Disclaimer: If I owned Dragonball Z… Hmmm… I'd probably do what Akira Toriyama did: go insane, find a deserted island and lock myself up in a cage on it. x.o
Author's Notes: This one may be a little off because it took so long to complete. All in all, I'm sure this chapter took me about 3 months to do. Why? It was mostly because at about 75% of the way through, I got a writer's block. Then after that, I started school and didn't have hardly any time. Then after that, I kinda lost interest in DBZ. So… how did I ever finish it? o.o;; Quite frankly, I don't know. BUT I DID! And that's all that matters! .
ALSO thanks to Rune and Random. I really appreciate you're input. :D You guys make it all worthwhile.
The Brute
Chapter Seven
Kakarroto woke up just when the sun had started to rise and a pale blue light was cast over everything. He crawled out of bed, his body in a sort of constant set of shivers from the crisp morning cold and from nerves. Though his body demanded it, he couldn't—and didn't even want to—fall back asleep. Even though he yawned three times as much as usual, his eyelids didn't feel heavy, and even though his brain felt fogged up, it was still clear enough to remind him constantly: just a couple more hours… only a few more…
He tiptoed around the house, nervous and never ceasing, like a lost mouse trying to find its way back to its hole. He paced softly across the kitchen, his mind numbly trying to think of anything but Nappa; he paused from time to time to open the kitchen door and stand in the doorway, but after a few minutes of waiting for the sun to rise, he retired to pacing the floor again.
Kakarroto looked up when he heard footsteps coming down the hall and was met with Raditz's face. When both saw each other, they paused, and there were several moments of tense silence. Raditz finally looked away and headed towards the cabinets, scavenging for food.
"What are you doing up?" Kakarroto asked. Raditz didn't look at him.
"To eat what I can before your ridiculous appetite gets it all."
"Oh please now, don't try to greet me with a smile," Kakarroto spat sarcastically. "The effort may just kill you, and I surely wouldn't want that death on my conscience."
Raditz said nothing, but he opened another cabinet door. Kakarroto went back to pacing. A minute or two went by before he stopped and opened the front door; there it finally was: the tip of the sunrise: large, grand, orange and beautiful.
There was a sudden chomping in his ear. Kakarroto turned around to see Raditz devouring some stale piece of bread, looking across Kakarroto's shoulder to the sky beyond. "Breath-taking, isn't it?"
Kakarroto turned back around and scowled at the sun, giving it a very scrutinizing glare.
"You would think that."
"As would Bardock," Raditz said. Kakarroto stiffened.
"So you're saying I'm not like my father?"
"What gives you that impression? I'm merely saying that you're less like him than I am," he commented lightly. The younger turned to face his older sibling, grabbing the doorknob and deftly shutting the door behind him. Raditz swallowed, smirking derisively. "You don't share much in common with him, do you?"
"And you share everything in common with him, don't you?" Kakarroto sneered. He plucked the last bit of Raditz's snack out of his hand and shoved it in his mouth. Raditz snorted and leaned against the door while Kakarroto moved to the sink to fill up a glass of water.
"Compared to you, it certainly seems so."
Kakarroto gulped several large mouthfuls of water, downing his glass in mere seconds. He had to admit it: with Raditz here now to occupy his mind and direct his trail of thought off of Nappa, he was a lot less nervous. He just couldn't decide if he preferred the anxiety to this growing irritation.
"You ever wonder why Father had this house built out West?" Raditz suddenly asked. "And why he had the door facing East, towards the sunrise?"
No, Kakarroto admitted. He hadn't ever wondered that. The fact hadn't ever really occurred to him before. And if it had, he would have just dismissed it as coincidence.
"No," he answered blankly, not willing to go so far as to humor his elder by asking why. He was sure Raditz was going to go on about more "I-know-more-than-you-do-about-our-father" stuff. And sure enough, almost immediately—
"Huh. I was almost certain Father would have told you." He laughed quietly. "I mean, he told me, even before I was sent off to Frieza."
"Guess he didn't think I'd be interested," Kakarroto replied, his words slow and pointed. Raditz pretended not to notice.
"Father moved out here after Mother died." Raditz paused, staring at Kakarroto. "Certainly you know that much?"
"Of course," Kakarroto hissed. "I'm not an idiot, you know."
Raditz let out a bark of a laugh, then another, and then an entire set of harsh laughs. Kakarroto's countenance spoiled. But cutting him off before his younger brother could snap back, Raditz continued, "Father met Mother out West here, did you know that? Not in this exact spot, mind you, but Mother had challenged Father to a spar, and they fought in a blank stretch of land out here. It was a tough battle, believe it or not," Raditz said fondly, chuckling and shaking his head as if this memory were actually his own, "but Father eventually won. Father said afterwards he was drawn to her for some reason, and she to him, so they coupled and had me not long after."
