-1Last Chapter:
Nozomi reveals her new personality, and Piccolo finds out that he's not as observant as he thought, and that Nozomi's curiosity had unearthed some strange removal of information in the Lookout's library.
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Nozomi sat the last box down and pushed her hair out of her face, scowling at Piccolo as he sat comfortably in the mountain range of cardboard and plastic storage crates around him, "You could have helped at least."
"You looked like you were enjoying yourself," he smirked, not opening his eyes, "Why ruin your fun?"
"Enjoying myself my ass. The lazy old lizard never does anything to help. Just bitches," she grumbled, making sure it was loud enough for him to hear, "He ought to try doing all the shit I do, then maybe-"
"Will you shut up all ready? It's bad enough that you have to make noise moving all your shoes, but add your complaining to it and it's damn near unbearable," he growled, opening an eye, "And you really don't do that much. You train, you clean, and you cook for yourself. I don't care if you do the last two, as long as they don't affect the first."
"Well then, you can just go around in a dirty gi from now on," she said, opening the first box and stifling her cursing when she saw it was indeed filled with shoes that she had yet to wear.
"You'll eventually wash it," he shrugged.
She rolled her eyes, taking the box back into the bedroom and scowling. When she had first seen the house, she had rechecked the address at least five times to make sure they were in the right place. It was a tiny, weatherworn, one-bedroom Hellhole. At least that was Nozomi's first impression. It was confirmed when they walked inside and the smell of old person, cat urine, and fresh paint met their noses. Thankfully, they could do what they liked with it, though unfortunately that did not include blowing it up and getting a capsule house from Bulma. She opened the closet and groaned, seeing it was full of frumpy, musty, old-lady dresses, and a layer of dust on the floor that could only be described as hellacious.
"I hate this place!" she sighed, taking her box of shoes back out to the van.
When she came back in and grabbed another box, she gained Piccolo's full attention, "What are you doing?"
"Get off your ass and help, or so help me, when I torch this place, you're goin' down with it," she growled, not caring that she had sounding like an idiot as she picked up another box.
"You're not burning it down," he frowned, "Will you quit throwing your little spoiled temper tantrum and just deal with the fact that it wasn't what Tholi thought it was."
"Spoiled temp- There's a big difference in being spoiled and coming to live in somewhere that has a dead person's clothes in the closet like a nasty polyester sky over a forest of dust elephants and being angry about that fact!" she snapped, "Tholi said two bedroom, and that it was clean. There is one bedroom, and I am not entirely sure that there's indoor plumbing! Normally, I wouldn't have said anything, but throwing on a coat of paint in the living room does not a move-in ready house make."
"Are you finished?" he asked, "You're wasting time ranting when you could be cleaning."
"Pick up a box, and take it outside, and then repeat it until every one of them are in the back of that fucking truck. I'm going to a home improvement store and getting supplies to fix this little rat's nest, and the least you could do is that," she hissed, "I am not unpacking anything until I'm satisfied that this house is livable. If that means sleeping outside and living out of boxes until then, that's fine. But please just help me."
The last part was said through a clenched jaw, and he slowly got to his feet, "I'm only doing this so you'll shut up."
"Fine," she said, walking out and slamming the screen door, cursing loudly as it snapped off it's rusting hinges, "God dammit!"
xxxx
Piccolo sipped his warm water, just as miserable as Nozomi, but being silent about it. It was a sweltering day; unusual for the end of March, and they had learned that not only didn't the house have running water in anything except a toilet, but it also did not have reliable power. This discovery had come as Nozomi had arrived back from the Home Warehouse with her car overflowing with supplies, had flipped a switch in the bedroom to turn on the single, bare light bulb, and a section of the wall had begun to smoke.
That had started another yelling tirade, as she had to run outside to an old pump and pump a bucket full of water to bring back in and toss on the now blazing wall. Piccolo had simply came back in with the fire extinguisher she'd purchased, and had gained a glare and an eye twitch as he'd smugly handed it to her after he'd quelled the flames.
Now, she was up on the roof replacing shingles as a team of men rewired the house. She was in a foul mood, as they'd been without power for two days, and she'd been forced to go back to the supply store and buy a grill to cook on, and a barrel to heat water to bathe in. That, and because the men supposed to put in the new plumbing were two hours late. He heard her curse again and looked up to see her put her finger in her mouth before she threw the hammer, which embedded itself in a tree across the yard. She jumped off the roof, wiping the sweat off her brow and turning to look at him, her hair in a messy chignon and wearing a pair of short cut-offs, a sports bra, and a pair of bulky knee pads completing the look of one very pissed-off Nozomi Sensono.
She walked over to the pump, filled the bucket next to it, and poured it over herself, rubbing a hand over her face and neck, moving it lower to rub over her upper chest and shoulder, making him blatantly stare at her. Shaking the water out of her hair, she leaned down to take a drink straight from the pump, the shorts coming up to reveal the lower curve of her buttocks. He shut his eyes, forcing his pulse to slow and his breathing to even out, the now familiar pulling sensation in his groin making him even more uncomfortable as his mind replayed her actions. He suddenly fell to the ground with a hard thump, promising murder as he opened his eyes to see the object of his wanton thoughts smirking down at him with a now empty bucket in her hands.
