Chapter Two
The next couple of years had been total Hell.
I had not realized before how fortunate I was living in Capsule Corporation main dome… And the sudden change was more of a stress to me than I could imagine back then…
As for school… it had been more than a nightmare you can't wake up from, and even that was an understatement. Thirteen-year-olds in that era were the most rampageous, rioting brats you could ever see. They knew no restraint, they listened to no authority; they smoked like chimneys, drank until they fainted… Every single one of their so-called parties was an utterly disgusting and pathetic sight—a real orgy—with kids' half-dead corpses on the floor, still unconscious from the previous night's activities. Revolting…
What was even more disgusting was the fact that I was slowly but surely becoming one of them, even though I was originally the outcast of all possible groups they formed. When I first got there, I would snort at their idiocy when they invited me for a smoke, or to some party of a kid whose name I have never heard before. I acted snobbishly as was suited for a Briefs… But, naturally, after all the fights I had been engaged in, I was labeled a trouble-maker by the teachers anyway, marked as a black sheep along with all the other trash… and eventually turned into a part of the revolting crowd at Orange Star Middle School…
Word had been sent to my parents about all the trouble I got into. I was already used to the angry shouts over the phone from my usually tranquil father and the ecstatic chirping of mother's shrill voice. Even though I always claimed I wasn't afraid of anything, I never once returned home before the end of my exile. I even planned on staying a year longer after that and I would have, if only father hadn't come to pull me back home by my ear…
It wasn't as if I wouldn't gladly exchange the havoc of my cramped apartment which reeked of a leaking sink for the peaceful fancy room I had with adjoining bathroom at Capsule Corps. It was the confrontation before I settled back in that made me all jumpy and hesitant. Wouldn't you be that way too if you knew how much damage you have caused to a school building, a facility that your parents have always respected and had tried to transfer those feelings to you too?
I was still pouting like a child out the window of my father's expensive car even as he pulled into the driveway to the dome. He had been lecturing me almost the whole way there, even though he rarely spoke otherwise… I took the invitation gladly, exiting the vehicle as fast as I could while father parked the car inside the spacious garage. Now that I thought of it, I should've felt honoured by the fact Dr. Briefs himself drove all the way from West to Satan City just to pick his son up. Touching… I rolled my eyes after the thought, shoving my hands into my pockets as I approached the front door.
But before my finger tips could even come in contact with it, the door burst open and my ditzy mother grabbed me by my waist and started crushing me against her form. I groaned in annoyance and tried to shrug her off but her grip could become really vicious when she had set her mind into it. She was crying in joy and her tears were soaking my shirt. Her howling wails were hurting my ears and I couldn't even protect them as my arms were hostages to the aging woman's hold too.
"Oh, my baby! I have been so worried about you, Vegeta! Your father told me you were into a bad crowd! Why, that boy Nappa and his parents are such rotten eggs!"
"Nice comparison, Mother. Now could you please let me breathe?" I snapped sarcastically at her, making her let go of me anyway to check if I was alright and if my body was whole. By the time, I had started to ignore her shower of rhetorical question completely; now starting dumbly through the open door towards the girl I felt such strong resentment before…
I thought that upon seeing her face after all these years, the hate I felt so long ago would come flooding back to me, bathe my insides in its chocking hold… but nothing of the sort happened. I just stood there, staring at her as if I was seeing a ghost. Her kind smile barely managed to register in my mind as she approached us.
"Welcome home, Vegeta," she greeted me in that sweet mezzo-soprano voice, nothing like the shrill sound she created every time she opened her mouth all those years ago. Either that or I have truly forgotten all my foolish feelings for her when we were children…
"Whatever… I'm going to catch on some sleep. Father can sure be annoying when he wants to be…" I muttered under my breath as I passed by her.
"Tell me about it…" she mumbled understandingly loud enough so just I could hear her as I passed by her. I blinked with my back turned to her and proceeded to my room without a word more.
How was it that after three years I had changed so dramatically? I was now indifferent to Bulma, I didn't mind either her voice or presence, and what was more… I could barely recognize her.
