Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters. Those belong to Akira Toriyama, Toei, and a bunch of other people, including the lucky bastards at FUNimation.
Notes: I got really good feedback on my last chapter, and I must say that it's my favorite one ^_^ Thanks for all the nice reviews!
Chapter Seven: You Have Mail
"You're pretty fast when you fight, but I'm a pretty quick shot." - Relena
April 4, Wednesday à 7 days until the eclipse
"Miss Briefs!"
Bra was shocked awake by Mrs. Peterson's frustrated shriek. The angry teacher was firing her a glare that could almost match her otousan's.
"This is the tenth time today you've fallen asleep in my class! Am I boring you?"
"No, ma'am," Bra responded, restraining a yawn. "I just haven't been getting much sleep lately."
"Well, at least try to stay awake for the last five minutes of school!"
"Yes, ma'am." This time the yawn escaped.
Mrs. Peterson just sighed and went on with concluding the calculus lesson.
Bra had honestly been trying to stay awake all day, but her eyelids wouldn't comply. How many times had her slumber been disrupted last night? Five? Ten? A million? It was always so difficult to get back to sleep, too. She was so worried about her otousan.
What was wrong with him? Why was he having these nightmares every single endless night? What was in the visions that was so horrifying? Why wouldn't he let his family help him?
So sleepy... but before she could doze off again, Bra was jolted to attention by the final bell.
"Hey," Relena said as Bra gathered her things, "are you okay?"
"Just need sleep," Bra said in monotone.
"How much did you sleep last night?"
"Don't ask. Ugh. How am I supposed to walk home like this?"
"Can't Trunks give you a ride?"
"No. Important meeting." Trunks had to go to some product proposal. Bra was sure the presenters would be thrilled that Trunks was, most likely, also dozing off.
"Well," Relena said slowly. "My house isn't far from here. You could walk there with me and call your parents to come pick you up."
Home. 'Tousan. Weird behavior. Worries. "I don't really wanna go home just yet. Could I hang at your place for a while?"
"Well..." Relena trailed off.
"Please?" Bra pleaded weakly.
"I guess."
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Good job, Messenger. Why don't you just tell her what you're really doing in Western Capital while you're at it?
Well, it's too late to get out of it now. I'll just have to keep her out of certain rooms. She's sleepy anyway, so she'll probably just crash on the couch for a few hours. I shouldn't blow this out of proportion.
Man, she looks like she could collapse at any moment.
Why is she so tired anyway? There aren't any major exams approaching, so she wasn't cramming. Late night television? No. She told me she doesn't watch much TV.
Trouble at home? Maybe. She said she didn't want to go home. That could mean family problems.
Well, I'd like to help Bra, I really would, but I can't deal with that now. I have to concentrate on my mission. Headquarters still hasn't sent me the interpretation of that scroll, and there's only one week left. I have no leads and no clues. Only suspicions about this girl's family that may have nothing to do with the eclipse apocalypse.
What am I going to do?
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"Here we are," Relena said as she opened the front door. "Why don't you just take a nap on the couch, Bra? You look almost dead."
"Thanks," Bra muttered as she stepped into the den. "Can I use your bathroom?"
"Sure." Relena pointed upstairs. "It's right upstairs. Right in front of you when you walk up. I'll be in the kitchen. Do you want a soda or something?"
"Yeah. Thanks." Bra walked up the steps and into the bathroom.
She came out a few minutes later and was about to return downstairs when she saw the door. It was only open a crack, but inside Bra could see parts of technical equipment. She was still dead tired, but her curiosity began nibbling at her brain. What was in there? Why would Relena's parents have a bunch of electronic equipment? She could look in, take just a peek...
What was she saying? This wasn't her house, and she had no right to go snooping around in Relena's family's business. Besides, curiosity killed the cat.
But not a Saiyajin...
One little peek won't hurt anyone, Bra told herself as she crept to the door and nudged it open, giving her a better view of the inside of the room.
The room was fairly large, but boxes that had most likely held the equipment were stacked everywhere. The machinery had all been set up either on or by a desk that was against the left wall of the room. On the desk there was a computer, two speakers, a small camera for transmitting images, a printer, and a fax machine. On the floor by the window several satellite dishes all of different sizes were set up. To the left of the desk was a table with a signal scrambler used to protect private messages, but it had all sorts of attachments to it that Bra guessed improved the quality of the machine. Along with all of that was plenty more technological junk that Bra couldn't even identify.
What the heck was all this stuff used for? Did Relena's parents work for the government or something? Bra was drawn further into the room, towards the computer. It had been left on; a document was displayed on the screen:
It was a clear signal that I was not going to be invited to dinner, as I'd hoped. Not that there would have been a point to it anyway. Obviously the family is very secretive, and finding out anything useful would have been close to impossible. I may have to do more spying to get what I need to determine the target, not that I know exactly who to spy on.
Most of the secretiveness seems to be around the father, whom I've yet to meet. But according to his daughter, he's not very chatty either. I almost suspected him of being the target, but he is too old. There is still, though, some nagging suspicion about him.
It is strange that I still suspect him even though he is older than thirty, and I haven't even met him at all. But there is something different about him that I detect through the family's auras.
Mrs. Briefs's aura is a bright yellow, and with Trunks and Bra's auras being green, Mr. Briefs's is most likely blue. The thing about the children's auras is the equal amounts of yellow and blue. This is common among parents and their children, but this equality... It's odd, but it seems... strangely genetic.
"What the hell...?" Bra murmured.
Suddenly she was struck on the back of the head. She stumbled towards the window and whirled around to see Relena in a fighting stance.
