Chapter Seven

He who lives by fighting with an enemy has an interest in the preservation of the enemy's life.

-Vegeta.

There's really not much I have to say.

I mean, I'm sure you've already heard about it. It's not something you could look past, what with all the whining.

Kakarot has officially left the building.

How does that make me feel?

I refuse to say it makes me sad. I disagree with the notion that he's coming back. I ignore the responses of the people around me. I don't regret anything I've said to him and I'm not going to say that I miss him.

I will, however, admit that I'm upset.

For a while now I've been hearing everyone praise him about how good he was. About his strength and integrity. About his bravery. Monuments being build for him, memorials being held for him.

And for what?

It's infuriating to know that some dimwitted low class warrior such as himself could cause such a devastating effect on everyone.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not jealous. I'm just not one to sulk and I'm especially not one to sulk over my greatest rival. No matter how much we'd been through and no matter how much I became accustomed with his carefree attitude.

He was a pest. Simple as that. He showed me up whenever the opportunity called for it. Embarrassed me to no end. Surpassed me in every way possible. All with a wide grin on his stupid face.

I disliked him. No, that's an understatement; I hated him.

I'm quite positive that everyone has already filled your head with nonsense about how this predicament has been affecting me and I bet they've all had the same thing to say: I've changed for the better.

I don't think my attitude has changed at all. My outlook, however, is another story.

And by outlook, I mean my view on things; Life, the planet, my family.

With Kakarot gone it feels almost….serene. Tranquil. And I'm not especially good with that. I'm used to fighting; I'm used to the raw adrenaline and the knowledge of a vicious race of aliens attacking.

Kakarot was always comfortable with things like this. I'm the guy who sits back and watches the festivities. I'm not the guy who participates in them.

And that's probably why everyone has stated I changed. Because, in one manner of speaking, I have. Not because I wanted to and not because of Kakarot.

But because I had to.

I have to be the one who continues to train. I have to be the one who forgets completely about Kakarot so I can focus on the here and now. I have to keep everyone in place because, if for one second, I stop being the strong one, No one else will step up and take the position.

So yes, I suppose I have changed. But not because Kakarot's death has gotten to me.

Because I took it upon myself to pick up the pieces he left and place them back together.

I know I sound like I'm brooding but I'm not.

Did you expected me to throw some worshipping words his way? Sorry, but that's not my style. More so because I don't have words such as those to say. It was no secret that Kakarot and I were not in the best of terms.

I know what you're thinking; Even after all you've been through, you still hate him?

Of course. Yes, he's saved the world, and me, millions of times. Yes, he's risked his life. But so what? Hadn't I saved the world, albeit along side him? Hadn't I risked my life for this dead beat planet before? Yet, I saw no monument or me.

And, once again; No, I am not jealous.

I know what other question you're dying to ask; With Kakarot gone, where's your determination for getting stronger?

Bah. Please. If you really think I need Kakarot to create the fire inside me to get better, you're delusional. I train because I am not a quitter. I train because, no matter what might happen, I will be the best. I train because I am the Prince of all Saiyans and, for me, that title still holds great responsibilty and an endless amout of outcomes.

Kakarot does not spark the flame inside me to fight.

He simply taught me not to let it consume me.

Although he has helped millions, I'm not going to be the one to praise the man. I'm not like the rest. Kakarot has left many times beforehand so why is now so different? My thoughts on it all wouldn't make much of a difference anyway.

Because even when Kakarot was fucking everyone over, they still loved him.

And by, fucking everyone over, I mean just that.

Did no one see the things I've noticed? That he's only around when evil presents itself? That although he has the heart of a warrior, he still acts like a dumb little kid inside. That he's abandoned his family more times then anyone could count.

Why in the world did people worship him for that?

If you thought the man had no faults then you were terribly mistaken. He had just as many faults in him then any other. Just being strong couldn't make you perfect.

Yet it was those very same faults that made him into a hero.

No one else would risk their neck to save this planet. No one else would jeopardize their relationship with their family to provide peace to everyone else.

The pure selflessness of his being, the outrageous kindness in his stupid little heart always kept him positive and willing to do anything he could to help.

So they worshipped him for that. Because he was an upstanding man, I once heard Bulma say.

And although he was causing grief and sadness with his disappearance, no one would ever judge him. No one would ever blame him. He was like a God in these people's eyes.

But what was he in my eyes?

Kakarot was my rival. He was too kind. He had no evil intentions about him. He had almost no intelligence. He was way too trusting. And he had more power he knew what to do with.

And for that, I didn't like him.

But I understood him.

Because like me, he had once been an outsider. Not knowing about his origin. Feeling lonely and confused because no one was like him. And, when I would have gone mad with the sort of power Kakarot possessed, where I would have killed millions of people and taken over the world if I had been in his position, Kakarot didn't.

He took the negative and turned it into the positive. He made bad into good. He generated evil into pure. He used all his strength to make things better. He tried desperately to convert the ones who wanted nothing but destruction.

So no, I don't like Kakarot. I will probably never like him.

But I will, if nothing more, I will always respect him.