Disclaimer: Language, mooooreee psychotic hormones, and verbal violence.
Chapter 6
Visions of Ying and Yang
"Speech" 'Telepathy' Thought "Dream"
The sounds of objects crashing to the floor echoed through the store, as did a very loud thud that shook the walls.
"OOF!"
Piccolo and Sofia had fallen through the rippling portal of the mirror to the DBZ realm, knocking over the stacked clutter of objects and rustic collectibles that they had walked pass not even 15 minutes before. Now, however, they both found themselves in VERY awkward positions. Piccolo had landed on his back with his arms at his sides, and Sofia - her arms still around his neck - had landed on top of Piccolo, with her long brown hair coming loose and flowing over her shoulders and slightly grazing his face.
"….…"
"….…"
They simply looked into the other's eyes, breathing each other's breaths they were so close to one another. The shock of the situation wore off, and they both simultaneously sweatdropped and blushed profusely.
"Get off of me!" Piccolo groused in a low voice, but in a stern tone. He pushed himself up off the floor, causing Sofia to fall on her butt. "Why the hell did you do that?!" he now asked as he managed to stop blushing, and glowered down at her with his arms crossed.
Sofia got up off the floor and dusted off the seat of her pants, her blushing subsiding. How friggin humiliating… she thought in a scornful manner, got her hair tie off the floor, and then looked at Piccolo. He had an expression that somehow reminded her of a spoiled child pouting, and she saw that he still had the red kiss on his right cheek. She couldn't keep a straight face.
"OH GOD—Hahahahahahahaha!" she guffawed as she held her sides from her laughter. "Talk about a Kodak moment, hehehe…" she suddenly felt the death glare Piccolo was giving her, so she stopped and looked away, trying to contain her chuckles.
The unamused Namek stepped menacingly close to her. "I don't enjoy being mocked, kid!" he snarled in a voice that seemed to seethe with anger, and slight embarrassment.
Sofia looked back at him, raised an eyebrow, and gave him a lopsided smirk. She then took her left hand and smeared the lipstick kiss on his cheek, creating a red smudge that clashed against Piccolo's emerald complexion. "I'm not mocking you, it's just there's no way I can take you serious with that bratty expression you had. The lipstick didn't help either," she stated in a smug tone.
Piccolo narrowed his eyes at her, then looked to the side at his reflection in the mirror. He irritably growled and began to angrily wipe the smudge with the heel of his right hand. Sofia gave him a triumphant look when he glared back at her (smudge removed), then suddenly felt an aching in her fingertips. That's weird…she looked at her hands and noticed her nails were longer and pointier. Humph, not bad.
"Why do you ALWAYS have to go a step too far?!" Piccolo suddenly yelled into her face and let his arms fall to his sides, making her slightly jump since she wasn't expecting that.
Sofia narrowed her eyes at him and inched herself closer. "The same reason you're always acting like a bitch…because I can!" she said in a pugnacious tone.
Piccolo clenched his fists and tightened his jaw, trying to prevent his ki from flaring up from the rage that was springing forth from the accumulation of her verbal slashes that could give Vegeta a run for his money. He glared daggers at her, and was about to tear into her with his own verbal attack when he picked up the sound of someone right behind him.
Sofia confirmed his suspicion when she stepped back and walked passed him, standing now in front of the half-breed store owner she had promised to buy the mirror from the day before. Piccolo also turned around, but remained behind Sofia, since she began to speak.
"Well, I've come to honor the bargain we made," she stated and reached into her pocket, "I have your 500 zeni right he—" her business tone was cut off by the nervous-looking man.
"Oh it's you miss—Please come this way for a moment," he rushed as he looked nervously over her shoulder at Piccolo. "We can discuss the money over here!" He grabbed Sofia's forearm and rushed her into the small room at the back of the store/hut, leaving the door partially open.
"Sir, what's this—" her question was cut off, once again by the man who looked at her with nervousness and concern.
"Are you alright, miss?! Did that monster threaten you in any way?!"
Sofia gave him a surprised look. "You mean the guy with me? He's not a monster…" But he has threatened me enough for me to lose count, she thought amused.
"Oh Dear, you must be so frightened that you're afraid to tell the truth," he put his hand on her left shoulder, continuing, "It's alright, miss. No need for you to fear—"
She shrugged his hand off of her shoulder and looked at him with her cool, intimidating expression. "What the hell are you talking about! You actually think that because he's not human he's immediately a monster?!" she said in a harsh tone, but kept her voice leveled.
"But he's a freakish monster! Things like him are always trying to destroy the Earth. He looks like an alien of some sort…you should stay away from hi—" the man's raving statement –which he was trying to whisper so Piccolo wouldn't hear—was cut off by Sofia, whose expression went from cool to a scowl and gave the man a look that would turn anyone's blood cold.
She stepped closer to the man in an intimidating manner and stated in a venomous tone, "What a fool you are! Do you actually think in such an ignorant manner? That anyone with a different skin tone or appearance is some monster?!"
When the man didn't respond and gave her a weird look, Sofia came up with her own answer. "So, because he looks different you think the worst…how fucking provincial! I see that you are one of the many philistine individuals with the querulous, mob mentality so shared by the rest of the small-minded human race here…no wonder this world is always threatened with destruction!" she paused her acid-laced monologue and gave the man a cold once over. "And this flagrant prejudice coming from nothing more than some weird half-breed! Where I'm from you'd be pretty friggin weird to look at yourself," she huffed through her nose as she reached into her pocket and got out the 500 zeni bill. "Here!" Sofia harshly handed it to the wide-eyed man. "I'm taking the mirror just like we negotiated…" she paused, went to the door, then looked back and muttered in a sharp tone, "You should take that money and go buy yourself some dog biscuits, seeing how you're no better than a simple, moronic mongrel that attacks with duplicity and scorn those who go against what isn't considered normal!" The man was left in shock, bowing his head in obvious shame and humiliation for his prejudice assumption. Sofia grunted and stepped out of the room, slightly slamming the door as she went out.
Piccolo overheard the ignorant raving of the man from where he was standing, feeling a little annoyed but not at all surprised by the attitude. The thing that did surprise him was how Sofia responded.
Did she just defend me…?! Why would she— his mental question was cut off by Nail.
'She defended you…and quite well, if I do say. I guess she doesn't take well to other's ignorance, wouldn't you say, Piccolo?' commented Nail in a simple tone.
Piccolo grumbled to himself over Nail's usual redundancy, then replied, 'Yeah…why would she even care though. Not like we get along or anything.'
'Well…she seemed to take some sort of personal offense to the comment,' he paused as if in thought, then added in a factual tone, 'I believe you two do get along. Just because you're constantly trying to get a rise out of one another doesn't mean you do not get along.'
'Humph…' Piccolo didn't know how to reply. He would never admit out loud that he found Sofia intriguing, let alone that for some reason, he actually enjoyed her company.
He picked up the end of Sofia's scornful and cold monologue. She's got one hell of a mouth on her, he thought and paused, feeling nagged by his confusion towards her defending him so heatedly to a complete stranger, considering the fact that he'd been threatening her since the moment they met at Gohan's house. Why does she care?
He heard a door slam and looked up, seeing Sofia walk over in her characteristic long and fast strides, walking past the overly cluttered objects and furniture of the small store. Her expression was an aggravated scowl, with her nose wrinkling as she mentally cursed the man's offense. Piccolo couldn't help the thought run through his mind; even with such a grave expression, Sofia still had this unique beauty that he had never seen in any other person. She actually looks fierce and dangerous, he thought in his own admiring and interested tone. As soon as the thought went through his mind, Piccolo froze. He realized quickly what he had been trying to deny. Damn it…could Nail be r—
'Piccolo…what are you thinking?' asked Nail suddenly, pulling his counterpart out of his own thoughts.
'I'm thinking about how I'd really enjoy kicking your ass one of these days. It's none of your damn business what I'm thinking!' Piccolo snapped in a snide tone.
'You know, Piccolo, I really do not enjoy being the target for your misdirected anger. Just because you're losing grasp on the denial over your feelings for Sofia doesn't mean you can take it out on others,' responded Nail in a sharply aggravated tone.
Piccolo could only growl menacingly at the other Namek, feeling the embarrassment wash over him like a icy breeze. What the hell! Why do I get bothered when he says shit like that?! This is stupid…
His mind flashed back to when he had grabbed Sofia by the chin and addressed her by her name. He had looked into her alluring, dark chocolate eyes - which seemed to hold so many of her hidden feelings and whatever pain he had seen during her monologue in her kitchen - and wondered how much those endless pools concealed of her true nature. He also remembered letting his gaze wander over her delicate lips for a split second during their last tense moment in her room.
He now found himself thinking of what it would be like to kiss those mesmerizing, gentle looking curves that he found to be one of her most distinguishing features. Piccolo then remembered the feeling of her lips on his cheek and the feeling of her embrace when she caught him by surprise, and found himself feeling the heat rush to his cheeks. He agitatedly shook his head, trying to eliminate the thoughts and feelings that she was causing him; thoughts and feelings that were as alien to him as the reasons for them in the first place. He growled deep in his chest, and in a contemptuous tone, thought, Whatever this is… there's no way I'm letting it affect me!
He made his mind a complete blank as Sofia walked over and passed him going to the mirror, the anger on her face drawing back to her cool and stoic expression. She seemed to be too deep into her own thoughts to notice Piccolo's strange demeanor, or the way he was looking at her. Just what I need! Another weakness working against me… she's worse than Gohan when he was a sniveling little brat! He mentally growled and paused his exasperated train of thought as he gave Sofia a once over. Her back was to him, since she was looking into her backpack in search for the capsule case. He once again flashed to Sofia kissing and embracing him, and promptly tightened his fists and ground his teeth from the conflicting emotions.
He walked over a little to the left and remained behind Sofia as he took in the fact that he would be stuck in an endless space an entire year with her. He wrinkled his nose into a sneer as he thought, Can't wait to get this over with so I'll never have to see her again!
What a douchebag! I thought my ki was going to blow through the roof… she fumed as she slammed the door behind her. GOD I HATE THAT! Such ignorance and retardation; the only one who can say anything about the Green Bean is me, and then I only mean it in fun. She wrinkled her nose as she remembered what the man had called Piccolo. "Freakish Monster!" Grrrrrr! So narrow-minded. He should talk!
She walked past Piccolo without even noticing his aggravated glare, letting her thoughts wander over to a subject she'd been trying to ignore as she walked over to the mirror. Hope Piccolo isn't pissed… he said so many— she paused as she got her backpack and began looking into it for the capsule case.
"Why do you care what I feel? You don't owe me anything, Sofia…."
Piccolo's words ran across her mind, fueling the nervous beating of her heart as her stomach tied into a knot. He makes me feel so… different! He must like me deep down to have said what he said. Jeez, WHAT AM I SAYING! Maybe I picked up a wrong signal from him in my room…and he was actually just being nice. Hmmmmm…. She paused as she got hold of the case and pulled it out of her excessively-filled backpack; she suddenly remembered what happened after he had said what he said. Saved by the necklace! I really do need to find out what's the deal with this thing, she thought as she grabbed the pendant and held it in the palm of her left hand and looked down at the garnet stone. I can't forget to ask Kami about my ki not being able to be sensed…it should be quite handy in battles.
She continued her train of on-going thought as she went about encapsulating the mirror. After putting the now filled capsule back in the case with the others, she couldn't help the faint blush taint her cheeks as her thoughts took a lustful turn. Whether he likes me or not—but I think he might…just a little bit— I can't wait to be locked away with that Sexy Namek!
Piccolo stood impatiently off to the left side of the mirror as he drilled his intense gaze into the back of Sofia's head. She had just put the case in her backpack and settled it on her back, then turned around to face the brooding Namek.
Giving him a determined look, she boldly stated, "Well, Green Bean, time to get back to the palace in the sky. Hope you're ready for a full year of training, seeing as I plan to give you a run for your money."
Piccolo snorted obnoxiously, and chuckled cockily. "You might have some impressive abilities, but you're still going to eat plenty of floor when we spar," he paused to read her expression, and saw she was glaring at him fiercely, "I'm pretty sure you're all talk, kid."
He keeps calling me that! Humph…and he means it in a completely different way then when he calls Gohan kid, she thought, irritated. It's become very clear to me that when he calls me kid it's as a snide term, not one of affection… I don't like it. At least when I call him Namek it's with affection! She huffed at her deductions, and walked past Piccolo to the front entrance of the hut.
She suddenly turned and looked towards Piccolo with a devilish look in her eyes. DAMN SEXY-ASS NAMEK!
Piccolo looked at her in his stoic manner and crossed his arms over his chest. He then gave her an all-knowing smirk as he said, "Well go ahead, kid. I know you're going to throw a verbal tantrum and insult me. Nothing you say is gonna get a rise out of me."
Sofia gave him a devilish smirk to go with her look as she stated in a mock seductive tone, "What if I told you I only have the deepest affection for you, Namek?!" She walked towards him with confidence and a slight swing of her hips in her stride, which Piccolo noticed. "That I find myself..." she stood in front of Piccolo with her hands on her hips, gazing intensely into his endless black pools, "having to try and not molest you in every conceivable way."
