Last time:
"Whatever. There's a message for you in the office."
"From who?" she asked, gathering her things and heading towards the door.
"Your brother. Some emergency at home."
"Oh Kami!" She was out the door before anyone could blink.
***********************************************
Chi-Chi ran down the narrow halls of the school, running into to people as she went, though not paying any mind to them. Something had happened to one of her brothers and they mattered more than some nameless people she never would want to acquaint herself with. She turned the corner, and skidded into the main foyer and ran out the front door. The administration building was across the lawn, a large gray stone building with stained glass windows and a bell tower; it looked more like a church than a building with a few offices and a professor's lounge.
"What's wrong with my brother!?" Chi-Chi screamed as she barged in the front doors, forgetting that it was a foyer. There were a few teachers there, all of which gave her dirty looks for her peculiar actions; she was frowned upon at the school anyway, being a teen mother and all. Her eyes darted around, spotting the door she was looking for. She walked swiftly over to it and tried to open it, but found it was locked.
"The window," one of the teachers in the foyer said.
"Th-Thank you," she murmured, rushing to the large sliding window a few feet from the door. She knocked lightly, and when no one responded, started to bang on the scratched up plastic. "What's wrong with my brother!?" A hideously thin woman with stringy red hair and dead blue eyes came to the window, looking as though she hadn't slept in weeks.
"May I help you?" she asked in the typical rude receptionist voice, smacking her gum as she chewed it.
"My brother, something is wrong with him. What's going on?" She tried to be calm, but she was losing her nerve, her nails digging into the counter outside the window.
"Name?"
"I don't know which brother all they said was brother how the hell am I supposed to know which brother when no one will tell me anything!?" she cried, slapping her hands down on the counter. The lady jumped back, startled at the "good girl's" outburst. She slowly crept back to the window, openly glaring at Chi-Chi.
"What is your name?" she asked, separating the syllables so she knew what she was asking her.
"Chi-Chi Son. There's a message for me."
"Ok, now we're getting somewhere. One moment." She disappeared from view for a second, and empty handed. "No message, but there is a young man on the phone."
"My brother?"
"Sure." She disappeared again, walking over and opening the door Chi- Chi had tried to go in the first time. "Come on, phone's in here." They walked passed a few desks with bored looking men and women sitting at them, until they came to an empty desk with a phone and a few other office supplies on it; a light on the phone was blinking. "There." She pointed at the phone, then left.
Chi-Chi drove for the phone, frantically putting it to her ear. "Hello!? Hello!?"
"Mau," came the voice at the other end of the line. She was too worked up to tell who the voice belonged to.
"Who is this?" She knew it wasn't one of her brothers.
"Vegeta," he said calmly, then added. "Meet me in my room, I'll explain everything when you get here."
"You'd better have a damn good reason for getting me so fucking worked up Vegeta Ouji! Because I swear to Kami that I'll have your head if it's just a stupid prank! Do not fuck with me!"
He was speechless, utterly shocked by her language. The anger was expected, but the swearing? She hardly ever swore.
"Would you calm down if I said I was sorry?"
"No," she hissed. "Because you wouldn't mean it you heartless bastard." Just blowing steam, didn't mean a word of it, but it hit Vegeta harder than she intended. "I'll be right there."
*********************************************
Bulma paced back and forth, her heals clicking on the tiled floor of the bathroom; after she'd stormed out on Vegeta, she'd gone to the nearest bathroom to try and cool off before she next class. Over and over in her head she kept trying to figure out what had taken place, or, more to the point, why it had. Why had Vegeta done that? Why, after all her anger, all his misery, had he done that when she was finally starting to sort of talk to him? She took the step she vowed not to take, the one every thought would never happen, and he laughed in her face!
She scrambled for her purse, pulling out of cell phone and without thinking dialed Ryu's number. The phone rang twice before she realized that he was in school right now, and she hung up. She needed to talk to him, but how? She thought a moment, then dialed another number.
"Hello," came a woman's voice.
"Hello. This is Rikyu Yosano's (I can't remember if I gave Yamcha a last name before :P) aunt, aunt Ayame," Bulma replied, mimicking her voice. She'd met her a few times, and knew she was close to the family, and also knew that the school knew this as well, and she'd been sent to pick the children up from school several times. "My sister asked me to pick him up for a dentist appointment that she forgot to tell him about."
"I'll call him down," the woman said, not suspecting in the least that it wasn't the real Ayame. "Where are you picking him up?"
"Students' parking lot." It was the farthest from the main office, and couldn't be seen from there either.
"Alright, well I just looked over his schedule, and he's in gym right now. It'll take him a few minutes to meet you."
