Disclaimer: Have you really gotten this far without realising that it's in chapter 1?

Piccolo's just sitting there, thinking. Just sitting. And thinking. How long is he going to just sit there and think?!

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Gradually, I noticed Jin more and more. In times before, I saw her as a partner in mind and position, a rival in the career, and a friend in common situations; nothing more. Now, I felt a different sort of closeness towards her, but it seemed so strange to me that I couldn't allow it to fester on my mind and accept it as plausible emotions.

Midsummer is more enjoyable than Spring-time, but only at night. I can handle the heat and the sun, but I would definitely prefer not to endure it for too long. That's a great side to being a bartender: most shifts, especially for a head, are after dark.
It began raining hard outside, and the bar took on the atmosphere of an anhydrous haven within this drizzling land of storm. People came in, as glad to get out of the weather as a stranded man would be to be back in civilization. However, when Jin came in, she only looked wet; not desperate.
She wore her casual clothes today, with a plastic bag under her arm. If she had an umbrella or a rain-jacket, she never used them, claiming that she was used to rain hitting her all the time. She went into the women's room to change into her uniform, and was almost followed by Shuran (good thing Mari is always there to keep his habits in check).
Throughout the night, we were mostly serving up toddies and whiskey shots. Between orders, I looked at my partner. Although her clothes were dry, her hair was still soaked and only drying slowly. Her vest and blouse had already become damp from it. Her other clothes wont dry before the shift is over, and it's still raining hard outside, I thought. I was about to ask her if she wanted to share an umbrella with me and go to my place, but Nama's boredom had him flipping through T.V. channels. "Hey! Here's that recording from the martial arts tournament!" Upon hearing this, I sunk back to my side of the bar, which was the farthest point from the television. Jin took up her position in order to see the screen the best, and Shuran soon came to her side. He really liked the fact that she had a crush; I suppose it made her look more approachable.
I sighed involuntarily, then found that Uwaki was staring at me, fluttering those damnable plastic wings she called eyelashes. I ignored her and silently waited for an order. After what seemed like hours, the program's end released Jin from her personal trance and she concentrated more on her job. Shuran came up to me and ordered a double shot of whiskey.
"Why didn't you just order one from her? She was closer."
He shook his head. "I figured out something disturbing about her just now."
I cocked a brow. What could be more disturbing that he didn't already know about? When I questioned this, he didn't comply with an answer. "You really think I'd tell you? Just this: she's got weird preferences."
I didn't ponder this long, as the shift's end was coming close, and it was still pouring outside, as I suspected. Jin's hair and shoulders were still somewhat damp, and I was sure that her other clothes were worse. Even so, when I left, I only grabbed my black umbrella and went by myself. I couldn't bring myself to come near Jin. How could she possibly like Son Goku? And why the Hell should I care? I only groaned to my idiotic thoughts and started walking, but it wasn't long before I heard splashing footsteps coming up quickly behind me. Please, I thought, Don't talk to me now. I'm already confused enough. I just want to go back to my apartment and forget this stupid situation!
"Dorai-kun!" said a different voice than I had expected.
I turned around. "Oh. It's you Uwaki."
She huffed to this. "How cooly you answer me! Can I share your umbrella with you? Mine broke."
I stared with contempt for a moment. "No." I turned and started walking again
"But Dorai-kun!"
"And don't call me kun!"
"Please! I'm getting soaked! If you want, I can take us to dinner. I'll pay for it!"
"If you're eating habits are anything like your social habits, I have no interest in sharing a meal with you. You'd probably be trying out some of the stuff from my plate out of curiosity."
"Is that some sort of insult!"
"Sure."
"Fu-fuu! You want me and you know it! You're just playing hard to get!"
"Whatever you say. Don't follow me home."
"As if I would! Go to your apartment and be alone!" I could hear her run off angrily in her heels. Well, at least I wasn't as depressed anymore.

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I was suddenly aware of a small, white hand waving before my face. "What the Hell...?" I muttered, and looked around me to see who was there. It was Chi-Chi.
She sat down beside me. "I looked up what you said about Valentines Day. It's all true. Where'd you learn that?"
"Some book that I read."
"You can read?"
"Of course. I can read and speak in almost every language that's ever been on Earth."
She looked at me in skepticism. "Prove it."
I sighed, then spouted out some sentences in English, French, German, Latin, Russian, and even an African tongue.
"Can you do anything else?" she asked.
"What am I? A dog that does tricks?"
She shook her head. "I'm just thinking that it might not be too bad for you to be around Gohan if you could help him with his studies."
"Send that idea back where it came from. Aren't I a 'bad influence'?"
"Well...!" She began to giggle. "You've been sitting in that same place for hours, looking at the sky like you were hypnotized. You're thinking about her, aren't you?"
"H-huh? About who?"
"Don't try to pretend that you don't know. Your little girlfriend that you had. You were sitting there, not paying attention to my standing here for the last fifteen minutes, just staring off into space, blushing from time to time..."
"Is this any of your business?!" I really felt like my privacy was violated just now.
"Certainly! You're sitting here, just outside of my property, thinking about a girl. Now, if you don't want me to stop cooking for you guys, you'll start narrating to me about your relationship with her."
"Why do you even care?!"
"Is it wrong for me to know more about my son's trainer and friend? It's my duty as a mother!"
I growled at her. "All right. But you interrupted my train of thought there, so I'm only giving you a generalization up to the point you disturbed me."