Piccolo's eyes went wide as dinner plates and his posture became rigid. He parted his lips as if to speak, but only a strained grunt slipped out. His complete expression betrayed the shock that the provocative comment caused on his iron composure.
Getting the reaction she wanted, Sofia inched herself closer to the awestruck Namek. She raised her index finger and traced his delectable lips with her pointed fingernail, as she stated in a low purr, "No need to get all enticed…I was only messing around." She finished off with a sensual chuckle as she turned around and walked back to the entrance.
Piccolo simply watched her walk away, still at a loss for words. Sofia turned around as she got to the cash register at the entrance; their eyes connected in a searing gaze. She smirked madly and in an exaggerated voice, remarked, "I believe I got the needed "rise" that you mentioned. That means I WIN!" She threw her arms cartoonishly in the air, squealing, "Woo hooo, one tha nothing!"
She continued to laugh in a bold and flagrant fashion as she walked out to the road, leaving Piccolo completely baffled over how he should react to such a display.
'Piccolo…are you alright? You seem overwhelmed,' Nail couldn't help but chime in.
Piccolo's left eye twitched from the mental damage Sofia's hormonal statements were inflicting on him, but managed to reply to Nail. 'What in Kami is wrong with her?! One minute she's tearing into me with that smart-ass mouth of hers, then she does shit like THAT!' Piccolo stated in a generally conflicted tone.
'My goodness, Piccolo. You mean to tell me you don't see it?!' said Nail, surprised.
'GRRR, SEE WHAT?!'
Nail sighed in a sagacious manner, then replied factually, 'It is clearly obvious that Sofia has a deep attraction towards you, and that her challenging and provocative remarks and actions— especially what she just did— are her own unique way of being flirtatious with you.'
Piccolo's eyes went wide from Nail's deduction. 'Bullshit. No way that's what it is!' said the stubborn Namek in denial.
'Huh. Fine, believe what you want, my friend…but that is the reality and you're denying it because you like her and you don't want to admit it,' Nail replied simply.
Piccolo growled menacingly and began to walk to the entrance. 'You don't know what you're talking about! Just shut the hell up, would yah?!' he replied in his gruff tone. Nail went quiet, deciding not to create an unneeded argument with his aggressive counterpart.
There's no way that can be true. She does that shit to get on my nerves, that's all! Especially after the things I said to her, why would she be attracted to me? I'm just an anime character in her realm… His train of thought trailed on as he walked out of the store.
He saw Sofia with her back turned to him, looking towards the east. She has a completely different life. It would be pointless to— he paused and shook his head. It doesn't matter…she'll be gone when all this is over with.
I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THAT! I don't know how I had the guts to do it, but it was fun as hell. He's probably still twitching in there, hehe… she mentally remarked in a giddy way. Man, I hope I wasn't too obvious! I just couldn't stand him knowing that I have the HOTS for him. I really don't know how I let myself lose it like that…
She looked eastward as she suddenly wondered what Gohan could be doing. Probably studying. Poor kid, all he does is study and watch his dad die ALL THE TIME! At least he has friends to count on when he needs companionship… friends like Piccolo— she cut her internal monologue off when she felt like someone was staring at her from behind.
Sofia turned around. Speak of the SEXY-ASS devilish Namek!
Piccolo's expression was chiseled into his usual scowl as he stared at Sofia. She walked over, not exactly sure what to expect from the unamused Namek looming in front of her.
She stood next to him and gave him the goofiest smile that resembled something Goku would do. Piccolo rolled his eyes. "What the hell are you doing?!" he asked in an irritated, gruff manner.
"Well, I've always noticed that when Goku does this goofy-ass grin nobody can stay mad at him, so…" Piccolo shook his head at her inference, so she cocked an eyebrow, dropped the grin and continued, "so I figured you would refrain from kicking my ass. That's understandable, isn't it?"
"I wasn't planning on kicking your ass— not right now anyway. I challenged you and you got me…it was fair," he replied stoically in his deep grumbled tone.
Sofia gave him a look where her eyes and mouth shaped into little ovals as she mouthed "oh." She then gave him a grin as she remarked off-handedly, "I did get yah good, now that yah mention it!" She got a murderous look from Piccolo. "What?! I was simply agreeing with you…no need to get all pissy," she replied and immediately dodged Piccolo's arm as he lunged at her in order to grab her by the shirt.
"Grrrrrr, you're really asking for it, you know that?!"
Sofia smirked at him. "Come on Piccylow! I was just kidding…" she remarked in her goofy tone.
Piccolo contemplated grabbing her and shaking the life out of her body, but quickly decided to restrain the urge and remember her offense during their first sparring session. "Alright. Enough of this shit! Lets get back before the old geezer starts drilling into my head," he stated in a rough tone, gave Sofia a stern look and levitated upwards.
"Humph." She looked at him a bit amused and followed his lead.
They were soon heading northeast, a little away from their initial course, in complete silence. Sofia admired the scenery for a while, but then found herself peeking out of the corner of her eye at the brooding Namek flying next to her.
She began to let her mind wander over the things Piccolo had said in her room during their fight. "You're nothing…just like me"—"Nothing about me is true…" Those remarks stood out in her mind; the swirl of emotions she suffered was immediate. Curiosity over what he felt now, remorse for what occurred, indescribable urges to comfort him, and many other emotions were invading Sofia. What if he's still hurt? I mean he has to be. He'd never admit it, but I know that it should still be bothering him. She mentally sighed. No one has ever made me feel this way! I feel like I'm drowning every time I look into his eyes; they consume me, just like my feelings are consuming me — GOD DAMN IT! Why am I THINKING like this?! He's a Namek, an asexual Namek that could and would NEVER be attracted to me! I need to be realistic about this, especial—a sharp buzzing that began at the far left side of her skull cut off her thought. It was very sudden, almost like a flash or a surge of energy that shot up in her mind then disappeared. Sofia stopped in mid air and scanned the area behind her. What the…
"Why did you stop?" Piccolo's baritone voice pulled her away from her scrutinizing glare of the forest below.
She looked towards him with a solid expression. "You didn't feel that slight surge of ki behind us?" she answered him with her own stoic question.
Piccolo gave her a judging look and snorted arrogantly. "So you can sense ki now. Is there anything you don't do, like keep your mouth shut perhaps!" he remarked in a smug tone with a scoffed undertone.
"Grrrgh! For your information, Namek, I figured out how to fly, create ki and sense ki in the span of 20 minutes! I'm a lot more resourceful and capable than you give me credit for," she remarked sardonically and crossed her arms.
"Well you should get your mental radar checked cuz I didn't feel anything," Piccolo cynically retorted.
"Yeah…you wouldn't feel a thing, at least that's what you want people to believe!" Sofia blurted out coldly. She immediately felt the flood of regret wash over her as the sentence flew out of her mouth. Oh shit! I can't believe I said that!
"What?!" Piccolo's eyes were narrowed as his voice leaked out in a hiss.
Sofia tried to divert her gaze, but Piccolo's smoldering eyes bore into her own, and she found herself submerged in the onyx pools that suddenly betrayed an emotion she hadn't expected to see. It was only there for a split second before it faded away into the dark recesses of his soul, but the emotion she saw was undeniable.
Pain.
Her heart summer-salted in her chest. She dropped her arms to her sides and looked towards Piccolo with complete guilt etched in her expression. "Piccolo…I didn't mean that. I-I just—" she broke off and found herself not being able to look him in the eyes. "That was cruel and terrible for me to have said…" She looked at his emerald visage. Piccolo did not betray any emotion. "I'm s—" She was cut off by the sudden shout that came from her far left, just behind her.
"SOOOOOFIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Sofia turned just in time to get glomped at full speed. Coarse Saiyan hair brushed roughly against her face as her surprised expression melted away.
"ACK! FLYING PORCUPINE!" she goofily shouted as she pushed the person off of her, already knowing who her attacker was.
"Hahahahaha—Hey! I know I need a haircut, but I'm no porcupine," he gave her a small smile. "I just finished my homework and came out looking for you guys, and then I saw you flying past. Just thought I'd test your sensing capability and surprise you," Gohan stated with a grin as he scratched the back of his head in the characteristic Son style.
"HAH! As you can see, my senses are VERY sharp, considering I sensed you and you still snuck up on me," Sofia smirked as she adjusted her backpack on her shoulders and straightened her shirt.
"Hehe—Hey, How was it at Kami's Lookout? Did you find out what you needed?" inquired Gohan.
"Kinda. Basically, I'm the reincarnation of a 300 year-old demon priestess warrior and this necklace will help me realize my true power and potential," she sarcastically stated while making quotation marks with her fingers.
Gohan nodded as he tried to follow what Sofia had just stated. "So, that would explain why it was so easy for you to learn how to fly and sense and use ki. Hm, cool. Don't think I understand the first part, though."
Sofia nodded. "Yeah, I felt the same way. The problem is, I have a lot of questions that still need answers," she stated coolly.
Just as Gohan was about to reply, they were both snapped out of their A and B conversation.
"AHEM!"
They both, simultaneously, looked to the side to see a slightly annoyed Piccolo sulking with his arms crossed, floating not even 2 feet away from them.
"…"
Sofia and Gohan sweatdropped. Ah man! I completely forgot about Piccolo. Damn, I'm a freaking retard…
Gohan recovered from his surprise before Sofia. "Oh, hey Piccolo! Didn't see yah there, ah-hehe…" Piccolo's icy glare managed to cut Gohan's friendly attempt, causing the young half Saiyan to bow his head meekly.
Feeling the awkward tension, Sofia decided to dive right in between it. " Um, Gohan, Piccolo and I are going to be gone for a day or so. If anything happens, just do what you would normally, ok?"
"Ok, sure." Gohan's expression showed confusion, but then took on a sly look as he said in an insinuative tone, "Where are you two going that you'll be gone a day?! I mean, if you guys want to be alone—"
"Gohan! I'm gonna SKIN YOU if you finish that last sentence!" said Sofia in a hiss as she glared daggers at the half Saiyan. Piccolo, not understanding the innuendo, raised a brow ridge and grunted.
"Eek—I was just kidding." Gohan nervously paused, then continued with curiosity, "Where are you guys going, anyway?"
Sofia was cut off from answering as Piccolo chimed in, "We're going to a place where we can get a year's training in one day."
"Wow!" Gohan scratched his chin. "Why?" the young half Saiyan asked innocently as he stared at Piccolo, then back at Sofia.
The brooding Namek huffed, becoming impatient, and was about to scold Gohan when Sofia cut in, "I need to train in the shortest time possible. What better place than in a chamber where I can train the equivalent of a year in just a day."
"That's true…" Gohan's face lit up as he piped up, "Hey! Can I go too? It'd be really cool to get some training done before dad comes back." He gave Sofia a look that asked for approval.
Piccolo looked towards Sofia, wondering what her answer would be as well.
She sighed, making it clear what she would be replying. "Sorry kid, but only two people at a time can go into the chamber."
"Oh. That's ok," replied Gohan with his expression showing slight disappointment.
"Hey, stop pouting. It's not like your mom would let you go anyway. She'd rip us a new one if you went off training with us for what would be a year," she stated coolly, then continued "Besides, you and your dad will train in the chamber later on."
Gohan's eyes went wide with amazement. "Really?! That's so cool…hehehe, I keep forgetting you already know what's gonna happen before it does," Gohan stated sweetly.
Piccolo grunted and gave Sofia a knowing look. She was about to say something to Gohan when a strong breeze blew by, rustling her long hair and causing her long bangs to caress her face as they fluttered in the wind. Piccolo's cape also fluttered in the breeze, revealing the dirty footprint on the back of his cape.
Oh Crap! Forgot all about that, she thought sardonically and tried to remain nonchalant.
Gohan cocked an eyebrow at the sight. "Hey Piccolo…" Sofia's eyes went wide. Don't say it! Don't point it out! She mentally shouted as she made subtle gestures for him to stop, which were unseen by the young half Saiyan.
"…you got something on your cape," he pointed out. DAMNIT!
"Humph?" Piccolo began to turn his head to verify what his old pupil was saying, when Sofia whooshed behind him, grabbed his cape and began to slap/brush the footprint off in a frenzied manner.
"Haha! It was nothin', just some dirt! You must've picked it up when we left," she chimed with a higher inflection in her voice as Piccolo and Gohan gave her curious stares. "Ah-hehe…" she realized she was still holding Piccolo's cape in a light grip and let go, then faded out classic-anime style and went to be next to the young half Saiyan.
"Ooookay! Well, I'll let you guys go." He looked towards Sofia. "Good luck!" he chimed, then whispered, "Considering Piccolo isn't the most nicest, most patient or the easiest sensei, you're going to need it!"
"You don't have to tell me twice. I saw how he kicked you around before the Saiyans got here," she replied and smirked.
"Yeah, but I didn't spend the entire day verbally taunting him," was Gohan's witty comeback he gave with a grin.
Sofia sweatdropped from the realization, knowing that Piccolo was going to get to vent all his animosity towards her as soon as they started training. QUE RICO! Once again… I'm screwed!
"Seeyah guys! Don't kill each other," Gohan remarked in his happy-go-lucky tone.