"No problem. I'm at the store so I'll swing by a get him in the gym, it's near that parking lot right?"
"Yes, I'll call and tell him you're coming."
"Ok, thank you." Bulma hung up her phone and slipped it back into her purse. She had a way now, but how was she going to get out of her lecture? She had one next period, in five minutes. There was no way she could drive all the way there, talk to him, then drive back. Unless..
*********************************************
Vegeta paced impatiently in his room, glancing at the clock every few minutes. He'd called for Chi-Chi twenty minutes ago, she should be there by now. He sighed deeply, flopping down on his bed, bouncing once before he settled.
"I'm missing my gourmet class for this," came a voice that startled him. He sat up and glared at the owner of the voice, though softened his expression when he found it to be Chi-Chi. It's best not to glare at someone you called for help. "What's it have to do with?" she asked, taking a seat next to him on the bed.
"Take a guess," he groaned, standing and going over to sit on his desk. Being so close to Chi-Chi like that, on the bed, was too much for him. He was so lonely for attention that, if she consented, he'd have her. He knew that opportunity would never present itself, of course; she was far too loyal to Goku and Bulma to ever commit such an atrocity. Besides, it was only his over-active hormones and excessive loneliness that was causing him to be more attracted to the raven-haired beauty than usual, and he was very attracted to her, she was a gorgeous woman.
"Misa?" His ex-girlfriend.
"Close," he muttered, picking up something from his desk that suddenly caught his interest.
"Not Bulma.."
He nodded.
"What happened?"
"She-I-" He cut himself off there, and set the object he was tinkering with back on the desk; it was distracting him. "She talked to me," he finally said, hopping off the desk and taking a seat in a beat-up old chair in the corner.
Chi-Chi could hardly keep from jumping off the bed and demanding he explain himself. She'd been waiting a year for him to say that to her, and now all she could do was sit and stare and wonder about it to herself. It took her several minutes to finally get some words out.
"What happened? I mean, how did it happened? What'd she say?"
"Thank you," he sighed, leaning his head back.
"Thank you? Why?"
"I defended her."
"Against-No, that's not important. What happened next?"
"I insulted her and she yelled at me and I laughed at her," he said as quickly as he could, jamming some of the words together. But Chi-Chi caught most of it and jumped from the bed.
"You did what!?" she screamed, wanting to pound him into the ugly little chair he was sitting in. "How can you be so damn stupid!? I don't get it!" she gasped, trying to regain her composure. "What the hell was going on in your head?"
"I don't know," he grunted, closing his eyes, trying to ignore Chi- Chi, who was hovering over him, fists clenched, face red.
"Kami, I can't believe this. What's wrong with you? She was actually willingly talking to you and you insult her, and then laugh about it!..Are you drunk?" He shook his head. "High?" He chuckled and shook his head again. He thought she thought more highly of him. "Then what the hell made you do something so damn stupid!?"
"I told you, I don't know. I was there and she was talking to me and the next thing I knew I was laughing at her and she threw some stuff at me. Then I called you."
"Do you love her?"
He opened his eyes, leaned his head back up, and arched an eyebrow at her.
"Do you love her?" she repeated, as if she hadn't asked before.
"Chi-"
"It's a simple Kami damned question," she hissed, pushing him back, his chair almost tipping over. "Do you love her? Yes or no?"
"Why d-"
"Because, damn it! If I am going to help you I need to know! I need to be guaranteed that you will not hurt her again! That you've learned your lesson! That you-"
"Ok, ok, calm down."
"Well?"
He sat there a while, several long minutes, his hand under his chin, pondering his answer, though he already knew what it was, it coursed through his veins everyday, pounding against his brain, making it hard for him to breath. He was about to open his mouth, about to give her an answer, when-
*EEEENT! EEEEEEEENT! EEEENT!* (Does that seem right? Heehee :P) The fire alarm, probably a small fire or explosion in one of the labs, happened all the time.
Vegeta got up and headed for the door, though didn't make it more than two steps before Chi-Chi grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
"Answer me!" she yelled over the loud siren. He tried to get free from her grasp, but found she was far stronger than he'd previously thought; her skinny little arms and legs gave her the appearance of a weakling when in reality she was nearly as strong as him, though he couldn't be entirely sure, but she was damn close. She tightened her grip on his arm, jerking him back so he was pressed to her, her mouth by his ear. "Answer me now," she hissed, just loud enough for him to hear over the shrieking alarm.
"Yes!" he screamed, shoving her back and exiting the room without another word.
*****************************************
Bulma walked through the hall of her former high school, taking it in, breathing in the smell of the lockers and floor wax and notebook paper. She hadn't realized just how much she missed this place until now, for it'd been the last place she'd been when her and Vegeta were still together. Her happiness had ended there, and though Rikyu was starting to give her some of that happiness back, it still couldn't compare to those long lost days.
