Versus 3: Eclipse
--All That You Hate--
So, biting at Nick wasn't the most polite thing to do. He was only pointing out what he observed. He couldn't be faulted for that. But Bra still needed time to clear her head. To think about things. To see things from the proper perspectives.
This young man was out of his element and was trying to get to know the people he would be spending most of his time with. Okay. That was understandable. But there were a lot of things she hated. One of those things was when people who didn't know her tried to make assumptions about her. In her book, that was injustice number 2. The only thing that beat that out was underestimating her, which was ultimately an assumption. So both should really be put under the same category.
Currently, Bra sat in her room on the floor. She was trying to meditate. It was something she didn't do often, but she probably should have done more. If she could manage to un-cloud her mind for even a few moments, then maybe serenity would reign where anger had so long prevailed. But her mind was a clutter of random, misshapen thoughts. Mostly thoughts of how she would get out of the house again to see Goten. She wanted to apologize to him for being unable to say what she was feeling.
She opened her eyes and looked at her telephone. Calling him couldn't hurt. She looked at the clock. It was almost 11:30. She crawled over to the phone, picked it up and turned it on. That was strange. No dial tone.
A familiar voice began speaking to her. "Sorry, honey. I had to put a lock on your phone myself because I didn't want to get the line disconnected," the voice of her mother informed her. "So, obviously, if you're listening to this, you've tried to make a phone call while on punishment. Don't forget that you don't have phone privileges. Buh-bye."
Bra growled. Her mother had put a boot on her phone line. Bra had to admit, it WAS somewhat cleaver. Of course, she'd never tell her mother that. It would go right to her head. She put the phone back in its cradle and stared at it. How was she supposed to let Goten know how she felt? It seemed she would have to wait until Monday.
Bra stomach growled loudly. Oops! She hadn't eaten today. That was very un-Saiyan-like of her. Maybe she wouldn't bump into her new tutor this time.
She made her way to the kitchen and low and behold, there was her father. She couldn't avoid HIM either. But then again, why would she want to? "Morning, Papa."
Vegeta grumbled as he rummaged through the refrigerator.
Bra went over and stood right next to him. "Have you met the tutor yet?"
"No," Vegeta muttered.
Good. If she could get her father on her side about this new intruder then maybe he could be voted out of the household. "You'd hate him."
"That doesn't say much. I hate everyone," Vegeta murmured.
Bra raised her eyebrow. It was no surprise to get a statement like that out of her father. But how could she use it to her advantage when it was no surprise to her mother either? Man, she needed a more deviant brain than her own to conjure up a way to make this whole situation work in her favor. If she could only talk to Pan....
She found that her father was looking at her strangely. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked.
Bra reached into the fridge and grabbed some grub. "Well...." What would set this man off? When she didn't want to make him angry, it was easy to do. But Heaven forbid she ever WANTED to make him angry. She couldn't send enough sparks at him to start that fire. It was a dangerous thing when her father was angry. She'd have to do this just right in order for him NOT to go off and try to kill someone. Unfortunately, she couldn't think of anything that wouldn't completely send him off the deep end.
Vegeta started pulling out food as well. "Some time today would be nice. I've got better things to do with my time, you know."
She would just have to bide her time. She needed input on this situation. She would have to wait till she could talk to Pan again. "No reason." She thought for a minute. "But there is something I wanted to ask you."
"What is it?" Vegeta asked.
Bra sat at the table and spread her food out before her. She looked at it for a while. She wasn't sure why she was about to ask her father what she was about to ask him. It had plagued her since it happened. She needed an answer, so she worked up the nerve to ask: "Why did you give us your consent? Why did you agree to let Goten and me see each other?"
Vegeta looked at his daughter for a long time. "There's no SIMPLE explanation." He walked back outside, food and all.
That was it. That was all he was going to say. There was something to it. She knew there was. But SHE'D never find out unless he felt like telling her one day. The chances of that happening were slim. Bra frowned.
--later that day--
She hadn't seen Nick since he got there. She wondered if he was even behind the door in front of which she currently stood. Something had brought her back here. Maybe it was the thought that this young man might tell her mother that she hadn't made an effort to study with him. Or maybe it was that she had been so rude to him when she left that it was weighing on her mind. In either case, she had to apologize for her behavior. And she had to do it before she changed her mind. She knocked on the guest room door.
