Winning the Love of the Handsome Skater
Chapter Twenty-Six: Creating Precious Memories
"That was an absolutely pointless fight! You should have never engaged in it!" Hailie chided her boyfriend who waved a dismissive hand at her.
"Hailie's absolutely right, Vegeta! Look at what you two look like! People are staring at us as if—" Her voice was loud and strong but it appeared that Vegeta wasn't in the mood to be out shouted exactly at that moment.
"This is one of my most sensible fights ever. And, just in case you haven't noticed for eighteen years of your life, people usually stare at you, me and Rain weirdly. It is part of being shamelessly famous across the country, you see…"
Juuhachi hid her grin behind her hand while Goku chuckled idiotically while checking the menu of the café they had gone straight to after exiting the training room. Bulma flushed a light red colour at her lover's words and the reaction they caused in their friends. Most were chuckling or giggling for the exception of Hailie and ChiChi—the raven haired girl would never laugh at something "stupid" Vegeta said.
"Who the hell gave you the right to—?"
"Who the hell needs to give me right to do anything?"
"You can't just… talk to me as if I'm some meddlesome three year old that you're tired of explaining the same damn thing to over and over—"
"You're right; you're a meddlesome eighteen year old which is worse—"
"Stop interrupting me!" Bulma shrieked with an insane expression on her face. Vegeta laughed full-heartily.
"Payback's a bitch, isn't it? That's for yesterday."
Bulma was having trouble getting over her anger which made her whole body convulse in her urge to strangle her maddening boyfriend who grinned like an imp every time he took a glance at her flushed enraged face. While she was struggling to ask what the hell he was paying her back for, Rain's hand and laugh pulled her out of her momentary fit as his palm landed on her shoulder.
"Stop worrying yourself over us, dear, or you might not the able to put up much with us." His happy-go-lucky demeanor vanished when his girlfriend poked his side with an erect finger. The boy recoiled with the roar of a wounded animal, glaring at the girl next to his side with an outraged expression on his features.
"'Argh', now isn't it? I'll give you 'Argh' when you get in such a fight next time when you're still not fully recovered." The boy put a left hand—for the sheer fact that he had slight trouble moving his right one currently—behind his head sheepishly and stuck his tongue out at her.
"Whatever you say, mother."
"Recovered? What from?" Vegeta looked up from his sandwich which had arrived no more than several seconds prior.
"Ah, it's nothing…" Rain muttered, busying himself with his own sandwich—he was starved! However, Vegeta's observant onyx orbs didn't miss the pretence nonchalant way the other youth spoke about the matter. And still, he decided not to mention it again. His best friend would tell him if it was something that was really important… or at least he so wanted to believe.
"So, how do the two of you know each other? I never knew you were acquainted." Krillin urged the eldest pair of boys on their table to share some of their adventures together.
"Who'd think that the best two skaters in town or in the whole world in general knew each other…" Juu muttered with a slightly wistful look on her sharp features, leaning on the table, resting her head on her palm.
"Actually I taught Vegeta how to skate." The taller boy afforded himself the bold action of ruffling Vegeta's hair before the other teen could catch his healthy hand and decrease its health immediately as well. "Good to know that I did my job well now that he's better than me in skating."
"I'm better than you in everything," the spiky-haired boy clarified, making the other dark haired male laugh.
"Now, we'll have to ask Hailie about that, hm?" Rain gave his girlfriend a taut suggestive look. She flushed red in embarrassment at first before she elbowed him in the wounded side, making him bend over his lunch. "Okay, so maybe I deserved that…" The boy managed to wheeze out while he tried to recollect his breathing.
"So you were his teacher?" ChiChi interjected, no one on the table paying attention to the other "happy couple's" argument, much like all the other ones they seemed to have all the time… ("Don't talk with your mouth full!" "Now you're going to tell me how to eat too, are you, woman?" "I'm just telling you not to talk with your mouth full, it's impolite!" "Who cares? I'm hungry as a wolf and I could care less whether I eat politely—hey, give me my plate back!")
"Roughly said, yes," Rain confirmed, smirking at Goku who grinned back. "I was your boyfriend's skating teacher too, though I have to admit it was harder working with him."
"Yeah, well, he's not much of a great student, is he?" ChiChi muttered while eying warily her boyfriend who just grinned from ear to ear, putting a hand behind his neck. By the time the couple's argument was starting to reach new heights… ("If you start talking with your mouth full again, I'll—" "What, what will you? You can do nothing to me, now hand it over, I'm dying here!" "Yeah, as if we'd get such luck…" "Oh, shut up and just give me the damned plate before you really start pissing me off!" "I still haven't? Then I'll need to keep it for a bit more, I guess…" "Bulma……")
"How did you three get to know each other then? Fate?" Juuhachigou laughed at her suggestion. She didn't believe in that kind of thing such as fate… The idea that someone had her life already planned for her didn't sit well with her…
"Actually we went to the same middle school, and then Kakarot moved out during high school, but we were still in the same skating band together."
