Oh, I love Yajirobe! This is a great chapter to break 100,000 words on, author's notes included! Thanks, everybody!

Korin and Yajirobe had retreated down the stairs to sleep in their cozy cots, deciding that the day had been overpacked with 'fun'. First there had been that blinding light from the Lookout above, forcing the pair of them to flee from the tower in search of safety. On their return trip, however, Yajirobe managed to crash his car three-quarters of the way up the tower, forcing him to climb up the rest of the way while carrying a snarky, white cat on his back. Then there was the fun in discovering that his jelly doughnuts had been eaten by Goku, and they had to help the clueless man find his way around. There was also that extremely pleasant experience with Piccolo dangling the fat warrior over the railing, coercing him into giving information of Goku's whereabouts. And just now, Goku had returned to force him out of some of his Senzu Beans, which he knew he was running low on.

So the day definitely hadn't been one of Yajirobe's better ones, but Korin didn't seem exhausted at all as they began climbing into their beds, managing to whack the fat man's rear end with his staff a few times. As Yajirobe rubbed his rump, he slipped under his thick blanket and asked, "Hey, what's that for?"

"For not sharing your Senzu Beans," the cat said, setting his staff against the bedpost as he laid down. "You know that I don't grow those things just so you can scarf them down, right?" Yajirobe only grunted as he rolled over in hopes that the cat would stop talking. But, to his dismay, Korin never seemed to be out of things to say. "Goku's a good guy. He's a little thick-headed, but we've both known him since he was a kid. He's got the patience of a rock by a river, though it seems he's about half as smart as one." He snickered a little into his white paw, looking up at the ceiling. "I've always wondered if he hit his head a little too hard as a boy."

There was a pause in Korin's monologue as they heard a thumping on the deck outside. Grabbing his staff and sliding off of the bed again, he muttered, "Who could that be at this time of night?" He bared his teeth, annoyed by this disturbance. It was a good thing that he hadn't blown out the lamp yet, or he really would have taught whoever was paying them a night visit a lesson.

Before he could even get close to the door, though, it swung open. Korin jumped back as Yajirobe grimaced, pulling himself further under the covers. It was Piccolo, but as Yajirobe liked to think, it was trouble. There was nobody who scared him more than this green man at the moment, knowing that if he was still angry, he could very well throw him off the edge of the tower. And he had already fallen off this tower once before, an experience he didn't want to be forced through again.

Piccolo glowered, his frame filling the doorway as he asked, "Where's Goku?" His voice was low and menacing, enough to make Yajirobe need a change of clothes. He then repeated, even more fiercely, "Where is Goku?"

He focused his eyes down and on the tiny cat standing in the middle of the room, clutching on to his stick with every emotion resembling fear striking him. But he didn't let this show as he put on a tough facade, plainly stating, "He's not here."

In truth, he was quite terrified of the Namekian. There was nobody he knew to be as ruthless in a caring manner; even Vegeta, who had been one of the meanest men Korin had ever had the displeasure in meeting, wasn't fooled into thinking that he was just doing what was best for everybody's wellbeing. Piccolo, however, was a different case. With the mind of Kami, he had slowly begun taking charge of the Lookout, trying to do Dende's job. In some ways, Korin thought he was better; he had the experience to be Guardian of Earth that the younger Namekian lacked. But there was also Piccolo's, to be put bluntly, evil to be dealt with, too. Piccolo himself was the reason why that nameless Namek had split into two in the first place, separating evil and good. Unfortunately, it seemed as if Piccolo's evil had corrupted the good that Kami held in his head.

"I sensed him here," Piccolo said, stepping further into the room and narrowing his eyes as he saw Yajirobe's shuddering figure under the covers. He approached the fat warrior and asked him, "Where is Goku? I sensed your pathetic energy alongside his. I know that you know!"

"I didn't see him!" came a muffled cry from under the covers, forcing Piccolo to yank them away and reveal a rather pathetic-looking man lying underneath them. He had both of his arms clenched around his stomach, protecting his most vital organ from that terror of a Namekian. But Piccolo refused to do anything but sneer with disgust at the man as he whimpered, "Goku wasn't here, I don't think! Just don't hurt me!"

As Yajirobe turned around, his face now planted in his pillow, Piccolo grabbed the back of his orange dress and assured him, "I'm not going to hurt you." Then he lifted the man off of his bed, letting the cowering Yajirobe spin through the air in his grip a bit until they were facing one another. "Or at least I won't hurt you too badly if you tell me where Goku went." He then generated an energy ball in his other palm, inducing the man to squirm around pathetically.

Then he smirked as he saw results. Piccolo dropped him back on his cot as Yajirobe yelled, "Fine, fine, I'll tell you!" There was a reason why Piccolo almost always went for Yajirobe when he could think straight, and that was because Yajirobe was a coward. Korin may have been a coward, too, but he wasn't so eager to turn his friends in to save his own hide.

He extinguished the ball of light in his hand as he saw Yajirobe's eyes dart nervously up at this towering figure. Placing his fists on his hips, the Namekian demanded, "Well?" He didn't have time for the blubbering fool to act too afraid to do anything.

