Last time:
"Fine, but this time we're gone for good. I don't care if you come running because you're hell bent on killing yourself over your pathetic little life; don't come running to me."
"Get! Ouuuuuuuuuuut!" He charged at him, full force, though was unfortunately met with the hard wooden door, sending him back several feet. He lay there, on the floor, a while, his face throbbing from Chi-Chi's assault. How had it all come down to this? Him, laying on his floor, face sore and crying over his mishaps. Where had all the happiness gone? But he already knew, it went when Bulma went. And now everything was falling apart and all because of his mistakes, all his mistakes starting with when he'd shunned Bulma in middle school. They'd come tumbling at him after that and he, the tough guy with the shriveled crying child inside, was powerless to stop them. "Oh Kami…." He whispered, turning over to his stomach, allowing his tears to soak into the carpet.
***********************************************************
"Alright, from the top!" Miss Higashikuni shouted through her director's mic. "And Bulma, that was excellent."
"Thank you," Bulma said, her cheeks flaming up to a bright pink. Sure, she appreciated the gratitude, but it seemed to be getting a bit excessive to her and the other actors were starting to notice. "One question," she said quickly before anyone started the scene over again.
"Shoot."
"When are we going to act out some scenes with Romeo in them?"
"Oh, well, we're really not, not for awhile."
"Awhile? How long?"
"Well, probably not until the last three dress rehearsals and then the play itself."
"What? Why isn't he coming to the practices? And who is he anyway?"
"Well, he just simply couldn't work around his schedule and I had to have him for my Romeo, so I compromised with him. I meet with him twice a week and he acts out his scenes for me. Don't worry Bulma, everything is going to go smoothly."
"Well, how can I create chemistry with him if he's not here? And what about our practice with Romeo scenes?"
"Chemistry will not be a problem, you can achieve that in the few days you'll have for practice before the performance. As for the Romeo scenes, I will aid in acting them out. Really, it's not as hard as it sounds, it's happened many times before."
"Can we at least know his name?"
"Umm…. Ouchi? No. Onoe? No. Something with an 'O'."
"What about his first name?" Bulma tapped her foot impatiently on the stage floor, her arms folded loosely.
"He goes by mister, wouldn't tell me his first name."
"And you let him be in the play?" asked one of the other actors, stepping forward to join Bulma. "This guy sounds a little shady to me. What's he have that some other guy doesn't have?"
"You should know that answer to that, Denbe. He has 'it', that certain thing that all directors look for in an actor. Besides, he knew all his lines prior to coming, he didn't even need a script."
"So he's a Romeo and Juliet fan, I still sense something off about him."
"Why are you so sore?" she nearly hissed. "You didn't want to play Romeo when I offered it to you, you wanted Tybalt, and you got Tybalt. If this guy wants to stay anonymous before the play then so be it, I refuse to have the performance without him. I'd do the same with any one of you." She motioned to the actors on stage. "I need him for this just as much as I need the rest of you. You're all amazing performers and when you see him act you'll agree with me." She glanced at her watch, sighing as the time read something she did not like. "Well, now that you've wasted the last few minute of the rehearsal, I'd better see some quality acting next time." And, without another word, she stood, grabbed her things, and exited the theater.
************************************************************
"You did what?" Bulma gasped, leaning back in her chair, Trunks resting comfortably in her arms. "And what did he do?"
"Well-" Chi-Chi sighed, adjusting her own little Gohan in her arms. "-he got angry, as you should guess and then Goku went off on him and, get this, he started to cry. I really don't understand that guy, he irritates me so much."
"I thought the two of you were friends now. What happened with that? You're just giving up after one fight?"
"It's not just that, it's the whole thing. He's never treated me as a friend, just someone who hangs around him and annoys him."
"He's like that with everyone, you know that. Why become friends with him in the first place? I never did understand that."
"I thought I saw something in him. I guess I was wrong." She sighed again, more deeply this time, and rested her head on the back on her chair. "Besides, he's a lot different now since, well, you know. He just doesn't put his heart into anything, except Trunks that is. I'll give him that, he adores that kid."
"Well I should hope so," Bulma huffed, glancing down at Trunks. "He is his son after all. I expect as much from him."
"B," Chi-Chi said, a little nervously, after a few long moments. "I need to confess something."
"What?" Bulma looked cautiously over at her, as if she were going to throw something at her or hit her.
"The main reason I became friends with Vegeta in the first place was to try and get you two back together. No, please, hear me out." She paused a moment, making sure it was alright with Bulma that she go on. "I thought that maybe if I got close to Vegeta too that he would tell me something that would prove his innocence on the cheating. But, unfortunately, he never said a single word about it….Then, after having been around him for so long I started to grow attached to him and then it wasn't about getting you two back together anymore. That was always in the back of my mind though."
