Chichi huffed in irritation and crossed her arms over her chest. "I knew we should have left the house sooner," she said, shooting her husband a look out of the corner of her eye. Traffic was horrible, crawling at a snail's pace as they tried to make their way to the airport. "We were supposed to be there ten minutes ago. And we're nowhere near the airport!" She sighed again, her arms crossing even more tightly, if that were possible. "Bulma is going to have a fit."

"You know, Chichi, if you would just let me use my instant transmission," Goku started, glancing over to her as he kept his attention on the traffic in front of him, "we could be out of this traffic and parked at the airport in seconds. It's not going to scare anyone." He tried his argument again. He had been planning on using his technique, hence why they were now running behind when Chichi demanded that they pick up their exchange student 'properly'.

"You can't just go around popping up out of thin air. You're going to cause a scene one of these days," she answered. Really, it was bad enough that he did it at home, scaring the living daylights out of her. She flipped down the sun visor and checked her makeup and hair in the little mirror. "We want to make a good impression on our student," she reminded him. "We only get one chance to make a first impression. I don't want to start off by scaring him half to death by appearing out of nowhere." She sighed heavily through her nose as she sat back again and stared at the traffic ahead. "Really, Goku, how would we explain that?"

He blinked at her widely, not quite understanding what she meant. "Well, I just figured we would come out and say it, right? I mean, the guy is going to wonder about our powers anyway," Goku signaled to move over and waved at the person who let him through. "Also, if you are worried about first impressions, shouldn't Gohan have come with us?"

"Gohan is making a good first impression," Chichi insisted. "He's setting a good example by staying at home and studying. Let's just hope whoever they assigned to stay with us has the same work ethic as Gohan does. This is supposed to be an educational experience for both of them." She turned in her seat and fixed him with a stare. "Can't you just rein in your powers for a while? Can't we at least pretend to be a normal family, just this once?" she practically begged.

"Of course we can, Chichi, but what kind of example are we setting if we lie the whole time?"

Chichi sighed through her nose as they finally pulled into the airport parking lot. "Well, I suppose you have a point there," she admitted as she got out of the car and straightened her dress. She hurried around the side of the car to look him over, smoothing a wrinkle out of the nice dress shirt she'd talked him into wearing. "If we can't keep it a secret the whole time, can we at least just ease him into it? I just don't want to terrify the poor thing right from the start."

Goku was content to stand there for a moment, letting his wife fuss over him while he looked her over. She wore her hair pulled back in that tight bun, always, a few flyaway strands still managing to frame her high cheekbones. He reached out and gently caught her hand. "I promise I will do my best. I know how important this is for you, for Gohan."

Chichi gave an approving nod, then took Goku's elbow and walked into the airport. She was terribly embarrassed to be running so late, but she hoped that their exchange student would understand. She'd put a lot of time into planning this, applying to host a foreign student in the hopes that it would have a positive impact on Gohan's college career.

She paused once they were inside, scanning for any sign of the two students they were supposed to pick up. Since Goten had spent the weekend playing with little Trunks at Capsule Corp, Chichi had agreed to pick up the student that Bulma had decided to host this year too. Concern crossed her face when no one immediately caught her attention. "Do you see them?" she asked, looking around again. "I hope nothing went wrong."

Goku blinked and looked around, no one familiar standing out to him. "No. Who are we looking for?"

Chichi fished in her purse and pulled out some paperwork. "It says his name is Lindsey," she read aloud, wrinkling her nose again. Though she knew the name could be used for a boy, she thought it sounded rather girly. But who knew with a foreigner? "And Bulma said her student would be with ours. I don't think she told me a name."

Sabriena's head snapped up and she jabbed her elbow into Lindsey's ribs. "I think that's them," she said, nodding at the couple who seemed to be looking a bit lost. "I just heard them say your name. Please, dear gods, let it be them. I'm sick of waiting around here." She got to her feet, adjusting her short skirt, and whistled loudly, waving when Goku looked her way. "Did you say you're looking for Lindsey? She's right here!" she called, pointing at her friend. "We're ready to go!"

Chichi felt her stomach drop when she saw the young blonde waving enthusiastically at them. "Oh, this can't be right," she muttered under her breath. She moved almost mechanically next to her husband as they approached the three young women sitting there. It was now painfully obvious that these girls were waiting for someone, and they did look American. Her mouth felt dry and her throat tight as she tried to speak. This was not what she'd planned on at all. "I think you girls are mistaken," she said, looking at the paper again. "We were expecting a young man from America named Lindsey."