"Thought you looked a little hot," she said silkily, "Figured you'd like to cool down a bit."
"I was just fine," he hissed, standing up and drying off with a power up, "I've killed for less you know."
She snorted, "You'd only kill me if it was a matter of life or death, not over something this stupid."
She punctuated that statement by throwing the bucket at him, "Besides, you dried yourself off. Admit you're cooler now."
"I'm not sweaty," he said, thinking over her terms of dying at his hands, noticing her eye roll, "What?"
"Can't admit when someone's done you a favor," she teased, drying herself off as she began feeling sticky again, "Honestly, there's no pleasing you."
"When are they going to be done?" he growled, looking at her profile as she turned her head.
"A few more hours," she said, "I suppose I should go get them something cold to drink. It's probably hotter in that . . . house."
He simply hummed, thinking if they wanted something to drink they should get it themselves, seeing her look at him with a slight smile, "What?"
"You want anything special while I'm out, you old grouch?"
"Since when am I old?" he growled, suddenly realizing she had him in a corner, "No, I don't want anything."
She shrugged, in the next few moments disappearing down the road. He went back to meditating, forcing the image of her bent over with his hands running up her lean back out of his mind.
xxxx
"There," Nozomi smiled, turning on the air conditioner and smiling as it blew over her, "Problem solved."
"Now you can clean," he said, flipping the lights on and looking around, "I think it smells worse than it did when we got here."
She looked around at the patched walls and the ceiling, heaving a sigh, "Well, that would be the mixture of smoke and b.o. on top of the other smells it had. At least we have light and now the air conditioner, and a heat pump coming later on in the week. Tomorrow I'll open the windows while I scour this place from top to bottom while that guy puts pipes in the kitchen. After I rip up this carpet, anyway. I think it's been here since carpet was invented."
"When do you start classes or whatever," he asked, thinking more of how much it would interfere with their training rather than being curious for her sake.
"Monday," was her huffed answer, "I've got five days to turn this shit-hole into a house so I can unpack and re-find my schedule and books. This is turning into the worst thing to happen to me in years. I really hope it's worth it in the end."
They were silent for a long time, Nozomi going around and getting the worst of the dust up while Piccolo went outside and stretched out on top of the truck, looking at the stars. He didn't know how long it was before she joined him, laying in the opposite direction with her head next to his.
"Do you ever wonder why you're here?" she asked, breaking the silence.
"Because you're here, and I'm training with you."
She chuckled, "No, I mean do you ever wonder what your purpose in life is. The reason why you were born. What impact you're supposed to make."
He turned his head and looked at her, "No."
"Well, I guess you don't. I mean your purpose is obvious," she said, putting an arm under her head, "I guess you're the wrong person to ask. Tholi says everyone's life is loosely planned out when their born, that there isn't much that happens that isn't fate. That everyone is intertwined and woven into this elaborate tapestry, and that only the Gods know what the pattern is or will be. But, I haven't figured out why exactly I'm here. It's like . . . Like my thread has been cut and tied back together. Only, I can't remember when, how, why, or even what lead to it being cut. Do you believe in past lives?"
"No," he said, shaking his head, "Not as a general rule."
She rolled over and laid he head on her crossed arms so she was looking at him, "What's the Otherworld like?"
He turned and looked at her, "Like a big, long line at the DMV."
She laughed, watching him smile slightly before he looked up at the sky again, "I can't believe you just made a joke, even if it was unintentional."
They were silent again, and the next time he looked over at her, he saw she was asleep. Sitting up, he took off his cape and covered her with it after removing the weighted pauldrons.
xxxx
The bell was ringing as she parked her car, and she sighed, stepping out and reluctantly tossing her book bag over her shoulder. She was well aware she was late, which was exactly why she flipped the dutiful hall monitor off as she walked towards her first class, hearing the girl stuttering shocked and angrily behind her. Tossing the rest of the tea she had bought from Starluck's into a trashcan she passed, she heard the teacher checking attendance, rolling her eyes as she reached towards the knob.
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Next Chapter:
Nozomi meets an old friend, a new rival, and a new suitor all in one day. What a lucky girl! And what about Piccolo? How will he adjust to his newfound alone time? All this and more, next time on DBI!
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A/N: Now that you all know just what a dork I am, and are probably sick of filler chapters (which is what I consider this), we're getting to the interesting parts. If you can't tell, I'm changing names of real-life businesses to suit my needs. I like it; it makes me feel special since many manga writers do it. Anyway, I hope you liked it, I know I had fun as this helped me get through a recent illness without going insane(-er, XD). I realize that there might not be as much of a change in Nozomi as I thought, but we'll see. I think the problem is I've been distracted by another fandom, and writing/Rping with an OC for it, and she's rubbing off on me.