Chapter 23
With late morning's light having fully encroached and enveloped the low lying land of the lakeside and several stars still visible in the vast, blue sky but slowly twinkling into imperceptibility, Princess Ayeka of Jurai completes the ten minute long task of choosing and carefully putting on her clothing for the day. Lilac and baby blue is the colour of her kimono today. Checking her hair in the wall mounted mirror she smiles to herself, satisfied with her appearance, before opening the curtains and allowing the warm sunlight into her and her sister's room. Sasami's bed is already made, the younger sibling almost always gets up long before her sister does even though the first princess of Jurai is not prone to oversleeping. All set and ready for this new day Ayeka opens the door to set off to see and greet her prince – or as she now can call him, her fiancée.
Wham. Bam. Splat. The first step is indeed the trickiest as Ayeka trips and falls over some unseen obstacle right outside of her door. Catching herself with a very quick activation of her rarely used powers of levitation that she is not want to forget about after the mess it caused yesterday, Ayeka lands and stands back upright and glowering at the obstruction now giving off a sleepy whine of pain from being kicked.
"And what by Jurai do you think you are doing laying in wait for me to nearly break my neck as I try to leave my room? Tsunami give me strength if this is the kind of wakeup call I can expect from my so called bodyguards every morning." Grouchy and annoyed at being so unexpectedly tripped up after such a small period of time after having woken up, Ayeka scolds the awakening Mihoshi. The cop rubs at her eyes and sits up as she apologises. Loose, blonde hairs hang before the blue eyes of Mihoshi as she goes on to explain that she was only trying to do her job but got tired during the early hours she was on shift and must have accidentally fallen asleep.
"Mihoshi! Please don't tell me you went and fell asleep at your post, you swore to me that you wouldn't do that again." Kiyone marches up and out of her room at the sound of the Juraian princess' voice and adopts a similarly angry tone as she also yells at her partner. Mihoshi quietly says she is sorry to Kiyone and stands up, retying her hair back into a neater ponytail. "Forgive my partner, Lady Ayeka, and whatever you do don't judge the rest of the Galaxy Police force by the standards she sets."
"Kiyone, it doesn't really matter about the calibre of either you or Mihoshi or indeed whether you find it necessary to spice up my mornings with the adrenaline rush of falling, but I told you this last night: I do not require you to guard me every hour of the day." Dismissing the two officers, Ayeka regains most of the calm and kindly mood she awoke in and walks off down the corridor. Half way down the stairway she hears a hefty door made of metal opening and then slamming shut. A slight smile arises on her face as this sound can only mean the arrival of one person as they take a short reprieve from their everlasting pursuit for glory, honour and power.
Heavy footfalls slog their way across the floor. Vegeta comes into the princess' view slowly ambling his way about. Ayeka modestly blushes at the sight of him for he has changed his clothes since she last saw him into something less destroyed but revealing nonetheless. With only a pair of loose black shorts on, the haggard Saiyan prince's mouth unhinges open in a wide yawn looking ever so much like a great beast of the savannah roaring. His stubble is even more pronounced after another night of nothing but training and the heavy set and dark bags under his eyes tell all that his need for sleep and rest is great indeed. Not seeing or noticing the high class lady of Jurai looking at him, Vegeta bends down and picks up something soft that his bare feet trod on. His knees crack as he stoops down and brings the item up in front of his face to examine what it is.
Sleep ridden eyes slowly begin to focus as Ayeka's begin to widen. Between grimy and sweaty fingers a delicate and silken material is held.
"Lord Vegeta! What by the Goddess do you think you are doing?" Ayeka exclaims at Vegeta. Aghast by his nonchalance at holding a pair of woman's underwear so close to his face, she hides her own blushing face with her hands. Vegeta turns to look at the Juraian on the stairs, only now aware of her presence, and greets her. Being a man who was married for the best part of a decade Vegeta has seen it all before and to him clothing is just clothing no matter what kind it is or if it is indeed a pair of lady's underwear that he just so happened across on the floor.
"Morning Lady Ayeka and I am trying to ascertain who these undergarments belong to. Not that I can tell anything from sight, no name tag on them, and I am certainly not willing to use my nose to distinguish the person's scent." Vegeta lowers the panties in his hand. Wiping his brow with the back of his unoccupied hand, he massages around his eyes to try and keep them from closing. With a great crimson hue to her face Ayeka comes down the stairs and stands in front of him, seeming both extremely embarrassed and irked.
"You shouldn't even be contemplating doing such depraved t-things! Royalty, such as ourselves, should n-never fall prey to such per-perverse actions. A-a-and put those down right now!" She is nearly shouting at him, her voice raised, body tense and eyes closed. Vegeta doesn't understand what all the fuss is about, it's not as if he caught someone wearing only these – then he would understand – he merely found a loose article of clothing and was going to return it to its rightful owner. Maybe three days and nights with no sleep is effecting his thinking abilities.
Two pairs of hands wrap themselves around Vegeta's shoulders as a whooshing displacement of the air takes place behind the Saiyan.
"Hi Vegey. Ohhh, is someone being a naughty boy? You know if you really wanted to sneak away with a pair of undies then you could have just asked, I'm sure you'd much rather prefer some of my lingerie than some princess' granny bloomers." Ryoko's dirty giggle at the deep set embarrassment of Ayeka frustrates the royal even more. Cuddling into the bare back of Vegeta as her eyes greedily lap up the sight of the bare chested warrior, the space pirate playfully teases Vegeta's upright spikes of hair.
Vegeta absently hands over the underwear to Ayeka, who he discerns to be the owner from Ryoko's comments and her flustered behaviour. The princess hastily snatches them from him, feeling humiliated and on display and wholly believing that Ryoko has something to do with setting this up. She gets angry when Vegeta asks her why she had left her underwear there, saying that she didn't and would never do something so shameless as that. Ryoko goads and mocks her, all the while hugging an unimpressed Saiyan glancing over his shoulder at her. He looks and feels absolutely shattered. So many hours straight of solid and uninterrupted training reminds him of the hell he endured in the hyperbolic time chamber. Both then and now he has a reason for pushing himself that he will not allow himself to be distracted from. Not wanting to waste time dancing around the issue, he just asks her how her underwear ended up there, her face goes even redder and Ryoko begins nuzzling him.
A high pitched voice calls for help from upstairs. Only one person in the house has such a childlike sounding voice, Sasami, but the voice has no sense of urgency about it so whatever her problem is it is not life threatening. Ayeka turns and walks back the way she came to see what the matter with her sister is and Vegeta slowly ambles up the stairs with Ryoko in tow. Following the voice, the trio arrive in the doorway to Vegeta's room finding the young girl knelt on the floor besides a pile of clothing. Ayeka sees no obvious or apparent reason for her sister's call for aid and so queries as to why she asked for their help, Vegeta steps into his room and checks for anything out of the ordinary.
" Well it's just that I was going to go and do the laundry as Miss Washu told me that some experiment she did made a thing that stopped what normally does the laundry from working and …" Sasami looks down at the sets of training gear and Saiyan armour on the floor of the house owner's room and then up to the Saiyan now stood next to her. He nods in understanding as he tries to force his mind to ignore the call of his bed.
