Chapter Ten: The Morning After the Night Before, part 2
*************
When he arrived downstairs, the rest
of the household was
gathered at the table. Nabiki looked
like she had slept at the table
last night; Soun and Genma were reading
the morning paper. Nodoka
was just sitting down and Kasumi entered
the room with the last of
the food.
Goku had a set of chopsticks in his
hands and was watching
Kasumi place the food down on the table
with the skill of an eagle's
eye, all the while bouncing up and down
in anticipation. He briefly
tore his gaze from the food and focused
it on his Prince. "Are
Serori and Seiika coming down?"
"Hn. Sit still, Kakarotto. You're as antsy as a brat."
Nabiki opened a sleepy eye and trained
it on the visitors.
"Ohaiyo, Vejiita-ototochan." Vejiita
winced and glared at the
nickname. Nabiki calmly ignored it.
"If I may ask, and I will, why
are you two here so early this morning?"
He scowled at the lack of respect.
"You will show me more
respect, Onna. Kakarotto and I are
here to begin Seiika and
Serori's training."
"Seiika and Serori? Oh, you mean
Akane and Ranma." Vejiita
said nothing to acknowledge the name difference.
"They did plenty
of 'training' last night. They kept
me up half the night until they
moved the yowling and thumping outside."
Nodoka nodded. "Ranma-chan was
very manly with
Akane-chan last night. I was so proud
of him!" The others
sweatdropped, but said nothing.
Kasumi spoke up. "Vejiita-ototochan,"
the male flinched once
again, but said nothing, "who is Kakarotto?"
Goku answered for him. "That's me, Kasumi-san."
Everyone turned a curious eye to the
tall Saiya-jiin. "Why?"
Kasumi asked innocently.
He explained with a shrug. "That's
my birth name on
Vejiita-sei. Only Vejiita calls me
that, though. Son Goku was the
name my grandfather, Son Gohan, gave me
when I arrived on
Chikyuu. It's who my son is named
after, as well."
One of the papers rustled and threw
out a question. "Isn't
Son Gohan one of the past winners of the
Tenka-ichi Budokai?"
Goku nodded emphatically. "Hai.
Grandpa Gohan was a great
fighter. He was the one that trained
me in the very beginning
before I...he died." A moment of silence
followed his explanation.
Soun peeked out from behind his section
of the paper. "I
remember hearing about that tournament."
His eyebrows furrowed
in concentration. "Were you ever in
the Tenka-ichi Budokai,
Goku-san?"
Goku nodded. "Hai, I have been
in several. I started when I
was young, after training with Kamesen'nin
Muten Roshi."
A look of awe crossed Soun's face and
Genma lowered his
paper to study the Saiya-jiin in front of
him. "You studied under
Muten Roshi, Goku-san?"
Goku nodded again. "Hai.
That's were me and Kuririn learned
the Kame hame ha"
Genma nodded. "He's a world-reknown
martial arts master. I
wanted to take Ranma to train under him
but could not find where
he holed himself." Genma sighed at
the missed opportunity.
"His island is in the middle of the
ocean. You would not have
been able to find it without someone directing
you to it."
Nodoka threw out a question.
"How did you find it, then,
Goku-san?"
"Kamesen'nin had one of the dragonballs
that Bulma and I
were looking for. So we found it with
the dragon radar she
invented."
Nabiki rolled her eyes at the martial
artist mumbo-jumbo and
changed the subject. "I have a question,
Goku-san." He nodded in
response, turning his attention to her.
At that moment, Ranma and
Akane made their appearance and sat down
in their customary spots.
Food then began to be passed around at a
very rapid rate.
"Tell me, Goku-san," Nabiki continued,
after getting her
share of the meal, "Vejiita-ototochan said
that you were sent to
wipe out Chikyuu when you were a baby."
Goku nodded
uncomfortably. "So why didn't you?"
