Hi guys! Well, first of all, its Gotrix here! Secondly, we need to apologize. It's been way too long since we uploaded. Even with exams, etc., it's not great how long we took, so we'll try to upload faster. Enjoy the chapter!
Arriving home as it began to grow dark, a weary but jubilant Bardock landed and walked into his home. "Goku, come here!" he called as he headed to the living room.
"Comin'!" Goku called back. He soon showed up in the living room. "What's up, Dad?"
"I sorted out the Royal issue. King Vegeta agreed to control Vegeta providing you avoid him. You will, right?" Bardock replied with an odd cheer.
"I am in the same class than him. We'll have to see each other we want it or not, but I'll try to keep my distance," Goku said.
"That's all I ask. I know you will. You're a good lad—a son to be proud of," Bardock praised, a rare and suspicious event.
Goku raised an eyebrow. His father rarely praised him like that. "Um… thanks?"
"Not a problem. Go get your mother, please, and tell her we need to talk," Bardock requested.
Goku eyed his father. "Okay…" He was suspecting his father was hiding something, but he decided it was better to let it slide. Whatever his was hiding, he would most likely tell Gine. He walked to the kitchen where he sensed his mother was. "Mom, Dad says you need to talk."
Gine blinked. "Well, okay. Thanks for telling me, Son." She smiled at her boy and went to the living room. "What is what you want to talk about, Bardock?"
"We got all of it. The issues are solved. We also got information in Turles!'" Bardock explained eagerly.
"What? Seriously?" Gine was amazed. Honestly, she thought her mate and the king would end up fighting like their sons did at school. It was very good news that they managed to get everything they wanted without using violence. "That's great!"
"Yeah! And all I had to do was threaten his family with death," Bardock sighed.
"You what?" Gine's face fell. It seemed it didn't go as peacefully as she thought.
"It was rough negotiating! I never touched him though. I'd like to think I've mellowed," Bardock grinned back, trying to cheer her up.
"Well, that's good," she said. "Earth does make people softer, doesn't it? There's something about his planet that make people... mellow. I wonder if it'll be the same with the Royal Family."
"I think it is. King Vegeta showed fear. He'd never have done that before. The man wore a sweater too for crying out loud! Lost his dictatorial edge," Bardock responded happily.
Gine blinked. "He... wore a sweater?" She was just not able to imagine King Vegeta wearing one.
"Sadly, yes... No wonder he blended in so well here," Bardock shuddered.
Gine began laughing. "You're right. I just can't imagine it!"
"I nearly cried with laughter," he laughed. Seeing King Vegeta with a sweater had definitely been an… interesting sight. A funny one, too.
"I bet!"
"Now, let's just call it an early night and celebrate properly," Bardock suggested with a wink.
Gine giggled. How come that man could still make her feel like a schoolgirl in love? "Sure, Bad Boy."
"I'm going to show you just how bad I can be," Bardock laughed as he led her upstairs.
"Where have you been?" Yamcha asked quietly. He knew he'd been an ass.
"Why?! What are you accussing me of?!" Bulma replied defensively, guilt kicking in.
"Nothing, sorry. Did you find Vegeta?" Yamcha hastily replied.
"No..." Bulma lied immediately, knowing he felt something was wrong.
"Okay. Look, I'm sorry for earlier. Can we just go home and forget it?" Yamcha asked hopefully, eager to ease tension.
"Sure thing," Bulma said as they began to leave. 'That's the problem. We never talk about problems. You never want to,' she thought sadly.
Suno just couldn't explain how excited she felt of finally being able to hang out with Goku again. She was overjoyed. They were sitting on a bench in a park full of people, but to her the only ones there where she and Goku. "So, how've you been? I heard you won the World Martial Arts Tournament. Congrats on that."
"Thanks," he said. "Yeah, I did win that. Beat Piccolo in the finals."
"Piccolo?" Suno asked. She remembered King Piccolo. He literally ruled the world for a few days. "Oh yeah, I remember hearing something about that. But I thought you killed King Piccolo."