"So? I'm sure you can manage that, you don't seem to be as useless as your pathetic sister when it comes to housework. I mean even I can-" Ryoko stops talking as soon as she tries to pick up one of the jumpsuits on the floor. Her face frowns in confusion and looks at her hands, clenching them into fists and releasing them before gripping the clothing again. With some effort on her part, Ryoko manages to lift the garments looking down at them in surprise. Sasami simply replies with that being her reason for asking for help. Vegeta takes his clothing from Ryoko, folding it over his arm as he does so and begins to pick up the rest of his weighted training clothes.
"Vegey, why the hell does your clothing weight even more than Ayeka?"
"Oh that is rich coming from the sagging senile, and what would you know about housework? Are you even familiar with the concept of washing your clothes, I doubt it from a barbarian such as yourself. Lord Vegeta, I will aid in the laundry duties if you would like." Ayeka and Ryoko snarl at each other, their eyes fixed on each other and their claws ready to come out like two cats in a back alley. Stepping in-between both of them, Vegeta, without saying anything, gets them to cease and desist from continuing their trading of insults. Carefully he takes a single glove from the pile of his dirty washing that he is carrying and holds it out towards the princess of Jurai. He drops it into her awaiting hands. Ayeka's knees nearly buckle as she gasps in alarm and shock at the effort she has to retain to keep a hold of the one white glove.
The Saiyan takes back his glove and says to Ayeka he is grateful for the thought and lets Sasami lead the way down the stairs and out the house. Outside sits a large wash basin filled with the fresh and clean water from the lake it is set up next to. Vegeta is perfectly able to do his own chores though he does prefer having people subservient to him, willing to do such menial things for him and freeing him more time to train in the process. Dumping his outfits into the soapy waters he casually says to Sasami that when he is next available he will take them out. The cheery girl smiles at him and begins to busy herself first with the articles of clothing that are not capable of crushing the very life from her.
Stretching out his tired arms and rolling his aching shoulders, Vegeta turns around to the source of sound distracting him. Hurried and rushed movements approaching him, fabric rustling against itself and panicked breathing. The Saiyan finds a blushing Ayeka stood before him with her arms outstretched and barring him from passing her.
"P-please Lord Vegeta, don't look. I beg of you not to look." Her voice is timid and she earnestly does not want him to see what is behind her, but all that does is pique his curiosity and interest in what could be over there. Peering over her shoulder he sees several washing lines, some of which have hanging upon them the undergarments of the several females living in his crowded home. Ayeka is once again ashamed that such private articles of her clothing are on display for her prince, or anyone else, to see.
"Lady Ayeka, it honestly does not bother me, the sight of women's clothing. Be it your own or Sasami's I don't care in the slightest so there is no need for to feel as if me seeing it lessens your pride or worth as a woman. Now if you will excuse me I have some more training to do." Ignoring the futile attempts in the background of Ryoko to try an elicit a reaction from Vegeta from her own underwear on display, Vegeta goes to walk past Ayeka and into his training room. Ayeka moves to the side and continues to block his way, but this time for a different reason. Both women say that he can't train. Stubbornly, Vegeta says he can and he will. Lowering her arms, Ayeka tries to say in the politest possible way that it is having a severe and negative effect on him whilst Ryoko blurts out that he looks like he is about to drop on the spot.
"Well then, until I do drop dead again I will not forfeit my training. Till either Kakarot lays broken at my feet or I fail to draw breath, those are the only two ways in which I will stop pursuing my goal." Vegeta sternly states to the two women caring about his declining health and well-being before he utilises his supersonic speeds to bypass Ayeka and carry on through the front door. Both see he is in no mood to listen to reason and allow his body and muscles the rest they need, but both still worry for the damage he is doing to himself by following such a reckless and haphazard route. Ryoko teleports off, leaving the two Juraian princesses to contend with the issue of the dirty laundry, the only thing that might marginally interest her here is continuing to provoke and annoy Ayeka yet she knows better with Vegeta in his current sleep deprived state.
Kiyone has invaded his training room in his absence, he finds her there peering inquisitively over the control panels and multitudes of buttons possibly thinking which of these would not mean death for her. Standing in the doorway, with his perfectly toned bulk filling its width, Vegeta clears his throat to let the copper know she is under observation and not welcome. Her teal hair flows as she turns her head to look at him and then back to this most intricate of machines, she chooses to ignore him for now. Looking up again from the main console she instinctively retreats back several paces seeing the Saiyan prince now looming right behind her.
"Leave. Now." Vegeta is getting irritated by the irksome behaviour of this woman nearly as stubborn and mule headed as himself, even more so for her delaying the instigation of yet more harsh training.
" You take another step and – and I'll have you done for sexual assault. Get some damn clothes on first before you start ordering people around." Kiyone's hand hovers over her holster. She eyes him warily as he mutely stands still for a few seconds. Stifling a yawn, he steps towards her and she, in response, steps back.
"My attire is completely acceptable for training, which is what I will do when you get your sorry arse out of here. … and what kind of a threat is that. Am I supposed to be scared at the prospect of my honourable name being tarnished by a charge of indecency. That is … if I allow you to communicate with your commanding officers and not to make it just another tally on my kill count instead … or two." A straight fist lashes out and impacts just under his diaphragm. Kiyone scowls and snarls at the man who just threatened her and her partner's life again, Vegeta simply looks down at her so called attack and roughly grabs a hold of her hand. Desperately yanking at her imprisoned hand to free it from his grip, Kiyone sees him slowly place on finger on her red fingerless glove. Her actions become more frantic but she cannot escape from his iron grip. Vegeta presses down.
Grunting in pain Kiyone gets her hand freed and holds it close to her, one of her knuckles cleanly moved an inch from where it is supposed to be. Gruffly, Vegeta tells her again to leave. She doesn't need to be told a third time as she walks out in pain, nursing her wounded hand as the thick bulkhead door is slammed closed behind her. Immediately after leaving the room Mihoshi runs up to her partner with a worried look on her face and asking how she is and what happened. Her partner and friend fusses over her wound as Kiyone briefly outlines what happened when she got in the Saiyan's way. Mihoshi removes the fluffy bobble on the rear of her costume as it reassembles itself into a clear, crystalline cube. Rotating its sections around barely visible planes of articulation, she manipulates this essential piece of kit all officers are given until its faces blink in a series of colours and a small vial of a light blue liquid spawns out of the device.
"That man is scary, Kiyone, and dangerous. Please don't make him mad by treating him like a normal criminal, he's different and not in a good way. It's not our job to try and take him into custody, not unless he does something to Ayeka or Sasami … but even then …"
"I hear you Mihoshi and don't worry, I'm not trying to anger him. It's just how can we represent justice whilst living in his house, on his planet and eating his food. He shouldn't-"
"Now, now Kiyone, I've told you before that you can't arrest everyone by yourself, you're just one woman. If you keep up that thinking it'll only get you hurt here. For now we just turn a blind eye to that, it's not like we can do anything about it so we might as well." Acting as the voice of reason, Mihoshi tries to persuade her long time friend to act with more caution and in a less confrontational manner when around the A class criminal. Kiyone reluctantly nods at her partner as she takes the stop out of the vial and pours the healing salve onto her hand, a handy piece of tech their side got in the aftermath of the Cold empire's disbanding. In her mind she tries to battle this sense of disloyalty and betrayal to the Galaxy police by letting Vegeta walk free, it grates against who she is and goes against the very reason she joined the police force in the first place yet it is the path of survival. She always detested those corrupt officials wallowing in their own filth in the higher echelons of the service taking bribes and being nearly as villainous as those she puts behind bars and now it seems she will have to take a leaf out of their book by overlooking Vegeta.
