It had already been three days, and Kagome was still stuck trying to figure out what had really happened. The more she tried to work through it, the more irritable she got - and the more irritable she got, the more she tried working through it.
Fact: monogamous demons tended to choose their mates at a young age.
Fact: monkey demons were very firm believers in harems, and hence not monogamous in the slightest.
Fact: Goku was neither of these things. Which brought her right back to square one.
On the bright side, it had been nearly three weeks since the wish. She still wasn't back up to par yet (in no small part thanks to using too much too soon and then getting sick up in the North) but she had finally appropriated enough reiki to at least be able to start healing people again if things went sideways. Barriers would still be a little tricky, and fighting would be a whole lot easier once she could start channeling ki back through her muscular system, but she was starting to feel better now that she wouldn't be completely useless.
It was surprising, but she almost could have sworn that she replenished faster in this world than she had back home even in the West - the very land that she was literally tied to by a series of blood oaths.
A part of her wondered if it had anything to do with being around Goku; he was so bright that she actually felt purer in his presence.
'You'll ruin him, you stupid-'
No, she wouldn't. She didn't think that anyone could ruin Goku, and he wanted her there.
Her hands stilled in setting up the fire-pit and she smiled a bit to herself. That was the real point, wasn't it? He wanted her there. He saw her for who she was, even without knowing anything about where she came from, and he wanted her there.
Getting her first kiss snatched up by a clueless twelve-year-old came secondary.
... For the most part.
"Hey, Kagome!" the boy laughed as he presented her with the small mountain of a fish that he had caught, efficiently breaking her free of her thoughts. "Look, look! Dinner's going to be great!"
She chuckled at him. "I can see that. Do you know where Bulma ran off to?"
The girl had been throwing a major fit since Kagome had told her that she needed to stop depending on her 'dino-caps' so much. She did understand wanting to stick to what you were familiar with, but it was better to be able to take care of yourself with the bare minimum in case you ended up losing those comforts.
The boy shrugged, lifting his nose into the air and sniffing around for a moment. "That way," he finally declared, pointing off into the trees.
The priestess nodded in thanks. "If she's still not back in a few minutes, I'll go check on her. Do you want to help me cook?"
He grinned and nodded eagerly.
Bulma wasn't happy.
She knew that Kagome was Goku's new partner, and that they'd had three weeks to settle into that dynamic - but she had been his partner for way longer before that, and now she felt like the odd one out! She'd left West City to get away from her stressors, not add to them. It was true that the other girl was nice, and smart, and almost as pretty as Bulma herself - but it was just almost starting to feel like a competition, and Bulma didn't like that.
She understood why Kagome had suggested learning how to get along without her dino-caps. She understood why Goku liked the other girl's cooking better than hers, because even she had to admit that Kagome was good at making something tasty from practically nothing out in the middle of nowhere.
She just didn't understand why the other girl was now the one in charge, when she was the one with seniority here!
"Bulma?" a soft voice dragged her from her thoughts.
She glanced up, her eyes widening as she met Kagome's sapphire gaze.
The other girl smiled at her gently, sitting down next to her on the fallen log that she'd found. "I find that it's better to talk it out, rather than letting it eat at you."
She hesitated a moment, but finally sighed. "How come you're the boss?"
Kagome blinked at her. "I'm not," she stated simply.
"But Goku listens to you!" the blue-haired girl argued. "If you say something, he listens to you - even that stupid cloud listens to you!"
The other girl sighed. "Did you ever think that maybe it's because I ask instead of tell?"
Bulma's spine stiffened. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Just... think about it," the raven requested. "Maybe things would go better if you didn't make everything an order. Goku's a free spirit, hm? Though, not even I know why it is that Nimbus listens to me. According to Goku, it just likes me for some reason."
The brilliant mechanic frowned.
Kagome bumped their shoulders and stood. "Take it from someone who's got a couple of years on you: the old saying is true. Honey really does catch more flies than vinegar."
Bulma blinked uncertainly, but also got to her feet. "How old are you?" she huffed.
"Twenty," the other girl admitted easily as they turned and started back for the campsite. "Old enough to drink, at any rate."
The blue-haired girl stared at her, stunned. "I thought you were my age," she confessed.
"Yeah," the raven murmured, wincing for some reason. "So I've been told."
"What?" Bulma prodded warily.
Kagome just sighed, moving to sit next to Goku where he was watching them curiously from beside the fire. She was quiet for a long moment. "I'll tell you both all about it someday," she decided quietly. "Just not today, alright? Come on, I think the fish is done."