"There isn't any guarantee that we won't, kid," remarked Piccolo.
Gohan laughed, surprised that his old mentor said a joke and didn't even realize it. She must be rubbing off on him, thought the young half Saiyan as he waved at them and got ready to blast home.
"Wait Gohan! I almost forgot," said Sofia with a smug undertone, which Gohan didn't pick up.
The naïve but sweet look on Gohan's face was priceless as he turned around to look at Sofia. "Oh? What?"
In a flash, Sofia practically phased over to Gohan, put him in a headlock, and started raking her knuckles back and forth on his scalp. "Hah! This is for that wise-ass remark back at your house!" she shouted.
"Hahahahhaha, that's not fair! You snuck up on me— and I was only telling the truth. Quit it!" shouted Gohan in amused defense.
"Not 'til yah promise to quit the innuendo!" she said in a mock growl. Gohan kept giggling and trying to squirm out of her grip.
"WOULD YOU TWO CUT IT OUT!" roared Piccolo, suddenly. Sofia and Gohan froze in surprise and stared goofily at the scowling Namek.
"Grrr. Kid, you better get going." Sofia released Gohan from her fierce headlock and playfully ruffled his wild Saiyan hair.
"Alright. Seeyah!" Gohan waved goodbye once again, then blasted off towards his valley home.
Sofia watched him jet off until he became a mere dot in the afternoon sky. "He's such a sweet kid," she said out loud, in her apathetic tone.
"He's been through a lot. I don't know how he can do it."
Sofia looked to her side to see Piccolo hovering next to her, arms crossed, stoic expression with a thoughtful glint in his onyx gaze, still watching his young best friend cut through the sky miles away.
Sofia's heart tensed. "Yeah…you wouldn't feel a thing, at least that's what you want people to believe!" Her hurtful comment shot through her mind, and the memory of Piccolo's pained gaze made the flood of regret submerge her once again. I still have to apologize. I need to find out what he's feeling, she thought, determined.
"Piccolo. I didn't get a chance to apologize for…" she paused to read his expression. He wasn't even looking at her, or giving any sign that he was even listening to her, he just stared straight ahead. "I didn't mean what I said before." Still no reaction. "I'm sorry," she whispered solemnly.
"Keep your sentimentalities to yourself." She stared in surprise at him. He turned his head towards her and gave her an intense glare, his features set into apathetic stone. "Your apology doesn't matter…it was the truth," the initial harshness of his voice faltered, giving way to an unreadable tone as he muttered the last words. His intense glare softened for a mere instant before he self-consciously looked away.
His words jolted her. "Piccolo, why would you say that? I don't—"
"It's unnatural how you know everything about me. What you said…it was right. You know exactly what to say, without even knowing or meaning to. It's just—" he paused and looked into her eyes. "Why do you care?" was his sincere question.
"I—what do you mean?" Sofia was drowning in his intense gaze, utterly confused over what he was trying to say.
"I'm nothing to you! I'm just a fictional character in your realm. Why do you care?!" he heatedly stated.
The heat began to rise within her. "PICCOLO! You're NOT just some fictional character!" Sofia shouted at the now wide-eyed Namek. "You've never been that to me! Everything you've done makes you a person of honor and respect in my eyes, so you are something to me and to countless others."
"But, why…"
Sofia looked up incredulously at Piccolo. He was genuinely curious and confused by her statement. She could not believe that after everything she blurted out, Piccolo asked such a naïve question.
"YAH GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" she practically roared in response. "The person YOU ARE is why I care! There's so many aspects and—and facets to who you really are deep down that I'm drawn to…so I do care about you, yah simple-minded Namek!"
Her exasperation caused her crimson aura to flare up, seeming to seethe around her frame without her even realizing it. Sofia's frenzied statement had just dawned on her, and so did Piccolo's surprised expression. "Ah—um, I…" she faltered and bowed her head in slight embarrassment. Her aura died down, then faded away.
Piccolo was completely awestruck. His eyes were wide and his mouth agape at the spectacle that was Sofia. After regaining what was left of her composure, she glowered at him. This is exhausting! She growled in her mind.
"Now listen. I don't want to hear anymore of "I'm just a fictional character, nieh, nieh, nieh, blah, blah, blah" bullshit! If you were just a fictional character I wouldn't be talking to your ass right now, would I?!" she harshly spat in a cynical and terse edge. "Now if all that shit is cleared up and out of the way for good, we should get our asses back to the Lookout."
She turned from him and prepared to blast off, but the ever-brooding Namek was back with a vengeance.
"WHAT THE HELL?! You think you can just have a fucking conniption and then cross the line with that wise-ass mouth of yours!?" Piccolo's gaze was one of pure ire as he stared hostilely at her.
"How about you do me a favor, and ZIP IT, NAMEK! Or do you need me to draw you a diagram for that?!" said Sofia in an acid laced tone, turned around, and was about to take off at full speed towards the Lookout, when she was suddenly gripped by the shoulders, halting her brusque departure.
Her back was then pressed against Piccolo's wide chest, his arms holding down hers, hindering her from moving. She gasped in surprise, the close contact being the last thing she expected.
"Why do you always do that?!" his gruff, baritone voice was at her right ear, his warm breath stirring her long strands of hair and causing them to brush against her cheek.
She was stunned. His tone was stern, but in some way very sensual to her. A slight tint colored her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. "Do what?" she awkwardly whispered after seconds of tense silence.
"Whenever you open up about something and you start to talk about it, you suddenly become belligerent and abrasive, then you always try to storm off with the last word!" he grumbled in aggravation, suddenly realized he was still holding her against him and harshly let her go to distance himself from her. "And what was that "so I do care about you" before your bitch-attack?!" was his menacing question.
She turned to face him, fierce ardor burning in her eyes. "Whaddaya mean what was that! It was the answer to your asinine question!" she protested, regaining her challenging and intimidating demeanor.
"I didn't ask you if you cared about me! I asked why you cared," was his growled reply.
Holy crap...he's right! I just admitted that I like him, she thought in a panic, trying to come up with a valid explanation or excuse. After deducing that she had no outlet for a scapegoat answer, she came up with a simple answer.
She floated towards him, all the while gazing into his ink black depths. "Why I care…it's because I care about you. I don't like it when you talk about yourself like you're not important! You are—" her emphatic tone faltered, and so did her ability to look into his intense pools of onyx. She bowed her head meekly, catching sight of his left hand. She unconsciously reached out to his hand and held it in a gentle grip, then she lightly squeezed it, as if to reassure herself. "You're important to me…always," she muttered in a wistful tone, whispering the last word more to herself than to him.
This just wasn't Piccolo's day. He once again was baffled by the enigma that was Sofia. She kept proving to him that she didn't fit into any prescribed mold— that she was completely unique and her depth delved into many forms. She was like a rose before bloom to him. No one had ever said such…he couldn't even think of a word to describe with justice what her words were.
He returned her intimate gesture by squeezing her hand gently. He found himself contrasting his large emerald hand with her petite tanned and black-nailed hand. His basically dwarfed hers by comparison, completely shielding hers with his own. He surprised even himself when he reached over to awkwardly cup her face with his right hand, allowing him to be submerged in her mesmerizing brown pools.
No one has ever… Even in his thoughts he was speechless. His eyes ran over the delicate details of her face, landing upon her luscious lips. A low rumble rose from deep within his chest.
Sofia didn't know why she could feel the reverberation of his growl, until she realized that her hands were against his chest, with his left hand holding them there.
Is he going to…? Ran through her mind as she stared into his alluring eyes. He brushed his thumb over her cheekbone, causing her to flinch in surprise. "Ah-um, heyum…" she muttered in a type of verbal stumble, finally getting Piccolo's attention. Confusion, and embarrassment were clearly etched in her expression, as were on his. Neither of them had realized what they were doing until now.
Snapping out of his sort of dazed stupor, Piccolo let go of her face and hands, then with a gruff demeanor, snapped, "You always sucker me into doing shit like that! What you did in that store wasn't enough?!" It must be one of her psychotic gags. She didn't actually mean any of that, he thought, annoyed, concealing what he actually felt, even to himself.
Sofia shot him a death glare. After all that—what an…
"You're such an Asshole!" she practically snarled, turned around, and blasted off at top speed to the Lookout, energy trail flaring behind her.
Piccolo grunted to himself, irritated by the weirdness of the situation. He found himself watching her go off further and further away, that is until…
'You are such an imbecile!' snapped Nail. 'Do you take pride in your stupidity or are you naturally that daft?!'
Piccolo clenched his jaw, trying not to lose his mental composure, and ignored his counterpart. He shot off after Sofia at full speed with every intention of forgetting what had just happened between them, but Nail vowed not to let up.
'How could you say something so foolish? You scorned her for not being truly honest, then you accused her when she actually opened up to you. You really have no way with women, Piccolo,' Nail's rant trailed off into Namekian terminology and curse words that annoyed Piccolo more than offended him.
'Why don't you shut up and mind your own damn business, Nail!' he growled.
'It is my business, you moron! You and I are in this together,' rambled Nail.
'What the hell are you babbling about?! I'm the one in full control. And what the hell would you know about women?! You're a Namek just like me.'
Nail let out an exasperated sigh. 'Any idiot would have enough sense as to distinguish that what you did was one of the worst things anyone could have done to a woman — asexual or not. You might be in full control, but that doesn't mean your denial is going to last forever! She's attracted to you, and you're intrigued by her. Stop trying to ignore it,' he argued.
Piccolo gave Nail a warning growl that he was crossing the line, causing his counterpart to fall silent.
The brooding Namek noticed that he and Sofia were only a couple of miles apart, so he sped up to catch up as they neared the tower that's ascent would lead to their destination, Kami's Lookout.
As he flew up next to her, he couldn't help but wonder how so much had happened in the span of a day. What am I thinking. It's always like this, except… this is different. She's different.
He came up to her left side, 5 feet distance between them. Her expression was an iron mask of apathy, concealing so much. Piccolo couldn't help having his curiosity peeked every time she looked that way. He mentally grunted. She's just…complicated.
Sofia's thoughts were in a tangle. She'd never revealed herself to anyone so intimately; it worried her. How could she let her guard down so drastically?
Her mind flashed to the feeling of Piccolo's semi-embrace. It was a fleeting moment, but for her it felt like time stopped around her when…she tried to wash the memory away with her anger. What was she supposed to feel after what he accused her of?
I'm so pissed! She shouted in her mind, clenching her jaw tightly, which caused her lips to tighten into practically a straight line. How can he be so devoid! It's like what I said was an attack to him. Arrrgh! She continued to fume, relieving her aggravation enough for her expression to settle to her serious, stoic mask as she neared the tower that was the first sign for her ascent to the Lookout.
She suddenly sensed Piccolo's presence as he moved by her far side. Without even looking, she knew his intense gaze was tracing her over. She ground her teeth in rancor. How the hell does he have the balls to be looking at me like nothing happened?! Oh wait, he doesn't have any balls… still! He's really getting on my nerves.
Sofia bit her lip with her next thought. This is going to constantly happen. It's just gonna be him and me in there, nowhere for us to go…Humph.
They both started ascending through the clouds towards the hidden palace that watched over the oblivious world beneath.
She heard his cape flutter close to her so she betrayed a glance to her side. Now the roles reversed. Sofia let her eyes wander over him, without allowing her mood to show through. Piccolo looked straight ahead, as if unaware that she was scrutinizing him with her own smoldering gaze.
So now he's ignoring me. Fuck this!
With a burst of ki, she shot through the clouds, her hair whipping behind her in the gusts of wind. Not expecting her sudden action, Piccolo found himself having to catch up to her. Now she's gonna be a fucking brat for the rest of—Kami knows how long! Damn it.
The bottom base of the Lookout came into view, both individuals flying at incredible speeds to reach the top before the other did. In a sulk, Piccolo realized Sofia was actually beating him to the punch in that respect, the red energy streak of her ki trail showing the intensity that boiled in her blood. How could she be so fast?! This is only her second day flying, he mentally remarked snidely, Sofia a good 20 feet ahead of him.
Through a thick cloud they both ended up flying side by side, then the Lookout's tiled courtyard appeared below them. The first to land was the ever-stoic Namek who landed majestically, with a slight pat of his feet. Sofia made a front flip before landing in a feline-like crouch on the tiled floor, then stood up straight and whipped her long hair back, a soft breeze still stirring her long bangs and brushing them gently across her face.
Her landing impressed them both, Piccolo because of the stealth and grace of it, and Sofia because she simply did it. It's like it was automatic…jeez this is getting eerie, was her somewhat caustic thought.
The courtyard was empty except for them, something they both wished wasn't the reality.
"Humph," she turned to glower at Piccolo, contempt burning in her gaze.
Piccolo looked towards her with his characteristic scowl and with his arms crossed over his wide chest, cape slightly fluttering behind him. "What's with you!?" he growled, then continued in a gruff tone, "mad because even with your little flying stunt you didn't beat me here?"
Sofia narrowed her eyes and scoffed. "Only you would think that was a competition. There are better things to do than play tag, Piccolo. But of course, you're oblivious in that respect," she spat, then gave him a menacing smirk.
