Disclaimer : I don't own Sailor Moon, or Dragon Ball Z, or any other major Japanese animation storyline or characters. OK??!! Don't make me cry! I don't feel like talking about it!
Chapter 7 – Interesting Conversation
As the girls trotted into the house after Usagi, a circle of unfamiliar faces met them. A green alien, another man with black hair vaguely reminiscent of a candle flame, and a cyclops? – no, wait, they had one eye, while this man had three. A fourth man with cropped black hair and a scar across one eye sat in a reclining chair, half asleep, and a fifth, younger looking man leaned against the wall, gravity defying spiky black hair, dressed in what looked like an orange jumpsuit. The latter greeted Usagi with a wave and a smile, while the others nodded or muttered a quiet greeting..
"Usagi! Why are you home so early?" the one in the orange jumpsuit asked, frowning at his little sister.
"Gohan! Why are you home at all?" Usagi replied, mimicking his serious tone. She ran over to give him a hug, and greeted everyone else with a 200 watt smile. "Come to think of it, why is everyone else here? I mean, usually we are all only together if something bad happened, so what is it this time?"
"Well…" Gohan reluctantly began to answer her question, when he suddenly spied her friends. "Wait, you haven't introduced me to your friends!"
"Gohan…" Usagi glared up at her brother, who looked quite pleased with himself. "Don't try to avoid the question." She was about to drill him some more when her mother walked into the room, distracting Usagi enough so that her brother could escape.
"Usagi! Why are you home early?" Chi-Chi asked, raising an eyebrow and her voice in question.
"Well mom, I was outside for lunch, and… errr… I met these girls."
"So why haven't we been introduced before? Where do you girls live?"
"That's what I've been meaning to ask you, mom. They don't exactly… have a place to stay, and so, I invited them to stay with us! So can they?" Usagi stood in front of her mother, a puppy dog expression evident on her face. "Pleeeeeease?" Usagi tried to look as helpless and cute as she possible could, hoping it would play on her mother's maternal instincts. Chi-Chi looked at her only daughter with a frown on her face, and then smiled.
"Usagi, you should know that I would never let anyone go without a place to stay. Of course the girls can stay here! But we do have company, so all of them will have to squeeze into your room."
"Sure, no problem mom!" Usagi chirped, and beckoning to the girls, flew down the hallway to her room. The girls followed, throwing wide eyed glances over their shoulders at the people in Usagi's kitchen.
"Well, her mom seems alright, but who are the rest of them?" Makoto whispered to Rei.
"No clue. Usagi should be able to fill us in," Rei whispered back, turning into a doorway and entering a large room. Pink filled the room – the wallpaper, the bedspread, the rug; everything down to the windowpanes were pink or white.
"Jeez, I hate this room," Usagi muttered under her breath.
"Did you say something?" Minako asked the younger blond.
"No, just… well, this room sucks. I mean, its so… pink! I can't believe I ever liked this color! I'm too old for pink!"
"Wow, she really has changed," Ami said behind her hand to Minako, who nodded gravely in response to both Ami's and Usagi's statements.
"You don't like pink?" Makoto asked tentatively, raising a slim eyebrow at Usagi's outburst.
"Nope! Of course not! But let's not think about that for now. Where are you guys going to sleep?"
The next few minutes were spent figuring out sleeping arrangements and the layout of the house. Usagi was busy describing where the bathroom was, where the computer room was, where her moms bedroom was, where her brothers bedroom was (the other girls took a special interest in this, especially when she told them he was 19), and various other things. She was interrupted when Chi-Chi poked her head in the room and told them that dinner would be ready in 15 minutes.
As Usagi was laying out blankets, creating a makeshift bed on the floor, she was interrupted with a question. "Hey Usagi?"
"Yea Makoto?"
"Who were the other people in your kitchen? I know who your brother is, but…" Makoto trailed off, looking at Usagi, waiting for an explanation.
"Oh, I didn't introduce you to them, did I? Gomen, gomen. Well, the green one is Piccolo, the short bald one is Krillin, the one with the spiky black hair - well, actually, there are two of them, come to think of it. Ok, the short one with spiky black hair is called Vegeta, and he is married to Bulma, but she isn't here right now. They have a son named Trunks who's two years older than me – he's really fun to play with, I'm pretty good friends with him. He has purple hair and blue eyes, and he…" Usagi began to drift off into her own little dream world, a smile on her face. She broke out of her reverie when Ami hesitantly cleared her throat, and continued, a blush evident.
