Notes:

Originally this was going to be a two-shot but I think any stories concerning these two will go in this fic unlike how I was going to have it. Some things to mention!

This will most likely be a more casual character-driven story. I do want the Z-Fighters to show up but it might be a little while for that as I want to get Kaito and Kohlra's dynamic down. Considering this isn't going to have much to go other than an episodic sort of story, I can't tell you a lot of how it will turn out! Though, I do have an idea for an "arc" of sorts so there's that!

It was after eight at night when Kohlra returned, through the door but not quiet at all. Kaito was sitting in the kitchen, eating dinner which was a bowl of noodles with various vegetables in it. By the scent, which made Kohlra wrinkle her nose, it was some sort of pre-packaged affair. Seeing her come in, Kaito unconsciously pulled his bowl closer to himself, his eyes flicking up at her for only a moment.

Kohlra sat in the chair across from him, the only other chair, and quipped, "Sorry, no leftovers. Hope ya won't hold it against me."

She didn't sound particularly sorry. Kaito swallowed the bite he had taken just as she came in and said, "We need to lay down some rules, if you want to stay here."

Kohlra's eyes narrowed. Kaito fought himself to not give in. His parents had always told him he was a follower, easily folding to peer pressure. Now was the time to stand up for himself, dig his heels in. He nodded, "This is my home and we need to have an understanding."

His guest/roommate/resident pest did not answer, only glaring him down. He cleared his throat, "You can have the living room. The couch folds out into a bed but please be careful. The only reason I have one in the first place is my parents were getting a new one. If you break it, I can't get another any time soon."

"Why do you think I want to break all you have? I have more manners than that!" Kohlra snapped.

"Well, um..." Kaito bit his lip and, instead of an answer, he gestured to her bicep. "I see," was the answer.

"Anyways, I might not be home all that much. Most days I have to go to work and every Tuesday and Thursday I have classes," he continued.

"Classes? What sort of classes?" Kohlra perked up, her curiosity piqued.

The closest she had to classes was the teachings of her parents and what her brothers knew. Which were not anything like the structured image "class" gave her. Even the stories of Planet Vegeta her parents told her, mentioned training more than classes. Saiyans were very much "brawn over brains".

"I want to be a photographer!" he paused and rubbed the back of his head, "I just started college this year, I'm a little late to the game, so I'm not sure past that. Whether its just for art, graphic design, or journalism, I don't know."

Kohlra nodded, if only to make him think she understood. The idea of doing things for art was...alien. Her parents told her stories, sometimes making them up themselves, but the Saiyans weren't creative by nature. But she wasn't going to let Kaito know that. She was smart and knew that would only alienate him from her.

"Anyways, I won't be around most of the time during the day. I'm pretty sure you can fare on your own but I felt you should know."

"Of course I can fare on my own!" she declared, sitting up straighter as her pride was affirmed.

Kaito sighed internally. He liked the more humble Kohlra but he supposed it was only a slip in the personality she wanted him to see. He continued, "Also, I think we should get you better clothing."

"What's wrong with my armor?!" she snapped.

"Nothing!" he held up his hands, "It's just you need other things! And it gets cold up here! Right now it's spring but it can still get nippy! Plus that...stands out."

Kohlra opened her mouth to argue then closed it. He had a point. She was supposed to be inconspicuous until she could scout out what this planet was like. "That's fair," she conceded.

He smiled, "You can borrow something out of my closet, I know I have some things that are bigger on me that you can fit in! I can probably get you a few things since I have some money saved up."

Kohlra tapped her fingers against the table, suddenly quiet. Then she drawled, "You'll want me to pay you back."

Kaito was taken aback, "I wouldn't mind it but this is a gift. I mean, if you want to, I won't stop you...I just don't know how you would. Do you want to?"

"My parents had a funny set of morals, guess it came with being a guest in a...place that wasn't their home. I never thought it was weird but they said, my people weren't like that. Anyways, yes, I'd like to. I'm just not entirely sure how to," she didn't meet his eyes but she shrugged, attempting to be casual.

Kaito was tempted to stare at her, that having come out of nowhere. But he didn't. Instead he shrugged too, "I imagine you can figure something out, if you feel that strongly..." he paused and added, "I wouldn't mind."