Everyone paused in their
eating, except for Vejiita, who calmly continued
on. "Not that I'm
complaining, I was just curious."
Goku sighed and set his chopsticks
on the table. "Well, I
don't remember anything because I was sent
off-planet so young,
but I was told I was sent as a baby because
I was born with a power
level of three." The three other Saiya-jiin
in the room snickered.
"And when I arrived, I was a terror.
But one day, in one of my
temper tantrums, I fell over a cliff and
hit my head on a rock, and
lost my memories of being Saiya-jiin, and
my mission." Goku picked
up his chopsticks and resumed his vacuuming,
well, eating. Vejiita
mumbled something under his breath about
third-class baka traitors
that earned him an elbow in the side from
Akane.
Nabiki smiled at the naiveté
of Goku. "So you bumped your
head and had amnesia, forgetting about having
to cleanse Chikyuu of
the Humans." Goku nodded and continued
to eat.
"Well, that's certainly lucky for us,
right, Saotome?" Soun
chuckled lightly. Genma just grunted
and continued to shovel food in
his mouth.
In a few short minutes, breakfast was
devoured and cleaned
up. Everyone that wanted to, gathered
outside to watch the training
session.
Goku and Vejiita circled Ranma, who
was circling, himself,
trying to keep an eye on both of them.
Without warning, the two
older Saiya-jiin simultaneously attacked
the unsuspecting Ranma.
Seeing the two-fronted assault, Ranma jumped
in the air, hoping
they would collide with each other.
No such luck. Vejiita bounced
off the ground and launched
himself after the blue-shirted Ranma.
Goku followed a moment later
and within a blink of an eye, both began
to pummel Ranma
mercilessly.
Ranma, however hard he tried, wasn't
able to get a hit in
anywhere. He spent the entire duration
of the attack in defense,
trying not to get hit by the stunning blows
that Goku and Vejiita
were attacking with. But both were
holding back, much to Ranma's
disappointment. He knew that if they
didn't hold back, then he
would be in much worse shape than he was
in now. A thought
crossed his mind. 'Is this what Akane
feels like when I won't spar
with her?' But such thoughts were
meant for another time--when he
actually could concentrate on them.
For now, he had to focus all his
attention and energy on not dying under
the two merciless
Saiya-jiin's training methods.
After several minutes of pounding the
living snot out of the
young male in front of them, the two adults
stopped their attack and
backed away.
Vejiita spit off to the side in annoyance.
"You were not
trained properly. That was a weak
assault on you. If we went full
board, you would be nothing but a piece
of cloth fluttering in the
wind." Vejiita scowled once again
at his poorly trained
'brother-in-law.'
On the porch, Genma, who was watching
the training session
with Soun, became red in the face at the
insult, but wisely, said
nothing. He snorted and went inside,
Soun following in his friend's
footsteps.
'Aww, Vejiita, he's not that bad."
Goku turned to the barely
floating Ranma. "You have a long way
to go, Serori, to be caught up
with the two of us. But at least you
have the basics down. You seem
to have improved slightly from yesterday's
match, ne, Vejiita?"
Vejiita just grunted.
Ranma nodded weakly. "I know.
Compared to you both, I'm
just a beginner. Although, you have
been training for longer than I
have."
Vejiita snorted. "That's no excuse.
Kakarotto's brat has
been training for only a couple of years.
And he is at least around
your level."
"Well, since you two act all high and
mighty, why don't you
show me, the weakling brat, how to do it?"
Ranma sneered at
Vejiita, getting pissed off at the Prince
for damaging his pride. The
others watching on the porch murmured an
agreement. It would
truly be a sight to see the stronger ones
'go at it.'
Akane spoke up, coming off the porch
to talk to the three
males. "What about me? I want
to spar, too."
Goku looked at Vejiita with a question
on his face. Vejiita
crossed his arms and spoke one word:
"Gohan."
Goku's eyes lit up and he nodded enthusiastically.
