In The Streets

The next day came and things went a lot more smoothly for Toushiro. After Vegeta had explained to him a little more about what an ambassador is suppose to do at meetings, and how to avoid insulting the king, the young captain's confidence was back to normal. The fact that he was more relaxed at the meeting made some of the other ambassadors more accepting of him. That... And his gutsy attitude.

"What happens to those who call you a 'kid', kid?"

Toushiro: "You wanna find out, pal?"

7 of the 12 ambassadors were starting to like Toushiro for that, saying that he was respectfully brave for his age. The young captain knew just how far he could push his luck with most of the ambassadors, but Salmu and Ebebu still gave him the chills. Something about them just made him uneasy. It was almost as if they were up to something. The meeting soon ended and all of the ambassadors left to do whatever they wanted for the rest of the day. As Toushiro sat in his room, he looked out the window with a sigh.

Toushiro: "God it's boring here. I'm either in a room full of people that don't take me seriously or I'm here! Isn't there anything we can do?"

Vegeta: "What did you have in mind?"

Toushiro: "Well..."

The young captain gazed out the window and down at the streets outside the palace walls. Vegeta saw his captains longing gaze out at the streets and smiled.

Vegeta: "... You want to go out in the streets, right?"

Toushiro: "Well, yeah... I mean... Can we do that?"

Vegeta just looked at his captain with a smile and raised eyebrow.

Vegeta: "Well of course! I'm the prince, I can do whatever the hell I want!"

Toushiro: "But won't your father disapprove?"

Vegeta: "I'm a grown man, and since he's been dead for so long... I'm actually older then him now. Ain't that sad?"

Toushiro couldn't help but laugh. The boy followed the prince out of the palace and into the streets. It looked like a normal busy small city and market place, only with saiyans and other aliens. Toushiro noticed that all of the saiyans wore these strange things around their bodies that were of different design and colors. The king wore the same thing too, but with a cape attached.

Toushiro: "What are those things that everyone's warring, Vegeta?"

Vegeta: "Oh that's Battle Armor. All saiyans ware them and so do many other races."

Toushiro: "Did you ever ware it?"

Vegeta: "Many times, Toushiro. In fact, you've seen me in it, albeit not the real me."

Toushiro: "What?"

Vegeta: "Do you remember the outfit that past version of me wore during the Cell Games? And during the battle with Frieza? Those were different versions of Battle Armor. I stopped warring it after the battle with Cell."

Toushiro: "Do they work?"

Vegeta: "Oh yes! Trust me, they work! Uh... Wait a sec."

Vegeta stopped and held his hand out in front of Toushiro. A second after they stopped, a saiyan was thrown clear across the road by another saiyan. When the path was clear, they moved on.

Toushiro: "Wow. Good timing."

Vegeta: "Thank you."

After they both walked around for a while, Toushiro started to get thirsty. Conveniently, there was a bar just up ahead.

Vegeta: "Let's stop in here and get a drink. I could go for a glass of water myself."

The prince gagged from the heat of the planet before he and his young captain walked in. The place was full of saiyans partying and drinking. The place was as loud as a sport bar during a sporting event. The only seats open were those at the actual bar. As they both took a seat, the crowd noticed something odd. Only moments after taking a seat, a saiyan came up to them. He was the bartender and possibly owner of the place.

Bartender Saiyan: "What will you boys have?"

Vegeta: "Just water, please."

The bartender fetched the saiyan and Soul Reaper both a glass of water. As he drank, Toushiro got an uneasy feeling. He peeked over his shoulders and saw that nearly all of the saiyans in the bar were staring at him. Needless to say, the boy felt a little uneasy.

Toushiro: "Why are they all looking at me like that, Vegeta?"

Vegeta turned around and saw the on-lookers staring at the young captain. He quickly fixed that.

Vegeta: "Is there a problem?"

Considering that Vegeta was 10x more muscular then any other saiyan on the planet, it didn't matter if people didn't know that he was the prince... He got plenty of respect without them knowing that! All of the saiyans went back to what they were doing before Vegeta and Toushiro had walked in. Once no one was looking at them, Vegeta turned back to Toushiro.

Vegeta: "They were looking at you because the color white, and hair are never seen together on this planet."

Toushiro: "Somehow I'm not surprised at that reason."

Vegeta: "So how'd todays meeting go?"

Toushiro: "It was a lot smoother than yesterdays. I think some of the other ambassadors are starting to like me. But Salmu and Ebebu... They still give me the creeps."

Vegeta: "They do have that effect on people."

Toushiro: "And your father is still giving me his B.S over you being my second lieutenant and not a captain."

Vegeta: "Ha! Why am I not surprised? Just let him talk. Eventually he'll see that his bitching isn't going to change anything. Maybe."

Toushiro: "Ha ha ha ha! I loved how you just said 'maybe'!"

And Vegeta couldn't help but chuckle as well. After a few minutes chilling at the bar, Vegeta decided that it was time to get going.