"Yeah, I did. The bastard just happened to spit out an egg with his last strength. His son was the one who participated in the Tournament, but he isn't as evil as his father. I mean, we're not friends, but we're not enemies either."
"That's good to know," Suno said. "I wouldn't want Piccolo to rule the world again, you know."
Goku chuckled. "No one." He smiled at her—and Suno's heart just jumped when he did it. "So, how's your family? And Eighter? I should visit him at some point."
"Yeah, they're all fine." Suno smiled. "Eighter would love it if you visited him. He always talks about you. So, how's your family?"
"They're all fine, too. My parents are themselves, Raditz is still a dick, and Tan is goin' to school with me."
"Oh, yeah! I heard about that, too. I should say hi to her. She was always nice to me."
"Yeah. Tan actually likes you a lot. You were a good friend to her."
"I'm glad the feeling's mutual. I missed you two a lot since we last saw each other. I'm glad we could meet again."
Goku smiled. "Yeah, I am, too."
Goku and Suno spent the whole afternoon talking about old memories and about how their lives have been since they parted ways. They didn't really realize how fast time passed until Suno got a call from her parents telling her that she was needed at home. They said goodbye and promised to hang out more since now they were in the same school, and they were both actually looking forwards to that.
Goku was happy for having an old friend back into his life.
Suno was excited because she got to hang out with the boy that was her childhood crush.
In an Italian restaurant, on Saturday, two teenagers sat across from each other while they waited for their orders to arrive. "I still can't believe you asked me on a date, Tien," the blue-haired Launch giggled, playing with her hair. The tall boy asking her for a date was definitely a surprise, but she had liked Tien for a long time now, and she wasn't going to throw any chance to be with him. Liking Tien was probably one of the few things both of her personalities agreed in.
"I'm surprised myself. Thought about it for months, but was too nervous," Tien admitted. For some reason he was always honest around her. He tugged a bit at the collar of his pale blue and grey check shirt; maybe buttoning it all the way was a mistake.
"Really?" Launch asked, not being able to neither hide her excitement nor stop the blush from spreading in her cheeks. 'Does this mean he likes me?' she wondered in happiness.
"Well, of course. You're funny, sweet, kind and intelligent. Even your blonde side is fun and charming. Above all, I figured you were just too attractive to be interested in me," Tien responded, nodding his head for emphasis as he waved a waiter over to get drink refill.
"Aww, don't say that! You're strong, smart and charming. I don't see why someone wouldn't be interested in you," she told him with a cute blush in her face. Then, her cheerful blue eyes became kind of sad. "Besides, I'm a girl with a personality disorder. I change personality whenever I sneeze. Who would like a girl like that?"
"Me, for a start—and any other straight guy with two brain cells!" Tien replied adamantly, reaching across the table to grab her hand. Looking into her sparkling eyes, he said the most heartfelt words of his life. "We all have issues—scars that mark our lives. Some are physical like mine, which are the main reason I figured you'd be disinterested. Others are emotional, like yours are surrounding your multiple personality disorder. These scars do not define us. Ultimately it's how we move on that determines how others see us. I should know I was raised by a murderer. If you can overlook my hidden scars and physical I can support you in anyway. And I will," he declared solemnly, lost in affection for her, not realizing he was squeezing her hand now.
Launch blush darkened when he squeezed her hand. Her heart was beating so fast—she thought it would explode! "Yeah, I guess you're right." How come that speech he did managed to thwart her insecurities? Either way, she knew he was right. "Thank you."
"No problem. Anything I can ever do let me know. Ah, here's the waiter with the drink refill," Tien redirected, feeling a tad embarrassed about his speech. 'Idiot! So much for playing it cool!'
Launch smiled cheerfully. It was like she had forgotten about what they were talking about as soon as Tien changed topics. "Great!"
'Outstanding,' Tien thought cheerily at the successful topic change.