Turning the corner, she spotted the door she was looking for, the entrance to the main gym; that's where they played all the full contact sports and she knew Rikyu, he loved that kind of stuff. She'd hardly ever been in there herself, not liking those kinds of sports very much, except when they were offering rugby; she loved it, and was one of the best in the school, which meant she was most violent, though she never went out for a team. She regretted it now, but what could she do? She's out of high school, and it's not like she was going to go out for a team for the city, she didn't have time for that. Plus all the city-wide rugby players were all muscle-headed steroid-poppers with necks bigger than their heads; she couldn't compete with that, and there was no way she would degrade herself to play on the women's team; she'd seen them play, they actually had time outs when girls broke nails, not the team for her.
When she finally reached the big blue metal double doors to the gymnasium, she stopped, got on her toes, which wasn't far considering her excessive high heals, and peered in the slim rectangular window set in the door. After scanning the occupants and confirming that Rikyu was in fact there, she pushed open the semi-heavy doors and strolled into the high- ceilinged room, her heals striking the linoleum tile, the sound bouncing off the bleachers against the walls. Several heads turned, out of curiosity, to see where the familiar noise came from. All had expected to see the principal in her usual red high heals, or an angry teacher with a detention slip, but not the beauty that stood at the edge of the gym, her slim delicate arms folded gently over her chest.
Rikyu, who had been one of the last to turn his head, sat where he'd been, his arms stretched out to his foot, the other leg being bent and pressed to him, his mouth open slightly. He blinked a few times, then rubbed his eyes to confirm the image before him. No it couldn't be, she was in class, teaching for a college project. But it was her, his beautiful girlfriend, decked out in her finest of fine "slutty teacher wear". He didn't mind it much; he knew she liked showing off her body, and why not? She was gorgeous, with a gorgeous body; it would be absurd to hide it. Besides, he knew where she stood, with him, she was his, and he hers, and she would never stoop to cheating after having been hurt by it and because she despised the act as well. He knew he was safe with her going around dressed that way, because in the end she came to him, she kissed his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck, her perfect breasts pressed into his chest.
"Bulma!" he called finally, hopping up from the floor to meet her halfway as she made her way to him. "What in Kami's name are you doing here?" She glanced down at his uniform, typical white tee-shirt and long black airy shorts.
"I need to talk to you. I already called the school and got you out of class for the rest of the day. Get dressed and meet me in the students' parking lot."
"Whoa, wait a minute. What's going on first? Why can't you wait 'til later? And what about your classes? How are you going to explain this to the dean?"
"I took care of all that before I left. I said my mother called me on my cell phone telling me that Trunks was in the hospital with a high fever, said I'd be back tomorrow, or maybe for my last few classes if I could."
"That's pushing it B," he sighed, glancing over his shoulder at the crowd that had collected very close to them. "They could very easily find out what you're really up to. You don't exactly 'blend in' with the crowd. People know your face, and it's a good bet that the dean knows a lot of people in the city. You could-"
"Rikyu, sweety," she cut in, placing her hand gently on his shoulder to calm him. He was far too concerned for her well-being. "I have considered that point, but quite frankly, I could give less of a shit." She drew her arm back, resting it on her curvy little hip. "I didn't want to go teach at that sorry excuse for a school anyway, I am in college for a reason, and that is to learn, not to teach some wanna-be science majors the abc's on the science world. It's a horrid project and I almost hope that I do get caught so I don't have to do it anymore."
"But your degree!" he insisted, slightly glaring at her, subconsciously.
"Who cares," she shrugged. "I can make it well enough without the damn thing, just with it would be a hell of a lot easier." She sighed, shooting a few quick glares at some of the gawking students. "But I don't need it. It's just a name on a piece of paper that says I know what I know. But I knew all I know before I was out of elementary school. I'm ten times as smart as any of those would be professors at my school. Are you coming or not? They stop serving breakfast at all the restaurants soon, and I have a craving for pancakes."
Rikyu just sighed and trudged towards the locker room, though turned and quickly jogged back. "My aunt?" he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear.
"Me," she admitted with a deviously little smirk. He smiled knowingly at her and headed back for the locker room, though again turned and came running back. "What?" He reached his arms around her and gave her a hug, pulling her head to his, locking onto her lips. The class fell silent. When he pulled away, Bulma's face was a slight shade of pink. "Oh," she whispered, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. This time when Rikyu turned and walked away, he disappeared behind a wall and didn't come back. Bulma, with a small smile, turned around slowly and walked as quietly as she could out of the gym, though it was quite hard with those noisy heals on.
