Chapter Fourteen: Accusation
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Trunks and Icalla stood in the shade of Kami House, staring out to sea in silence; the gravity of Trunks words had settled over them like a blanket and neither could think of anything else to say. After several minutes, they turned to head inside. Suddenly, something caught the lavender haired Saiyan's eye; he turned in surprise to see the back of a familiar, spiky-haired young man. Akira took a step a way from them as light blue aura formed around him while he prepared to take to the air.
"Akira," Trunks called out, the younger Saiyan paused, but did not turn to face them as his aura faded. "Where have you been?"
"Around," came the quiet reply.
The lavender haired Saiyan's eyes narrowed as he noticed that Akira's clothes where torn in a several places, exposing cuts and burns on his back. "What happened to you?" he asked.
The young man still did not turn around. "Nothing," he said evenly and his aura again flashed around him. Trunks shot forward and grabbed Akira's arm, roughly spinning him around.
Icalla let out a small scream and Trunks found his breath taken away by the sight. The young man's face was covered in deep, bloody gashes, his eyes were black and blue and nearly swollen shut, and his lip was split open; his nose was bent at an unnatural angle and crimson blood was dripping off his chin. His shirt was almost nonexistent on his chest, which was covered in burns and cuts.
"Let go of me," Akira growled.
"What happened? How did you get these injuries?" Trunks demanded.
"Trunks. Let. Me. Go." the young man said dangerously.
"Not until you tell me where you went and why you're so beat up," the older Saiyan shouted. He pulled Akira closer to him and stared at him hard, "I know you've been hiding things from us. Now tell me what you've been up to!"
Akira ripped his arm free and slammed his fist into Trunks' chest.
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"Gohan, this can't possibly be the best idea," Goten said as the arguing died down for a couple of minutes. The rest of the Z-Fighters had gone back to discussing their options after the shock of Trunks and Icalla's sudden departure had worn off. Despite many suggestions, no one seemed able to come up with a better plan than Akira's, though none of them liked the idea of leaving their families without much protection.
"I wish we had something better, but I can't think of anything," the Saiyan scholar told his brother. "At least until we know more about who we're dealing with and what sort of abilities they have, this is the most logical plan."
Tien shook his head, "I still think we sho--"
CRASH!
Trunks smashed through the outer wall and landed in the middle of the living room; the rest of the fighters instantly powered up, fearing an attack.
"You can all relax, it's just me," Akira said as he stepped through the hole in the wall.
"Akira you're ba--" Pan's voice died on her lips as the young man's face came into view. "Oh Kami! What happened?"
The battered Saiyan ignored her, instead focusing all of his attention on Gohan. "I'll be there when you bury Vegeta, Bulma, and Chi-chi; but other than that, you won't see me unless one of you powers up to fight. Please don't waste your energy trying to find me," he said and then turned on his heels and started to climb out the hole. Just before he was out of sight he paused and glanced over his shoulder, "Don't forget, Kumo and Bra must stay with the fighters or they'll give the others away."
"Wait!" Pan called out. When Akira didn't stop a second time she ran after him, Gohan tried to grab her arm, but she slipped away from him and headed through the hole.
Akira was beginning to rise into the air when Pan's hand latched on to his ankle and pulled him back down. He crossed his arms and gave her his best Vegeta-glare as his feet hit the ground.
The young woman refused to back down though. "Why are you leaving? Why won't you stay with us?" she asked.
Akira's eyes remained cold. "I have other things that I need to do."
Pan stared at him in silence for a long time; she couldn't understand what it was that he was going through or why he wouldn't let her help him. Finally she asked, "Did I do something to you? Is that why you've been acting like this the last couple of days?"
"You didn't do anything, there's just...things are , for me right now."
"What? What's going on? Why won't you tell me?" she demanded.
Akira's face softened slightly as he bowed his head and closed his eyes; he took a deep breath and opened his mouth to tell her everything, but the words refused to pass his lips.
"Do you have any idea what you've been doing to me this last week? You've been jerking me around since the baseball game...you act like you hate me, you tell me to stay away, you appear out of nowhere to comfort me, then you say you're leaving and won't be coming back! I never know what's going to happen when I see you, am I going to get the man I love or the bastard that's been messing with my head?" she paused and tried to push down her rising anger. "Yesterday you said you still loved me...did you even mean it?"
Akira pulled her close and pressed his lips to hers in a tender kiss that he hoped told her just how true his love was. At first she was stiff in his arms and then she slowly melted and kissed him back. A minute later he pulled back and gave her a lopsided smile, all of the exhaustion and pain that had been in his eyes for the last few days seemed to fall away as he whispered, "Never doubt my feelings for you. No matter what happens, know that I love you. And know that I am only trying to do what needs to be done to keep everyone safe."
