NOTE: ALL OF THE CHAPTERS PRECEDING THIS ONE HAVE BEEN MAJORLY REVISED. If you don't want to find yourself completely lost like wtf is going on, then I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you go back and read this story again from the beginning!

Disclaimer: Various concepts and characters have been retrieved from Dragonball Z and Bleach for this story; they belong to Akira Toriyama and Tite Kubo. Please note, however, that the plot, which is an original plot, is unrelated to the events that take place in DBZ and Bleach, meaning this is an AU fic. The OC's and plot belong to myself, and KRenee.

IV

December, 2011

"Going out of town for a night?" Grimmjow repeated back as he and Juritsu strolled across campus. Friday was an extremely easy day; neither of them had classes, and all they had to do was attend their clinical assignments.

"Yea, I'm going away overnight tonight," Juritsu replied easily, "I have to take care of some family stuff."

"Everything okay?" Juritsu glanced over at him, blinking in surprise at the slight concern. Over maybe she had imagined that, as she found herself looking at a more curious than worried expression.

"Huh? Oh!" she gave him a reassuring smile, "Everything's fine. I just gotta talk to my brother about some things. But I'll be back tomorrow. I'll probably be up to going out to the bars."

Grimmjow grinned. "Good. Does your brother party?"

"Nah, he's a mama's boy. He prefers studying."

Her friend snickered at that, and it wasn't too much later that she went their separate ways, Grimmjow having to travel a little further and closer to downtown.

Juritsu let herself into the apartment, not bothering to say anything. Living with Kaisuki the past couple of days had been extremely tense. Since she was feeling more on edge than usual due to the full moon, Juritsu had decided it best to avoid any straining interactions. She didn't want to lose her temper – when the full moon was looming, she tended to have a looser grasp of it – and get into a fight. Instead, she went to her bedroom, where she packed an overnight bag with the necessities. As she gathered her things, she briefly mused over the questions that had been bothering her for the past several days. Something was going on, and she had a feeling that she needed to get down to the bottom of things soon.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket. It was a text message from Grimmjow.

Ralph doesn't believe me when I say you're feeling better.

She chuckled a little. She remembered how she'd woken up, disoriented at first at the foreign surroundings. A noise to her right had alerted her to a presence, and she glanced over, finding Grimmjow. He'd been lounging in his desk chair, apparently dozing. The door had opened, and a young man had entered the room. He had sunkissed skin, almost the same shade as his dirty blonde hair. His Venetian blue eyes stood out; she had to stop and admire the beautiful color.

"How are you feeling?" he'd asked, and she could only blink in confusion. "Oh, I'm sorry. My name's Ralph. I'm Grimmjow's roommate. Nice to meet you."

She'd learned that he was a resident trauma surgeon at the hospital nearby. He was from America – "California, actually" – and had come to Japan as a study abroad program, or something to that effect. He'd never told her what'd caused the headache, and she'd refrained from telling him about the voice in her head. But she felt she owed him, regardless.

Tell him I said thanks =), she replied, sending the text immediately before grabbing her bag and leaving the room.

She glanced around, seeing no sign of Kaisuki. The closed bedroom door made it obvious as to where her roommate was. Deciding it was best to let her rest, she headed towards the door.

"I'm going out of town," she called, "I'll be back tomorrow!"

With that, she walked out of the apartment. After making sure no one was around, she took off into the air, flying at a fast pace towards the university her brother attended, on the other side of the country. She knew she was making good time, but she wanted to make sure that she was indoors when the sun finished setting. Better to be safe than sorry, after all.

…

"How're you doing?" Gohan walked into the small living room, carrying a tray with two cups of steaming tea. Juritsu was lying down on the couch, one hand pressed to her temple as she kept her eyes trained on the ceiling. Her head was buzzing, and her body was tense, her half-Saiyan blood boiling. All these sensations were things she'd always felt since her tail had finished growing out years ago. Past the buzzing in her head, however, she could still hear the roaring voice.

She kept her gaze steadily pointed to the ceiling, feeling Gohan sit next to her, above her head. She adjusted her position slightly so her head rested against the side of his thigh "It never really gets any easier, does it?" she replied. Her twin chuckled at that.

