Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, YYH, or the characters, or the dialogue from random B/V DBZ scene (you'll know it when you get there). Just my OCs.

Within the next few days after the training accident, Kaiya's stuff was already moved into Capsule Corp. She was very thankfully for her friends, cousin, and sister for taking care of everything while she and Bulma took turns keeping vigil over Vegeta. He still hadn't woken up yet which meant his injuries were slightly more severe than anyone would have liked to believe. Kaiya rarely left his bedside, worried that he'd be out of it from the drugs when he woke up and not remember where he was. Bulma was the same, though she was the one who always brought food into the room so that Kaiya would be forced to eat. She had the tendency to ignore food when she was upset or distracted, and right now she was both.

It was now nighttime on the second day Vegeta lied in the bed unconscious and Kaiya was getting more worried about her brother. She had no idea what had happened in the GR after he had gotten back. She and Hiei had left by that point so she could go home and start packing. Part of her felt that she should have waited for him, to make sure he was really okay before she left.

She was getting tired, but she didn't want to leave yet, so instead she laid her head down on her arms on the side of the bed and closed her eyes. Hiei walked in moments later and sighed. He had been hoping to get Kaiya out of the room and into bed. He knew she hadn't slept well the day before. He didn't know what he could do or say at this point. It was obvious to anyone that Vegeta could take a lot more than most, and the fire demon was sure the Saiyan had seen worse. He would be fine, but even if Hiei told her that, Kaiya still would refuse to leave Vegeta's side even if it meant ignoring her own health.

Bulma came into the room after him with a tray of food and smiled. Hiei would come by every few hours to check on Kaiya and she thought it was sweet. "Hey," she greeted him.

Hiei grunted in acknowledgement and the two of them walked over to the table next to the bed. Bulma sat down as Hiei leaned against the wall. "How much longer is he going to be like this?" he asked.

"Well, the doctors said a few weeks, but I highly doubt it," Bulma admitted. "Vegeta's a Saiyan so he should heal rather quickly. I mean, the doctors expected him to be dead after I brought him in."

"And the medical profession continues to impress me," Hiei muttered sarcastically.

Bulma couldn't help but laugh. "I take it you had a bad experience with doctors?"

"Not me," Hiei said looking over to Kaiya's sleeping form.

Bulma followed his field of vision and smiled sadly. "You mean when whatever happened, happened?"

Hiei nodded. "The doctors were morons. If they couldn't tell that Mayonaka was related to Kaiya when they're identical twins then it's no wonder they nearly cost her her life, though truthfully I blame Jiro for that."

"I wish I was built like all of you so I could give that creep a piece of my mind," Bulma admitted. "No one should ever make their child feel the way he has."

"You'd be surprised how things in the world truly work," Hiei spoke truthfully.

Bulma didn't know what to say to that. Over the years, the once naïve teenager had learned that lesson the hard way. Had she not gone on her adventure when she was a teenager, she would have never have been exposed to the real dangers in the world, and the only reason she had been on that journey was for the most misguided of reasons. "You may be surprised, but I am not surprised by that. I think I've seen more than any human ever has, and I'm sure it's doesn't even come close to everything you've all seen."

Hiei shrugged but said nothing more as he continued to stare at Kaiya. He was almost willing her to wake up, because he did not want to remove her from Vegeta's bedside and have her wake up disoriented and confused as to where she was, but she also needed to get a night of comfortable sleep. Sure, she was protected now not only by him but by a state of the art security system, but it didn't mean she could ignore her own wellbeing. If Jiro were to show up at any time, Kaiya would need to be ready to defend herself and hold him off if Hiei was not around, at least until Vegeta woke up and recovered. It was one of the reasons that Hiei hadn't told Kaiya he needed to leave for about a week yet. There were a few things he needed to take care of in Demon World that he hadn't yet, but he couldn't leave her unguarded.

"So…" Bulma said to break the silence in the room, "I know you're a demon, but where exactly are you from? Kaiya hasn't mentioned anything about that."

Hiei hid his smile when Bulma said that Kaiya had kept quiet about his past. He never doubted that he could trust her, but it was nice to have some assurance. She never pushed him to come clean to Yukina, nor had she told any of her closest friends or relatives. "My past and origin is none of your concern," he stated, though his voice had a lightness in it instead of his usual irritation.

"Maybe not," Bulma replied, "but it would be nice to know more about my housemates. I know a lot about Kaiya and Vegeta now, so what about you?"

Hiei just looked up to Bulma and reminded her, "What you know about them is something you saw due to Kaiya's power activating while both she and Vegeta were being mind-scanned. One has to be willing to talk about their problems. I am not."

Bulma frowned slightly. "Didn't you learn about Kaiya's past the same way?"

Hiei shook his head. "Most of it I learned from her. She gave us permission to enter her head. Whatever we saw, she knew we'd have to talk about eventually. Had she refused the scan, we would have left it alone, but she would have been in danger every time she got tossed into a nightmare or zoned out randomly."

"I guess I see your point," Bulma sighed. "But if I hadn't stepped in, he wouldn't have known either."

"I won't disagree with that either," Hiei grunted.

Bulma scoffed slightly. "The two of you are impossible."

Hiei shrugged. "That may be, but you will never understand why."

Before Bulma could retort, Hiei pushed himself off the wall and walked towards Kaiya. He gently shook her, but she was completely out. Sighing, he picked her up and cradled her in his arms before nodding over to Bulma and walking out.

Yamcha was coming into the room to talk to Bulma and came face to face with Hiei. Hiei just glared at Yamcha, which made the human step back to allow the demon to take his girlfriend to their room. He then entered the room, shaking his head. "I will never understand that relationship," he said in attempts to lighten the mood the medical room.

"Well, we don't have to understand it," Bulma replied looking back over to Vegeta. "We just have to accept it. The two of them are happy and that's all that matters. Besides, Vegeta is pretty overprotective of Kaiya, so if he's okay with Hiei, we all should be."

"Please, how could he even have an opinion?" Yamcha scoffed. "He's never around them long enough."

"Oh Yamcha, don't start," Bulma breathed out in frustration. "He's around them more than us, and that's how it should be, right? We barely know him, and he did start out as our enemy. He trains with them, too, so of course he'd know more about their relationship, don't cha think?"

