Chapter Five
Kinira gazed out of the wall-sized window pane of an open classroom she had managed to find. She had already eaten her lunch, and was now staring out into the open Quad area. But it was not just at the Quad area, she was looking at Trunks, the new transfer student.
She felt her cheeks heat up, her heart sped up as she grabbed her chest. She took a few deep breaths, feeling uncomforatbly warm. What is going on??? she asked herself. What are these feelings that I'm having? Why do I feel like...this? Why do I always go through all of these emotions whenever I look at that guy? He's just a purple-haired weakling! She growled. "He is just a purple-haired weakling! ...Isn't he...?"
"Kinira?" She gasped and turned around at the sound of her name, San and Aki. "Are you alright?" said Aki.
"Oh--it's only you!" she breathed hard. "Don't sneak up on me like that!!!" she yelled angrily.
"Hey, girl, calm down. We were just wondering what you were doing." said San.
Aki playfully punched San in the arm, "Maybe you're here to see what she's doing, but I know exactly what's going on!" said Aki proudly.
"What?" asked Kinira. "What are you talking about?"
"You're in love!!!"
"What?!" shrieked Kinira. "I am not!"
"Oh--come on, Kinira! I've seen the way you look at that Trunks guy! You are totally feelin' him!"
"Would you shut up?!"
"Aw--don't worry! He is totally feeling the same way!"
Her face went red in anger. "YOU GUYS ARE THE MOSt OBNOXIOUS PAIR OF DI-- Wait--what'd you say?"
San cleared her throat. "She said, 'Oh--come on, Kinira. He is totally feeling the same way'!"
"Uh..." She stood there dumbstruck for a moment. Did he really feel the same way as her? Did his palms get all sweaty and his head spin every time he saw her? "You really think that?" she asked with her trademark eyebrow raise.
"Absolutely!" said Aki.
"You should ask him out!" said San.
"I should what?"
"You know, go out with him. ... ...You know... On a date?"
"Uh... What? What are you talking about? How would we fit on a date? They're too small--you're supposed to eat dates, not ride them."
A great Thud! rang through the room as both Aki and San did the famous Anime fall. "You are impossible!" screeched Aki.
"Here," said San, handing a green duffle bag to Kinira. "Think of it as an early fifteenth birthday present." Kinira reached into the duffle bag and saw that it was full of little books. "It's the 'Comic's for Girls' series."
"'Comics for Girls'?"
"Yup! It's a huge series of over thirty-five books about a boy and girl falling in love." Kinira looked confused. "It's a guidebook, a manual for girls. It'll show you just how to handle it!"
"Huh?" Kinira asked. "Guidebooks? As in, getting people to like you Earth style?"
Aki groaned. "You've got to be kidding me, San! How would she know what any of it meant?!" said Aki, shaking her head making her long red pig-tails fly around like a helicopter's propellors.
"I can figure out what it means! And--believe me--by the time I get back tomorrow I'll be a dating machine!!!"
Kinira studied and studied and studied all of her 'Comics for Girls' books for a whole week, but still didn't understand a thing. Sure, she had lied to Aki and San, telling them that she knew exactly what she was doing. And what a blatant lie it was, too. Every time she looked at them, she was totally and completely confused.
At the end of that week, she was upstairs in her room looking at her comics, the books strewn freely on top of her bed. She was reading the 35th book in the series while hovering upside down above her bed, as if she was sitting native-american style on the ceiling.
"Kinira!!!" The gruff voice of her father came from outside her door.
"It's open!" she called back.
Vegeta walked through the door, looking up to see Kinira, "What are you doing?"
"Reading these books that San gave me as an early fifteenth birthday present. I sure wish I knew what they were all about, though." She hovered down to her bed and turned right-side-up. "I've been reading these for a week now and I still don't get them. *sigh* They're so confusing..."
Vegeta walked over to her bed and picked up one of the books and began looking through them. "... ... ...Kame, what is this shit?"
Kinira shrugged, "They're guidebooks--dating, Earth style."
"Dating?!" he shouted in anger. "You listen to me--no daughter of mine is going to be wasting her time with dates!!!"
"Dad! Pu-lease!" Suddenly, a beep was heard. Kinira unhitched the beeper from the belt loops on her shorts. "Whoops! I gotta go!" she said, getting up and running to her closet, stuffing things inside her backpack, though Vegeta couldn't see what.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to Jiji's to study. We have mid-terms in all of our classes!"