Nick opened the door and smiled at her. "Hello, Miss Bra. Welcome back."
This small action had already gotten under her skin. There was no way that this guy could possess one of the very qualities she liked in Goten so much. It was almost sickening. Why was it sickening? It was something she LIKED. Man, this was really messing her whole thought pattern up.
What would be the best thing to do? Act as if nothing had happened? Or apologize, and THEN act as if nothing had happened?
Bra took a deep breath. "Mr. Carnage--"
"Please, call me Nick. All of the other people I tutored did," Nick told her.
"Well, Nick. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for the way I behaved earlier today," Bra apologized. "I'm not much of a morning person." There! She'd done it! Now, that wasn't so hard.
Nick laughed. "No kidding." He motioned for her to come in. After she walked into his room, he became serious. "Listen, I came here to do a job. Whether we become friends or not has nothing to do with what I'm here to do."
Bra just looked at him. Where did that come from? This guy must have been some kind of psychopath. At first he was happy, and now this. His tone was serious. His expression was serious. It was almost frightening. It wasn't like her to become intimidated by a regular person. And even though she knew that she could squash him like a bug, she couldn't help respecting him for his maturity.
"I'd like for us to be friends. I really would. But my job here isn't to make new acquaintances. My job is to help you learn more about history," Nick continued in his serious tone.
Maybe he felt that she wasn't interested in getting all friendsy with him.
"You understand what I'm trying to say, don't you?" he asked, sounding a little less sure of himself.
Bra nodded. She wasn't sure why she wasn't using her voice. It worked perfectly fine just a minute ago.
Nick smiled. "Good. Now, I'd like to meet your teacher. I know that you don't have any interest in history, but I'd like to know what your teacher's goals are for this class. And I want to find out what your particular problems are with this class. It's definitely not your ability to learn. You are indeed the brightest person I've ever tutored."
He wanted to meet her teacher? Bra froze. Why didn't that sound like a good plan? What was it that made her panic when it came to the idea of going to class with this man? Something about Goten meeting this new tutor bothered her. She wasn't sure what it was, but she was uncomfortable with the idea.
Bra looked at him strangely.
Nick pulled out his history book. "Alright. I really don't have any idea where to start here, so I guess I'll just go over what history is and the ways people of the past recorded history."
Bra frowned. This would be a long, looooooooooooong weekend.
- & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & -
--Monday morning--
Bra had slept through all of the tutoring sessions she had with Nick. She completely understood now why Pan found it so easy to do. The incessant droning of history lessons was soothing and allowed you to sleep quite well. On Saturday and Sunday afternoon, Bra had gotten more sleep than she ever had before. Had Nick noticed? Probably. Did she care? Not really.
But today was different. Today was the day she'd finally be with Goten again. It hadn't been a long time, but it seemed like forever since she'd seen him. She sure did miss him.
Bra walked into the kitchen after getting dressed for school. She saw her mother sitting at the kitchen table chatting with Nick.
"Good morning, honey," Bulma greeted with glee. "You two must really be hitting the books. I was just telling Mr. Carnage that I haven't had a chance to see either of you all weekend."
Bra frowned. Maybe this Carnage guy wasn't so bad after all. He hadn't told her that she was sleeping during his lectures.
"I told you this would work out wonderfully," Bulma said.
Bra rolled her eyes.
"Yes, Mrs. Brief. We're still working out some of the kinks, though," Nick told her. He gave Bra a look. "But once I find out exact what her teacher's plans for the year are, we'll really be in business."
"That's great. I'm so excited for you. You'll be making Bs before you know it, Bra," Bulma clucked.
Stupid hen. All she did was talk, talk, talk. Bra folded her arms across her chest.
"Alright, Miss Bra. We should get going. I still have to get to work by 8:00," Nick said to Bra.
Bra nodded.
--End All That You Hate--
--Thanks for enduring another strange episode of Eclipse. Also, thanks for the reviews.
--So, tell me what you think. Why wouldn't Bra want Goten and Nick to meet each other? They're both striving for the same goal. So what's the problem?
--I know this chapter wasn't the most exciting, but we got past it, right? I hope you'll stay tuned for the next episode.