It's been a while but here we are again.
ShadowMajin was kind enough to beta read this chapter again.
Chapter 5 - Camouflage
West City Stadium was much too big for the scarce audience attending the Baseball match. Half of the bleachers were deserted and it was somewhat of a pathetic sight. However, Vegeta was surprised to find out the small crowd was as noisy as a full stadium. People were clasping in their hands and stomping loudly in wait for the game to start. Yells and laughs were echoing from everywhere.
West City's team was playing Parsely City and both towns were old rivals, which kindled over-excitement among the supporters. Vegeta was standing on the higher level of bleachers and he had been scrutinizing the public with binoculars for at least half an hour. People were restless, waving flags and banners, and glorifying their respective teams. Their constant actions made Vegeta's search quite difficult. Yet, even though he hadn't been able to check the whole audience, he was pretty sure he was seeking the wrong place. It was unlikely the Heiress would simply be there, sitting among such a bunch of hotheads.
He lowered his binoculars and shifted his eyes to the building towering above the stadium. Huge window panes formed long rows on the wall directly above the baseball field. He knew that the box suites were right here, out of the sight of the common run of people. Sure enough, the Heiress has to be there too - if Yajirobe had been right, that is.
He stuffed the binoculars in his bag and headed to the curving running behind the bleachers. The Stadium staff was wearing black and green jackets with matching caps. They were running in circle as they had a hard time seating people at the right place and avoiding both teams' supporters to get mixed.
Vegeta kept walking until he came closer to the stairs leading inside the building and up to the box suites. He posted himself at the foot of the stairs and observed the door giving inside access on top of it.
It wasn't long before a young guy ran out of the building and down the stairs. Vegeta caught his arm in flight without a second thought. The man turned to him in bewilderment. His hair was a dark red and his face was speckled with freckles. He was wearing a black and green outfit and a badge claiming his name was Lars, member of the Stadium's staff.
Vegeta smiled to him. "Hey – Lars? Is that it?" he asked while cocking his head in order to read the badge properly.
The boy frowned and tried to snatch his arm out of Vegeta's grip. The reporter wouldn't let go of him that easily though. Instead he shook Lars' hand all by slipping a note between their palms in the process. "I guess you are on duty in the box suites, aren't you?" Vegeta asked in a slick voice while releasing his hold.
Lars' eyebrows arched as he looked at the note closer and deciphered the figure printed on it. He balled his fist on the paper and his tense features soothed in a blink. "Right. Serving the VIP."
Vegeta smirked. "I was wondering if you'd seen a woman up there – the blue-haired kind. Does that sound familiar to you?"
Lars stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Nope. No women up there as far as I could see. Only men. I haven't visited all the boxes so far, but I didn't hear about a blue-haired woman hanging around, or about any women for that matter."
Vegeta had a slight frown. He peeked at the door with a second thought. Then, he pulled another note out of his jacket. Lars' eyes shimmered in greed. "Would you lend me your cap and jacket for a moment?" Vegeta resumed.
Lars scratched his head in hesitation. "Huh – that's something different. I could be fired."
Vegeta added a second note to the first one he had in hand and he stuffed them in the pocket of the boy's shirt. "Don't worry, I'll be quick and I know how to go unnoticed, believe me."
Lars didn't try to give the notes back, but he wouldn't bring himself to give his jacket to Vegeta either. He pouted in indecisiveness. "I'm still not sure it's safe. I can't afford losing my job. My girlfriend is pregnant, you know," he mumbled.
Vegeta raised an eyebrow in realization. "Huh, I understand. I wouldn't like you to get into deeper trouble than you already are. This might help," he said while taking something more out of his jacket and slipping it into the pocket of the shirt along with the first notes. "Now, gimme your jacket and stop bargaining."
Lars did as he was told and gave his cap as well. Vegeta put the uniform on and climbed up the stairs. Meanwhile, the young man took the notes out of his pocket in order to count them. He was taken aback to find out that the last note was indeed a condom. "Crap," he growled while glaring as Vegeta entered the building.