"Why do both of you call Goku Kakarot? Is it some kind of nickname between the three of you or something?" ChiChi's eye brows narrowed. She liked her boyfriend's name—why did both Vegeta and his friend have to call Goku that weird nickname? How did they come up with it anyway? It sounded very strange… almost alien.
Rain laughed uncomfortably.
"Yeah, nickname, that sounds rather acceptable…"
The argument was no longer ignorable, neither by the teens nor the café's owners.
"Hey, that was mine!" Bulma objected rather loudly as the sandwich from her plate disappeared in the depths Vegeta's mouth. He swallowed it fast, gulped down the contents of his glass and exhaled contently.
"Not anymore. That's what you get for toying with Vegeta Ouji."
"The one and only," Rain interjected with a wide smirk, making his friend grin and give him the thumbs up.
"Why I ought to—hey!" Bulma had been about to strike her boyfriend's shoulder with her tiny balled fist when he jumped up and out of his seat, dashing for the doors of the café with a devilish look on his features while he yelled to them,
"Later, suckers!"
In the exhilaration of the reunion no one had noticed it… But he felt it… He could easily feel it now…
"Oh, no, you don't!" Bulma growled out as she scrambled out of her seat as well, running after him out of the café, leaving the others baffled in their seat.
There was nothing missing now… He finally felt content… And he felt it, so obvious now…
"Such infantile behaviour…" ChiChi shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest.
"It looks fun," Goku said with a grin on his features. However, ChiChi's intense glare strangled any thought of going after them to participate in the 'fun activity'. Rain laughed lightly and rested his back against his chair looking fondly at his girlfriend's face while she was observing the pair outside chasing each other around like little children with one fine eyebrow slightly raised.
It was clearly perceptive now, the feeling of happiness lingering in the air…
"Vegeta! Get back here!" Bulma's shriek resounded outside while she chased her boyfriend behind a tree, the two of them circling around it in their little game.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
The weeks passed and soon the gang was growing used to Rain and Hailie's presence in their tight little friendly circle. The girls had to try and forget their little grudge against the other girl but it was quite easy once they were all in her good books as well—it was amazing how much a person changed when they didn't think you to be a mortal enemy…
Rain was also a character quite easy to grow used to and fond of. His laugh was very contagious and his smirk could probably only be rivaled by Vegeta's. The two had once become next to inseparable, what with Vegeta spending most of his time with his girlfriend, the two of them spending the nights either in Bulma's room at Capsule Corp. or in Vegeta's in his mansion. Krillin had finally found the guts to ask Juuhachigou out on the other hand, and the two were now an item as well—which made their clique all paired up, and quite well at that.
However, things started to change slightly in April…
"What do you mean, 'it's just the way it is'?" Vegeta's usually stern but leveled voice boomed in the school cafeteria to greet his girlfriend and her best friend.
"What the hell is he screaming like a maniac for…?" ChiChi's eye brows narrowed as they approached the pair friends on a table in the middle of the canteen. Vegeta's fist was slammed on the thick wooden table and it could have just been Bulma… but she could almost swear she could see a net-like crack snaking its way down the wooden support of the table.
Goku pulled his hands up in defense with a dense grin on his features.
"Come on, Vegeta—it's no big deal…" he trailed off while his best friend's fist slammed over the table again, scaring some girls sitting nearby.
"Don't you try to feed me that bullshit, you moron! I refuse to let that wench contaminate my home!" Goku's eyes narrowed seriously at that.
"I know you don't like her much, Vegeta, but I will not allow you to call or treat my girlfriend that way," the taller boy explained, making his childhood buddy snort angrily while their girlfriends and the rest of their clique joined them.
"What's going on here, what's all this commotion about? We heard you screaming like a banshee from the lunch line." Juu motioned over her shoulder to the lunch line that went all the way to the other end of the premise. Vegeta's enraged onyx orbs pinned to her form, making her flinch slightly at the intensity of the boy's displeasure.
"I see that you told him about that brilliant 'plan' of yours then…" ChiChi muttered in a bored voice as she took a bite from her home-managed sandwich—she had got up late today and hadn't managed anything more.
"What plan are we talking about here?" Bulma asked in nonplus, fishing for a spare quarter in her pocket for a soda.
