Chapter 3: Choice
Hearing Kyuri's answer suddenly made the crowd lose interest and continue their duties. The only ones who remained with him were Trunks and Hakusa. The Saiyan swordsman was still baffled by the chosen one's response.
"W-What do you mean you won't join?" he asked with a weak smile on his face. But his desperate pleas could not reach the hero's ears for he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts about the past.
Ten years ago, at Fasha's, Planet Vegeta's widely known family diner, the elite Saiyan warrior sat enjoying her meal discussing various topics with her husband and their patrons.
"Mm~ Fasha, if your husband wasn't married to you, I would've taken him myself!" praised a Hera Clan woman as she imbibed her stew. "He's such a magnificent cook!"
Fasha boasted a proud grin glancing her violet gaze at her husband. "Heh, why do you think I married him?"
"I thought it was my roguish charms?" he added playfully.
"Easy lover boy, I'll admit that's a plus~" Fasha smirked.
Stirring her soup slowly, the Hera woman decided to play the game. A sultry smile rose on her green skin as she gazed upon the chef's fit form. "So, if things were 'different'—" her flirting was interrupted by the wave of the cook's hand.
"I wouldn't be here right now. And I certainly wouldn't have a family with the most wonderful woman in the universe that I named this restaurant after." he smiled warmly.
A touch of pink warmed the warrior's cheeks despite her best efforts. She stubbornly looked away from her husband's gaze, not giving him the satisfaction of seeing her smile. "Mito, you flatterer." she mumbled.
The Hera woman surrendered with a defeated smile as she returned to her meal. "Treat your husband right, girl. He's one of a kind." she added.
"I don't need you to tell me that." Fasha bragged. Her bravado ceased when the woman left and she saw Tora and his daughter enter. "Well if it isn't Tora? What brings you here?"
"What? I can't enjoy the best food in town?" the tall Saiyan laughed. He tussled his daughter's dark hair as she stood by his side with her arms folded.
"And who do we have here?" Fasha asked leaning down to meet her comrade's child.
"My daughter, Serori. She's actually the reason why I'm here today..." Tora said evenly as a young Kyuri entered the diner covered in dirt and bruises.
Fasha's eyes widened at the sight of her battered son. "Kyuri, you're hurt!" Her observation brought forth Mito's attention as well. She could feel her blood boil seeing her son in this state and Tora knew better than anyone that she wanted blood. He motioned the petite Serori to speak up and inform the enraged mother what happened.
"Kyuri and I were playing when bullies came to pick a fight with me! He stood up to them and one of them hit him… really hard… But Kyuri didn't fight back, he just stood there shaking...!" Serori recalled remembering the lifeless look in her friend's eyes as he stood trembling with rage. It scared her. "I fought them off, but Dad was nearby before things got worse…"
"Which is why I brought him home to you safe and sound." Tora added. For a moment Fasha didn't say anything, she pushed her anger aside to give her son a sense of reassurance that he needed. Kyuri was still rigid with white-knuckled fists and held a distant gaze in his eyes. As his mother, she had her concerns for she knew this feeling all too well; Bloodlust. It was something that all Saiyans craved and although she would never admit it, Fasha wished that her only son inherited more of his father's genes because she knew how gentle his heart was.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Mito arrived with a cool rag to clean up Kyuri's face. "Hey champ, are you okay?" he asked with a worried smile while he wiped away the dirt and dried blood from his face.
When Kyuri said nothing a small frown appeared on his face and he glanced over to his wife hoping she could get him out of his trance. Fasha gave Mito a small nod and gently took her son by the hand as she spoke. "Dear, you can handle everything down here, right? I'm gonna give Kyuri a chance to calm down…" Fasha led her son up to his room to discuss what really happened and the instinct that roared in his veins.
As Fasha left, Tora stood puzzled looking at Mito who rubbed his hands worried over his son's wellbeing. "I just don't get it…" the Saiyan warrior began.
"Get what?" inquired the chef.
"Any other Saiyan would've knocked that kid's block off. Why didn't the little guy do anything?" Tora couldn't wrap his mind around the possibility that the son of Fasha would just take a hit. Serori's expression told otherwise.