A loud snort escaped Sabriena as Lindsey gave a laugh. "Well, that's my name, but I'm pretty sure I'm not a man," she said, giggling. She reached for the paper Chichi held and looked it over. "Yeah, someone made a mistake," she said, showing the paper to Jenny. "All the information is right except for my gender." She jerked her head at Jenny as she handed the paper back. "She's supposed to stay with the Briefs and they told me I'm supposed to stay with the Son family. They never officially said where Sabriena was supposed to say, but they said they'd have it figured out by the time we landed and you all would know what to do."

"I still say that clerk was high. He had no idea what the hell he was doing," Sabriena muttered under her breath before she looked expectantly at Goku and Chichi. "Soooo… can we go?"

"Well, I'm Son Goku and this is my wife, Chichi. We're dropping off Bulma's student on the way back to our house." He frowned and looked at the extra person they hadn't expected. "I suppose you'll be staying with us or maybe Bulma signed up for one more and she forgot to tell us?" he asked before moving to take some of the bigger pieces of luggage sitting on the ground. There was a small vein in Chichi's forehead that twitched when she got irritated and he could tell she was doing her best to keep from getting upset.

In truth, Chichi wasn't entirely sure who to be mad at. This definitely wasn't what she had in mind when she decided to host an exchange student. She'd pictured someone more professional looking than the young women before her. And she certainly hadn't expected them to be female. A harsh sigh escaped her nose. "Bulma can sort this out," she said determinedly and followed Goku out to their car. Surely Bulma would have the answer for this, she'd be able to make it right.

"Ever feel unwelcome?" Lindsey muttered under her breath to Jenny. She wasn't entirely sure what to think of the angry and disappointed look on Chichi's face. She dropped her voice to a whisper, "I'm just gonna hide in your suitcase for the year instead."

Even in the fading daylight, Capsule Corp was still one of the more prominent buildings to stand out. The Corporation itself was huge, she had read about it as much as she could, but the family who ran the actual business stayed in the grand domed part of the complex. A jolt of nervousness hit Jennifer as their ride pulled to a stop in front of it. "Oh wow. If they hadn't already assigned us, I would be thinking this place is waaaaay above my pay grade."

"It is," Sabriena said, then playfully wrinkled her nose at the look Jenny shot her. "I'll stay here, though! This looks like it's right up my alley." She grinned happily as she got out of the car, her fancy high-heels clicking on the pavement as she trotted up to the front door. She hoped she got to stay here anyway. There was an uncomfortable tension in the car on the drive over, and she really didn't fancy spending a year in Chichi's company.

"Yeah, that's okay, we'll get your luggage for you," Lindsey called after her as she grabbed one of Sabriena's many suitcases from the trunk of the car. She gave Goku an apologetic look as he grabbed the rest of them. "I'd like to say she's just excited, but she's always like this."

Goku found himself chuckling as he easily picked up the large amount of luggage. "That's okay. It looks like she can give Bulma a run for her money during a sale at the clothing store." He leaned over, like he was going to share a big secret with her, "Personally, I think Vegeta's been teaching her a few techniques to help her get through the crowds, but he denies it everytime I ask."

"Oh! They're here!" Catie called out when she heard the commotion out in the driveway. She disentangled herself from Trunks on the couch as she called out to Bulma and hurried over to the door. "Hi! Come in!" she greeted brightly, stepping aside to let them all into the house.

"Bulma!" Chichi said, her eyes wide, "We need to talk. There's been some sort of mix up." She waved the paperwork at her friend, barely paying attention as Goku brought in the luggage. "I don't know what happened, but this is all wrong!"

Bulma leaned away from the flailing papers that were suddenly thrust under her nose as she walked in. "Good to see you too, Chichi. We were beginning to wonder if Goku had gotten lost. Why didn't you just use that nifty little trick of his?" she asked, finally accepting the papers and opening them. "What do you mean it's all wrong?"

Chichi leaned in closely over Bulma's shoulder and pointed at the paperwork. "They sent us a girl! I can't have a girl staying in my home! This is supposed to be educational. Gohan can't be distracted from his studies right now," she insisted. "And they sent three instead of two! Something got completely mixed up here. And I want it straightened out!"

Catie rolled her big eyes at Chichi and turned to their house guests. "Come sit down," she offered, shoving at Trunks to scoot over on the couch. "Let them figure out whatever got screwed up," she said with a dismissive wave at Bulma and Chichi. "So which one of you is Jennifer?"