**********************************************
Rikyu settled himself into a back corner booth at the restaurant that Bulma had chosen, she wouldn't talk without her pancakes she said. She took her seat across from him, and ordered herself a glass of orange juice, Rikyu chose coffee.
"So, what's this all about? What was so urgent?" he finally said when the waiter was out of hearing range.
"Vegeta," she admitted scornfully, wrinkling her nose, trying to keep her anger from getting the better of her.
"What about him?" he asked, not wanting to jump to conclusions, that was the last thing he needed, her mad at him.
"I talked to him," she sighed, lowering her head in shame, as if the act were as horrible as cheating or murdering.
"Honey," he cooed, lifting her head with his finger under her chin. "What's wrong with that? So you talk to the guy, it's no sin."
"I know that," she scoffed, though quickly apologized, her period, she said, was around the corner. "It's just what happened next." She explained to him the whole story; how he'd defended her from that wrinkly old professor and how she finally decided, in a split second, to call him back and thank him, and then how he insulted her and when she defended herself he laughed right out at her. When she was done, Rikyu was awestruck, he knew Vegeta wasn't exactly the best to deal with, or the nicest guy in the world, but that was down right cruel. Not even Vegeta was expected to do that sort of thing, no matter how cruel he could be.
"I-I don't know what to tell you," Rikyu admitted, reaching across the short table to grab her hands. "I can't justify his actions, cause I don't know the guy. I can't say I know why he did what he did for the same reason, but I can offer to talk to him for you, or on my own accord, if you'd let me. I'd like to see what his deal is, why he'd do such a thing. There must be a reason, no matter how ridiculous it is."
"I appreciate it hun," she whispered. "But he won't talk to you. If he won't tell Goku or Chi-Chi or 18, then he sure as hell won't tell you. The only person he'll tell is me, and I don't want to hear it. I've put up with enough of his shit over the years to know that he's just not worth the trouble. He's hopeless."
"Then why come to me for help?"
"I didn't, I came cause I needed some time away, someone to talk to. I never said I needed your help or guidance, just a friendly conversation."
"I still want to help."
"I knew you would," she sighed, releasing his hands and resting them in her lap.
"And?"
"No."
"Then why me? If you knew I'd want to help."
"But you're the only one who'll abide my request and not go to him, unlike all the others. They all would help in a heartbeat too, but only you would do as I ask."
"You know me too well."
"It's my job to know you." She leaned across the table and kissed his cheek, just as their drinks arrived. They ordered their meals which came remarkably fast; pancakes for Bulma and a fruit salad for Rikyu, he'd already eaten breakfast and wasn't all that hungry.
"Ok," he said after he'd gotten a few bites into his food, not being able to stand it any longer. "You said you didn't want me to go to Vegeta, correct?" She nodded, chewing on her warm pancakes and syrup, no butter. "But can I talk to him for my own reasons, not being sent by you? Can I ask him questions that I want to know that you necessarily do not? I won't tell you what is said, if that's what you want, and I won't tell him that you sent me, he'll believe that, he knows you wouldn't do that."
"That's true," she broke in, then put another forkful of food into her mouth.
"So can I?"
"What are you going to say to him that others already haven't? He's heard it all, I'm sure, and more."
"I have my own questions that I want to try. I'll bring Sorai with me, he likes Sorai."
"He tolerates Sorai, there's a difference."
"Well no matter, he doesn't hate Sorai like everyone else."
"He doesn't hate Goku or 18 or Chi-Chi or Krillin or 17 either, and he won't tell them. What makes Sorai different? If you want truth out of him, have a little kid go, that's his weak spot."
"Like?"
"I don't know, but not any of your siblings, he won't like that. Someone he connects with, like Yuri or Yuki or-"
"Ryu?"
"No, Ryu is too hyper these days, he wouldn't go just to talk."
"What about Trunks? I know he can't talk, but he does have a profound effect on him, obviously."
"He'd slaughter you," she said flatly, shaking her head at the same time. "He'd never go for that, too pushy, too not in his favor. So is brining Yuri and Yuki, that was a bad idea."
"Ok, then how about Haruki? He plays with Yuri and Yuki doesn't he?"
"I don't know, you'd have to ask Chi-Chi, but it's not my deal. I don't want to be part of this, I'm not helping anymore."
"Fair enough. Do you want to know what is said?"
She was silent, her eyes cast at the table.
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---Chapter 4! Woo! There you have it! Heehee! Still short, but they're getting there. The next will be much longer. I hope you all liked it, cause it took me a while to write it, and don't worry, there will be more action soon, I just need to ease things along smoothly, you know?
REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next time: Rikyu confronts Vegeta (maybe), and Bulma does something unexpected..