"Why are we all here again?" Upa asked, confused. He'd been enjoying catching up with Goku, before being bombarded with his friends. He still wasn't sure why the all suddenly showed up. It was like they had planned to meet in the same place at the same time.
"'Cause we have a friend on a date, an' we all wanna know what happens," Goku told him. "No-one expected it, so we're all kinda shocked."
"Oh, I see. Won't he annoyed to see you all there watching and waiting though?" Upa asked, slightly more with the program.
Goku chuckled and shrugged. "Maybe."
"Kinda what makes it worth it," Yamcha added, laughing with Puar.
"Yeah!" Puar grinned.
"Hi guys!" Krillin yelled from up the street as he jogged down to meet them.
"Hi Krillin! Where's Oolong?" Yamcha shouted back as the small Z-Fighter caught up.
"Street back, teasing a journalist. He shape-changed and did his 'Spider-ham' gag, costume and all," Krillin laughed, albeit a bit out of breath.
"Oh man." Goku laughed. "He loves doin' that, doesn't he?"
Puar rolled his eyes. "He just likes to show off."
"What's 'Spider-ham'?" Upa asked innocently.
"It's when our shape-shifting pig friend morphs into a human with a pig tail, puts on a Spiderman costume and uses his powers to scale walls. Scares the locals to death," Krillin explained with a grin.
Just as they were talking about that, a certain shape-shifter ran towards them. "Guys! I screwed up! The press followed me!" Oolong shouted as he was chased by few people with video cameras and microphones.
"WHAT?!" the group shrieked.
"Oolong! You had one job!" Yamcha growled as he saw how the possible escape routes were blocked as press came out of all directions.
"If this interview is as bad as last time, I will be eating bacon in the morning!" Krilln warned sullenly.
"I'm not ready to be on TV," Upa squeaked as he tried to hide behind Goku.
"Oh, man. This sucks!" Goku groaned. He hated being the center of attention.
"Just smile and wave the fangirls my way," Krillin joked to ease tension.
Goku chuckled. "I hope it'd be that easy."
"Hey, what—aa… AAA…" 'Here we go!' "—ATCHOO!" Launch's hair went from blue to blonde, and when she opened her eyes, they weren't blue but green. She saw herself sitting in a table with Tien, and after a little while of blinking in confusion, the memories of her other personality began to come back. And along them came the question she was about to ask before she sneezed. "What's going on? I hear noises outside."
"Hey, I don't know. Let's check it out," Tien suggested.
"Okay. Lead the way!"
Quickly, Tien paid for the food and the two rushed outside to see their friends being surrounded by a mass of reporters. "Oh, holy shit," Tien groaned as he realized what was happening. "Goku, explain!" he roared through the crowd as he shoved forwards with Launch following behind.
"Oolong screwed up," Goku muttered, glaring at the pig. "He was doin' his typical Spider-ham scene and somehow got the press to follow him."
Launch growled at the pig. 'Of course he'd screw up like that!' "Oolong!"
"It's okay, Launch. He won't screw up again. Not after I'm done with him," Tien replied soothingly as he glared at the pig.
"I need pigness protection! Krillin, help me!" Oolong squeaked as press and Tien closed in.
"Shut up! Do this well and I may stop him from mounting your head on a wall!" Krillin snapped, his social anxiety kicking in.
"Mister Pig, we want you to answer some questions!" a man said as he neared Oolong, who hid behind Krillin.
"Oh my gosh!" A female reported gasped when seeing the people Oolong was with. "I know you. You're fighters that participated on the World Martial Arts Tournament!"
This statement made the press blink, before all getting excited at the idea of interviewing WMAT finalists. "She is right! Tell us, what is it like to have participated in such a famous tournament?"
"Tough we put our bodies on the line for the fans and at times accidents happen. Some of us were badly injured but with the support of the people we've carried on training, fought on and have tried to ignore the hype. We want to stick to our humble roots," Yamcha replied smoothly. He was a glory hound and had polished his interview technique.