"The tall one with spiky black hair is named Gohan; he's my older brother, but you already met him. He was going out with this girl Videl, but I think they broke up. The one with three eyes is named Tien, he's pretty nice. The one with the short black hair is Yamcha, he used to go out with Bulma. But then Bulma got married to Vegeta, and they had Trunks, but I think I already told you about him. I think that's about it. Got it?"
The older girls simply stood with a blank look on their faces. Usagi's explanation had been so long winded and had included altogether too many details that it was practically impossible to understand Usagi. "Ummm… I think you'll just have to introduce us," Ami said, a rather apologetic smile on her face.
"Sorry if you couldn't understand me. Sometimes I talk really fast, and I don't realize I'm doing it. Usually people don't understand me, either, so don't worry about it. Is everyone ready? Time to go meet the crew!"
The four girls stood up hesitantly and followed Usagi out of the room. As they walked out of the almost annoyingly sugary sweet bedroom, Minako poked Rei and whispered, "I see she's still going after the older guys, huh?"
******
"Well, now everyone knows everyone, right? Good, good. Mom, what's for dessert?"
"Usagi, slow down! You haven't even had dinner yet, and you already want to know what's for dessert?" Chi-Chi said, becoming exasperated.
"Sorry, but you always make really good dessert!" Usagi said, defending herself. "As for your dinner," she went on, mumbling something about her mother's culinary expertise.
"Hey, I heard that!" Chi-Chi screeched from the kitchen.
"What?" Usagi called back, trying to sound as innocent as possible. A stifled giggle was heard from Ami, and as all eyes turned to her, she blushed, giggling again. Rei and Makoto joined in, and soon the whole table was laughing.
"Piccolo! Your smiling!" a smiling Usagi pointed at the Namekian*, who frowned and looked the other way, trying to look as serious as possible, and failing miserably.
"Alright everyone, that's enough, the food is here!" Chi-Chi announced, carrying a large platter. As she put it down in the center of the table, everyone reached for the lid, eager to get at the food. "Hey! No grabbing!" Chi-Chi scolded, swatting away any disobedient hands with a smile. "There's still more food to come! Would anyone like to help me carry it out here?" Chi-Chi looked around the table, focusing her intense gaze on her son and daughter. "Gohan, Usagi?"
Gohan and Usagi exchanged looks and regretfully stood up. "Hai, we will help you," Gohan spoke up, heaving a sigh. Glancing over at his sister, he walked into the kitchen, shaking his head. "I'm too old for this."
Ami leaned to her left, and whispering into Makoto's ear, said, "That's Gohan, right?" Makoto slowly nodded, a dreamy grin appearing on her features.
"You know," Rei loudly announced, as she stood up, "I think I'll go help them. I'm sure that Chi-Chi {insert mumble about Gohan and perfectly built men} won't mind."
"I'll help too!" Ami said, standing up and scurrying into the kitchen.
"No, let me!" Makoto cried out, practically knocking over her chair in her hurry to help with the food.
"Wait up, I can help too!" Minako sprang out of her seat and ran into the kitchen, eager to be atleast somewhere near Gohan. Needless to say, chaos ensued. The rest of the DBZ gang sat around the table in mute horror, wincing every time a pan crashed to the floor, turning their faces away when a yell was heard. However, there was a good side to the whole escapade – dinner was on the table in record time, thanks to the multiple helpers.
When the older girls, Usagi, Gohan, and Chi-Chi were finally seated, Yamcha piped up with a question. "Were you guys… ok in there? I mean, it sounded like a bull in a china shop or something in there."
"We are fine, Yamcha. We just had a slight problem with… maneuvering," Chi-Chi said, a odd expression on her face. "Girls, thank you for your help, but I would have been fine with just Usagi and Gohan."
"Oh, it was our pleasure," Minako said cheerfully, oblivious to the world. "So, what exactly did we bring out here to eat, anyway?"
As everyone dug in, Usagi turned to her mother and asked, "So why is everyone here again?"
"Well, Gohan, why don't you explain?"
"Ok," Gohan agreed, and began to talk. "You see, earlier this afternoon, we all felt a strange power emitting from somewhere in the vicinity of the Black Forest, and though it has been a while since we have had any new enemies, I decided to call a meeting, just to be on the safe side."
"You know, Gohan," Chi-Chi pointed out, always the logical one, "How large were the ki's? I would like to know what you guys will be going up against, if you don't mind."