"Whatever. There's a message for you in the office."
"From who?" she asked, gathering her things and heading towards the door.
"Your brother. Some emergency at home."
"Oh Kami!" She was out the door before anyone could blink.
***********************************************
Chi-Chi ran down the narrow halls of the school, running into to people as she went, though not paying any mind to them. Something had happened to one of her brothers and they mattered more than some nameless people she never would want to acquaint herself with. She turned the corner, and skidded into the main foyer and ran out the front door. The administration building was across the lawn, a large gray stone building with stained glass windows and a bell tower; it looked more like a church than a building with a few offices and a professor's lounge.
"What's wrong with my brother!?" Chi-Chi screamed as she barged in the front doors, forgetting that it was a foyer. There were a few teachers there, all of which gave her dirty looks for her peculiar actions; she was frowned upon at the school anyway, being a teen mother and all. Her eyes darted around, spotting the door she was looking for. She walked swiftly over to it and tried to open it, but found it was locked.
"The window," one of the teachers in the foyer said.
"Th-Thank you," she murmured, rushing to the large sliding window a few feet from the door. She knocked lightly, and when no one responded, started to bang on the scratched up plastic. "What's wrong with my brother!?" A hideously thin woman with stringy red hair and dead blue eyes came to the window, looking as though she hadn't slept in weeks.
"May I help you?" she asked in the typical rude receptionist voice, smacking her gum as she chewed it.
"My brother, something is wrong with him. What's going on?" She tried to be calm, but she was losing her nerve, her nails digging into the counter outside the window.
"Name?"
"I don't know which brother all they said was brother how the hell am I supposed to know which brother when no one will tell me anything!?" she cried, slapping her hands down on the counter. The lady jumped back, startled at the "good girl's" outburst. She slowly crept back to the window, openly glaring at Chi-Chi.
"What is your name?" she asked, separating the syllables so she knew what she was asking her.
"Chi-Chi Son. There's a message for me."
"Ok, now we're getting somewhere. One moment." She disappeared from view for a second, and empty handed. "No message, but there is a young man on the phone."
"My brother?"
"Sure." She disappeared again, walking over and opening the door Chi- Chi had tried to go in the first time. "Come on, phone's in here." They walked passed a few desks with bored looking men and women sitting at them, until they came to an empty desk with a phone and a few other office supplies on it; a light on the phone was blinking. "There." She pointed at the phone, then left.
Chi-Chi drove for the phone, frantically putting it to her ear. "Hello!? Hello!?"
"Mau," came the voice at the other end of the line. She was too worked up to tell who the voice belonged to.
"Who is this?" She knew it wasn't one of her brothers.
"Vegeta," he said calmly, then added. "Meet me in my room, I'll explain everything when you get here."
"You'd better have a damn good reason for getting me so fucking worked up Vegeta Ouji! Because I swear to Kami that I'll have your head if it's just a stupid prank! Do not fuck with me!"
He was speechless, utterly shocked by her language. The anger was expected, but the swearing? She hardly ever swore.
"Would you calm down if I said I was sorry?"
"No," she hissed. "Because you wouldn't mean it you heartless bastard." Just blowing steam, didn't mean a word of it, but it hit Vegeta harder than she intended. "I'll be right there."
*********************************************
Bulma paced back and forth, her heals clicking on the tiled floor of the bathroom; after she'd stormed out on Vegeta, she'd gone to the nearest bathroom to try and cool off before she next class. Over and over in her head she kept trying to figure out what had taken place, or, more to the point, why it had. Why had Vegeta done that? Why, after all her anger, all his misery, had he done that when she was finally starting to sort of talk to him? She took the step she vowed not to take, the one every thought would never happen, and he laughed in her face!
She scrambled for her purse, pulling out of cell phone and without thinking dialed Ryu's number. The phone rang twice before she realized that he was in school right now, and she hung up. She needed to talk to him, but how? She thought a moment, then dialed another number.
"Hello," came a woman's voice.
"Hello. This is Rikyu Yosano's (I can't remember if I gave Yamcha a last name before :P) aunt, aunt Ayame," Bulma replied, mimicking her voice. She'd met her a few times, and knew she was close to the family, and also knew that the school knew this as well, and she'd been sent to pick the children up from school several times. "My sister asked me to pick him up for a dentist appointment that she forgot to tell him about."
"I'll call him down," the woman said, not suspecting in the least that it wasn't the real Ayame. "Where are you picking him up?"
"Students' parking lot." It was the farthest from the main office, and couldn't be seen from there either.
"Alright, well I just looked over his schedule, and he's in gym right now. It'll take him a few minutes to meet you."