"Why do you always defend this guy?" Yamcha started to yell. "Do you forget who he is? He's the bastard that came here to destroy the Earth and kill all of us! He's responsible for killing me!"

"No, I haven't forgotten," Bulma sighed, "but can you think about what's going on now? He hasn't tried to destroy the planet or kill anyone since he found out about Kaiya. I seriously don't think we have to worry."

"You don't know that!" Yamcha shouted. "How do we know he even cares about her? It could be a front. I mean, didn't you say she wasn't always part Saiyan? What if he doesn't see her as one? It could be like Goku all over again."

"This is different, Yamcha," Bulma stated. "You haven't seen them together. It's so surreal. Anyway, it's getting late. You should get to bed. Don't you have a game tomorrow?"

"Me? Bulma, what about you? You should get some rest too," Yamcha suggested. His eyes moved to the unconscious Saiyan and he scowled. Bulma had been spending way too much time in the room for his liking, and it was time for her to leave.

"I'll be in later," he heard her voice say. Yamcha's eyes widened at being shot down. He hadn't been expecting Bulma to reject spending time with him, even if it was just sleeping. Having been spending so much time with baseball, and her with the company and playing hostess to yet another Saiyan, Yamcha was starting to feel distance between them, a distance that had never been there before in their relationship.

"Bulma, nothing is going to happen if you come to bed," Yamcha said as softly as he could in attempts to hide his irritation.

"I know," Bulma admitted, "but like I said, I'll only be a minute."

"Fine," Yamcha surrendered before storming out of the room. Bulma couldn't help but roll her eyes. Her boyfriend had been acting strange as of late, especially when Kaiya moved into the compound. It was almost as if he didn't want the female demi-Saiyan there, which was odd because Kaiya usually kept to herself in this room waiting for Vegeta to wake up and that was just for the last few days. Before, she kept to herself waiting for Vegeta to return to Earth.

Out of nowhere, she heard Vegeta's voice, which she had not been expecting with him being so out of it and unconscious. She could have sworn that she heard him say Goku's Saiyan name. She turned back to face him, seeing him cringing and beads of sweat rolling down his face. She realized that he was having a nightmare and went over to check on him. She wiped the sweat off of his face with a soft towel before stroking his flame-shaped hair. She mentally laughed at the fact that she would never be able to do this if he weren't unconscious. This would be her secret and hers alone. She did value her life after all.

He did calm down a little bit after that, but not by much. Bulma remembered overhearing Kaiya and Hiei talking about her nightmares and how some of them are like reliving the past. She wondered if that was happening to Vegeta right then, and what it was he was remembering. Still, she was concerned. If he was having a nightmare, it was possible he could be waking up soon. He wouldn't know where he was, so for the safety of this part of the house, Bulma decided to stay until he woke up.

She didn't think she'd have to wait long, but over an hour later, Vegeta still hadn't woken up. Bulma was already asleep, lying her permed head on her hands. Hours later, Vegeta finally woke up from his nightmare while trying to figure out what room he was in. The last thing he had remembered was the GR and the explosion. He deduced that he was in the medical room, but he had no idea how long he had been out for. He turned his head slightly and saw Bulma asleep at a desk. What is she doing in here? he thought to himself.

Well, he didn't care. His dream had left him wanting to train. It was ironic to him that the thing that had put him in here was a memory, but what woke him up was the memory of his father's words and the desire to be stronger. Nothing else mattered to him in that moment besides training.

Hours later, it was morning, and Bulma was waking up. She stretched her aching shoulders and then looked at the empty bed next to her. At first, she didn't react, simply blinking at the bed as if registering the fact that Vegeta was not there in her groggy state. Once her mind was finally awake, she stormed out if the room.

Assuming the Saiyan was not an idiot and was just feeding his large appetite, Bulma flew towards the kitchen, hoping to see the Saiyan prince sitting at the table. Of course, when she got there, he was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, babe," Yamcha greeted lazily as he walked into the kitchen. He was still waking up, so he didn't even see Bulma's panic-stricken face. Sitting down at the kitchen table, he finally looked over to her and noticed that she was upset. "What's wrong, Bulma?"

"Vegeta wasn't in the bed," she said hurriedly as she started to look into the outer rooms in the kitchen.

Yamcha heard her loud and clear and the sleepiness he felt was replaced by panic, but for a different reason than Bulma. "What do you mean he wasn't in the bed? I thought he was out for a few weeks."

"Yeah, well, the doctors were wrong," Bulma said in frustration. Now she understood why Hiei couldn't stand the doctors. They would never understand these special circumstances, and could not use their normal education to diagnose anyone who wasn't human. "I just hope he's okay."

Yamcha groaned and used his hand to hide his face. "Bulma, seriously, why do you care about that creep, anyway? He's not like us, and he came to destroy us. You've already given him your home. Why do you have to care about him too?"

Bulma shook her head. She and Yamcha had been having similar arguments since he was wished back. The human fighter did not understand why she chose to help Vegeta, but Bulma had always been free-spirited and welcoming, even if it wasn't the wisest decision. Then after seeing part of Vegeta's past, she warmed up to the Saiyan. He wasn't just the creep who came to destroy their planet anymore, but the sweet guy who did everything to protect his sister. The only thing was that Bulma would not reveal that. She found out by manipulation, but she knew the Hiei was right and Vegeta did not like her knowing anything. How would he feel is she revealed a private part in his life to her boyfriend just to end the argument?

"Seriously, Yamcha, this isn't the time," she responded blandly. "I need to find Vegeta and get him back into bed."

"If he's out of bed, he'll be fine, Bulma," Yamcha huffed. "You really need to stop treating him like his some wounded spirit. He's no better than scum we've fought before."

Bulma flashed a glared at Yamcha. She wasn't surprised that he was insulting Vegeta; he did it all the time. This time, though, he attacked his character and revealed that he saw him as less than a person. "Yamcha, grow up," Bulma said sternly. "Doesn't the fact that he came back to his sister and kept his promise show you he is different?"

Yamcha was about to respond when Kaiya ran into the room looking around as Bulma had been doing earlier. Panicked didn't even begin to describe how she looked. She looked terrified.

"Kaiya, sweetie, what's wrong?" Bulma asked, forgetting the fight she had just had with her boyfriend. She walked over to Kaiya, put her hands on her shoulders, and felt her shaking. Something was really upsetting her. "Are you okay?"

"W-where's Vegeta?" the girl stuttered. "He wasn't in the bed."