"It's a Saturday, you don't have school in the morning."
"They're going to start on Monday, and they follow through the rest of the week," she said, packing a large black T-shirt and a toothbrush into her half-filled backpack.
"What are those for?" asked Vegeta.
"I'm spending the night there, I'll be back here tomorrow around noon. Anyway, I'm late already--so I'll just get my guitar for music class--there--and I'm outta here! Buh-bye!" All of this was said very fast. Before Vegeta could reply, she was already out the door, and running out to the front lawn, flying off into the distance.
Vegeta sighed, "Well, at least she's off my back for the night..."
She plucked a few strings on her guitar and tightened them slightly. "That should do it!"
"Are you sure about this, Kinira?" asked Jiji, a friend of hers with long and dark purple hair. "I mean, it's not like our parents know about this... Right girls?"
"Well, personaly, I think we'll be fine." said Freya, another friend of Kinira's who was very confident indeed, almost to the point of being rude.
"Oh..." Jiji groaned, having her hopes of being agreed with shot down. But there were still three other girls in the room... "San? What do you think?"
"Kinira can make it happen!" said San.
"Aki?"
"Ah... Well, I guess if we're careful, it can't hurt..." said Aki, straightning out her deep red hair.
"Rochelle? You've got to agree with me!" Jiji cried in desparation.
"Oh, come on, girl!" said Rochelle, a girl with curly green hair. "What's wrong with a little fun now and again?"
"Well..." Jiji trailed off. "It's just not practical!"
"Jiji, don't be so uptight," said Kinira. "You don't have one single spontaneous bone in your body, and it's time to change that!"
"Well I'm very happy about that!" shrieked Jiji. She sighed and touched the tips of her index fingers togehter, "Are you sure about this? I mean, we've never done a gig like this before..."
"Sure am!" said Kinira. "I just have to make sure that I keep my energy level down!"
"What?" Jiji, San, Aki, Freya, and Rochelle asked simultaneously.
"Uh... Hehehe... Oh--nothing--I'm just thinking out loud here! Hahahahaha!" She put on a fake laugh, everyone in the room, including her, letting large balls of sweat drop on their heads like in Anime cartoons. "Well, anyway, this gig will totally sign us up with Maiden Records! I hear their company president hangs out at the club we're playing at!"
Rochelle immidiately stopped brushing her curly hair and stared at Kinira unbelieving, "Seriously?" she asked. "We could get signed up with a major company???"
"Yeah, baby! Yeah!" said Kinira in an Austin Powerish accent. "Now, let's go to that club!"
"Vegeta?" Bulma walked into the living room and spotted Vegeta flipping through the channels on T.V. "Vegeta, where's Kinira? She's not up in her room."
"She went over to some friend's house to spend the night. Name's Juju, or something," mumbled Vegeta.
"Jiji?" Bulma asked. "Oh, yeah--she mentioned that this morning." She then noticed that Kinira had left a textbook for one of her classes on the coffee table. "Oh, no! She forgot her History book!" she said, picking up Kinira's heavy white book. "I'd better take it over to Jiji's house. You wanna come, Vegeta?"
He turned off the TV to look up at Bulma, who was now pulling on ared jacket. "Might as well," he muttered. "Not like I have much else to do..." Vegeta stood up. "Besides, she needs watching, anyway. It's not like those human parents of Juju's--"
"Jiji," Bulma corrected.
"Whatever. It's not like Jiji's parents can handle a Saiyan teenager."
Bulma laughed heartily, "Oh, Vegeta--don't worry about Kiki." He sneered at the mention of his daughter's nickname that Bulma had given her. It took away from her Saiyan dignity. "She's perfectly capable, and totally responsible. You have nothing to worry about."
"WHAT IS UP SATIN CITY!!!!!" Kinira yelled into the microphone in front of her as she and her band, Poltically Incorrect, stood upon the stage of the night club they'd been planning on going since Freya found out that the president of Maiden Records was going there for a night out. The club was called Eternal Rave and it was the spot to be on a Saturday night.
Kinira wore a skimpy black dress with spagetti straps and a low scoop neck, fingerless gloves, and her favorite combat boots, the strap of her acoustic guitar around her neck. Jiji wore a red, long sleeved shirt and black pleated skirt, a metal chain belt slumping at her hip, her fingers at the strings of her electric guitar. Rochelle wore a pair of skin-tight jeans, leather jacket, and black baret. She twirled her drumsticks around as San adjusted her yellow minidress, turning the strap of her bass guitar slightly. Aki wore a simple purple miniskirt and red fo-fur jacket. Freya wore a pair of black hot-pants and tight green t-shirt, she played both trumpet and tenor guitar. She was now holding her guitar.
