Chapter 3

How long will it take before you get all emotional on me?
Me? Emotions? I don't have any. You should know that by now.
You lie. One wrong move from that Trunks guy and you'll be crying over him.
I know I used to love him, more than I'd like to admit. But he's... he's not...
He's not Ryan?
Yeah. He's not Ryan.
Ryan's a long way away from here.
Do you think that matters?
You're horny as hell.
No I'm not! Well, not that much, anyways...
Ryan's just another warm body that you can hold at night.
No, he's not! He's the sweetest, kindest, gentlest, most beautiful -
Stop the superlatives and face the facts.
You can't make me.
And then there's Goten...


Risu felt the dream fading, even as she realized that she was dreaming. She desperately reached imaginary dream hands towards it, trying to reclaim it and return to the state of blissful ignorance that most dreamers wander in. The dream faded like wisps of smoke that were impossible to grasp with equally intangible fingers. Reluctantly, she returned to the world of the living, wishing that she could control it as easily as her dreams.
Risu opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, which was lit by streams of sunlight coming in over the black, heavy curtains. Judging by the length of the light, it was a little past midmorning, and much too early to be up on a Saturday.
She threw the dark, heavy comforter over her head and contemplated how long it would take her to get back to sleep and continue with her dream. It had been wonderful... but as soon as she tried to recall it, she could feel it slipping further into the depths of her mind. Perhaps if she returned to sleep, the dream would return to her.
Risu closed her eyes and tried to let the whole world vanish from her mind, tried to meditate as her masters had taught her. She became one with the sounds of the cars outside, the vague rattle of wind against the window, the high, almost imperceptible whine of electricity that was audible in any city, and the sound of the pipes rattling as someone in the connected bathroom turned on the water. Trunks, or Bra, she thought.
Her still sleep-muddled thoughts whirled like a rainbow at his name. Bra was almost kind when she had met Risu, but not overly so. The girl had caught the suspicion roiling off of her father, and was confused at how to react to this volatile mixture. Risu had also sensed a small amount of jealousy from her, regarding the way that Trunks was treating Bra because of her.
Ah, Trunks. Risu tensed and relaxed as she thought about him... captured images of him flashing through her head like a slideshow: Trunks in the bathroom, brushing his teeth; combing his hair; sparring with his father, sweating in the early morning light; laughing; talking; smiling.
How she wished that those smiles had been directed at her... she thought desperately, jerking back to a fully awake state as she grasped her head in an attempt to stop the traitorous thoughts. she wondered, disgusted at herself.
The door that led to the bathroom opened, and Bra stepped in cautiously. Risu swung her firmly clasped head towards the girl, who looked apprehensively back at her. "What's wrong, Risu? I felt your thoughts..." Bra asked quietly, sending Risu a faded echo of a burst of roiled emotions that felt strangely unnatural. Risu recognized what looked like her own thoughts, but was confused at the taste of them... her anger, and fear, and happiness, seemed almost tainted, like water with oil swirling on the surface.
"I'm sorry, Bra... I just have to get used to people being able to hear my thoughts if I think too hard," Risu said, hiding her own uneasiness with a forced smile. "I'll try to keep it down, ok?" Bra gave her a sideways glance, but nodded and went back into the bathroom.
Risu went back to her mind, and searched her thoughts, trying to discover what this oily coating to her feelings was. It felt strangely inhuman, and just the memory of it made her want to retch. She calmed her jangled nerves, and got out of bed.