She snorted, "Anyway, tomorrow we will go find more suitable clothing?"

"Oh yeah, it will be later though. Job and all," he said as he got up.

"And I suppose you're turning in now?" she asked, watching him as he set his bowl in the sink.

"Yep, dunno about you but I need 8-10 hours of sleep to function," he said.

Kohlra huffed. Saiyans were similar; she only needed around 7 hours at most but she didn't admit this to him. "Good night," he said as he left for his room.

Sleeping in a new place was jarring and uncomfortable. At least in a pod, it put her to sleep and let her sleep until she landed. But here, in the cool darkness of Kaito's apartment, Kohlra felt exposed and in danger. She had already got up more than a few times, hoping her restless feeling would fade away. But it had been two hours since Kaito bid her good night and she was still awake. She couldn't even blame it on the moon cycle as the moon was currently only a slice of white in the sky.

She chewed on her lip, wondering how she'd bring that up to her new companion. The whole 'I turn into a large ape under the light of the full moon' schick. She flicked her tail. She contemplated taking her tail off herself but...she just couldn't. It would be quite literally severing her last ties to her culture and her family. She could ask Kaito about the moon cycle of this planet, under the guise of being curious about the planet itself.

That still left the issue of her restlessness. When she reached out with her ki sense, there was only small barely flickering lights of ki in the city. She couldn't reach much farther but any large spikes of ki should appear as bright beacons in her mind's eye no matter where they were. So, she reasoned she was safe. It must have only been the unfamiliarity of the space.

She turned onto her side, eying the screen in the living room. She picked up the remote in front of it and studied it before she figured out what was the power button. The screen lit up to show two people sitting at a desk. The one with short brown hair greeted the viewer, "This is North City News channel 5, news for the early birds and night owls! I'm Newton and this is my fellow anchorman Anka!"

Anka smiled at her coworker, "It's starting to get warmer again, isn't it Newton!"

"Yes, even up here!" he laughed in a way that was obviously fake.

Kohlra half-listened to them, hoping the sound would calm her.

"Summer's on the horizon and you know what that means!"

"Yes, even up here in cozy North City, we know that means it's gearing up for World Tournament season! Time once again to find out who's "The Strongest Under the Heavens!"

Kohlra's restlessness had disappeared along with what sleepiness she had as she listened intently, committing the information to memory before they switched to weather. Even here, there were people who valued the art of fighting?

The World Tournament was a martial arts tournament, held on an island called "Papaya Island" every mid-summer. There was a prize for the top winners but she was more fascinated with the prospect of fighting. It was what she'd do with herself here. Oh—and how she'd pay Kaito back.

Morning had come and Kaito was up, marveling at how silent the apartment was. He was able to get up and take his shower, more time that he thought he had, before Kaito threw the door open, "Kaito!"

Sadly, it was quite literally moments after he left the bathroom. He scrambled to pull his towel around himself, "I'm not decent!"

Kohlra glanced at him, did a weird thing with her face as if she didn't know how to react and stepped back outside his door. "I know how I'll pay you back!" she called.

Kaito, face burning out of sheer embarrassment, called back, "Cool, can it wait for me to put a shirt and pants on?!"

She didn't respond. "Are you considering it?!" he cried.

"Fine!" she called, "I'll wait!"

He came out, dressed in a nondescript button-up and slacks. An apron was folded over one of his arms. She snorted, "You look ridiculous."

He crossed his arms, "Were you that excited to insult me?"

She gasped, "Oh no! I wanted to tell you I heard about a World Tournament and I'm entering!"

"Really? It's only in a few months!" he said, surprised that she knew of it. Well, the TV was right there for her to watch.

She flexed in response, "I can more than hold my own against one of your kind! How strong can your strongest be?"

An image of the aging Hercule came to Kaito's mind. He believed she could but wondered if she should. "Well, I can't stop you if you're committed," he shrugged.

"Not to mention, there's a prize! So that should more than cover any expenses."

Never mind, Kaito knew that she should go for it. "Alright, so what now before now and then?" he asked, walking over to the kitchen.

She practically strutted behind him, "Training! It would be helpful to know my opponents though..." she trailed off, thoughtful.

"I imagine I can pull up footage of the previous years. Should be helpful," he said as he made himself breakfast.