"I know," Bulma replied while rubbing her shoulders. "I'm still looking for him. But seriously, are you okay? You're shaking."

Kaiya looked taken aback by Bulma's question and looked away. "I-I'm fine. Just had a bad…I mean, it's nothing. Where could he be?"

"Probably flew the coop," Yamcha grumbled from the table. "Like always."

"Okay, that's it," Kaiya growled as she faced Yamcha. "I don't care what you have against my brother. I'm sick of hearing you take jabs at him all the time. At least he doesn't act like an ass and flirt with other girls around his girlfriend in front of the other girl's boyfriend."

Kaiya flashed out of the room, anger and fear radiating off her in waves. Bulma blinked at the spot she had been standing in before and Yamcha just looked dumbfounded. Yeah, he knew that Kaiya had been mad at him for the first time they met, so he could let that go, but he didn't not understand what had her so upset that she now decided to confront him on it. "Um, I can go talk to her," he suggested awkwardly. Part of him felt bad for upsetting the younger girl.

"No," Bulma sighed. "I don't think she'd like that. I'll go talk to her. Yamcha, can you please do me a favor?" Yamcha nodded when he saw the hope in Bulma's eyes. "Can you just go look for Vegeta? I don't want her to be worried."

"Sure," Yamcha agreed reluctantly before getting up from the table. "Um, can you let her know I'm sorry?"

Bulma nodded once before going after Kaiya. It wasn't strange that Kaiya went straight back to her room, but hearing broken sobs was not a good sign. Curiosity took Bulma as she peeked through the cracked door and found Hiei hugging Kaiya and rubbing her back.

"It's going to be okay, you know," he said calmly, though his expression was full of anger.

Kaiya buried her face in his chest and weakly nodded. "I know, but I hate these premonitions. I can't tell if they're dreams or if something bad is going to happen."

Hiei pulled her back and stared into her eyes. "Your brother is stronger than anyone I've met, even the strongest demons in Demon World. I'm sure he's fine now. It was just a dream. Even if he was weakened, there is no way that Jiro would have gotten to him."

"I know," Kaiya muttered into his chest. "Rationally, I know. It's just that, well, we don't know if it's just a dream." She sat up and pushed her hair from her face as she tried to dry her tears. "The last time I had a dream like that, Jiro attacked me."

Bulma refrained from gasping. She had no idea that Kaiya's abilities included possibly seeing the future. From what she could gather, it sounded like the girl had had a bad dream regarding Vegeta and Jiro. It made sense that she had been so shaky when she was searching for Vegeta. "The last time you had a dream like that," Hiei said interrupting Kaiya's thoughts, "none of us were prepared. You were outside and alone, with no protection. That was my fault. I shouldn't have left you out there."

"It wasn't your fault," Kaiya stated. "I asked for time alone."

"My point is," he said placing a hand against her cheek, "we were not prepared and you were not protected. Now we're prepared. We're in a high security building, and when Kurama was here he planted some of his guard plants. Had Jiro shown up, we would have known. That only leaves this as an option. Vegeta is fine, and he's probably off somewhere training. Once again, human doctors prove to be idiots."

Kaiya giggled at the remark. "Yeah, I can agree with that. Remember, mom works with them and I hear plenty of stories." She released a sigh as she nuzzled against Hiei's neck. "Do you really think Vegeta is okay?"

"I think we'd be the idiots if we thought anything different," Hiei replied with sincerity. "You need to stop worrying."

"Oh shut up," Kaiya laughed and playfully smacked his shoulder. "Okay, well if he's better and out training, then we can still invite him on the camping trip." Hiei just nodded as Kaiya leapt up from their spot on the floor. "Well then I need to find where he is."

"Hn," came Hiei's stunted reply. "Let me know when you do. I need to talk to him."

Kaiya smiled sweetly at Hiei before starting to leave the room. Bulma moved to hide in the room next to theirs so that she wouldn't be found out. The good news was that Hiei seemed sure that Vegeta was awake and healthy, training somewhere. Bulma scoffed and shook her head. She had thought that Vegeta would do the sensible thing and not overdo the training on day one, but now it made more sense why he couldn't be found. He had been under their noses the entire time. Well, Bulma was not going to have him training in the thing that put him in the medical ward today, especially since she hadn't tested her father's original design.

Vegeta was definitely in the GR, but only doing some light training. He was focusing his energy, inverting himself in the air at a higher gravity. His muscles were aching, probably signaling that he should take a break, but his dream made him eager to resume his heavy training. As he was contemplating his next move and spinning in the air, a screen he did not know was there activated and revealed Bulma, and then she started berating him.

"Stop it, Vegeta," Bulma shouted at him. "You are in no condition to be doing this right now." Vegeta rolled his eyes and continued his exercises, ignoring her. Eventually she'd get bored and go away, or at least that was what he had hoped. "I know you don't want to believe this, but you are made of flesh and blood."

"Stop pestering me, woman," Vegeta replied curtly, finally getting agitated with her nagging. "Leave me alone." But no sooner as he said that, did the strain he started feeling minutes ago take its toll on him. He tried to avoid shouting in pain, and merely grunted his discomfort before falling out of the air and back down on the floor of the GR.

"You know I'm right," Bulma said over the monitor as she watched him trying to get up, "so why don't you just be quiet and do as I say." Vegeta didn't respond to her, nor did he even look at the monitor. "Nothing to say?" Bulma antagonized. "Well, that's good. Now go back to bed and get some rest."

Vegeta opened his eyes and looked to the monitor defiantly. "Not yet," he forced himself to say. "I do have something to say."

"Huh?" Bulma questioned as the shock plaster her face. "What? Is something wrong?" Then something hit her; she was supposed to be angry with him for his nonchalant attitude regarding his health. "Or maybe you're going to apologize to me, is that it? Well, if that's the case, then let's hear it."

Having had enough of the woman's lecture, Vegeta shouted, "Leave me alone!"

Bulma's mouth gaped open in both shock and hurt. She had only been trying to help. "Bulma?" She turned to face whoever called her and saw Kaiya coming down the stairs into the lab. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Bulma lied. "Everything's fine? I found Vegeta."

"Where is he?" Kaiya asked hopefully, wanting so much for Bulma to tell her that her dream was false.