Jenny turned her attention from Chichi to the two people on the couch. "Yo! That'd be me." She studied them for a moment, quickly deciding that the lavender-haired man must be Bulma's son. "Here for the year." She could hardly believe it even as she said it. They were in Japan and this was the home she would be staying with. It was a bit daunting and she wondered if she'd get lost in the big house.

"Don't worry," Goku said as he brought in the last bit of luggage from the car, catching the wide-eyed look on Jennifer's face, "Bulma sends out search parties once a week for anyone they haven't found." He grinned before looking over for his wife, pouting as he saw she was still talking with Bulma about something. "Hey Catie, is Vegeta around? Maybe I can squeeze in a quick spar while they figure out what went wrong."

"As if I'd waste my time," came Vegeta's voice from the doorway where he stood, a towel over his shoulder and a bottle of water in his hand. He gave Goku a scathing look. "I know what you're up to, Kakarot. And it's not going to work. The tournament is coming up and you're trying to find a strategy to beat me. Well you're going to have to be a little more clever than that."

Goku stuck his lip out in a pout, lifting his chin defiantly at the other Saiyan. "Am not!" His voice dropped to a whisper as he sidled up to the other man and leaned over, holding up his hand to block the sound, "She had me driving again today! I hate sitting in that car, I'm too restless for it."

Vegeta chuckled as he tipped the water bottle to his lips. "You'll get no sympathy from me," he said. Why the idea of Goku trapped in a car amused him so much, he wasn't sure. Out of the corner of his eye, he surveyed the guests in his living room. Catie was talking with two young women he didn't recognize, and a third, the blonde, was not-so-discreetly sliding around the back of the couch to sit herself a little too close to Trunks. "The hell have you brought into my house now?"

"Meanie," Goku hissed before he looked over to where Vegeta's gaze was drawn, "Oh! I brought you the exchange students. I thought you knew since the last one ended so well for you." He smiled and glanced back over at Catie. "Though, I think Chichi thought we were getting a boy." He scratched at his head. "I didn't think it was this big of an issue though."

A soft snort escaped Vegeta. "Been two years now and I can't get rid of it," he growled, looking at Catie.

"I heard that!" she cried before returning to her conversation with Jenny and Lindsey.

Vegeta rolled his eyes and looked at Bulma. "What are you doing, woman? Starting a collection?" He narrowed his eyes, looking over the living room again. It was bad enough that Catie had stayed past the year she was supposed to because she and the future version of Trunks had fallen in love since he came to stay permanently in this timeline. But now there were two more? He gave Bulma a deadpan stare. "One is enough. You're going to turn this place into a damn zoo. They aren't strays you can just collect like your mother does with all her damn pets."

Sabriena wasn't interested in the argument that was slowly building between their hosts. She sat down between the arm of the couch and Trunks, and crossed her legs, her skirt sliding up just a bit higher on her thigh. "Hi! I'm Sabriena," she said, twirling a piece of her blonde hair around her finger as she gave him a long, sweeping look. By the gods, he was gorgeous. "What's your name?"

Trunks pulled his attention away from the conversation Catie had been having with two of the three students to find that the third had managed to squeeze herself in next to him. "Uh, hey. Trunks," he said as he held out his hand for her to take, "I can imagine you guys are worn out from traveling and then to have this mixup? Usually the college is better about this kind of stuff."

"It was probably a mix up on our side of the world," Sabriena said, taking Trunks' hand to shake, holding it a little too long. "I mean, they put Lindsey down as being a dude, so…" She trailed off and gave a light, flirty laugh and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Really, I don't mind where I stay so long as there's a soft bed." She yawned and stretched, then leaned her elbow on her knee and rested her chin in her hand. "It was a long flight."

Catie arched an eyebrow as she watched Sabriena flirt with Trunks. Ohhh, she was good. But not that good. "I came here as a foreign exchange student too," she continued on her conversation with Jenny and Lindsey. "But then I met Trunks and, well, couldn't leave after that. We've been together for almost two years now."

Jennifer glanced to the side, almost rolling her eyes at the way Sabriena was cozying up already to the first attractive guy they saw. "That's incredible that you were able to just drop everything and stay over here, must be one hell of a guy," she said, looking over to Bulma again, "How did his parents take to your liking of their son?"

