Double Hate
Disclaimer: DBZ (DB/DBGT) no owned by me humble self
Previously, on Double Hate—
Speaking of doom—
"Hello Dende. Nice speech you said there. Didn't know you had in ya."
Chapter Five: Sorrow and Predicaments
Dende paled and turned around to face the lounging form of Jeff against the huge Rotunda that was Kami's Palace. Marc came out of his spot too, grinning innocently even as he approached the young Guardian of the Earth.
"Uh, hi? I can explain—"
"Why don't you do just that, Dende?" Marc challenged. Jeff nodded, his cold black eyes drilling into their former best friend. Former is a good word.
Dende gulped and nodded. He turned around and led the Brothers Harrison into Kami's Palace. They passed Mr. Popo on the way, but Mr. Popo was busy watering his flowers and only spared them a glance and a gracious, "Hello". Then the watering can lifted and the black face turned again, the red mouth forming into an "O" in surprise. But the trio was already out of sight when Popo-san looked back.
They reached the room where the old Kami usually resided and halted. Jeff sat in mid-air, not wanting to sit on the ground, while Marc did sit on the tiled floor. Dende chose to stand. He leaned on his inherited staff and waited for the Brothers Harrison to get nice and comfy.
They did, and looked at him expectantly for him to start. Coldly, perhaps, but indeed expectantly. Dende fantasized that under that cold shield of hatred, there was perhaps a spark of friendship, but he quickly shook it off. There was no hope for him.
The Namekian took a breath before starting. "I have been watching your lives as they played out, Jeff, Marc. Don't hate me for this, but it hurts me to see you live your lives happily like this. Now, I like seeing you happy, but it just hurts to know that you're doing so while the others are suffering from your leaving. Do you know what Trunks has to go through without you, Marc? And Jeff, there were people in the gang who cared about you. And Marc, as well. I was, am, one of them.
"I don't fault you for leaving, I probably would have too, if I were under the same circumstances. But you have no idea what we have gone through without you. The Sons have fallen on hard times emotionally, and the Briefs aren't really doing so well in terms of depression either. The other humans, Krillin and Yamcha, well, they're okay, but not so well without you guys. Piccolo has nearly killed himself with meditating all day every day, and I'm not happy either. Do you know how dangerous it is for a Kami to be operating while he's not happy?" Dende said, then sighed.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is, you two were the hope of the Z-senshi. You still are. I believe that, if all of us get together and try to make up for everything, all our lives will be for the better. Not to mention Pan will finally get a break from trying to resolve unsolved family mysteries."
Jeff snickered at the last statement. Marc smiled himself. Dende faltered, but bravely picked up where he had trailed off.
"You don't have to conciliate with us, but just let us know that you're alive and well. Then we don't have to go half-mad with depression." Dende trailed off again, only to add one last thought.
"I did this to give the others hope. I did this to let you two know that we care about you. We want you back, I want you back, but... I don't know if we'll ever get you back," he whispered.
Dende leaned harder on his staff and bowed his head. His chest heaved and his eyes watered, but Dende refused to cry. Not in front of the Harrisons. Not when he was supposed to be so strong for the others.
He failed.
Tears dripped onto the tiles below the young Namekian, splattering through the silence that had developed after Dende's stirring speech. They startled Dende into hastily rubbing his sleeve over his eyes, even as he looked up. He caught onto Jeff's briefly sorrowful look before the older demi-Saiyan turned his head to look outside. Taking heart at this dubiously optimistic outcome, Dende looked at Marc.
The person formerly known as Goten had his head bowed as well. A guilt- stricken expression was on his face, shaming Dende slightly for speaking so blatantly about the troubles of the Z-senshi. The younger Harrison raised his head even as he blinked away tears. The Son boys had always been rather emotional, even in the midst of battle. But they had learned to hide those emotions, and they were putting that lesson to good use right now.
Jeff was the first to get up, followedlike a ghostby Marc. Marc stepped up to Dende and patted the Namekian on the shoulder, while Jeff said, "We'll see you later, Dende."
They avoided Dende's hopeful gaze as they faced away from Kami's Lookout and flew on home.
Marc was too depressed to do anything but mope in his room with his headphones. The bright blue of the paint and the poster of his favorite make-up band, Juliette, did little to cheer up the bright demi-Saiyan. Neither did his poster of Albert Einstein's kindly face nor the two posters of Avril Lavigne do anything.
Marc lifted his dark eyed gaze to the ceiling of his room. Suddenly giving up on his music, he ripped the headphones off and got off his bed. He opened the window of his room open and jumped out of it, needing some fresh air. But Marc didn't launch into the air. He simply allowed his ki to suspend him in air as he pondered on Dende's words.
I wonder how Kaasan's doing... The thought came out of nowhere. Marc was distantly surprised at it, for he had not thought anything about his biological mother since that first day they had met the Harrisons,five years ago. It was even a shock.