"There is absolutely no way that I will live in the same building as her!" And at that, Vegeta pointed impolitely an accusing finger at ChiChi, who only rolled her eyes at the gesture.
"Don't worry, dwarf, I'm not much thrilled at the idea either, so there's no need to make a matter of it." She rolled her jet black eyes, making the boy's turn to slits of malice.
"Just how did you just call me?" he asked in a very threatening manner, his body starting to exude a strange dark aura that seemed to make the air too choking to breathe.
"Now, now, Vegeta, just calm down!" Rain interjected when he was sure that things were going to become ugly very soon. "I'm sure we can solve this one out peacefully."
"I will never do anything peacefully with her!" shouted the flame-haired boy enraged, his eyes glaring daggers at ChiChi's back.
Just as the argument was beginning to become more and more violent, with the two of them exchanging ruder and ruder names between each other, Bulma rejoined the group, sipping from her can of soda nonchalantly.
"If you're so pissed with living in the same building like ChiChi, why don't you move in with me?" said Bulma, gathering everyone's attention, including all the people around who didn't really know the gang. The confusion in her lover's eyes urged her to repeat. "Well, yeah, I don't see anything wrong with that. My mother is all over you, my father adores the idea of having you around and helping him out with work as I prove to be quite a dysfunctional assistant nowadays with all the studying for my exams that I do—" here Vegeta snorted but she paid no attention to him, "—and we have a nice suite in the compound that can well fit the both of us in it. What do you say?"
She stared expectantly at him as if it was the easiest decision to make. However, to all their surprise, people who thought that Vegeta was a commitment freak, smirked evilly and nodded.
"Sure, sounds good." And, while his friends started commenting on it, Rain leaned over to his ear and asked what the big idea was and received the following response, "If you had such a spitfire, in more than one meaning, for a girlfriend, you would too want to live in the same room and sleep in the same bed as her."
"I heard that the weather on our last day in school will be Hell of a shitty one." Krillin commented while he sipped from his drink.
"Why, is it going to rain all day?" Goku blinked dumbly.
"Heck, no! It's going to be so hot our blood would literally boil in our veins!" Krillin freaked out, making his friends cock an eyebrow at his reaction.
"I think Krillin has finally lost it, Juu. You need to keep a better watch over him," said ChiChi with a bored look on her face while she sipped her newly arrived drink.
"Don't say it as if I'm his babysitter or something, Chi!" said the blonde with a reproachful glare at her darker haired friend, who only waved her hand dismissively with a slightly apologetic look.
"If it's going to be as hot as the forecasts say then," Bulma began while she sat herself next to her just calmed down lover, leaning on his arm which was draped over the back of the bench, "we should probably celebrate the end of school year earlier. This weekend or something of the sort, because I don't much fancy sunburn, thank you very much."
She didn't miss the teasing remark of her boyfriend either—"Aren't you special?"—but chose not to start on it as she was too busy being happy about how easily she had persuaded him into moving in to live with her to ruin her good mood.
"Ditto that—I burn so easily it's not even funny!" Juu said while playing with the straw of her milk shake.
"And what do you guys suggest? Staying at home, hoping we don't die from the heat?" Rain laughed at the mere mental image of it. It was ridiculous how they, the most famous teenagers over the world currently, couldn't even figure out where to be as not to get a heat stroke.
"I'd love the comfort of my air-conditioned apartment…" Hailie muttered while stifling a nasty cough.
"I have a better suggestion for you." The rest of the gang pinned their eyes expectantly at Juuhachigou while their auburn-haired friend fought a mini seizure. "What do you guys say we go to my villa again? During the summer it's nice and shadowy there, what with all the trees growing around it. I'll have my people arrange something of a feast for dinner so we can have a nice little rest and a bit of time together before the graduation. What do you say to that?"
"I think it's a wonderful idea!" Goku grinned from ear to ear at the thought of it—a night in the wilderness! It was a dream come true for the spiky-haired boy.
"I think we're all in." Krillin smiled at his blonde counterpart and she nodded approvingly.
"It's settled then!"
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
As promised, that weekend the heavy wooden door of Juu's villa opened to a small group of teenagers, carrying small bags with clothes and personal belongings. A pair of servants attended to their luggage and carried it off in direction of the bedroom chambers, or at least that was what Bulma assumed they were doing.
"Whoa, I feel like royalty!" Rain laughed when a kind-looking maid took the bag he had been carrying and he finally had the time to look around to get his bearings. "I have to admit, Juuhachi, you've got one hell of a place here."
"And it's nice and cool too," the Capsule Corporation heiress pointed out as she threw her handbag on a shelf by the entrance.
"Is it just me, or are we really getting better service than last time?" Goku laughed while he was being released from the weight of his own luggage.