"As touching as this story certainly is," Kakarroto drawled, "please shut up before you talk my ears off."
"Mother died several years later, a little while after she had you, I believe. Got into a fight with some woman over a huge amount of meat, or something of the sort. Well of course she was still weak from giving birth to you, and this female was an entire class higher than she was. Unquestionably, she lost."
"I know how she died, Raditz, thanks," Kakarroto tried to cut him off.
"Father was so grieved that he moved out West, as if to try to get closer to her. Strangely touching? He made sure the front door would face the rising sun, because to him it represents life, new beginnings, all good things, et cetra. It gave him hope to be greeted with bright sunlight each new day. It gave him a fresh reason to live." A pause. "He's always told me that Mother used to like the sunrise…"
And as Raditz quieted, Kakarroto opened his mouth; he merely stared at his older brother, however, not sure what to say. He wasn't even sure of what to think. So did this make his father a weakling, to be so perturbed and depressed by just a single death? Was his father even less of a Sayian than Kakarroto had already envisioned in his mind?
But wait… a fresh reason to live…
"I was enough of a reason for him to live, Raditz," Kakarroto hissed slowly, his words horribly poisonous. He clenched his fists almost involuntarily. Raditz shrugged, expressing a small, honey-coated smile.
"Well obviously not. I mean, I don't see you as reason enough to live." He slowly smirked. "So it seems there's another thing Father and I have in common…"
Kakarroto didn't think next as he flung himself at his brother, shouting cries of, "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" over and over again. The kitchen table toppled over with a clatter as Raditz's foot accidentally kicked it; the two wrestled unceremoniously on the cold kitchen floor, Raditz's grunts, clatters and bangs mixed in with Kakarroto's hysterical threats; by the time Bardock, Bulma and Chi-Chi finally woke up and bustled into the kitchen, still in their night things, Kakarroto had picked Raditz up and was ramming his head into the kitchen door, shattering the wood.
"GOOD HEAVENS, KAKARROTO, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Bardock exclaimed, hurrying forward. But Kakarroto turned around and punched him squarely in the jaw, sending his father flying backwards over the upturned table and into the opposite wall. Bulma screamed in a queer mix of horror and delight, watching Kakarroto turn around to Raditz just in time to catch a punch aimed at his gut. Chi-Chi padded lightly over to Bardock, crouching down and helping the elderly man up.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Kakarroto shouted again, successfully landing a kick to Raditz's left side and sending him flying out the house towards the sunrise, Kakarroto in hot pursuit.
"Ra—Raditz," Bardock mumbled absentmindedly, his large eyes bulging in panic. "Where's—what's going—what's happening to Raditz?"
He tried to sit up, but Chi-Chi held him down. He tried again and failed. He attempted a third go, but Chi-Chi shoved his shoulders down, grabbed his face with her hands, and turned him to face her. She wasn't smiling.
"Sit still, Bardock! You're being ridiculous! What do you honestly expect to do if I let you up? Kakarroto's much stronger than you are!"
"Where's Raditz?" he asked, trying to look out of the corners of his eyes. Chi-Chi slapped his face lightly.
"Answer me! What could you do?! Nothing!"
Bardock mouthed wordlessly for a few seconds, his expression clearly showing his extreme panic. Chi-Chi took a deep breath and reassured Bardock's biggest fear. "Don't worry. Raditz is a super elite, and Kakarroto's only a third class. You know he won't be able to do Raditz any serious harm! If he could, I would be just as worried as you right now!"
Bulma took a few steps towards the exit, stepping over shards of wood and standing in the bare doorframe. She smiled quietly to herself, her stomach squirming delightedly as she watched Kakarroto and Raditz battle outside. The sight was so incredible that she actually started to laugh for joy. Her third class lover was battling her arrogant sister's super elite betrothed—and he was doing fantastic! Not only that, but if she wasn't mistaken…
"He's winning," she whispered to herself. Chi-Chi's head shot up, staring at the back of her younger sister.
"What did you say?" Chi-Chi demanded, eyes wide and furious. Bulma turned around, her expression one of mild surprise. She grinned.
"Kakarroto is winning!" she said. "Can you believe it? I thought they were equally matched, but if you look closely, you'll see he's gaining the upper hand!"
The pair on the floor stared at her in disbelief. Then, after few pregnant moments of silence, Bardock started to struggle and said, "Let me up then! I've got to help him!" Chi-Chi was up on her feet faster than her elder, however, and she shot past Bulma out the door; Bulma noted the look of panic on Chi-Chi's face and laughed.