"Genius!" she said and put one arm around him, failing—or not caring—to notice that he suddenly got tense, "'I'll win for sure!"

"Yeah..." he trailed off as he gingerly took her arm off him, "I can show you it when we get back from shopping..."

"How long will you be gone?" she asked.

"Around until 4 this evening."

Kohlra huffed, her mood turning, "What am I supposed to do until then?"

Kaito shrugged, "Whatever you want, as far as I'm concerned," he paused to grab take his wallet out of his bag and pocket it, "I can't not go to work."

Kohlra huffed, "Fine, go do whatever..." she paused, gesturing at his uniform, "...whatever work is."

"Coffee shop," he supplied.

"Don't know, don't care," Kohlra called as he left.

Kaito got into his car and thought as he cranked the engine how happy he was to get from Kohlra and her weird mood swings. He also marveled at how happy he was to go to work for once.

Kohlra waited until she heard his car leave then waited five minutes after that before she hopped up and left too. She walked downstairs around to the back of the building, looked for onlookers and, finding none, she shot into the air.

Once above the city, she floated, pondering on where she should go to warm up. Quite literally as the northern climate made the air nippy. Her armor was tailored for warmer temperatures, as the planet she was raised on was mostly balmy rainforest, and it did her no favors. Her best bet was to fly south and that's what she did.

The mountains eventually turned into rolling plains and from there she could see they only got flatter. She touched down into a low valley with few trees and a pond made from a river flowing down one of the hills. She nearly launched right into stretches but stopped to marvel at the landscape. The temptation to shirk her training was strong as she wondered what other marvels this planet held. She shook her head to clear the temptation. One, she didn't know what creatures this planet held other than "humans" and the large reptilian beast she had come across. Not to mention, she didn't know if Kaito was the norm for humans and if all humans were as weak. A melancholy smile creased her lips as she remembered her father's words.

"Kohlra, Saiyans are a strong powerful race. More often than not, our strength is our boon," her father, dressed in furs from the native wildlife. They sat in front of their home where it was situated in a rare clearing. The light of the binary suns warmed them in the dying evening light.

"Yes!" a younger Kohlra chirped, her garb similar but the sleeves having been ripped off.

"But," he held his finger up, "Sometimes, that is not enough. Most other Saiyans would jeer at me if they knew I held this belief. Might doesn't always make right. So, if you ever do leave our planet and settle on another, use the brains in your head," her father tapped one finger to his temple for emphasis.

"Yeah, because Savoy and Gailan don't have 'em!" Kohlra giggled.

"Say that again and I'll knock you from here to the equator!" one of said brothers called from inside.

Kohlra simply giggled more before she looked at her father, curious at to where he was going. He smiled, ever patient, then continued, "When landing upon a new planet, it's best to scope it out. Look for wildlife and what sentient species there are. If it is too much, bide your time."

"Then wallop them when you're stronger!" Kohlra punched the air.

Her father sighed. Her enthusiasm was admirable but she hoped it wouldn't come back to bite her.

Her father's lessons only got drilled into her when she found her home being invaded by weird aliens, clamoring to "finally end the Saiyans". She didn't know what they meant at the time, only following her father's orders to flee and use one of their pods to escape and find help. She was the weakest of their family so she was assigned this task. There was only one other pod so if anyone survived, it would mean the vast majority of her family was most likely dead.

A tear traced down her face. She wiped it away then immediately launched into stretches, anything but to think about what had happened.

Four pm. came quickly, a little too quickly for Kaito's taste. The day was uneventful, it being the middle of the week. He walked inside his apartment and lingered at the door, wondering if Kohlra was home. After a few minutes, he decided she wasn't there. Part of him was relieved, the uneventful day was still somewhat stressing, only because work always stressed him. The other part was annoyed. They had plans and she didn't bother showing up!

Then he thought to himself how much he sounded like a jilted boyfriend and decided he wasn't that annoyed. She probably couldn't tell the time here anyways.

He was standing in his room, shirtless and debating between two turtlenecks, when Kohlra got home and proceeded to barge into his room. To her credit, he left the door open. She didn't take notice of his shirtless state, only declaring, "Alright! Are you ready?"

"Ready?!" he yelped, using one of the turtlenecks to cover his chest, "Let me get a shirt on!"