Mito sighed and started to wipe off the counter, it wasn't the first time he saw his son like this. "Well, that's Kyuri for ya… He's just a little… bottled up."
Meanwhile, in Kyuri's room, Fasha gently sat him down on his bed as she sat next to him. His intensity began to wane once she started stroking his unruly onion-colored hair. "It's okay… You're home now…" she whispered softly to comfort him. After repeated efforts to calm her son, she succeeded when she felt him nuzzle into her embrace. He didn't cry, but it was clear he was still upset.
"It happened again didn't it?" Fasha asked patting Kyuri on the head. He nodded slowly in response. "Do you wanna talk about it, little guy?"
"…I'm scared." Kyuri managed to say after a long, silent moment.
"Of fighting?" the Saiyan mother inquired.
Her halfling son only shook his head as he continued. "Of myself…" He lifted his head up to meet his mother's matching eyes. "Serori only told you her side of the story…"
Fasha gave him a knowing smile. "Why don't you tell me your side?"
"Well, everything Serori said was true, except what happened to me. I got angry when the bully hit me. Really angry… and I wanted him to stop hurting me, so I stopped him…" his voice trailed off as he trembled remembering his actions. "Then I realized I wanted to hurt him more than he hurt me so I…broke his hand… And when he cried out in pain… I smiled…" Kyuri's voice quivered as he clung to the hem of his mother's tunic. "I wanted to make them all suffer! Am I some kind of monster!?"
It was clear now that her son was wracked with guilt from his actions, she never thought his instincts would be so impulsive. Kyuri's heart was kind, yet he carried the blood of a warrior, no wonder he felt so tormented. Fasha's violet eyes softened as she pressed her lips on his forehead to keep him from crying. "Stupid. You're not a monster." she said sweetly. "That's just your Saiyan instinct."
"Saiyan… instinct?" the young halfling raised a brow.
"That's right! We Saiyans carry the blood of the Wild and strive to fight strong opponents. That blood is in you too!" Fasha grinned poking his nose eliciting an innocent giggle from the child.
"But I don't like fighting Mama. I just wanna run the restaurant with Daddy." he stated shyly.
"And that's okay, sweetie. You can do just that…" Fasha started as she watched her son beam with joy. "But you'll have to learn to defend yourself with the help of yours truly! I'm not raising a punching bag!" she teased tickling him.
"But know this, my child… No matter how much you dislike fighting, there will come a time when the Wild blood inside of you is needed. Got it?" the mother said with a serious tone.
"Got it!" the boy cheered reaching up to touch his mother's face. "I love you, Mama!"
Fasha smiled lightly and ruffled Kyuri's hair. "Yeah, yeah, kiddo. I love you too."
xxx
Coming back to his senses, Kyuri rolled his eyes at Trunks' question. It should've been obvious to the other halfling by now. "Like I said, I'm not interested! I just wanna go home."
Hakusa grinned at the display. She felt that having someone as hesitant as Kyuri would only slow down the Time Patrol's progress. "Hear that, boss? Your 'chosen one' wants to go home! Why not send him back like he wants?" she added coyly.
"Wait!" Trunks exclaimed much to Kyuri's annoyance. "Please, hear me out for a bit."
"Make it quick." answered the chosen one.
"Look, I know this is a lot to process… and I'm sorry for calling you out of the blue and forcing you to fight… I guess you can say we're really desperate right now…" Trunks said lowering his head with clenched fists. Hearing the desperation in Trunks' voice made Hakusa pay close attention.
"And what does this have to do with me?" the Saiyan chef said in an uncaring tone.
"IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH YOU!" shouted the swordsman. "Shenron chose you because you have the power to change history, to save the universe! Could you really go back to living in blissful ignorance when life as we know it is coming to an end? Could you live with yourself knowing you had the power to stop it!?"