"Grrrrr!" he stalked over to her — they were both in the middle of the courtyard — with his fangs bared and stood in front of her in a threatening display. Sofia didn't even flinch when he lowered himself to be eye to eye with her.
After a tense silence, he hissed, "You owe me!" and smirked sadistically. "That one goes with all your other fucking comments. When we get in that chamber…your ass is mine."
Sofia narrowed her eyes, inched herself closer to him so that their faces were mere centimeters apart, then in a sadistic-sounding purr said, "I look forward to it."
He growled deep in his chest and stood his ground. She crossed her arms and clenched her jaw.
They stared each other down for what seemed like hours, then a benevolent and gentle voice broke their silent battle. "Well. I was wondering when you two would arrive." Kami had emerged from the palace entrance only minutes after the two had started their aggressive staring contest. He decided that he should break it up since it didn't seem like it would end anytime soon.
Piccolo grunted and stepped away from Sofia, not forgetting to give her a glare, as the elder Namek and guardian of Earth walked towards them. Kami came up to stand in front of both of them, a coy smile on his face. "I was beginning to fear that you two had ripped each other's throats out," remarked the Kami of Earth serenely.
Sofia and Piccolo simultaneously looked to each other, amusement in their eyes.
She looked back towards Kami. "Who's to say we won't?!" she shot smugly, getting a snort from Piccolo.
"I am glad you two are warming up to each other," Kami commented simply. Piccolo and Sofia both grunted, that being the least that was going on at the moment.
Oh! I should ask Kami about everything now, mentally remarked Sofia. Before she could do so, however, Piccolo stepped forward towards his original half and directed the first of his terse words. "What are you keeping from us, old man?!"
"Wow, Piccolo. You're being so subtle; you should be MORE specific!" she remarked sarcastically.
"Why don't you shut up and let the adults talk!" he spat, receiving a death glare from Sofia. "Well?! Out with it," he redirected his attention to Kami, who sighed and rolled his eyes at the stubborn, young Namek before him.
"I am not concealing anything from you, Piccolo. I can only say that both of you must work together if you wish to be successful in the oncoming battle with that cretin Frieza," was the elder Namek's evasive reply.
"Humph! What are you going to do while we're stuck in that chamber? Do you have a backup plan if the battle begins and we're still in there?" inquired Piccolo with a semblance of annoyance in his brooding features.
"Well…there are alternate courses of action if that was to occur…" Kami went on to detail different scenarios, which Piccolo would either discard or elaborate on the possibility of effectiveness. This continued for a few minutes, all the while Sofia stood on the sidelines, excluded from the one-on-one of the Nameks in front of her.
Damn this is boring! Was her sardonic mental remark. Hummmmmmmmmmm….Jeez this is boring. She began to stare at the Nameks, zoning out their conversation.
Her gaze wandered over to Piccolo. She mentally sighed, I can't help it…he's so gorgeous. She suddenly thought of a way to amuse herself at her favorite Namek's expense, of course.
She stealthily faded out, and went to be behind Piccolo, neither of the Nameks noticing her move. Very carefully, Sofia raised Piccolo's cape so that she could get a better look of, as she called it, his "firm ass." God how I'd like to slap that ass… She lowered the cape, and started doing one of the most vulgar, idiotic, and hormonal acts she had ever concocted—she began to simulate as if she was "spankin' the Namekian ass!", which was what she called the act.
Unz, unz, unz, unz, unz, unz—pauwka, pauwka, pauwka, pauwka, paaaauuuuuuw! She also mimicked the cheesiest-sounding dance music, in her mind, as she went all out in her spanking routine. She smirked widely and shut her eyes, to keep from bursting into hysterical laughter. If Raisa could see me now! Haha!
Neither of the Nameks seemed to notice the spectacle, that is, until Sofia let herself forget where she was. Bending her knees, she inclined her left leg so that it could be plainly seen from behind Piccolo. Pulling his attention away from the conversation, Kami leaned over to get a better look of what she was doing.
"Yeah, bend over, Bitch!"
Sofia froze in mid fake swing, realizing that she had actually said that out loud. She glanced over to see if she had been noticed. Kami stared at her with shocked amusement, while Piccolo glared at her with confusion in his expression over his weighted shoulderpad.
She jumped straight up with a rigid posture. "Hah-hehe! There's a perfectly good explanation for this—!" Sofia did an about-face and ran goofily away from the sweatdropping Nameks, squealing as she did so. They watched her run in the direction of the kitchen entrance and disappear behind the corner.
Kami snorted. "I believe you have your work cut out for you, Piccolo. She is one…unique individual," remarked the guardian of Earth in a smug tone to his brooding, younger half.
Piccolo growled and rubbed the bridge of his nose from the stress. "Don't even remind me," he grumbled in an annoyed tone.
After a soft chuckle, Kami turned serious. "Piccolo, I must tell you that you must be very careful when training with Sofia," he said this in a simple tone, as he stared off to where Sofia had ran off.
"Humph! Why don't you stop with your veiled instructions and just come right out with it, old man," stated Piccolo as he crossed his arms over his chest, a soft breeze stirring his cape and ruffling the bottom edge of Kami's tunic.
Kami sighed and redirected his gaze to his stubborn half. "I am merely telling you not to be your usual "charismatic" self and alienate Sofia to the point that it could jeopardize her training."
"If anyone does that it will be her. It's like she has multiple personalities," muttered Piccolo in a sulk.
"Piccolo, I am serious! There's no telling what could occur if—" Kami's stern statement faltered.
Piccolo scowled, his brow ridges knitted in annoyance. " If what?! Spit it out, old man!"
"Her emotions are what will mainly trigger her untapped powers to spring forth. I fear that if she lets her emotions run wild, her transformation could happen all at once. Such occurrence could have extenuating circumstances that could affect her and you...it could kill her." Kami stated this emphatically, slight graveness emphasized in his tone during the last fact of his response.
Piccolo's annoyed expression melted away at the last words, replaced with his stoic semblance. "Whenever she's personally attacked, she gets pissed to the point that her powers kick in," remarked Piccolo in his matter-of-fact tone.
"Hm. That should be expected. Conflict is normal when placed in the circumstances that you both are going to be in, but you should be…respectful in terms of her private feelings. They seem to be rooted in her psyche, and tied to her true potential."
Piccolo grunted. "Is that all of it?"
Kami rubbed his chin in thought, getting an annoyed huff from Piccolo. The elder Namek gave him a sudden, coy smirk. "I noticed that her infatuation with you is increasing. Do you plan on reciprocating it any ti—" Kami's "wise" comment was cut off as Piccolo snarled and stormed off, fuming.
"You and Nail really want to drive me fucking insane! Never insinuate anything like that again!" was Piccolo's snide remark as he stalked away from his benevolent half, without directing his gaze to him. As he put distance between himself and Kami, he muttered in a low voice, "stupid, crazy old goat!"
"I heard that!" was the unamused shout he got from Kami who was glowering at him from the middle of the courtyard. Piccolo turned around, sneered, then turned into an entranceway that led through a smaller courtyard, mumbling unintelligibly the whole way.
'Why don't you let your guard down and show some affection to her? You know you want to,' remarked coyly Nail as Piccolo sat down to try and meditate.
'NAIL! IF YOU DON'T SHUT THE FUCK UP—!' roared Piccolo to his counterpart.
'You'll what?! Beat me up with your threats?' he replied challengingly, then continued, 'you're trying to forget about what happened after Gohan left, and it isn't working…' he said mockingly.
'I'm warning you!'
'Wait…I should give you some credit. You did hold her in that sort of awkward embrace…then you held her hand and caressed her cheek,' Nail couldn't submerge the knowing tone his words had.
Piccolo clenched his jaw, his neck muscles tensing from Nail's reminder. 'That was nothing…it didn't mean anything,' was his harsh, self-convincing statement.
Nail snorted, then snickered. 'Why must you always suppress your true feelings?! Stop being a coward and allow yourself to open up to her just as she has opened up to you,' suggested Nail in a cajoling quip.
'THAT'S IT!' Piccolo forced his own consciousness to block out Nail, and push his counterpart to the back of his mind. That should hold him long enough to get some meditation done, he mentally grumbled, then attempted to fall into his favorite relaxation practice. Unfortunately for him, the memories from earlier in the day sprung forth from the recesses of his mind, hindering any meditation for the now sulking Namek. Damn it! He growled mentally. Damn her…
Eeeee! I can't believe I did that! Shrieked Sofia in her mind as she ran past a pillar and turned the corner, almost bumping into Mr. Popo who was walking in the opposite direction from the kitchen doorway.
"Yikes! Oh sorry, guess I wasn't payin' attention," she muttered.
"Oh don't worry about," smiled pleasantly the genie. "You must be famished after flying around the whole day. I whipped something up for you to have before you go into the chamber," he patted Sofia on the shoulder and led the way to the kitchen.
"Thanks, Mr. Popo," as if on cue, her stomach growled. "I've been starving for a while now," she said humbly, following the genie into the kitchen, where she was suddenly overcome with a delectable, mouth-watering, and familiar scent. Her eyes went as big as saucers before even laying eyes on the platter placed on top of the table counter in the middle of the immaculately tiled kitchen.
"I hope it came out just right. I know that it's your favorite dish," said Mr. Popo in his cheerful tone, gesturing for Sofia to sit and enjoy.
"Is that…MOFONGO!?" sputtered Sofia in disbelief and elation, realizing that her favorite Latin American delicacy sat in wait on the high kitchen counter, the seating stool pulled out in preparation for her future feeding frenzy.
"Why yes! Before you left I peeked into your likes and dislikes for food, living arrangements, everything so that when you got back I'd have everything in order to your liking," replied the smiling genie, then added, "I always enjoy making new dishes, and your mofongo was by far very entertaining to make. I hope you like it!"
Sofia practically dove towards the stool, hopped onto it and grabbed the fork resting on a napkin next to the platter. She sunk the utensil into the piping-hot mashed plantain dome, seasoned with pieces of garlic and small morsels of bacon, then popped it into her expectant mouth, chewing vigorously with an expression that mimicked that of the cheerful Mrs. Briefs.
"Mmmm! This is exquisite, Mr. Popo!" she remarked with a genuine smile of approval to the turban-clad genie leaning against the counter edge, happy grin plastered onto his ebony features from her raving review.
She continued to gorge herself of the delicious platter, completely oblivious that the benevolent Kami of Earth was watching her from the kitchen doorway she had walked into minutes before.
The elder Namek found it curious that a young girl could have so many contrasting personality traits. He began to wonder and speculate the reasons for such an enigma. He decided to find out for himself. As Kami, he had the privileged ability to look into other's psyches; to view memories and the emotions attached to those memories, of course without the person in question ever realizing that such action took place.
He reached out with his mind to delve into her own consciousness, specifically the memory branch of her mind. A flood of different memories flashed into his own mind, distorted and unorganized; he got his bearings and began to sort the memories out, allowing them to fall into a sort of sequence.
The first memory showed a young girl, about 8 years old, sitting in what looked like the corner of a schoolyard. She was alone, isolated from the groups of children playing and interacting in different areas of the yard during what seemed to be recess. Everything was in 3rd person perspective, in Sofia's reality. The young girl was Sofia in school uniform, sitting in the lotus position and reading a book, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" said on the cover. A far off bell rung, the children began to walk back to their classes. Sofia gathered her things and got up, then began to walk in the direction that the other children were going to. As she passed a group of girls her same age, she was suddenly tripped by the nearest girl, causing her to fall to her floor and for her book to land in the edge of a puddle by her left side.
The girls laughed, their eyes blocked out and dark. Sofia picked herself up, indifference showing in her stoic expression. She went to pick up her book, but it was kicked away from her reaching hand. "We don't like freaks in our school!" said the girl who had tripped her, the other girls falling behind her like conspiring minions. Once again, Sofia bent over to get her book, snatching it from the floor just as the girl was about to step on it. She cleaned it off as best as she could, then placed it into her book bag. "Are you deaf or something! Or just stupid," the girls began to laugh. Sofia snapped her gaze in their direction, cutting their laughter off.
The memory suddenly flashed to her walking down a sidewalk, her hands gripping the shoulder straps of her book bag. Laughs behind her made her look back, seeing a group with the same girls from the schoolyard. She ignored them, and sped up her pace; she looked ahead of her and saw the girl who had antagonized her. Sofia's eyes went wide at the realization of what would occur, her breathing hitched.
She was now being chased. She stumbled, but managed to get up, then someone pushed her down onto the ground. "You think you're better than us, don't you freak!" Sofia struggled to get away, but the group closed in around her, not allowing her to run away. Five or six faces stared at her with maliciousness in their dark eyes. The first hit at her back, then from all her sides, the coarse grass brushed against her; the hits still over her, and so were the laughs and taunts.
The memory stream shifted to her walking into the front yard of a house. She has a bruise on her upper cheek and a cut on her chin; small bruises dot her sides and upper back, but are concealed by her uniform. She winces from the pain of her cheek, then walks into the house with her head down, knowing already what her parents would say about her appearance.