The genius mechanic watched her discreetly for a long time after that, trying to figure out what she meant by that... and why she got the feeling that the story wouldn't be a happy one.
xxxx
They flew for a long time, all three of them feeling exhausted.
"How far away are we?" Goku questioned.
Bulma checked the radar. "At this rate, approximately... forever!"
"Can't we go a little faster?" Kagome complained tiredly.
Taking that as a request, Nimbus sped into action and took off like a shot, surprising the trio. The full-sized girl gave a slight yelp and clung to the boy, the smaller one screaming loudly as they barreled through the air.
Goku just laughed, enjoying himself.
They slowed down a bit once they got closer.
"Wow," the boy gaped. "Everything's getting all steamy!"
"We're almost there, kid," Bulma announced with a relieved sigh.
Goku gave a bright chuckle, happy to hear it. It did occur to him that he wasn't so upset when Bulma called him a kid as when Kagome did, but he didn't really get why.
"Oh, hey! It's right here!" the blue-haired girl announced as they hovered to a stop.
The boy looked around. "But nothing's here!"
"It's probably on the bottom," Kagome spoke up.
"We need a home base..." Bulma murmured, looking around. "Oh hey, how about that island over there!"
"Looks inhabited," the black-haired girl pointed out uncertainly.
"Thank God!" the other heaved a sigh. "Come on, let's get moving!"
"Well, okay," Goku blinked, directing Nimbus over towards the landmass.
They landed on the beach quickly, all three hopping off of the cloud and onto the beach. Kagome looked kind of nervous for some reason, but Bulma finally seemed to relax a bit.
"Alright, you two go ahead and wait here," the boy announced. "I'll go get the ball."
"Oh, I don't think so!" the blue-haired girl huffed. "You think you can just leave us behind and go have all the adventure yourself? No way. I'm sure I've got a dino-cap for this."
The other girl's eye twitched as she pulled out her case. "What did I say about those?"
"Shut up, you. There's never going to be any reason for me to have to worry about that sort of thing happening!" Bulma snorted, flipping it open - only to reveal a single container, all by its lonesome. "Oh, no," she groaned. "This can't be happening! This is my dad's!"
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Hey, look," she deadpanned. "A reason to worry."
"No, no, no!" the blue-haired girl wailed. "I can't believe this!"
"Hey, who knows?" Goku tried to reassure her. "Maybe it'll be something useful!"
She glared at him. "Yeah, I doubt it!"
"You could just try it," he shrugged. "It might even be one of those submarine things!"
Bulma hesitated a moment before glancing down at the capsule. "Well... I guess I could at least try..." she finally agreed, pressing the button and throwing it into the air.
A bunch of books rained down, a lot like the ones that Krillin had brought Master Roshi. One of them landed right on the boys face even as the girls both rushed to pick them all up, their expressions shifting with anger.
"Poor girl," Goku frowned as he pulled it away. "She must be really poor - she can't even afford clothes!"
Bulma snatched it out of his hands quickly, ripping up the whole stack and screaming about how disgusting men were. The boy didn't really get it, but Kagome had told him before that seeing someone naked was supposed to be something personal...
The black-haired girl patted his hair in almost stern approval. "You just keep up that outlook, Goku," she sighed. "Don't let anyone ever take that away from you."
He tilted his head to one side uncomprehendingly.
"My own dad!" Bulma growled darkly, stomping on the scraps of paper. "Ughhh!"
"Well, anyway," the boy spoke up, walking up towards where Nimbus was still waiting for him and starting to undress. "I guess I'll go get the dragon ball now."
Kagome gave him an approving nod as she folded his clothes, and he took off.
xxxx
They stood in silence for a long moment, staring at each other.
"How can you be so calm?!" Bulma finally burst out.
The priestess shrugged nonchalantly. "I've learned that the best way to deal with perverts is to ignore them."
There was another stretch of silence, right before the girl nodded in understanding. "Hey, weren't there people on this island?" she asked after a couple of seconds. "If there are people, I bet there's shopping!"
Kagome chuckled. "You wanna go check it out?"
"Well, duh!" the teen laughed excitedly, grabbing her hand and dragging her off into the underbrush. "Maybe if there's a resort, they'll even sell dino-caps. I doubt Goku realized just how deep that water really is."
"True," the priestess agreed with a sigh. If only she could hold up a barrier at the moment, that wouldn't be a problem - they could just sink to the bottom and be done with it.
"Oh, hey!" Bulma gasped, crouching down to study a clump of flowers. "How pretty!"
Uh-oh. "Um, I wouldn't-"
The girl screamed and backpedaled as a lizard popped out.
"-do that," Kagome finished with another sigh.