"No problem. I'm at the store so I'll swing by a get him in the gym, it's near that parking lot right?"
"Yes, I'll call and tell him you're coming."
"Ok, thank you." Bulma hung up her phone and slipped it back into her purse. She had a way now, but how was she going to get out of her lecture? She had one next period, in five minutes. There was no way she could drive all the way there, talk to him, then drive back. Unless..
*********************************************
Vegeta paced impatiently in his room, glancing at the clock every few minutes. He'd called for Chi-Chi twenty minutes ago, she should be there by now. He sighed deeply, flopping down on his bed, bouncing once before he settled.
"I'm missing my gourmet class for this," came a voice that startled him. He sat up and glared at the owner of the voice, though softened his expression when he found it to be Chi-Chi. It's best not to glare at someone you called for help. "What's it have to do with?" she asked, taking a seat next to him on the bed.
"Take a guess," he groaned, standing and going over to sit on his desk. Being so close to Chi-Chi like that, on the bed, was too much for him. He was so lonely for attention that, if she consented, he'd have her. He knew that opportunity would never present itself, of course; she was far too loyal to Goku and Bulma to ever commit such an atrocity. Besides, it was only his over-active hormones and excessive loneliness that was causing him to be more attracted to the raven-haired beauty than usual, and he was very attracted to her, she was a gorgeous woman.
"Misa?" His ex-girlfriend.
"Close," he muttered, picking up something from his desk that suddenly caught his interest.
"Not Bulma.."
He nodded.
"What happened?"
"She-I-" He cut himself off there, and set the object he was tinkering with back on the desk; it was distracting him. "She talked to me," he finally said, hopping off the desk and taking a seat in a beat-up old chair in the corner.
Chi-Chi could hardly keep from jumping off the bed and demanding he explain himself. She'd been waiting a year for him to say that to her, and now all she could do was sit and stare and wonder about it to herself. It took her several minutes to finally get some words out.
"What happened? I mean, how did it happened? What'd she say?"
"Thank you," he sighed, leaning his head back.
"Thank you? Why?"
"I defended her."
"Against-No, that's not important. What happened next?"
"I insulted her and she yelled at me and I laughed at her," he said as quickly as he could, jamming some of the words together. But Chi-Chi caught most of it and jumped from the bed.
"You did what!?" she screamed, wanting to pound him into the ugly little chair he was sitting in. "How can you be so damn stupid!? I don't get it!" she gasped, trying to regain her composure. "What the hell was going on in your head?"
"I don't know," he grunted, closing his eyes, trying to ignore Chi- Chi, who was hovering over him, fists clenched, face red.
"Kami, I can't believe this. What's wrong with you? She was actually willingly talking to you and you insult her, and then laugh about it!..Are you drunk?" He shook his head. "High?" He chuckled and shook his head again. He thought she thought more highly of him. "Then what the hell made you do something so damn stupid!?"
"I told you, I don't know. I was there and she was talking to me and the next thing I knew I was laughing at her and she threw some stuff at me. Then I called you."
"Do you love her?"
He opened his eyes, leaned his head back up, and arched an eyebrow at her.
"Do you love her?" she repeated, as if she hadn't asked before.
"Chi-"
"It's a simple Kami damned question," she hissed, pushing him back, his chair almost tipping over. "Do you love her? Yes or no?"
"Why d-"
"Because, damn it! If I am going to help you I need to know! I need to be guaranteed that you will not hurt her again! That you've learned your lesson! That you-"
"Ok, ok, calm down."
"Well?"
He sat there a while, several long minutes, his hand under his chin, pondering his answer, though he already knew what it was, it coursed through his veins everyday, pounding against his brain, making it hard for him to breath. He was about to open his mouth, about to give her an answer, when-
*EEEENT! EEEEEEEENT! EEEENT!* (Does that seem right? Heehee :P) The fire alarm, probably a small fire or explosion in one of the labs, happened all the time.
Vegeta got up and headed for the door, though didn't make it more than two steps before Chi-Chi grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
"Answer me!" she yelled over the loud siren. He tried to get free from her grasp, but found she was far stronger than he'd previously thought; her skinny little arms and legs gave her the appearance of a weakling when in reality she was nearly as strong as him, though he couldn't be entirely sure, but she was damn close. She tightened her grip on his arm, jerking him back so he was pressed to her, her mouth by his ear. "Answer me now," she hissed, just loud enough for him to hear over the shrieking alarm.
"Yes!" he screamed, shoving her back and exiting the room without another word.
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Bulma walked through the hall of her former high school, taking it in, breathing in the smell of the lockers and floor wax and notebook paper. She hadn't realized just how much she missed this place until now, for it'd been the last place she'd been when her and Vegeta were still together. Her happiness had ended there, and though Rikyu was starting to give her some of that happiness back, it still couldn't compare to those long lost days.