"Last time these people had just gone on vacation. I didn't have the heart to call them back here just because of a whim."
"You actually have a heart?" Vegeta mocked with a taut surprised look, making Bulma slap his chest for the remark.
"That one coming from you doesn't even nearly qualify as an offensive remark, Ouji." Juuhachi glared him down, making the flame-haired boy smirk smugly.
"Are we on last name terms already? You're losing your touch, Jinzoningen." He laughed in the way only he could but didn't miss the venomous stare of his girlfriend. He returned it with equal intensity. "And just what is wrong with you now?"
"Nothing!" Bulma snapped a bit too soon to be convincing and turned on her heel, letting Vegeta have a good view of her retreating back. However, before she could make a hasty exit under a lame excuse, he cornered her.
"I can tell you're just bursting to tell me," he said self-satisfied with the dark look those sapphire orbs were honoring him with. "So why don't you just tell me?"
"You think you're so smart, don't you?"
"If I wasn't, you wouldn't be here, now, with me." He smirked proudly, making her lose her concentration on the task at hand for a mere moment. "Are you actually jealous?" he realized with genuine amusement in his voice, which irritated her to no end.
"Of course I'm not, why should I be?" she snapped, again, a bit too hasty to make him believe it. She pouted childishly and crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "Well… maybe I am… just a little…" She watched from the corner of her eye how his face turned from the disbelieving look to a wider and wider smirk which she was just dying to slap off that face of his… so handsome though it was…
"As much as I would like to have you make that kind of expression again," he began in a low voice so his words would go unheard by unwanted eavesdroppers while his arms snaked around her shoulders and draped over her form from behind, so he had her flushed up against his chest, "there's absolutely no reason for you to be jealous of Blondie here…" He then nuzzled on her neck to prove his point.
"But, you were an item before and…"
"And you don't trust me?" he supplied helpfully.
"No! No! Of course not, of course I trust you! I just… It's a characteristic of my star sign even… I can't help myself…" It was starting to get harder to put the words together, what with the heat and her boyfriend in such a close proximity to her…
"Well, that's good, because I can't help myself either right now…"
Before he could proceed with his spell over her any further, Juuhachi raised her voice a bit so even they could hear her.
"I think that now is as fine time as any to tell you that as long as you're under my roof, there will be no fondling or any sexual activities. I trust that you can keep your hands off of each other for a couple of days, right?" She glared at Vegeta over her shoulder, making him groan loudly.
"Just because she isn't getting any it doesn't give her the right to restrict us—"
"Watch it, Vegeta!" Krillin said sharply, making the taller teen look weirdly down at the other boy.
"Did you just hear him—?"
"He's right Vegeta—you should really can it." Bulma said with a cold stare, making him sigh audibly while muttering incoherently something about stupid hosts and cranky people…
"So what's the plan for now?" ChiChi interjected before she had to deal with any more of Vegeta's snide remarks that she so adored.
"Well, you have some free time until dinner. We're having barbeque which Krillin and I will get ready and until then you can do whatever you wish… however I strongly recommend fetching some sleep so you don't feel moody tonight because I don't plan on letting you guys go to bed before four a.m."
Nodding their understanding, Bulma and Vegeta went towards their own room while the others did so as well, leaving their hostess and her boyfriend take care of things since they refused to have any help.
"Where are you going?" Bulma asked with unveiled interest. "Aren't you going to fetch some sleep?"
"I'd rather die than follow any of that wench's advices. Besides, a walk would be far more refreshing to me than sleeping in this hell heat." He proceeded towards the door but stopped on the threshold, looking at his lover still sitting on their comfortable double bed, looking perplexed and thoughtful. He sighed in irritation. "Do I always have to specially invite you so you get the point? Are you coming with me or not?"
She was like an open book to him now, she knew. Her heart leapt and she jumped up and after him sooner than one would expect. He shook his head and hid a small smile from her. She was such a child sometimes…
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"Are you sure you can find the way back to the house from here?" the girl asked for the umpteenth time for the last hour, walking stiffly in her boyfriend's wake, looking around at all the trees, grasses and flowers that grew in the area as they passed. It had been quite a long time since she had last done something like this—just enjoying a walk in the wilderness of an untouched forest… Vegeta had been right—it was truly refreshing.
"Will you stop doing that? It didn't bother me all that much the last few thousand of times but now it's seriously beginning to waltz on my nerves…"
Bulma grinned impishly behind his back, engaging in trying to piss him off by repeating the same thing over and over again, pausing for only about ten seconds before repeating the phrase again. Releasing a primordial growl, the boy turned around and started to chase her with feigned malice as she ran, squealing and laughing like a little girl.