"That's a
great idea, Vejiita! He'd be a great
sparring partner."
"Isn't Gohan your little boy, Goku-san?"
He nodded once again. "Hai, he
is, but he's a really good
fighter. He's been training almost
constantly for several years.
He's better than you, Seiika-oujo, but you
would need to fight
someone more on your level." He turned
to Ranma. "Kuririn would be
a good partner for you, Serori." Goku
then turned to his Prince.
"What do you think of that one, Vejiita?"
He grunted and nodded a bit.
"Hn. The bald creature would
be adequate."
Akane looked like she was about to
get angry, but sighed, and
nodded reluctantly. "If you feel that's
best. It'll be strange
fighting a child. Do you want to use
the phone to call them?"
Goku shook his head and smiled.
"Actually, I have a new
technique that I have been dying to show
you. It's called Shinkou
Idan, or I guess you could call it teleportation."
Vejiita raised an eyebrow. "You
know how to teleport,
Kakarotto?"
Goku smiled, his excitement over his
new technique bubbling
over through his actions. "Hai!
I learned it on the planet I crashed
on after Namek-sei blew up. I just
concentrate on a person's ki; the
stronger the better, and put two fingers
up to my forehead and
'poof!' It's sorta hard to do, but
the more I do it, the easier it will
get. Should I go get them now, Vejiita?"
He nodded and Goku demonstrated his
new technique. To
everyone's amazement, they watched as Goku
faded out of
existence.
Ranma jumped up and down, excited by
the special move. "Oh
boy! He's gotta show me that one!"
Akane just rolled her eyes and snorted.
"Yeah, right, Ranma.
That's just what I need. You popping
in and out of everywhere." A
thoughtful look crossed her face.
"Although, it would be a useful
way to get out of Kuno situations..."
Her reverie was interrupted by
Goku popping back in, with Gohan clinging
to his leg.
The young boy blinked a few times,
and smiled up at his
father in wonder. "Wow, 'Tousan, it
actually works! It felt sort of
funny, too."
Gohan's father laughed, and tousled
his hair. "It does, at
first, but you get used to it fast."
Gohan disentangled himself from
his father's leg and Goku gave them a wave.
"I'll go get Kuririn, now.
Do you know where he is, Gohan?"
He shook his head. "Not exactly.
Try Kamesen'nin's house."
Goku nodded and fizzled out. Gohan
turned toward the rest of the
group. "Hi, everyone! Ohaiyo,
Seiika-oujo, Serori-san, Vejiita-ouji.
'Tousan said we're going to spar today?"
Akane nodded. "Hai, we already
started this morning. Your
Otousan said that you'd be a good partner
for me."
Gohan nodded. "That sounds like
fun. Okaasan almost didn't
let me come, but 'Tousan convinced her.
She doesn't like me to fight
a lot."
At that moment, Goku popped back in
with Kuririn at his side.
The smaller male shook his head, clearing
himself of the tingly
feeling the teleporting left behind.
"That's some ride, Goku." The
bearer of the ride just smiled in response.
Akane walked up to the new arrival
and introduced herself.
"Ohaiyo! I'm Saotome Akane, and the
tired lump of blood over there
is my mate, Ranma." Ranma waved in
greeting.
Kuririn bowed back. "It's nice
to meet you." He turned
toward Ranma and gave him a once-over.
"I've heard some things
about you, Saotome-san." He raised
an eyebrow. "Are they true?"
Ranma stood as straight as his body
and his pride would let
him and he puffed out his chest. "Of
course they aren't. I'm much
better than the stories make me out to be!"
Akane groaned and elbowed him in the
side. Ranma bent over
and winced in pain. "Baka! Stop
puffing yourself up. The only
stories that are true is how you keep getting
chased by those
floozies and running around naked."
She turned back to Kuririn
again. "He thinks he's hot stuff.
Although that remains to be seen,
especially since he shown it so well, so
far." She indicated to the
bloody pools forming around his feet.