"ARE YOU READY TO KICK IT UP!!!!!!!" Kinira yelled into the microphone once more.
"YEEEAAAAAHHH!!!!!!" the entire club seemed to roar back.
" I CAN'T HEAR YOOOUUU!!!!!!!!!"
"YEEEEAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"
"NOW LET ME HEAR YOU SCREEEEAAAAAAAAMMM!!!!!"
"Count us off, Rochelle!!!"
"One! Two! One-two-three-four!"
They all started out playing a hard, intense tune. Kinira began singing, "Oh the heat is so great. It plays tricks on your mind. Turns the road into water, and then from water to sky. There's a crack in the concrete floor, that starts at the sink. There's a bathroom in the gas station--and I've locked myself in it to think..."
The whole club was now dancing at the sound of Kinira's fresh, intense voice. "Back in the city--the sun bakes the trash on the curb. Men are pissin' in doorways, and the rats are running in herds. I got a dream with your face in it that scares me awak. I put too much on the table and now I got too much at stake!"
She continued singing, never losing the intensity in her voice. She then came to the chorus in the song after a few more verses. "You'll stop me--won't you--if you've heard this one before! The one where I surprise you by showin' up at your front door. Saying let's not ask what next, or how, or why. I am leavin' in the morning, so--let's not be shy...!"
Knock-knock-knock! A man with brown hair and a beard came out to the door. "Oh! Ms. Briefs, Mr.--uh... Mr. Kinira's-father! Please, please--come in." Bulma and Vegeta walked into the timid man's house. He shut the door behind them and turned to face the two visitors. "So, what brings you here?" he asked.
Vegeta snatched Kinira's textbook from Bulma. "We didn't come for a visit, we came to give Kinira her book. Now, tell us where she is so we can get on our way."
"U-Uh..." stammered Jiji's father, taken back by Vegeta's bluntness.
Bulma jabbed Vegeta in the arm, "Would you take it easy?" she asked in a whisper. "This isn't a ransom of Frieza's, alright???" Vegeta snorted.
"Sorry," said Bulma, her voice back to normal. "He's just a little *ahem* high strung. We just need to see Kinira, she forgot her History book at home."
"Oh--well, she's right upstairs, with the rest of the girls. I'll show you the way." They all walked upstairs. "You know, sir, Kinira is really a very nice girl. She's very brave,too." said Jiji's father. Vegeta smirked, Of course she's brave, he thought proudly. "She's quite the little dare-devil, really. Just the kind of influence my little powder-puff needs to take control of her life." Powder-puff...? Vegeta thought in disgust.
"Thank you," said Bulma. "She's really one-of-a-kind."
They reached a white door in the hallway, the sound of muffled R&B music coming from the other side. Jiji's father timidly tapped on the door, "Oh, Jiji, are you in there?" No answer. "Uh--sweetie, come out here. ...Please?"
Vegeta grew angry at the man's shyness. "Step aside!" he said. He walked up to the door, "That's no way to show your daughter to pay attention." He pounded on the door, but not too hard as to break it down. "KINIRA!!!" he yelled sternly, the music went off.
"Yes, Daddy?" came Kinira's muffled voice.
"Oh my, he's so assertive!" cried Jiji's father in admiration.
"GET OUT HER RIGHT NOW!!!" he yelled.
"Dad? I'm in the bathtub, can we talk about this, tomorrow?" Strangely, her voice sounded oddly like a recording.
Vegeta raised an eyebrow, trying to sense a life-force inside, but there was only a trace of one. Either Kinira was getting very good at keeping her energy down, or she wasn't inside. He decided to try another approach. "You forgot one of your books at home! Come out here now!"
"Just slip it under the door, whatever it is!" said the strangely recorded-sounding voice.
He crossed his arms over his chest, "Did you sneak out of the house?!" he asked angrily.
"Dad? I'm in the bathtub, can we talk about this tomorrow?" repeated the voice in the same tone as before.
He smashed the door open, surprising everyone, including Jiji's little sister who was running the recordings of the voices. He then noticed that the window was wide open, and everyone's backpacks were gone. He knew what had happened, then, he just didn't know where she had gone.