She critically looked him up and down then grimaced with confusion, "Is it not normal for your species to bare their chests?"

He squeaked, his cheeks heating up, "I mean, guys usually do but I'd rather not!"

She looked at him again and shrugged, "Fine, whatever."

He exited not even a minute later with the plain navy turtleneck on and a bundle of clothes in his arms. He pressed them into her arms and said, "Here's your civilian clothes,"

She dropped them, more in surprise, then picked the shirt, a plain blue t-shirt, up. She pulled off one glove and rubbed the fabric. She proceeded to do the same for the jeans and the hoodie which had the logo of some band on it. "Is there something wrong with them?" he asked, suddenly very self-conscious of his clothing style. And those were the plainest he had!

She rubbed the hoodie against her cheek, "They're...soft. I like them," she mumbled.

"Oh...well...you can keep them, if you'd like. You can change in my room," Kaito found himself smiling softly.

She took the clothes and retreated inside, closing the door behind her. She set the clothes on his bed and took the time to inspect Kaito's room too.

It was in a state best described as "organized chaos". His bed was messy, covered with more pillows and blankets than she had seen any of her family use. Above it hung a framed photo of Kaito, an older girl, a man and a woman. Most likely his family, she thought with a pang in her heart. Directly by his bed was a desk, covered in a stack of papers and notebooks. One corner was lovingly cleared for a metal square device and the bag that held the "camera" he had the previous day. Another jacket was thrown over the chair. On the other side of his bed was a dresser, the top mainly clear except for various knickknacks and a framed photo. The same man and woman were in it with Kaito, wearing an odd black gown and cap and grinning at the camera. He held up a document that had his name on it but Kohlra couldn't fathom what it was for. The closet door was ajar, filled with clothes, some more colorful than the ones he had given her. She was glad as she didn't plan on being a target.

She left when she had changed, dressed and fidgeting in the new clothes. They were loose and it bothered her, but not enough to ask for something else. "You took a long time," Kaito commented as he shouldered a messenger bag.

"Well, your clothes are infuriatingly to put on!" she lied.

"Hope you didn't snoop. Might find something you didn't wanna see," he said, a mischievous smile on his face.

Kohlra stared, trying to figure out what he had to hide. Nothing came to mind. He chuckled, "Just messin' with you. Let's go,"

"You humans have a weird love of small spaces," Kohlra said, fidgeting in the passenger seat after she got in, "Or just you."

"I live kinda frugally. My dad offered to get me a nice car but I turned him down," Kaito said as he joined her.

"You're weird," she declared as they drove out of the parking lot.

He laughed, "You know, my sister tells me that. She always let my parents spoil her but I was anxious about even asking for things! My parents have the money: mom's a lawyer and dad works for Capsule Corp. Apparently, the pay is great and the benefits are even better. Dad offered to get me a job, apparently he has the connections, but I wanted to go to college. Plus, since he works in the main complex, he's gotta keep quiet about a lot of things."

"Quiet?" she echoed, curious. Usually, she'd get annoyed by him rambling but the more information, the better. At least, that's how she rationalized it to herself.

"Yeah, he can't really tell me because y'know. But I bet it's about like new inventions and stuff. Apparently, Mrs. Briefs, that's the lady behind it, is a really prolific inventor even now so I'm willing to bet it's stuff like that," he laughed, "I used to have a crush on her when I was little, y'know? Saw her all of once when I was little since my dad was working there from just before my sister was born. There was this like 'worker appreciation' party and Dad brought me along. Kinda glad I grew out of it, her husband is apparently really scary,"

"How scary can he be? You humans seem kinda tame," Kohlra snorted.

"Well, here's the thing," Kaito started, lowering his voice to a conspiratory voice, "Since you don't hear a lot about the guy—not even his name—you get all sort of weird rumors. Some people say Ms. Briefs found him out in space and convinced him to come back to Earth. Some people even say she single-handedly convinced him to not enslave humanity...she's pretty enough, she could do it. Then back in high school, there were those weird werewolf theories. Either way, the guy's an enigma but in every picture you see of him, he looks like he'd rip someone in half for even looking at him,"

Kohlra rolled her eyes, "Truly humans live so peacefully they need to imagine new threats,"

"Welll, I wouldn't say that. There's been a whole lotta weird stuff over the years," Kaito shrugged, "We're still kickin' though,"

They pulled in front of a clothes store. Once Kaito turned off the car, he asked, "You won't cause a scene or anything, right?"