Mihoshi attaches her fluffy decoration back onto her uniform and Kiyone massages her healed hand. Together they both leave the house to see what their wards are up to and where they are. They find them as soon as they round the corner to the front door, stepping outside to join the two regal sisters and asking if they can be of any assistance to them. Sasami happily accepts their kind offer as she smiles and continues on with what she was doing, fastidiously scrubbing out any stains and then hanging up the wet clothes to dry on the line. The older sibling queries as to whether they could try and shift some of Vegeta's clothing from the bottom of the wash tub. Neither policewoman truly wants to touch anything belonging to the one who held their life in his hands but orders are orders and so they roll up their sleeves and Kiyone pushes her headband back and ties her hair back with it so that it will not get in the way or in the water.
Try as they might, both Kiyone and Mihoshi combined can only just move the items of weighted clothing when submerged in water. Confused and confounded, they look at each other perplexed as to how they can't lift even one of his boots. They struggle and dig their feet into the ground and raise his boot inch by inch, bringing it closer and closer to surfacing. As soon as it does breach the surface of the water however the lack of buoyancy soon tears the shoe free from their grip and sends it plunging back down into the depths with a splash. A whine comes from Mihoshi as she looks down at her drenched clothing. Dripping wet with the whole front of her shirt soaking Mihoshi moans, she gives up on the heavy lifting, leaving Kiyone to struggle on with it.
All of this commotion outside brings Yamcha out of the house, having just managed to find his way out of Washu's lab since she enjoys evaporating the single exit as soon as he enters. He raises a hand and waves at them in greeting and immediately has Ayeka rushing to cover up the washing lines in haste. She shouts at him to not look which only causes him to do the exact opposite as he wonders what he is not allowed to look at. Yamcha's eyes widen before he hurriedly averts them from the washing lines and pretends he did not see anything despite the redness on his face. Trying to distract himself he looks about but his blush only grows when he sees the dark skinned cop in her sopping wet uniform. He doesn't know what to do with his eyes as her shirt clings to her ample bosom.
Hastily, Yamcha goes over to the only woman he dares be near and awkwardly asks her if he can help, albeit cursing his nervousness around those of the opposite gender starting to come to in this situation. Kiyone is breathing heavily from the exertion of attempting to do anything with Vegeta's clothes and offhandedly resigns the duty over to the human male. Leaning against the side of the house and resting her weary arms, Kiyone repositions her orange headband back where it belongs and lets out a loud sigh as Mihoshi stands beside her.
"… I really need to get me some of these. These … these are brilliant!" The man is smiling as he holds the weighted training clothing in his hands. Wafting them about in the air to dry them for he dare not use the washing line and doubts it wouldn't snap as soon as he hung these items up, Yamcha likes this feeling of an object having some heft to it. He folds them up and lays the Saiyan's clothing down on the ground. Smiling, he sees Washu lurking about the house to find where he has gone to. Yamcha jogs up to her waving and she smiles back seeing him approaching her and listens to his question of whether she could make him some weighted training gear. For this though she replies with a counteroffer of her own and shepherds him back into her lair with a mischievous giggle.
The laundry work is quickly finished up outside with all four girls doing their bit. Clearing up and pouring out the dirty water from the basin, Kiyone takes the time to check her wrist. With her sleeves still rolled up from the washing she taps the top of what appears to be a digital watch. A small spherical hologram turns on and hovers above the face of the device, faintly glowing blue in the bright exterior lighting. To her disappointment she finds no flashing lights of red or yellow to warn her of an update to her current job, a reassignment or any contact whatsoever from the Galaxy Police. Mihoshi peers over her shoulder and asks what she was looking for to which Kiyone disinterestedly shrugs. She wasn't looking for anything, just hoping.
With the job outside done, the three women go back inside the house carrying the clothing inside with the exception of the pile of Saiyan clothing which will sit outside till its owner comes to collect it and those still drying out on the line. As they go inside, Sasami thanks the two officers before playfully running off with Ryo-ohki merrily following. In the front room, Ayeka peers through the porthole to the training room. She shakes her head at what she sees, it is paining her to see him push himself this far and put himself through so much physical agony for his namesake and pride. Being of Jurai she doesn't understand his Saiyan mind-set and wishes for him to desist from continuing on with this madness before he seriously injures himself. Through the sweat and exhaustion, Vegeta toils on in silence.
As his bulging muscles enhanced with ki tense and relax, his movements flow like the silent gales ripping through the desert and his shaggy mane darts about wildly, Yamcha pants from the exertion as Washu smiles at him. She calmly walks about him as he repeatedly goes over and over his attacks and counters and looks about pleased at this small toy she whipped up in under half an hour. It appears to be just a simple dome, a perfect hemisphere marred only be a single dial and yet it is doing the same job as its larger counterpart is doing in the large training room. Now, because of her portable invention, Yamcha need not rely upon finding a gap in Vegeta's schedule to see if he can fit in some training but can now do it in the comfort of her lab and within plain sight of her and at the minute she likes what she can see.
Yamcha's attire is currently being worked upon by her, as per his request, and so she has the privilege of observing him train in a similar manner of dress as Vegeta is in. If it weren't for his phenomenal speed the view would be all the more pleasing but she can't complain as she strolls around safely within the gravity field, counteracting its effects with another of her inventions. The protective pendant she is wearing only negates the gravity generated to a certain degree but luckily under the limits she can physically manage which surprised Yamcha for he forgot what her being a Tuffle meant – that she is well accustomed to her planet's natural gravitational force of 10G. With these countermeasures in place so that the scientist comes to no harm being within the generated field, she closely and meticulously analyses and examines him for the sake of gathering data and personal pleasure.
Their eyes meets as he continues his rigorous martial arts practise. He nods towards the machine, indicating for her to crank it up a notch for him which she willingly does. Higher and higher the dial creeps up over time. Yamcha stands stock still as the exertion begins to become too much for him to bear any longer, reaching his peak just before the machine gets to 250 times Earth's natural gravity. Straining himself to support his own weight he grins to himself and winks at Washu. She looks confused as to the dichotomy between the seemingly misplaced confidence in his face and the trembling within his weakening body and then the howling and roaring begins. He is about to show her the culmination of his past few weeks of training and what he has accomplished in secret when she sleeps.
For a brief flash the laboratory is lit up by a deep crimson glow. A shockwave emanates out cracking and destroying all screens and monitors in the nearby vicinity as an even more potent pulse of latent ki discharges out of his body frying circuitry and intricate electronics alike into a smouldering mess. Yamcha is knelt down on the ground with the machine deactivated. Within that single heartbeat he finally did it. He mastered the Kaioken ability. A decade worth of trying has finally paid off. After his own visit to King Kai's planet and learning of how Goku used it he always wanted to acquire this skill for his own. His entire body feels drained and burnt out, but he manages a weak smile towards Washu and then stops smiling and subtly starts glancing about for the door out of this realm.