Wow, I guess I've really been busy these last five years. I've not even thought about Dad. Or Trunks. I bet Bra's all right, though, but Marron...ouch. I guess we really did leave a hole in them when we left.
Oh well. It was either leave or be ignored again... Yeah, let's just keep telling myself that. I hope I'm right...
A voice spoke behind him, turning Marc around to see the intruder. "You okay, otouto?" Marc looked back out to the sea the Harrisons lived near and said, "Not really."
Jeff sighed himself. "I know what you mean. I seriously didn't know that Dende could speak so movingly."
Marc smiled briefly as Jeff came to lean on his brother's windowsill. Marc moved backwards and sat on the said pillar, lining him up against Jeff.
Silence reigned once more as they both looked out to see, enjoying the beautiful clash that the forests made with the sandy beach next to their house. Then Marc's voice hesitantly asked, "Were we right in leaving? I mean, I know it was right to leave, but—were we right to stay away? To let the situation get so bad that Dende took drastic action? I'm not sure if I like hearing about them this way."
It was some time before Jeff answered, during which Marc looked to him in insecurity. Finally Jeff said, "I'm not sure if I like hearing that they're in various stages of depression, either, Marc. I'm not even sure if we should have stayed away, now. I guess we could have sent them a letter or something, but... I don't know, squirt."
Marc nodded and they both said nothing again. Then Linda stomped up the stairs past the bedroom with a sandwich in her hands, ruining the mood and reminding the demi-Saiyans of their food predicament. Food was good, especially in times of depression. Surprisingly, there had been many times of depression for the Brothers Harrison, all of which had been smoothed over slightly with food.
Wonders never ceased with those two.
Trunks was restless. He always was restless, but the feeling was just worse now. With the possibility of parole in the case of the Son Brothers v. The Z-senshi, Trunks was eager to get the friendship of two of the most cherished people in his life back, but what could he do against the orders of Kami? He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. This was not good.
Bra came up with Pan trailing behind. They paused at the sight of Trunks looking at nothing and immediately understood. Well, Pan didn't understand, but Bra certainly did. She had had many happy memories of the G brothers herself. Bra knew, however, that she didn't have it as bad as Trunks did. Trunks had had a best friend in Goten, and he had looked up to Gohan as the big brother he had never had. So did Bra, but she wasn't nearly as affected, because she had had Trunks for an older brother, not just Gohan or Goten.
Pan was uncomprehending of the hugeness of the situation, but she was plenty affected by the depressed atmosphere. Whoever those people really were, she hoped that they came back soon, for this was just too much for her.
Two and a half weeks passed. Bra found that she couldn't exactly change her schedule for foreign language. The other foreign language classes were full except for German Two and German Two Honors, and Bra couldn't speak German if it cost her life. So she was stuck with the creepy Senor Verez.
In the last class of Thursday on the second full week at school, Bra was squirming worse than ever under Verez' gaze. He had been staring at her all these past few weeks, making her think that she had something on her face all the time. She shuddered. She didn't like Senor Verez anymore. In fact, she had even torn out the first page on which she had written his name, it was that bad.
The youngest child of Bulma Briefs, Capsule Genius, tried to concentrate on the work of the class. She could feel Verez' eyes on her. Goosebumps were running up and down her arms and her hair was rising on the nape of her neck, but there was nothing she could do about it. Unless she cut class. Bra was beginning to take that notion seriously, even under the wrath of her mother. Dad wouldn't really care, but Mother would be fit to be tied. Right now, though, she really didn't care.
Reaching out to Trunks for comfort, she called to him, Trunks? It was a mental link they rarely ever used, but it was there all the same.
Yeah? Trunks answered. He sounded a little rusty, and surprised,in her head, and Bra knew that she must sound the same to him.
Trunks, this Spanish teacher is scaring me, she started.
What? Why? Trunks asked, worry creeping into his mental voice.
Well, he keeps staring at me all the time. I don't know why, but I think he might... like me or something. I don't know. I don't like it.
Grr... That Spanish teacher better stay away from you. He's going to get a fist in the face and some seriously broken ribs if he doesn't.
Thanks, Trunks. I think I'll cut this class though.
That might be a good idea. I'd explain the situation to Mom first before you did that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Let's hope Dad doesn't take him out for even staring at me.
Let's hope I don't.
Heh. A pregnant pause. I'd sure hate to be Senor Verez if Mom sued the school. That's his name, Verez.
Verez, huh? I'm going to keep tabs on him. But if he attempts to hit on ya, tell me OK? This is a family business now. You're not alone in this, lil sis.
Bra smiled at this. She was glad she had talked to Trunks now. Yeah. Thanks again, Trunks.
Anything for my lil sis.
They broke off their mental conversation and returned to their scholarly duties, both worried and shaken.
Verez continued to stare at Bra, unknowing of the conversation that had just gone on. Luckily for Bra, something interrupted his private musings, whatever they were.
A knock.
