Raditz kept his suspicions to himself for some time; still feeling conflicted, and somewhat insane for believing his own conspiracy. As the week progressed, Raditz noticed changes in himself and his friends again; the children began returning to their normal behaviour, something that relieved Raditz, but not his friends. He told himself to forget about his suspicions, hoping it was all over, that the injections were only a one-time thing, but alas, they were not.
Friday morning came, and during the usual assembly, it was announced that the injections would become much more frequent than initially intended.
They would receive them every Monday.
This news didn't bother the children, all except Raditz, who asked his friends why they weren't even a little bit concerned.
"Why would we be? It's clearly safe, I mean…we're fine, aren't we?" Zaffra answered while on the way back to class.
"Yeah, besides, we felt weird on Monday, but it got better! I was able to focus more in class, plus I did better on the work, and the teachers say we're good for once, so what's the harm?" La'tei seemed rather excited about getting more injections, saying he wanted their effects to last longer.
"But, guys-" Raditz was going to tell them about his concerns, but was dragged away by his awful teacher, Miss Croe, who by this point had convinced Raditz she was most definitely an evil witch from the depths of Hell. Raditz thought he heard her murmur that Raditz was beyond the help of the injections, a murmur which both offended and frightened him.
'There's no way I can convince my friends if they get addicted to it!' He thought, hopelessly.
'I wonder why it doesn't work as much on me…'
He pondered on it during class. At first, he thought that perhaps it just wasn't as effective on Saiyans, then remembered that Vegeta was just as brainwashed as the rest of them, but soon realised the true reason.
'If I tell them how I know…they'll find out about me…! How could they ever be friends with me if they knew?!' Raditz couldn't afford to think of ways to solve his dilemma then, otherwise Miss Croe would send him out of class for not working hard enough, so he decided to think more on what to do during break, which came quickly.
"Raditz?" Zaffra called, and snapped him out of his thoughts as the bell rang.
"Hm?" He looked up to her face, which was full of concern.
"Are you ok?" She asked, as was typical of her usual caring self. "Usually you're the first to leave this room for break, so it's a little strange that you've hardly packed your things up."
"Oh, right!" Raditz laughed nervously, getting up on his feet and leaving, his bag only half zipped up, which Zaffra fixed for him.
As he was racing down the hallway towards the playground, Raditz almost slammed into La'tei, his head was turned since he thought he saw a doctor leaving the Headmistress' office, but couldn't be sure, being he was so out of it that morning.
"You ok, Raditz?" La'tei inquired, handing Raditz some sweets from within his school bag, something Raditz tried to do a few weeks ago, but ended up having it confiscated.
"Yeah, I was just daydreaming again, sorry!" He played it off, and Zaffra asked about what he was going to say earlier, after assembly.
"Oh, that? It…was nothing." He lied, deception being one of his strong points. It didn't bother him that he was being dishonest, since his heart was in the right place, intention being stronger than action. That was something his mother had instilled in him. He recalled how she used to tell him that doing bad things were ok, as long as they were necessary, and for the right reasons.
They believed him instantly, and decided to play the Galactic Zap game, though it did take some convincing from Raditz. Vegeta opted to sit on the wall with his usual scowl plastered on his chubby face; which made Raditz conclude that Vegeta was indeed the most miserable 5 year old in existence. Though, he did watch them play quite intently, wondering how they didn't feel stupid, acting something out that wasn't even real.
The game was a good break from all the thoughts racing in Raditz's mind, and he was glad to have such fun friends, even though he still longed to have his friends from Planet Vegeta back.
'At least it's Friday!' Raditz remembered, which did make everything seem better, even though it was far from ok, in his eyes, anyway.
It was past midnight.
Raditz decided that now would be a good time to construct a plan for next week, or at least to write down the effects of the injection. He left the apartment, zooming off into the sky, the frigid temperature sunk into his core, even though he had brought his blanket with him, it never did do a good job keeping him warm usually.
Landing by his little cave, Raditz observed the waves for a few minutes, calming him. There was something so mesmerising, so hypnotic about them; the way they crashed on the beach gently and pulled back in, only to be thrust out once more. He then entered hiDs little cave, scouter in hand to put an alarm on, just in case he fell asleep and woke up too late to return before Vegeta and Nappa found out he was missing. Then, Raditz sat against the cave wall, which was slightly damp.