"Training in the GR," Bulma told her with a sigh. "He's refusing to come out, but he's still in no condition to be training. He told me to leave him alone."

"Is that why you look so sad?" Kaiya inquired as she moved to sit on a table. "You shouldn't take it personally. He just doesn't like to appear weak. If there's anything I've learned about him, it's that. But don't worry; I can get him out of there."

Bulma perked up a bit and astonishment covered her face. "You really think so?"

Kaiya nodded and smiled. "Yeah, just leave it to me."

Bulma chuckled lightly as the girl disappeared from the room. She had a feeling that Kaiya really could talk some sense into Vegeta, how she didn't know, but she could definitely do it. With that, the Capsule Corp. heiress started to do her work, ignoring the fact that she had felt hurt by Vegeta writing her off. She didn't even know where that feeling came from, but she was not going to focus on it. There were more important things to do than think about why it stung so much that Vegeta didn't seem to like her. Bulma shook her head again and began to work on plans for another invention.

Vegeta finally managed to get up from the spot on the floor. He knew he had been overdoing it, and being distracted by Bulma did not help him concentrate on his own energy. A knock on the door was heard, and he growled and shut off the increased gravity. Thinking it to be the woman, he got ready to berate her for disturbing him, but froze when he opened the door and saw Kaiya standing there with her hands behind her back and a smile on her face.

"Morning, brother," she greeted. "I'm glad you're okay." Vegeta blinked a few times, not knowing what to say. Only days before, he had nearly hurt her and she was treating him as if nothing happened. She was such a strange child, he mused. "So…I wanted to know if you wanted to go camping with me, Hiei, and our friends. We're going to the beach, so it'll be even better. What do you think? It would be a good break, no?"

Vegeta still didn't speak, but he did step out of the GR and closed the door behind him. Kaiya's smile faltered a bit when he didn't answer her. He started to walk toward the compound without answering her, waiting for her to follow. He sensed that she was not following and paused in his stride. "It's time for breakfast," he said plainly, inviting her to go with him. He didn't see it, but he could tell her smile returned when he felt her energy rise in excitement. It always amazed him how the smallest things could raise her spirits.

Hiei was in the kitchen when they entered, leaning against the wall next to the table as he waited for Bulma's mother to finish making breakfast. When he saw Kaiya and Vegeta enter, he nodded over to them before taking a seat. Kaiya sat down next to him and took in hand in hers under the table. Vegeta wasn't sure what the gesture meant, but he saw Hiei blush, so it must have had some type of significance in the Earthling culture.

"Oh, good morning, Vegeta," Bunny greeted. "I had no idea you were awake, though I should have assumed with Bulma down in the lab already. Hm, I hope she didn't skip breakfast. That wouldn't be good for her, so hard at work. Come to think of it, you probably feel the same with all of your hard work. Don't worry; breakfast will be ready in a minute. Have to keep the strong, hard-working men fed, right you two…oh, but listen to me. I'm a married woman."

Hiei had been drinking a bit of water and nearly choked on it at what Bulma's mother was insinuating. Vegeta too became flustered, but just kept his arms crossed and attempted to keep the heat in his cheeks from showing. Kaiya looked between her boyfriend and brother and just started laughing. "You guys are so funny," she said to them. "She's only teasing."

"Again I say, I will never understand humans," Hiei muttered. "That's almost as bad as the ridiculous pranks our so called friends played on us."

"Oh lighten up," Kaiya replied. She looked over to Vegeta who sent her a questioning glance, probably about what Hiei was talking about. It reminded her that where they knew so much about each other's pasts from her power, they really knew nothing at all about each other's character. There was only so much they were shown, and a lot of it was just memories from when they were younger and only a few sporadic events from the recent past. The trip would definitely be a good way to get to know each other more, as long as they spent some time alone away from her friends at some point.

Bunny served breakfast just as Bulma came upstairs from the lab. When she saw Vegeta was sitting at the table, she mentally commended Kaiya for pulling him away from his training. That was around the time Yamcha also got back from his search around the city. He was about to tell Bulma he hadn't found him, but it would have been a waste of breath seeing as Vegeta was right there. "Good morning, everyone," he said instead, nodding over to Bulma. "So Kaiya, I see you found your brother. I know you were upset earlier not being able to and all."

Kaiya froze, looking like a dear caught in a headlight, as Vegeta looked over to her, this time wondering why she had been upset. Hiei squeezed her hand in reassurance before shooting a glare in Yamcha's direction. Bulma face-palmed knowing that her boyfriend just dropped a huge weight on the poor girl.

"I…I wasn't upset," Kaiya lied. "I was just concerned."

"You did not have to be concerned," Vegeta spoke up. "Those wounds were nothing."

"Can…can we just drop it?" she pleaded avoiding Vegeta's intense scrutiny.

"I think we should," Hiei stated simply before glaring at Yamcha again.

"What did I say?" Yamcha asked defensively.

"Yamcha, drop it," Bulma said sternly. She knew she was being just as defensive of Kaiya as Hiei was and caught the fire demon looking at her. He probably knew she had eavesdropped yet again, and she was thankful that he wasn't calling her out on it.

It got tense and quiet when Bunny came back into the kitchen to check and serve the food. Kaiya kept her gaze on a spot on the table in front of her; Hiei was still having his stare down with Yamcha; Yamcha was looking nervously between Hiei and Kaiya, wondering what he had done wrong; Bulma was doing the same thing, but glancing between Vegeta and Kaiya; and Vegeta was just staring at Kaiya, annoyed that she was refusing to meet his gaze. "So," Hiei spoke up, "I spoke to the detective about camping trip. They're in."

"O-oh?" Kaiya asked, glancing over to him with thankful eyes at a subject change. "That's great. It'll be a nice break."

"What trip?" Bulma questioned, moving the conversation along even though she already knew about the trip.

Kaiya's anxiety disappeared, which Hiei was prepared for, for the others, not so much. "We decided a few days ago that we should go camping on the beach. I just love going to the ocean."

Vegeta instantly remembered seeing her on the beach the day before they officially met, before he knew she was his sister, and Hiei also said she loved the ocean and was always at peace there. How could something like a simple body of water could have such a profound effect on his sister? "When are we leaving?" Vegeta asked abruptly.

Kaiya's face lit up, now knowing that Vegeta finally accepted her invite. "Sometime tonight," Kaiya responded. "We'll have to pack after breakfast."