"Do you know how long this will take me to fix?" Washu stands over him, peering down at him and frowning furiously. After the initial shock of his extremely short lasted power up she quickly determined from a quick look over her shoulder what her lover's little trick has gone and done to her delicate machines. Unfortunately, Yamcha cannot see the door where he came from and where his planet lies behind so he slowly pushes himself to his feet and smiles charmingly at Washu, apologising for what he has done. She is having none of it.
Literally shaking with pent up anger at the inadvertent destruction he has caused to her precious pieces of high tech machinery. She roughly grabs his wrist and sees him wince in discomfort, his body thrashed from the harsh and unnatural growth of power that he made surge through it. Washu pulls him close, her eyes viper like slits as she whispers quietly what experiment she is thinking of doing to him to repay her for the damages caused. Upon hearing those words Yamcha's blood freezes and a cold sweat breaks out on his already sweaty body. Those emerald eyes of hers lock onto his with malicious intent as her other arm starts moving off to the side to begin tapping on her holographic laptop spawning into existence. Yamcha runs for the hills.
Twisting out from her grasp and taking off in flight, he rushes as fast as he possibly can after the Kaioken in the direction he last remembers the door being. Washu's fingers type in the command to dissipate it as her stare bores through the fading image of her boyfriend and into the deep, dark depths of her lab. The command from her laptop suspended in the air has been transmitted and received but she sees from a pop-up on its monitor that he managed to outrace it over the short distance and escape for the time being. Calmly she walks over to a small cabinet, seething breaths escaping her as she sees more and more inventions in an inoperable condition. The effect was larger than she first predicted. She vents her frustration by slamming her elbow into the side of a cabinet to open up its concaved front. Reaching towards the shiny, black device, Washu picks up and attaches this thing of hers onto her wrist and conceals it under her sleeve.
Propping himself up as he rests against the door to catch his breath back after that desperate sprint, Yamcha wipes his brow. Having had barely enough time to recover he sees a face staring back at him through the window in the door. He holds onto the door handle and keeps it in a horizontal position. Washu struggles against the door, pulling with all her might to open it up but quickly gives up seeing how futile it is. Crossing her arms and tapping her feet, she stares Yamcha down. Yamcha turns his back to her being unable to look at that face directing so much ire towards him and sees someone else is in the room and also staring at him. He wonders why she is looking at him the way she is and then his gaze slowly slips down to see the reason. Both Mihoshi and Yamcha blush. He feels another effort to open the door from Washu which fails.
" Umm … Yamcha? Why are you …" She continues to look at him as he wishes in his mind that she would not. He might not be fully undressed like yesterday but he does not want to make a habit of being seen like this by women he barely knows; he thanks his foresight for not agreeing to Washu's proposition to training in the nude for his boxer shorts are his only saving grace at the moment.
Yamcha quickly thinks of an excuse and tells her in an unconvincing manner that he is just playing a game with Washu. He doesn't expect Mihoshi to buy it but she does and asks what kind of game it is as her eyes start wandering and her blush growing. Peering over his shoulder Yamcha sees the furrowing brows of Washu deepen further and can feel the ill thoughts being directed his way. Improvising, he waves off the policewoman's questions saying it's just a private, little game of theirs. She appears to accept this and realises that she isn't exactly wanted here. Mihoshi sits back down on the sofa and continues watching the television. Yamcha lets out a sigh of relief that he has dodged one bullet and turns around to face the other still glaring at him through the glass. Washu shouts at him to let her out. Pounding on her own door, she doesn't let up in giving him a piece of her mind, about how some of those gizmos that are now a smoking mess took her the best of a few decades to perfect.
Mihoshi occasionally glances over her shoulder towards this little domestic taking place as the noise from the irate scientist is stopping her from being able to hear the TV clearly. Muting it, she swivels around and queries Yamcha if they are actually playing a game or not to which he reassures her they are. She doesn't buy it however, if he doesn't want her to get involved in his personal problems then she cannot pressure him to do so and will have to just respect his decision. Yamcha knows she is only trying to be helpful and be friendly in this strange, new environment she has found herself in but now is not the time and most certainly not with Washu currently acting the way she is, never mind how justified her mood is considering the wanton destruction he caused by showing off. A soft and gentle knocking sounds on the wooden inter-dimensional door.
The desert bandit looks back through the porthole but instead of being greeted by his lover's face projecting menace and malice towards him all he sees instead is her shock of red hair and below that a young face. Washu, now having reverted to her early adolescent form, looks up at him with a softening expression and gently raps on the door for a second time. Looking down at her Yamcha sees what she is trying to do, with her lips starting to tremble and her eyes taking on a hint of sadness.
"Why are you being so mean to me Yamcha? Please let me out Yamcha. Are you being nasty to me because you don't like me? Is that it?" Her forest green eyes beseech him, gazing at him with a look as if he had just slapped her across the face. Yamcha mutely swears under his breath. Such an underhanded tactic for her to utilise against him, he has lost already and he knows it. He doesn't see it as fair that she can go and change herself so she appears as a small and defenceless girl. Then she adds one last finishing touch to finish him off – a budding amount of tears about to break from those wide eyes of hers staring up at him, pleading at him. Cursing his misfortune and her genius mind to try such a perfectly working ploy on him, Yamcha resigns himself over and opens the door for Washu.
" Yay, I'm so happy!" Washu flings herself at him and hugs him. This act of pretending to be a sweet and innocent girl like Sasami really does not become her but she can act the part when need be. With him just about to say something about how he is still uncomfortable with her having the body of an under-age minor, her eyes darken and her joyful smile becomes warped and sinister.
Yamcha has his arms raised so as not to touch this prepubescent girl's body and her face is still pressed against his rock hard abdominals as she subtly begins to roll up her left sleeve. At the last second Yamcha notices something is afoot from her suddenly dropped act and the unusual motions she is making with her arms. A silent puff of air and a muffled impact, a body slumps down. He acts upon instinct. Yamcha lunges at the weapon and with one hand crumples and bends backwards the barrel of the sleek, wrist mounted projectile weapon Washu concealed on herself. Another cold and penetrative glare is sent his way as he breaks yet another of her little toys. He doesn't apologise this time as he looks behind him to see the darted body of a police officer.
"They're just sedatives. She'll be fine, just won't wake up for awhile." Washu unemotionally states the facts to reassure him that Mihoshi is going to be ok so that she gets his undivided attention once more. She takes off the now broken tranquilliser gun and gently tosses it behind her into her lab and closes her eyes as she progresses her body forwards through time and to its physical peak. "And you still have some making up to do. It's all fine and dandy that you now can double your power briefly but what are you going to do to make this up to me, hmm? If you don't think of something, then I will."
He stutters and tries to think of things that might appease her foul mood but his offers of helping her in the repair work and other small things he could do for her are just met by her asking 'what else?'. Nothing he says to her she sees as being of the same value as the damages caused so she takes him by the hand and leads him a few feet back into her lab and closes the door behind her. She smiles at him, moving her head close to his and watching him getting more nervous by the second.
"As kind as all those things are Yamcha, I think a woman like myself deserves something a bit more substantial than those trivial things. I need you to do something for me. Something that would be tricky for me to do alone. … Now, a good while back I got a little request from a disgruntled princess to do a bit of research on a certain pirate she has a bit of a disliking of, you are going to help me do this. I've already got a fool-proof plan, all you need to do is follow it and lure Ryoko into my lab, and do all the other things you promised me. Then, because I am such a kind and forgiving person, I shall forgive you."