The reporter followed the narrow corridor running past the doors of each boxe. The place was completely deserted and the only thing he could hear was the muffled roar of the audience welcoming the teams on the field. He sank the cap deep on his head in order to prevent people from seeing his face too well and reached the first door
He opened it with caution. He found a small lounge with a pair of cozy armchairs facing the huge window-pane. However, there was no one there and he resumed his walk along the corridor. He tried the second door. Just like in the first box, armchairs were facing the windows but this time, three middle-aged guys were arguing about the players. One of them turned to Vegeta and gave him a questioning look.
"Do you need anything, Sir?" Vegeta asked meekly.
"I told your buddy to bring us some whiskey with ice, but it seems he fell asleep somewhere. Just try to get it before the end of the game, will you?" the guy answered with a scowl.
Vegeta nodded in agreement and stepped out of the room. He deemed there were about ten boxes like this one and Lars had said he hadn't checked all of them, yet. However, for some reasons, Vegeta felt it was of no use to keep going on that way. The heiress wouldn't be there because the Heiress had nothing to do with that goddam loser of a baseball player. He'd misjudged her by thinking she could be dumb enough to have a moronic man like Yajirobe catch her off guard while Goku had been unsuccessful in doing so for a whole month. Despite this depressing obviousness, Vegeta opened the third door. He needed to get to the bottom of it.
An old man was sitting in the armchair and giving him his back. He was small and his frame was quite petite. He was so focused on the game playing outside the window that he didn't even turned to Vegeta. He might as well be completely deaf. Considering his white hair and his apparent frailty, Vegeta deemed him to be something of an old fossil.
As he was about to close the door, something caught his attention though. The way the guy had crossed his legs was something weird. Old people would hardly cross their legs, or if they did they wouldn't hold the position very long or very easily because they were no longer as supple as a younger person and they were pain-ridden most of the time. Yet, the guy there didn't seem to have any trouble crossing his legs high on his thigh and keeping motionless in that position.
Vegeta made one step in the room to get a closer look. The guy turned his head to him. He had big glasses with tainted lens. His fringe of white hair was falling down to his eyebrows and a scarf was hiding his chin hardly displaying his thin lip. "Is there anything wrong?" he asked.
The voice was mostly a raucous cough. It didn't sound natural to Vegeta although it was nothing near womanly either. That's when Vegeta's eyes fell on the guy's hand grabbing the armrest. Something flashed in the reporter's brain. It felt like an adrenaline shoot and his heart raced on the go. He swallowed hard while noting that this was for sure a woman's hand. The fingers were slim and long with perfect nails even though they weren't polished.
There she was. It could only be Bulma Briefs grossly disguised. He felt like he had stumbled across a very rare and very shy animal. He was both excited to have at last flushed the heiress out, and scared to see her run away in a blink. As he focused a little bit more, he could make out her blue eyes through the glasses and her breasts under the crumpled shirt she was wearing. He even had the illusion to see her blue hair through the grotesque wig.
"Everything's fine, Sir. I just wanted to check out if you needed anything," he replied.
She frowned slightly and he held his breath. He could say she was eying him. It lasted too long before she answered to him and he knew something was going wrong.
"Your coworker asked the same question and I told him I wanted a beer. It was hardly five minutes ago," she stated.
He froze. Hell, that was bad. She was the suspicious one. He cleared his throat as to gain some time. "Huh, yes I know, Sir but he stumbled down the stairs as he was back from taking the orders and he was taken to the medical bay, so I have to take all the orders again."
He could have slapped himself for such an obvious lie. She stared at him for what seemed an eternity to him. "Did he? Is he all right?" she ended up asking.
Her voice sounded faker and faker to him and the more he looked at her, the more he considered her disguise was lame. The more he looked at her, the better he distinguished her underneath the awful clothes and the ridiculous wig. Yet, he realized she was as wary about him figuring out who she really was than he was about her.
"I think so, Sir. He might be back during the game. I'll bring your beer," he answered with some relief.
She nodded and turned back to the game. He exited the room and stood for a while in the corridor. He felt short of breath. Thinking she was just behind the door was something breathtaking. So, it seemed that bastard of Yajirobe had been right once again. What a dreadful snake. The heiress was indeed the baseball player's girlfriend. Why would she attend the match in such a pathetic disguise otherwise? An unwilling smile stretched Vegeta's lips.