"Wait," Yamcha spoke up. "Vegeta, you're going?"

Vegeta flashed a glare to Yamcha ad crossed his arms. "What's it to you?"

"I think the trip sounds great," Bulma said quickly in attempts to evade another fight in the house. "Kaiya, you better take a lot of pictures to show me when you get back."

"I will, Bulma," Kaiya replied. She looked over to Hiei and smiled. "This is going to be great."

"Hn," Hiei grunted, a small smile appearing on his face. This was the happiest he'd seen Kaiya since Jiro came back. He would never get tired of seeing her this joyous.

"Well, I hope you all enjoy yourselves," Bulma said smiling over at Vegeta. "I really do miss camping. I think you'll enjoy it, Vegeta."

Vegeta responded with a grunt and continued to eat his breakfast. The table grew silent again, but this time there was a lot less tension. Kaiya finished two plates of food before she tried to sneak off. Vegeta didn't look at her, but he knew what she was trying to do. "You haven't eaten nearly enough, kid," he stated. "Sit back down."

Kaiya grimaced at being caught, but mostly at being called "kid." "Geta," she whined, "you know I hate that."

"Don't care," he said in between bites. "Eat more."

"Fine," Kaiya muttered before sitting back down and taking more food. Hiei resisted the urge to chuckle. He knew how much his girlfriend hated being talked down to, and that she hated this new food limit she had yet to get used to, but Vegeta handled it very well.

Yamcha, on the other hand, was just shocked. Everyone was just acting like this type of behavior was normal. Yeah, he assumed Kaiya was acting like her normal self. Bulma did say that Kaiya acted like a girl who grew up on Earth, but Vegeta was Vegeta. He was an alien and a killer, and he was not like normal humans, but here he was acting like a normal older brother. Nothing made sense anymore. He'd have to get more details from Bulma later. Hopefully she wouldn't bite his head off like all the other times they talked about the two Saiyans.

When breakfast was finish, and Vegeta excuse Kaiya from eating, the Saiyan prince followed his sister and Hiei up to their room so that he could figure out what exactly he had to pack. He was also getting the chance to see Kaiya's room for the first time. He knew that Hiei would be like him and see it as just another room, so all of the decorations had to come from his sister. As he studied them he could tell that she indeed loved the ocean as there were shells and many ocean creatures he had only seen from pictures she'd shown him. Hiei did not seem to mind being surrounded by objects that made the room seem watery despite being a fire demon. Come to think of it, he didn't seem bothered by the beach when they battled either. That would be a mental note to keep in mind for another point in time.

"So are they bringing the food?" Kaiya asked. "We should probably bring a lot extra with Vegeta and me being there."

"Don't even worry about it," Hiei ordered. "Kurama and Kuronue are handling the food."

Kaiya paused in her packing and looked over to Hiei sternly. "They're stealing again? I thought they wanted to leave that life behind."

Hiei just grinned. "Once you feel the thrill once, it's hard to overcome that urge. Besides, we kind of have a pact, once a year. That's all."

Kaiya rolled her eyes. "Men," she muttered before throwing some clothes in a duffle bag. Then she looked over to Vegeta and smiled. "So really all we need to pack is clothes and a bathing suit. The guys took care of everything else."

Vegeta did not like the idea of wearing Earthling clothing, but other than his battle suit, that was all he had, so he grunted in response and left the room. Hiei and Kaiya continued to pack a few things, including her camera as Bulma requested, before Hiei shut the door. Kaiya froze in what she was doing, curious as to why Hiei closed the door. She felt his arms wrap around her waist and he pulled her into a comforting hug. "Sorry about breakfast," he said to her. "Say the word and that human will be silenced."

Kaiya chuckled, knowing he was only half joking about his death threat to Yamcha. "Oh stop," she giggled. "You know you're not allowed to kill humans…which…is why I don't want you killing Jiro."

It was Hiei's turn to feel frozen, like all time had stopped, as he forced Kaiya to face him. "Do you know what you're saying?" he snapped at her, though it was more because he was worried and not angry. "If he comes after you again, and I have the opportunity, I will not let him hurt you again. I told you this."

"Hiei," Kaiya sighed, "last time it was different. Last time, Koenma had no choice but to let it happen. We were all going to be killed by them, humans AND demons. But that doesn't change the rules Spirit World has set upon demons. Demons can't kill humans. Koenma won't have a choice but to put you in Spirit World jail, and I'm not willing to lose you because of him. He's not worth it."

Hiei's face remained blank, not revealing any emotion. He knew Kaiya was right. Last time was a special case, but now Koenma wouldn't be able to get them out of it if they did take Jiro's life. "There has to be some loophole," Hiei muttered. "But for now, until we can discuss the situation with Koenma, I will make sure that if he ever shows up that I don't accidently incinerate him while defending you."

"Good," Kaiya replied with a soft smile. "As long as that's settled. I've been dreading talking to you about this, but it needed to be said, especially when he came after me at Kakarot's."

"You know…you never did tell me what else happened that day," Hiei brought up. "How was officially meeting your brother's rival?"

Kaiya just laughed and shook her head. "It reminds me of yours and Yusuke's rivalry, a little…I guess…except you guys didn't hate each other. But I liked Kakarot; he was nice. Um, don't tell Vegeta I said that though…not yet at least."

"Hn," Hiei agreed. "Alright, we're packed. Let's go bring this stuff out to the car."

"Okay," Kaiya chimed happily before picking up her bag and skipping out of the room. She was still so excited about the beach, and not even talking about Jiro was going to bring her down.

Vegeta didn't pack much. He didn't know how long they were camping for, but he felt safe with only packing two outfits and a pair of swimming trunks Bulma and her mother left for him. He still didn't understand Earthling clothing, especially when it could be destroyed so easily in combat. It made him wonder how his sister and her friends fought in such rags.

As Vegeta was pondering Earthling fashion, Bulma came to the door and lightly knocked so that she wouldn't startle the Saiyan. He turned to see who was bothering him and nearly sneered at Bulma. "What do you want, woman?" he growled.

Bulma ignored the bitterness and came inside the room. She took his hand and placed a few capsule in his palm. The Saiyan prince looked between her and capsules a few times before she said, "They're capsule houses. I figured it would be safer for you guys instead of tents." When Vegeta's brow quirked in question, she added, "Kaiya will know what I mean. Tents aren't exactly durable."