"Bulma and I get along great," Catie said, leaning back into the couch and taking Trunks' hand possessively in her own. She scooted a little closer to his side, a small but confident smile on her lips. "Vegeta tolerates me," she added with a laugh. "Which is saying something, because he hates almost everyone. You get used to it. Just stay out of his way and you'll be fine." She leaned forward and whispered loudly, "And if he gets growly, just come tell me. I'll put him in his place."

"I heard that, Catherine."

Catie cringed and shrank back into Trunks' side again, giggling. "That's gonna be an extra week in the gravity room," she muttered, semi-regretting her teasing now.

"Gravity room?" Jennifer questioned, tipping her head. It didn't sound like a punishment. Sounded like some rich, expensive way to have fun and it sounded like it would be right up Sabriena's alley. She let her eyes flicker over to the man standing next to Goku while he happily chatted about something or other. The stern look wasn't quite to angry yet and there was something about the way that he held himself that said 'danger.' "Guess it will take some time to get used to all of these new fangled contraptions."

Catie's eyebrows raised. "Oh yeah, these darn kids and their technology," she said, raising her fist and feebly shaking it like an old woman before she burst into giggles. Oh, she liked Jenny already. She leaned in closer to Trunks and whispered loudly, "We're keeping her." And when he rolled his eyes, she just grinned bigger. "You guys thirsty? I'll grab us something to drink," she offered, clapping a hand to Trunks' knee and pushing herself up off the couch.

Lindsey leaned back in the armchair, sitting cross-legged, and let her head tip back. "I'm gonna fall asleep right here," she muttered, only half-listening as Bulma and Chichi continued to argue. Chichi didn't seem to be happy about any of this, and made it adamantly clear that she could only take one of them into their home. "Oh for fuck's sake, someone just decide something already," she whispered so quietly to herself that no one could hear. Though she really was tempted to yell it at them.

"Fine, we'll take Lindsey, but that's it," Chichi conceded. Jenny was assigned to Bulma, so if Chichi had to choose between Sabriena or Lindsey, she'd take Lindsey. Sabriena was petite with an hourglass figure, not a strand of her perfectly straight blonde hair was out of place, and her short dress and high heels just screamed of high maintenance and a need for attention. That was the last thing Chichi needed flitting around her son or her husband. But Lindsey was plainer, with wildly frizzy red hair, wearing a tank top and jeans over a figure that could probably stand to lose twenty pounds or more. Chichi felt fairly secure that neither her son nor her husband would take interest in that.

Bulma huffed out a sigh, leaning back as she thought it over. It had been a fuss with Vegeta when he learned that she had signed up for another exchange student, she hadn't bothered consulting him on the matter because he would ignore them anyway. Adding another with zero prep was another argument waiting to happen, but luckily for her, the Prince had some grasp of the concept that shouting at each other in front of company was not acceptable. She had come to terms long ago that they both had a talented knack for getting under each other's skin and that there would be days when acceptable was damned.

She remembered that Goku and Chichi also had Goten to take home with them. They really would have a full house while she had plenty of room to spare. "Okay, fine. It's fine. Sabriena can stay here." The way the skin on the back of her neck started prickling, she didn't even have to look to know that Vegeta was giving her a look of disapproval.

Catie returned to the living room, carrying a tray of glasses and offered them to their guests first.

"Oh thanks!" Sabriena grinned and grabbed two glasses, handing one to Trunks. So he was spoken for, so what? It wasn't like she was seriously trying to get into his pants. But he was the best looking guy she'd seen so far in Japan, and she needed the pick me up after a long flight and a long wait in the airport terminal. She sipped from the glass and gave an almost obscene moan. "Mmmm, this is so much better than what they offered on the plane," she gushed.

Catie pressed her lips to a thin line, drawing a breath through her nose to calm herself. She'd never considered herself a jealous person, but something about Sabriena rubbed her the wrong way. She trusted Trunks, that wasn't the issue at all. It was simply the fact that Sabriena obviously had no respect for boundaries.

And when Trunks made a comment about airline food, and Sabriena laughed and placed her hand on his thigh, Catie seriously thought for a moment about taking the tray in her hands and smashing it over Sabriena's head.

"She is NOT staying here," she hissed through her teeth at Bulma as she walked through to return the tray to the kitchen. She paused in her steps and leaned into the conversation between Chichi and Bulma. "I will use her pretty little face as a punching bag!"