Opening up his little notebook, Raditz turned on his torch so he could see the pages clearly. He scribbled down notes about the side effects of whatever was in those injections, and about his week at school in general, making a record to look back on, just as he did on Planet Vegeta.
He decided to read back through some pages, so he flicked through them with his eyes squeezed shut and stopped on a random page, which happened to be written when he was 5, reading the words in his mind and reliving the memory:
'Today was a very fun day. Mama took me to the beach this morning because it was a nice day and we had a picnic on the sand. I love how the waves move, it's so pretty! I asked Mama how the sea works and she told me that Goddess Salsafie, who controls the moon, makes the waves move. Goddess Salsafie is responsible for our victories in war, especially against those evil, rotten Tuffles!
Anyway, Papa came home early and surprised us on the beach. It was kinda annoying though, because he ate lots of the food, which I was gonna eat! He trained me, which was super fun, but kinda hurt, though that's all part of the experience, I guess.
We were there for ages, and even went swimming! I'm not a good swimmer, but Mama always says that "Practice makes perfect!"
I don't know if that's true or not, but I think I am getting better.
I also found a pretty seashell to add to my secret collection. I think when I have enough shells, I'll make a necklace for Mama!
When we came home, we ate lunch in the city because Papa got paid that day. It was yummy food from a street vendor and we walked around the Grand Arena, where there were posters up for the next tournament. My Papa promised to take me, he's told me all about what it's like to be there, it must be so exciting! Papa fought in one of the divisions when he was 14 and he won! It wasn't a big-league tournament, but I'm sure it was still amazing!
I want to be just like Papa! He's a hero, a real one, and I can't wait to make him proud someday!'
Raditz didn't read anymore; a strange feeling had overtaken him. He went to sleep, and awoke early the next morning. As dawn greeted him, he sat on the cliff's edge watching the waves again, remembering that day on the beach he had forgotten until he read that entry.
Tilting his head up to the sky, with the beauty of the sunrise overwhelming, and the brightness of the Sun making him squint, he read a prayer. Though, not in his head like most mornings. He hoped his words; those small whispers, drowned out by the sound of the wind and sea, would reach the Gods above, reigning almighty.
He wanted his parents to hear the words of the prayer they taught him, to be proud of him, for remembering that miniscule thing that in that moment meant the world to him.
Monday's arrival was swift, and Raditz wasted no time in putting his plan into action. Yes, he would have to endure another injection, but he knew the effects had little effect on him, and would most likely weaken with time.
He stood in line again, waiting to get another jab in the arm and a sticker to go with it; a sign he had been injected.
'Hmmm…maybe next time I could just put on the sticker, so people think I've already done it.' His bright mind was already full of ideas for how he was going to tackle this issue, a fight he was going to have to win alone.
Once he had been injected, he left the hall, but did not go back to class like he was instructed. Instead, he made sure the coast was clear, and snuck into the headmistress' office; finding the door unlocked, and the room thankfully empty. Raditz knew time was scarce, Berryblue would return from her daily call with Lord Frieza, something Raditz found out she did from Zarbon, who was a great help in his endeavours, though he was unaware. Also, if he was not quick, a teacher would notice his absence and start looking for him.
He made sure no one could enter and searched her entire desk, which was perfectly neat and organised. Raditz was sure to put everything back in its place once he had finished searching for some form of evidence that his theory on the injection held some truth, evidence that he could use to get his friends to believe him. There was nothing of interest on the desk, apart from some fancy stationery and trinkets.
He looked around; his eyes were drawn into the tall cabinet that was against the wall, a large structure that held tons of student's information, including his own, stood beneath a portrait of Berryblue holding Lord Frieza as an infant. Raditz slid one drawer open carefully, making as little noise as possible, whilst balancing on top of a rather wonky wooden stool. He flicked through the files, searching for something that was useful.
His search was proving to be unsuccessful, though, he did find the files of his friends. His curiosity tempted him to take a peek inside of them.
