Hey, all! Another new chapter for you all! I'm making great progress on the story, right now. I'm anticipating this story having at least 20 chapters in total. I am working on the proper sequel to A Thrilling Chase, as well; hopefully I can have that going up shortly after this story is finished.
I drew a bit of art from the last chapter that you can view on my Twitter ( annelovesspam) and Tumblr (obiwanskenobi). It's one of my favorite pieces I've done, recently, so I highly recommend you go check it out.
Alright, enough of that: enjoy!
Piccolo made the same morning trek from his bedroom to the parlor. Except when he got there, he saw he was not the only one up. Chi-Chi was standing there, looking over a piece of paper. She was tapping a pencil under her chin, as she scanned over the tiny document repeatedly. She finally nodded, and put the pencil down on the table, sticking the paper into her pocket.
She looked up and saw Piccolo in the entryway. "Oh. You're up early, today."
He grunted. "Could say the same for you."
"Well, its Sunday morning – time to go into town to restock our food, again. Gotta get there early, before the shopping crowds start getting thick – especially for how much Goku eats." She took out the paper, again, and handed it to him. "See for yourself."
He balked at the numbers. Who the hell needed that many different kinds meat?
She slung a basket over her shoulder, as she snatched the shopping list back. "Well, I better get going, now, or else it's going to take hours to get back."
"You're planning on carrying all that by yourself."
She shrugged. "I do it every week; you get used to it."
He looked at her up and down. Even if she was strong, that was still a lot of food to carry. "Why don't you make Goku help you, with this?"
"Trust me – if he gets his hands on the food right after shopping, it'll never make it back home." That sounded about right. "I can manage – I've done it, before."
He should have just left, after that. He had no interest in shopping or being her pack mule. There were probably better things he could be doing with his morning. Maybe he could sneak in a quick training session with Goku, while she was gone. Maybe he could meditate some more.
Instead, against all of his better judgment, he asked "Do you have another one of those?"
"What?" She glanced at the basket. "This? Yeah. There's another one in the closet, over there. Why? Did you want to come with me?" He sighed. He went to the closet, and quickly dug out the other basket. Chi-Chi looked surprised. "You-You actually want to come with?" After staring at her for a little longer, she finally smiled. "Well… great! Just follow me. We'll be in Nikki Town in no time!
Chi-Chi took Nimbus, as Piccolo flew behind her. He had a few questions about the cloud; he had been having them since he first saw Goku flying on it.
"So," he yelled. "What's the deal with that cloud?"
Chi-Chi looked back at him, and glanced down at Nimbus. "Oh, this is Flying Nimbus. It was a gift Goku got from his old master. We take it just about anywhere."
He raised an eyebrow. "Do you just have magic clouds flying around for everyone?"
"Not at all. You have to be pure of heart to ride Nimbus. If you're not, you'll fall right out from the bottom."
He rolled his eyes. He should have figured. Purity was always seen as virtuous, on this planet. Even after a century, that hadn't changed.
"Oh, we're here." She jumped off of Nimbus, not even bothering to lower it first. Piccolo balked, as she dropped to the ground. However, she landed in a crouched position, completely unharmed. She straightened her hair and clothes as she stood up, again. Piccolo lowered himself to the ground to get a better look at her, but she wasn't injured, at all.
"Just stay close by, and we'll be done in no time," she said to him. She started walking down the street, as he just stared at her.
He shook his head, and walked behind her, holding the straps of his basket. Earth women were strange.
They went down an open street, with food stands lining the curbs. Chi-Chi amassed a large number of fruits and vegetables, pilling them all into her basket with ease. Even when it looked like it was getting heavy, she still managed to carry more on her tiny shoulders. He was honestly impressed.
Piccolo didn't interact with the stand owners, and just trailed Chi-Chi the entire time. That didn't mean he wasn't noticed. He felt people staring at him, as they walked deeper into the bazaar. His ears picked up on some whispered remarks from others. He shook his head. He still had that day at the theme park in the back of his mind; now, he couldn't just ignore other people's ire.
"Well," Chi-Chi said, pulling him from his thoughts. "Now we've gotta stop by the butcher, and pick up the meat. Then, we can head back home. Do you need anything, while we're out here?"
"I'm good."
They continued down the street for a few more blocks before they reached the butchery. They went inside, and she walked up to the butcher, talking with him casually. They seemed somewhat amicable. It wasn't a huge surprise, once he thought about it.
"I suppose you want the usual order, Miss Chi-Chi?"
"Of course."
He laughed. "I figured. Give us a few minutes." The butcher went into the back, leaving the register empty.
Chi-Chi walked over to Piccolo. "I'm going to need your basket – you'll be carrying the meat back home." He sighed, and took the basket off of his shoulders. She quickly grabbed it from him, and sat it on the front counter.
The bell on the door rang, as another customer walked into the butcher shop. It was another woman: she looked older than Chi-Chi, but dressed as if she was still young. She had a large pair of sunglasses on her face and was rambling about something completely inane into a large phone. She walked up to the counter, as her ankles wobbled in her high heels. She tried to flag down an employee in the bag, waving one arm in the air. She shoved Chi-Chi aside, to do so.
Chi-Chi blinked, and tapped her on her shoulder. "Excuse me," she said.