"I don't think so," he replied, handing her one of the cups, which she accepted with a brief, grateful smile. Gohan had always known how to cheer her up best, but it certainly was to be expected. She and Gohan had been inseparable since birth, after all.

Juritsu watched the liquid as she swirled the cup around. "Do you… do you remember what it felt like? During the full moon?" she asked.

Gohan thought for a moment, "I don't really remember much," he replied, "But I remember my head buzzing. And then I looked at the moon, and everything went blank."

Juritsu remembered that night all too well, when she and Gohan had been doing survival training. It had been the first time he'd made such a transformation; if it hadn't been for Piccolo, she probably would've been killed by her brother. It was one of the scariest experiences in her life. "Did you ever hear a voice?" she replied, "Like a roar?"

"No, I don't think so… why, are you?" Gohan straightened up, looking over at her. She could see the sudden mixture of surprise and worry in his eyes, and she almost regretted asking him. Neither of them liked it when the other was hurting, and usually they had no hesitation coming to one another when they needed to. Sometimes, however, Juritsu felt guilty, not liking how she'd weigh on Gohan with her burdens.

She knew he'd never say that – if the situation had been reversed, she would've done the same thing – though sometimes, knowing that anything out of the ordinary could be a threat, she felt bad. He had Videl now, and it wouldn't be long before those two were married. Soon enough, he focus his efforts towards his family, perhaps put together a normal life for himself. And she didn't want to take that away from him.

"It's weird," she paused to take a sip of tea, relishing in the warmth it provided. The words came out without thinking much about it. "It started a couple of days ago, and it's gotten louder the closer to the full moon we got. I had a headache, a really bad one too, one day. It was awful."

"Have you told anyone else about it?"

"No, I didn't think anyone would believe me."

"What about Vegeta? He had his tail for a really long time, but unlike Dad, he remembers things from when he lived on Planet Vegeta. He might be able to help out."

Juritsu nodded, wondering why she hadn't thought of that. "I'm still worried. What if it's something completely different? And where is it coming from?" she asked, glancing up to meet her brother's concerned gaze. "A lot of strange things have been happening at school. I think something big is about to happen, but I don't know what it could be."

"I wish I could help more," he replied apologetically, the two of them falling into a comfortable silence as they each fell into their own trains of thoughts. Juritsu briefly considered Gohan's suggestion of going to Vegeta for advice. Personally, she wasn't sure what to expect. It had taken him a while to move on after her father's death initially, though he'd eventually come around, especially after her father had returned and after defeating Buu. Regardless, she'd never approached him seeking out advice regarding the more normal things. No, she went to his wife, Bulma, for that. Usually, she'd gone to him for training tips and sparring. She couldn't imagine how he'd react to her request this time. Nevertheless, she'd still find him and talk to him on the way back to her school.

"It's fine," she spoke up suddenly, registering what he'd said finally. He blinked, glancing at her. She gave him a warm smile, "Just being here helps."

Abruptly, her phone vibrated, and she opened it, discovering a text from Grimmjow.

Everything good?

Her smile widened, her heart only briefly fluttering, the sensation strange to her, especially with how it came out over top of the buzzing in her head. But it wasn't an unpleasant feeling; she kind of liked it. Grimmjow's concern made her feel even more reassured. He had his aggravating moments, but underneath that, he really seemed like a good guy.

"Who's that?" She heard her brother ask, genuinely curious. They'd never given each other a hard time over the people they grew interested in, each knowing that the other had enough common sense to make the right choices. Still, they had the unspoken promise that they would unwaveringly support each other through thick and thin, no matter what. That connection she had with her brother had helped push her through many trying times, and for that, she would forever be grateful to him.

Everything's good. I promise. So I'd better not find that you have a head of gray hair when I come back.

She grinned at Gohan as she replied, "He's a good friend."

Gohan chuckle slightly at her good-natured expression and smiling back at her in return, and the two of them continued to share a companionable silence, not needing any further words to communicate with each other.

Heh, smart ass. I'll see you tomorrow.

…

"Why are you asking me such a strange question?"