Vegeta grunted and placed the capsules in his duffle bag. He stared at the bag, shuffling around in it even though he had nothing left to do in hopes that Bulma would leave, but she stayed and he realized he couldn't get rid of her so easily. Sighing in frustration, he muttered, "Yes?"

"I really hope you have a good time," Bulma answered sincerely. This made Vegeta turn to her, staring at her and studying her. He was searching for a hint of derision and dishonesty, but instead he was looking into the eyes of a woman who looked, dare he say, concerned. He attempted to avert his gaze, but the intensity was too much. For the first time, he was not looking at her like he wanted to kill her. He finally accepted that in some strange way, the two of them had become "friends," or at least something close to it.

Bulma's intense gaze shifted to a light-natured one. She placed her hand on his shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze and said, "I think this is just what you need to finally lay back and relax. Make the most of it, okay?"

"Whatever," Vegeta grunted out. "Are we done?" Bulma chuckled, but nodded, and then left the room leaving Vegeta behind with an array of perplexing thoughts, the dominant of which shouted, "What the hell just happened?"

Kaiya and Hiei were waiting by the car when Vegeta finally came outside, and it reminded Vegeta of the time he went with them to Genkai's temple. This time was different, though. He didn't feel anger when he saw how Hiei was acting towards his sister, and he was also a little more welcoming to the idea of being around his sister's friends.

"Well, we're all packed now," Kaiya said happily after Vegeta threw his bag into the back. She closed the door and made her way to the driver's seat. "You guys ready?"

"A weekend near water," Hiei mumbled, "sure."

Vegeta grunted an affirmative, making Kaiya giggle. "Then let's go."

"What took you guys so long?" Yusuke joked, having already gotten a fire started on the beach. The others had finished setting up the tents earlier. Vegeta remembered what Bulma had said about the tents, but he honestly saw nothing wrong with them. Usually when Saiyans went to places such as these, especially on the planets they purged, they slept under the cover of night with no shelter whatsoever. "We were starting to think one of us would have to come find you."

"It was a crazy morning," Kaiya replied curtly, signaling a change in subject. "Where's Kuronue? And I though Keiko and Yukina were coming too."

"Yukina wanted to stay with Genkai," Yusuke stated. "Keiko has some summer class stuff to deal with. As for Kuronue…well, he had something else to do."

"What?" Kaiya asked.

"I'll talk to you about it later," Hiei spoke up.

"You knew he wasn't coming?" Kaiya questioned her boyfriend. "What about Maya and Alexia?"

"They're with Kurama getting some drinks and stuff for later," Yusuke interjected. "Don't worry; we wouldn't leave them unprotected."

Vegeta said nothing at Hiei and Yusuke continued exchanging glances. "Oh, hey Kaiya," Kuwabara called out from a tent. Hiei and Yusuke then flashed a glance towards him. "Um, do you mind helping me with something?"

"Sure," Kaiya said, walking over leaving Hiei and Yusuke alone with Vegeta. When both of them looked at him, he knew something was up.

"Okay, we needed to get her away because honestly, we hate worrying her, especially when it comes to Jiro," Yusuke explained. "Kuronue is in Demon World right now warning a few buddies of ours about the threat of a demon hunter being on the loose. There's something called a Demon World Tournament starting up soon, and that decides the balance between Human, Demon, and Spirit World…and we just wanted to let them know so that it doesn't cause an uproar at the tournament."

"And I care why?" Vegeta asked, crossing his arms.

"Hiei is going to tell you that," Yusuke stated. "I was just explaining. Kurama asked me to…surprising really. Anyways, you two have fun. I'll keep Kaiya busy."

Yusuke walked away leaving Hiei and Vegeta alone by the water. Neither the fire demon nor the Saiyan prince decided to speak up. Hiei continued to glance out into the water before taking in a deep breath and saying, "If certain individuals were to win the tournament, either Demon World would be blocked off from Human World again, or the block would remain down. The biggest issue in the Makai right now is the right a demon has to eat a human. That was what caused the rift between leaders there, and why Yusuke suggested a tournament to be our election. Luckily, someone who believed demons and humans should coexist won, but he agreed to a three year term. It's been nearly three years, so we will have to leave to fight at some point. Hopefully the same demon wins again so we don't have to worry about the balance."

"What of the other rulers?" Vegeta asked. "Are they powerful, and what are their stances?"

"Hn," Hiei scoffed. "Kurama's old thieving partner from a time before Kuronue is one of them, and he believes that demons should feed on humans. If he were to win, I have no doubt that Koenma would erect the Kekkai Barrier once more. Only low level demons can get through in that sense, but then the more powerful demons will be angered and find ways into Human World harming whoever they want to curb their appetite. Women and children are no exception. That is why it is better to have peaceful coexistence. I never cared before until your sister, but I do now. Thankfully one of the other old rulers, Mukuro, has shifted her views. She and I are comrades of sorts. She is the one who made is possible for me to reside in Human World without question. I'm supposed to be on border patrol right now."

"I won't even ask," Vegeta grumbled. Politics like this were nothing new to him, although he always knew who would be victorious in space conquests. Frieza had enough power that no one would question him and those who did would be slaughtered mercilessly. Still, Vegeta didn't see the big deal. From the sound of it, there was only one strong opponent who had the opposing view. He'd be overpowered easily.

"Kaiya doesn't know about the tournament," Hiei continued. "She knows of it, but she doesn't know that I will have to leave for a while for training. I'd rather not, and honestly if it was safe to bring her with me, I would. Where Mukuro wouldn't harm her, I can't say the same for her soldiers, and there will be times where I am pulled away for something else. That means I have to leave her here in Human World, with Jiro on the loose. She…won't talk to many people about what she's feeling if she doesn't fully trust them, but if she doesn't talk, she gets depressed. I know I don't have to ask this of you, but look after her while I am gone. I will do my best to be back as quickly as I can."

"No, you don't have to ask me," Vegeta muttered, "but thanks for the warning. I'll make sure that bastard doesn't bother her."

"Another thing I need to ask of you," Hiei stated awkwardly. "I know you have no ties to my sister, but…I won't be here if something goes wrong at the temple."

"Don't worry about her," Vegeta replied. "I'm sure Kaiya will want to visit her anyway."

"Hn," Hiei mumbled his thanks. Then he grew quiet again.

