He decided, for her sake, to not continue the conversation. They were over right now, and she needed her time to recover and collect herself. And, as badly as he wanted to clutch onto her, kissing her face over and over and tell her exactly how he felt, he simply hugged her once and walked to the curb to wait for the cab she'd said she'd called for him.
"Why Kami?" he whispered angrily as the cab approached in the distance. "You bastard…"
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
What could have happened?
It didn't make any sense to him, as they relayed, in full detail, the account of what had happened. He understood, of course, their reason for speaking with him, what nothing else made sense!
He wanted to call her suddenly and beg for her forgiveness, tell her that he never meant for any bad to come to her. But they were well beyond that stage now. He highly doubted she would even speak to him again, no matter the circumstance.
"You do understand the severity of these actions, sir?" one of the detectives said, bringing him back. He looked up at the young woman, who couldn't have been older than thirty, and nodded. Of course he understood. "Please." She motioned to the tape recorder he had said they could use.
He cleared his throat and leaned forward, his hands locked together on his lap under the generic metal table.
"Yes," he said. "I understand."
"And you understand the condition in which Miss Briefs is in?"
"Yes, of course." Oh Kami! It was all his fault! "But I never—"
"That will be enough," she said sternly, pressing the STOP button on the recorder. "Thank you for your time Mr. Sunada."
She walked out, giving him a stiff smile, and left him to his thoughts.
And the only thing he could think was, "I have betrayed you, Bulma. Please, Kami, forgive me!"
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Are you sure you're up to this, Miss Briefs?" the tall, white-haired officer asked.
"Yes, very sure."
He nodded and motioned for her to follow him. Her mother and father had offered to come with her today, though she had refused immediately. She did not think that in her state of mind she could handle anyone being there with her, even Vegeta, who she had not spoken to in nearly two months. Aki had also wanted to accompany her; it took much more convincing to get her to agree to not go.
They stopped at a small desk, where a young man with wire-rimmed glasses sat, reading a tattered Dickens' novel. He glanced once at the I.D. card the officer showed him, then pressed a button unseen beneath the desk, and the large barred door kitty-corner to them clattered open.
Bulma's stomach dropped.
"This way, Miss Briefs," the officer said, touching her elbow lightly. She jumped back and looked up into his eyes. He smiled warmly down at her, and came around her side, putting his arm around her shoulder. "You are perfectly safe. I promise you."
The corridor from there was long and narrow, the walls consisting of large gray bricks and barely lit lights hung on rusted wires overhead. When the officer noticed her apprehension, he assured her that only the halls were in such condition. The rest of the facility was completely humane.
She forced a smile. That was not why she feared to move on.
As they walked along, the light grew brighter, until then were in a small room, bathed in sunlight; there was another man at another desk in the corner. They went through the same routine all over again, only this time there was no long, dimly-lit corridor. And the door which they stood before was normal sized with a small glass window at the top. She had no desire to look inside.
"Is that it?" Bulma asked, pointing to the door.
"Yes, and don't worry. We will monitor you the entire time. You have nothing to fear."
"Thanks," she mumbled, her trepidation rising like a boiling volcano. Any moment she would erupt.
And then, all of a sudden it seemed, the door was open and it was her move. She swallowed a hard lump in her throat, took a deep breath, and walked through the door. She was expecting the door to shut behind her, but nonetheless she jumped as it slammed, her eyes fixed on the table before her and the pale man sitting at it. There was a large mirror behind him; they were watching them from behind it and she felt almost calm as she approached the table and took a seat.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
The glaring sun broke through the poorly shut curtains, interrupting the longest night sleep he had had in months. He rolled over and, as was ritual now, looked at the tear-away calendar on his bedside table.
"Fifty-eight," he groaned, pulling off the page from the day before. He somehow managed to climb out of bed, and not a moment later his cell phone rang. Begrudgingly, he answered it. "What?"
"Are you going to be ready for the game in fifteen minutes?" came Goku's chipper voice. He cringed and hung up the phone. It rang again immediately.
"Yes, Kami," he snapped and chucked the useless piece of plastic across the room, heading for the bathroom. Jai-Alai seemed to be the only solace in his life anymore. All his anger and hurt could be taken out in the few hours a week he allowed himself to interact with other people.