Tempering his body in the raging furnaces of combat, purifying and perfecting each technique he knows in the crucibles of war and feeling each blow he suffers like the smithy's hammer mercilessly pounding him into a better weapon against the cold metal of the anvil, Vegeta stands firm and fast in the training room. Pain and mind numbing fatigue have become a constant, never ending or fading away just gradually building higher and higher to all new levels like he wishes his power would too. Those things though are just demons of his mind trying to niggle away at his unbreakable resolve. Every time he feels as if his skeleton is about to shatter and his flesh peel from his bones he just thinks of the great and magnificent power that dwarfed his own and how he must rise to claim it, no matter what the cost may be to himself. Goku has haunted his waking mind for years upon years. The solitary obstacle he cannot beat. The dangling and tantalising apple hanging from the tree just out of reach of the starving man, this Saiyan prince forces himself to endlessly outstretch his arms in an attempt to take it for himself and satisfy the hunger that consumes him.
In stark contrast to the epitome of physical activity that the one she loves is carrying out, Ryoko drowsily naps on one of the high wooden beams with her head lolling off the side so she can see the television screen. Washu is still receiving damage reports and notifications on her computer as she taps her feet impatiently, watching Yamcha dangling a piece of string down to play with Puar. Together they muse over possible ways in which they could get Ryoko to willingly enter this domain of science for Yamcha quickly ruled out the method of just brute force for he knows punishment will be swift and severe when Vegeta finds out. Outside the house though a young superpower sits cross-legged on the far side of the lake, brooding and biding his time. He has not forgiven him yet for what he believes to be betraying the memory of his mother. Trunks continues to sit in silence and in a semi meditative state as he waits for the perfect moment. The young lad can sense the ever decreasing ki of his father, his strength being drained away from him by the harsh training. Soon his moment will arrive where he will force his father to listen to him and get rid of these women.
Except from the noise coming from the television and the random grunts and snarls escaping from the training room the house is in near silence. Outside of the door to the Juraians' room Kiyone patiently waits. She takes her job seriously no matter how ludicrous it actually is. Being stationed to guard someone, she always thought it to be an easy job not worthy of someone of her calibre but when one of the potential threats is infamous for his planet destroying she really would prefer any desk job right about now. Inside the room Ayeka and Sasami are privately conversing. Kiyone does not mean to eavesdrop but with so little ambient noise she can't help but overhear snatches from their conversation concerning yesterday's family visit. Soon silence is all that emanates from the bedroom after Sasami questions her elder sibling about the new arranged marriage. The police woman cannot hear the quiet reply Ayeka gives. With a yawn, Mihoshi climbs up the stairs to find her partner.
"Where the hell have you been? Sleeping again no dou– Ha!" Kiyone's frustration at the inherent laziness of her partner who has a bad habit of napping whilst on the job quickly abates as she breaks into uncontrollable laughter. She covers her mouth and tries to stop her laughing but cannot contain it. Dying down to a girlish giggle, she sees the inquisitive look on Mihoshi's face and the confusion as to why the normally so stern detective unexpectedly started laughing when she approached.
"Hey, what's so funny Kiyone? Oh no, I didn't drool in my sleep did I?"
"No, it's … it's nothing. Just remembered something, that's all." Still sniggering to herself, Kiyone tells her partner in-between chuckles that that is not the case. The truth she finds to be much more hilarious if more childish. She doesn't know who has done this but she reminds herself to thank them later. This little bit of amusement has tickled her immensely and she is grateful for it.
The door opens and Ayeka steps outside. Her hand rubs at her temples and the two policewomen can sense an air of unease from her. Lowering her hand, she looks at the two women who were waiting outside of her and her sister's bedchambers and her eyes linger on Mihoshi as a frown forms on her face. Ayeka steps towards them and they both stand to attention before her.
"Would you please explain to me why you are walking around with doodles all over your face? Actually, I don't want to know. Now if you'll excuse me I'd prefer some time alone please." Ayeka gives them no time to reply to her as she strides past them. She needs time to be with her thoughts after her sister brought up the still sore topic concerning the Saiyan prince.
"Huh? Kiyone! Do I really have something on my face, is that what you were laughing about? Oh, you could have told me. Now I feel so silly and embarrassed." Kiyone lets loose another burst of laughter as her unlucky partner feels at her face and then hurriedly goes into the bathroom to find a mirror and start washing off the pen markings all over her face. She supposes that during the nap she just woke up from someone most have taken advantage of the situation and that thought scares her. Somewhere in her laboratory, a mischievous Madame of science chuckles merrily to herself.
A fair wind gusts about outside, blowing at the cream coloured and florally patterned furisode of Ayeka's she changed into. She folds her arms together so her hands go inside the sleeve of the opposite arm and bows her head as she listens to the distant birdsong being carried on the wind. This was where she stood when she first got back from that terrible fight that cost Vegeta his life. There is nothing special about this spot at the edge of the lake, it doesn't offer a better view of the lake or the mountains but is just fairly close the doorway leading back into the Saiyan's house. She lets out a depressed sigh. Her sister is a kind and considerate girl but even being mature for her age she still is just a child and as such a stranger to the pains and pleasures of the heart. Sasami doesn't understand the situation, Ayeka cannot possibly begin to explain such things to her. Things of how she might love someone and they not love her back.
The warm sunshine feels good on her cheeks and the soothing tranquillity of nature alleviates some of the aching in her chest but she knows deep down there is only one cure for what ails her. She just hopes that when the time comes and Vegeta is finally ready to move on in life that her open heart will not be dashed upon the ground. For that is what she truly fears, it is not the time or the waiting but the idea, the notion, that during this time period his heart will be swayed by another. She saw how happy he was yesterday when the two of them were sparring. Ayeka can easily list several things that Vegeta and Ryoko both have in common but in her case all she can see are differences and points of conflict. It would be nice to just blindly believe that this hastily arranged marriage might come to pass however she knows him too well and he will not go along with anything of the sort; he will do something if and only if it is his decision.
Plumes of water fly into the air as the lake is seemingly bisected. A great, cacophonous rush of air blows at her hair and clothing and when she opens her eyes again she is shocked at the sight before her. A bit of water splashes onto the hem of her gown but she ignores it as father and son wrestle with one another. Panting and wheezing, Vegeta pins his son in a chokehold and roughly constricts in an attempt to quickly force his son into submission. Trunks struggles for breath but soon begins repeatedly punching his father in the same spot in the abdomen until he feels the iron grip around his neck lessen and so he makes a break for freedom. Fires of anger rage in Vegeta's eyes. He has deciphered the rudimentary plan of his son, at this moment in time they are both more or less equally matched in power yet for his current physical state he would give the advantage to his child. From behind him e hears a female voice telling them to stop fighting.
"This fight is on your behalf, Lady Ayeka. My son was aiming for you. If I stand down now I have no doubt that you will end up in a worse state than when Ryoko had her way with you. I believe right now is time for some father-son bonding." Vegeta stands firm and removes the bandages covering some of the injuries he has sustained from training. His cold, black eyes follow his son as he hovers in the air. He tells Ayeka to get back in the house and she partially obeys, standing now in the doorway so she can still watch.
