Chapter 5 – A warning

"I think that we're already misusing the hospitality," Trunks mumbled with his mouth full of pancakes.

"I think I'll misuse a bit more…" Goten grabbed another cake and didn't finish the sentence. "These are really good!"

Haruka smiled. "I'm not a charity organization but sometimes… well, would you look at that."

Curls of lilac mist appeared in front of the door and a woman with long dark green hair walked out of it. "Hello again, Uranus."

Haruka nodded at her. "Nice to see you again. It's been a while…"

Pluto nodded too. "Listen up now, you Saiyans; I have a few messages from Bulma and Chichi. And I'm in quite a hurry, so listen up good."

Some messages later, Goku and Goten were staring at Pluto as Vegeta and Trunks were trying hard to hold back bursts of laughter.

"Warm underwear???" Goten gasped and blinked. "It's July!" Haruka muttered something about rather being an orphan than having a mother like that.

"As for you two," Pluto looked at Vegeta and Trunks, "Bulma told you not to blow anything very expensive up because Capsule Corporation is having a bad month."

"Then where are we supposed to train?" Vegeta asked with a frown.

Pluto shrugged. "I'll go now… Uranus, you know how to contact me when it's necessary." Haruka nodded. Pluto waved with her long scepter, the Garnet Orb started to glow and the woman disappeared in lilac mist again.

When the clock stroke six, Michiru unlocked the door and entered the house. She came into the living room and raised her eyebrows.

"Would you look at that… you guys seem to be living in just fine."

Goten, Goku and Trunks were sitting on the couch, looking TV. Vegeta was sitting on the windowsill, reading a magazine and Haruka was sitting on the floor with some oily car part, cleaning and fixing it.

Trunks looked up and grinned widely. "Heeey, welcome home. Care to join us?"

Michiru looked at the TV screen and raised her eyebrows. "Pokémon?"

"Pokémon is good," Goten announced. "I like Pokémon. Okay, so the second season of Digimon was better but still."

Michiru looked at Haruka. "Is there anything edible in the kitchen or do I have to go cooking?"

Haruka pointed to the Saiyans. "Thank them. They left you a pancake."

"No kidding…" The girl left for the kitchen.

Vegeta looked out of the window. "This garden seems small. Is there any place where I can go training tomorrow without blowing most of the windows in?"

"That garden is actually huge," Haruka replied, "but you can't see the most of it from here. What time do you usually go training?"

The prince shrugged. "5, sometimes 6 AM. It depends…"

"Then don't expect me to get up to make you breakfast," Haruka announced. "We don't keep the fridge locked and you know where the kitchen is."

Michiru came back to the living room. "Isn't Hotaru home yet?"

"She'll come in a while," Haruka replied.

"I hope she won't come too late." Michiru frowned. "The weather forecast predicted rain for tonight."

About an hour went by. A cold wind picked up outside and grey clouds covered the sky. However, it was warm inside the house and the two kids decided to play Monopoly. Two rounds and several bankruptcies later Goten decided that business wasn't for him.

Trunks grinned. "It just takes some practice. Mom plays that game with me all the time."

Vegeta looked up. "She wants you to become the next president of Capsule Corporation and therefore she needs you to know all those little tricks in the world of business."

Trunks grunted. "I know… but she still plays with me!"

The front door opened and a sudden breeze came in. Then the door slammed shut with a loud bang. The room suddenly felt colder.

"It's either Hotaru or I forgot to lock the door correctly," Michiru remarked.

"It was locked." A pale, slim girl with huge melancholy eyes and black hair was standing in the doorway. "I see that we have customers. Hello to you all." She bowed slightly. The Saiyans stared at her with surprise and greeted back with hesitation. The girl really was out of this world…quiet, mysterious… and dangerous.

"It's raining cats and dogs outside, as I see," Haruka said. "Go change your clothes before you get cold. You know how bad your health is." Hotaru nodded and left quietly.

"She's… creepy," Goten said.

The evening passed. Hotaru hadn't even showed up after going to her room. Both Goten and Trunks were already yawning and trying hard to keep their eyes open. When Michiru said that the kids seemed tired and should go to sleep, they agreed without any complains. But in the middle of the night they both woke up in the same time, sat up and looked at each other with surprise.

"Why did you wake up?" Trunks asked whispering.

Goten shrugged. "No idea. You?"

"I think I heard a sound… no, I felt something weird, like a sound," his buddy replied thoughtfully. "Let's go check it out!"

Goten was uncertain. "There's something strange about this house and those girls living here. Shouldn't we rather sleep and forget everything we heard? Besides, our dads haven't felt anything." He pointed to the Saiyans who were both in deep sleep.

Trunks stood up and sneaked to the door. "Do whatever you want."

"Hey, wait up!" Goten hurried next to him. "I sure hope we won't run into something we shouldn't run into…"

They lurked to the other end of the corridor and stopped behind Hotaru's room's door.

"I think it's here," Trunks said quietly.

"I think we shouldn't peek in," Goten replied even more quietly.

Trunks hissed at him and pushed the door. It slid open, very softly, like in a dream. They peeked in.

This time there weren't any dark shadows crawling around the walls, since the mistress of the shadows was at home. The moonlight shone in from between the curtains and filled the room with soft silvery light. Hotaru was sitting in her bed, holding her head between her hands. She moaned quietly.

Trunks and Goten rushed to her. "Hotaru? Are you alright?"

The girl slowly opened her huge eyes. She blinked. "I… think so."

"What happened?" Goten asked.

"I had a vision… or something like that. It felt more like someone breaking into my head and giving me some sort of a message." Hotaru blinked again with confusion.

"What was the message?" Michiru was standing in the doorway. She seemed sleepy but her eyes were sharp.

Hotaru frowned. "Something like "Beware. I'm coming.""