In less than three months he was graduating, and then he would go to college somewhere far from the people he had stupidly allowed himself to get attached to. Already he had sent in applications all over Japan; but it was recently that he applied to certain colleges unknown to him in Europe and America. Perhaps distance was what he needed. He didn't know, but it was the only solution he could come up with in his raging fury. If she wanted distance, he would give her all the distance she could stomach. And then—
He stopped short in the doorway, the room still steamy from the last occupant, and stared at his reflection in the mirror across the room. He could scarcely grasp his own reality; only months ago he had been this miserable, this hopeless, this angry. He had wanted nothing more than to graduate and get as far from Satan City as possible. And then she had returned and suddenly he wished for nothing more than to spend the rest of his life with her, wherever she may be. It didn't matter to him so long as he could see her smile and hold her against him. Now he was full circle again and he was sure the cycle would continue in this fashion for the rest of his life. But could he stand it?
He walked into the bathroom and shut and locked the door.
She would have all the distance she wanted, and then he would be gone.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"What the hell is your problem!?" Goku snapped, jumping back to his feet, his cesta clenched to his chest. "I'm on your team, Vegeta!"
"You were in my way," he shot back, unsuccessfully wiping some mud from his face.
"Look, Vegeta." He lowered his voice and took a step forward. Vegeta took a disgusted step back. "I know you must be going through a lot right now, but that doesn't mean you can take it out on the people who care about you."
"Don't get mushy on me, Kakarot."
"Just shut up and listen to me."
Vegeta grimaced and looked away.
"She hasn't called any of us, and I know it must seem like she never will, and she'll just disappear like before." Vegeta rolled his eyes and nodded. "But I can't see her feeling the way she does about you, and having nothing standing in her way, and NOT come back! She loves you, Kami damn it, and only a fool would turn their back on something like that."
"Then I suppose we're both fools. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to finish the game I woke up so damn early to play." He turned sharply, and was about to run down the field into position, when he was yanked back, tumbling unceremoniously to the muddy ground. "What the fuck!"
"You don't mean that, Vegeta. I know you don't. You love her and you can't deny that to me."
"I never denied it," he hissed through his teeth. He clamored to his feet, throwing down his cesta. Goku saw immediately in his eyes that he meant to fight. "But you can't expect me to sit around and wait for whenever the hell she feels like having a relationship with me!"
"Stop lying to yourself!"
The first punch hurt a lot more than Goku had expected, and he returned it with just as much fury. By the time the rest of their team was able to tear them apart, they were covered equally in mud, blood, and bruises. The game was forfeited to the other team.
Mrs. Ouji didn't say a word to either boy when she picked them up. She dropped them off at Goku's without so much as asking what had happened. She already knew, and there was nothing she could say or do that could fix the situation.
Once they were inside, their wounds tended to by themselves, and sitting at the kitchen table with steaming mugs of coffee, Goku felt it was safe to talk.
"Are you going to listen to me now?" he asked, wincing at the hot liquid.
Vegeta took a long gulp of coffee, completely unaffected by its temperature, and then, very slowly, he nodded.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"No one told me to come," she said to him, though he had not so much as looked at her since she arrived. "I decided it was the only thing that could help me…cope."
Silence across the table.
"I think I must have loved you once," she sighed, glancing quickly at him, and then back at her folded hands. "In the beginning. You were everything I thought I wanted, and when you were real in front of me, I guess I couldn't help myself and I got lost in it all—"
"What happened was in no way your fault," he said suddenly. She looked up, startled, her lips flinching. "And I do love you still, Bulma. I have always loved you, like I told you before, since the moment I saw you."
"But why did you hurt me, Takao?" Oh Kami! Why am I here! This was not a good idea!
"I honestly cannot say," he sighed, and for the first time she saw true remorse in his eyes. "My shrink tells me that it's because of my father. I was quote unquote traumatized by what he did to my mother that it never left me." He looked away, unable anymore to look at her. "Something like that," he said, with a small offhanded gesture. But she could see the anxiety he was feeling by just talking about it. He seemed in that moment as cold and heartless as Vegeta, but also as good-natured and pure. Kami did she need to lie down.
"But you hurt other women too," she whispered, leaning forward. She was about to touch his hands that rested on the table, when he snatched them back.
"They don't want anyone to touch me," he said. "They don't think I'm stable."
"I'm sorry," she sighed, "but you don't look stable."
"I know what I did was wrong," he said. "I know that I love you, and I love Aki, and I hate myself. I should never have survived that night. I—" His voice caught in his throat, and for the first time she saw tears flow down his cheeks. "I ruined your life, Bulma!" he cried, looking directly at her. "I ruined your life…"
"Anything can be fixed," she said, surprising herself with her words. Did she really believe that? Certainly not a moment ago, when he had been calm and disconnected. What was it about tears that brought out her worst judgment?
"I can't undo what I did to you Bulma, but I don't, under any circumstances, want you to forgive me."
She nodded slowly, for that's all she could think to do, and then looked down.
"I—" Should I say it? Where is the script for moments like this? "I never planned to forgive you, Takao, only to forget you…"
"But you can't?"