"So is this what it takes for you to start taking an interest in your child, in your family? Is this why mum could never get through to you, because she couldn't fight?" The lavender haired youth angrily shouts down at his father. Restlessly flying this way and that, a perceptible aura is beginning to grow around him as he prepares for round two. He knew an attack on one of these women would draw out his father. Apparently his father favours them above him now for he is willing to strike him but not allow a finger to be laid on them, Trunks clenches his fists tight. Below him his father's fists also clench.
"You leave Bulma out of this. You are acting most unwise, my son, my patience can only stretch so far. We talked about th-"
"We didn't talk. We never talk. With you there's nothing but fighting or training."
"I train because I am a Saiyan, as are you. It is our duty to strive for power … and I promised your mother that I would protect this planet."
" You promised her a lot of things but somehow your training always came first, how many times did you miss my birthday, or mum's? You never did this for a promise, you always did this for yourself, because you don't want to admit that Goku is better than you. He's a better fighter and ten times the father you ever were!" Golden light envelops both lad and parent, blue eyes stare at each other. Too much has been said now, there can be no backing down. Vegeta ascends into the air so he is level with his son. Power swirls and manifests around them in a dazzling light show all but blinding the Juraian princess below.
The princess winces when they start going at it full force and has to brace herself, holding onto the door-frame for support when the shockwaves start to buffet her and the house. They truly are going all out against each other, holding back nothing and striking each other viciously and savagely. Soon, drops of blood begin to drop down off of the two fighters. Blows rain down mercilessly upon both of them, neither giving an inch or yielding to any injury. Ayeka has to look away for she cannot stand to see the sight of father and son fighting against each other in such a fashion.
A rock hard fists rattles his teeth as a knee follows through ramming into his nose, the royal blood of Vegeta spills out as his mouth opens in a pained grunt. His mouth then slams shut and crunches into Trunks' calf. Trunks recoils and darts backwards away from his father, in shock that he actually bit him. Wiping away blood from his mouth, Vegeta sinisterly grins back at his child. He motions towards his child to try his luck again whilst heavily panting.
"Has little Trunks had enough yet? What? Did you think daddy would play nice, well then you seem to be forgetting all I taught you. Play to win or not at all. You'd do best to remember that if you want to walk away from this brat. Fight like a Saiyan, not a human." Vegeta taunts his child, mocking him and the hurt on his son's face from the injury he bestowed upon him. He could have done much worse and would have if this were not his own flesh and blood; fighting dirty and unrestrained he may be but he has not let loose one single blast of ki yet. Trunks seems to be thinking of doing just that though as he roars in anger and pain as crimson freely trickles down his leg.
Vegeta continues to grin as he watches his son raise his arms above his head and charge up a phenomenally large amount of ki. Yelling and screaming as he does so, a massive fireball five times his size spawns above the head of the youth as his great, heavenly aura wildly flames outwards. Trunks is bursting with energy and gritting his teeth in sheer determination as he channels all available ki he has into this one finishing move. Anger has all but blinded him. He wants someone to blame, he needs someone to be at fault so he can vent out all his pent up fury and frustration upon them under the pretence of it being justified punishment. His father fits the bill perfectly being one of the few who could withstand his rage. Sparks of red fly from the gathered energy, the conflagrating mass of orange ki keeps on growing and growing and his father still hovers in the same place, not making a single move against him.
"I have made the mistake once before of disillusioning myself that a child from a soft, human upbringing will not dare to launch such an attack at myself. I am sorry my son, but -"
Bio-electricity swarms around the Saiyan prince and his hair raises to an even greater degree. For the briefest of nanoseconds Trunks falters and hesitates before letting loose his raging ball of ki towards his dad. As it blazes through the sky, burning a fiery path of searing plasma in the air, Kiyone and Mihoshi rush out of the house to see the cause of the commotion and then quickly rush back into the house. This is well beyond anything they can deal with.
"-you-" Vegeta kicks the energy ball out of the Earth's atmosphere for it to detonate harmlessly in the void of space. His form then vanishes from the sky. "-cannot-" A harsh uppercut thunders into Trunks' jaw and blurs his vision. The hand then quickly grabs the boy's throat and throws him to the ground. "-defeat me."
The confident Saiyan gradually descends down to the ground and besides the small crater that houses his wounded son. He really did not want to have to resort to ascending beyond the first transformation but this was a fight he could not afford to lose. Trunks' attack was reckless and would have caused great damage to the land if he had tried to block it in his first transformation, going into the second form shames him but he will bear that shame for his son's sake. He is going through a hard period in life so he shall do his duty and try and make it easier for his son. Trunks breathes in a a laboured fashion as he hauls himself up out of the hole in the ground. In none of his calculations did the boy anticipate his father still being able to transform to higher levels than him, he assumed that if they were of equal power then they were both limited to the same super Saiyan state.
Father and son just stare at each other in silence. One still on his hands and knees on the floor and the other stood with his arms crossed, both looking very much worse for wear and both reverting back to their base states. Vegeta lifts his son up from the ground and holds him in the air in front of him. The three women in the entrance to the house look on at this scene, unsure of what to make of the fight that has transpired.
Vegeta scolds his child for having learnt nothing and just repeating what he did yesterday, Trunks appears to not be listening to his father. The stern and battered father drops his equally injured son onto the floor and warns him of the possible consequences of his rash actions and how he should think more and act less on foolish emotions. Kiyone and Mihoshi ask Ayeka what is going on and she merely shrugs, Vegeta glances their way and silences the enquiry of the cops.
" Oh just shut up. You ain't exactly one to be talking about responsible use of power. Do you think it's easy for me knowing that my dear, old father is the biggest murderer in the universe? You're just a villain trying to act like one of the good guys! You were always mean and nasty to mum and me. It took until I was 8 for you to say anything nice to me at all and you always made mum stressed and angry. You've always been bad to mum, now you're being bad to me and I bet it wouldn't be long until you show your true self and start being horrible to these aliens here as well." Trunks stands tall and glowers hatefully up at his father. A small rock falls off of his outfit. It disintegrates before it hits the floor. The air still vibrates from the immense energies of these two, Vegeta wipes at his eyes and then at some of the blood creeping down his face.
" I was never intentionally cruel or unfair to your mother, my wife. She chose to marry a warrior and so she had a warrior for a husband, if she had any other expectations about what I would be like then they are not my fault. I changed so much for her, because I loved her, I even let her persuade me to not seek vengeance on the bastard who cut off my tail! You should show some gratitude and respect to your father, Trunks. I have tried my hardest to raise you as best as possible on my own to make up for Bulma. Think on this, I have been so much more lenient and caring to you than my father, the King, ever was to me. He raised me on his own before he died. My mother died when I was younger than you. So shut up and stop with this incessant nonsense now and don't you dare mention Kakarot again." Both Saiyans growl at each other, Vegeta's brows deeply furrowed and still fuming at the indignity of receiving such a pummelling from his own child.