"That was so creepy!" the blue-haired teen sobbed as they continued walking.
The priestess couldn't help but laugh. She'd had that same city-girl mentality, once upon a time, so she really did understand... Of course, she was also now coming to understand how her comrades had felt trying to accommodate her. "You'll eventually get used to it."
The girl just shuddered. "I sincerely hope not." After a few more minutes of making their way further inland, she groaned. "Maybe this island really is uninhabited..."
"No, it's not," Kagome stated with absolute certainty. She could sense other people.
She wasn't entirely happy with the auras that she sensed, but she could sense them.
The teen groaned. "But how can you be-?"
Bulma was cut off abruptly by machine gun fire, and both girls let out sharp yelps as they turned around and ran.
"What in the world?!" the blue-haired girl wailed.
"Less talking, more running!" Kagome barked back, throwing on an extra burst of speed of her own.
Somehow, they managed to not get riddled with holes - and then the planes landed. Her young companion was completely freaked out, on her knees and crying with terror, but the miko stood tall, her eyes cataloging everything she could pick up from the two pilots that were walking towards them.
Yeah, she decided that she really wasn't happy with the auras on this island.
"Well," one of the men grinned as they leaned over the pair. "What do we have here?"
"Just a couple of frightened girls!" the other answered with a laugh. "Sorry about that, we thought you were someone else."
Bulma glared up at them, finding her nerve. "What? This was all a mistake?!"
The priestess caught her shoulder, trying to signal for her to calm down. It didn't work.
"JERKS!" the teen screamed, getting up in their faces. "What's the big idea?! We could have been killed!"
"Hey, relax babe!" the first pilot laughed.
"You shot at us!" she glowered.
"Come on, cut us a little slack, girls," the second joined in. "We're followin' orders."
"That's right," his partner agreed. "We're soldiers - military studs!"
Bulma seemed to relax a bit. "I see... Well, hey! My name's Bulma, and this is Kagome. We're looking for a place to shop. Maybe find ourselves a submarine on a discount?"
The priestess slapped her forehead. Really? Really?
"A submarine?" the first pilot questioned uncertainly.
"We like to sightsee!" the teen insisted. "You know? Look at all the reefs?"
The first snorted. "You can't even buy capsules here, babe. This island's deserted."
Bulma frowned. "No way! Well, darn. How strange... I wonder whose boat that was."
The pair grinned at each other suggestively.
"Okay, thanks, we'll just be going now," Kagome stated quickly, grabbing the teen's arm and preparing to pull her away.
"Hold on," the first stopped them. "You're under arrest... for being too pretty!"
"No joke," the second laughed. "What a crime!"
Bulma blushed happily. "Gosh! You think we're pretty, huh?"
The two nodded and started crowding the pair.
"Yeah," Kagome growled sarcastically, pushing the other girl behind her. "No way in hell. Back off!"
"Oh, come on," the first insisted. "Let's have some fun!"
The priestess elbowed one in the gut and kicked the other in the face, sending them both tumbling over the edge of the cliff they were standing on, and grabbed her companion's wrist to start tugging her away. Now.
"Run!" she barked impatiently.
"G-Goku!" Bulma screamed as they bolted. "Goku, save us!"
"LESS TALKING, MORE RUNNING!" she roared, feeling like she had just said that same thing not five minutes ago. Oh, wait - because she had!
"GOKUUU!" the teen wailed even louder.
Okay, that was it. Bulma was going to get some crash-course training when they could slow down for a bit, whether she wanted it or not. She was even worse than the priestess had been five years ago, and that was saying something!
Goku did actually manage to save them, and Kagome made a mental note to track down a weapon. Next time she meditated, she was going to look around to see if that dream had even a teeny bit of overlap with reality and look for her stupid bag. If she had her sword, at the very least, she could add a bit of extra force to their little party.
"So, uh, I guess you didn't find any dino-caps, huh?" the boy asked as they watched the downed planes smoke.
"No, Goku, we didn't find any dino-caps," the teen agreed weakly. "Great observation."
"Hey, guess what!" he grinned. "I just had an idea. We can go to Master Roshi's! He lives around here, doesn't he?"
Bulma gave a disgusted cringe.
"He has all kinds of neat stuff," the boy continued, oblivious. "I bet he even has one of those suba-thingies!"
"Ick!" the girl shuddered. "That old coot? I'm not going there!"
"Sure you are," Goku laughed. "You have to, right? Hey... I'm sure he'll be really happy to see us. Come on, Bulma! I'll let you ride in my shirt!"
Kagome sighed. "Okay, first: who is this Roshi guy?"
The teen made a face. "An old pervert!" she declared.