Kuririn shook his head. "I can
tell Goku and Vejiita got to you
already today."
Ranma scoffed and straightened out
a bit, throwing Akane a
scowl. "Yeah, well, I let them beat
me up. Good for their egos."
Snickers and snorts were heard from all
around. Ranma just
scowled.
Kuririn coughed and tried to cover
his own chuckle. He
turned to Goku. "Well, what should
we do?"
Vejiita nodded to Ranma. "I want
you to spare with Baldy,
Serori. Brat, go with Seiika.
Light, for now. No ki attacks. I'll tell
you when to step up."
All four combatants nodded. Gohan
and Akane jumped into
the air, and Ranma and Kuririn followed
suit, moving a pace or two
away.
Each partnered set powered up and flew
at each other to
being attacking. It was obvious who
had the better training in each
pair. Kuririn and Ranma were fairly
well-matched, but Kuririn had a
glaring advantage, being fresh to the fight.
Akane was holding her own against young
Gohan, but again,
Gohan had a clear advantage, fighting-wise.
Sure, he has been
training for only a short time, but his
training had been intense,
unlike Akane, who's training was very light
and lax over several
years.
Gohan got a good hit in, and Akane
went flying, landing in the
dust. Ranma, seeing Akane fly through
the air, got distracted long
enough for Kuririn to notice and take advantage
of the momentary
lapse in attention. Kuririn launched
a clean crescent kick to his
opponent's midsection, and Ranma flew backwards,
landing in the koi
pond.
Ranma surfaced seconds later, female,
and spitting out a
mouthful of pond water. He sprung
from the pond with a cry and
furiously attacked the bald monk.
Kuririn, though, had never met 'Ranko,'
and was completely
startled by the redhead. 'Who is this?
Where'd she come from? Is
this really Ranma?'
Ranma took full advantage of Kuririn's
confusion. "Kachuu
Tenshin Ameguriken!"
Kuririn staggered back, stunned by
the sheer amount of hits
that Ranma was getting in, that is, if this
was really Ranma. He had
heard vaguely of the redhead with the same
name, but just passed it
off as hearsay and fabrication.
"Well, I guess it isn't a rumor, anymore!"
Kuririn blocked the
punches as well as possible, and when he
saw a chance, launched his
own counter-attack.
Ranma grunted as his fists were blocked
and felt Kuririn's
own, meeting their marks. 'This guy
is good--and fast. Goku-san was
right when he said he'd be a good sparring
partner." Ranma grinned
through gritted teeth and picked up the
pace once more.
Meanwhile, while the two pairs were
sparring, Vejiita and
Goku were watching the fights carefully.
Vejiita's scowl got deeper
and deeper as Ranma and Akane got hit more
and more. He gritted
his teeth and reluctantly called out:
"Alright, next level!"
Ranma threw his partner a grin and
shouted "Mouko
Takabisha!" The ki blast hit Kuririn
in the arm. Ranma backed up
and waited for Kuririn's assault.
He wasn't disappointed. Kuririn
raised his arms and crossed
them in front of his face. "Taiyo-ken!"
A bright flare lit up the sky
and Ranma covered his blinded eyes with
a shout.
Kuririn used the blinding flash to
his opportunity and
attacked him at full speed. Ranma
was still blind, but tried to block
the onslaught as best as possible.
Soon, he was able to see blurry
outlines, but Kuririn was moving so fast
he was a fuzzy blur already.
When Vejiita announced the next level,
Gohan put his hands
together and made the motions for his ki
attack. "Kame..." but
Kuririn's flash attack blinded him.
Akane took full advantage of her
sparring partner's blindness and pulled
out her mallet from subspace.
Akane cried out and swiped Gohan in the
stomach, knocking him to
the ground, breathless.
Ranma, seeing Akane won her match,
called out to her. "Good
one, Akane! Get out of the way!"