"That's interesting," a reporter said. "So, how has this 'life outside of public's eye' treating you?"
"Well, high school is very different, but I like it. Lots of career info outside of combat," Chaiotzu answered instead of Yamcha. He knew Yamcha was trying to boost his already huge ego, which annoyed him.
"Yeah. There's lots of pretty girls too," Krillin added, Lazuli flashing through his mind.
Tien glanced at Launch and muttered, "Only one pretty girl, in my opinion." Launch didn't hear him though.
Goku, however, did hear what Tien said. "Yeah, I think so, too," he mumbled, thinking about Chi-Chi. Luckily no-one heard him either.
"Goku, make sure they don't question me," Upa begged quietly, still half hiding behind his old friend.
"Sure, Kid," Goku told him.
"So, Krillin mentioned you're surrounded by attractive women. Goku, as the Champion, you have many female admirers, and I would hazard fair few chaps, too. What they and the nation wish to know is; are you looking for someone?" an attractive reporter in her 30s asked, rather hopefully.
"Err, about that..." Goku really hoped he didn't have to answer that, but perhaps it would be better to break the fangirl's hearts instead of giving fake hope. 'I guess it's better to tell the truth.' "I actually am already interested in someone," he admitted, blushing slightly.
The media went into a frenzy at that as did a couple of Goku's friends. "You heard it here first! I, Robin Noall, have broken a world exclusive on Metro News 1! Goku, the World Champion, is dating and off the Market!" Robin shouted into the camera, sensing promotion as the rest of the crowd asked rapid questions and jostled to get better images.
"I never said I was officially dating…" he mumbled to himself. 'At least not yet, but I guess it's better to let them believe that I am.'
"Goku, you old devil!" Oolong laughed as he patted his old friend on the back.
"We've no idea who it could!" Upa laughed in a mildly mocking fashion. Only half the town knew Goku had a thing for Chi-Chi.
"Yeah…" Goku glanced to the side as he was bombarded with questions. 'Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all…'
"Guys, leave the man. He can't answer you all!" Tien barked at the reporters, his eyes flashing and aura slowly flickering. He'd sensed Goku's discomfort and was incredibly angry at the intrusion on his date. The reporters swiftly fell quiet.
"Excuse me, Tien…" a brave reporter began. "You don't look too happy. What have you been up to?"
"Well, I was happy, until you interrupted my day. As for what I was up to, I was trying to get laid," Tien replied casually.
Launch blushed, but her fiery spirit was still there. "Hell yeah! Thanks for screwin' our date up!"
A deathly silence fell upon the mass of reporters at this comment until finally the interviewer replied. "Well, that kinda honesty is why the public loves Tien. Still, it's a shame for fans that he's taken. He was, after all, the last single finalist," the interviewer finally declared, overcoming his shock.
"Hey, I'm single!" Krillin protested.
"Oh, yes. I, um, apologize."
"Yeah, well, I don't know about you guys, but Upa and I gotta go," Goku said. He wanted to end the interview as soon as he could. However, as soon as he said that, the reporters began to whine about them leaving too soon and about having so many questions that still haven't been answered. "I'm sorry, but we don't have all day. Listen, I promise I'll have another press conference when my relationship starts. How's that?"
All the interviewers began to nod eagerly and Goku sighed in relief. He could smell the articles and the TV talk shows and the fanfictions that would appear thanks to that, but it was better than having to physically deal with the press all day.
Chi-Chi was sitting in the couch of her home watching TV. She wasn't watching anything in particular, just zapping. There was nothing better she could do, anyway. There was one particular channel, however, that caught her eye. The reason? Well, because her crush and his friends happened to be there! 'Is that really Goku?' Indeed it was, and the interviewer was asking him something. Chi-Chi suddenly had all her attention on the TV, even though she wasn't interested in it just a few seconds ago.
"—surrounded by attractive women. Goku, as the Champion, you have many female admirers, and I would hazard fair few chaps, too. What they and the nation wish to know is; are you looking for someone?"
