Chapter seven – motives

"Oh you can't help that," said the Cat: "We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."

"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.

"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

~ Lewis Carroll

Bulma rubbed her eyes for the fifth time that morning in hopes that this time, finally, the scene before her would be different. She opened her eyes hopefully, but nothing had changed. Bulma sighed, and began to think that perhaps she wasn't in the middle of some strange dream after all.

Bulma had awoken that morning feeling sore and tired. She lay in bed for a few minutes without opening her eyes. Snatches of a strange dream floated before her eyes. Yelling at Yamcha outside Capsule Corp. A strange red place, the air filled with screams of torment that even now made her blood curl. A soldier crouched on top of her, his ugly face leering into her own as his hand tore lustfully at her thighs. Vegeta, his dark eyes gazing into her own with unidentifiable emotions swimming in their depths as she gently cleaned his bloody cheek with a rag.

Bulma shook her head slightly, trying to forget the edges of the disturbing dream. Must have been too much pizza before bed, she thought wearily.

Finally, the sunlight beating down unmercifully on her face forced her to move, if only to shut the curtains. The moment she began to move, she regretted it. Her body was stiff and sore, as if she had run a six minute mile in her sleep. Groaning to herself, she stumbled out of bed over to the curtains. She pulled the thick felt shut gratefully, as blessed darkness overwhelmed her room. She was just crawling back into bed, every muscle protesting from the exertion, when she caught sight of something black out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to look properly, and nearly fell off the bed.

Vegeta was standing in the middle of her room, dressed in a pair of long dark pants, his chest bare.

"What the HELL are you DOING in my ROOM!" Bulma screamed.

He didn't reply. Bulma looked closer, and saw that he wasn't even looking at her, but at some intermediate point above her head. Red lights began to flash before her eyes.

"Talk to me, you…you hentai!" How DARE you come into my room without my express permission, especially when I am asleep! Vegeta! VEGETA, LOOK AT ME!"

Vegeta still stood motionless in the middle of her room, his face expressionless as ever. Forgetting about her pain in her rage, she sprang out of bed and stood right in front of him so he couldn't possibly ignore her.

"Vegeta!" she yelled again. He didn't even twitch. Now that Bulma was standing so close, she noticed that his eyes, usually so full of fire, were as blank as the rest of his face. His trademark scowl was also absent. Bulma waved her hand in front of his face.

"Hello? Vegeta!"

No response, not so much as a flicker of an eyelid.

Fine, she thought. Two can play that game… Casting around, Bulma found a pair of scissors on her desk. Moving away quickly, she picked up the scissors, hiding them with her body. She crept forward carefully, the sharp point cold in her hand, then suddenly jabbed the point into Vegeta's arm.

He didn't move. Bulma drew back in confusion, and saw with a tiny twinge of dismay a small line of blood sliding down his shoulder from where the scissors had pierced his skin. She hovered uncertainly. That trick had always worked in the movies. But Vegeta was a warrior, she reminded herself. He would have a way of being able to deal with pain, surely. He must have seen the scissors after all, and tensed himself to show no reaction.

All thoughts of anger had fled, and now Bulma was concerned only with beating the saiyan in this bizarre little game of self control. She considered maybe telling him a joke to make him laugh, then almost fell over herself as she tried to picture Vegeta rolling on the floor laughing because of some stupid joke. She thought hard for a moment, then remembered how he had flinched away from her touch yesterday. Maybe…

She stopped thinking and acted; standing on tiptoes, she opened her mouth and licked the side of his face from chin to crown in one long soggy swipe.

She stood back, then the reality of what she had just done hit her. `Oh my God," she cringed. "I cant believe I just licked Vegeta. He's going to kill me for that!"

However, as she straightened warily, she noticed that Vegeta still hadn't moved. That, more than anything convinced her that something was wrong. If he had been conscious while she licked him, she would probably be a very small pile of ash at the moment. For that, at least, Bulma was glad that he was either a very committed actor, or he truly was unaware of what was happening.