"¿Sí?" Verez asked. The door opened and Jeff came in with another person whom Bra recognized as a junior but knew not her name.
"Hello Senor Verez," the girl said. Senor Verez nodded and looked questioningly at them.
Jeff nudged the junior, who stepped up first. "I came to see if you needed anything else. Paper, supplies, all that."
Verez raised an index finger and went to his desk. He pulled out a list and said, "Yes, we do, Senorita Hatting. It says here that Senor Banks still needs his flashcards, and that Senorita Briefs requested a new binder for her Spanish things."
Jeff interceded with, "Uh, Senor Verez, that's the reason why I'm here. It seems that Ms. Briefs requested a schedule change of the Student Council. I need to discuss with her an update on the matter, if that's okay with you, Senor?"
Verez nodded. Bra had been silently packing her things up from the second sentence of Jeff's explanation and was all ready to go. She passed whispers behind her back saying, "She wanted a schedule change? What, she doesn't think we're good enough for her?" and "Good. Now Verez can stop staring at her and look at us for a change." It seemed that she was not the only one who noticed that Verez' attention was elsewhere.
She reached the bottom of the grandstand and scooted hurriedly across the path of her Spanish teacher. She reached Jeff, who nodded and let her through. They heard Hatting tell Verez that they would get his supplies over the weekend and have the supplies to him by Tuesday at the very latest. Then she emerged from the classroom and wiped a hand across her eyebrow.
"Whew! Glad that's over. Well, I gotta get running. I'm almost late for class and I still gotta get Verez' order in." Jeff and Bra nodded at her back as she took off running.
"Bye Rachel!" Jeff called. Bra looked at him questioningly, her opinion of his hotness severely damaged by Verez' creepiness. So she did not go all hot and woozy at the sight of him anymore. Which was a good thing.
"That's Rachel Hatting. She's nice," Jeff told her. "So, your offer of changing your schedule still up? There's a class of French I free now. One of the guys in there switched to Spanish III Honors at the last minute."
Bra nodded, the tension in her stomach lessening a mite. She knew that she wasn't out of the running yet, however. There was still outside of class to consider.
"That's fine," She murmured.
"Great. Tell me, why do you want to change classes? If it's personal, you don't have to say," Jeff smiled. He noticed the closed expression on his companion's face and derived a clue from it that should not have been revealed.
But Bra said anyway, "Verez keeps staring at me. It's creepy." She was startled with the vehemence with which Jeff responded.
"What? That's not good. Oh man." At Bra's look Jeff pressed on. "Verez has a dirty rep when being around girls who fascinate him. You don't want to know what he's rumored to have done. Oh man."
Bra was unsettled. Verez? Bad rep? She felt her instincts being confirmed as she listened to the senior. "What? What has he done?"
"You don't want to know. I would stay away from him if I were you. It's a good thing that you got the schedule change. I'd tell the principal about this, too."
"No! I mean, I don't want to." Bra wasn't a scared person. But when she was, she tended to try to keep that fear to herself and deal with it herself. She actually wasn't a snob or a whiner as most people would think. Trunks and the rest of her family knew that as well as she did. If Bra was threatened, she was going to fight back.
Jeff looked at her askance, but only said, "Okay. At least tell your parents," he offered as an afterthought.
Bra muttered under her breath, "Believe me, I will."
Jeff heard this, but chose to ignore itasif he wereany other human. They proceeded to the office where Mrs. Robbington confirmed the change in the schedule and sent Bra back off to Spanish class, saying that she would start French class on Monday. Bra pouted a bit but went back, more than a trifle unwillingly. On the way, she decided that she would cut the rest of the class. She was already out of it, wasn't she? Might as well.
Jeff exited the office, leaving a busy Mrs. Robbington behind. It was the end of his free period and he met up with his brother Marc. He quietly told Marc of Bra's predicament.
"Really? Verez had better stay away from Bra, if he knows what's good for him." Marc declared. Jeff nodded his agreement.
"I agree, Marc. But Verez won't know if we don't drop hints."
"True. But I think that Trunks has a fair chance of doing his own work here. Let him take the first step."
"Good idea, squirt. But he had better start moving fast."
"Yeah." The bell rang for the next class and they hurriedly sprinted off.
Translations:
Otouto: younger brother (informal)
Senor: Mr.
¿Sí?: Yes?
Senorita: Miss
SP: And that's that! The sixth chapter will probably be very long in coming, most likely after I finish either Vigilante Angel, or the first Kakkhan fic. I'll be taking a short break after the first Kakkhan fic to give me the chance to write several fics that are just sitting in the back of my head and nagging at me to get them out. Don't worry, though, Kakkhan will be finished, and I will try to get back on track with Vigi Ange. Aline's gone missing, tho, so dat might be a while. So Double Hate may actually be not that far away from being updated. /Shrugs/
Enjoy whatever fic you read!
TheShadowPanther and Autumn, from AASN.
AASN; Writing is what we do for you at AASN. Enjoy.