"So?" a voice whispered right next to his ear. He had a jump and found out Goku was standing just next to him. Vegeta was speechless, his mouth ajar in astonishment. The bigger man's elbow was leaning against the wall with his head resting in his palm. He was giving Vegeta a questioning gaze.
"What the fuck are you doing here, Goku," Vegeta hissed.
"Same as you, man. Searching the target, any clue so far?"
Vegeta glanced at the door of the box. It was no good at all to have this moron talking about targets when the Heiress was maybe listening to them. Not to mention, she knew Goku and she would understand at once who Vegeta really was. It was the last thing he needed right now.
He walked away and left Goku behind. The taller man followed him. "C'mon Veg' if you tell me what you have, I'll let you know what I have too. It's worth it, no kidding."
"No," Vegeta growled
"You don't even know what the deal is about," Goku carried on in a pleading tone.
Vegeta stopped and turned to him with an accusing finger pointed at him. "I know exactly what your deal is about. It's about you being screwed up because she knows your face while she never saw mine before. Whatever you'll do around her, you'll be recognized in a blink. That's why you need me to team up with you when I have nothing to gain in return. You had your chance and you ruined it. Now it's my turn and I'm not going to waste it because of you."
Goku squinted at the speech and he smirked. "You think you know it all, don't you? I thought the same a year ago so believe me, my friend, you're going to crash and burn. I miss anonymity while you miss experience."
Vegeta glared at him and pursed his lips. "I – am – not – your – friend," he spelled out before flouncing out the corridor. Behind his back, Goku chuckled. "Black and green fit you very well, Veg'," he added as the door snapped shut.
Lars was still at the foot of the stairs, leaning casually against the wall and waiting for Vegeta.
"I need a beer," Vegeta barked.
"So do I," Lars answered with an unaffected voice.
"No, I mean I need a beer to serve it upstairs," the reporter growled.
Lars arched his brows. "Hey, man. It's not the deal,"
Vegeta was mad from his encounter with Goku. He grabbed the boy's collar before he could end his sentence and pinned him roughly against the wall. "Now, listen to me, you creeper. You got half of your monthly wage there in your pocket. You also have two options, either you lose everything, including the dough, your job and some teeth, or you just shut up and get a beer for me, right now."
Lars frowned, but Vegeta knew he was frightened. He wasn't especially well-built, but he was sort of cunning and that meant he would make the right choice. As a matter of fact, he raised his hand in helplessness. "Okay, guy. Wait a sec and I'll get the beer,"
Vegeta let go of him and watch him walk away. Thinking about it, he called him back. "Hey, creep. Bring the other customer's orders too so that no one ends up complaining about the service. I wouldn't like that and neither would your boss," he added.
Lars raised a thumb to let him know he'd heard his last request and he rushed away.
After fifteen minutes, Lars and Vegeta were entering the corridor, both holding a tray with drinks resting on them. Vegeta gave a wary glance at the place as he feared Goku would still be standing there like a moron. Yet, he was relieved to find out he was gone. Where, Vegeta couldn't exactly tell, but he suspected his rival had been successful to get a box seat for himself. It didn't matter that much because it was quite obvious that he hadn't guessed that the Heiress was just next to him, looking like an old freak. Goku could be surprisingly stupid despite everyone holding him for the best of the best.
Vegeta left Lars behind and knocked at the Heiress' door. He stepped in when she allowed him to.
She was still watching the game. She was using binoculars now, which seemed uncomfortable due to her glasses she had been careful to keep on.
He rested the little tray on the coffee table. He froze for a moment and looked at her. He was mesmerized by the thought that he had come so close to her so easily and she didn't even suspect anything. Sure, there was nothing spicy to shoot at for now, but his time will come. She looked so helpless and so unaware of him being just behind her at that minute that he knew he would make it.
All of a sudden, she blurted a small yelp and stood up in one go in a little hop. He was taken aback by the unexpected move, but he understood that West City's team had just made a home run. Yet, she froze immediately as she had certainly realized how un-old man-ly her acting had just been.