Freya blew her trumpet proudly in a jazzy intro to the next song, 'Deep Dish.'
Kinira strummed her guitar as she sang, everyone dancing and playing their own instruments with a jazzy pride. "Cold and drizzly night, in Chicago's Deep Dish--fluorescent light of the bathroom shows my hands as they are. See and eyelash on my cheeck, pick it off and make a wish--and walk back out into the bar...
"Wind at the windows, neon lights the patterned pane. The waitress weilds the weight of her tray around her plam. The doorman cups his hands and lights his cigarette, again. And the rai-ai-ain marches on!"
A slight interlude came in, almost a spoken chant, one could say. As she strummed the jazzy background accompanyment to San's bass guitar., she sensed something coming closer, a large ki energy, along with eleven other tiny energies. Oh, no...! she thought, her singing part coming up soon. It's my father! I'd better lower my energy. She did, too, to the lowest possible quota(can't spell).
She began to sing once more. "Don't even bother tryin' to say somethin' clever--clever is as clever does; no matter what it says. I'm lookin' for a sign--it says you're real this time. But I don't trust what's in your head." She tossed her hair around like a heavy metal star, but still looking up and singing with a sort of cockiness. "I walk up to the bar; point to the top shelf. I throw my head back, and laugh at myself. I raise a toast to all my saviors--each so badly behaved--it's too bad that their world is the one that they saved--" She cut off and came into a slower bridge.
"Now you gotta dance with me, now is when it's gonna be. 'Cuz I can't wait for the dance floor to fill iiiiiiinnnn! If you want to dance with me, I'll show you how it's gonna be. 'Cuz I can't wait for the band to begin!" She and the others played more, and let her voice blend back to her fast-paced, attitude singing voice.
"There's a spider spinning cobwebs from your elbow to the table while my eyes ride the crowd--in a secret rodeo. I smile with my mouth, lift my watch up to the light. Say 'Oh, look, I have to go..." The song went on for a little longer, feeling her father's ki as well as the eleven other energies come close. Very close...
She knew that her father would be there soon, she just had to figure out how soon, or if he could even sense her energy at its lowest. She just hoped that it would be soon enough to finish their last song. He would surely be very angry with her, but he was always angry with her, or that was what it seemed. Their last song was to be for him, just to show that he didn't show a thing. But, she still loved him.
The song ended and the club exploded with applause. Everyone was ready to play their next song, but Kinira cut them off by speaking into the microphone. "Thank you, thank you very much! Politically Incorrect has never had so much fun in a gig, but--sadly--I think that we're going to have to cut this performance short." Everyone in the crowd did a groan of sadness. "I know, I know, but I'm afraid that we're cutting to our last song. Ready, girls?" Everyone nodded; Kinira smiled. "Good. Before we begin, I'd like to dedicate this song to my father, Vegeta." She threw her head back and yelled to the ceiling, "This one's for you, Dad!"
Rochelle pounded on her Trapset proudly as Kinira strummed her acoustic guitar. She began to sing, "I heard the sound of your bike. As the wheels hit the gravel, and the engine in your driveway cutting off. And I pushed through the screen door, and stood out on the porch, thinking fight--fight--FIGHT!--at all costs. But instead I let you in, just like I've always done, and sat you down and offered you a beer. With crosstitch on the table, I fired several rounds--but you were still sitting there when the--"(She cut off and melted into the rock-like chorus.)"Smoke cleared! And you came crawling back to say, you wanna make good, in the end. Oh-ho! Let me count the ways that I abhor you-- And you were never a good lay-- and you were never a good friend M'ah-oh! Oh what can I say? I adore YOU. Oh! Oh-o-o-o-o-o-o-oh... Oh yea-yeah. Whoa! Oh! Oh-o-o-o-o-o-o-oh..."
The doors to the club swung open, it was her father. He was accompanied by the parents of Rochelle, Freya, San, Aki, and Jiji, as wells as her Auntie B! She didn't care, though, she wanted her father to hear this song. Vegeta saw where she was and looked as if he were about to attack. So she locked his eyes with hers as she began to sing.