Trunks transforms and so does his father. Only the extreme difference in their powers is preventing the son of Vegeta from attempting to strike him again, he is not that foolish or enraged to not see what will happen to him if he does. Vegeta turns his back on his child and takes a few steps away and begins to take down the freshly washed laundry from the washing lines. Luckily all of the items of clothing were securely fastened enough so that none of them were blown from the lines and scattered about. He picks up his own immovable clothing and strides back towards his house whilst still in super Saiyan 2 and purposefully paying no attention to his son. There is a noticeable limp in his walk.
Vegeta places the pile of his clothes by the door and hands the rest over to Mihoshi and Kiyone who seem petrified of the golden light emanating from him and the weird electric hum in the air that grows with his proximity. The Juraian princess is about to ask him something but he shushes her and tells her to be patient and wait a few minutes more. Bending down, he picks up the first gi he finds on the pile and dons it. Trunks shouts at his father to look at him. Vegeta does not and continues standing by the princess of Jurai and her bodyguards, scratching at his nose nonchalantly as he irks his son by paying him no heed. As Trunks continues to try and get his father to turn around so he can continue to argue with him Vegeta tells Ayeka to dismiss the two policewomen. She does this and they reluctantly leave her side, neither understanding Vegeta's reason being he does not want strangers to hear him talk about extremely personal matters.
The bulked up Saiyan breathes calmly and deeply. His unnaturally blue eyes meet with the red of Ayeka's. She seems nervous, both by his proximity and the hatred being directed her way by the super Saiyan son. Timidly she thanks Vegeta for blocking Trunks from harming her. A large rock impacts and splinters on his back. Ayeka is startled as crumpled pieces and dust fall off of the broad shoulders of the man before her, he finally turns to face his child.
"You are brave, my son. I have no doubt that you would still challenge me even if I were at full strength and super Saiyan 3, is this correct?" He casually ambles towards Trunks, who nods in response to his question.
"Good … Such bravery is commendable. Though you should know how much it tests me when you challenge me thus. You don't understand the Saiyan codes or principles, through no fault of your own mind you but because Bulma deemed it unwise for me to 'warp your mind' with our way of life. It is the gravest of insults for a Saiyan's life to be spared in a fight. When we fight it should be to the death so forgive my … inability to finish you, for I will not kill you no matter how much you anger me. I mean no offence in doing so." Trunks does not listen to his father's words but instead begins to start ranting on about how his father is betraying his mother by living with these women; at one point Vegeta does point out that it was not he who first invited Ryoko to stay in their house. Vegeta truly does hate the insult and shame he forces on his son from having to live with a defeat at his hands. Never before these past few days have they truly fought, only sparred, and his son is too human to know of the ancient Saiyan customs. It all stems from their biology, their Zenkai, to spare the life of a fellow Saiyan was showing that you were confident they would never become powerful enough to challenge you again after the power boost or ever again in their life. This is one of Vegeta's reasons for hating Goku, unknowingly he placed one of the greatest shames a Saiyan can have on him by being merciful to the defeated prince.
Eventually Trunks runs out of steam. Vegeta barely said anything during the childish tirade of his son, just a few corrections here and there to what his son was spouting. The son of Vegeta stands there waiting for his father to reply but gets nought but silence from Vegeta. Blonde hair becomes lavender as the boiling rage within Trunks simmers down and so Vegeta descends back down from his transformed state also.
"Trunks, Bulma … is no longer with us, whatever I choose to do in life from this point on will not effect her in any way. She is dead. I don't like it but there is nothing we can do about it. Hiding with the shades of the dead will not help you in life. … She would not want either of us to wallow in the memories of the deceased. It would be best for both of us to try and get on with our lives and move on past this." Vegeta kneels before his son as he calmly speaks these words to him. Trunks staggers backwards a few steps as he shakes his head, not wanting to agree with his father for that would mean admitting that his mother has passed on and left him behind. In the back of his mind he always clung to some faint and distant hope that there would be a way to bring his mum back to life or a way to see her again that would not involve his own death and his father is now making him wake up from that fantasy. The Saiyan prince feels the eyes of the Juraian princess upon him as he tries to soothe his son but then something triggers inside of him, his body moves as if on instinct alone. Trunks falls down onto his knees as Vegeta retracts his fist. The boy coughs up blood and collapses forward in a heap as a tear runs down his cheeks. Callously, Vegeta stands up, leaving his son on the floor and grovelling in pain.
"Saiyans do not cry … but, if they must, then they make sure they do so where no-one can see them." He ignores the pained noises coming from Trunks and wonders to himself how much of his ruthless conditioning was truly broken by Bulma and how much of the cold hearted Saiyan still remains within him. Many decades ago he was struck exactly like that when he was told of his own mother's demise. When her life was wasted and taken from her when giving birth to his runt of a brother, right now he cannot recall her face, her scent or even her name. Another deep wave of fatigue tries to engulf and drown his mind in the inky blackness of slumber as he turns and lumbers back on his way into his house again. The limp in his left leg is getting more pronounced without the ki of the super Saiyan to support it.
"Lord Vegeta … I ..." Ayeka steps out from the house to meet him halfway on his way back inside and stops him. The exhaustion from the fight with his son has caught up with him now, Vegeta has to shake his head in order to get his vision to focus on the woman next to him. " … How could you do that to your son? He did not deserve that even if …Oh my. You didn't hurt your son like that because he threatened me did you?"
"He is a tough and strong boy, he will recover soon enough. I feel no guilt in striking my child and it was not entirely due to his misbehaviour either, he doesn't understand the severity of what he tried to do." Vegeta pauses for a second to yawn. He can see that Ayeka is still confused over his violent actions and is not accepting his excuse of Trunks being able to withstand such a hit. She asks him again, but sterner this time, why he felt it was necessary to hit his son. Vegeta prepares himself for the reaction he knows she will have to his explanation.
" Do you ever wonder why I call myself Prince Vegeta and not King even though my father has long since been just a cold corpse floating around in space? And no, it is not due to any feelings of affection or sympathy towards the Cowardly King who bent his knee to another." Ayeka frowns in confuddlement at this seemingly off topic question and asks what that has to do with her own question. He did not expect her to understand where his explanation is leading, seemingly there is no-one alive out there who can understand the mind-sets of Saiyans.
"The child of a Saiyan will only ever challenge the head of the family to a fight when they themselves want to usurp their place and gain the dominant position of power. I am, and always will be, Prince Vegeta … for I never had the chance to kill my father." The fair lady covers here mouth as she gasps. He watches as her eyes widen and waits during the moment of silence as she takes in this new information.
"…Th-that's barbaric!" Ayeka does not mean to sound rude or offensive towards him but she cannot help but express herself emotionally after hearing about the murderous family systems of the Saiyans. She knew they were ruthless and had little care concerning the lives of others but she thought they at least held true to some of the common laws of morality of most sentient beings, it disheartens her to hear how bereft of compassion they were and how Vegeta still willingly and rigidly keeps firm to those beliefs.
"We could nit-pick for hours the differences between your culture and that of the one I am single-handedly keeping alive but I would rather not. I suppose for your people it would maybe be an equivalent offence to you brandishing and then swinging an axe at your father's tree. Am I understanding Juraians correctly with that?" Ayeka hesitantly nods in response. Doing such a treasonous and blasphemous act would be followed by capital punishment although she tries to argue the difference between attacking a tree, even if imbued with the spirit of Tsunami, and attacking a close family member with murderous intentions. Her words are cut short however as another woman materialises besides Vegeta. Without a second's hesitation she smiles gaily and hugs one of Vegeta's bruised arms.