Juritsu rubbed the back of her head, cheeks slightly pink in embarrassment as she fidgeted under the bizarre look he was giving her. Sure, Vegeta wasn't a jerk, but he wasn't all warm and fuzzies, and never had been either.

Currently, she was sitting at the table in the kitchen, chair turned to face the counter he'd been leaning against. She watched the Prince of Saiyans as he took a drink from the can of soda he'd pulled from the fridge after tossing one to Juritsu. A damp towel rested around his neck; she'd come by while he was in the middle of training. Though he was a little disgruntled with the interruption, he still stopped what he was doing to talk to her, which she silently was grateful for.

She'd hoped that simply asking "when you had your tail, did you ever hear like a shrieking in your head?" wouldn't come across as too odd, but she supposed that she should've known better. She did come to his place out of nowhere. Most likely, he assumed that she had an urgent situation of some sort, what with her anxiousness rolling off her in waves.

She glanced back down at the frigid can in her hands, watching the droplets of condensation trickle down the aluminum sides. "Please don't think I'm crazy," she pleaded, knowing she was further confusing the man rather than clarifying anything.

After a long pause, he slowly replied. "Tell me what it is that's bothering you, exactly, and I'll consider it."

That was hardly reassuring. But there wasn't really any going back now. "It's just that, I was hearing this voice in my head, like a constant roaring, and it seemed to be coinciding with the full moon, because it was loudest last night, and today it's not as bad… so I thought that maybe it was that form, or something, maybe like, calling out to me or something. Or maybe it was something that began when you hit a certain age or something, if you still had your tail. You know?" She was rambling, she knew, and she was beginning to wonder if she was starting to test the pureblooded Saiyan's patience.

Hearing herself talk, it was like she was vomiting words out of her mouth without any control, like a child, or a teenager gushing about her first crush. And she already knew that such behavior always grated on Vegeta's nerves. She felt kind of bad for her little panic attack right there, and she was beginning to wonder if all of this was her blowing something out of proportion.

She fell silent, willing herself to just shut up for a moment and wondering if she really was coming across as completely insane.

"If you're so concerned, why don't you just cut off your tail?" the prince asked. His tone of voice implied that he didn't understand why she didn't just think of that instead of coming to him desperate for advice.

She glanced back over at him, feeling her tail tremble slightly, wrapped around her hips. "Doesn't that hurt?" she protested, "And, I mean, I've never heard this weird voice before. I've never had any problem with my tail, you know that. It started when this past full moon came up, so I just wanted to make sure…" that it was normal, she couldn't bring herself to say, that I'm normal. More than the voice itself, she was afraid that something was wrong with her, especially something that she didn't know exactly what it was.

Vegeta's intense, dark gaze was scrutinizing her, and she almost wanted to curl into herself. Conversations with Vegeta that entailed her being concerned always ended with him either seeming to genuinely care enough to not be judgmental, or for her issue to be so ludicrous that he'd be all condescending and ridicule her. And she'd yet to figure out which conversations would get which reactions out of these.

This particular conversation was no exception. She knew that he never went out of his way to intentionally hurt her, and while he never came across as being extremely fond of her and her brothers – they were the spawn of his archrival, after all – he'd still sort of assumed a father-like role for them in the seven years that her father was dead. Even now, with her father alive again, she still thought of him as a second-father or an uncle.

"I don't recall any records of Saiyans hearing such a thing in their heads during the full moon," he eventually replied, and Juritsu felt her blood run cold, "The only exceptions were the mentally unstable."

So I'm mentally unstable, huh, Juritsu thought as her shoulders slumped, not entirely sure how to take the news exactly. Was she really psychologically impaired, or something? How? Why?

"Juritsu." Vegeta's stern voice snapped her out of her thoughts, almost startling her, and she glanced up at Vegeta. His face was calm, sort of impassive, and in its own way, it soothed her nerves and effectively ceased her spiral into despair.

"You are not mentally unstable, and do not even begin to let such a ridiculous thought cross your mind, you absurd child."

Well, time for the ridicule…

Though to her surprise, the ridicule never came. "When did you start hearing this voice?" he continued, voice slightly softer now that he'd finished his brief lecture. The question caught her off-guard slightly. She hadn't been expecting him to be curious about her strange ailment.