"Good morning, human," Vejita snarled from his seat at the table. "I see that you chose to sleep late, instead of rise with the sun and train with us."
Risu didn't even look Vejita in the eye anymore... she was thoroughly fed up with his mind games. "I chose to save my strength for a real challenge," she retorted, only paying him half-attention as she rummaged through the cabinets for something to make for lunch. "Obviously you haven't been giving me that lately." She turned her head to give him a sneer before looking back at the cabinets.
He made an indignant sniff, and didn't reply. Risu moved over to the rice cooker, and scooped some into the bowl. She was very good with chopsticks, and shoveled the rice into her mouth quickly. When she finished, she put away the bowl in the Capsule Corp. Super Dishwasher (a handy item when there are Saiyans in the house).
Risu was moving towards the stairs when Trunks rounded a corner and almost bumped into her. They both stopped, and Risu jerked back impulsively, losing her balance. She tried to lean forward to stop herself from falling, and Trunks caught her arm. His fingers were warm and gentle. Risu could feel herself blushing, even as she pulled away and hurried up the stairs. She could almost feel his deep, cold eyes on her back as she went up the stairs.
she thought to herself in desperation. I can't even touch the guy without getting horny - how can I ever look Ryan in the eye again? Without thinking, Risu slammed the door to her room open, not realizing until it was too late what could happen with her newfound strength. She groaned as she saw the hole that the doorknob had made in the wall.
Risu made a mental note to tell Bulma about that. She gingerly closed the door, turned around, and plopped on the bed belly-first. She felt bored and frustrated - a violent combination in anyone, especially someone with superpowers. she thought to herself. The thought was exhilarating: the possibilities were endless. One day she could just open the window and leave the places and people she knew behind. She didn't need anyone. Her life was an open book, and she held the pages.
But right now, that freedom was restrained to this place by bonds that she couldn't remove. Some were understandable: gravity, logical, self-control. Others were more difficult to describe and even harder to break: her relationships, however newfound, with the people here, her need for a bed and food, her longing to fight. That was one of the things that she couldn't understand about herself - along with the ability to fight came the indescribable longing to be active, to beat the living pulp out of someone, to have them beg for their life. This part of her scared her.
And suddenly she understood the restlessness that had plagued her since she had gotten here. I need to fight, and I need to win. Real fighting, too, not just that practice crap that Vejita insists upon. You'd think a guy like him could feel it too. I need to kill someone.
The thought sprang into Risu's head, and surprised her. She had always played the pacifist, and felt deep within her hear that this was right. It marred what she thought of as her soul when she hurt someone that was weaker than her, and those were usually the only kind of people that she could hurt. Hell, she couldn't even remember the last time that she had done that. Killing had always been out of the question; she had never felt that it was her right as a fellow human being to take the life of another.
But now the longing surged within her. The feeling of cruelty was alien, and yet comfortable within her malnourished psyche. Something deep within was calling her. She closed her eyes and chided it for being impatient.
There was always tomorrow morning.

It was Sunday now, and as the sun showed its brilliant red rays above the tops of buildings, so Risu was budding, fresh as a new flower, from a resting, dreamless sleep. She felt... powerful, almost eager, and ready to fight. The air tasted sweet as she drew it deep within her lungs. She could almost feel the oxygen revitalizing her blood, and awakening things deep within her that she had never before felt.
She dressed in durable workout pants and a stretchy tight shirt for easy movement. The morning was still gray, and the world was in monochrome as she stepped out onto the front lawn of Capsule Corp. Trunks and Vejita, who had not yet begun sparring, turned to see her standing unmoving on the lawn. They seemed to sense the change in her. Vejita narrowed his eyes against the light that her faint aura cast.
"Do you feel that?" Trunks asked quietly, his head turned slightly towards his father while keeping his eyes on Risu. Vejita nodded carefully, and spread his legs slightly into what was clearly a ready stance. He gave Risu a look that was a challenge, or an invitation.
She walked towards him, slowly, one step at a time. With each step, the quiet flame of her power pulsed around her. As she drew closer, she looked at Trunks as if noticing him for the first time and paused. With the look of dealing with a minor annoyance, she held her arm up, and batted it away from her face as if shooing a fly. Trunks flew back as if she had struck him a tremendous blow.
Risu continued walking towards Vejita, Trunks momentarily forgotten. He smiled ironically... or was it a sneer? I knew you were lying, all along. he thought to her.
She stopped again, this time as close as their auras of power allowed them to be without clashing. She smirked. "Do you think that you can deal with me so easily?" she replied to him. Her voice had subtly changed, and it was deeper and stronger than before. "I do not. And I was not lying." Suddenly she focused on him, a mental blow that knocked down his defenses and distracted him. It was only a split second that he lost track of her, despite his concentration, but that was all she needed. Now she had him by the throat, and was holding him up with one hand as if he weighed no more than a few pounds. She smiled up at him. "And now, I have my revenge for earlier. Consider the debt cleared."
Her kick sent him flying to join his son on the ground. With that, Risu's anger and power seemed to drain from her fingertips. Her aura gradually returned to that of a normal human's. She felt drained, emotionally and physically. I guess now it's time to go back up to my room and watch the sunrise she thought in satisfaction.
And with that, she left.


Pssh, this one so short, and I feel kinda bad, cuz I promised it to Lichan by last Wednesday. *sighs* I am the lowest of the low... AND I have no fucking clue where the storyline is going... .