Chi-Chi felt the world stop when she heard that question. She wanted to know that, too. And now she had the chance to be answered. When Goku opened his mouth to answer, her breath was caught in her throat.
"Err, about that... I actually am already interested in someone."
Her heart began to beat faster than it ever had before. 'Could he be referring to me?' she wondered and blushed at the thought of it. She had already accepted the fact that she had a crush on him—her very first crush!—after spending the next days after their talk in the café thinking about it. Since it was the first time she ever experienced those feelings, she couldn't really compare. But she was definitely daydreaming about him and getting jealous over him, which had to be like some kind of signal. She didn't know if he actually felt the same, but she had some hope that maybe she was that girl he liked. Oh, it would definitely be great if she was the girl he was talking about!
She couldn't even pay attention to Robin Noall's claim after Goku gave his answer, or how the press began to bombard him with questions about the girl he liked. She didn't even notice Tien calming the reporter down and his casual claims of wanting to get laid with Launch. The only thing she cared about was that Goku liked a girl, and that maybe, that girl could be her.
After all, who else could it be? The two other girls Goku interacted with that wasn't his sister were Bulma and Launch, and they were both taken. That left her as the only girl remaining. 'No, wait. There's still Suno…' She gritted her teeth. Was Suno the girl that Goku liked? After all, they did know each other from childhood. 'But he hasn't hanged out with her as much as he has with me. Besides, I don't think Suno knows about his heritage.' But she didn't know for sure. Goku's friends knew about his heritage, so it wouldn't be that surprising if Suno knew, too. 'Even if she knows, the girl Goku agreed to train with was me. He seems to actually like me—maybe he even likes me more than a friend!'
She couldn't help the little squeal that escaped her mouth. 'I'm probably the girl he is talking about, and if I'm not, well, then I will change his opinion!' She was confident she would be able to. It was true that she didn't really have much experiences with boys, but that didn't mean she wasn't a fun person to be with. 'I'll train with him and amaze him by my progress. We'll get closer and maybe we even get into a relationship!'
Chi-Chi was naïve when it came to love, but she wasn't foolish enough to believe it would be that easy. She would work hard to be the girl Goku was interested in—whether she was already or not. She would do her best to be the perfect girl for him, and she would become strong enough to be a worthy girlfriend of a Saiyan like him. Perhaps she was getting too ahead of herself, but she was already seventeen, and she really wanted to have a boyfriend—and that boyfriend being Goku just made everything perfect.
Of course that she wouldn't give herself away and act like a total lovesick fool though. She would try her best to keep being herself, even when she had all those feelings around him. She would be friends with him, and then—if everything worked out—they would become something more. And no girl—not even Suno—would prevent her from completing her new objective.
Well, that was certainly an eventful way to return! You guys wanted more Goku and Chi-Chi drama, well we delivered! Poor Suno is totally oblivious to what's about to happen! We hope you enjoyed the Tien and Launch date; I know it got a bit too deep at one point for what's so far been a fun fic but well you can blame me! I was somewhat... merry... Okay, I was drunk! XD And as Marorin will testify I have moments of brilliance when in such a state! XD (She encourages it!)
Anyway, how awesome and dashing a rogue is Bardock?! If I have my way he'll feature even more! Bonus points to anyone who gets the Spider-Ham reference! Oh, and I hope you guys loved the interview as much as we did! It was Marorin's idea and we think it went well, we hope you do too! She was inspired by watching old Nirvana interviews.
Thanks for all the reviews! We won't reply to them this time, mainly because we'd take even longer in updating and we've made you all wait enough. We still read them all, and we appreciate every single one of them!
Fair warning, there will be some more Vegeta and Bulma stuff so if you don't like it we apologize but its plot essential and Goku and Chi-Chi is still our main priority! Well guys that's pretty much it! If you have any questions or recommendations (reasonable of course) please review or PM and let us know!
Until next time!