sure you wouldn't want that, either. You should know how hard it is to control your friends sometimes."

His free hand clenched at his side, shaking as his voice growled into the phone. "What do you want, Tien?"

"Ah, that's a hard question. I'm not really sure. I know I'm angry so I want you to suffer. That contract of yours was supposed to be mine, you know. Or at the very least, you were supposed to be fighting in this tournament so I could prove myself to the couple of scouts that'll be there. But, you see, you're not in the tournament this year so that leaves me with quite a lot of pent-up aggression."

"What do you want from me?"

"I don't know, but I think the best I'm going to get is a fight. Sadly, it'll be off the books. But maybe I'll still get the chance to prove something. Even if it's just to you and your friends."

He'd figured Tien would want a fight but going through all this trouble seemed ridiculous. He wanted to turn it down. He didn't like playing these kinds of games with people. Still… Chi-Chi needed him.

"All right. Where?"

"The old abandoned playground on the South side. At sunset. Go back to school, Goku. Your grades are going to matter a whole lot more after tonight. Trust me."

Before he could growl something back about his grades being his own business, the call cut out. For a second, Goku thought of calling back right away. After all, sunset wasn't gonna cut it. He needed to save Chi-Chi now. But then he realized it wouldn't matter. Tien wouldn't answer. Tien had the upper hand here. He was calling all the shots. And Goku was just left to sit and wait until some pre-determined time. It was all out of his hands.

His fist slammed into the wall of Chi-Chi's apartment. Hard. Enough force to shake the broken and boarded window nearby. Pain rushed into his knuckles, and he knew the slight stickiness as he pulled away from the wall meant he was bleeding. Not that he cared. Not that it mattered.

"Goku..."

Krillin's voice was next to him, holding the phone that Goku must have dropped. A glance to his friend showed the wide-eyed worry and fear. An understanding. Krillin must have overheard enough.

"I need to do something," Goku said, attempting to shake the pain out of his fist. "I can't just wait around."

Krillin grimaced. "Yeah, but what can you do? We still have no clue where to go. All we know is that Tien actually does have Chi-Chi and he's planning to set some trap at the playground at sunset. And I really want to tell you not to go but -"

"I will if I have to, Krillin," Goku said, glancing to his bike, walking over to it, pulling it away from the apartment wall. "They have Chi-Chi."

"Yeah, I know, but -" Krillin's voice drifted, changed as he stepped up. "Hey, where are you going?"

Goku grinned as he climbed on his bike. "Downtown. I have an idea."

~!~

Although it felt nice to be riding his own bike again, Goku could also smell her and the ride downtown became more burdensome because of it. Normally, he would have relished at being able to pick up her scent on his bike – a distinctive odor he felt he could now recognize anywhere. His sense of smell had always been higher than average and now that he had tasted the core of her, noticing her particular unique scent was easier. Well, it also helped that he knew she had been riding his bike.

So maybe he was imagining it after all.

Regardless, Goku traversed the streets to purposefully cross a specific line. Gang territories existed. Well, Tien and his group had that section of town they claimed as their own. Near the South side playground, as a matter of fact, which essentially meant Tien's meeting point for later was deep into the Crane Gang territory.

Not that Goku cared about such things. After all, he only stayed away from their areas to protect his friends. Only now, one of his friends – his literal girlfriend – had been taken and he really didn't care about those gang lines anymore. Except for one thing – to get their attention.

When he came to a stop outside a familiar quick-serve restaurant, Krillin pedaled up next to him without hesitation. "Are you crazy? Are you trying to tick him off, Goku?"

"Maybe I am," Goku growled, sliding off his bike so he could get right to tying his bike down. "I'm not waiting around, Krillin."

Even with the complaints on his tongue, Krillin climbed off his own bike and mimicked Goku's actions. "Yeah, okay, but it's just you and me, buddy. You sure you don't want to wait for Yamcha before you go stirring up trouble looking for Chi-Chi?"

"Krillin," Goku said, standing up, walking to the diner entrance, hand pressing against the door. "I told you. I'm not waiting."

Ever behind him, ready to back him up if need be, Krillin groaned. "Yeah, but – Goku, I'm not sure this is the best way to get what you want."

In response, Goku shrugged and walked into the restaurant. He didn't have time to come up with multiple plans. He didn't have time to weigh out the options. Chi-Chi didn't have time. They'd drugged her, which meant they'd already injured her to some degree, a thought that sent a rush of fire through his body. Fists clenched, he found a seat. Familiar spot, too. Probably the same one he'd chosen when he went shopping with Chi-Chi, when Tien had first discovered her existence and importance.

Sliding in to the booth, he leaned his back against the window, casually laying his leg on the bench as he glanced around the diner. Mostly empty. No one in the green and yellow of Tien's colors.

Krillin sat down across from him and sighed. "So now what?"