"Yes?" Vegeta sneered knowing that there was still more.

"Kaiya explained to me what happened in the GR when you two were training," he stated. "All I will say is that I don't hold it against you."

"I wouldn't have cared if you did," Vegeta retorted. The conversation ended there, another subject closed.

"Hey guys!" Alexia's voice rang out. "We got a ton of stuff for the weekend. We also got pennies."

"Pennies?" Yusuke whined. "What for?"

"We're going to play the penny game, silly," Mayonaka answered. "Oh, Kaiya, hey. You guys made it."

"Yeah, Maya," Kaiya replied running over to hug her sister. "And what penny game?"

"Apparently the one where you say something you've never done and then whoever has done those activities place pennies in a cup," Kurama said as he carried some groceries over to a folding table. "The girls insisted."

"Do we have to?" Hiei grumbled.

"Why not?" Kaiya answered. "It's not a bad game or anything. It's kind of like an icebreaker."

"A what?" Hiei asked with narrowed eyes.

"Um…" Kaiya whispered as she thought of a way to reply. "It's kind of like an exercise that people use when you need to get to know a group of people."

"Don't we already know each other enough?" Yusuke sputtered. "No way are we playing some penny game."

"It's not a bad idea, Urameshi," Kuwabara said. "Actually, I'd kind of like to do it to find more out about the shrimp."

"Excuse me?" Hiei sneered. "What the hell do you need to know about me?"

"Well, you're the brother of my girlfriend," Kuwabara mentioned. "You can learn more about me too."

"There are other ways for that," Hiei grumbled.

"Oh come on," Mayonaka whined. "Don't be a spoil sport, Hiei."

Hiei growled and clenched his fists before whispering to Vegeta, "And the immature brat returns."

Vegeta chuckled slightly, understanding Hiei's frustration. He had no desire to play a petty human game, but the thought of getting to know his sister in some strange fashion did appeal to him. There was only so much they spoke about if they spoke. Most of the time they trained or just sat in each other's company. If anyone did any talking, it was Kaiya, but they never had those really deep conversations, just bits and pieces of information. Plus, if the game irritated Hiei so much, Vegeta couldn't resist. "I say we play this game to shut them up," he stated.

"Traitor," Hiei murmured before heading over to the table. "If we're going to play this damn thing then we better do it now and get it over with."

"Great!" Mayonaka exclaimed. "Let's do this."

Chairs were set up around the table with eight bowls in front of everyone. Each person was given a pile of pennies to throw into the bowl. "Okay, who wants to go first?" Alexia asked.

"I'll start," Kaiya offered. "Okay, let me think. Never have I ever gotten into a food fight."

"Food fight?" Vegeta questioned. "What kind of idiotic activity is-"

"Human culture lesson 101," Yusuke joked. "School kids normally throw food and start a fight using food."

"Such a waste," Vegeta scoffed. He was shocked when three people put pennies into their bowls: Yusuke, Kuwabara, and surprisingly Kurama.

"Really fox boy?" Yusuke asked in shock. "You?"

Kurama laughed. "It was too get my mother to stop worrying about me being different from other children my human age. I was too mature, and she was considering sending me to a shrink, but then I surprised her by starting a food fight instead."

"Wow," Yusuke muttered. "A calculated food fight. Even when you rebel you have to plan it. Craziness."

"Okay, I'll go a little crazier with mine," Alexia stated. "Never have I ever gotten drunk."

Five pennies went in this time: Yusuke, Kuwabara, Mayonaka, Hiei, and Vegeta. Vegeta didn't really care about admitting it. He was a teenager and that was the only time. However, Hiei, Kurama, and Kaiya exchanged nervous glances with one another before looking over to Mayonaka who was frowning. Hiei too was not happy about placing his penny in the bowl. His drinking contest with Yusuke wasn't his finest hour. The atmosphere grew slightly tense, and worsened when Kuwabara asked, "Okay, what happened?"

"Ask them," Mayonaka replied. "They know more than I remember."

Kaiya sighed and said, "You know we were just trying to get information about Kiense. You'd been lying to us." Vegeta's eyes widened when he heard his sister incriminate herself. It sounded like she had gotten her sister intoxicated for information. Such a confession came as a shock to the Saiyan prince. "If it helps, I do regret it."

"I know," Mayonaka muttered. "Anyways, never have I ever eaten a snow cone."

"Oh my God, how is that even possible?" Kuwabara asked as he, along with Yusuke, Kurama, Alexia, Kaiya, Hiei, and even Vegeta, placed a penny in their bowls. "Even the shrimp has had one."

"Yeah, and the alien," Yusuke teased. Vegeta was about to blow up at the boy's insolence, but saw the black-haired teen grinning at him. He couldn't believe it; Yusuke was actually treating him the way he seemed to treat all of his so-called friends.

"Speaking of," Kurama spoke up, "Vegeta, why don't you go next? I'm interested to hear something you haven't done."

Vegeta was nearly speechless. He looked over to his sister who was smiling brightly at him and nodded to him. "Never have I ever," he started before pausing to think of something, "seen Frieza in the shower."

A round of laughter rang out on the beach but stopped when Kuwabara turned red and threw a penny in the bowl. Everyone stared at him like he was insane before he sputtered out, "After that crazy mind scan stuff, I had a really screwed up nightmare."

Everyone laughed again and this time Vegeta joined them. That was just priceless.

Of course, Kuwabara didn't find it funny and decided to turn it around on some of the others, though for the moment, he wasn't thinking about Vegeta. "Never have I ever killed a human."

Silence. All eyes shot to Kuwabara, some shocked, some angered. Six pennies landed into the bowls from Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, Mayonaka, Alexia, and of course, Vegeta. Kaiya just stared at Kuwabara with wide eyes before saying, "Really? You really had to go there?"

Hiei had the intent to kill flashing through his eyes, but in his mind he was reminding himself that Kuwabara was his sister's boyfriend. Kurama, though normally calm, was completely enraged. The only human he had killed was for the good of a mission, and, where the child was alive now, the decision was something he couldn't rewrite. Vegeta's past was known, but bringing it up yet again and in front of his sister left a bitter taste in his mouth and the desire to rip the offending human to shreds. Alexia and Mayonaka did not say where they killed before, nor was it really rocket science to know that for Alexia it was a mission and for Mayonaka it was an order from Kiense.