"Well, aren't we nosey?" Relena sneered.
"Well, aren't we a big fraud? Who are you?"
Instead of answering her, Relena tried to hit her with another roundhouse kick. Bra reacted quickly and ducked, lashing out her foot and knocking Relena's other leg out from under her. Relena fell to the ground with a loud thud. Bra lunged at her, but Relena rolled out of the way. Bra spun back around, and Relena was already on her feet and did a third roundhouse kick and struck Bra in the side of the head. Bra stumbled, but quickly regained her balance and jump kicked Relena in the gut. The girl doubled over in pain and fell to her knees by the desk, holding herself up by gripping an open drawer.
"Who are you?" Bra repeated.
Relena didn't answer. She was bent over the drawer, breathing hard.
"I don't want to have to ask again."
"One of those kicks should have knocked you unconscious. Two should put you in a coma," Relena said, still not looking at her. She spat, the blood in her saliva forming a red blotch on the carpet. "You're not even bleeding. Then there's the fact that you actually know how to fight. So the question is, who are you?"
"I asked first."
Before Bra could react, Relena grabbed a shiny black gun from the drawer and was instantly on her feet with Bra in her sights.
"I don't care," she hissed. "You're pretty fast when you fight, but I'm a pretty quick shot. I think it's in your best interest to cooperate."
"You don't know who you're dealing with," Bra snapped.
"Neither do you. Now, what is this secrecy about your otousan?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't bullshit me, girl. You read the entry. I watched you read it. You know I can see auras. There's something special about your papa. Am I right?"
Bra growled at her.
"Tell me."
"No."
"Would you rather have your brains plastered on the wall behind you?"
Bra looked over her options. She could give in and tell this stranger about her dad. Yeah, right. She could try to kick the gun away. She could try to dodge the bullet. Or she could blow up the girl.
But Relena was right. She didn't know whom she was dealing with. Because of her drowsiness this girl had almost matched her in their fight, and she didn't know how fast a shot she was. And if she could see auras, she might be able to judge her every move and shoot Bra in the head before she could even flinch. Could her half-Saiyajin skin withstand bullets?
Hmmm. Shoulda asked 'Tousan about that. "Why do you want to know?" Bra asked, suddenly wishing she'd spent more time training than shopping.
"That's confidential."
"Why?" Bra insisted.
"I promise you that I'm not out to hurt your 'tousan or anything."
Bra smirked.
"What is your problem?"
"You couldn't hurt my 'tousan."
"But I can hurt you."
The smile faded into an expression of uncertainty.
"You have three seconds," Relena continued, pointing the revolver at Bra's forehead.
What should I do?
"Three..."
I could try to attack, but she might shoot me. I don't even know if I can withstand the bullet...
"Two..."
I don't want to shoot a ki blast. I really don't want to kill anyone, and it'll attract everyone's attention and give everything away anyway.
"One..."
"ALRIGHT!"
Relena grinned. "Start talking."
Bra hesitated. "I'm half-human."
Now Relena's smirk vanished. "W-what?"
"You heard me."
Relena stared at her blankly for a moment, and then her mind finally comprehended the words. Half-human? That means she's half alien. But that's impossible... It can't be true...but she's not lying. Her aura shows she's telling the truth. Holy shit. That means... her father is an alien? Holy shit. That's why she wasn't knocked unconscious. That's why she's so strong. That's why she's a good fighter. That's what all the secrecy was about. Relena looked Bra over. She sure looked human. Of course, if she didn't, Relena wouldn't be the first to discover this secret.
"W-what about Goten?" Relena didn't notice that her outstretched hand was shaking.
"What about him?"
"You heard me, shimatta!" Relena yelled, her nerves shot. "I saw the difference in him too."
"His otousan is also a Saiyajin."
Saiyajin. The name of the race. The alien race. Aliens. Holy shit. They really exist. Holy shit.
"W-why would he be living here on earth?" Relena asked out of her own curiosity. "Why isn't he living on his planet?"
"His planet was destroyed about fifty years ago."
"Fifty years? His lived here for fifty years and no one else has found out?"
"Thirty."
"Huh?"
"He's only lived here for about thirty years. Not fifty."
The computer on the desk beeped. The words "YOU HAVE MAIL" appeared on the screen. Still aiming the gun at Bra, Relena reached over to the mouse and clicked the little blinking envelope. E-mail appeared on the screen. Relena glanced at the message, back at Bra, and then did a double take at the message. She stared at the screen, her eyes widening. Those idiots... She looked at Bra and tossed the gun to the ground.
"Take me to your otousan!" Relena grabbed Bra by the shoulders. "I have to see him!"
Bra brushed her off, more relaxed now that the gun was on the ground. "Are you nuts? You just attacked me!"
"Forget about that!" Relena turned from her and raced downstairs.
Bra chased after her, following her outside into the driveway. Relena opened the door of her car.
"Why do you need to see him?" Bra asked.
"Believe it or not, I'm here to help him."
"There's a faster way." Bra had already concluded that it would be better to trust her. After all, how could she possibly do any harm to her otousan, one of the strongest fighters in the universe?
"How?"
Bra grabbed her by the waist and Relena gasped as she lifted her into the air and started to fly her to the Brief residence.
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I have seen other Saiyajin peoples fend off bullets (Radditz, Gohan...), but I still think Bra had a right to be worried. She doesn't fight much and all, so... oh, why am I explaining this? That's what happened and if you don't like it, then I'm sorry. It is hard to come up with these plots to satisfy you people, you know... ;.;