"Why is it so important to you?" Bulma sneered, standing up and taking Trunks for a walk around the room as she continued. "I told you, it's my business. If I wanted to be with him I would be. But that's not my fault then, now is it?" Chi-Chi shook her head. "Besides, none of that matters now anyway. I'm with Rikyu and I'm happy and if he asked me today to marry him I'd say yes. I'm all set."
"B-But Bulma!" Chi-Chi gasped. "Marry him? You've barely been dating him. I-Wait. Why would you marry him? I know you, you've always believe that you need to be with someone for a long time before committing like that. You're just trying to hurt Vegeta, aren't you?"
"Come on Chi, does that sound like me?"
"No," she sighed, looking down at her hands; she was still ashamed about the fact that she had jumped down Bulma's throat the day before and accused her of keeping things from her. It had all been a misunderstanding, of course, and they were fine now; Bulma hadn't told Chi-Chi about the accident or the play simply because they hadn't spoken since they happened, which had only been a day or so. Chi-Chi, who had taken several moments for it to sink in, apologized immediately. "But why else?"
"I don't know," Bulma hummed, glancing at a picture of her, Rikyu, and Trunks on the side table next to them. Chi-Chi caught her gaze and followed it to the picture. "He just seems….right. And he's great with Trunks, and my parents love him, and he knows where he's going in life, and-"
"What about love?"
Bulma's lip quivered.
"What about it?"
"Bulma, come on, I've known you since forever. You've always wanted to fall in love and marry whoever it was that you fell for. I know it's hard to admit-" Bulma turned her head sharply away. "-but you do love Vegeta still, I can tell."
"That's not my fault, I can't just drop feelings for someone just because they're a self-centered, lying, cheating bastard. But Chi-Chi, I'm starting to fall for-"
"Don't say it Bulma, please. I know Rikyu's a great guy, he really is, but I just don't see him as the guy for you. I see that in Vegeta though, I know you two are meant to be together. If you'd just hear h-"
"Stop right there," Bulma warned, clenching her teeth. "I'm already talking to him, when I have to, I think that's far enough for now. And, even if we are meant to be together, he blew that, not me."
"But you haven't even heard his story."
"What do you care? You were just complaining about what an asshole he is!"
"Because, B, he deserves you just as much as you deserve him….Maybe Arisa forced him to kiss her, maybe she was holding him there and he couldn't get her off before you got there and you just-"
"You weren't there, you didn't see Chi-Chi. I watched them long enough to know whether or not it was a mistake, because that was my first thought. I did not think that he would cheat on me, I thought exactly what you just said, that the whore forced herself on him. But then, as I was approaching them to rip her away, I saw him-willingly-put his arms around her, and pull her closer. He pulled her to him, it wasn't just her."
Chi-Chi fell silent, she'd never known that before, only that Bulma had seen them with their lips together. This, inevitably, changed everything. How could Vegeta be innocent now? Bulma saw him encourage another girl's advances.
"Bulma I-I had no idea, I'm sorry, you were right," she sighed, looking far off at the other side of the room.
"It's fine Chi, I never told you guys. I should have." She looked down at Trunks and smiled. "What do you say we take these guys for a walk? I'm getting cabin fever."
**********************************************************
Vegeta lay on his bed, going over for the millionth time what had happened between him, Chi-Chi, and Goku. Everything was falling apart and it was all coming back to bite him in the ass. Bulma was gone, Goku left shortly after that, then Chi-Chi. 18, who had just recently started talking to him again, hadn't called in weeks. Krillin he never really did talk to that often and was never really that good of friends with. And 17, he had spoken to him, a few times, briefly, but nothing that told him that he was ready to be friends again. He'd had a hard time even looking Vegeta in the face, let alone want to whip the slate clean. There was Roxy and all those friends too, but he hadn't talk to them since graduation day; they'd all gone off to separate colleges and started new lives, forgetting about him. He was basically alone, and how was he supposed to find help when he had no one to go to?
He picked up the phone, dialing 18's number; hopefully she wasn't too busy.
"Hello?" it was 17.
"Is 18 there?"
"Vegeta," 17 grunted. "No, she's not. She's out with Krillin."
"When is she coming back?"
"I don't know. I don't keep her schedule."
"Stop it 17," Vegeta hissed, as if being offended. "You're being childish now."
"I'm being childish!?" Seconds later Vegeta's ears were met with the dial tone, and he slammed the phone on the receiver. He starred at the phone for a second, then dialed an unlikely number.