She nodded in his direction, flew
down to the porch, picking up Gohan on the
way.
Vejiita and Goku looked at her with
questions written in their
expressions. She shrugged and sat
down on the porch. "Ranma's
going to spiral." They nodded in acknowledgment
and turned back to
watch.
Ranma led Kuririn into the spiral,
kicking and punching to keep
Kuririn occupied and his hot ki flowing,
and at the same time, turning
his own ki colder and colder. The
others could feel the air starting
to churn in response to the different fronts
moving together.
Akane saw them reach the center and shouted, "Now, Ranma!"
Ranma nodded and with a punch that
completely missed its
target, but accomplished its task of mixing
the auras, the shout of
"Hiryuu Shoten Ha!" launched the cyclone
of hot and cold ki that
caught Kuririn completely unaware and unprepared.
Gohan sat up and moved closer to Akane,
watching Ranma
create the tornado with a critical eye.
"How does he do that,
Seiika-oujo?"
Akane looked over to the young Saiya-jiin
and smiled. "That
would be a secret I'm not allowed to tell.
You'll have to ask Ranma
about that one."
Gohan nodded and shrugged. He'd
find out one way or
another. "That was a good match we
had back there, Seiika-oujo.
But why didn't you go Super Saiya-jiin?
It would have helped your
offense and defense tremendously."
Akane looked puzzled. "Super
Saiya-jiin? What are you
talking about?"
Goku and Vejiita both turned from watching
Ranma's spiral
and looked at her incredulously. "You
don't remember?"
Akane shook her head. "What am I supposed to remember?"
Vejiita knelt down in front of Akane.
"You transformed into a
Super Saiya-jiin last night when you were
mad at Serori." He stared
hard into her eyes.
Akane blinked at her brother.
"Honto?" He nodded
somberly. "What did I look like?"
Vejiita blinked. "Well, you..."
Gohan interrupted Vejiita. "'Tousan,
why don't you show her
what it looks like?"
Goku looked down at his son and smiled.
"Sure, Gohan." He
lowered his head slightly and began to power
up. His aura burst
forth and Goku's Super Saiya-jiin features
melted into being: tall,
spiky, golden-blond hair, aquamarine pupil-less
eyes, and a body that
bulked out even more than it was originally,
if that was possible. He
smirked at Akane's surprised expression.
"You look like this, only
female, and smaller."
Akane stared at Goku, feeling the power
radiating off him in
waves. She circled around him, taking
in the new look. "I looked like
this? Can I do it again?"
He shrugged. "I don't see why
not. I can control it now, but
at first it was formed by my extreme anger
at Friezer."
Akane closed her eyes and concentrated
on powering up. Her
aura sprung into life and grew by leaps
and bounds, and every now
and then a flicker of yellow streaked through
her aura and hair. But
she didn't change all the way.
By this time, the cyclone of ki had
died down and Ranma and
Kuririn came over to the four Saiya-jiin
on the porch, watching
Akane gather her power. Ranma decided
to help Akane out with her
power-up.
"Hey, Akane, why do you even try?
An uncute tomboy like
yourself couldn't do such a thing.
You might break a nail, or
something!" Akane's aura flickered
brighter. Vejiita's aura started
to grow, in reaction to Ranma's words and
Akane's aura. Goku put a
hand on his shoulder to calm him down.
He shrugged it off and
glared at the taller male. But his
attention quickly refocused on his
sister.
Ranma watched her aura with an amused
eye and continued
with the barbs. "Yeah, the only thing
chunky and clunky girls like you
are good for is doin' the cooking and cleaning.
Oh wait, you can't
cook worth snot, so cross out those ideas.
You can't even do that!"
Akane screamed loudly and exploded into
Super Saiya-jiin, aura
flaming wildly.
Goku smiled as his partner in yellow
started to chase her
mate around the yard, yelling very colorful
words. Vejiita and Gohan
just watched in amusement.