"My teacher!" Goku announced in the same instant, their words overlapping.
The miko's eye twitched slightly. "I... see. Second: will he really be able to help us?"
"Definitely," the boy nodded.
Bulma was a bit more hesitant to answer that one. "I... guess," she murmured. "Maybe."
She sighed. "Alright. Lastly, third: Goku, what makes you think that offering to let her ride in your shirt makes a good bribe?"
The boy blinked at her. "You mean it's not?"
Kagome couldn't help but snort. "You've got a lot to learn, kiddo."
"Hey, I'm not a kid!" he protested.
Goku was excited to see his master, Launch, and Krillin again. They sped through the air until Kame House came into sight, landing right in front of Turtle. He and Kagome both hopped off, Nimbus flying away now that it was no longer needed.
"Oh, Goku!" the old tortoise greeted. "This is certainly a surprise. Welcome back, it's good to see you again. And who is this?"
"It's good to see you, too, Turtle!" he grinned. "I sure have missed everybody; it's been way too long. This is my new friend, Kagome - she's helping me find my grandpa's dragon ball! Kagome, this is Turtle."
"Nice to meet you," she smiled.
The tortoise stared at her for a moment before turning back to the boy. "Please tell me that Roshi didn't send you out to find another girl..."
"What?" he blinked.
"Nuh-uh," the girl snorted, crossing her arms over her chest. "Goku found me out in the desert and saved me. I've been doing my best to help him out in return since, and I plan to keep doing so."
Turtle slumped with a relieved sigh. "Oh, thank goodness. So are you here on business or pleasure?"
"We need Master Roshi's help," he admitted.
"Oh, hang on," the tortoise offered. "I'll get him. Hey, Master! Master! Goku's here!" He waited a moment before trying again. "MASTER!"
"Go away, I'm busty - I mean, busy!" an older voice shouted back.
Kagome's eye twitched. "So Bulma wasn't exaggerating," she grumbled quietly.
The boy glanced up at her. "Huh? What do you mean?"
Turtle turned to them and sighed. "Sorry about him," he murmured before giving it one more shot. "Goku's here to see you!"
The screen door finally creaked open, Master Roshi poking his head out. "Goku's here?"
The boy laughed excitedly and ran up to greet the guy, though Kagome stayed out of his direct line of sight. Goku didn't really understand why, but Turtle gave her an approving nod and stayed off to the side with her.
"Oh, what brings you out here, boy?" the master questioned. "I thought you were out there looking for your dragon ball."
"I still am!" he grinned. "And it's been loads of fun."
"So, what can I help you with?" the old man questioned.
"We need help... breathing," he admitted. "I'd better let Bulma tell you..."
"Bulma?" Roshi immediately perked up as she climbed out of the boy's shirt.
She pushed the button on her thing, becoming full-sized once more. "Hello, Roshi," she stated flatly.
"Well, I'll be a - how in the world did you do that?" the old man gaped.
"She made a device that allows her to change her size," Kagome spoke up, finally taking a step closer and drawing up on Goku's other side.
The master's jaw dropped and he stared at the black-haired girl for a long moment.
For some reason, the boy didn't really like the way he was looking at her.
"W-w-well, hi there!" the old man finally gushed. "I'm Roshi, the turtle hermit!"
"Kagome," she deadpanned. "Not interested. So, will you help us?"
"Help?" he repeated, dazed.
"We were wondering if you might have a submarine laying around here that we could maybe borrow," Bulma chimed in.
Kagome shot her a thankful look.
The master straightened back out, seeming to regain composure. "Why, certainly. What interest do you have in a submarine?"
"We found another dragon ball at the bottom of the ocean," Goku sighed. "But it's way too deep to swim to; I tried."
"Is that right?" the man hummed. "Alright, I'll lend it to you."
"Thank you!" the boy smiled, feeling reassured. They would have his grandpa's ball in no time now!
Bulma and Kagome looked kind of worried, though.
"However," Roshi added, causing them both to groan, "I'll need that device in exchange."
The blue-haired girl reeled back. "My micro-band?!" she yelped.
"Mhm," the hermit nodded.
"And that's it?" she checked suspiciously. "Nothing else?"
"Mhm," he nodded again.
She let out a heavy, thankful exhale. "That's a relief! I thought you'd gotten the wrong impression during that incident on Ox King's mountain. That really wasn't me - I'm not the sort of girl you're looking for. Not that you're looking, of course, at me!"
"Bulma," Kagome sighed, "you might want to stop talking about now."
The blue-haired girl whimpered a bit and buried her face in her hands. "Thanks. Okay, here," she continued, shaking it off and taking the device off her wrist to hand it over. "I'll miss it, but I know it's for a good cause. Here."