"Hello?"
"We need to talk," Vegeta forced himself to say; he had no other options.
"Vegeta?" gasped an uncertain voice. "What the hell are you calling me for?"
"I just told you, we need to talk."
"We need to talk? Or you have no one else to turn to?"
"Will you talk or not?" he hissed, becoming very impatient at the person on the other line.
"Why me?"
"You answered the phone," he said flatly.
"And who else would you have talked to here?"
"Your brother."
"Rikyu?"
"He's your brother."
"Fine, what do you want to talk about then?" He decided not to push it, Vegeta calling him didn't happen everyday, of course, and he was curious as to why he would care to talk to him, of all people.
"What do you think?"
"Bulma?"
"Give the boy a prize."
"Cut the shit or I'll hang up now. What about Bulma?"
There was a long pause, then he began to speak. He put everything out in the open, everything he'd been keeping from everyone else; he told his side of the story about what had happened the day of graduation. He explained how he'd been waiting for Bulma, and then Arisa had come over and tried to put moves on him and then jumped him. He admitted to having pulled her closer, and claimed that it was out of pure habit, that his brain had confused him, that it was still slightly on the track it had been on for so many years. After he realized what was happening, he pushed her away, waiting nothing more than you pummel her into the ground and leave with Bulma. He finished his story as he started, in a low, calculated voice. When he was done, there was silence on the other end of the line.
"Why me?" he asked again, expecting a different answer than before.
"I-" But he stopped dead, not wanting to finish.
"You have no one else."
Vegeta sighed.
"Why didn't you just tell them all before? It would have never come to this if you had."
"What do you know Yamcha?" he hissed at the phone. "You did worse to Bulma, intentionally. At least I knew when to keep my distance."
"How dare you call me for advice and then insult me! No wonder Bulma won't listen to you!" And the line went dead.
"Kuso!" he swore, slamming the phone down. He had just spilled the beans and now that person would go and blab it to everyone else, probably twist his words around. Why had he even done it? But he already knew the answer….
****************************************************
---Chapter 9!!! I know, I know, it's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay shorted than I usually do chapters, but it took me so long to get even this that I couldn't just let you readers hang like that. Next time it'll be much longer. I hope you enjoyed what I did give you, and please, don't forget, review if you want more chapters :D
REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next time: Developments….
"Fine, but this time we're gone for good. I don't care if you come running because you're hell bent on killing yourself over your pathetic little life; don't come running to me."
"Get! Ouuuuuuuuuuut!" He charged at him, full force, though was unfortunately met with the hard wooden door, sending him back several feet. He lay there, on the floor, a while, his face throbbing from Chi-Chi's assault. How had it all come down to this? Him, laying on his floor, face sore and crying over his mishaps. Where had all the happiness gone? But he already knew, it went when Bulma went. And now everything was falling apart and all because of his mistakes, all his mistakes starting with when he'd shunned Bulma in middle school. They'd come tumbling at him after that and he, the tough guy with the shriveled crying child inside, was powerless to stop them. "Oh Kami…." He whispered, turning over to his stomach, allowing his tears to soak into the carpet.
***********************************************************
"Alright, from the top!" Miss Higashikuni shouted through her director's mic. "And Bulma, that was excellent."
"Thank you," Bulma said, her cheeks flaming up to a bright pink. Sure, she appreciated the gratitude, but it seemed to be getting a bit excessive to her and the other actors were starting to notice. "One question," she said quickly before anyone started the scene over again.
"Shoot."
"When are we going to act out some scenes with Romeo in them?"
"Oh, well, we're really not, not for awhile."
"Awhile? How long?"
"Well, probably not until the last three dress rehearsals and then the play itself."
"What? Why isn't he coming to the practices? And who is he anyway?"
"Well, he just simply couldn't work around his schedule and I had to have him for my Romeo, so I compromised with him. I meet with him twice a week and he acts out his scenes for me. Don't worry Bulma, everything is going to go smoothly."
"Well, how can I create chemistry with him if he's not here? And what about our practice with Romeo scenes?"
"Chemistry will not be a problem, you can achieve that in the few days you'll have for practice before the performance. As for the Romeo scenes, I will aid in acting them out. Really, it's not as hard as it sounds, it's happened many times before."
"Can we at least know his name?"
"Umm…. Ouchi? No. Onoe? No. Something with an 'O'."
"What about his first name?" Bulma tapped her foot impatiently on the stage floor, her arms folded loosely.
"He goes by mister, wouldn't tell me his first name."
"And you let him be in the play?" asked one of the other actors, stepping forward to join Bulma. "This guy sounds a little shady to me. What's he have that some other guy doesn't have?"