So what was wrong with him. Bulma walked around him again, more thoughtfully this time. Maybe he was sleepwalking? But he wasn't moving at all – he was sleep-standing if anything. And what was he doing in her room in the first place? Vegeta normally religiously avoided every part of the house besides the kitchen, the gravity room and his own bedroom, as if he did not want to trespass on their hospitality any more than necessary. The visit to her lab yesterday had been an anomaly.

Wait a minute. Could the two be connected? Bulma played with the idea for a while. Lets see…Vegeta makes unexpected visit to my lab in the middle of the day. He makes no explanation of why he was there, just looked around weirdly, then looked embarrassed and left. Now he is in my room at eight o'clock in the morning, apparently upright and breathing, but no lights on inside.

She floated the two events in her mind, trying to connect the pieces like an unruly jigsaw puzzle, but finally she shook her head. It just didn't make sense. His body was breathing, but it seemed to be just an empty shell – the soul inside was gone. She shivered involuntarily, and suddenly realised that she had been standing around in the middle of the room wearing nothing but the short chemise she slept in. Wrapping her arms around herself for warmth, she went over to grab her dressing gown, then hesitated. Unconscious or not, she would feel better about being in the same room with Vegeta if she was properly dressed. Vague memories of last nights dream crossed her mind, and she grabbed a towel hastily, flushing even though there was no one there to see. A shower and about three cups of coffee were definitely in order. Then, perhaps, she would be capable of trying to figure out this mystery.

~*~*~*~*~

A half hour shower and a hasty breakfast later, Bulma walked slowly back up to her room, holding her fourth cup of coffee in her hand. As she climbed the steps to her room, someone behind her called out her name.

"Ms Briefs!" Kalika, the dark-haired girl she had introduced to Yamcha yesterday was two steps behind her.

Bulma paused on the stairs, looking back in concern. "What is it? Is something wrong?" she asked immediately.

"No, no nothing like that," said Kalika quickly. "I was just wondering if you would be able to help me with something."

Bulma looked at her in confusion, then smiled as she thought she saw a look that she recognised. "What sort of thing?"

"Well, I was wondering…if you're not too busy this morning…" the dark eyed girl blushed and fidgeted slightly under Bulma's amused gaze. At last, taking pity on the poor girl, Bulma decided to help her out.

"You have guy trouble, right?" she asked, and was rewarded by a deepened blush from the reputably unflappable woman. Bulma smiled at Kalika. Perhaps a little matchmaking will take my mind off Vegeta. "Who is it?"

Kalika opened her mouth, but Bulma waved her silent. "No, wait, let me guess. Is it…Taiji, from engineering?" Kalika shook her head, her eyes dancing with suppressed laughter. "Hmm, how about that cute geneticist that did the contract work here last week? Or is it that masseuse that was here the other day? He was kinda hot." Again, Kalika gestured a negative, and Bulma thought hard, enjoying the game. A thought struck her. "It isn't Yamcha, is it?"

Kalika looked wistful for a second. "No, its not him either," she sighed. "It could have been, if I had met him a few days earlier. He took me to lunch yesterday, and he was really sweet, but now that I've met this other guy, I'm sorry to say he doesn't have a chance."

Bulma smiled at Kalika. "So its that good, is it?"

Kalika smiled back. "I really think so. I cant stop thinking about him, to tell the truth, even though he doesn't show any interest in me at all that way. "

"Give me a hint," said Bulma, still searching her mind for any guys at Capsule Corp that would make a beautiful girl like Kalika head over heels in love.

"Well, he's here most of the time, although he doesn't come from here originally. He's really smart, but it doesn't seem like it is important to him that he is. From what I can tell, he is really intense about everything. He's kinda strange, and sometimes he'll say something, or do something that just reminds me of how foreign he really is. Oh, and he's good looking, though not in a conventional sort of way., with a great body. Can you guess yet?"