"Don't tell me you got into another fight?!" She glances up at her mother, then returns her gaze to the floor. "What am I supposed to with you! The school picture day was tomorrow, and you look like a damn delinquent!" Her mother scoffs in anger and returns to her cooking, turning her back on her only daughter. "I don't want any of your excuses. Just go to your room and stay there until your father gets home! He's gonna love this." Sofia flinched from the harshness that spilled out of her mother's voice, then walked down the hallway to her room. She went into her room and shut the door behind her; she through her book bag into a corner and got out of her uniform, wincing every time the heavy clothing brushed against her bruises. She put an oversized shirt on and sat on her bed, pulling her knees up to her chest and hiding her face in her arms. Her quivering sobs were muffled, her tears dotting her shirt as her emotional pain overwhelmed her physical pain.
She suddenly clenched her jaw in anger, resolution gleaming in her moist, brown gaze. "Never again…never," her shaking voice mumbled in a low growl, her form tensing as she inhaled, and then huffed in a heavy breath.
The next memory showed Sofia at the age of 13, sitting under a tree reading an enormous book, wearing a different school uniform, but once again in a schoolyard dotted with shady trees. She was isolated from the rest of her peers. The cover of her book said "Vampire Chronicles Vol.1." She was reading avariciously, her gaze scanning pages and moving on to devour the content on the next page. The elder Namek was suddenly distracted by a small group of boys only a little ways away from Sofia; they seemed to be plotting something between their ranks. He paid close attention and focused on what they were saying. "Yeah right, man! There's no way your gonna get that weirdo to believe you," said one of the boys to another young man who had a smug look on his face. "I bet yah that I could; and I say that she'll be putty in my hands. Youz'll see," replied the smug boy. "Fine. We'll be right behind yah watchin'," replied another boy in a ostentatious voice. "Heh! Watch and learn, losers." The young man walked over to the tree where she was, seeming to put on a charming swagger as he got to her side. Thinking that he didn't get her attention, the boy cleared his throat, then looked back at his friends, who were watching 10 feet away. "What?!" muttered Sofia indifferently without taking her eyes off of her reading. "Hey, I've seen yah around and I'd like to see more. How about me and you go to the movies tomorrow?!" Sofia snickered, and without taking her gaze away from her book, said, "so you made a bet to trick me and lead me on for your numb skull friends, huh. Sorry, not interested." The boy's friends began to chuckle at his failure, so he became hostile. "Oh I get it! You're a dyke; that's the reason your blowin' me off, isn't it freak!" Sofia suddenly stood up, causing the guy to self-consciously back away from her. She glanced over at him, her cold gaze shooting to the boy and his friends. "I'd rather be a dyke than hang around with a douche like you," she spat nonchalantly, receiving taunting shouts from the other boys, which were directed to their now fuming friend.
A slap rang out, echoing in the schoolyard. The boys gasped in surprise. Sofia's face was to her left, a red mark forming on her right cheek from where the boy backhanded her; the boy sneered, then began to laugh. "So says the freak! Hahahahahahaha!" The other boys began to laugh as well, and to cheer on their friend with random shouts.
Sofia's eyes were wide, her jaw clenched in rage. Of all the things that 'they' had done to her, no one had ever slapped her in her face, not even her parents. The ultimate offense; her bottled up anger began to rise, soaking every inch of her mind. In a blind rage, she looked back at the boy, who was still laughing, and punched him square in the jaw, whipping his head back so hard that it threw him off balance, causing him to fall to the ground. His friends gasped and cursed under their breaths. Sofia then began to kick the boy as hard as she could, her fury consuming her consciousness. The boy began to scream and cry, Sofia's attack not letting up at all; it was intensifying. Her violent actions were fueled solely by all the pain she had stored up, and was now releasing upon the one person who symbolized every morsel of what she hated.
She began to swear at the boy, whose cries were becoming more frenzied. Sofia just kept kicking, only registering that he was coughing up blood onto the dust ground. After what felt like hours, she suddenly realized that she wasn't kicking anymore. Three teachers barely managed to pull her away from the half conscious boy and begin to drag her to the principal's office. As she was being pulled away, she felt as if coming out of a daze; she saw all the other's faces, some with fear, others shocked as they still stood in the semi-circle around the beaten boy, who was being helped up by one of the nuns. That fear expressed by her actions satisfied Sofia, deep down. It was a triumph in her eyes.
The memory suddenly flashed to her in an office. She was standing in a corner, facing a wall with a wooden and medal crucifix nailed to it. She was receiving punishment for what had occurred, being in a Catholic school where the nuns and officials took it upon themselves to inflict the punishments rather than the parents. Her punishment was to face the crucifix while holding a heavy, bulky Bible in each hand, arms extended out to her sides and balancing her full and added weight on one semi kneeling leg, and to keep that posture without moving or dropping the books for an hour while supervised by the principal herself, at her desk.
The memory went to her at her home being verbally abused by her parents, Sofia standing in front of them; she was numb to everything. She didn't feel…anything. Her mother suddenly shouted at her; Sofia didn't even flinch. After a long pause, she looked at her parents and said, "If anyone does that to me again…I'll kill them." The seriousness spilled out as acid in her tone, causing her parents to fall silent and simply watch her walk to her room. From that day on, something came alive inside of her; she would no longer fall victim to anyone ever again.
That was the most important promise she made to herself, which she has abided by throughout.
Kami also saw a sequence of memories that depicted Sofia's creativity in art, her fascination with animation and music, and her growing friendship with a young girl, Raisa. This sequence allowed the elder Namek to see and differentiate the contrasting personality traits that are evident in the actual moment, as he pulled his consciousness back to himself, and watched Sofia interact happily with Mr. Popo.
He smiled to himself, although still a little shocked by what he saw. He could not get passed the barbaric punishment placed on her, but managed to push it to the back of his mind, and focused back on the conversation between the enigmatic girl and his long time friend.
Sofia pushed the empty plate away from her and drank from the cold glass of water Mr. Popo had given her after she began to eat the scrumptious delicacy.
"Ahhh, that was simply delicious! My compliments to the chef," said Sofia after gulping down the remaining water and stretching out on the stool.
"Thank you, child. I'm very glad you enjoyed it!" chimed very pleased Mr. Popo as he took the plate and glass away.
Sofia rubbed her satisfied "tummy" and then placed her elbow on the counter so she could incline her face. "Damn! I'm full," she said amused, then added, "After that, there's nothing you could do to top the deliciousness of mofongo."
"Oh? What about this?" The ebony genie placed a small plate onto the counter and slid it towards Sofia, who at seeing what was on the plate, almost fell over.
She suddenly threw her arms cartoonishly in the air and squealed. "Milano cooookiiees, yay!" She pulled her knees up onto the stool and leaned forward to grab one of the delectable cookies and eat it very slowly so that she could savor every godly bite she took, causing it to look like she was a very disturbed person eating a cookie. "MMMMMMMMM! yum," she swooned as she finished the first cookie and reached for another.
She is so strong… I hope it will be enough for her. With what she will endure—her and Piccolo both, thought the guardian of Earth with slight worry. He pushed the factors of his hidden knowledge to the back of his mind when he noticed Piccolo stalk into the kitchen via the opposite entrance near the pantry. The stoic Namek went into the fridge to get himself a drink of water, and after sating his thirst, flinched as he caught sight of Sofia, still suffering from a Milano high.
Piccolo leaned against the cabinets, arms crossed, and sneered as he watched Sofia munch on the dessert enthusiastically, wrinkling his nose every once in a while with an air of disgust. After at least a minute of building irritation, Sofia glared at the Namek. I hate it when people watch me eat! Why the hell those he do it if he's so "disgusted"! was her aggravated thought.
After an intense stare off, Piccolo grunted. "What!"
Sofia leaned forward onto the table counter and narrowed her eyes at him, and then suddenly opened her mouth and deliberately showed him a half chewed Milano mouthful balanced on her tongue.
"Auuugh! THAT IS DISGUSTING!" roared the gagging Namek in offense as he stormed out of the kitchen, nose wrinkling in utter disdain.
"Well whatta hell are ya doin' whatchin' people eat yah bitchy Namek. DAMN!" she shouted after swallowing the cookie content, giving his retreating cape-festooned back a baleful glare.
Kami chuckled to himself, just elated by the fact that such a person like Sofia could get one over on Piccolo, and so skillfully. They'll be great together…I hope…
After her "mouthy" stunt, Sofia asked Mr. Popo where she could find a bathroom. The ebony genie led her into a brightly adorned hallway with decorative murals and patterns delicately carved into the marble walls and tiles. After some paces, they found themselves in front of a hardwood door with matching carvings as the hallway.
"If you need anything just let me know," pleasantly stated Mr. Popo as Sofia walked into the bathroom.
"Thanks," said Sofia as she shut the door, and then faced the enormous and immaculate bathroom. "Whoa…" the bathroom had another intricately carved mural that began from the tiled floor and spread out up the walls and finally entwined up on the dome ceiling. The bathroom mirror and vanity were gleaming white marble with golden fixtures, the same for the very spacious bath pit and the toilet. Sofia marveled at the incredible magnificence of the room as she used the facilities.
What else would be suitable for the palace of the Kami of Earth… Sweet! She thought tourist-like as she washed her hands and gazed at herself in the mirror. Annoyed with her wild appearance, she pulled her brush out and combed her long, dark brown hair until it was to her liking, falling down her back with one long bang tucked behind her ear and the other out; then washed her mouth out and re-applied her crimson lipstick, inadvertently reminding herself of the lipstick kiss she had left on Piccolo's emerald cheek earlier in the day. She sighed, yearning to relive the moment in her room and the one before they had fallen through the rippling portal of the mirror.
She snapped herself out of her lustful petition and threw her backpack over her shoulders, walking to the bathroom door, opening it and walking out back down the sumptuous hallway. Sofia wandered into a small garden with a gleaming marble and gray stone water fountain, spurting crystal-clear water from the middle of the Zen-inspiring garden.
"Beautiful…" she murmured to herself.
"It certainly is." Sofia turned her head to see Kami walking up to her from her right, coy expression etched in his features. He went to stand by her and take in the relaxing scene, his hands folded behind his back. "So…I should assume you and Piccolo had an interesting day with each other," chimed the elder Namek as he glanced over at her.
"Pss, that's the understatement of the day!" The guardian of Earth chuckled under his breath. Sofia grinned, but then turned serious. "He found out."
Kami looked over at her, calm and serene. "I did not think you would have been able to keep it from him. It's for the best anyway," he remarked sagaciously.
Sofia raised an eyebrow, but shrugged her shoulders dismissively. "I guess you're right," she paused. "Oh!" she looked over and faced him. "I still need to ask you about some things," she said in a business tone. The elder Namek nodded in acknowledgement for her to go on. " My ki level can't be sensed. Is there some messed up reason why?"
"Hm. It could be that the necklace is cloaking it," answered Kami. "Have you acquired any new abilities after crossing through the mirror?" he inquired.
"Yeah. I'm telekinetic and my nails are super pointy now," she replied simply and showed off her fingernails. "That reminds me. When Piccolo and me got to my side of the mirror, I looked like I was still in anime," she stated in a questioning tone.
"Really?" Kami rubbed his chin. "I guess that proves another hypothesis I had," he continued.
"What hypothesis?" she asked, a little wary.
"I theorized that your new abilities and appearance could still exist when you crossed the dimensional line into your realm. It seems that whatever changes you go through will be permanent, even when you cross back into your dimension," he stated in his simple tone.
"So, when I go back, I'm going to look exactly like what I'll become here…?! Whoa."
"Do not concern yourself with that right now, child. You have a lot ahead of you that needs to be focused upon. Your realizing your true potential should be at the top of the list," Kami emphatically stated.
"Kami, are you sure you don't remember anything else about the scroll? I mean, you were the one who wrote it," she inquired skeptically.
The guardian of Earth looked her straight in the eyes, his gleaming from the reflected sun mirroring from the fountain. "I unfortunately do not have any recollection of even writing the scroll…it is most curious that such a thing could occur," he remarked with an evasive undertone, looking away discreetly.
Curious indeed… thought Sofia, now sure that he was hiding something, but decided not to obsess about it. If he's keeping it tucked away it must be for the best…not like God could screw me over. At least I don't think so.
She suddenly thought of Piccolo's last threat, and sighed in exasperation. "Um, Kami? I feel a little wary about being locked into that endless void with a Pissy Piccolo. How about some words of encouragement," she remarked sardonically.
The elder Namek snorted. "Getting cold feet because of Piccolo's threats, I see. Don't worry. Just run very fast if he goes after you," he said with humor.
"Ha-hah! Actually, the threats aren't the problem…" she stated and bowed her head goofily, twirling her hair with her fingers.
"Oh?" Kami raised his brow ridges, his inquisitive look urging for an explanation.
"It's just, well—I sorta…GAAUUUH! He's sooooo HOTT! I'm friggin' enamored with him and I just want to molest him in every conceivable way! Whatta hell am I gonna do for a year locked away with Him?! My psychotic hormones will either consume me or get me to tie him up so I could have my way with the unsuspecting Namek. JEEZ!" Sofia's angst and lust-filled rant completely caught the elder Namek off guard, causing him to dive to the floor in classic fashion. When she composed herself, Sofia blushed furiously. "Oh God, I'm such an ass!" she muttered in humiliation.