She had grown up to be slightly taller than me, but that was alright… Hopefully, like all boys, during puberty I would get taller than her again. It was a mere couple of centimeters, but it mattered to me never the less, being the proud male I raised myself to be.
But, back to the topic, had it not been for her shoulder-long lavender tresses, as straight and smooth-looking as ever, and the cerulean orbs completely identical to father's, I would've never guessed she was my baby sister… She looked like… like a girl now… Hell, she was even beginning to shape like a girl… Her hips were slightly fuller than a child's, the baby fat on her face was disappearing completely and she even had… I didn't want to finish the thought as I buried my head in the pillow in annoyance with myself.
That night, I had some sort of gala dinner thrown in my honour which consisted in all family members residing the same room, eating junk food ordered over the phone. As if I hadn't had enough junk food during my stay in West City… But how could they know that since they didn't care enough to ask? Some gala dinner it was…
The summer after my return was quite an odd one.
I rarely saw any of my family members, what with mother always going to these clubs she loved so much (her favourite was the knitting club… how can someone actually enjoy a place where all you do is knit in silence?), father attending all those Capsule Corporation meetings and Bulma being locked up in her room all the time, introducing herself to all her books and workbooks for her upcoming seventh grade of school.
I couldn't deny the fact that I enjoyed the peace and quiet of my room and the comfort of my training chamber which was quite the only thing that hadn't changed a bit (thankfully; otherwise someone was going to get it!) but it was getting seriously odd… I didn't feel as a part of this family, although I never really felt as a part of it anyway… But that was no excuse for all of them avoiding me like the plague…
One day at lunch while mother and father were out, Bulma was reading her text book for her next grade while she ate an apple on the table, throwing occasional glances at me toying with my food. I wasn't really hungry; I had a midnight snack that just about filled me up for half a day straight.
"Is something wrong?" she asked halfway worriedly, slapping her book closed and placing it atop the dinning table to look straight at me, getting ready to listen to whatever I had to say. I glared up at her with my head still resting on my palm.
"What do you care?" I snapped. She shrugged and snatched her book again.
"You're right, I don't." And with that she was about to ignore me completely, going back to her quiet reading self, denying that I was in the same room as her. My mouth remained closed, my posture dignified as ever; but inside I wanted to gape at her with my jaw dropped. She had changed so much… She was no longer that scared little girl that obeyed my every word… Even though I liked her as her spineless childish self, I didn't mind that change as much as I should have…
"That's right; you can just go on, acting as if I'm not in the freaking room." I grumbled and stood up, my chair screeching in a high-pitched noise against the tiled floor, hurting my ears, as I did so.
"I don't think I recall wrong when I say it was you who didn't want me calling you "brother" three years ago, you who couldn't stay in my presence for longer than a few minutes before you start grumbling like a spoilt child and you who proclaimed your 'undying hate for me' every chance you got, now do I?" She looked up from her book at my puzzled face before my arms crossed over my chest and I glared at her.
"I thought you just said you didn't care." It was the best retaliation in the little verbal battle we were currently having that I could think of. She huffed and buried her head in the book again, but I could still see the slight red flush that covered her face when she did so. "Besides, that was so long ago. How can you still remember it?" I creased an inquiring eye brow at her.
"How can I forget that my big brother whom I always looked up to called me a retard every time we were alone in a room?" Her voice held a tone of bitterness and her sapphire eyes blazed with fury at me… and what was even more baffling to me was that it sent a pang of guilt coursing through my being, pumped along with my blood from my heart, reaching every fiber of my being. "And you haven't done anything so far to prove you don't have such feelings anymore either." Her head, once more, buried itself in the student's book she was reading but this time it was with a determination that said clearly she wouldn't talk to me any longer.
After that statement I was at loss as what to say… I had no idea how to reply to that… I had never known she actually looked up to me… It hadn't once occurred to me that it could be possible… I have never said to anyone that I was sorry; therefore I sucked at apologies… Trying my best at it wouldn't be enough and I didn't want to sacrifice even the smallest piece of my pride to show her that I, indeed, held no feelings of resentment towards her anymore. What was she, after all – blind? I would not lower myself as to make stupid apologies to stupid sisters that can't get a hint!