Bulma wrinkled her nose in thought, when an idea hit her that felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. I wonder…It couldn't be…Vegeta could it? Bulma tried to dismiss the idea immediately, but the edges of it kept nagging at her mind. She did say he was foreign, and Vegeta is about as foreign as you can get. Plus I cant think of anyone who is more intense than Vegeta about everything – for Vegeta everything is either beneath his notice, or becomes an obsession. As for a great body, well. Bulma choked off that thought, the image of the motionless saiyan still standing in her room half naked causing her to blush for no apparent reason. Kalika was looking at her curiously, so hesitatingly, Bulma asked her if the guy worked for Capsule Corp.

"Yes, in one of the production departments, I think."

Bulma relaxed immediately, laughing at herself for getting so tense about it. So what if Kalika was in love with Vegeta anyway. It's not like it mattered to her, and having a lover would probably be good for Vegeta – at the very least it might make him a bit more relaxed. In spite of that, the thought of Vegeta having a lover was strangely upsetting. Bulma pushed that thought away. It wasn't Vegeta anyway, so why was she worrying over it still? As she tried to clear her mind, the answer came to her, and she laughed.

"Of course," she said out loud. "Its that new guy, the one I knocked over the other day. What was his name?" Bulma snapped her fingers. "Jalen, that's it." She looked over at Kalika. "I'm right, aren't I?"

The dark haired woman nodded. "But he doesn't pay any attention to me at all. I think he might already have a girlfriend back home or something. I've tried everything I could think of, from just being friendly to low cut blouses to being practically blunt about it. Nothing seems to work."

Bulma smiled at the young woman. "Of course I'll help you. We just need to find his weak spot, that's all."

"But what if he already has a girlfriend?"

"I promise you, after we're through, he will be flat out remembering her name."

Kalika smiled up at the blue-haired heiress gratefully. "Thanks a lot, Ms Briefs."

"Please, call me Bulma. Everyone else does, and we can hardly be partners in crime if we don't make proper friends, now can we?"

"Bulma, then," said Kalika.

The two women smiled at each other, both feeling the pull of friendship begun anew. Finally, Bulma broke the moment with a grin.

"So lets say we do some reconnaissance and get you your guy." She stood. Ready?"

"Ready!"

~*~*~*~*~

Jalen sat in front of the monitor, absently stroking Remmy's head as he concentrated on the screen. He could see Vegeta in the midst of some of the scrub that covered the Western portion of Athus. Jalen watched as the saiyan threaded his way through the trees, slightly envious of the grace and speed Vegeta employed. His heart skipped a beat though, when Vegeta paused at the edge of a clearing.

It was her.

Jalen could see her standing there, looking innocent and sadly knowing all at the same time. He drank in the lines of her figure, the perfection of her face. Most of all, he gazed at her eyes, sliver and glowing, but still full of a melancholy resignation. A cold chill clutched at his heart. What if Alaria knew of her impending death? He had often wondered that before. Her psychic powers in that respect far outdistanced his own. It seemed impossible that she could not have known of her own murder at the hands of the saiyan prince. Yet if she knew about the attack as Jalen suspected she did, why didn't she avoid the encounter like she had all the rest? From the records, Jalen already knew that at this point she had already evaded two squads of Frieza's top warriors, sending them into oblivion, but then why did she choose to face Vegeta? Why was she just standing there?

As a matter of fact, why was Vegeta just standing there? The two of them were poised in a motionless tableau for so long that Jalen began to wonder if the monitor had somehow frozen. He thumped the screen and when they still didn't move, cursed and began fiddling around with the cords at the back. Not now, he pleaded. Not at the most important point in the whole enterprise. It was vital that he capture this moment on tape.