Kami sprung back up to his feet with a very amused look etched in his wise expression. "I don't think you are," he stated in his rational tone, then continued, "Do you feel better letting all that 'frustration' out?"
Sofia nodded sheepishly. Kami chuckled, then burst into peels of laughter, catching her off guard.
"What's so damn funny?!" growled a fuming Sofia.
Managing to reduce his outburst to a faint chuckle, the illustrious being in front of her gave her a fangy smile. "I am sorry. It's just the thought of you tying up Piccolo and "having your way with him" is just too much even for my own will to contain," he snorted. "You are just simply too much for an old goat like me to deal with, child," he stated with amusement, smiling.
Sofia glared at him, causing the elder Namek to flash his humorous and child like grin. "I don't see why you are so worried, Sofia. Piccolo can be very dense in respect to certain human phenomenons, after all he's still just a young, naïve Namek," commented Kami.
Sofia raised an eyebrow, then crossed her arms. "Riiight. For a Namek in his 20s, he's naïve."
Kami looked at her curiously. "In his twenties? In Namekian years, Piccolo is about 20, but in Earth years, he is 10 years old," stated Kami, causing Sofia's jaw to drop.
"...10? Ten years old?!" Her eyes went wide. "HOLY CRAP I'M A FRIGGIN' PEDO!" she stated and let her composure falter. "I'm such a retard pedo! I completely forgot he's just a few years older than Gohan…"
"Um, child? Are you ok?"
She twitched. "I think so," she muttered, her left eye twitching. "As soon as my left eye stops twitching I'll be fine. Man…it's getting late. I guess me and Bitchy McGee should get into that chamber; no use putting it off anymore," she said in a cool tone, regaining the little left of her dignity.
"That is true," he turned his back and headed to another entrance to the small garden. "Piccolo is already waiting by the door, I'm sure in one of his sulking moods…follow me."
Sofia nodded and followed Kami's lead, leaving the garden and going up some stairs that were the only shortcut for getting to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber door and avoiding any forced detours around the lavish palace. They walked a couple of paces down an upper walkway that looked out to the courtyard and then came upon a jittery Mr. Popo as they made it before the wooden door for the chamber.
Piccolo was leaning against the wall to the right of the door, arms crossed and eyes closed, his perpetual scowl etching his handsome features.
Sofia sighed pensively as she let her gaze wander temporarily over his form. She snapped herself out of her quiet admiration as the perturbed-looking genie walked up to her and Kami.
"I'm glad to see both of you; made it in the knick of time," announced Mr. Popo, his expression slowly returning to his characteristic pleasant expression. "I was on my way to find you…"
"I surmise that Piccolo has been giving you a difficult time, my dear friend. I just don't understand how he can be so terse," commented Kami in his mock flat tone.
At hearing his elder half's comment, Piccolo grunted and opened his eyes, setting his intense glare on the new arrivals.
Sofia exhaled the air she had been containing since laying eyes on her infatuation, then let her cool demeanor take control away from her anxiousness. "Lets get this show going, we've pissed most of the day away already…" she paused coolly, but was prevented from finishing her comment.
"Seeing as you're the one who pissed the majority of my time away, it would be wise for you to keep your infernal comments to yourself," Piccolo spat gruffly, pushing off the wall and standing straight in his intimidating stance. Sofia rolled her eyes at him.
"Kaaamiiiiiii, Piccylow's being mean and acting like a supercilious bastard," she replied mockingly, receiving a snort from Kami and a death glare from Piccolo.
The fuming Namek stalked over to her, clenching his jaw in anger. As soon as he was about to exact some revenge for her remark, he was held at bay by a sudden invisible force. Realizing she was using her new ability, he was about to protest, but Sofia cut in first.
"I know, I know…that's another one of my fucking comments that I owe you," she turned to Kami, "Thanks for letting me vent all my 'frustration', Kami. Oh!" she paused and began to reach into her backpack, opened the capsule case and pulled out a single capsule with the number 4 scrolled on the surface. "Could you do me a favor and hold on to this? It has the mirror that leads to my reality inside."
"Of course." Kami accepted the capsule and placed it in his tunic pocket.
"Thanks. Keep an eye on Earth for us while we're gone," she said coolly. "And thanks for the awesome food, Mr. Popo."
"Don't mention it," he hugged her. "Good luck!" chimed the ebony genie.
"I wish you the best, child. I hope you find the missing answers and accomplish what you came here to do," said Kami wisely, patting her shoulder.
Piccolo grunted in impatience. "Would all of you cut the sentimentalities short so we could get going! I'd like to get some training done before Frieza gets here and starts killing everyone off," he harshly stated.
"Alriight!" She walked over to him and began pushing him towards the chamber door. "Stop bitchin' and open the door at least, sheeesh."
"Grrrr, your really lookin' for it aren't yah!" he growled as he slid towards the door, Sofia still pushing him and using the polish of the marble floor to help in her favor.
"SHUT UP AND OPEN THE DOOR, GREEN BEAN!" she shouted as she got him to the door. He turned around to glower at her, a baleful growl rumbling in his chest.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT YOU PSYCHO BITCH!"
"WOULD YOU TWO STOP IT!" The two rivals froze and went silent. "Now…get in that chamber and don't try to kill each other or threaten each other for the rest of the infernal year, understood?!" commanded the guardian of Earth, receiving curt nods from both hotheads.
Piccolo relented and opened the chamber door, holding it open for Sofia to step in first. Surprised by the action, Sofia betrayed a small smile, and looked over at Kami.
"Seeyah Kami. When I come back you have to teach me that trick," she remarked smugly, gesturing to Piccolo's sudden, courteous act.
"I will," replied humorously Kami.
She gave a slight wave, then stepped into the chamber, her mind checking off her mental list of things she brought with her, hoping to have not forgotten anything.
Piccolo grumbled to himself, and began to step into the chamber when he stalled.
'Remember what we conversed, Piccolo. Keep in mind that she is not from our world and has never been placed in this kind of situation. You should use moderation in terms of—' Kami's telepathic instruction was cut off by an irritated Piccolo.
'Yeah-yeah, I heard yah the first time. Quit worrying, old man. I don't intend on enjoying myself and beating the snot out of her like I'd like to. Not that the training is going to be easy, but it won't kill her. I'm 60 percent sure of that,' said Piccolo with slight sarcasm, flashing Kami a devilish smirk before turning back and walking into the chamber, the door shutting until the year was to be completely fulfilled.
The elder Namek sighed. "So what do you think will happen between those two, Kami?" suddenly inquired Mr. Popo.
Kami looked towards his longtime friend, then stared at the chamber door.
"Something that was supposed to happen centuries ago…Everything will finally fall into its correct place, at least I hope it will," he replied in a distracted tone.
I just hope that I have made the right decision, and that they can face what will confront them both, he paused in thought, unsure of what could happen, but sure about one thing.
Whatever happens, everything will change…forever.
I'm a pair of fuckin' clown shoes!
As soon as the chamber door shut, initiating our year of being isolated in the endless void with each other, I realized that I had forgotten to bring menstrual pads. Of all the things a woman needs, I forgot it! Needless to say, I berated myself for the stupidity of the situation.
What the hell am I gonna do?! Sooner or later I'm gonna start bleeding like a stuck pig, and I'm stuck in this chamber with Piccolo for a friggin' year…Aaauuugh, so damn stupid!
I bit my lip so to prevent my urge of shouting every single curse word in my vocabulary, then began to check out the living arrangements I'd be stuck in for the next year. I was surprised to find that the little palace of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber was different from the way I had seen it on TV. The main room was still the same; the clock and table were identical to what I remembered, but instead of the two purple draped beds with matching purple canopies, there was one bed minus the canopy against the wall to my far right, the headboard resting on the wall. To my left there was an entranceway to another smaller room. To my near right was a small bathroom; a wooden frame was placed into the doorway so that a sliding wooden door came out of the wall for obvious privacy. Straight ahead of me was the pillared opening that led out into the perpetual white void of the chamber.
I walked towards the entranceway, mesmerized by the endlessness that existed just beyond the couple of steps out onto the ghostly white floor. Past the bed of the main room was another doorway that led into the kitchen and pantry. I put off my exploration of every aspect of the small palace so that I could let myself be lured by the incredible wonder I was gazing at from the last step before stepping onto the void floor.
"This is amazing…" I muttered in awe, my voice taking on a slight echo characteristic in the alternate dimension, feeling a little anxious from the sheer magnitude that stretched out before my eyes. It dawned on me that the temperature was very uncomfortable, and that my limbs felt heavier than normal. The gravity in here is kicking my ass, I thought, annoyed.
I had the sudden feeling that someone was standing behind me, which was confirmed when white cape brushed against my left arm. I looked over my shoulder to see a stoic-faced Piccolo gazing out at the endless sight just some steps away from where we were standing. His arms were folded over his massive chest. He sighed noisily and glanced down at me, not seeming to be at all bothered by the heavy gravity. That last fact irritated me, just a little.
He suddenly gave me an evil smirk. "Just realizing what you've gotten yourself into, huh." I grunted with faked indifference at that. "Why don't yah try out the gravity and see how much your body can stand," was his command-like statement.
I shot him a glare. "So I can get acquainted with the floor? I don't think so, Green Bean," was my smart-ass quip back, which I quickly regretted.
"ACK!"
Exacting some sweet revenge, Piccolo suddenly pushed me off the step out into the intense gravity-weighed chamber floor. I immediately went down to the floor, feeling like I had invisible bricks tied to my joints that weighed down my limbs and threatened to root me into the floor. The necklace felt like a concrete block around my neck; I practically did an Inuyasha-style "sit"!
"Grrrrrrrrrrrr!" I managed to pull myself up, crawl around to face the palace steps, and leaned back on my knees, narrowing my eyes at the smug-looking Namek still in the safety of the palace floor. "Yah…damn…Namek!" I panted in a menacing voice, little-by-little crawling and stumbling towards him, sweat breaking out across my forehead. I got to the steps and off the chamber floor, the weight miraculously disappearing, allowing me to spring straight up and glare daggers at the Demon King himself. "Oh," I pointed at him exaggeratedly. "You're a sadistic fucker, yah know that?!"
"I guess that makes it one tha one, kid!" he remarked with a lopsided smirk, retaining his menacing expression. I glowered at him, and then suddenly flashed him an approving smirk.
"That was a good one, I do admit it…but now, it's SO on, bitch! HAH!" I challenged in my Vegeta-like tone, and cackled a laugh as I walked away from him, leaving him with an expression of indecisive anger. I took it upon myself to check out the rooms of the small palace, seeing as my roommate was looking like he was gonna blast or melt me with his searing gaze.
The first thing I checked out was the bathroom, seeing as I decided to look and maybe by chance find some pads. The wooden door was already slid open, so I stepped into the bathroom; floor was at least a foot higher than the floor of the main room, so you had to step up into it. The wooden doorframe was kind of low, but being that I was so short, I could just step through without worrying about banging my head. The bathroom was small, but very comfortable. The bathtub was across from the doorway. It was a big porcelain tub that mirrored the old fashion style of bathtubs from like the 1930's, and it had a shower curtain that extended across the curtain rod that was joined to both opposite walls. To my left was the sink counter and mirror, which were held up by a wooden cabinet base, and to the right of this was the toilet. On the parallel wall were a towel rack with two towels and some shelves that were stocked with folded towels, shampoos and liquid soaps. After checking in the cabinets for some pads and not finding any, I walked out of the bathroom and went to go into the small room across from it.
Before stepping into the room, I realized that everything beyond the threshold was Real—well, that's to say it was like my dimension; that the dimensional line rested between the entranceway of the room. Just like Kami said. The chamber created the dimensional line to balance out my being here. That means that everything beyond this doorway is in my reality, I stated mentally, then noticed that the divide didn't ripple like I had expected it would. Curious, I stretched out my left arm and let it pass through to the opposite side. From my forearm down to my fingernails I was real flesh and bone, while the rest of my arm was still anime. As I pulled my arm back, I noticed that the air between the limits of the entranceway threshold kind of swayed and felt cool.
"Whoa…" I decided to take the plunge and step completely through and end up in the small room. The cool feel of the air flowed across me, brushing along my skin gently and stirring my hair. The feeling was very brief, but left this surge of an invisible static-like flicker. The necklace suddenly felt lighter. As a matter of fact, so did the rest of my body; was like I wasn't even affected by the gravity of the chamber anymore. "Humph. Weird shit," I muttered and then dismissed the feeling with a shrug of my shoulders.
The room was small, dome-shaped, with a high ceiling. I assumed that this small room was added to the palace to be my private quarters, since there was another bed, its size the equivalent of two twin beds put together, draped with a white comforter and two big pillows over to my left with the wooden headboard against the wall. Across from where I had walked through was an arch entranceway that was blocked out by a heavy purple curtain hanging from the ceiling above the arch. At the wall next to the doorway I had come in was a lavish wooden dresser with six drawers, three to the right and three to the left. Another reason that I figured the room was for me to stay in was because it had this air of femininity in its setting and furniture style compared to the main room. I put my backpack on the dresser top and went to lay on the bed, testing to see if it was just right. It was absolutely perfect; not too firm and not too soft, same thing for the pillows. I looked over and noticed a sketchpad placed on a smaller table to the right of the dresser, hidden from sight when you initially walk into the room. There also was a box full of drawing and colored pencils on top of the sketch pad. I got up from the bed and went to pick up the items. There was a small note tucked into the pencil box, so I pulled it out and opened it.