"How did you like the bracelet?" The idea suddenly popped in my head as my train of thought had reached the moment I took off three years prior. Somehow, I don't even have a clue how exactly… I could almost feel her grin behind the book as her clenched fist rose over her head to make visible to me a silver bracelet around her wrist with two dragons facing each other in what seemed a staring death-match. I smirked and turned around on my heel. 'Case closed' was the last thought that crossed my mind before I told her, "I'll be downstairs training."
"'Kay…" she called meekly after me as I proceeded towards the training chamber, smirk still adorning my facial features, pulling on the corners of my mouth and curling them in an odd expression.
Maybe stupid sisters did take some hints…
After that little confrontation, things seemed to fall back in place. She was as cheerful as ever, doing things joyfully, happily conversing with her friends ChiChi and Goku, that were their names, if I recall properly…
ChiChi was an annoying girl with a strident voice and she got pissed off so easily, therefore occasionally deafening me every time I passed Bulma's room when the little aggravating brat was there. As for Goku… well, he was an absolute, complete and utter idiot. He couldn't do anything right and he ate for four… So annoying… I couldn't stand looking at him… His questions at me both puzzled me and irritated me to no end… An example about the stupid questions he made is, hm, let me think… "How does this multiplaying thing happen?" Yes, he was that stupid, and he was just a grade smaller than my sister… It took me about half an hour to explain what the difference is between multiplying numbers and having a multiplayer game in internet… He should be thankful Bulma dragged him out of the room before the urge to choke him started getting unbearable…
Time sure flied, it was soon time for school again. It was a surprise to me to meet a girl I have seen before… Her name was Juuhachigou Jinzoningen and she was probably the only blonde that I have ever met to whom the saying "Blondes are dumb" doesn't come even nearly to applying. She was in my class, while I was still living in Satan City. Juuhachigou was in my new class too, though… It was odd how easily I could bear her company on the same desk once I made my peace with someone actually sitting next to me during classes…
What was the most annoying thing about returning to Orange Star High was that I had this goofy girl, Maron, on my trail no matter where I went. She was so irritating and she looked absolutely like my sister, minus the dead brain, chubby features, constant foolish abnormal grin and long line of male admirers behind her.
A further puzzling fact was that the two weren't even friends. They even detested each other. Well, my sister detested her guts, at least. The other girl was quite ignorant of that fact, I think. And maybe the fact she was being copied was what drove Bulma so madly in rage.
I smirked at the thought as I walked next to my sister towards school. Her temper had most certainly improved in the time I was gone. What a pleasing fact that was actually… Maybe now I'd have someone to argue with who would actually have a decent chance at winning…?
A week or so later, everything had turned into more of a habit than anything else. We'd fight on the way to school, we'd part for periods, I'd wait for her in the front yard and then she'd wave to this guy, whose name was Yamcha or something like that if the gossipers in my class had the correct info, she'd come over to me and we'd go home, sometimes fighting some more to finish off what we had started in the morning, but more often walking quietly back to Capsule Corp. dome, just savoring the tranquil moments before we (more like she, because I usually ignored it) had to endure mother's cross-examination.
One of those days, however, Bulma was way too late. I was wondering what that rascal Yamcha might be doing to her when she finally burst through the double wooden front-doors of the school main building and seemed in even worse of a mood than the usual. I sighed and wondered who had pissed her off this time… She wasn't the type to take mockery well and knowing children nowadays… Heh… You'd say I wasn't just a year older by the way I talked.
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Always the gentleman, I say, Vegeta…" she muttered angrily and glared daggers at me.
"I see that something is positively up your ass but I somehow fail to see my relation to it." Her shoulders slumped from her offensive frame and she exhaled, shoving a small sheet of paper in my hands which I studied uninterestedly.
"An invitation for a party?" I muttered aloud as my eyes zoomed over the written text on the thing. "And just how is that something to sulk over?"
"You know mom and dad will never let me go there." She grumbled with a childish pout as her fingers enclosed around her backpack's shoulder straps.