Kakarroto's rage was blind and unconditional. Not only that, but the anger in it wasn't restricting him to clumsiness either, as Raditz soon found out; both were equal of skill and talent. Raditz took the defensive after a few fruitless attempts to hit Kakarroto, completely baffled; how could his brother have gotten so strong, and in such a short amount of time? It was only three days ago at breakfast that he was restraining his brother easily. Just how could Kakarroto have gotten this strong? It wasn't heard of—wasn't possible!
He caught Kakarroto's knee with his palm, and connected his forehead with his brother's, hurting them both. In this momentary pain, Raditz escaped from Kakarroto's grasp and shot a Ki beam up at his brother, the beam of energy exploding on contact; Kakarroto emerged from the cloud of dust several seconds later, however, completely unscathed; he lunged for his brother, screaming his deadly, "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" again.
"STOP IT!" Kakarroto heard Chi-Chi shout in his ear, and a second later he felt something very solid and heavy collide with his right temple. He zoomed down to the soil below, unable to stop himself.
Dust was flying up everywhere, flooding Kakarroto's nose, mouth and ears. He coughed and hacked ungainly for several seconds, only half listening to the shouting match going on above him.
"And just what the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"Saving your butt, that's what! And don't yell at me!"
"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP! HE'S ONLY MY THIRD CLASS BROTHER!"
"But you were—"
"HOW DARE YOU INTERFERE? THIS WAS MY BATTLE, AND I DON'T NEED A WOMAN FIGHTING IT FOR ME!"
"I WOULDN'T BE SO SURE ABOUT THAT! YOU DIDN'T SEEM TO BE DOING TOO WELL A WHILE AGO! BULMA SAID YOU WERE LOSING!"
"I WASN'T LOSING!"
Kakarroto waved the dust away from his face and peered up at the sky. He didn't have long to look, however, for two figures collided onto him like missiles, pinning him down. Now that the shock of being hit was over, his anger was swarming up in him again, and he howled and cursed and struggled against their hold; but Raditz and Chi-Chi's combined efforts were enough to keep him down.
"Kakarroto, calm down!" Chi-Chi commanded, no trace of pity in her voice. She sounded like she'd rip his arms off if he dared defy her. He stopped his struggling and glared up at her, eerily silent. She swallowed; she didn't like the way his entire body was still awfully tense under her hand, much like a coiled snake ready to strike.
"You wipe that look off your face, or I'll wipe it off for you," Raditz growled. Kakarroto continued to glare at Chi-Chi defiantly, almost as if he was determined not to look at his brother, but now he was baring his teeth. Chi-Chi blinked. He looked so much like a cornered beast, trapped under them like he was.
"Get off me," he suddenly said, his voice soft.
Raditz did the exact opposite, clenching Kakarroto's arm so hard that his fingernails dug under his brother's skin. Younger and older brother's glares finally met, and they shot each other such looks of absolute loathing that Chi-Chi got goosebumps. She shook herself uncomfortably, her tail bristling behind her. She looked up at the approaching footsteps.
Bulma and Bardock soon joined the group that hovered over Kakarroto. Bardock's eyes were fiery, and he looked about two thoughts away from disowning his youngest son. Bulma, however, was caught between admiration for her lover and hatred for her sister, a sea of emotion welling up inside her.
"So…" Bardock said softly, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
Raditz let out a small snort, turned his gaze from his brother to Bardock and then back to Kakarroto. He gave the younger a hard shove against the ground and finally let go, rising to his feet. Kakarroto shoved Chi-Chi off of him and sat up, dusting himself off with a disgruntled sneer.
"So," Bardock repeated. Kakarroto didn't give him the satisfaction of meeting his gaze; instead, he stood up and brushed his backside and the back of his shirt off.
"Kakarroto!" barked Bardock, grabbing the front of his son's shirt and jerking him forward, forcing son to meet his father's eyes. Chi-Chi held her breath. Kakarroto slowly reached up and placed his hand on top of his father's, his gaze venomous. He took a deep breath and made a point to exhale on his father's face.
"You will let me go," he whispered, "and you will let me go now."
Raditz growled and took a step foreword, but Bardock reached behind and caught his oldest child in the gut, shoving him backwards. He glared back at his youngest son.
"I don't believe I will ever understand you, Kakarroto. You are honestly the moodiest, most ridiculous, most fortune-seeking and immature Sayian I have ever come across. Not only that, but you're my son to boot. You represent me! Where is your sense of responsibility and pride, son? Where is your sense of honor? You've heard me preach of these things enough to be able to write a book on them! I know you have! You are more disappointing that I could have ever imagined, what with your disrespect to those of a higher class, your womanizing, and your apathy and disregard towards me. You think that I have absolutely no control over you son, when in fact I do! You think that NO one on this wide planet has control over you! I had always hoped you'd get better with time, maybe even with Raditz back to look up to, but I guess I was proved wrong. When it comes to you, I've always been proven wrong. Your disregard astounds me; even now I'm sure you don't give a flip about what I'm saying. And you know, sometimes I honestly wish I only had one child for all the trouble you cause. I'm just—just very glad your mother didn't have to see you turn out this way. She wouldn't have been able to bear it."