Vegeta: "Ready?"

Toushiro: "Yeah. We heading back?"

Vegeta only nodded before saying that by the time they get back, it would be getting dark. The prince paid the bartender and the two were just about to leave when they were blocked by a very much drunken saiyan.

Drunk Saiyan: "Hey! Where do ya think your goin'?"

Vegeta: "Home. I suggest you do the same, sir. You've clearly have had enough to drink."

Vegeta wrinkled his nose after smelling the warriors breath. The saiyan prince was never much a drinker and the smell of alcohol always made him sick.

Drunk Saiyan: "I'll tell you when I've had enough, pal!"

Then the drunk saiyan took a swing at Vegeta who only had to lean his head back to dodge it. Seeing the saiyan take a swing at Vegeta made the bartender angry.

Bartender Saiyan: "No fighting in here! If you want to fight, take it outside!"

The drunken saiyan stumbled with just a step. It was clear that he had had way too many. But then he set his sights on Toushiro.

Drunk Saiyan: "What the hell are you looking at, boy?"

The drunk took aim at the young captain. At mid-swing, Vegeta latched onto the saiyan's arm and pushed him away from them. This only agitated the drunk even more and he came running at them! Vegeta grabbed the saiyan's armor and lifted him off of the ground.

Bartender Saiyan: "I said no fighting in here!"

But the rest of the saiyans in the bar continued to shout 'fight!' at them. The prince looked down at Toushiro with a grin.

Vegeta: "Let's take this outside where our 'friend' here can get some fresh air."

Toushiro chuckled as he followed Vegeta outside. Nearly all of the other saiyans inside followed them out as well. Outside on the streets, Vegeta tossed the drunk to the ground and stood above him.

Vegeta: "Stay there and you won't get hurt."

Of course the saiyan didn't listen. He got up and went for Vegeta again but the prince had had enough and punched the saiyan in the face, holding back nearly all of his strength. The drunk saiyan fell to the ground and stayed there. Vegeta turned over to the crowd that had followed them outside, knowing that somewhere in the group the drunk's friends were there.

Vegeta: "I knocked him out cold. Someone should take him home where he can sleep this off."

And with that, Vegeta started back towards the palace with Toushiro right next to him. They both looked back once to see if someone was taking care of the knocked out man and sure enough, two other saiyans were picking him up.

Vegeta: "So aside from that, what do you think?"

Toushiro: "It's not a bad place but... I don't think it's a good idea to wander around alone."

Vegeta: "I'm glad you think that because I was going to say that I don't want you wandering around alone."

Toushiro: "Do you think that any of them have even the slightest idea that you're the prince?"

Vegeta: "No but let me change that."

Vegeta turned around and shouted at the group.

Vegeta: "Hey! Next time, think twice about picking a fight with the prince! You'll live longer that way!"

Toushiro burst out laughing as the whole crowd from the bar realized who that man was.

"Oh... Dear... God..."

"That was the prince!"

Bartender Saiyan: "No wonder he gave me a nice tip."

As the crowd tried to register the news, Vegeta and Toushiro returned to the palace. The next two days came by and everything went smoothly. Toushiro didn't have any problems at all. But that night, Toushiro awoke in the middle of the night and decided to take a little walk around the palace to help him fall back asleep. As he turned a corner, he gasped as he stared right into the glowing bright yellow eyes of Salmu!

Salmu: "Out for a little stroll, are we?"

The Iguanian grabbed Toushiro and shoved him against the wall! Those massive hands pressed against the boy's chest as he anchored him. Toushiro struggled to get free but Salmu had a firm hold on him.

Salmu: "It's a little past your bedtime, isn't it brat?"

Toushiro: "Ugh! Let me go!"

Salmu: "So what? So you can tell the king's son what you saw here?"

Toushiro: "I-I didn't see anything! I swear!"

Salmu hissed a growl as he brought his head closer to Toushiro. The Iguanian was starting to press harder against the young captain's chest to the point where it was starting to hurt.

Salmu: "Lier."

Salmu pushed against the boy's chest with enough force to make the wall crack! Toushiro looked right into Salmu's eyes and saw a look of murder in them. There was a real possibility that Salmu was going to kill him at any moment! But then...

Ebebu: "Salmu!"

Salmu: "Huh?"

Ebebu: "... Let him go..."

The Iguanian slowly lowered Toushiro to the floor, never taking his eyes off of Ebebu.

Ebebu: "We've come too far just for you to ruin it now! The last thing we need is to have you murder that boy and send the saiyan prince into a rage! I promise you'll get your chance, but you must have patience!"

Salmu released Toushiro and retreated back into the darkness with Ebebu, but not before he struck to Soul Reaper across the face with his tail! Toushiro was hit with such force that he was knocked back against the wall again and knocked out cold. The two left the boy in the hallway, with a concussion and a bleeding head wound.