"Ooh, are we chopping down and burning Ayeka's rotting ship? Count me in, sounds like fun." Ryoko smiles cheekily at the princess who doesn't even acknowledge Ryoko with a response, she just coldly stares at the space pirate. Letting out a sigh as he does so, Vegeta greets Ryoko. Behind them, Trunks staggers up onto his feet. Vegeta's head swivels around to keep an eye on his son. Trunks walks up to the three adults without saying a word. His angry eyes dart between the two women before he steps up to his dad and repays him for the gut punch. The space pirate by his side tries to give him aid by holding him up when he starts to arch forward from the blow but he gently pushes her aside and deals with the pain on his own. After a while Vegeta stands tall and proud again.
" Have fun with your lady friends then dad, though which one of them do you fancy more?" A growl, a fist and a menacing snarl are all directed at the spot where Trunks once stood but quickly fled away from. The son managed to get some sort of retribution there, using his father's wit he inherited against him. Seeing that he hit nothing but air, Vegeta crosses his arms across his chest and looks at the two women now looking back at him. He sees that both of them really want an answer to this question hanging in the air. Cursing his luck under his breath, he spits out some blood from his mouth and starts moving off back into his house.
"Ah, ah, ah, where d'ya think you're running off to Vegey? C'mon and talk, tell us. It's not nice to leave a girl wanting more." A hand grabs onto the collar of the retreating Saiyan's gi. Still holding onto the back of his outfit, Ryoko wags her finger at Vegeta as he turns his head to looks at the woman halting his progress. She coyly smiles his way. Vegeta shrugs off her grip and turns back to his house.
"You already know my answer to such a question. You are both equals in my eyes, and I do not … 'fancy'-"
"Oh, no, of course you don't. 'Fancy' is such a childish word, don't you think? Whereas what we will soon be sharing in will be … a bit more adult." She floats around him as she lowers her voice into a seductive tone, hovering with her face next to his. His eyes stare back at her but there is no warmth to be found within their depths. All Vegeta wants to do now is avoid this conversation and start training again. Ryoko playfully pokes his nose. "And can you stop with this whole not preferring one over the other indecisive crap. I mean, it's not like it's gonna be a hard choice when the time comes."
The Saiyan sidesteps around the levitating woman and takes a few more hobbled steps towards his front door. A mischievous grin materialises blocking his way. Ryoko's feline eyes drop towards his injured leg, noticing it for the first time as a dark, damp patch spreads on the navy blue outfit. In an instant Vegeta is stood on the other side of Ryoko and gradually limping on his way to the training room. The smiling face of the space pirate appears before him once again. He lets out an quiet but agitated growl, frustrated at her lack of patience for he only told her yesterday that he was not ready for any kind of relationship.
" Whether the choice is difficult or not is for me to decide alone. And I will not be contemplating such things until, as you said, the time comes, so until that fateful day rolls around I will not indulge your ego by answering such nonsense." With that said, Ryoko frowns at him. In her mind she was just trying to have a bit of fun with him yet Vegeta is as serious and unyielding as always. Ayeka walks briskly to catch up with the stationary prince. Stood by his side, she points a finger at Ryoko and holds herself with an official and regal air.
"Ryoko, you are bothering Lord Vegeta. If you continue pestering him then-"
"Then you'll what? Scream and cry like a helpless baby as I pummel you again? Whine and beg for your worthless and pathetic life as I sign my name again? Any of these things ringing a bell?" Smirking confidently, Ryoko steps forward with her hands on her hips so that Ayeka's finger is now pressing against her sternum. A small spark of energy flickers momentarily in the air between the two females. Ayeka smiles back at the pirate and pushes her finger harder into Ryoko so that her fingernail starts to dig into her flesh.
"Miss Ryoko, you do me a dishonour by underestimating me so. I will simply tell my loving sister that you are going on a badly needed diet and she is to not prepare meals for you anymore."
" I need to go on a diet do I? Does the princess hope that if she starves me then I will become as flat and unnoticeable as she is?"
"Women, separate yourselves and just stop bickering for one lousy minute." Putting a hand on each woman's shoulder, Vegeta separates Ayeka and Ryoko before things heat up too much. The princess of Jurai retracts her hand and modestly nods at the Saiyan prince, Ryoko sticks her tongue out at Ayeka. A few seconds pass as Vegeta watches the women to make sure that they behave themselves and do not try to strike up another row. The two women glower at one another, a shifting unease between the two. Getting bored, Ryoko looks away, her eyes wandering restlessly until they land on the Saiyan prince as they inevitably do nowadays. She smiles to herself and reaches out to hold his hand.
" Vegey, I promise I won't argue with her at all for a week if … you tell me all the things you like about me." Still grinning, she pulls Vegeta's hand towards her chest. He hurriedly yanks his hand back and out of her grasp before his fingers inadvertently touch anything. An evil look is shot her way by Ayeka as a trace hint of redness is seen on the Saiyan prince's cheeks.
"I … I-I do not agree to your demands." Vegeta takes a step back away from the women, feeling that his presence is a main instigator for most of Ryoko's shenanigans. She believed it was worth a sot considering the deal he offered her yesterday.
"I know, it would be quite a hassle, you'd be here all day trying to list all the reasons why I am the perfect woman." A chuckle of mocking laughter is directed at Ryoko from the princess as she quickly speaks to the contrary of what Ryoko just said. Warmth flows over and through both of their bodies causing them to cease before any escalations can take place. A super Saiyan stands looking in a disapproving manner at them. Acquiescing, Ayeka apologises to Vegeta. Ryoko pouts and teleports away.
Sighing and rubbing at his temples as he does so, Vegeta descends back down to base form before turning back to his house. He sends out a brief sensing to determine where the space pirate has disappeared off to, getting a snack from the kitchen it seems. Rolling his stiff and sore shoulder, he takes one step over the threshold of his house.
"L-lord Vegeta?" Ayeka calls out from behind him, a hint of nervousness in her tone. "I … I-I know you are too proud a man a-a-and still dealing with the passing of your wife, so I would never ask of you to recite such things for me. I am not as insecure as that abhorrent wench. … But … But, maybe …if it would please you, would you allow me to say mine?"
"Lady Ayeka?" Vegeta pauses, feeling the light touch of her fingers on his arm. This is most unexpected from the demure princess, he did not think that she would be the one to ask him things that would make him uncomfortable. Their eyes meet, both filled with uncertainty. She timidly chews her lip. Ayeka begins to speak before her nerves give out all together and before Vegeta's sleep deprived mind has chance to form an answer to her most unusual of requests.
" W-well … f-first you are a noble and honourable man who I owe my very life to many times over, you-you are the bravest and most courageous person I have ever met who is-" A blush had been growing on her cheeks as words escaped her mouth but now her face glows bright red as she feels his touch. Vegeta slowly shakes his head at her. Her eyes drop down to see his finger on her lips, he might be shushing her but to her it feels embarrassingly intimate. His finger falls from her lips as he places his hand on her shoulder and tells her to save it for another time. Ending the conversation with that, Vegeta turns and finally makes his way into his training room whilst Ayeka stands in the doorway still with a rosy hue to her cheeks.