For the times when you feel inspired…or simply need a release.
—Kami
I couldn't help the smile cross my lips after reading the letter. I placed the items back on the table and put the note away, kind of as a souvenir, in my backpack pocket. I turned around to go out back to the main room when I suddenly remembered the arch entranceway. I turned back and walked over to the draping purple curtain; grabbed the cloth and pulled it in opposite directions, parting it into revealing the awesome endless white of the void, same as the one I had seen before, except it was Real.
"Cool! I can train in my side of the dimensional divide." I gazed out, once again falling into the magnetic spell of wonder that caused one to doubt if such a thing was real. After at least a minute of staring hopelessly into the endlessness, I turned around in direction to the kitchen, but ended up colliding face first with a firm, solid form. I sprung back and found myself gazing at the object of my psychotic hormonal lust…in the flesh! YUMMIES! Piccolo glared at me, but then looked over me, out at the endlessness just outside of the arch.
"We'll get to train in your reality…should be interesting," said the sexy-ass Namek flatly, the stoic-ness of his voice echoing in the acoustic-friendly chamber and palace.
"Hmph, it'll be cool to see what you can do—actually in the flesh," I smirked to myself. "Should be an awesome sight," I said in my cool tone, hiding my inner giddiness.
He gave me a wary once over, then folded his arms over his amazing chest. "We'll start training tomorrow on your side." He suddenly flashed a menacing smirk. "I intend to enjoy every minute of it," he said insinuating the wonderful ass whipping he intended on giving me in our first training session.
"Oooooh Piccolo, you're so naughty!" I said in a humorous voice, then added in a low purr as I walked passed him, "Can't wait." I went over to the doorway, smugness displayed in my stride, then glanced back. Piccolo was so pissed I thought he was gonna shoot lasers out of his eyes, then I remembered that he CAN do that, so I gave him a nervous/goofy laugh, turned around and sprinted over hurriedly to the kitchen.
The kitchen was as big as my room at home. You walk in and the white kitchen counter and top cabinets are to your right. The stove was at the end of the counter, the fridge to the left of it. Across from me was a wall with a long counter and bottom cabinets that housed the kitchen sink. I walked in to check out the contents of the fridge and to my left was another heavier door. I opened it and found myself inside the pantry, completely stocked with everything imaginable, from canned foods, breads, and even platano (plantains in English).
"I guess this is how the food stays fresh for an entire year…there's enough platanos in here to tie me over into the next decade!" I managed to stop salivating long enough to step out and close the door. I opened the fridge, which was stocked with a dozen bottles of water, ham, cheese, everything I enjoyed eating. "Awesome. All this food is mine…having a Namek for a roommate brings more perks than I thought," I said, then sighed, the nagging reminder making me nervous. I cursed myself for the weakness and shrugged the thought away, deciding to go and unpack my shit and get comfy in the fantastic palace.
I walked back through the doorway, morphing into my corporeal reality. I never did get used to the skin-tingling feeling I'd get after stepping in and out of the room. Anyway, I noticed that the delicious 3-D Namek wasn't in the room, so I figured he had gone out into the void. I confirmed my deduction when I sensed the he was a couple a yards out into the endlessness.
"Perfect time to unpack," I remarked to myself, trying to get used to the slight echo of my voice.
I went and got my backpack, removing the capsule case and getting out the capsule with my clothes. I un-capsulized the contents and began folding everything and putting them away in the dresser drawers. I'm a neat freak, so that took some time. After that, I got out my boom box and put them on top of the dresser. Then I got my entire CD collection out and went to sit on the floor facing the wall that was next to the dresser and small table, at the right. I began to organize my CDs alphabetically, a very tedious task considering the amount of CDs in my collection.
When I was in the P's, I heard the rustle of the curtain of the archway. I pretended to be oblivious of Piccolo's presence as a sensed him walk over and stand behind me, no doubt trying to see what I was doing. I kept organizing the CDs; guess he bought my act cuz he walked over closer. I could feel his intense gaze wander over my back, as if making sure of something. He must've been really curious about what I was doing cuz the next thing I knew, he's sitting in the lotus position next to me. His right knee slightly brushed my left. I still pretended to ignore him. I felt him give me a glare, but then his attention was brought to one of the CDs that was already aligned in its order against the wall. He decided to reach out and grab the CD, I guess to see what it was when suddenly…
SWAAAT!
Before his fingers brushed the corner of the CD, I slapped his hand the way a mother would to a rambunctious child reaching for something he's not supposed to touch. I looked over at him with as stern of an expression I could accomplish, considering I just wanted to bust out laughing, then with my arms I shielded the CDs from him, giving him a look that said "don't touch, bitch!" Piccolo's expression was priceless! He had been completely caught off guard.
In a flash, he gave me a murderous look and showed of his fangs as he growled in pure anger. "WHO DO FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" he roared in my unflinching face, then inched himself closer in as a menacing manner as I had seen him do so far. He grabbed the side of my shirt and harshly pulled me back so that I would be facing him completely. "Don't you ever slap my hand away again! The next time you even intend to do something like that I won't hesitate to cut your hand off, Do-You-Understand!?" he threatened in a guttural, rage-filled tone, the whole time pointing at me menacingly. When he finished saying the last thing, he had jabbed me in the chest with his pointed fingernail. I didn't wince. I gave him my own fiery glare, my expression unwavering, then I challengingly smacked his hand away from me.
"Your idle threats are wasted upon me, Piccolo. Anyone with enough logic would know that you couldn't do any of the shit you're constantly threatening me with because you need me! I'm the person who can give you play-by-play, highly detailed insight on everything that's gonna happen," I said in my intimidating and stern tone, all the while Piccolo glared at me. He was clenching and unclenching his jaw, causing his cheeks to tighten and his smoldering eyes to narrow dangerously. "And even if I didn't have that insight," I continued, "I would NEVER take any of your threats seriously!"
Piccolo sat there, grinding his teeth, proving with his harsh silence that I was right. I gave him a scornful smirk. "Now," I turned back to my CD collection, "I'm going to finish organizing my CDs and you're gonna get the hell out of my room and sulk in some dark corner for a while — and before you start hollering at me!" I put my hand up just as he's about to say something angsty, "you should realize that you're a ruthless and powerful warrior arguing in your female roommate's quarters; one sad-looking Namek right now! So, take your uptight ass and get tah steppin', before you embarrass yourself a little more than you're prepared to."
FWRAAAAAK!
In an instant, my back was against the wall, his black eyes burning into mine as he glared at me, his expression stoic. I glanced over to my right to see his outstretched arm only an inch away from my face with his balled up fist still pressed against the wall behind me. Any closer and he would have knocked me into the next dimension! He huffed through his nose, his nostrils slightly flaring as he did so. I was stuck between him and the wall. He brought his face closer to mine, so that we were only inches apart, his eyes still boring into mine.
"You might be right…but if you really want to find out, I dare you to say something else." His voice was dark and menacing, causing chills to go down my spine. I was captured in his searing gaze, completely mute. Satisfied with my silence, Piccolo pulled his arm back, but still kept his face close to mine as he said in a deep tone that leaked venom, "Next time…I'll follow through. I'll let you pass now, so there better not be a next time, Sofia."
I loathed the sound of my name at that moment, the way he directed it was the equivalent of having him dig his claws into my chest. I heaved a deep breath, keeping my expressing solid.
I wasn't afraid or intimidated by him, even after what he had just done, but…what he said burned me, everything he ever said to me burned deep down, causing me to doubt myself. At those moments I hated myself, hated what I was…and hated everyone around me—except him.
His warm breath sent chills across my skin when he exhaled noisily as he backed away from me so he could stand to his towering height, never taking those intense pools of onyx off me. He crossed his arms and gave me one last burning glare as he turned around and walked out over the dimensional threshold into his side of the chamber.
When I sensed that I was alone in the palace I leaned back on the wall, defeated— my pulse slowing down from its dull roar to a rhythmic thumping. I pulled my knees up to my chest and leaned an arm across them so I could rest my head over it.
"Damn…" I muttered listlessly to myself. I let my gaze wander over to my CDs. I mechanically sat back up and started to organize my stuff again, and then I glanced over to the wall I was previously leaning against, my eyes going wide when I caught sight of the menacing, super-wicked crack left from Piccolo's punch. He didn't even use a quarter of his strength and he made that!? HOLY CRAP…
Managing to pick my jaw off the floor, I resumed the activity I had been doing previously. After that, I decided to get comfortable and take of my sneakers and socks. FREEEEDOOOM! Yay! I love walking around barefoot, especially on cold floors, and the palace's floor was cold as hell! Freed from my oppressive foot apparel, I noticed that my toenails were black, and I don't mean dirty with crud under them, I mean like black as ink! "What the fuck!?"
Only one thing came to mind at the sight. "I guess this is another demon trait I've inherited…Hmm?" Curious, I went into my backpack to get my makeup bag; got my travel size bottle of nail polish remover out and a piece of cotton and went to work removing my black nail polish off of my fingernails. After 2 minutes of rubbing endlessly, I removed black nail polish off of my ink black nails. "Jeez…these things are cool, but they're way too long," I said to myself and got out my travel size nail clippers, realizing that it would be very difficult to train and fight with my long pointy nails.
I sighed in regret, hating the idea of cutting the nails I had worked so hard to maintain. After putting my annoyance to the side, I tried to cut my thumbnail first, but it wouldn't budge. I tried again, and nothing! The clipper wasn't even leaving a mark. "Damnit…" I forced and applied more pressure. "Just frea-king cut—!" as I forced the clipper to its limits, it broke! The little thingy in the middle that puts the pressure on the cutter cracked, and so did the cutter.
"Crap!" I looked at my nails. "These things are like iron—they're unbreakable…"
I went on banging my nails against every hard surface in the room, and they didn't give any way at all, and best of all it didn't hurt at all. "Sooo cool! Lets see…I can fly, throw ki, sense ki, and I'm telekinetic. And now I'm starting to change physically."
Intrigued, I made a ki ball, watching it spin and react as I made it flicker with my will. Then I got an idea. I went to sit in the middle of the room lotus style, and grabbed the broken nail clippers and placed them in front of me on the floor.
"Alright! Lets see if I can move this and make it float." I began to concentrate, realizing that holding something at bay was much easier than moving something. I decided to use my hand as a guide for where I wanted the clippers to move. The thing twitched twice, then moved an inch to the right. I huffed at my accomplishment, then decided to try and move it with my gaze. It went two inches to the opposite side. After a half hour of getting the hang of my power, I started levitating the clippers, something that took a lot of concentration to accomplish. It paid off, because after focusing and willing it with my mind, the clippers slowly and steadily started floating. More concentration to keep it exactly where it was; I was breaking a sweat it was so tedious. Finally, I got used to it and the task began to be second nature, just as long as I put enough focus into it. I started twirling it around and moving it in zigzags. Pretty...good…just keep focus and—
"What are you doing?!"
WHAAAAAAAM!
Piccolo had walked into the room and caused me to lose focus and set my attention on him. Big mistake, cuz when I reacted and jerked my head to the left where he had come in from, the nail clippers went too and hit Piccolo just above his brow with such a force that he fell through the doorway back to his side of the divide; it even knocked off his turban.
"HOLY SHIT!" I sprang up to rush to his side. He was on his back on the floor, with his hands gripping the injured spot, groaning, and wincing from the pain. The force of the blow surprised me, but I didn't realize it at the time.
I kneeled next to him. "Piccolo, are you ok?" I know, stupid question.
He glared at me and snarled, letting me know that his answer was a "fuck no!"
"Stay here," I commanded him and ran to the kitchen and ran back to him with some ice wrapped in a kitchen towel. "Let me see," I said and tried to part his hands, but he jerked away, so I decided that I should be gentle and patient.
"GODDAMNIT PICCOLO, let me see!" I managed to pry his hands away and see the nasty bruised cut that was beginning to swell on his lower forehead. He was glaring at me and clenching his jaw, trying to hide the fact that he was in a lot of pain.
As tenderly as humanly possible— for me anyway— I placed the ice over the bruise, causing him to hiss in pain and anger. I positioned myself so that he was looking at me upside down and placed his head on my lap, since I was sitting on my knees, and held the ice in place.
"Piccolo I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for that to happen, I swear," I said emphatically as I loomed over him, still holding the ice in place.
"Grrr! Why should I believe you!?" he hissed at me and was about to sit up, but I managed to hold him in place — don't ask me how!
"Because if it had been my intention for you to get beamed with a nail clipper I'd be fuckin' laughing my ass off right now," I replied coolly, giving him a reassuring half smile.
He growled deep in his chest and began to glare at me, but then suddenly looked away self-consciously. I slowly realized why he was suddenly uncomfortable. I was holding the ice with my right hand and I had begun to caress his cheek with the knuckles of my left. I didn't even notice what I was doing until he did!
I felt my cheeks begin to burn as I stopped the caressing and found myself drowning in his alluring eyes. My heart began to race for the zillionth time of the day.