Roshi grinned and took it, clasping it on his own wrist. "Oh, yes - thank you, thank you!"
"Fine, now hand over the capsule for the submarine," she requested, holding a hand out expectantly.
"Patience my dear girl, patience," he chided, staring down at his new accessory. "Launch and Krillin took it into town this morning to do some shopping. They should be back any minute now - no biggie!"
Goku wasn't really sure why he was so glad that the master wasn't drooling at Kagome anymore, but he got the feeling that it wasn't the kind of thing he could ask her about.
xxxx
They had waited for a long time already, with no sign of the promised submarine.
"Where are they?" Bulma finally complained.
"They'll be back soon, don't worry!" the old man assured. He turned down to the tortoise. "Turtle, what's taking them so long?"
"I've got a bad feeling," the sea creature admitted anxiously.
The turtle and Goku started playing around after a while, gathering seafood.
"Okay," Kagome sighed as she stood up, stretching her arms over her head. "Bulma, get over here. Looks like we're going to have a bit of time after all."
She blinked at the priestess. "Huh?"
"Well?" the raven-haired girl prompted. "Come on."
The blue-haired teen slowly did so. "Why?"
"Because," Kagome announced as she cracked her neck, "you need to learn a couple of things in case we get into a situation like earlier again."
Bulma stared at her nervously. "Huh?"
The priestess heaved a sigh. "Alright, look, just try not to get hit. We'll go from there."
"W-what?!" she squeaked.
Before she could say anything else, Kagome charged at her with a punch. Despite her speed still suffering from her current state of recovery, the girl screamed and tensed, her eyes squeezing shut as she ducked and wrapped her arms over her head.
The priestess stopped her fist an inch away from the teen's face, stared down at her, and gave another sigh. "We've got a lot of work to do..."
"What the heck, Kagome?!" Bulma shrieked loudly as she shot back up.
"You're the one that wanted to jump into danger," she huffed. "If you're going to do that, you might as well at least be able to dodge! Try again, and this time don't close your eyes!"
The girl wailed and tried running away, but the priestess was faster.
xxxx
Goku glanced around uncertainly. "Where did Kagome and Bulma go?" he wondered.
Roshi stood off to the side, his nose running and a dazed look on his face.
"Master?" he asked a little louder. "Where did Kagome and Bulma go?"
A loud yelp drew his attention to the other side of the house and he raced around to go see what was going on - only to draw up short.
"Higher," Kagome instructed, lifting the other girl's outstretched arm a bit. "Again."
"Why am I even doing this?!" Bulma sobbed, attempting another punch.
"Because Goku isn't always going to be around to run to the rescue," the black-haired girl huffed. "It was better that time, but you're still aiming too low. Again."
"If you're trained, why don't you just protect me?!" the blue-haired teen wailed.
Kagome was quiet for a long moment, finally pushing down on the other girl's shoulders so that she stumbled out of her clumsy fighting stance. "Because it's still going to be at least another week before I can really use my ki again, and I can't guarantee that I'm not going to be a target at some point myself," she admitted bluntly.
"What does that mean?" the boy questioned worriedly, coming up to join them.
The older girl just glanced over at him and sighed, shoving her hair back out of her face. "I... don't know if I'm willing to go into details yet," she murmured.
"Oh, come on," Bulma groaned. "This again? We're together day and night! Just say it!"
Kagome's face went weirdly blank and she avoided their eyes. "Later," she finally sighed. "Not right now, and definitely not with Master Pervert and Turtle listening in."
"Urk!" the old man and tortoise both yelped, proving that she had been right.
Goku approached her slowly, reaching up and grabbing her hand to get her attention. Once she was looking down at him, he grinned at her reassuringly. "It's okay," he promised. "I've said this before, but you don't have to tell us anything you don't want to."
She stared down at him for a long moment before smiling a bit. "Thanks, kiddo."
He scowled, unable to help it. "I'm not a kid!" he insisted.
"Yeah, you are," she retorted. "For now, at least."
The boy made a face, but didn't argue with her anymore. Instead, he pulled her back out to the front of the house so that they could sit in the shade beneath the tree and watch for Launch and Krillin to get back.
Neither of them noticed that he kept hold of her hand even as they waited, but everyone else did.
xxxx
A/N: So, onward into the General Blue saga! From here on, Kagome's finally going to be getting a lot of her energy back. Well, with a few... twists, obviously. Oh, and for everyone who's read, reviewed, favorited and followed this story, I love you all! Let's see this monster through, shall we?
Edit: 7/02/16