Frantically trying to adjust the cords at the back of the monitor, Jalen didn't notice the two women standing behind him until it was too late. Finally, something alerted him to the presence of people, and he stood in a panic, catching his head hard on the shelf above his desk. He ignored the pain and desperately reached over to try and turn the monitor off. Someone stood in front of him, blocking his way. Jalen looked up with a sinking heart to see Bulma's blue head bending over the monitor. He straightened, plastering a false smile on his face.

"This is a nice recording you have here," said Bulma. "The image is extraordinarily clear. Its as if its happening right here in this room. Did you take this yourself?"

Jalen darted a swift glance at the monitor and was relieved to see that Vegeta was for the moment out of sight. It would have been difficult in the extreme to explain to Bulma why he had footage of her alien houseguest on another world. Bulma was looking at the wide red clearing by the stream where Alaria stood. Jalen opened his mouth to say something polite, trying to fob her off before she noticed Vegeta, when he caught sight of Kalika, kneeling beside Remmy. Damn. Two of them.

"She's a beautiful girl," said Bulma lightly when he failed to answer, examining the image of Alaria with marked interest. "Such unusual colouring. Is she your girlfriend?"

Jalen's mind raced as he tried to think of a way to get the two women out of the room. "She was," he said carelessly. Bulma exchanged a glance with Kalika. "What happened?" she asked casually.

"She's dead now," said Jalen shortly.

Bulma's face was abruptly serious. "I'm sorry for you."

Jalen's eyes narrowed. "Its not your fault."

Bulma frowned in reply, confused by his peculiar emphasis. Kalika took the chance to say from behind them, "Is this your dog, Jalen?"

Jalen swung around, glad to divert attention away from the screen. "Yes, this is Remmy," he said. Remmy used his tongue to lick Kalika up the side of her face. She flinched back, laughing.

"That means he likes you," said Jalen smiling faintly. That's strange. Normally Remmy wont even go near strangers.

"Well, I like him too," said Kalika, rubbing his ears affectionately. Remmy made a deep sound of contentment, and rubbed his head along Kalika's hand. Jalen frowned at Remmy in astonishment. "He's a strange breed. What exactly is he?"

Jalen looked vague. "One of those foreign types," he said lightly. The lunch bell rang, saving him. He moved away, clearly intending to show his two uninvited guests the door. Bulma exchanged a glance with Kalika, and the two women walked towards the door.

"Are you going to come and have lunch with me?" asked Kalika innocently as she stepped out the door. Jalen looked non-committal. "I'm afraid I have some urgent work-"

Bulma cut him off before he could reply. "Nonsense," she said lightly. "Its Saturday. Go and have a break." Jalen wanted to refuse, but was daunted by the dual facts of both Bulma and Kalika's superior authority, and the fact that Bulma was standing directly in front of the door, blocking his way. Bulma noticed his look, and said. "Don't worry about your stuff. I'm sure Remmy will guard it until you get back."

With that, Jalen had to leave. He closed his eyes as he walked away with Kalika, and prayed that Remmy would manage to continue taping on his own. He should be more than able to, but Jalen had wanted to see the murder first hand. Never mind, he thought to himself. It will be all there when I get back. And with that kind of proof, the Federation will have no scruples in letting me dispose of Vegeta. He looked up to the family quarters of Capsule Corp where he knew Vegeta must be, helpless to defend himself. Soon, Alaria, he promised. Very soon…

Behind him, once Kalika and Jalen were out of sight, Bulma turned back to the door of Jalen's office. Producing a key card, she opened the door, looked around stealthily, then slipped inside. The door shut softly behind her.


Next time on Aishiteru, Bulma makes an unsettling discovery, and Vegeta makes a new friend when he finds that that things are not all that they appear to be. Watch out for them both, next chapter in Aishiteru.

Muchos gracias para loyal reviewers snowbell101, Lilac Cherry Blossoms, Bebi_Mara_Jade and Tempest12. THanks so much for your support ^_^