With both of us in the awkward nexus, I took a dive to salvage what was left of the situation. "Hey, um, how 'bout we go to my side of the divide? The swelling is totally exaggerated here and it might not be so bad over there," I suggested. Piccolo exhaled noisily, then grunted in approval. I helped him up and we went into my room.
As soon as we were in my reality, I pulled him over to the foot of the bed and sat him on the edge so I could see if there was a change in his fluke injury. The whole time he acted like some caged animal ready to pounce if provoked; it was kind of funny when I thought of it at the time, imagining Piccolo pounce on someone out of nowhere. I suppressed the urge of laughing at my mental image and focused back on the scowling Namek in front of me. Even with him sitting on the bed, he was still a few inches taller than me.
"Humph, it's starting to heal, but there's still a little swelling," I remarked in a business tone as I checked him out— in more ways than one!
He grunted and watched me, scrutinizing every gesture I made with his intense gaze. I feigned indifference, while I secretly let my own gaze wander every so often over his handsome face; it was also the first time I had seen him without the turban, especially in my reality.
This time, I just couldn't help myself. I placed my hands on his cheeks and looked at him dead in the eyes, keeping my expression unreadable. "I really didn't mean for you to get hurt, Piccolo. So, you don't need to be paranoid and think I'm trying to kill yah or anything." I said this with the up-most seriousness in my voice. Piccolo tensed at my touch, and stayed tense even after I let my hands fall away. He didn't reply, he just gave me an intense, stoic stare. His black eyes didn't mirror any emotion that he could be feeling. Sort of defeated, I sighed and began to walk away, when he suddenly gripped my right wrist. I looked back, cocking an eyebrow.
He stood up, his hand holding my wrist in a gentle grip. "Why did you do that?" was his whispered question, his tone betraying this innocence that I couldn't help but melt in.
I snapped myself out of my beginning mental perversion and realized I didn't know what the hell he was talking about.
"Do what—and why are you always asking me questions like that?" I interrogated stepping back so I could face him completely.
"Because you're always doin' shit that doesn't make any sense! So why did you care for me after what I said to you?" He said this as he let go of my wrist and crossed his arms, taking his no bullshit stance as he looked down at me with his trademark scowl.
"Auugh…! Because it was the decent thing to do," I paused and crossed my arms. "If I let myself be affected by people's words I wouldn't be able to function in life. I can read into people's intentions pretty well…and you're an ass to everybody, so it's not like I should take much offense to the things you said."
Piccolo's scowl deepened, and he parted his lips as if to say something, but then he changed his mind and grunted instead. We stared at each other for at least 30 seconds straight. It was like we were in a scowling contest, and neither of us wanted to give up. When we simultaneously sighed, I couldn't help it anymore and I busted out laughing. The situation was too ridiculous for me to keep a straight face.
He cocked a brow ridge at me, but then gave me a lopsided smirk, accepting the humor of the moment. I even got him to chuckle a little, that heavy baritone chuckle that makes his eyes take on this sweet gleam, momentarily erasing any signs of past pain and hate.
I wiped the laugh tears from the corners of my eyes and started to settle back into my usual attitude. My Namekian roommate uncrossed his arms and let them fall to his sides, his chuckles dying down in his broad chest. He then brought his left hand up to feel the spot where his bruise was, slightly brushing his antennae back with his palm. I stepped closer to check out his bruise, finding that it was completely healed. My mind instantly flashed to the memory of Piccolo getting beamed with the clippers and I began to laugh again.
"Hehehe—man, that was just priceless! You walked in like nothing and almost got killed by a pair of nail clippers, hah-hehehe…" I giggled sardonically, getting a baleful glare from Piccolo.
"Shut-up!" he suddenly growled in my still grinning face, cutting my giggles off completely.
"Awwwww, Piccylow! Don't get angweee with me," I said in my mock childish tone. Piccolo wrinkled his nose at me the way an annoyed kid would, getting me to grin mischievously at him.
He harshly pushed me to the side and walked over to go through the archway that led to the endlessness of my reality, growling the whole way. Before he stepped out of sight completely, he glanced back with his stoic mask back on.
"Get some sleep. Tomorrow we're gonna start off early, so you better save up your strength," he stated, then added in a mutter, "You're gonna be needing it!" He turned back around and went out into the endlessness.
I mentally sighed, Yes Yummy Namek Master. I will do as instructed. I watched him fall away from my sight. Suddenly yawning, I decided to go and take a hot shower and wash my hair that desperately needed it. I went to the dresser and looked for some pajamas. After digging through all the clothes and not finding any, I remembered that I never actually packed any pajamas.
"Ah fuck. I'm such a crack-headed baka!" I continued rummaging through a drawer, "What the hell am I suppose to wear!?" After looking through all the drawers and cursing the whole time, I pulled out a tight, white spaghetti-strap shirt and red underwear that was kinda like a short little hot pants. I sighed dramatically. "This is gonna have to do…" I took my "pajamas" and grabbed my bathroom stuff and headed to the aforementioned room.
I walked in, shut the sliding door, and continued my shower ritual of getting the water ready, undressing and folding my clothes neatly, grabbing the soap and shampoo bottles, and getting under the warm spray. I washed all my body and couldn't help but smirk at what was so far my favorite perk of the physical changes I had inherited so far. I never have to shave my legs again! Or anything else—no bikini-line hell, no armpits—I'm so happy! I remarked mentally in my over-zealous tone as I began to wash the dust and oil out of my hair from all the flying around during the day and my mountain lion encounter the day before.
My mind began to wander. What was the next year gonna be like? Would Piccolo eventually lose his mind and kill me? Or would my hormones take full control, causing me to sexually pounce on my asexual roommate? Questions like these popped up, taking my overly analytical mind into crazy theories. After a while, I let my doubts and worries wash down the drain with the shower suds, coming to the decision that I'd let everything happen in its own way instead of pondering what could happen beforehand.
I suddenly thought of how cool it'd be to meet Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, and all the other Z Warriors. Then, I thought of Raisa, and how jealous she'd be if she ever found out I got to meet her hormonal loverboy Trunks.
Ok. I should highlight that Raisa is not my lesbian lover or anything. She's like an, acquaintance that I have (not like a best friend or anything). We both have a lot of things in common. I still remember the day we met. After a Catholic school fiasco, which I do not wish to go into, I transferred to a private school just a district over from where I lived. For a year, I was under the radar, only really known as the antisocial girl that hung out in corners reading books and listening to "the devil's music", as some of my teachers put it. One day during lunch, the popular patrol unit of the biggest clique in school began to swarm the "new girl," seeing if she was up to standard for possibly joining their snobbish ranks. "Well hey there! I'm Krystel, this is Stefany and that's Sheneiney. You look like you need a friend," she had suddenly leaned in close to Raisa's skeptical face. "I suggest you stick with us if you want to make it socially in this school! Our social group is the best, and everyone else don't even rank what we are," was the pompous comment of the class president of my grade, at the time. Raisa gave each of them an icy once over; then she cocked an eyebrow. "Social Standards?" she said in a cynical tone, then continued, "Is that what is really important to you guys?!" The others nodded their heads slowly. "WOW! I guess that makes us very different people," said Raisa in her smug/cynical tone, slightly smirking. Everyone in hearing distance went quiet. The three twits stood there with the mouths open. The silence was spanning through the cafeteria, when I suddenly decided to relieve the awkwardness. "YEAH! YOU TELL 'EM—WOOOOH!" I stood up from my solitary table and began to clap ostentatiously and cheer, receiving sneers from the brain dead stooges. "Oh, I get it! Your just an antisocial weirdo like the 'freak.' Too bad!" was the head baka's reply, which her lackeys began to giggle snobbishly with, that is, until I gave them my trademark murderous glare, cutting their squeals off completely. I then stalked over, the intimidation seething in my every gesture. The bitches took the hint and hauled ass out of there; I had a wonderful reputation established over my short temper and the proficient ass whipping I handed out on a needed basis. I got next to Raisa and gave her a smug look. She gave me an inquisitive look and gestured to the fleeing retards. I crossed my arms and stated coolly, "Lets just say my reputation leaves many not wishing to ever piss me off." Raisa gave me her skeptical look. "…oh."
Yep. There's the story. We hung out ever since then, but not much anymore seeing as her ass moved to the opposite side of the island. As I got out of the shower, I regretted not being able to tell her about everything that had gone down so far. I dried off and decided to put that thought away, figuring that if I was still alive after everything, I'd fly over and see her, seeing as I was going to keep all the changes from my "demon" transformation.
I put my "pajamas" on and decided to blow dry my hair, suddenly remembering that there wasn't any blow dryer, since I didn't bring it. I cursed under my breath as I stared at my soaked hair in the mirror. "Damn it! It's hot as hell in here, and here I am with damp hair. The humidity is gonna suffocate me," I paused my ramble, suddenly getting an idea. What if I use my ki to dry off? I've seen them do it on the show, and it should work if I concentrate it outwards, I theorized mentally. I decided to go for it, and started concentrating to radiate my ki outwards. After 5 minutes of letting it build up, I released it in a pure wave, shooting my aura out with hot energy.
I wiped the condensation off of the mirror and found that my little trick worked. My hair was bone dry and straight, draped behind my shoulders.
"Yes! Perk numba 2…it couldn't get any better."
After marveling at my success, I picked up my dirty clothes and held them under my right arm as I went to the door. Before sliding it open, I realized that I was about to walk out in revealing clothes in front of Piccolo! Shit! He can't see me wearing this… I began to worry frantically, coming up with only one idea. I'll just go really fast to my side and jump under the covers before he can see me. Yeah… that's good. Ok.
I slid the door open and peeked my head out, in search for my brooding Namekian roommate. I looked to my left and found the main room empty, so I began to tip toe towards the doorway of my room, keeping my gaze out to my side so as to spot Piccolo. As I was about to walk into my room— I was still looking off to the side, I ran into a familiar firm, solid form. I completely froze, my eyes going completely wide. I turned my face, inhaling the earthy dust and sweat scent that I secretly enjoyed so much, as soft cloth brushed against my left cheek. I looked up to a stoic-faced Piccolo, his eyes as black as a starless night sky, antennae creating shadows over his cheekbones. I realized that I was pressed against him with one hand against his upper abdomen, still in anime and he was staring at me in surprise, his body tense from our sudden close contact, still in my reality.
"…"
"…"
I jumped back before he could say anything and ran into my room and got into bed, throwing the covers over myself. I must've looked pretty stupid, this big lump under the comforter. My cheeks burned as I mentally swore at myself. I could sense Piccolo still standing at the door, and I could feel his gaze as it bore into the comforter. Feeling retarded, I stuck my head out from under my hiding place and gave Piccolo a nervous smile.
"Sorry…I-um, yah see…" I kept stuttering as Piccolo gave me an inquisitive and innocent look. After six tries to explain myself in a 10 second span of time, my clueless roommate simply huffed angrily and gave me an intense glare, shutting me up.
"Stop fucking around and get some rest already! I don't want you unable to train cuz you didn't get enough sleep, so shut up!" Piccolo gruffly commanded, did an about face and walked out of my room to his side of the divide. I could here the patting of his cute brown shoes get to the pillared entrance looking out on the white void, then stop as he sat in the lotus position and began to meditate.
I was speechless. He didn't seem to even notice what I was wearing, or the fact that I was shy around him because of it. I mechanically tied my hair up in a messy bun and threw myself back against the bed, pulling the comforter over my head to shield the whiteness that would not allow me to sleep. I sighed noisily, the doubts that roamed my mind plaguing me. How am I gonna take these 12 months closed off with the guy of my dreams?! Does he even notice that I like him, or does he just ignore me completely that way? I sighed nervously, my eyes beginning to flutter shut. The last thought lingered curiously in the back of my mind. What's gonna happen tomorrow…?
I fell into a deep sleep, those doubts once again falling from importance as others sprang forth via my tortuous dreams, dreams that would plague me with uncertainty for the greater part of my stay in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber…and of my forced isolation with my enigmatic roommate, the person who would have more of a prestige title soon to come.
THANKS FOR READING!
I'm back bitches! WOOOOOHOOO! (does her happy dance) Almost 2 months since the last update (bows her head in forgiveness) please take pity on my distressed circumstances at this time. The SAT's, college applications, and my parents giving me wonderful inoperable tumors.
Cyndi: Hope you liked the tension in this chapter and that you can start to warm up to Sofia.
Ace of Authors: (first in line to buy double feature of Piccolo XXX video) Hope ya got change for a20. Thanx for continually reviewing! And stick around, cuz I got my own future citrus planned for the Delicious Namek.
Baka-Kos: Thanx Rosie! Hope you got your Gohan fix, cuz he won't be appearing for a while…(consoles the hysterical girl shouting "MORE GOHAN, MORE GOHAN!" in the corner).
TiffyAngel: YES! (starts simulating "the spankin' the Namek" dance) I got Tiff to FINALLY read my fic. YAY! I'm glad ya liked it! Nice to know there's another official member in the 'bound and gagged Piccolo bondage club'. Hurry up and update your own damn fic woman! (flashes the peace sign upside down with a smug look on her face).