Gritting his teeth, Goku drummed his fingers on the table. "Now we wait for one of them to show up."

"Great," Krillin breathed. "If they even do. You sure you don't want to just wait somewhere safe and plan a little better than this?"

Goku shook his head. "I'm not waiting. I'm taking action. Even if I have to sit here and wait on them for the next move, I'm not going to play by their rules."

"You realize that means you're still waiting, right?" Krillin pressed. "You could wait around where it's safe instead. Wait for Yamcha. Wait for a better idea. Now we're just sitting in their territory waiting for them to make a move."

"Exactly."

Fingers continued to drum on the table. He'd already eaten lunch so the enticing smells of toasted bread and meat hardly registered for him. His stomach didn't need food. For once, Goku was sitting in a restaurant waiting for something entirely different, something that didn't involve satisfying a hunger.

No, he was waiting for someone.

As Krillin had spelled out, he was here in the Crane Gang's territory, waiting for them to make the next move. 'Play by my rules,' he challenged. 'Come out and face me now. I'm on your turf. Making a statement. Challenging your authority.'

In a way, he was daring them to come out of hiding. Daring them to fight him out in the open. He wanted a confrontation now. Tien had spoken about holding onto pent up aggression. Well, maybe they had taken Chi-Chi to get Goku's attention, to create a rise out of him, to show him that feeling of pent up aggression by delaying his inevitable fight with Tien.

If that's what they wanted, then they were succeeding.

"Goku," Krillin sighed. "You really should think through this more. You're really worked up and -"

"I don't care, Krillin," Goku snapped. "I already told you, I'm not waiting at home. If I'm going to wait anywhere, it's going to be right here."

Another sigh from his friend. "Holy crap, you're stubborn as hell sometimes."

The comment made Goku crack a bit of a grin. Yeah, he'd been told that before. Stubborn and reckless. Such a great combination. Good thing most of the time he was content with life. It took a lot to set him off.

And this was one of the things that could do it, apparently.

Thankfully, Krillin stopped trying to convince him to turn back. His friend wouldn't push on an unmoving brick wall for too long before giving up. He knew when Goku wasn't going to budge. He probably knew better than anyone.

So they waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

Three hours went by before a gang member finally walked through the restaurant doors. Goku was a little disappointed to see it wasn't Tien himself, but after three hours he wasn't in any mood to complain about who showed up. He finally had the attention he wanted. Because it wasn't just any gang member, either. It was Launch herself.

Launch, the chick who always acted like Tien's girlfriend whether she was or not.

Launch, one of the higher-ups in the gang, right behind the obvious second-in-command Chiaotzu.

Launch, also known as, the girl with the gun.

She walked in, eyes glancing around the restaurant, before she met Goku's glare and gave a smirk in response. She was wearing the green and yellow of the Crane Gang, plain and simple for anyone to see, even if they didn't recognize her by the gun she carried in her hand. The green crop top, the yellow cut-off jeans. Biker gloves – because their gang had stolen actual motorcycles over the years. Red tennis shoes. Green socks. The red ribbon in her hair standing out amid such a mass of blond. Launch was in her typical outfit, probably her most comfortable for the reason of knowing a fight was going down later tonight.

When she slid into the booth across from Goku without a word, he narrowed his eyes and reigned in his frustrated anger. As much as he wanted to explode on her, he knew now would not be the time. He needed information about Chi-Chi and he was going to have to play nice in order to get some. At least she placed the gun on the table, a way of setting a truce, releasing her weapon so he didn't have to worry about her shooting the thing. Near professional expert in martial arts or not, dodging bullets was still beyond Goku's true capabilities. He was still only human, after all.

Tension bled between them in the silence. Krillin had already slid along the bench to press against the wall, having been forced to accommodate Launch's presence whether he felt comfortable with it or not. Goku sat up on his bench, hand squeezing around the glass of the milkshake he had ordered to have an excuse to stay in the restaurant. Since the rule was he couldn't sit here taking up space in a booth without being a paying customer. Well, he had to watch his anger because the glass was tight around his fingers. Thankfully, the milkshake wasn't served in a styrofoam cup. He was pretty sure he would have crushed it by now.

"You should have stayed in school, Goku," Launch said into the tension, voice mimicking what Tien had told him earlier. "Or at least gone home and changed. You stand out like a sore thumb."

He met her green gaze and growled. "Where's Chi-Chi?"

Green eyes rolled. "Is that all you think about?"

Sitting forward, Goku brushed off her commentary and lowered his voice. "Where is she?"

Their gazes locked. Lips frowned. Goku felt his heart rate pick up. For three hours, he had been sitting in this booth wondering where his girlfriend could be, wondering if she was really okay like Tien claimed. Three hours with just his thoughts and Krillin to distract him. Yamcha must not have been able to leave school. There was no telling when his back up would arrive.