They ran around for a bit, enjoying themselves for the time being before, suddenly, Vegeta lost sight of her.
"Woman, I think you should know that trying to be funny is really not the type of thing that suits you," he said loudly enough so she could hear him if she was still in the vicinity. The weird thing was that no one answered him. Something crept in his chest, an odd, unknown, feeling but he ignored it as he looked around some more for her.
Before he could say anything more though, his sensitive ears picked up the low moan of pain that came from behind a giant tree. Feeling the odd thing in his chest convulse and grow quickly, he ran towards the tree only to look down at a clearing that was anything but in the ordinary. Tree trunks were broken, grass was burnt and there, in the midst of the debris, lay his girlfriend, writhing in agony as she tried to push herself away from the tree which her back had hit when she had fallen.
"Bulma, are you alright?" he yelled from the top, panic creeping slowly in his voice.
The heiress, whose eyes had watered from the lack of oxygen after having the wind knocked out from her earlier, looked up at her boyfriend and felt her pain ease at once, if even for just a second, as she caught the expression of his face at that instant. If only for a split second, Vegeta, the callous beast—as ChiChi often claimed even though Bulma disapproved of such statements greatly—looked like a little boy who was about to cry. However, he quickly composed himself again, jumping down—rather impressively as it was a long way down—right in front of her, trying to lift her from the tree trunk she was leaning on.
"I'm fine, I'm fine, don't—oh my God, stop pulling or I'll die!" She tried to shrug him off unsuccessfully but he did as she wished. He inspected her leg and found it to be nearly-impaled on a broken large branch. "What are you doing? That looks painful… no, don't…" she muttered helplessly as she watched her boyfriend reach for the branch which held her tight to the tree.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm freeing you."
It took most of his resolve to ignore the girl's scream as he slid out the now bloody branch from her leg. Sucking on a breath, she sat oddly down while he inspected the damage.
He could feel it now, clearly… The iron grip on his heart that was tightening and tightening, making him feel claustrophobic in his chest, in his skin. His soul wanted to escape because he felt so helpless as he watched his closest one spill her precious blood… He knew then what that feeling was, he recognized it for the first time in a while…
It was panic. He was beyond worried, having no clue how to tend to her injuries without having anything useful at hand.
"I'm really such an idiot… Who else would fall off from there anyway?" she chided herself but her lover did not lift his eyes from the wound. It was deep… and she was losing a lot of blood… He had to do something, and fast, before she fainted! "Vegeta…"
"Shut up, woman, I'm trying to think," he cut across her as he tore his shirt, making an improvised tourniquet for the moment and tying it tightly around her leg. "This should keep you from losing any more blood. Come on," said he, trying to pull her up into his arms, fully intending on carrying her, but she turned away. "What?" he snapped. "I'm really not in the mood to argue with you right now!"
"I can stand on my own, father!" she snapped just as seriously back, struggling to her feet but when she couldn't make one steady step, Vegeta collected her, ignoring her rants, in his embrace. "No, Vegeta, let go, let go!" she screamed and finally, she managed to kick free from him and fall to the ground, taking him down with her.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself staring at a pair of deadly serious onyx orbs, not a hint of amusement in the endless depths…
"Bulma," he began lowly and slowly, so she could understand each and every word he said, "people die from blood loss, in case you haven't heard. Stop trying to play hard ball with me and let me get you to Juuhachigou's place before it's too late. This thing," he mentioned to his t-shirt tied around her leg, "won't hold for long and by the time you manage to limp on your own to the villa, you'll be unable to even think of moving a finger. Now stop resisting…"
"At least let me climb on your back… It's too embarrassing…" He grimaced at her words. She actually had the time to think how embarrassed she felt when she would soon lack the blood to blush from it? He couldn't believe her! Yet he knew perfectly well that until he concurred she wouldn't let him go on, so he did.
Soon, Bulma's hands were enveloping Vegeta's wide shoulders from behind while he held her by the knees at either side of him. He took long, quick strides toward the villa, without missing the wet warm feeling of the blood which was smearing on his hand. Bulma let herself finally relax a bit, realizing for the first time in a few minutes just how tired she actually felt. Her lids felt heavy and she couldn't keep them open. Her whole body was turning cold despite the hellish heat and she nuzzled closer to Vegeta in a futile attempt to warm herself.
Just as she was really losing it, something hard scratched her arm. She groaned beneath her breath and lazily opened an eye to see what dared to disturb her peace. Then, she saw it… The silver dragon chain that she had given Vegeta for his birthday all those months ago, holding secure to his neck, clinking slightly with each step he took if you only listened to it. She noticed another thing as well—the troubled and concentrated profile of her boyfriend as he kept walking straight forward with a determination to envy. Smiling tranquilly to herself, she rested her head on the crook of his neck.