Ranma felt like he was running for
his life. Which he was.
"Akane, now just hold on a minute!
I was just trying to help you
achieve the next step! You know I
didn't mean any of those things!
Come on, I just wanted to see my Kiiro Himawari,
my Yellow
Sunflower."
Akane stopped suddenly, realization
dawning over her face.
"Yellow sunflower? Is this why you
called me that?" She indicated
to her Super Saiya-jiin state.
He nodded, slowly approaching her. "My Hima-chan."
She smiled softly. "That's sweet,
Ranma." She wiped the
smile off her face. "But that doesn't
get you out of your punishment
for saying those things about me."
She launched herself at him once
more.
Ranma widened his eyes and deftly avoided
her attack. He
started to run away from her once more.
"But they were for your
own good, Hima-chan..." And the chase
continued.
At that moment, Kasumi opened the door
to the backyard and
called out over the din of the chase and
pointless bickering,
"Vejiita-ototochan, you have a phone call."
He turned around abruptly. "Who is it?"
"It's Bulma-san."
The male grumbled under his breath
as followed Kasumi into
the house.
She handed him the receiver with a
smile. "Here you go,
ototochan!"
He nodded and put the receiver to his
ear. "What Onna?
Must you disturb my training wherever I
go?"
~Capsule Corp~
Bulma sat on a stool in her lab with
a cell phone cradled to
her ear and a screwdriver in her hand.
"Wonderful greeting,
Vejiita-chan. Do you need special
training on how to answer a
phone?"
"What do you want, Onna?"
"I just wanted to remind you to bring
Seiika and Serori back
with you today."
"I haven't forgotten, Onna."
He paused. "Anything else
before I slam the phone down?"
"Not really. Having fun?"
"Hmpf. Seiika went Super Saiya-jiin
again. Serori pushed
her into it once more by teasing her and
getting her mad."
"That's nice. Well, I just called
to remind you. Do you know
when you'll be coming back?"
"This afternoon, most likely.
Kakarotto's brat and Chrome
Dome are here, as well."
"How'd they get there?"
"Kakarotto knows how to teleport."
"Oh, neat. Okay, well, I'll let you get back to your fun."
"Hmpf."
"Anyway, do hurry home. It's
rather quiet here without your
constant nagging and barking."
Vejiita snorted. "You will survive. You have before."
"Yeah, well, I got used to your presence
here really fast.
And, well, I miss you."
Vejiita paused and looked around to
see if anyone was
watching or listening. They were all
doing their own things, or
watching Seiika chase Serori around the
yard. He turned his back
on his semi-audience. "Your presence
is lacking, as well, Onna.
Seiika, Serori and Kakarotto know we've
Bonded."
"Nani?" She shouted in his ear.
He pulled the phone away
and winced. "How'd they find that
out?"
"Onna! Stop shouting. I'll
go deaf at that rate! Seiika
recognized our ki last night during the
Ceremony and guessed you
outright. Kakarotto thought I'd Bonded
with your mother."
"Nani? Where'd he get a stupid idea like that?"
He sighed and rubbed the bridge of
his nose. "Seiika said
that I was the new heir to Capsule Corp.
And being there baka he is,
read it wrong."
"Oh well. I knew we wouldn't
be able to keep it a secret for
long. Okay, I'm going now. See
you later, Otoko."
"Hmpf. Later, Onna."
"Aishiteru, Vejiita-chan."
Extended Pause. "Aishiteru, Onna."
Vejiita mumbled quickly
and slammed down the receiver with a pink
blush to his high
cheekbones.
Bulma blinked for several long minutes;
Vejiita's last words
echoed in her ears.
Aishiteru, Onna.
A small giggle sprouted from Bulma
and rose in pitch and
frequency until she was rolling on the floor
in gales of laughter. She
stood up and ran through the corridors like
a giddy schoolgirl.
"He said he loved me! Yatta! Yatta!"