Pan nodded, a small smile tugging at the edges of her mouth. "I love you too, I would do anything for you...you know that don't you?
The young man's face became troubled, "Anything?" he asked.
She nodded again.
"Then here's what I want you to do," he took another deep breath, knowing that he'd royally screwed himself by giving into his emotions and kissing her, "after Vegeta and the others are laid to rest, if you ever see me when you aren't fighting whatever it is that's attacking us, I want you to kill me on the spot without hesitation."
Pan's mouth fell open. "W, what?" she stammered.
"If I'm not coming to help you guys, you have to kill me."
"No," she said firmly, "no, I won't promise that. Why would you ask me to do that?"
Akira's eyes became hard again, "I can't explain right now, but you have to promise me that you'll do it...at least until we've beat this thing."
Pan put her hands on her hips and scowled, he was messing with her head again, "No. I'm not going to do that, nor will I make that promise, unless you give me a damn good reason."
"If you love me, you'll do what I ask," Akira said, his tail slipping from around his waist and swishing back and forth in agitation.
"If I love you I'll kill you? You aren't making any sense!" Pan screamed.
The young man stared at her for a moment and then turned away a rose into the air. "You won't promise...but hopefully you won't forget what I asked...take care of yourself Pan," with that said he shot off into the sky and vanished into the clouds.
Tears trickled down Pan's face as she watched him go, her thoughts and feelings were too jumbled and confused to make any sense. After all that had happened the last two days, she didn't have many tears left to shed; a few minutes later, when she was done crying, the demi-Saiyan turned and headed back inside.
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Trunks hadn't been hurt by Akira's attack, but he felt it made his suspicions even more plausible. While Pan and Akira were standing outside talking, he sat on the couch, ignoring the questioning glances sent his way and brewing over the situation. His eyes frequently darted in the direction of the hole his entrance had made, half expecting to feel Akira attack Pan next.
A few minutes later the young woman returned looking perfectly healthy, though her eyes were red and slightly puffy. She sat down next to her father and stared at the floor. Once again the room became uncomfortable as hundreds of unspoken questions seemed to hang over them.
Finally Trunks couldn't stand it any longer, "Well?" he demanded, "what did he say to you?"
"Nothing," Pan mumbled.
"Nothing, huh?" the lavender haired Saiyan smirked, "that 'nothing' sure took a long time."
The young woman glared at him, "What does it matter what he said to me? We have a murderer on our hands and you're worried about a private conversation between me and my boyfriend?"
"You want to know why?" Trunks' eyes narrowed, "It matters because Akira might be that murderer."
There was a collective gasp from everyone in the room.
Pan's anger burned as she became a Super Saiyan. "You're wrong," she growled forcefully.
"Am I?" the older Saiyan asked as he crossed his arms, "Does anyone know where he was when dad was killed, or Chi-chi? The guy looks like he hasn't slept in a month. I've seen the way he's been acting this last week, he's not acting normal. And..." he paused and looked around the room, "I'm not the first one to accuse him. We found a Namek in the village we visited and he called Akira a murderer too."
"He wouldn't do that," Pan said, but not nearly as forcefully.
"How do you know?" Trunks shot back. "He has all the abilities and the strength to pull it off."
Pan didn't have an answer, though her heart was screaming that it was impossible, a larger part of her than she'd like to admit thought Trunks had a point.
"Trunks," Gohan said quietly, "that's unfair. You can't just accuse someone when they aren't around to defend themselves, especially when all you have is circumstantial evidence. This is not the time for us to be fighting amongst ourselves, we have to work together to get this guy."
"And if 'the guy' is one of us? What do we do then?" Trunks spat.
"I know you're grieving, we all are, but look at this logically," Gohan replied calmly, "Has Akira ever shown a hint of being capable of something like this? These murders have been sadistically carried out; someone is enjoying him/herself when they kill. With the exception of his first Super Saiyan transformation and the battles with Ammit and his men, Akira has never hurt a soul, nor acted like he would like to."
The words cut into Pan as the memory of Akira's face when she found him in the woods flashed through her mind. She tried to shake the thought away, but it refused to leave her.
Trunks scowled and swore under his breath, but did not argue with Gohan's logic.
Seeing that a temporary peace had been established, Gohan smiled and said, "I think the best thing to do is put our plan into action as soon as possible. There've been a lot of killings in the two days, and while I think we all need sometime to grieve, we also need to make sure everyone is safe."