"We agreed to one," Vegeta reminded Bulma. "Too many personalities under one roof is going to give you more of a headache than you bargained for." A smirk touched his lips. "And I can always go off and train for a year." His tone easily conveyed the threat. He'd done it before, it wouldn't be much for him to do it again. Of course, he and Bulma hadn't been mated before. The tiniest part of him doubted if he would make good on that threat, but he pushed it down and didn't let it show.

Bulma raised an eyebrow at him. "Mmhmm." She was a bit skeptical at that. "Well, I can't turn her away with nowhere to go." She could see why Catie wasn't thrilled about the prospect of the extra student living with them, as she was practically throwing herself at Trunks.

Though Chichi was one hundred percent certain she would never allow Sabriena to stay in her own home, she couldn't just put the poor girl out on the street either. "She has to have somewhere to go," she said. A frown crossed her face as she tried to think of somewhere they could let her stay. Kame house came to mind first, but even Chichi wasn't cruel enough to send a young, pretty girl to stay with that old lecher Master Roshi. Yamcha's apartment was a no-go, for similar reasons. Her face brightened the next second as an idea struck her. "I got it!" she said happily, snapping her fingers. "She can go stay with Piccolo and Dende!"

A snort escaped Vegeta before he could stop himself. "Oh, I can see that going over real well with the Namek."

"No, think about it," Chichi insisted. "That place is huge. It's just Piccolo and Dende and Mr. Popo up there. It's nice and quiet for her to study. I'm sure they won't mind a bit!"

Goku brightened up at the mention of the Namekians. "That's perfect! I can take her over there now." He scratched at his head, tilting it to the side as he thought. It was a perfect location for any aspiring student, if a bit high off of the ground. "But how is she going to get down from the Lookout. She can't fly yet, can she? How long did it take for Catie to learn?"

"Oh, Goku, don't be silly," Bulma said, thinking over how Piccolo might respond. She was leaning towards throwing them both over the side and saying to hell with it. "I'll give her an extra car." She smirked, eyes dancing as she shared a glance with Vegeta. "Piccolo can even teach her how to drive it."

"Well, I know it'll be a long drive to take her there, but really I think this is an excellent idea," Chichi said, holding her head a little higher.

"Drive her there?" Catie asked. "Just use the instant-"

"No!" Chichi cut her off. She cleared her throat, calming herself. "We're trying to present ourselves as normal as possible at first. Being around all of you can… be a bit intimidating. Now," she said with a polite little smile, "Let me use the restroom and we'll be off."

Catie narrowed her eyes as Chichi disappeared into the other room. She fished in her pocket and pulled out two capsules. "Here," she said as she turned to Goku. "This one is a spare capsule car. I tried it out just earlier today, but red isn't my color. And this one," she waved the second at him, "is empty. You can stick all her luggage in it." A mischievous little grin played across her lips, her eyes dancing. "You take that blonde to the Lookout now with your instant transmission and I'll talk Vegeta into sparring with you next weekend."

A smile spread across Goku's face as he took the capsules from Catie. "I want at least a whole day. We can go out North and level a few mountains," he insisted and beamed when she nodded at him, "Sounds great!" He looked over to the blonde and walked over to her, "So! Change of plans, I'm going to take you to the Lookout. You can stay with Piccolo and Dende! But we have to go now or Chichi is going to make me drive you there."

Sabriena looked puzzled, but got to her feet anyway. "Ooookay," she drawled, watching as he packed her bags into a capsule. "Ooo! Those things are so cool! You can't hardly find any in America. Our tech isn't quite caught up with yours." She looked over at Jenny. "Well, I guess I'll see you in class next week," she said, then turned to Lindsey to say goodbye, but scowled when she saw the redhead. "Fucking asleep. Why am I not surprised?" She huffed and turned to Goku. "Okay, so if we're not driving, we're walking?" she asked as he handed her the two capsules.

"Nope," Goku said as he stepped closer to Sabriena, holding out an open hand for her to take, "Something better. Just hold on to me."

"Oh good! Cause these heels really aren't meant for walking too much," she said, lifting her foot to show off the expensive shoe. She didn't know what to expect, but she slipped her hand into his, entwining their fingers together, and held on tightly.

Chichi opened the door from the bathroom and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Goku standing there holding the blonde's hand in his own, and his other hand with his fingers pressed to his forehead. "Goku, no!" But she hadn't even gotten the words out and he vanished from the spot.

A very Vegeta-ish smirk crossed Catie's lips. "Bye, bitch."