"You should know that answer to that, Denbe. He has 'it', that certain thing that all directors look for in an actor. Besides, he knew all his lines prior to coming, he didn't even need a script."
"So he's a Romeo and Juliet fan, I still sense something off about him."
"Why are you so sore?" she nearly hissed. "You didn't want to play Romeo when I offered it to you, you wanted Tybalt, and you got Tybalt. If this guy wants to stay anonymous before the play then so be it, I refuse to have the performance without him. I'd do the same with any one of you." She motioned to the actors on stage. "I need him for this just as much as I need the rest of you. You're all amazing performers and when you see him act you'll agree with me." She glanced at her watch, sighing as the time read something she did not like. "Well, now that you've wasted the last few minute of the rehearsal, I'd better see some quality acting next time." And, without another word, she stood, grabbed her things, and exited the theater.
************************************************************
"You did what?" Bulma gasped, leaning back in her chair, Trunks resting comfortably in her arms. "And what did he do?"
"Well-" Chi-Chi sighed, adjusting her own little Gohan in her arms. "-he got angry, as you should guess and then Goku went off on him and, get this, he started to cry. I really don't understand that guy, he irritates me so much."
"I thought the two of you were friends now. What happened with that? You're just giving up after one fight?"
"It's not just that, it's the whole thing. He's never treated me as a friend, just someone who hangs around him and annoys him."
"He's like that with everyone, you know that. Why become friends with him in the first place? I never did understand that."
"I thought I saw something in him. I guess I was wrong." She sighed again, more deeply this time, and rested her head on the back on her chair. "Besides, he's a lot different now since, well, you know. He just doesn't put his heart into anything, except Trunks that is. I'll give him that, he adores that kid."
"Well I should hope so," Bulma huffed, glancing down at Trunks. "He is his son after all. I expect as much from him."
"B," Chi-Chi said, a little nervously, after a few long moments. "I need to confess something."
"What?" Bulma looked cautiously over at her, as if she were going to throw something at her or hit her.
"The main reason I became friends with Vegeta in the first place was to try and get you two back together. No, please, hear me out." She paused a moment, making sure it was alright with Bulma that she go on. "I thought that maybe if I got close to Vegeta too that he would tell me something that would prove his innocence on the cheating. But, unfortunately, he never said a single word about it….Then, after having been around him for so long I started to grow attached to him and then it wasn't about getting you two back together anymore. That was always in the back of my mind though."
"Why is it so important to you?" Bulma sneered, standing up and taking Trunks for a walk around the room as she continued. "I told you, it's my business. If I wanted to be with him I would be. But that's not my fault then, now is it?" Chi-Chi shook her head. "Besides, none of that matters now anyway. I'm with Rikyu and I'm happy and if he asked me today to marry him I'd say yes. I'm all set."
"B-But Bulma!" Chi-Chi gasped. "Marry him? You've barely been dating him. I-Wait. Why would you marry him? I know you, you've always believe that you need to be with someone for a long time before committing like that. You're just trying to hurt Vegeta, aren't you?"
"Come on Chi, does that sound like me?"
"No," she sighed, looking down at her hands; she was still ashamed about the fact that she had jumped down Bulma's throat the day before and accused her of keeping things from her. It had all been a misunderstanding, of course, and they were fine now; Bulma hadn't told Chi-Chi about the accident or the play simply because they hadn't spoken since they happened, which had only been a day or so. Chi-Chi, who had taken several moments for it to sink in, apologized immediately. "But why else?"
"I don't know," Bulma hummed, glancing at a picture of her, Rikyu, and Trunks on the side table next to them. Chi-Chi caught her gaze and followed it to the picture. "He just seems….right. And he's great with Trunks, and my parents love him, and he knows where he's going in life, and-"
"What about love?"
Bulma's lip quivered.
"What about it?"
"Bulma, come on, I've known you since forever. You've always wanted to fall in love and marry whoever it was that you fell for. I know it's hard to admit-" Bulma turned her head sharply away. "-but you do love Vegeta still, I can tell."
"That's not my fault, I can't just drop feelings for someone just because they're a self-centered, lying, cheating bastard. But Chi-Chi, I'm starting to fall for-"
"Don't say it Bulma, please. I know Rikyu's a great guy, he really is, but I just don't see him as the guy for you. I see that in Vegeta though, I know you two are meant to be together. If you'd just hear h-"
"Stop right there," Bulma warned, clenching her teeth. "I'm already talking to him, when I have to, I think that's far enough for now. And, even if we are meant to be together, he blew that, not me."
"But you haven't even heard his story."