"And with that," Yusuke said nonchalantly, "the game is now killed. Thanks, Kuwabara. That lasted less time than I thought it would. Now we can actually eat something."

Everyone left the table with the two teens still sitting before going off into different directions. Mayonaka and Alexia went to their tent; Kurama went to his bag to take out a book he had brought with him; Hiei disappeared to who knew where; and Vegeta flew off, Kaiya taking off after him.

Vegeta knew Kaiya was following him, and slowed down so that she didn't interpret his actions to mean he was trying to get away from her. He had nothing against her being with him right now, but he needed to get away from Kuwabara for the moment if the boy was going to last until morning.

The two of them landed on a quiet part of the beach not too far away from the campsite. Vegeta stood at the water's edge, his boots getting wet from the incoming tide. He expected Kaiya to come to him, but then looked over to see her taking off her shoes and then walking over to the water before sitting down in the sand and letting the ocean water soak her clothes. Vegeta then decided to sit down next to her.

Kaiya stared out into the ocean with her arms wrapped around her legs and her chin resting on top. Vegeta looked between her and the sea, still not understanding why she was so entranced. "It's so beautiful," she whispered while gazing at the sunset sky. "I love being out here, listening to the sound of the peaceful, yet forceful waves. It's an indescribable feeling."

Vegeta simply nodded, taking her word for it. He too decided to look out into the watery field in front of them, not doing or saying anything, but simply being. The silence was nice, he admitted, but he realized that it wasn't true silence. The sound of the crashing waves and the calls of birds became a soundtrack for them. For a moment, Vegeta felt at peace. He could actually understood his sister's feelings.

But then the moment ended when Kaiya sighed. "Hey Vegeta?"

"Hm?" he pressed lightly, not wanting the peace to disappear.

"What was our father like?"

An amalgamation of mixed emotions took over Vegeta when he heard her question. "Why do you ask?" he bit out sternly.

Kaiya grew nervous all of a sudden and started playing with her tail. "Well, I…I just wanted to know. Was he as bad as Jiro? Did he hate me too?"

Vegeta didn't want to answer that. Yes, he had respected his father growing up, but his respect diminished when he was sent away to serve Frieza to protect the planet, a whole lot of good that did. For his sister, he had sent her away for weakness, like Tarble, and then kept her existence a secret save from Nappa and obviously his mother. It only meant that the Saiyan king had not cared much for his daughter, but Kaiya didn't need to know that.

"He was a proud warrior," Vegeta told her. "Strength was everything to him until he allied with Frieza. Then he became weak willed and spineless; however, he is my inspiration to getting stronger for two reasons, one being that he was the one who told me that I'd be the one most suited for becoming a Super Saiyan, and the other being that I do not wish to be as weak as he."

Kaiya took in the information and nodded. She decided to give Vegeta some information regarding Jiro since he answered her question about their father. "Jiro was never like this when I was a kid," she started. "I have so many good memories of him in addition to the bad, which is what makes it harder to accept that my whole life he was playing me. I was too naïve to even consider it, although there was a time when I thought he'd kidnap me. Never expected to be kidnapped by an alien tyrant."

Vegeta just grunted before looking over to Kaiya. She looked sad, lost deep in her thoughts. He didn't know why he felt a small twinge of pain, but whatever the feeling was, he didn't like it. In seconds, Kaiya was in his arms, pulled into a hug that he initiated. Her eyes widened when she felt the comforting embrace of her brother's hug. She felt protected, safe, and happy in that moment, especially since her brother always kept to himself or would hug her back awkwardly when she hugged him.

Vegeta released his sister moments later, feeling some sort of shift inside of him. Never had he felt the kind of emotions or bonds with anyone save for her even when they were younger and she was just a little girl. The two of them went back to sitting in peaceful silence reflecting on their change in relationship before Hiei appeared in front of them.

"Hey, koi," Kaiya said, her voice lighter than it was earlier.

"Hey," he greeted back. "It's getting dark."

"I know," Kaiya murmured as she buried her face against her legs. "We'll be back at camp in a bit, okay?"

"Fine," Hiei growled. "Just, be careful."

"Of course," Kaiya said with a smile. Hiei flitted off after that, and Kaiya's eyes met Vegeta's questioning gaze. "He doesn't like me being out at night anymore, or in the rain. I don't like that either, though I do love stargazing. I do miss going out for night walks to be alone, but I can live with it provided Jiro doesn't get another chance to…"

The atmosphere between the two siblings grew heavy again as they both moved their gaze to the ripples in the water. Vegeta understood Kaiya's need to be alone at times. He kept to himself for the most part, needing the solitude. It had been a long time since he had had anyone caring for his wellbeing, so that was just normal for him. Perhaps that was why he found himself trying to distance himself at times from Kaiya and from the woman. Still, he didn't like the idea of Kaiya being alone either, especially because Jiro's presence shattered her confidence instantly. If she could defend herself properly, Vegeta would be less concerned. They'd have to work on finding an acceptable medium, especially since Hiei wouldn't be around for an extended period of time.

"Well, we should probably get back," Kaiya said, jolting up. "You ready?"

"I guess," Vegeta replied casually. "I still want to kill that human, though."

Kaiya let out a bitter chuckle. "Don't worry; I think they all do right now, especially because it serves as a reminder that Hiei and Kurama assisted them in fighting their own kind as probation and he pretty much threw it back in their faces. Let's just say that even though I didn't know them then, I can tell no one likes to discuss it. Sometimes the past is better left in the past."

"Agreed," Vegeta responded, though letting go of the past was not something he planned on doing any time soon. Kaiya did not need to know that, though. For now, he followed her lead and stood up from his spot in the sand, and then the two of them walked back to the campsite without another word.

Back at the campsite, food was already prepared and everyone had started eating. No one was speaking, and Kuwabara was still looking as guilty as ever. Kaiya and Vegeta joined them and, when everyone else was done, stayed back together to finish eating their many helpings. After everyone turned in, save Hiei, things seemed a little less tense, and the three of them enjoyed the peace the night had to offer. One thing was certain, at least for Vegeta; he definitely wanted to experience more moments like these. Maybe coming on the camping trip wasn't such a bad idea after all.

A/N: Wow…screw last chapter being my longest chapter in the story. This chapter is my longest chapter EVER on FFN :O It shocks even me. The scene transitions were the hardest to get through. Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter. :D