She covered her mouth with her hands and turned to him. He lowered his head before their eyes met and pretended to be busy with the top of the bottle needing to be taken off. He tried his best to focus on the beer, but he could feel her gaze on him.
Screams of joy and excitement were echoing from the nearby boxes as well. She didn't move. He poured the beer and ended up looking up at her. Their eyes met and his blood ran cold. Did she guess he was no waiter? Should he look unaffected? Surprised? Cheerful? Should he talk about the game? About the service? He felt completely numb.
That's when the door swung open and a joyful voice yelled in jubilation. "Home run! Home run!"
Vegeta thought he was going to faint when Goku entered the room along with more guys laughing and hugging each other like dumbasses.
He glanced at the Heiress and saw her turn pale. Goku ignored him and addressed her directly. "Home run, grandpa! You saw it? I'm sure as long as your life has been, you never saw something like this before! This Yamcha is a goddamn batsman!"
Vegeta watched with horrified eyes as he hugged the so-called grandpa. The Heiress remained wordless, but Vegeta could tell she was frantic. She feigned a loud cough. "Let go! Let go!' she mumbled while covering her mouth with her scarf.
"Hey, are you okay, grandpa?" Goku asked in concern. The other guys stepped in as to give some wise advice about what to do about bad cough.
Vegeta blinked at the sight and without knowing it he found himself shouting. "Gentlemen! Would you please leave this room? That man needs quietness and air. Go back to your own seats, please!" He was so irritated at the situation, he didn't even know how words like "Gentlemen" or "please" had been able to come to his mind. However, his speech seemed to have some effects as Goku and the bunch of dumbasses left the room still laughing and slapping each other's back. Vegeta closed the door and turned to the Heiress.
She was giving him her back keeping her scarf pressed against her nose. He almost pitied her as her frame betrayed so obviously her womanhood.
"Are you alright, Sir?" Vegeta asked after a while.
She didn't reply straight away. He couldn't see her face, but for some reasons he had the feeling she was sad. Or maybe she was shocked. Or maybe she was mulling over the situation.
When she spoke at last, her voice was hardly a whisper. "It's okay, thanks. I'll call my driver. He's going to pick me up, don't worry," she stated.
Vegeta's eyebrows arched. "Are you sure? The game isn't over yet. I'll make sure you won't be bothered again if that's-"
"It's alright," she cut off in a breath.
He heard a slight sniff and she grabbed a bag resting on a free armchair. She rummaged it. "Wait a second," she murmured.
She pulled out a note and put it on the tray on the coffee table. She was cautious enough not to come too close to Vegeta still standing at the door.
"Thanks for everything, just take all this out and leave me alone now, please," she said once again.
She was hardly making effort to transform her voice any longer. He didn't dare insist and did as he was told. When he walked back in the corridor, the other supporters were gathered in another box and still yelling and arguing about the game. Vegeta gritted his teeth. He craved for a little explanation with Goku, but it was too risky right now because he wouldn't like anyone to find out he was no member of the Stadium's staff.
Yet, his wish was granted nonetheless for Goku was waiting for him at the foot of the stairs.
"You, bloody bastard!" Vegeta exclaimed when he saw him.
"Don't take it so seriously, man," Goku chuckled.
"You were about to blow my cover, moron," Vegeta growled.
Goku eyed the note on the tray. He took it between two fingers and waved it at Vegeta's face. "But I didn't, after all. It seemed she really held you for a waiter. She even left you a good tip," he chanted.
Vegeta snatched the note from his grip. "Don't you ever pull crap like that again," Vegeta hissed.
Goku pursed his lips. "You know, if we don't work together, I don't intend to make things easy for you and you'll be in my way as well, so why not just team up together as the boss suggested it? Think about it."
Vegeta glared at him. "As things stand, what I might end up thinking about is killing you and burying your corpse in your ex's garden. Keep your distance, moron."
With that, Vegeta walked away, ignoring Goku's mocking face. He was mad at the thought that the Heiress might now fly away. His night was lost except for trying to tail the baseball player further.
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