"What do you care? You were just complaining about what an asshole he is!"
"Because, B, he deserves you just as much as you deserve him….Maybe Arisa forced him to kiss her, maybe she was holding him there and he couldn't get her off before you got there and you just-"
"You weren't there, you didn't see Chi-Chi. I watched them long enough to know whether or not it was a mistake, because that was my first thought. I did not think that he would cheat on me, I thought exactly what you just said, that the whore forced herself on him. But then, as I was approaching them to rip her away, I saw him-willingly-put his arms around her, and pull her closer. He pulled her to him, it wasn't just her."
Chi-Chi fell silent, she'd never known that before, only that Bulma had seen them with their lips together. This, inevitably, changed everything. How could Vegeta be innocent now? Bulma saw him encourage another girl's advances.
"Bulma I-I had no idea, I'm sorry, you were right," she sighed, looking far off at the other side of the room.
"It's fine Chi, I never told you guys. I should have." She looked down at Trunks and smiled. "What do you say we take these guys for a walk? I'm getting cabin fever."
**********************************************************
Vegeta lay on his bed, going over for the millionth time what had happened between him, Chi-Chi, and Goku. Everything was falling apart and it was all coming back to bite him in the ass. Bulma was gone, Goku left shortly after that, then Chi-Chi. 18, who had just recently started talking to him again, hadn't called in weeks. Krillin he never really did talk to that often and was never really that good of friends with. And 17, he had spoken to him, a few times, briefly, but nothing that told him that he was ready to be friends again. He'd had a hard time even looking Vegeta in the face, let alone want to whip the slate clean. There was Roxy and all those friends too, but he hadn't talk to them since graduation day; they'd all gone off to separate colleges and started new lives, forgetting about him. He was basically alone, and how was he supposed to find help when he had no one to go to?
He picked up the phone, dialing 18's number; hopefully she wasn't too busy.
"Hello?" it was 17.
"Is 18 there?"
"Vegeta," 17 grunted. "No, she's not. She's out with Krillin."
"When is she coming back?"
"I don't know. I don't keep her schedule."
"Stop it 17," Vegeta hissed, as if being offended. "You're being childish now."
"I'm being childish!?" Seconds later Vegeta's ears were met with the dial tone, and he slammed the phone on the receiver. He starred at the phone for a second, then dialed an unlikely number.
"Hello?"
"We need to talk," Vegeta forced himself to say; he had no other options.
"Vegeta?" gasped an uncertain voice. "What the hell are you calling me for?"
"I just told you, we need to talk."
"We need to talk? Or you have no one else to turn to?"
"Will you talk or not?" he hissed, becoming very impatient at the person on the other line.
"Why me?"
"You answered the phone," he said flatly.
"And who else would you have talked to here?"
"Your brother."
"Rikyu?"
"He's your brother."
"Fine, what do you want to talk about then?" He decided not to push it, Vegeta calling him didn't happen everyday, of course, and he was curious as to why he would care to talk to him, of all people.
"What do you think?"
"Bulma?"
"Give the boy a prize."
"Cut the shit or I'll hang up now. What about Bulma?"
There was a long pause, then he began to speak. He put everything out in the open, everything he'd been keeping from everyone else; he told his side of the story about what had happened the day of graduation. He explained how he'd been waiting for Bulma, and then Arisa had come over and tried to put moves on him and then jumped him. He admitted to having pulled her closer, and claimed that it was out of pure habit, that his brain had confused him, that it was still slightly on the track it had been on for so many years. After he realized what was happening, he pushed her away, waiting nothing more than you pummel her into the ground and leave with Bulma. He finished his story as he started, in a low, calculated voice. When he was done, there was silence on the other end of the line.
"Why me?" he asked again, expecting a different answer than before.
"I-" But he stopped dead, not wanting to finish.
"You have no one else."
Vegeta sighed.
"Why didn't you just tell them all before? It would have never come to this if you had."
"What do you know Yamcha?" he hissed at the phone. "You did worse to Bulma, intentionally. At least I knew when to keep my distance."
"How dare you call me for advice and then insult me! No wonder Bulma won't listen to you!" And the line went dead.
"Kuso!" he swore, slamming the phone down. He had just spilled the beans and now that person would go and blab it to everyone else, probably twist his words around. Why had he even done it? But he already knew the answer….
****************************************************
---Chapter 9!!! I know, I know, it's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay shorted than I usually do chapters, but it took me so long to get even this that I couldn't just let you readers hang like that. Next time it'll be much longer. I hope you enjoyed what I did give you, and please, don't forget, review if you want more chapters :D
REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next time: Developments….