Silence.
There was nothing but silence.
Everyone held their breath, watching a certain, solitary someone.
Bulma swallowed. "Maybe… maybe I should go…" she said in a very small voice. No one heard her.
Kakarroto held his breath without realizing it. He felt like his knees were trembling, but they weren't, and he felt like his heart had stopped, but it hadn't. The amount of information his father had just force-fed him was far too great, so the words Bardock had just spoken were being vomited back out and digested again by Kakarroto's mind in much smaller quantities.
Raditz's eyes darted to his father, and he took a deep breath. Bardock looked exactly like a man who had had to shoot a pet he'd loved for many years just because it had shown signs of rabies. Raditz swallowed hard and turned back to his younger brother.
Kakarroto blinked, his eyes widening and condensing repeatedly. Finally, after the fourth reiteration of this, his eyes froze in that wide state, and he stared at Bardock as if he were a once-blind man suddenly able to see the horrors of the world. He looked down and raised his hand to his lip, feeling it gently.
"I… I'm bleeding," he said.
Bardock let out a shuddering breath, trying to regain his strict composure amongst steadily growing pity for his son. He opened his mouth to say something, but Kakarroto quickly trotted around them all and back inside the house, never looking up.
Kakarroto wished he hadn't destroyed kitchen door's replacement with Raditz's head, because he desperately wanted to lock the world out of his house. He paced aimlessly around the kitchen for a moment or two, never taking notice when he would accidentally trip on the upturned table. While turning around to walk in the other direction, he suddenly got a blast of deja vu.
Panic seized him. The world was suddenly upon him. He let out an uncontrollable groan of terror, his eyes darting in all directions around the kitchen till he spotted the hallway. He made a mad dash for his bedroom, turning corners so sharply he almost did a 180.
He locked this door behind him, but that brought no comfort. He folded his arms over his abdomen and crouched over, groaning fearfully again. His mind was racing for some protection—for something solid to cling onto.
So that was what his father thought of him? Why? What did he do wrong? What did he do wrong?
Bardock's words flashed through his memory again—a complete explanation of what he did wrong. But, Kakarroto thought, taking a shuddering breath and sinking to his knees, that was his entire life. The entire way he lived his life.
…So does Bardock not want me to live?
These words echoed in his mind, battling for predominance against Bardock's speech. Kakarroto fought back tears unsuccessfully, feeling exhausted. He felt like he'd been riding the same path of an endless cycle over, and over, and over again. Nothing he was doing was ending up right; nothing was pleasing to Bardock, because, Heaven help him, Bardock had Raditz to please him.
So he wasn't any use to his father? Fine then. He could be plenty use to himself.
Kakarroto shakily gathered his feet, rubbing his eyes. What was he doing? Sayians didn't cry. Of what use to him were his tears? Nothing. They were only there to please Bardock's sadistic three-ring circus of a home—of a life.
His ears picked up the sound of footsteps quickly stumbling down the hallway. He heard them stop at his door, and in the next instant Bulma spoke up. "Kakarroto?" she whispered through the door he'd once believed would keep the world out. "Kakarroto, are you okay?"
He wiped his nose with his fist, still moist from Raditz's blood. Oh yes, he was fine all right, he thought with a sigh. He was plenty fine. He took a deep breath, crossed the room and opened the door.
Bulma's baby blue eyes—so very rare on a planet so red—stared up at him uneasily. He saw everything in her eyes, unguarded and unchecked by her. She was afraid, and she was worried. She was startled, and she was aching from a rare, for Sayians, urge to alleviate his torment. She was in awe, and by the stars in the universe beyond, she was beautiful.
"You okay?" she mouthed again, her voice escaping her. Kakarroto raised a hand to her face and touched her cheek gently. She never flinched.
"My dear Bulma," he began, "would you do me the honor of attending my battle with Elite Superior Nappa?"
"Well I—are you—certainly. Of course, I wouldn't think of doing anything otherwise. It'd be my pleasure."
"I know," he chuckled, moving his hand from her cheek to her shoulder and patting it. Her laugh was careworn and short-lived. His fight was only a couple hours away, after all. A good, large breakfast and some calming meditation would fill up that time. And fill it up it certainly did; it was time. High noon had at last come.
---
What'll happen in the big fight? That's next chapter…
Pudgoose