Turning the corner, she spotted the door she was looking for, the entrance to the main gym; that's where they played all the full contact sports and she knew Rikyu, he loved that kind of stuff. She'd hardly ever been in there herself, not liking those kinds of sports very much, except when they were offering rugby; she loved it, and was one of the best in the school, which meant she was most violent, though she never went out for a team. She regretted it now, but what could she do? She's out of high school, and it's not like she was going to go out for a team for the city, she didn't have time for that. Plus all the city-wide rugby players were all muscle-headed steroid-poppers with necks bigger than their heads; she couldn't compete with that, and there was no way she would degrade herself to play on the women's team; she'd seen them play, they actually had time outs when girls broke nails, not the team for her.
When she finally reached the big blue metal double doors to the gymnasium, she stopped, got on her toes, which wasn't far considering her excessive high heals, and peered in the slim rectangular window set in the door. After scanning the occupants and confirming that Rikyu was in fact there, she pushed open the semi-heavy doors and strolled into the high- ceilinged room, her heals striking the linoleum tile, the sound bouncing off the bleachers against the walls. Several heads turned, out of curiosity, to see where the familiar noise came from. All had expected to see the principal in her usual red high heals, or an angry teacher with a detention slip, but not the beauty that stood at the edge of the gym, her slim delicate arms folded gently over her chest.
Rikyu, who had been one of the last to turn his head, sat where he'd been, his arms stretched out to his foot, the other leg being bent and pressed to him, his mouth open slightly. He blinked a few times, then rubbed his eyes to confirm the image before him. No it couldn't be, she was in class, teaching for a college project. But it was her, his beautiful girlfriend, decked out in her finest of fine "slutty teacher wear". He didn't mind it much; he knew she liked showing off her body, and why not? She was gorgeous, with a gorgeous body; it would be absurd to hide it. Besides, he knew where she stood, with him, she was his, and he hers, and she would never stoop to cheating after having been hurt by it and because she despised the act as well. He knew he was safe with her going around dressed that way, because in the end she came to him, she kissed his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck, her perfect breasts pressed into his chest.
"Bulma!" he called finally, hopping up from the floor to meet her halfway as she made her way to him. "What in Kami's name are you doing here?" She glanced down at his uniform, typical white tee-shirt and long black airy shorts.
"I need to talk to you. I already called the school and got you out of class for the rest of the day. Get dressed and meet me in the students' parking lot."
"Whoa, wait a minute. What's going on first? Why can't you wait 'til later? And what about your classes? How are you going to explain this to the dean?"
"I took care of all that before I left. I said my mother called me on my cell phone telling me that Trunks was in the hospital with a high fever, said I'd be back tomorrow, or maybe for my last few classes if I could."
"That's pushing it B," he sighed, glancing over his shoulder at the crowd that had collected very close to them. "They could very easily find out what you're really up to. You don't exactly 'blend in' with the crowd. People know your face, and it's a good bet that the dean knows a lot of people in the city. You could-"
"Rikyu, sweety," she cut in, placing her hand gently on his shoulder to calm him. He was far too concerned for her well-being. "I have considered that point, but quite frankly, I could give less of a shit." She drew her arm back, resting it on her curvy little hip. "I didn't want to go teach at that sorry excuse for a school anyway, I am in college for a reason, and that is to learn, not to teach some wanna-be science majors the abc's on the science world. It's a horrid project and I almost hope that I do get caught so I don't have to do it anymore."
"But your degree!" he insisted, slightly glaring at her, subconsciously.
"Who cares," she shrugged. "I can make it well enough without the damn thing, just with it would be a hell of a lot easier." She sighed, shooting a few quick glares at some of the gawking students. "But I don't need it. It's just a name on a piece of paper that says I know what I know. But I knew all I know before I was out of elementary school. I'm ten times as smart as any of those would be professors at my school. Are you coming or not? They stop serving breakfast at all the restaurants soon, and I have a craving for pancakes."
Rikyu just sighed and trudged towards the locker room, though turned and quickly jogged back. "My aunt?" he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear.
"Me," she admitted with a deviously little smirk. He smiled knowingly at her and headed back for the locker room, though again turned and came running back. "What?" He reached his arms around her and gave her a hug, pulling her head to his, locking onto her lips. The class fell silent. When he pulled away, Bulma's face was a slight shade of pink. "Oh," she whispered, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. This time when Rikyu turned and walked away, he disappeared behind a wall and didn't come back. Bulma, with a small smile, turned around slowly and walked as quietly as she could out of the gym, though it was quite hard with those noisy heals on.