"Vegeta…" she wheezed out in a shaky voice.
"Don't talk," he retorted defensively.
"Vegeta…" she continued, not listening to a word he said. "I'm… I'm really sorry…" she was having a hard time articulating the words as the lassitude conquered over all her senses. "I'm really sorry for… worrying you like this…"
"Who'd worry about such an idiotic woman such as yourself?" He retorted in his usual manner yet received no answer as Bulma had already lost her grip on her consciousness.
Making his grip on her legs a little firmer and reclining forward so she wouldn't fall as he walked, he fastened his pace…
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"So she just fell? Just like that? On her own?" ChiChi inquired annoyingly while she tended to the heiress' wound gently, dabbing the cotton in the antiseptic. Vegeta growled loudly, glaring venomous daggers at the brunette.
"If you are trying to make me say that I pushed her in, you're in for a big surprise, harpy," he hissed out between his gritted teeth. Before things could proceed from there on, though, Goku waltzed in between the two of them, lifting a pacifist hand in front of both their faces.
"Now, now, let's stop fighting and think more about Bulma; what do you say, guys?" Both his friends huffed and turned their heads away from each other, not bearing the sight of the other any longer.
"So, you say there was some sort of a pit full of broken trees, some of which were burnt down?" Juuhachigou asked doubtfully, a thoughtful frown on her graceful features.
"Are you saying I'm making it up too?" he growled out at her as well.
"Cool off, Vegeta, I'm just saying that it's weird. I have been coming here for the last ten or so years and I have explored every inch of this forest and still, it's the first time I hear of something like that…"
"It looked like something had actually… crashed there, or something…" Vegeta muttered to himself and no one noticed the shock written in Rain's eyes when he heard that.
'No, it couldn't possibly be… After so many years…' he thought to himself as he observed his friends interrogating his flame-haired buddy. 'I'll go check the sight out myself later, just to prove that it's not that…'
While the others were too busy trying to find out what it could've been that had caused the destruction of so many trees in such an odd manner, light lashes fluttered to life, unraveling a pair of cobalt eyes to the world.
"Bulma! You're awake!" ChiChi exclaimed happily, putting the things in her hands on the side, busying herself with hugging her stressed friend in the meanwhile.
"Sorry for worrying you, Chi… Was I out for long? Did I miss dinner?" she attempted a joke but all she got was a motherly glare from her friend.
"Instead of apologizing, why don't you try not to get yourself into these situations next time? I'm beginning to get sick and tired of tending to your wounds, you know!" The darker haired girl crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, turning her head to the side, conveying her refusal to look at her best friend.
"I know, I know, I'm really, really, really sorry, ChiChi—I did try to be careful but who'd expect there would be a cliff right behind a huge tree like that one." She laughed carelessly after saying that, obviously oblivious to the gravity of the situation. All her brunette friend could do was to stare incredulously at her, as if she had grown a spare head above her old one… The girl wasn't for real…
"It looks you're healthy enough if you've got enough spunk to talk like that." Rain said cheerfully, patting the girl's shoulder as she climbed to the edge of the bed. She grinned at him.
"It takes more than a silly little fall like that to take down Bulma Briefs!" The dark haired boy laughed whole-heartedly.
"I knew it!"
Meanwhile, Bulma didn't miss Vegeta shaking his head and mumbling things about calling something as serious a 'silly little fall' and idiotic women with no self-preservation instincts.
"Now that you're all better how about we all go downstairs for some barbeque? There's nothing better for a sick person than a pile of wieners and a juicy steak!" Krillin suggested, receiving a pleasing reaction from the gang.
Having taken up her position as guardian angel for Bulma, ChiChi helped her friend down the steps, droning on and on about how irresponsible one could get as well as insensitive to other people's worries. The heiress only smiled kindly at her old fellow, knowing that it was her way of releasing the tension she had certainly previously felt. Anyway, it was definitely better than crying.
It didn't pass unnoticed by her how her boyfriend also slackened his step, falling behind enough to be just a few steps ahead of the pair of them. Looking at his stern profile, the lavender-haired girl thought that an apology was in order there as well…
"Vegeta…" she probed, trying to gather his attention. "I'm really sorry for making you carry me all the way from there… I must've been really heavy…"
"If you have enough energy to be so sorry, concentrate it on trying not to repeat that kind of stunt ever again… understood?" he looked indifferently at her for a second. However, she saw that same look in his eyes… the look that she had never before seen him carry in his dark onyx eyes… and she nodded. She would look to it that such a thing never happened again…
…For she would only make her hate herself if she made such a proud person like Vegeta have such a worry-worn look in his eyes…
A second had passed and the boy's demeanor had already changed drastically. He sniffed the air curiously and licked his lips savagely, much like all his fellow males.