There was a sudden silence. Trunks' words held weight and Kyuri could now feel the burden weighing down on him. He abhorred fighting because of the savage excitement it gave him, but deep down he knew he couldn't avoid it forever. The thought of losing his family and everyone he held dear on Planet Vegeta was something he couldn't allow. It was then his mother's firm, yet comforting words whispered in his ears as if to sway his doubts; "But know this, my child… No matter how much you dislike fighting, there will come a time when the Wild blood inside of you is needed. Got it?"
"You're wasting your time boss. Send him back—" Hakusa began but was interrupted by Kyuri's interjection.
"I'll do it." he stated after taking a deep breath.
"HUH!?" shouted the bewildered martial artist. "But you kept going on and on—"
"I know…" Kyuri said looking down at his left hand. "You're right, Trunks… If something happened to my family, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. So…to keep them safe… I…I'll fight." He gave the two Patrollers a small smile as he steeled his resolve.
While Hakusa clicked her tongue, Trunks gave a sigh of relief and patted his fellow halfling on the shoulder. "I'm glad to hear that, welcome aboard Kyuri!"
"Heh, thanks." he nodded. "But first things first…" he added anxiously.
"Yes?" Trunks raised a brow.
"Do you have any communications around here?" Kyuri asked while internalizing the fear of his mother's wrath. "I need to check in with my folks and let them know I'm fine. I don't wanna risk my mom tearing apart the whole galaxy trying to find me."
"Haha any loving parent would go to the ends of the earth to find their child, right?" the swordsman jested.
"You haven't met my mother." the halfling chuckled wryly. "She turned a band of mercenaries into space dust just for threatening me. Imagine what she'd do to you if she found this place?"
Trunks gulped at the thought and decided to return to the topic at hand. "R-Right. Hakusa, if you please!" He motioned his employee to aid in the hero's request. She complied by tossing Kyuri a crystal ball which he gazed at dumbfounded.
"Is this…?" he started to ask.
"A crystal ball." Hakusa said evenly.
"Are you a witch?" he asked with a deadpan expression.
"Oh, shut up! Are you gonna call your mommy are not!?" she snapped.
"But how do I get it to—" Kyuri began, but it turned out that his thoughts of home allowed him to project an astral image of himself inside the diner just minutes after he left home.
"There you are Kyuri!" Fasha said with her hands placed on her hips. "Your father already started dicing up the meat, hurry up and help out! Mama's hungry!"
Trunks watched their exchange with interest. He wanted to see the face of the one Kyuri claimed would tear through the cosmos just to find her missing son and to his surprise, it was Fasha, a member of Bardock's elite group. As the right-hand of the Supreme Kai of Time, he had more than his fair share of watching the downfall of Planet Vegeta. But to see a different path before his very eyes was rather… comforting. The knowledge that somewhere out there the Saiyan bloodline was still strong and the living proof of the alternate warrior planet's survival was before his very eyes.
"Mom, about that…" the son started.
"What is it, kiddo? You look hazy." she narrowed her gaze with concern.
"I'm gonna be away from home for a while…" Kyuri drew a breath seeing his mother's eyes widen as he continued. "Before you jump to conclusions, remember what you told me when I was little? About the Wild blood in my veins?"
Fasha nodded as she recalled the past conversation. "Does it have to do with your time away from home?"
"Yeah, I decided to own up to the heritage you've given me." he said with a small smile. "I'll head home once I've taken care of everything here."
Her lips pursed into a broad grin hearing her son fully accept himself. He was at that age where Saiyans started forging their own path. She didn't question the details of his journey, all that was important to her was that Kyuri decided to live up to his potential. "Grow strong, little one. And come home soon."
"I will. I'll be in touch as soon as I can! Love you, Mom!" Kyuri grinned ending the spectral transmission.
At Fasha's, Mito came behind his wife wiping his hands clean from his cooking. He noticed his wife was in a particularly good mood seeing her tail sway about. "Something good happen, love?" he smiled wrapping his arms around her.
Fasha leaned into her mate's embrace as she nodded. "I just spoke with Kyuri…" she said grinning.
"You did? Where is he?" the chef asked looking around the diner for his son.
"Forging his own path." the mother said proudly.