The woman didn't listen, still yelling into her phone.
Chi-Chi cleared her throat. "Excuse me," she said, more firmly this time.
She still paid no attention to her.
"EXCUSE ME!"
The woman rolled her eyes. "I'll have to call you back." She hung up the phone and looked at Chi-Chi out of the corner of her eyes. "What do you want," she scoffed.
She crossed her arms and planted herself firmly. "I was here first. Can you please move and wait your turn?"
"It's not all about you, sweetie. I have a right to be here as much as you do." She shoved her aside, once again, and resumed waving at the employees in the back. "HEY!" Piccolo winced and covered his ears, at her screeching. "If you don't come out here right now, I'll be taking my money elsewhere!" He rubbed his fingers on his temples. This was what he always assumed all Earthlings were like.
Chi-Chi looked livid, at being disrespected like that. However, she didn't want to cause a scene, either. She huffed out a breath, and leaned against the counter, tapping her foot. This wasn't her usual frustration: she was seething mad.
Finally, a frazzled employee came out and handled her order. Piccolo pitied the poor young man, as he tried to get her to calm down. Once the order was placed, she stopped whining and complaining. Everyone in the room seemed to be eased by that.
She took off her sunglasses, and went to sit in one of the tables, passing him along the way. She glanced at him for a moment, but stopped and did a double take. Her eyes widened and she stepped backwards. He looked down at her with a passive expression, only quirking his brow up.
The employee came back out, with her order. "That'll be 1000 zeni, ma'am."
The woman marched up to the counter. "You expect me to pay money when you let people like that in here?!" She pointed at Piccolo, for emphasis.
"Ma'am, we don't discriminate to any custome-"
"Does that look like a customer to you?! If you don't call the police and have him taken away, I will!"
"Ma'am, pleas-"
"No! You better get him out of here, or you'll lose yourself a customer!"
The employee looked down and sighed. He stepped out from behind the counter and went up to Piccolo. "Sir, we're going to have to ask you to leave."
Piccolo blinked. It took him a few seconds to process what he had just been told. He couldn't explain why, but that request was somehow worse than the obscenities the woman had screamed. His head began to hurt, and it felt as if he had been punched in the gut. He breathed out of his nose, turned around, and started walking out of the shop. He didn't know why he kept wasting his time. This was going to keep happening, whether he wanted it to or not. Kami was foolish to think that anyone would see him as anything other than a monster.
"How dare you! You have some nerve talking to him, like that!"
He stopped, right in front of the door. From the corner of his eye, he saw Chi-Chi yelling at the employee, with her hands on her hips.
"Piccolo has just a much of a right to be here as anyone else! I thought you said you don't discriminate against anyone!"
His jaw dropped. Was she actually defending him?
"We only want to keep some decorum and peace, around here," the employee stuttered out. "Our customers deserve the best experience."
She gestured towards the woman. "What makes this stuck-up delinquent more worthy of that than he is?"
The woman sputtered. "Delinquent?!"
"Your parents clearly never said 'no' to you enough, as a child, with how entitled you act." She pointed at the employee, getting in his face. "You should be ashamed of yourself, for taking her side!"
"Ma'am, please-"
"I can see that you don't take those so-called discrimination policies as seriously as I believed. You can cancel my order because it looks like I'll have to find a new butcher." She took the basket off of the table, and walked towards the door.
"Wait, ma'am! Please, let's talk this out!"
"There's nothing to talk out. You're weak in your morals, and I don't want to support someone like that. Let's go, Piccolo – I saw another place, down the street."
Piccolo looked down at her in surprise, as she reached the door. She looked up at him and gave him a nod, as she exited the butcher's shop. He blinked, and quickly followed her out. The employee begged them to come back, trying to amend for his mistakes. They ignored the pleas – Chi-Chi didn't even look back, keeping her head high.
The rest of the trip went on without any interruptions. Chi-Chi found a new butcher down the street, and put in the order for the meats. The shopkeeper nearly face-faulted at the order, but put it into action, promising to have it delivered to their house by tomorrow; he did make it clear that they needed a heads-up, in the future. Soon, Piccolo and Chi-Chi were on their way back to Mt. Paozu.
Piccolo was still stunned by what had happened, earlier. This same woman screamed and called him a monster, when they first met. She thought that he hurting the brat was enough of a plausible scenario for her to threaten him if he did so. Yet now, she had defended him and called out others for disrespecting him. Even Goku had seemed oblivious to him being insulted. Had she already gotten that comfortable around him? He could hardly believe it.
They made it back home, and Chi-Chi took the basket off of her shoulders. "Well, that was certainly eventful," she said. "Looks like Goku might have to go without any meat for dinner, tonight."
Right as she was about to go inside, she stopped. She turned around. "Thank you for coming along. I really appreciated it.
"Sure," he said.
"I mean it. You keep surprising me, Piccolo. I didn't think you had it in you. I'm sorry you had to hear any of that crap."
"I've heard worse," he said, dismissively, while glancing at the door. He was starting to get uncomfortable with her sentiment.
"Either way, I might have to ask you to come along again, next weekend. You make a good travel partner." She turned around and opened the door, leaving Piccolo standing on the front porch.
He blinked. What just happened? He shook his head and followed her inside, closing the door behind him.
This entire family was going to be the death of him.