"Smells nice," he stated. "Carrying your fat ass around sure made me hungry!" he told her with a smug smirk, making her curse after him as he made a quick escape for the dining room.
Yes… It was quite a day today…
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"…And he said, looking like he was in complete stupor, "You're who my brother lost to? I… Gee, I didn't know, I… please excuse my little brother's behaviour, he didn't mean any of it!" and they all just ran off, as if chased by the devil!" Rain finished his story, making all his new friends laugh at the mental image.
"I get that kind of reaction all the time. With us girls it's a bit different though. When you're good-looking, they expect you to be absolutely dense! I have to admit, it offends me quite a bit when someone judges me just by my appearance," Bulma continued, sipping from her bottle of beer carelessly, the pain in her wounded leg long forgotten.
Her gang had gathered around in the sitting room, watching movies at first, but then they had given it up, seeing as they were far too excited from the day to just sit quietly and watch something. Now, they were on a stage where they talked about all sorts of things, just trying to get to know each other better… become a closer community…
"I know what you mean. I hate it when people go on and underestimate me just because I'm blonde! It pisses me off so much…!" Juuhachigou cursed beneath her breath while taking a large swig of her beer.
"People go on and believe the stupidest of rumors. I hate that about my old school, because it was a small one and all that the girls there thrived on were gossips and rumors. They were pitiful people with no personal lives who liked to spread idiotic things about others, just for the kick of it!" Hailie added.
"Yeah, Hailie's right. I remember the time when ChiChi and I first started dating. I heard things about me that I hadn't known before that! Some of them were really amusing. Someone had actually gone through the hassle of saying that ChiChi and I were already engaged to be married and that our parents had arranged it when we were little, since there was no other way ChiChi would like someone like me." He laughed heartily at that, and ChiChi merely giggled at the reminiscence.
"Talking about ridiculous rumors, I once heard people talking behind my back that I was snappy and moody because I was unsatisfied, you see… the next second, another group passed by me and I heard something about me having slept with all the girls in school. I wonder how those two statements could be true at the same time."
"I have no idea why people would go through so much trouble just to make fun of you people." Krillin said while toying with his own beer bottle.
"Well, they have no personal lives whatsoever as we already mentioned and it probably makes them happy, thinking they can actually make us pay attention to them if they spill all that shit about us behind our backs, just in order to have a tiny taste of the 'glory' of being famous." ChiChi rolled her eyes after she said it, remembering all the low-lives she had had to deal with her entire life, what with her being the girlfriend of one of the most famous skaters of all…
"It's really sad that such people exist…" Hailie muttered while she fingered the can of soda she had in her possession. After all, mixing beer with her pills was an absolute no-no.
"I can recall one time when some girl tried to turn the whole class against me and ChiChi in middle school." Bulma laughed cruelly. "It was truly pitiful how she tried to worm herself into our lives and separate us. She got what she deserved though. The class finally understood what she was trying to do and apologized a million times afterwards. They treated her so badly she was forced to leave the school because of the embarrassment."
"I still feel a bit bad for the way they treated her though, even if I know she deserved it…" ChiChi said.
"Well, don't. You reap what you sow, as you very well know. She learned that the hard way." Hailie explained.
"Anyway, dropping the subject of fame and glory, I think that it's really nice we all came to live in peace with each other." Bulma smiled lazily.
"We don't know each other very well and we're already going to go our separate ways… It's a bit sad…" Krillin muttered to himself.
"We live in a modern world, Krillin. There are very few things you can't do over internet and e-mail." Juuhachigou laughed.
"I hope that we keep in touch over the years, so one day we can all meet again and see how much we have accomplished in our lives!" Goku grinned idiotically in the way that only he could.
"Cheers to the brighter future of our clique!" Vegeta raised his can, his eyes swimming from the alcohol.
"Cheers!" everyone echoed his toast and took large gulps of their drinks.
"I don't know about you guys, but this beer is seriously starting to get to my head…" Bulma hiccupped and grinned stupidly as her lids desperately tried to close over her eyes.
"I know what I promised but I don't think I can keep my own promise either…" Juuhachigou muttered as she lay her head on the settee that she had settled herself in.
"I suggest we all go to bed now before we pass out here and wake up with cranked necks tomorrow morning…" Krillin mumbled, already half-asleep.
"That's the best idea I have heard for the day…" Vegeta admitted, picking himself up with surprising ease.