"And they have a good reason not to, too." I clarified as I clenched the insignificant piece of paper in a tiny ball and threw it in the nearest trashcan with an apt basketball-like thrust. Bulma eyed me in exasperation as I shoved my hands back in their rightful pockets. "Why, the fuck, are you looking at me like that?"
"You know, but I don't."
"What the hell are you ta—" but she didn't let me finish as she rolled her eyes and explained,
"You know what these parties are like because you went to them and enjoyed yourself with your classmates," now the last part wasn't even near being true… "But I have never had the opportunity to do so! And by the looks of it, I never will!" She whined like a whimsical child as her gaze pinned to the ground again as she walked on. My onyx eyes rolled and I pondered when I had actually started to care about the moods she was in.
"What do you care what they say? They're not even home at the time it will be held." I rolled my eyes in annoyance. Seriously, for the daughter of the smartest person in the whole world, she could certainly be very idiotic at times… I observed her expression as realization dawned on her facial features and I nodded at her as if she was a retarded child. She laughed nervously.
"Yeah, you're right… but if I sneak in there without mom and dad's permission, what will happen with me if they find out?" She bit the nail of her thumb worriedly and her eyes slowly shifted to my form walking next to her. I cocked an eye brow at her actions suspiciously, already dreading what she would say next. "You know, even though Yamcha will be there, I'd feel safer if you're there too… Could you please, please, please come with me to the party, Vegeta?" She pleaded desperately, her eyes shining with hope at me.
I wouldn't have agreed had it not been the comment before she asked me. I have no idea what was wrong with me, but every time she mentioned that low-life idiot in front of me, I got all worked up and had the urge to kill and to strangle that idiot… He was so obvious about his feelings for my sister that it was repulsing! But what was even more revolting was the fact that I actually cared about things that aren't even my business! I mean, come on! Who she dated or not was none of my concern! She could even sleep with the bastard if she wished to! It was her life!
I was, obviously, in some desperate need of female attention… I was just spending too much time with my little sister.
"Yeah whatever…" I muttered as I walked further towards the house, fully ignoring the cries of glee from my counterpart.
I was really spending too much time with the sister I hated so full-heartedly not so long ago… I was certain that wasn't a healthy thing to do, nor was the fact it was actually happening…
Feminine attention, feminine attention, desperate need for attention…
The party was much of an orgy rather than anything else, as all teenage parties. I couldn't say that I liked it, but I couldn't say that I hated it either. I told Bulma to be careful about everything and we parted so I could get the female attention I needed and to leave her alone with her boyfriend, or whatever that Yamcha guy was to her.
She still denied whenever I referred to that guy as a 'boyfriend' of hers, but I didn't want to hear another word about it. If only she could see herself from the side… She'd know how right I actually was.
Not that I wasn't always right about everything!
"Hey, Vegeta," I heard someone slur my name out in a purr just as I was getting rather pissed off that everyone was having the time of their night and only I stood there alone like an idiot. I turned my head around to get very disappointed and exasperated when I noticed that it was just that sick stalking bitch Maron standing there with a cup of punch in her hand and a lavender lock intertwined around her pinkish-skinned finger. She was probably trying to look seductive to me; I could sense something like that. It was a little difficult to me to find her attractive as a girl when she was just like another version of my sister. I could tell she knew nothing about my relation to Bulma… stupid as she was…
"What do you want?" I snapped and took a swing of the beer mug I have been holding for a while now and taking huge gulps of whenever my anger rose to intimidating proportions – the last thing I wanted was for my temperamental character to go all ballistic on those poor unsuspecting fools of hormone-driven teenagers… The insolent idiot kept standing there, playing nervously with her hair.
"Hey, I wonder if…" she struggled for words. I rolled my eyes. I wasn't in the mood for this…
"I could care less about the idiocies that puzzle you, now just get the hint and get lost!" The beer was my second half-liter mug and you can see it was already taking its toll on me.
She blinked a few times, obviously not taking rejection well. I sighed in irritation and pushed her aside.
"I hoped you'd get the hint after I brushed you off for the tenth time this year," I added angrily, slurping from the huge glass again. I was being painfully frank with her and as I have already mentioned, the beer had its fair role in my attitude's swings tonight. But perhaps now she'd get the hint and just leave me be! She looked really upset. It must have really got to her… eureka! It was about freaking time, damn it!