"I'm here, aren't I?" she laughed bitterly. Why did it still feel like she was trapped by him? He was handcuffed across the table and they were in a prison. She was finally safe from him, and yet her heart still wrenched with pain, as if she was not allowed to have the life she dreamed of. "Why did you take me away from my family?" She couldn't know where the question came from, only that she could not stop it, and wanted desperately to know.
"Because you wouldn't have married me if you were still at home," he sighed. "Kami, I'm psychotic."
"I don't think you belong here then."
"I don't qualify for the loony bin." He shrugged and glanced around. "I deserve to be here anyway. After, well, you know…"
"I still don't understand. I could have loved you the way you were. Why did you need to own me? You seemed like such a great person when I first met you." She was truly distraught inside. But it was best, for the moment, to remain calm. His tears could all be an act, like everything else, and then she didn't know what she would do.
"You never could have loved me," he said bluntly. "Not with Vegeta on your mind."
She cringed noticeably. How she hated that he knew his name.
"Sorry. I shouldn't have—"
"No, its ok. I just…I haven't talked to him since that day at the chapel."
"Why?" He looked genuinely concerned. Cautiously she proceeded. Do not fall into the trap!
"I needed to get myself back together. I didn't want him to see how broken I was; I refuse to put him through hell like that for my sake."
"But don't you think he's going through hell anyway without you?" Bulma's ears perked and she looked up at the man who had tortured her for so long. "Why not allow him to go through hell with you?"
"I—" She stumbled over her words, her fingers curling around the hem of her shirt, twisting it into a tight knot. "I can't answer that…"
"Bulma." She looked up, unable to choose an expression. "You said you wouldn't put him through hell for your sake." She nodded. It seemed that was all she was capable of doing. "But didn't you put yourself through hell with…with me for his sake?"
Kami! He was making so much sense! And yet…how could she face him?
"No, no…That was…different…"
"Different how? Bulma, you have to allow him to decide for himself what he needs. And I know you need him now…You're ashamed, aren't you?"
"Well who wouldn't be!" Suddenly she was completely angry with him again, and she stood, her chair crashing to the floor. "I let you do what you did to me, Takao! I allowed it to happen; it was all my fault! I should have been able to stop you, but I couldn't! I pushed away everyone I ever loved and for what!?" How red her face must have been. "I lost my life! Tell me you wouldn't be ashamed."
"Fear is nothing to be ashamed of," Takao said, as if he were trying to convince himself.
"Don't tell me how to feel Takao. You don't control me anymore."
"I wish I never had," he sighed.
"Fuck you, and shut the hell up." She grabbed the fallen chair, righted it, then went to the door. In a moment the officer would open it for her, and she would never have to look at Takao Daishi for the rest of her life. It frightened her that it was an uneasy thought, never seeing him again.
The door unlocked and swung open. She was almost out of the room, when he spoke up, stopping her completely.
"You're ready now, aren't you?" he asked. She turned back and looked into his eyes. And she realized all of a sudden that she was no longer afraid of this man. "You're ready to pick up your life, and you're ready to forget me, and to be with Vegeta."
"Yes, Takao," she said, smiling genuinely for the first time. "More than anything."
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"I didn't think you'd agree to see me," he said, picking at the blueberry muffin he'd been offered. It was so strange seeing her now after all that had happened. If only he had known sooner, if only he had caught it before anything had happened!
"I've learned to quell my emotions," she said sternly, still standing at the stove, waiting for the tea water to boil. "Besides, I don't hate you."
"You-You don't?" Kami, he was glad he hadn't taken a bite of that muffin or he would be choking right now. "But I—"
"I don't know why I was so short with you, Eizan. Maybe I just missed my old life, and I wanted to blame someone." She poured the water into two mugs and grabbed the box of tea bags, then took a seat across from him at the kitchen table. "I'm sorry."
"Kami, no," he all but gasped. He reached across the table and took her hands in his. "I'm sorry. I should never have—"
"No one knew how he was. I'm to blame as much as anyone."
"I—"
"But if it makes you feel better, I forgive you, if you can forgive my harshness."
"Oh Bulma," he sighed, leaning back. "You truly are one of a kind."
"I fired Yutaka," she said out of the blue. "And I need a new agent. I know that's not really your area of—"
"I would love to."
"Great." She took a long sip of tea, allowing its warmth to fill her and soothe her. "Now there's only one thing left to do."
"What?"
"Go back to Satan City…"
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
---Chapter 16!! Damn you Bulma! Why did you ever break up with him! You're a fool! :P Wow, you weren't expecting all that, huh? :P I'm just full of crazy surprises!
REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (ReviewsMore Chapters)
Next time: Satan City!!