'I bet they're all hiding something too…' Raditz sneakily read through them, though he already knew most of the information in them. He did learn, however, that Moka and La'tei's father was indeed deceased, but he suspected that anyways, and that Zaffra only started school here this year, since she and her sister could not afford the scholarship they needed, but were given one by the government who took care of the fees for orphans in dire situations like hers.
Still though, there was nothing related to the injections, so he opened more drawers, finding information from each class, but nothing of use. After so much searching, Raditz had become quite fed up and frustrated and considered leaving, but then a thought popped into his head:
'Maybe there's something in Haryana's file I can use against him?!'
Raditz looked at the door and listened for any footsteps. No-one was around, it seemed. He turned to the clock, and decided he could spare just a moment longer before returning to class, telling Miss Croe he was in the bathroom as an excuse. He reached into the same section of the cabinet as earlier and grabbed the file, the precious knowledge at his small fingertips, but just as he was about to pull out the solution to his problems concerning Haryana, he heard light footsteps that were hard to recognise approaching.
Raditz immediately put it back and heard a familiar, pleasant tune being hummed by the person. Raditz hid under the desk, which he thought was rather large for such a small person like Berryblue, hoping not to get caught. His heart raced so rapidly, it felt like it was going to burst out of his chest, but he was able to see the shoes worn by his master from underneath the desk, and the pleasant humming confirmed it was Zarbon, which put him somewhat at ease.
Though he was trying not to be caught, at least with Zarbon he wouldn't be in tons of trouble like he would with someone else. Zarbon opened up the cabinet, and went through the files of the students, mumbling to himself, then whispered to himself in confusion,
"I wonder why those few aren't arranged alphabetically…? Berryblue must have been having a bad day…" The man restored order to the files that Raditz realised must have been the ones of his friends, and he had forgotten to put them back in the right spots.
Zarbon pressed the button on the side of his scouter and talked into it, "I can't seem to find anything in his file saying that he is immune to Xenatine!" Zarbon said, then continually searched through Raditz's file. Though utterly terrified, Raditz did find out the truth, the one thing he had suspected. Zarbon had unknowingly admitted that the injections were related to Xenatine, and a smile crept onto Raditz's face, feeling incredibly smug about being right. However, he quickly remembered the severity of his situation, and wished that Zarbon would hurry up and leave already.
Zarbon slammed the cabinet shut, and Raditz exhaled, relieved. Just as his master was going to leave, he knocked over the trash bin by the desk, making it fall towards Raditz, who made himself as small as possible, clinging to the edges of the desk, in the hopes that as his master bent down to clear it up, he would go unnoticed.
"Raditz?!" Zarbon exclaimed after his eyes, which had brilliant vision, caught sight of Raditz's tail that had twitched involuntarily.
"Uh…hi?" He laughed, nervously.
Zarbon dragged him out, asking what in the HFIL he was doing, and why he was there, and not in class.
"I…was sent here by my teacher…I'm in trouble…" He lied, pretending to be remorseful.
"Why are you under a desk?!" He quizzed the boy, who was luckily skilled in the art of giving believable answers in almost every situation, and rapidly.
"I was told to wait for Miss Berryblue to return, then…I got bored and was messing with a nice pen on her desk, but I dropped it and went to pick it up-"
"Why didn't you just get out from under the desk with the pen and tell me why you were here?!"
"Uh…I was…scared to tell you I was in trouble again! I don't want you to be disappointed with me, master!" He apologised, and Zarbon unexpectedly pulled him close, the light, fruity fragrance of the man heavily noticeable to the boy's sensitive nose.
"My dear Raditz…you should not worry about me being disappointed…"
"Huh?" He looked up at the man, who warmly smiled, his pearly whites practically shimmering in the light.
Zarbon held both his hands on the child's firm shoulders, gripping him tighter than Raditz liked as he bent down and whispered,
"However, I don't like your level of dishonesty, Raditz."
"But-" He began, ready to come back at him, saying how the school was incredibly dishonest about those injections that they claimed were helpful.
"Shh..." Zarbon stopped him, telling him that it doesn't matter as long as he learnt his lesson. His master told him that his teacher had reported him missing in class, so he went to look for him.