"All I need is my leather--one T-shirt and two socks. I'll keep my hands warm in your pockets--you can use the engine lock and we'll ride out to California, with my arms around your chest. And I'll pretend that this is real 'cause this is what I like best. And you've been juggling two women--like a stupid circus clown--telling us both we are the one. And maybe you can keep me from ever bein' happy, but you're not gonna stop me from--"(She broke into the chorus once more)"Having fun! So let's go! Before I change my mind--leave the luggage of all your lies behind. 'Cause I am better than everything that came be-fooooo-o-o-o-re! And you were never very kind and you let me WAY down ev'ry time! Oh-oh! Oh what can I say? I adore you! And you were never very kind and you let me WAY down ev'ry time. But--oh! Oh what can I say? I adore you! Oh! Oh-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oh! Oh yea-yeah!"
"I can't believe you did something THIS irresponsible!!!" Bulma shouted at Kinira and the other girls. They were all back in Capsule Corp., including the girls' parents.
"Freya, you KNOW better than this! I just can't believe that you would go out to a nightclub and LIE to me!" cried Freya's overweight mother.
"You girls are in big trouble!" said Rochelle's mother, who could have very well be Rochelle's older sister.
"Oh--pumpkin, I'm VERY dissappointed in you! I just can't believe that my little angel would to something so spontaneous!" said Jiji's ever nervous father.
"But... Dad, I didn't do anything CRAZY!" said Jiji.
"She's right, Mr. Banks," said Kinira. "It was all my fault." The adults all looked at her. "I was the one who dragged Jiji along--I thought it would be fun, and Jiji never gets out. So, the girls and I decided to play there, but Jiji wanted to ask you guys first."
"... I KNEW it!!!" cried Aki's red-haired father. "I knew that that Kinira was a trouble maker!"
"What?!" asked Kinira. "Now that's a little unfair..."
"He's right!" said Freya's mother, tightining her fat fists. "That Kinira girl is nothing but trouble!" She looked at Vegeta and Bulma, "Ms. Briefs, Mr.-- Mr.-- Mr. who-ever-you-are, your girl is an all out trouble-maker! She is irresponsible, unreliable, and totally unpredictable!"
"Mrs. Mowry is right," said San's mother.
"Mom!" screeched San in disbelief.
"Mrs. Gin," said Freya. "This wasn't all Kinira's fault. I was the one who told her that the president for Maiden records was visiting Eternal Rave. It's my fault, too!"
"Freya!" cried her mother.
"Look," said Rochelle. "It wasn't anyone's fault. ALL of us are to blame, right girls?"
"Right," the girls chimed in.
"Rochelle!" her father said.
Aki's mother shook her head and said, "Kinira may be a sweet girl, but she is nothing but a bad influence on our other girls! I suggest that you keep her away from them, Mr.-- Oh! What is your last name, anyway???"
He paused for a moment before crossing his arms and saying, "Sei." Just like the planet, Vegeta-Sei. he thought. "My name is Vegeta Sei, and my daughter is--"(Here it comes... Kinira thought nervously.)"--nothing but the most responsible girl in this room!"
Everyone in the room, including Kinira was staring at him, wide-eyed. "M-M-Mr. Sei--" Mrs. Mowry started.
"Kinira was the only one of the girls who was willing to take responsibility for her actions, as well as the others. And don't think for a moment that she was the cause of all of this. As Rochelle said, it was no one's fault. Especially my daughter. The only thing she is showing is what every girl her age should be acting like! No teen should be expected to live up to your drone-like standards to make you happy. You think that MY daughter is a bad influence? Ha! I'm the one who should be concerned that these girls won't rub their robot-qualities off on my Kinira. Now, don't you come into my house telling me how to raise my daughter. The last thing I need to do is make my daughter into a robot-weakling!"
"Well!" said Rochelle's mother. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing seemed to come out; at least, nothing witty. "Well, then... ... ...There we are."
"Dad, that was amazing!!!"said Kinira once the girls and their parents had left.
Vegeta smirked. "Well, you don't expect me to lose a battle to an earthling, do you?"
She wrapped her arms around his waist, "I have the coolest dad in the Universe!"
"Yes, you do." He put his hand on her head. "Now, go upstairs. You're grounded for a month."
She immediately jumped back and looked up. "Excuse me???"
He pointed to the staircase. "Up to your room, now. You're grounded for a month."
"Alright, now that is not cool!"
"No, that's life."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hey, there! Just in case you're wondering, Ani DiFranco is the only musician in the history of music to ever refuse to buy in to the publicity of big companies and start her own company, called Righteous Babe. She sings, writes, mixes, and produces her own records, and does everything herself, with her friends! She is so amazing! I love her music! N-E-ways, this chapter was fun, and I'm sorry that it took so long. I hope you like it! I should have the next chapter up soon!
--Kayli