"Well, it started three days ago, on Wednesday. At first, there was a headache that spiked when the voice got really loud, but that went away after I almost passed out in a diner…"

"Almost passed out in a diner?"

"… The voice stayed though, and it kept getting louder until yesterday, when it was its loudest. Today it's still there, but it's quieter. I think it might be gone by the end of next week."

Vegeta nodded, looking thoughtful. "And you said you had a headache?" Juritsu nodded. "Did anything strange happen before the voice started?"

"I mean, not really. After I went home that day, my roommate was really sick and she did something with my help, I gather, and she told me that she used some kind of technique to connect our minds or something," she saw the pureblooded Saiyan pique in interest at that. "Yea, I gather she's kind of psychic?"

"… Psychic."

"Yea…"

The Saiyan prince was momentarily stunned. Juritsu didn't blame him. Sure, they'd encountered aliens of every and all kinds, but still, some things were just odd. Like psychic roommates, for example, and somewhere that was less normal than her father's previous resurrections.

"And you're certain she doesn't have anything to do with the voice?" he finally asked. She glanced back down at her untouched can of soda, falling into thought herself. Would Kaisuki have a reason to randomly send some kind of mental monster after her? She never felt any real killer intent directed at her from her dark-haired roommate, the most hostile thing ever exchanged between them stemming from a bad day and a headache, and that had been around three months ago.

"I don't think she's involved, no," Juritsu replied, "She was really unwell the other day and I think I helped her out without intending to. She seems sincere, but I don't understand enough about her abilities to really make a call."

Vegeta hummed in acknowledgement for a moment, a small pause in the conversation before he spoke up again. "It seems something's happening, Juritsu," he replied levelly, "I'm not sure what, but you should keep your guard up."

That didn't exactly make her feel much better. If Vegeta was also having the same feeling about the situation as she was, then it was more likely than not that something really was amiss. Silently she nodded, letting out a sigh. How was she supposed to confront this kind of enemy? With a threat so behind the scenes as this one, she really had no idea what their motives were, who they were, when they'd strike... she'd have to start investigate but without catching anyone's attention so-…

Something flicked the back of her head, hard, and she yelped, rubbing her head and glaring at the offending finger.

"What was that for?!" she griped. There was a slightly amused glint in Vegeta's dark eyes. His lips had the slightest upturn to them.

"Stop with your outrageous mood swings," he replied, turning to take care of his can of soda, "You aren't going to be dealing with this alone, regardless of how close to this you are compared to the rest of us. I'll keep tabs on your area, as I'm sure your brother and Kakarott will as well. Report to me if something strange happens again."

A weight suddenly lifted from her chest. She hadn't even known it was there. It was then that she realized that, while the strange occurrences were making her slightly wary of her surroundings, they weren't the cause of her fear. She'd been afraid that, whatever this subtle issue was, she would have to take care of everything alone. She didn't see much of Vegeta, but she knew from his statement that he would be looking out for her.

A smile blossomed on her lips, and she finally opened the can. "I will," she replied, pausing to take a sip of the cool beverage, "Thank you, Vegeta."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him glance over at the sound of her voice, before a gentle smirk graced his hardened features.

"Good. Now get out of my house so I can return to my training."

"Hai, hai. It was good to see you too."

"Come back and spar sometime."

She paused on the way out the door, glancing over at her friend and flashing a bright grin. "You don't have to ask me twice."

His smirk widened in response, and she stepped out into the sun, gently closing the door behind her before taking off into the air, flying back towards her school.

A/N: Now that we're done revising chapters like crazy people, we hope that you enjoy this new chapter (I was sitting on this baby for months, like I've been sitting on the other 5 completed chapters, and then we revised EVERYTHING). Again, if you want to make sense of what's going on, you need to go back and re-read from the beginning.

Meanwhile, I will be posting the rest of the chapters after I've finished finalizing my edits. So expect to see them popping up within the next week or two! And yes, this chapter is a short chapter, but the upcoming chapters are gonna have a lot of crap go down. Just wait, you'll see!

- G