The rest of the Z-Fighters nodded solemnly and began working out the details. By the end of the night, they had found a large island for the warriors to stay and a spot in Parsley Town, located a few miles north of West Capital, for the non-ki using members of their families. They decided that they would move into their temporary new homes after they buried Vegeta, Bulma, and Chi-chi the following afternoon.
That night, the little house was uncomfortably full of sleeping bags as everyone tried to get as much sleep as possible, knowing they had a busy and painful day ahead of them.
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Akira looked at the mountainous Yunzabit Heights and sighed; it was going to be home for a while, whether he liked it or not. It was bleak and cold, but it was also far away from everyone and everything that he might pose a threat to. He wished there was a way for him to forget the Instant Transmission technique, it would still allow him to be with the rest of the Z-Fighters in an instant, but getting a way was better than nothing.
The young man shivered as he pulled a jacket that he had picked up at his dorm on his way to the Heights out of a bag and put it on. Once he was a little more protected from the elements, he gathered what wood he could find for a fire and lit it with a small ki blast. Turning his back to the fire and ignoring the growling of his stomach, Akira sat down, floated into the air, and began to meditate; determined to sleep as little as possible until he was sure his friends were safe.
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"Are you sure you did the right thing?" Vegeta asked, taking his hand off of King Kai's shoulder.
"Honestly? No," the aqua skinned kai replied.
"Why didn't you read his mind and make sure he wasn't the killer?" Piccolo asked as he also removed his hand.
King Kai shrugged, "If he's being controlled by someone else, his mind wouldn't have any memories of the killings anyway. The only way it would have been worthwhile is if he wasn't being controlled, but was still the killer...and I don't think that's what's happening."
Vegeta shook his head, "Maybe I should have just killed him when I had the chance."
The kai focused on Earth once again as he quietly said, "Only time will tell..."
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A/N: The next several chapters are going to be a lot less Akira centered than this story has been so far. I've been thinking for a while that I've focused on him a lot more than I'd originally planned, but his role thus far has been really important in setting up everything that's going to happen. Obviously he's going to still be a key character in upcoming events, but for now he's going to be as far in the background as he can go.
Wow, over a hundred reviews already, that's a lot faster than it was for my first story! Thank you all so much, you really inspire me to keep working on this story even when my Naruto addiction comes calling!
Toni the Mink: I can see what you mean, but what I was referring to was the fact that Akira was the only one stronger than Vegeta and if Vegeta could be killed with relative ease, the others aren't going to stand much of a chance without some serious increase of power. However, you don't need to worry about me making a Mary-Sue, Akira is beatable (I might even kill him if the mood strikes me, but I haven't gotten that far along), he's just the strongest of the remaining fighters.
Nadz: I'm glad you liked seeing Piccolo, I kind of missed writing about him, he's one of my favorite characters from DBZ, and I was really pissed when he was still stuck in hell at the end of GT. I'd like to have at least a couple more Piccolo scenes, but now that he's dead on a pretty permanent basis it's hard to give people reasons to go see him.
Draco the Destroyer: I hope you liked the reason for King Kai not looking in Akira's head, I actually thought of it for the last chapter, but then decided that it wasn't that important. After your review I realized that there needed to be at least a little explanation. I'm doing my best to keep everyone in the dark (including Akira...or so it seems) until at least the midway point of the story. Kind of like the last story there will be a definite half way point (last time it was Akira's death...maybe I'll use the same thing for the break in this one), when I get there, you'll have some answers.
Phantom 1: I'm glad you thought it was logical, I tried, but was worried that his 'escape' was too forced. Overall, everyone seemed okay with it, so I guess I did a decent job. As for killing everyone off and just ending it...well, I don't think I could live with such a bitter sweet (or down right sad) ending, plus, as you found out, people would kill me! At the same time, it would be kind of an unexpected thing to do.
Ladybugg: Vegeta's probably thinking the same thing after Akira put his son through a wall. I'll tell you this, now that Akira's back (but maybe not because he's back) there will be more murders.
Donkeykong27: It was really hard, this one was easier thankfully.
Rejhan: I'm glad you liked it. The whole Arlean-thing was the only thing I could think of to keep Vegeta from killing Akira (though he may be getting another shot later...).
Legend: Thanks! When I read your review I was really tired and my eyes were playing tricks on me, I thought you wrote 'this story sucks.' It took me a second to realize I'd read it wrong. I liked what you wrote a lot better when I read it a second time!
Mystins: I think, like Kind Kai said in this chapter, only time will tell if they were brain damaged or not. I must say that I agree with you their reasoning was lacking in the intelligence department, but Akira can't get killed off just yet (if ever)...