"So you're not going to date me?" I threw my free hand up in the air in defeat and then slapped it against my forehead. She was far too stupid for me to bother with her, not to mention trying to tolerate her. Wasting time on such brainless fools was far below my dignity.
I retreated from the scene I would cause with the bimbo and collapsed on a couch, content with the fact she was actually too stunned to move from her place. This house we have been invited to reminds me of the summer house by the beach our parents own. With the difference that this one is not by the beach and not nearly as nice as ours was. I had been so engulfed by my thoughts that I had not spotted the blonde on the love-seat by my right side. I relaxed back on the couch when a cold voice drew me out of my drunken delirium… What can I say? I was still not used to drinking and two mugs easily got to me…
"What do you know? I never thought I would see someone like you on such an occasion." My eyes drifted over to the feminine voice I had heard. I felt my lips curl into a devious smirk. Finally, finally! The attention I have been craving for was finally here! Just as I was getting despaired I would never manage a cock tease the whole night…
"I could say the same for you, your majesty." She smirked as well.
"I'm here out of sheer boredom, bastard, don't misunderstand."
"It goes the same with me." I felt her eyes on me as the lids fell over my onyx orbs, my body too tired of the occasional work outs and insufficient sleep. Oh, so I now got Miss Cold all to myself. I chuckled inwardly. In school, Juuhachigou Jinzoningen was the off-limits chick without a boyfriend. She brushed off anyone and everyone – she was the biggest challenge one could ask for. No one knew what her type was. One thing I was sure about was that I wasn't, but boredom obviously did wonders to people. It was going to be a fun night…
And even with that thought in mind, I still had those odd flying questions through my head about my sister's whereabouts and what she was doing right now as I attempted to flirt. What did I care who she was with? She was the one looking for trouble, defying our parents probably for the first time in her life just so she could make out with that loser rat of a boyfriend of hers freely.
"So, I take it you have no date for tonight? What's a guy like you doing here without a date anyway?" She leant closer to the spot I have been sitting in. I smirked back at her.
"Trying to find a date?" I suggested and she quirked a dubious eye brow at that. "Besides, you're the one to speak – I don't see anyone hanging on your neck either and the 'he's finding me a drink' won't slip." She grinned at me.
"It comes naturally – not seeing anyone around me, that is." Her wicked grin didn't change. It still remained spread over her angel-like features which only proved that looks could easily fool you.
"Don't you think the same applies to me?"
"Now that you mention it…" She mocked a thoughtful frown. "We're both not quite the people one would think should be alone at a party, eh?" I got her hint as she leaned closer to me, causing a mimicking evil grin to spread on my face as well.
"I think I might be ill. It's the first time I'm agreeing so much with anyone on anything."
She laughed merrily with that usually monotonous voice of hers that seemed to transform so much under the effects of alcohol. An exultant smirk pulled the corners of my mouth as I enjoyed the way I obviously affected her, regardless the amount of toxins in her blood.
However, I had no time to savor the lust-filled looks she was giving me as someone pulled gently on my sleeve. I thought it was Maron and I inhaled a deep breath, prepared to yell at her that I was too busy with someone else to pay even a bean attention to her when I noted that the lavender haired girl wasn't Maron.
Bulma's face was paler than usual, if that was even humanly possible. Her eyes were half-closed as if she didn't even have the power to keep her lids open. She was obviously struggling against the force that had befallen her but it was a futile losing battle. She would collapse any time now.
She spared Juuhachigou a meek glance while she supported her weight on the arm of my chair, looking desperately in my eyes, her cerulean orbs swimming back and forth in what was a clear case of her first jag.
"Ve-Vegeta… I'm s-sorry to interrupt, but—"
"What the heck happened to you?" I heard my voice stern and firm as it should be suited for a bigger brother. It was true, I was a mere year older, but I felt this year like ten, what with the fact I was far more mature that kids my age. And… well, I was obviously a lot superior to her physically, so… You get the idea – I have a damn good reason to feel like a bigger brother to her with more than a year. Her lavender hair fell from behind her ear in her face as she sobbed and reclined forward as she couldn't hold herself up any longer.