"Why would I?!" she snapped.

She stepped out of the car, making sure to slam the door behind her. She stalked inside, without looking back. Kaito cringed as the door rattled but it stayed true. He followed her in, finding her overwhelmed by the size of the store. "Well, to start, you'd need stuff for like...training? Right?" he asked.

She beamed, her earlier annoyance with him forgotten, "Oh yes, lead the way!"

He lead her to a section designated "Athletics" and left her to her own devices. He called after her, "Don't go wild! You need to get actual clothes too! And get me if you need help!"

She listened to him but gave him no indication she had, instead blanching at the bright colors. Finally, she found a normal black tank top, the she rubbed between her fingers. This one had a texture like the spandex of her armor but slightly softer. She took it and took it and the pair of shorts that went with it. She contemplated it then got another set of clothes in a more on-brand purple. Upon returning to him, she declared, "Alright, I'm finished!"

He took the clothes, eying the price tags. Satisfied, he dropped them into the cart, 'Now, let's go look at the fun stuff!"

Kohlra pulled a flower shirt off the rack and blanched at it, "It's so...colorful! All of these are so colorful!" she gestured to the entire Women's section.

"Aw, c'mon, I think it would look cute," Kaito gave her a wry grin.

"Well, you wear it then!" she said shoving it into his arms.

He looked at it, "Other than the fabric being this sheer fabric, I could," he put it back on the rack and took a black turtleneck with a red pattern, "How about this?"

She looked at it, rubbed the fabric between her fingers then put it in the cart, "It is satisfactory."

Kaito snorted, "Can't believe we'll have to shop at Hot Topic next time"

"Hot Topic?"

They meandered through the Women's section but ultimately, Kohlra found all the colors too insulting. Not to mention she said that "the sleeves would tear if she tried to get them past her biceps". Kaito conceded.

"See, it's odd how humans segregate yourselves. All those clothes don't even work for me!" Kohlra said, pulling a pair of black jeans off a rack in the Men's section.

Kaito leaned against the cart which contained only a second turtleneck since after the "Hot Topic color scheme" turtleneck, "I've always worn whatever I want so I don't really care."

"Well, I don't really now because I'm hungry," she said, throwing the jeans along with two other pairs in the cart.

"Hungry?" Kaito went pale at thinking about her appetite.

"Relax, relax. I'll go find something after this," she said as she began perusing shirts.

An idea came to Kaito, "Well, we could stop and get something. Er, though it could be just an appetizer to you, I guess," he laughed softly.

She turned, eying him critically. His face was smiling, completely relaxed. It was most likely a gesture of good will but...offerings of food meant a lot to a Saiyan. She tossed the shirt she was holding in the cart, "Sounds fine to me," she said casually.

Kaito had to stop Kohlra at a couple outfits, which he hadn't expected. It was particularly amusing watching her deliberate between two pairs of sweatpants only because they were two different shades of purple. It was her favorite color, a fact that he found humanized her, for lack of a better term.

Once they left, the sun had set and it had gotten colder. Kaito jogged ahead of her and deposited what clothes he was holding into the back seat before he practically threw himself into the driver seat and cranked the heat.

Once Kohlra joined him, she eyed the heater knob then snorted, "You're weak,"

"I get cold!" he said defensively, rubbing his arms.

She held out her arm, "Touch."

He gripped her arm. It was pleasantly warm. "Aw, no fair," he said, taking his hand off her and putting it firmly on the wheel.

"Saiyans run hot naturally," she answered, just a little smug. Just a little.

"Something, something, humans are inferior, I guess?" he asked.

"Yes!" she grinned wide, not bothering to hide her smugness.

"Thanks, really helps the self-esteem," he said as he rolled his eyes and cranked the car.

Even with limiting her, Kaito's bill run up more than triple he was used to. Kohlra's punishment was to carry all the bags with her food. Which, judging by how she was eating fries with gusto, wasn't much of a punishment.