"Well, that's what is so odd about these. Really, the power was quite small compared to mine, or Vegeta's, so ordinarily I wouldn't have worried about it. But the signature was something completely foreign. And I don't mean from the other side of the Earth, or even from any surrounding planets. I have felt plenty of ki's in my years, and though I'm young, I can still tell what ki comes from what planet, or from what solar system. And believe me, these powers were like nothing I had ever felt. It was almost as if… as if someone, or something else was supplying them energy."
"Them?" Chichi raised a slim eyebrow in question.
"Yea, it didn't seem like there was only one being. The powers were so different from the other, and though they were all grouped closely together, I could tell there were more than one."
"I counted four." Heads turned as Usagi unexpectedly spoke.
"You felt it too?" Gohan asked curiously.
"Yea, I'm not four anymore. I can do more than fly," Usagi said contemptuously, rolling her eyes at her big brother.
"She's right, Gohan. I counted four too," Tien said quietly.
"So did I," Yamcha added.
Piccolo nodded his assent, and Vegeta followed, giving a grunt as his way of agreeing.
"I guess there were four then," Gohan spoke up, not noticing Usagi roll her eyes yet again.
Usagi leaned towards Ami, and whispered behind her hand, "He's such a dope sometimes."
"But the weird thing was how they all disappeared. The powers, that is. They were there, clear as day, for ten minutes at the most," Gohan continued. "And then, they were gone. Just like that. And as hard as I tried, I couldn't figure out where they went."
"Well, I don't think we are going to figure out anything while we are eating. The food is simply too distracting," Yamcha put in, and dug into his food in earnest.
Meanwhile, the four sailor senshi sat fidgeting in their chairs, exchanging uneasy glances with each other when they thought no one else was looking. Feeling rather nervous, to say the least, at being the inadvertent subject of the conversation, they played with their food and stayed, at least what they hoped, was inconspicuously silent.
Desperate to steer the conversation away from the topic, Minako jumped into the discussion and started babbling nonsense, taking up as much time as humanly possible. When she ran out of things to say, she promptly asked to be excused from the table, saying she had eaten too much and was stuffed. Complimenting Chi-Chi on her cooking skills as she ran down the hall, she sent an almost imperceptible signal to the other sailor senshi to follow. One by one, the 16-year-olds excused themselves, giving on excuse or another in order to meet Minako in Usagi's bedroom.
"Guys," Minako started, "Do you think that they know-"
"Hey minna! I figured that I shouldn't be impolite and leave you all, so I excused myself and came!" Usagi burst into the room, a smile on her face.
"Oh, you shouldn't have worried about it," Rei reassured Usagi. "We would have been fine ."
"Ok, good. Then you won't mind if I run back out to the kitchen to get some dessert?" Usagi said hopefully. "Mom made something, and it smells really good, but she won't tell me what it is! Do you guys want any?"
"Sure, get us all some," Ami piped up from the back of the room.
"Alright then, I'll be right back!" Usagi announced happily, and raced out of the room. The four girls waited for a few moments, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Do you think she heard me say anything?" Minako asked worriedly, a frown on her face.
"No, don't worry about it. What I think we should worry about is the conversation that we just heard at the table!" Makoto said, shaking her head.
"Do you think anyone suspects?" Rei asked, raking her hair off of her forehead.
"I hope not," Ami said, massging her temples. "But the chances of someone figuring it out are very high, if not astronomical!"
"It can't be that bad, can it?" Minako groaned, and flopped down on the bed.
"What can't be that bad?"
"Usagi! We were just talking about Minako's crush. She is head over heels in love with the boy, and she doesn't think that he knows she exists," Ami said quickly, covering for Minako.
"Oh, I see. Who is the boy?" Usagi asked, a sly grin on her face. "Wait! Before you tell me, does anyone want some Pocky? Whatever mom made turned out burned. Usually she makes pretty good dessert, but… I dunno, it must be because Gohan had to help her. He must have messed up or something."
"Sure, we'll all take some, thanks," Rei said, holding her hand out for some of the chocolate covered candy.
"Now, what were you saying about a crush, Ami?"
*******
Outside the doorway, someone began to slowly sneak away, a grim smile on their face.
"I knew it. I knew it."
Well? What do you think? And look, it's longer!!! Weeeeee!!! Anyway, I better get some more reviews, or you all shall die by my hand! Yes, I shall strike you down from my fictional universe, where I am the supreme ruler of the world!!! Sorry bout that, got off on another tangent, didn't I? Oops... ANYWAY, please review more, I'll love you forever! Mwahahahaha!