**********
Back in Nerima, Vejiita emerged from
the house with a deep
scowl on his face, trying to desperately
compose himself and
restrain his emotions. Goku turned
around when Vejiita neared him.
"What did Bulma want?"
"She called to remind me to bring Serori
and Seiika back to
Capsule Corp. As if I would forget."
Goku nodded. "That's right! I'd forgotten."
Vejiita scoffed and turned away.
"I know you would,
Kakarotto." They continued to watch
Akane chase Ranma around the
yard. She had been getting in some
hits, seeing Ranma was beginning
to tire from the running and dodging.
Vejiita halted the fight with a
phrase. "Seiika, attack the brat now."
Gohan looked up at Vejiita, startled,
but nodded. Akane
turned toward Gohan and ran, fist drawn
back for a punch. Gohan
jumped into the air to avoid her swing,
and kicked Akane in the back,
knocking her down. She rolled right
back onto her feet and launched
herself again at the small demi Saiya-jiin,
feet and fists blurring
from the attack.
Gohan blinked at the frenzied attack
and managed to get in a
few strikes of his own. The two traded
blows and shots for some
time before they broke apart, breathing
heavily.
"In this form, I'm a lot stronger!"
Akane exclaimed between
breaths.
Gohan nodded, agreeing with her.
"That was a lot better than
the first time."
Vejiita also nodded in agreement.
"It was better, but you
still had gaping holes in your defense.
Now, I want the brat to
attack, and you just block. No striking
back. Gaki, find all the holes
and strike repeatedly until they close up."
Both nodded, and started
sparring again, with Gohan on the offensive
and Akane defending.
He found plenty of holes, but Akane corrected
them immediately.
Vejiita called for a halt. They
both panted breathlessly and
slowly lowered themselves to the ground,
Akane flickering out of
Super Saiya-jiin mode. "Wow, I haven't
worked out this hard since,
well, never, I don't think!" Akane
wheezed through the pain, holding
her sides delicately.
Ranma smiled down at her gasping form.
"Yeah, Akane, that
was incredible. I've never seen you
push yourself so hard. You've
already improved by leaps and bounds."
Akane beamed up at her mate, eyes shining
with his praise.
"Arigato, Ranma-chan." She winced
as she shifted her body. "I'm
gonna be really sore for a long time."
Ranma held out a hand to help
her up. She accepted and gritted her
teeth as she raised her body
to a standing position.
Vejiita walked over to her and placed
a hand on her shoulder.
"When you're a Super Saiya-jiin, you should
be able to handle much
more abuse." He frowned a bit.
"Why didn't you fire off any ki?
Don't you have an attack?" Vejiita
looked her up and down. "You
released a large blast yesterday at the
purple-haired female
yesterday."
She shook her head, wincing through
the pain. "Iie, I really
don't know how to use my ki. What
I did yesterday was pure reflex.
I don't know what emotion to base the blast
from."
Vejiita looked confused. "What do you mean, emotion?"
Ranma explained that the motivation
behind his Mouko
Takabisha, where he drew from his confidence
to power his ki.
"That's wrong." He shook his
head. "Ki flows in your veins. It
is your life-force. Saiya-jiin are
known throughout the galaxy for
having the strongest life-forces.
You draw upon it like you draw
your aura. It doesn't require an emotion
to fuel it."
Goku added his own comment. "Well,
it's sorta true, Vejiita.
We may not use emotions consciously, but
they are present. When I
am angry, or when my emotions are very strong,
I can draw vast
more quantities of ki." He reminded
Vejiita. "It's how I turned
Super-Saiya-jiin. And how Seiika turned
Super Saiya-jiin,
remember? She was really mad at Serori."
Vejiita stared at Goku, his jaw almost
unhinged. "You know,
Kakarotto, you might have said something
correct for once." Goku
widened his eyes and looked like he was
about to hug Vejiita. The
short male promptly narrowed his eyes, and
scowled, turning away
from the larger male. "Don't let it
go to your head."