Kaito had decided instead to go instead and sit and eat, he'd just go through the drive-through since he still had World Tournament footage to dig through and show her. He wasn't ever much of a buff for it but he did have a hobby a few years back that required him to watch some. Well, hobby was being generous. He used to frequent conspiracy forums which specialized in declaring that aliens were well and real ( not something that people thought was false but something that people didn't typically talk about ) and that they were responsible for a good portion of the crises that had happened over the last few decades. And that some were also responsible for humanity still being alive. The idea that Mr. Satan wasn't the Savior of the Earth cropped up a lot too, which brought a surprising amount of arguments. Kaito didn't know what to believe on that front but he was skeptical.

He glanced at Kohlra, whose tail was happily twitching. He had seen a trait like that somewhere before.

"Say, I've got a question," Kohlra said, looking from outside to him, "What's the moon cycle like here?"

"Moon cycle?" he echoed.

"Yeah. My planet had two moons but they took a while to make rotations. Just curious about here,"

"We just have the one. Rotations take about a month, there's a full moon and a new moon every month. Sometimes two full moons. Why do you ask? Are your kind werewolves?" he shot a grin at her.

"Werewolves?" Kohlra furrowed her brow.

"I'm just joking. But just in case you are, I'll show you on the calendar at home when they are," he smiled.

As he looked back at the road, he realized whatever he was thinking when he first looked at Kohlra had been forgotten. He shrugged. It couldn't have been that important anyways.

When they got home, Kohlra wasted no time laying out her meal and digging into it. And "digging into it" was too well a descriptor. Kaito felt a little inadequate with his sandwich and fries. He only just finished it after her, which was a little frightening. "Well, that's a nice little appetizer," she leaned back, pleased. Kaito was horrified.

"Anyways, I'm gonna go find something else," Kohlra stood, stretching as she did.

"When you get back, I'll have the footage set up," Kaito told her.

"Sweet!" she said and practically bounced out of the apartment.

Luckily, she was gone long enough for Kaito to take the time to upload his photos from the previous day and set up a playlist of footage from World Tournaments from the 21st to the most recent. He even made the first one a rundown of the rules. He smiled once he looked at his handiwork. This was actually fun! And not even because the money, but because it was something new, something exciting.

Kohlra returned and sat back with him on the couch. "Here, I made a list of videos from the previous years. The first video will be like rules and stuff,"

"Rules," Kohlra stuck her tongue out quite childishly at the notion.

"It's to make things fair," Kaito shrugged, "Most people do martial arts as like...well, an art!"

Kohlra shrugged and played the videos. Kaito smiled and left her to her own devices, turning to his phone for entertainment.

Not even an hour went by before Kohlra made an outburst. She grabbed his wrist, hard enough to hurt and jerked him close, "Look!" she said, pointing at the screen.

A kid, barely tall enough to reach Kaito's waist, was on screen. His hair was a wild black mess, like Kohlra's and like her, he had a brown tail. "A relative?" Kaito asked, not entirely serious.

Kohlra wacked him upside the head, "No! That's a Saiyan!"

"Huh. Well, what would you have known," Kaito said, watching aforesaid kid dodge and weave his opponent's attacked, "You know, I know I've seen him before..."

"Son Goku has won the match!" the announcer cried as the kid's opponent fell.

"Yeah!" Kaito snapped his fingers, "That's the guy!"

Kohlra paused the video and looked to him, "What? He's famous?"

"I wouldn't say famous, in fact I'd say he's very much a nobody. After that, he was in a few tournaments but then he kinda disappeared off the map. But he does have a habit of showing up here and there," he shrugged, "There's this big conspiracy that says Mr. Satan shouldn't have the title of Savior of the Earth and that this guy should. What footage you see of the Cell Games has a guy who looks very much like him 'cept he has golden hair and green eyes. Lots of speculation," Kaito shrugged, "Couldn't tell you where the guy lives."

Kohlra frowned, "I need to find him. He must be hiding his power signature but he has to power up sometime."

"Isn't that a little...I dunno, creepy?" Kaito asked, "I don't think the guy fights in the World Tournament anymore so you won't come up against him."

"No!" Kohlra snapped, "It's a matter of me finding out I'm no longer the last Saiyan alive!"

Kaito frowned, "Well, I guess that's a good point,"

Kohlra settled back and started the footage again, "I must find out all I can about this guy while training for the Tournament..."

Kaito let her continue watching, feeling a little nervous about the whole idea.