'He realises I heard him talking about Xenatine, right?'
Raditz apologised again and turned to leave, but Zarbon stopped him, grabbing his shoulder once again.
"Eavesdropping…is very rude…and telling people about what you hear isn't a very good thing to do, now, is it?" His sweet voice had a sinister undertone, sending a shiver down Raditz's spine. He couldn't forget how his master had subtly threatened him, the words still echoing in his mind as he went back to class.
He gave his teacher an excuse, though she was still angry at him. His friends asked where he really was, and he told them the same thing he told his teacher.
'Crapbaskets...he knows that I know! Looks like I'm going to have to improve my ninja skills if I'm going to do this!' He thought to himself.
Raditz remained fairly distant throughout the whole day. His friends were obviously worried about his lack of joking around, and absence from their conversation, since Raditz tended to do things like that whenever he had the chance. He told them that he was fine, just tired, and felt no guilt about lying to them. Yet again, this time telling himself that these people were not his friends, they were brainwashed robots; all of them!
Even Vegeta had become sociable with the help of the Xenatine filled injection, like all the children, they became helpful, convenient and patriotic, to an almost frightening degree. Raditz had seen movies like this before, in which the hero had to pretend he was one of the brainwashed people. So, he agreed with what they were saying, acting just like them in sight of the teachers who patrolled them all day, taking notice of their behaviour.
'There's gotta be adults that can help me!'
Raditz knew that his master would try to keep him silent; his trust in the man had severely decreased. The only other adults that may believe him after seeing the results for themselves, were Nappa and Miss Kafi, so Raditz planned to ask them about the changes they had seen in the boys, and could hopefully convince them to help.
The children did not race home, no, the Xenatine they were filled with made them much more sensible, which was terribly boring. Raditz did notice he was slightly affected by the injections, a part of his own thoughts telling him he was stupid and that he should just conform, that it was better for him and his friends, but the strong, determined Saiyan side of him was going to fight back, no matter what.
Opening the door to his home, Raditz was disappointed to find that Nappa had left for training. First of all, why didn't he get an invite? Secondly, now he couldn't tell him what he found out. There was something a little suspicious about his disappearance, but Raditz brushed it off.
Vegeta was much more tame after the injections, he was hardly prone to his usual angry outbursts, and sat watching the news on TV, whilst taking care of any homework he had. Raditz decided to try and find something to eat. In school he didn't feel particularly hungry, a strange thing for a Saiyan boy to feel, but he supposed the news of what was going on right below everyone's noses was enough to make him feel too sick to eat. Now, however, his hunger had returned, and upon searching through the fridge, he found some leftovers that were still ok to eat.
He set it out for himself on the table, but just as he was about to forget his problems and begin devouring the food he had made unwillingly the day before, Raditz remembered that he needed to tell Miss Kafi.
He left the food on the table, and raced downstairs, (the elevator was still undergoing repairs), leaving the Saiyan prince feeling very confused.
He regained his breath as he knocked on the door of Miss Kafi's quaint home, beneath the apartments.
"Oh, hello, Raditz!" She welcomed him in.
"Hi..." He panted, feeling pretty breathless, and pitiful for being so unfit, mentally reminding himself to train harder.
"Jeez, were you really in such a hurry to see me?" She joked, and then told him that if he was here to see her sons that he should come back later.
"I can't believe those boys are actually doing their homework!" She smiled, telling him that he could come bring his work down too, if he still had the energy. "Why don't you bring Vegeta down too? You guys can help each other too, and I'll bring yummy snacks!" She was about to enter the kitchen, but Raditz followed, carefully shutting the door behind them so no-one could hear. Puzzled, Miss Kafi was about to ask what was wrong, but Raditz told her to be quiet before inquiring, with a serious tone, "Miss Kafi, have you noticed anything unusual about La'tei and Moka…and even Vegeta?" He spoke softly, so as not to alert the boys who chattered in the next room, and who didn't know Raditz was even in their home.
"Huh?" Miss Kafi blinked, then thought for a moment.
"Well…" She began as she leaned against the fridge, which was decorated with colourful fridge magnets and certificates her sons had earned from school, as well as some drawings they had done.