But now Launch was toying with him, refusing to give an inch, determined to keep him waiting 'til sunset. Well, gun or not, Goku wasn't going to just sit by and let her -

"You want to know where your girl is?"

The question – the other male voice – caught him completely by surprise. Goku felt the heat of his anger cool a little by the appearance of this new stranger. The guy sat down next to Launch, wearing jeans, a torn green t-shirt with the crane symbol and a black leather biker jacket with a yellow ribbon tied around one of his arms. The color combination immediately gave him away as a gang member and Goku narrowed his eyes.

Especially when the guy smirked and ran a thumb across the bangs of his dirty blond hair, revealing the fingerless gloves that were near identical to Launch's. "Don't worry about her. Your girl is safe at my place right now."

Launch turned and hissed. "Brad."

"Oh, let me have some fun, Launch," the one called Brad said as he waved his hand in the air. "It's not like he even knows who I am, much less where I live. I've just been a nameless gang member up until this point."

With a scowl, Goku pulled his hand away from his drink and set his hands on the table. "Stop playing around and tell me where she -"

"I already told you, idiot," Brad interrupted. "Your girl is at my place. I took her there myself last night. She's being guarded but she's kind of out of it right now thanks to the drug we gave her. You'll probably be happy to know she fought back and almost escaped on her own. That's why we had to drug her a little, you see."

His body was shaking with the urge to jump across the table. He didn't like the way this guy was talking about Chi-Chi. He didn't like it at all.

"She's one hell of a tiger, too."

Goku blinked, growling through clenched teeth. "What?"

Brad pulled his jacket sleeve back, revealing the nail marks, the red slash marks on his skin. "She didn't even care about the knife when she gave me those. Guess she didn't like the way I was holding her on my bike."

Between the shit-eating grin on the guy's face and the image that flashed through his mind, Goku couldn't hold himself back any longer. The day had been too stressful, too much building up without release. He simply snapped.

Jumping up, one leg on the seat, one smashing on the table, Goku reached across and snatched the black leather jacket in his hand. He pulled Brad up by the collar and then wasted no time slamming his fist into that smirking unprotected face. Once. Twice. Three times. His anger flowed out, finally having some physical target where he could direct all that pent up frustration.

And then Krillin's yelp caught his attention. "Goku...buddy..."

Dark eyes glanced to the side and then froze. Everything froze. Teeth ground together as he was forced to reign in his anger once again. Krillin was up against the wall, hands raised, shaking. Shaking because Launch's gun was at his throat, the safety presumably off, ready to fire. A real death threat.

Green eyes locked with his knowingly. Goku scowled, making his displeasure obvious, but he dropped his hold on the gang member. Clenched his fists as he pulled back and slowly sat down again, lowering his hands to the table to show he wouldn't be springing into action anymore. Much like how earlier Launch had set her gun on the table to signify a temporary cease fire.

Now, the chick kicked Brad to the floor of the restaurant herself, hissing at him to get up and stop causing problems. The gun moved away from Krillin, the barrel pointing toward Goku for a few seconds, before Launch shrugged and clicked her safety back on.

"Sunset," she said. "Not before. You can wait two more hours, can't you?"

Still brimming with barely concealed rage, Goku gave a short nod. He wasn't going to be able to break away from this plan. This trap. Whatever it was, he was caught and out of options. He might have had a chance, but his untimely outburst had just ruined it all.

As Launch and Brad left the restaurant without another word, although with mumbled complaints from the guy, Goku clenched his fists, nails digging into palms as he glared down at the red table. Thoughts of Chi-Chi being caught by these guys filled his mind, of her being drugged because of her resistance…

And he was stuck here, unable to do anything but play the game by their rules, walk into their trap knowing something more was at stake but not knowing what. Why did they keep mocking him about going to school? As if any of them actually had perfect attendance records… Why did he have to feel so helpless?

Shutting his eyes, he tried to shake the sinking feeling, took a deep breath only to groan and whisper in defeat. "Damn it..."

"Sorry, Goku," Krillin mumbled in front of him. "But looks like we really don't have a choice now."

With a grunt, Goku nodded and pulled himself to his feet. It was pointless to wait around here any longer. "Might as well go to that playground now, then. Text Yamcha to meet us there."

"Right," Krillin said, following his steps. "Look, Goku, whatever trap they're planning to spring, don't worry too much, okay?"

"Hm?"

"I mean," Krillin sighed, hands going to his pockets. "We'll get through it fine. Chi-Chi will be fine. You'll be fine. I -"

Hand on the glass door, Goku sighed. Eyes narrowed as he pushed the door open and walked out into the wind of spring. He knew his friend meant well and he was really glad Krillin was going to be with him through whatever happened tonight. But that sick pit in his stomach refused to go away.

"I hope you're right, Krillin," he mumbled, a hand going up to rub the back of his neck. "I've got a bad feeling about this."