"Well, uh, yeah," Yajirobe began as he sat back up and scrambled to the opposite corner of the tiny bed. Korin could only plant his face in his paw and shake his head, unable to understand why anybody would interrogate Yajirobe. Sure, sure, it was quick and efficient, but that man had trouble forming two coherent sentences. Piccolo seemed to be noticing this as he folded his arms and bared his teeth menacingly, prompting the man to speak a bit more quickly. "Yeah, so I was upstairs, just eating my Senzu Beans," Yajirobe continued, his voice clearing as he grabbed the sack from his bedside and displayed it. "Anyways, I was going to go to bed when, umm..."

Yajirobe was stuck in an inner struggle. He wasn't sure if he should have turned in his first and only friend to the green monster again or not; there were only so many times that Yajirobe could betray somebody before feeling guilty. But, then again, Goku did steal his jelly doughnuts and his Senzu Beans. And, Yajirobe reasoned, there were only so many times that somebody could steal food from him before they weren't really his friends anymore. The real question was whether he would rather have a useless friend or food and life.

The answer was made quite obvious at this rationale, shaking him from his thoughts as Piccolo prompted him, "And?"

"Well, I turned around and saw Goku standing there," he said, making up his mind. Plus, it wasn't as if he was giving anything away; it seemed as if Piccolo already knew that Goku had been there. "Then he basically stole two of my Senzu Beans. He ate one and then disappeared like a coward! And nobody runs away from Yajirobe without feeling his wrath!"

He ate another Senzu Bean? He was certain that it couldn't be from hunger; he'd already had one that day, and each one was guaranteed to fill a man for ten days. No, he had to have been injured... "What did he look like?" Piccolo asked sharply.

"He was tall and had a dorky haircut, but-"

Piccolo sighed and cut the man off, unable to comprehend how somebody could be so thick. Losing his patience, he leaned closer to the man and said, "That's not what I meant. Was he injured? Did he look crippled, cut, anything?" He wanted to know if somebody had really beaten Goku up when he couldn't. Even with a Special Beam Cannon, he had done so little to maim the man that he could get up and walk around, a little sore, but nothing unendurable. It had been absolutely humiliating.

"He had some blood on his shirt, but that was all I saw," Yajirobe said, now freely talking about Goku. Then, with a slight grin, "He was also kind of holding his, well... his privates, as you might call them. I think some sucker might have kicked him good there."

Piccolo rolled his eyes, certain that a Saiyan's privates, as they were called, were better protected than that. He refused to comment on Yajirobe's idea of Goku getting hit there, deciding that the theory was ludicrous. Instead, he pondered over the information about the blood on Goku's shirt, wondering just what that had been about. Had somebody managed to injure Goku, or was that somebody else's blood? He couldn't imagine whose it would be, seeing as Goku had no enemies on Earth, or at least to his knowledge he didn't. He would never spill a friend or family member's blood, Piccolo was certain. The only plausible conclusion that Piccolo could come up with was that he had tackled some random burglar in the act or something, doing a bit too much damage to him. There was no other explanation.

"Where is he?" Piccolo asked fiercely, snapping the fat man out of visions of Goku screaming with somebody kicking him in that sensitive region. After a last snicker, Yajirobe looked up at Piccolo quite seriously, though that didn't last long. Within a few seconds, after trying to press his lips together and resume this conversation, he burst out laughing again. It was just too much for the pudgy man to handle; he could imagine the expression on Goku's face after somebody had hit him in that region. It was priceless. However, Piccolo was not so easily amused, as he leaned over the cot and pressed, "Where is he? Answer me!"

"S-sorry," Yajirobe stuttered, his hand clamped over his mouth to conceal his laughter. When he finally calmed down, he inhaled deeply and exhaled, a lopsided grin still on his large face. "I don't really know where he went. H-he didn't tell m-m-me." And with that, he began howling again, leaning forward as he held his stomach. It wasn't until Korin briskly walked over there and hit him over the head with the staff that he finally stopped. He rubbed the tender lump on his head and asked angrily, "What was that for?"

"For being an idiot!" Korin exclaimed, unable to believe that he actually put up with this guy every day. It was ridiculous how entertained Yajirobe could be by the slightest of things, along with being downright embarrassing. Korin looked up at the threatening-looking, green man and apologized, "I'm sorry, but Yajirobe isn't exactly the best source of information. He gets... distracted."

Piccolo only harrumphed and turned himself away from the duo, asking, "So neither of you know where Goku got off to?" They both shook their heads as Piccolo sighed, "It looks as if I'll have to find him myself."

"Where are you going to look?" Korin asked, intrigued.

"Capsule Corp. will be my first stop," Piccolo had already decided, his green hand on his cape. He would see if he could sense the man's energy from there. If he couldn't, he would probably try Chi-Chi's mansion again, then Mt. Paozu, and then the Kame House. It was absurd that he couldn't locate his energy, though he supposed that it made sense for the man to try hiding it.

He marched out of the door and flew off, his teeth gritted as he left the two behind. Such imbeciles...