He turned back to Ranma. "Who
was the one to show you how
to access your ki?"
"Cologne was the one who taught me
all my special attacks.
Actually I learned my Mouko Takabisha to
counter Ryouga's Shi Shi
Hokodan."
Vejiita raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"That wrinkled old
female from yesterday?"
Ranma nodded. "She may look helpless,
but she'd give me a
run for my money anyday." Vejiita
just snorted and mumbled under
his breath.
Gohan looked interested in the conversation,
and urged it to
continue. "Serori-san, who's Ryouga,
and what's a Shi Shi Hokodan?"
Ranma smiled at the curious younger
Saiya-jiin. "Ryouga is my
rival. He's the one that I would spar
with. If you ever hear someone
yell, 'Ranma, how dare you hurt Akane!
Prepare to die!', that's him.
He's had a grudge against me for forever.
And his Shi Shi Hokodan
is a ki strike that is fueled by his depression."
"Why is he so depressed?" Kuririn asked.
"He can't beat me. He says that
I made him go through Hell."
Ranma gave Akane a quick glance out the
corner of his eye. "And
there are various other reasons. Like
he has no sense of direction,
whatsoever."
"None?"
"Nope. He'll get lost in a closet,
and believe me, he has."
Ranma smiled affectionately at some past
memories. "But that's
Ryouga for you. He actually was here
yesterday, when me an' Akane
discovered our tails and memories.
He kinda freaked out, and got
lost again." Ranma just shrugged off
his rival's behavior as normal.
Vejiita crossed his arms in annoyance.
"Whatever. The Onna
called to remind you of your relocation
to Capsule Corp."
Akane nodded, a smile flashing across
her face. "That's right!
I have to go pack our belongings."
Kasumi came out of the house.
"Lunch is almost ready. You
all have been playing for such a long time!"
She noticed the new
arrivals. "Hello there. Akane-chan,
who are your new friends? Are
they staying for lunch?"
Akane smiled back at her sister.
"Kasumi-neechan, this is
Gohan, Goku-san's son. Remember him
from yesterday?" Kasumi
nodded and waved. Akane motioned to
the other new face. "This is
Kuririn-san, a friend of Goku-san's.
He'd sparred with Ranma today."
She turned to the bald human. "Kuririn-san,
this is Tendo Kasumi,
my oldest sister."
Kuririn and Kasumi formally bowed to
each other. "It's always
nice to meet new people." She noted
the state of everyone in the
yard. "Does anyone want to use the
furo before lunch? It looks like
everyone worked up a sweat from exercising."
Ranma and Akane jumped at the offer.
"Definitely!" They
walked closely into the house, tails intertwined.
Kasumi watched them go inside with
a small smile on her face.
She turned to the others. "Anyone
else?"
Goku looked down at Gohan next to him.
"Do you want to,
Gohan? You played pretty hard this
morning, and you know how your
'Kaasan likes you clean."
Gohan scrunched his face up, but nodded.
"Hai, 'Tousan." He
stepped inside, but paused for a moment.
"Um...where is it,
Kasumi-san?"
"Just follow Ranma and Akane upstairs.
They may even let
you use it first." Gohan nodded and
hurried after the other two.
Kuririn spoke up. "Did you need
any help, Tendo-san, with
lunch?"
Kasumi gave him a big smile that made
him blush. "Arigato,
Kuririn-san! I would most welcome
the help! I made plenty, knowing
the healthy appetites of Vejiita-ototochan
and Goku-san." Kuririn
nodded and glancing back at the two remaining
Saiya-jiin, mouthing
'ototochan' to Goku, followed Kasumi into
the house with a silly smile
on his face.
Vejiita turned to Goku and gave him
a small nod. "Let's go,
Kakarotto." He nodded and followed
Vejiita high into the air, safely
above everyone's line of sight, to spar
a little before lunch was
served.
********