"Vegeta… Please… Take me home…" She sobbed again. I could see her breaking down. I had never seen her like that before ever since I had returned, what with her character turning out to be that of such a spitfire. She looked all red in the face but I knew perfectly well it wasn't a blush from the fact she had got drunk. I saw her knees buckle under her as she supported herself on the back of the couch now. I kicked myself mentally for staring vacantly while she struggled to stay erect as I approached her from the side after getting up, trying to overcome my own dizzy state.
"Wha-what are you doing?" She stuttered and cowered away from my embrace. I frowned even deeper as I pulled her back by her arm.
"Idiot!" I scorned her. "You think you're in condition to walk? Don't be ridiculous!"
"But I'm heavy!"
"Shut up… Your high-pitched voice is hurting my ears." What an obvious lie… Her voice was music to my ears now… but she didn't need to know that now, did she?
I grabbed her forcibly before she could get away again. I collected her blacking out form in my arms before her knees gave out from underneath her and she made a fool of herself before all her class-mates and upperclassmen. Not that I really cared if that happened…
I looked expressionlessly at Juuhachigou who was now glaring vacantly with an uninterested gaze at the female in my arms. I turned around without a word of explanation to the blonde girl, only to hear her mumble a, "There goes a good lay with another chick…" and something that resembled a "should've tried the damsel-in-distress thing as well" before she slurped angrily from my beer I had placed on the table next to the couch somewhere along the lines.
What a disturbing persona this blonde was…
I glared at her face that was turned to the other side, stubbornly and guiltily refusing to face my chest.
"Brat," that was how I called her when I referred to her ever since we have been kids. Her body was not as heavy as she obviously thought it to be; in fact she was extremely light for someone her age. Her eyes still refused to lock with mine. "Bulma," I mutter menacingly this time, but she still didn't dare a look at me. Her stubbornness would get the better of my temper one of those days… "What happened to you?" No answer. "You better answer, or Scar Face gets what's been coming at him for some time now." I smirked at my statement. At least I would get some amusement out of her silence if she still tried to play this whose-will-is-more-powerful game.
"No!" She suddenly panicked, her eyes snapping fully open in apprehension. "It wasn't Yamcha's fault; it wasn't anyone's fault…" her voice trailed off. "I just got too caught up and then they wouldn't let me stop…"
"Who are they?" I snapped maliciously, a little too mean than I intended. (God, kill me right now… I was using words like mean…) She seemed unfazed to that though, probably too out of it as well to notice.
"The guys from my class…" Her eyes were fluttering, her mind drifting in and out of consciousness. "They said I was a wimp and that I couldn't drink a certain amount of punch…"
"The punch wasn't really alcoholic," I pointed out as if she hadn't been there.
"The one you tried wasn't…" She trailed off for longer this time. "I feel so… nauseous… Are we shaking…?" She couldn't keep her eyes open and by the time we reached Capsule Corporation she was fast asleep.
I sighed heavily as I set her down on her bed and let my back adjust to the relief of the additional weight on it gone. As I watched her sleep, I felt a surge of burning hate for everything sinful on this world… Towards all those losers who wanted to humiliate her and a sudden self-loathe for the person I had been before.
The alcohol was definitely taking its toll on me; I chuckled aloud at the thought… To make me feel so weird it had to pack quite a punch… this drink of mine… Or maybe I was just simply tired…
She looked so cherubic in her faintly baby blue coloured covers, asleep in her bed, ignorant of everything that happened around her… more innocent than anyone her age in that pose…
My eyes rolled back and the pressure, both physical and mental, of the last few days, as well as the irregular way in which I ate, took the best of me and I collapsed next to her on the spacious bed, unconscious from the exhaustion myself, with one last thought crossing my mind as I did so…
'I'll just relax my eyes for a second…'
The happenings appear to be quite random, but, as some of you noticed, they are memories after all. Those of you who have read the previous version probably clearly see now the difference. Please review if you want the next chapter out!