"Guys… I'm really glad we all came here together… Now I know there are people out there who understand me…" Bulma confessed in a croaked voice while her boyfriend picked her up in his warm embrace.
"I think we really did make some pretty nice memories together, didn't we?" Rain asked rhetorically, mimicking the almost same actions as Vegeta, as Hailie was already fast asleep.
"We should repeat this some time during the summer again, huh? But next time we can go at my grandfather's place—it's a small island in the middle of the ocean. It's really nice and refreshing for a vacation!" Krillin suggested helpfully, trying to collect his bearings and stop his world from spinning as he picked himself off the floor.
"Don't listen to him; he's trying to lure you in certain death! His grandfather is a real skirt-chaser and the most perverted human being to be born!" Juuhachigou warned teasingly, earning a wounded puppy-like groan from her boyfriend. "Don't act as if it's not true!"
"You could've said it in a kinder way, you know…!" the short boy protested.
The gang laughed lightly before all of them bidding the others good night and going to their respective bedrooms.
Setting his girlfriend gingerly down on the bed, Vegeta undressed himself and—seeing as she was having trouble with her own clothes—helped his girlfriend with ridding herself of her own attire.
"Vegeta…?" she rasped out breathlessly, the weight of the day's events finally falling onto her full force.
"Mmm?" he moaned from his pillow, indicating that he was listening while he felt his aching back ease with every second it spend on the cozy bed.
"For earlier today…"
"If you apologize to me one more time, I'm going to strangle you with whatever power I have left…" he muttered angrily from the bed.
"Thank you… for worrying over me and for taking care of me. I don't know what I will do without you…" Suddenly, he felt wide awake. He supported himself on his elbows and stared into her eyes, or at least at her closed lids and her distant smile.
He gazed for a prolonged and meaningful moment at her almost-asleep features… at her peaceful face and her reassuring smile… She could be such an idiot, making him worry over her—much as he hated to admit it, though, that he had been worried. She could also be such a cheerful girl, bringing people together, creating and solidifying bonds between people so different in their nature. She was such an understanding person, always forgiving him, even if he did not deserve her forgiveness when he snapped needlessly at her. She was such a wonderful and incredible person, soothing the raging of his restless spirit… bringing it under control after almost two decades of torment and sadness. For the first time in so long, he finally felt complete, he was finally alive…!
…And he owed it all to this little female, lying on her back in the soft bed, sleeping peacefully right next to him… She knew so much about him and still claimed she cared for him. She knew so much about him and still wanted to stay with him, no matter what…
He would never admit it, if even only to himself, but it was a fact… He felt it pulsing inside of him, sending wave upon wave of tranquility, supplying a sort of security to his restless mind… finally calming it, letting it rest at peace…
He knew then and there, that he had fallen under a spell that he had called his entire life an ultimate evil and weakness of the highest instance. He was terribly vulnerable to everything she did to him… He was at her mercy.
He felt weak and powerless when he thought of it that way, yet when he was around her, he felt stronger than anyone in the world. Because, even if everyone on that Earth turned against them, he was still ready to fight for their peace together, for the only person who cared for him so deeply… and for whom he cared equally back…
What would she do without him? What would he do without her? It didn't matter; he didn't want, nor need, to know…
"You don't need to wonder that," he said merely above a whisper, "because now that I have you here, I am not letting you go…"
"That's good…" Her throaty voice took him slightly aback because he had been certain she was asleep already. "Because I wasn't planning on letting go either…"
"Let's make even more wonderful memories together, Bulma…"
"Mmmm…" she agreed lightly before slipping in dream land.
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After leaving his sleeping girlfriend on their bed, Rain slipped out of the villa house as quietly as possible. However, once he was outside, he broke into a quick jog, his heart pounding anxiously. He searched the area around before he finally found it…
Vegeta had been right, although he probably never thought of it in the right way. Something did crash there… And Rain prayed, to whichever God cared enough to listen, that whatever had crashed there was long dead now…
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AN: Okay, so I have no satisfying excuse for you for taking so long. All I can say is that I haven't spell checked the chapter for any typing mistakes I might have made and that I can finally kick back and enjoy writing for the rest of the summer vacation.
There is only one chapter left to this story, in case you wish to know :) It is going to be the epilogue. I was thinking of writing it here but figured the chapter has become enormous enough and I decided that an epilogue should be an epilogue, so, yeah… I hope you don't all hate me and I'll finish this, as I have promised! If you wish for me to write soon, please review—reviews are a great boost when it comes to update frequency and now that there are no other obstacles, you can be sure I'll update soon!
Love you all that still read this and yours sincerely,
Dark Hope Assassin.