"They've been so focused on their schoolwork! Homework is always a struggle in my house, and I've been meaning to get the boys a tutor, but they've been doing so well in school!"
"…anything else?" Raditz asked, hoping she'd realise just how abnormal this was.
"Hmm…I guess they're much more quiet?" Raditz asked if there was anything bad she had noticed, but she said she couldn't think of anything.
"Why are you asking anyway, sweetie? It's always good to talk to people about stuff!" Raditz knew just how much she cared about him, her kindness was something that was uncommon in the world he lived in, but he just couldn't tell her the truth. Miss Kafi was a great listener, but had already caught onto Raditz's ways of over-exaggeration and occasional lies before, so she would most likely not believe him.
Besides, what could she do anyway?
He concluded it wasn't fair to involve her.
"It's nothing…" He smiled.
"You sure?" She didn't quite believe him.
Raditz nodded and said his goodbyes, but she asked him to stay a little longer, to which he replied, "I…can't, I need to cook dinner, but thanks for the offer!"
He left, going slowly up the stairs this time.
"Where did you go?" Vegeta asked upon Raditz's entry. Raditz said he just needed to ask La'tei something about their homework, and Vegeta believed him. Sauntering back over to the counter, finally ready to eat, Raditz was perplexed when he saw the food he had left out was no longer where it was before. He looked around the room, and even opened up the fridge again, wondering if he had put it somewhere else and forgot, but alas, he could not find it.
Vegeta came up from behind him, putting a plate in the sink, with what appeared to be the remnants of the leftovers he had put out for himself smeared on the dirty plate, the colour of the sauce telling him for sure. Vegeta slinked away quietly towards his room, but didn't get far before Raditz accused him of taking his food.
"Vegeta! I haven't even eaten today!" He yelled at his prince, who was a selfish brat, for sure.
"So? It's your fault anyway! You didn't eat in school, and you left food out without telling me you were going to eat it!" Vegeta retorted back, and Raditz stuttered, trying to find a suitable comeback, one that wouldn't make him seem childish or idiotic. But, Vegeta did have a solid point, so he just growled as the prince closed his door, laughing at Raditz.
Raditz decided it would be best to get started on cooking a new meal, one of his favourites to cheer him up. Sure, Vegeta and Nappa had tastes far too rich to enjoy such a 'peasant' dish as Vegeta had called it before. It required very basic ingredients that were very cheap, so it was eaten by many low class families on Planet Vegeta, though as time progressed and the reign of Lord Frieza brought some new changes, poverty became less widespread, though the Saiyans always felt that they were treated differently.
Raditz recalled his father rambling on in the hazy summer evenings, a mug of beer going warm in his hands, educating the boy, whilst his mother just shook her head and did whatever needed to be done.
"Bad things happen in this Organisation, Raditz." He would whisper to him.
"They spy on us. All this fancy tech? The scouters, space pods…even the TV." Some of this used to frighten Raditz, but his mother always told him it was nothing, that his father was being dramatic, but now he realised that he was right.
"A friend of mine had a son a few years older than you, but just as curious, and a smartass too…said he found some kinda sex trafficking network going on behind the scenes, you know? Something that was covered up." Raditz didn't understand him, or what sex trafficking was, and his father quickly remembered not to tell him, changing the subject.
"Uh, it doesn't matter what it means, boy! When his son accused them…he had solid evidence…and you know what happened?"
"What?" He remembered looking up into his father's eyes, longing to know.
"Let's just say…my friend didn't see his son again."
'I won't end up like that, Papa!'
He promised him as he cooked the meal, acting as if nothing was wrong as Nappa opened the door, asking why he was stirring so vigorously.
"Jeez, boy, what's got you so angry-looking?" He laughed heartily, and Raditz just played it off by telling him that Vegeta ate his food.
For the rest of the evening, Raditz acted like there was nothing wrong. Whenever the urge came to ask Nappa, to tell him about the injections and about Vegeta, he always became too nervous to speak.
He went to bed early, lying on the lumpy mattress and staring up at the ceiling, trying to figure out how he would implement the next phase of his plan. Though, as he would soon find out, things don't always go as expected…