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Rikyu settled himself into a back corner booth at the restaurant that Bulma had chosen, she wouldn't talk without her pancakes she said. She took her seat across from him, and ordered herself a glass of orange juice, Rikyu chose coffee.
"So, what's this all about? What was so urgent?" he finally said when the waiter was out of hearing range.
"Vegeta," she admitted scornfully, wrinkling her nose, trying to keep her anger from getting the better of her.
"What about him?" he asked, not wanting to jump to conclusions, that was the last thing he needed, her mad at him.
"I talked to him," she sighed, lowering her head in shame, as if the act were as horrible as cheating or murdering.
"Honey," he cooed, lifting her head with his finger under her chin. "What's wrong with that? So you talk to the guy, it's no sin."
"I know that," she scoffed, though quickly apologized, her period, she said, was around the corner. "It's just what happened next." She explained to him the whole story; how he'd defended her from that wrinkly old professor and how she finally decided, in a split second, to call him back and thank him, and then how he insulted her and when she defended herself he laughed right out at her. When she was done, Rikyu was awestruck, he knew Vegeta wasn't exactly the best to deal with, or the nicest guy in the world, but that was down right cruel. Not even Vegeta was expected to do that sort of thing, no matter how cruel he could be.
"I-I don't know what to tell you," Rikyu admitted, reaching across the short table to grab her hands. "I can't justify his actions, cause I don't know the guy. I can't say I know why he did what he did for the same reason, but I can offer to talk to him for you, or on my own accord, if you'd let me. I'd like to see what his deal is, why he'd do such a thing. There must be a reason, no matter how ridiculous it is."
"I appreciate it hun," she whispered. "But he won't talk to you. If he won't tell Goku or Chi-Chi or 18, then he sure as hell won't tell you. The only person he'll tell is me, and I don't want to hear it. I've put up with enough of his shit over the years to know that he's just not worth the trouble. He's hopeless."
"Then why come to me for help?"
"I didn't, I came cause I needed some time away, someone to talk to. I never said I needed your help or guidance, just a friendly conversation."
"I still want to help."
"I knew you would," she sighed, releasing his hands and resting them in her lap.
"And?"
"No."
"Then why me? If you knew I'd want to help."
"But you're the only one who'll abide my request and not go to him, unlike all the others. They all would help in a heartbeat too, but only you would do as I ask."
"You know me too well."
"It's my job to know you." She leaned across the table and kissed his cheek, just as their drinks arrived. They ordered their meals which came remarkably fast; pancakes for Bulma and a fruit salad for Rikyu, he'd already eaten breakfast and wasn't all that hungry.
"Ok," he said after he'd gotten a few bites into his food, not being able to stand it any longer. "You said you didn't want me to go to Vegeta, correct?" She nodded, chewing on her warm pancakes and syrup, no butter. "But can I talk to him for my own reasons, not being sent by you? Can I ask him questions that I want to know that you necessarily do not? I won't tell you what is said, if that's what you want, and I won't tell him that you sent me, he'll believe that, he knows you wouldn't do that."
"That's true," she broke in, then put another forkful of food into her mouth.
"So can I?"
"What are you going to say to him that others already haven't? He's heard it all, I'm sure, and more."
"I have my own questions that I want to try. I'll bring Sorai with me, he likes Sorai."
"He tolerates Sorai, there's a difference."
"Well no matter, he doesn't hate Sorai like everyone else."
"He doesn't hate Goku or 18 or Chi-Chi or Krillin or 17 either, and he won't tell them. What makes Sorai different? If you want truth out of him, have a little kid go, that's his weak spot."
"Like?"
"I don't know, but not any of your siblings, he won't like that. Someone he connects with, like Yuri or Yuki or-"
"Ryu?"
"No, Ryu is too hyper these days, he wouldn't go just to talk."
"What about Trunks? I know he can't talk, but he does have a profound effect on him, obviously."
"He'd slaughter you," she said flatly, shaking her head at the same time. "He'd never go for that, too pushy, too not in his favor. So is brining Yuri and Yuki, that was a bad idea."
"Ok, then how about Haruki? He plays with Yuri and Yuki doesn't he?"
"I don't know, you'd have to ask Chi-Chi, but it's not my deal. I don't want to be part of this, I'm not helping anymore."
"Fair enough. Do you want to know what is said?"
She was silent, her eyes cast at the table.
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---Chapter 4! Woo! There you have it! Heehee! Still short, but they're getting there. The next will be much longer. I hope you all liked it, cause it took me a while to write it, and don't worry, there will be more action soon, I just need to ease things along smoothly, you know?
REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next time: Rikyu confronts Vegeta (maybe), and Bulma does something unexpected..