Chapter 121
With her flight and strength Ryoko makes herself useful and helps the parents of Bulma in their everyday household tasks. Ensuring she gives Vegeta distance she keeps herself busy this way. She misses breakfast due to her night owl sleep schedule and during her time with the Briefs she talks with them to extent about herself and her past and her time with Vegeta. Learning of worlds beyond the stars is fascinating for them since Vegeta is not one for telling stories or going into more than the most basic of details, and this curiosity slows down her recounting of her past. Concerning her more recent history there are certain areas she does not feel comfortable discussing with these people she barely knows and things that have gone on she maybe should not say to them. During lunch she observes the elderly couple cooking and watches and listens to them instruct her on what they are doing so she can learn this skill for herself.
Her task of looking over Trunks is quickly failed for his want to be in this place for too long wanes and she cannot stop him flying away as he goes to play with Goten instead. Ryoko's attention gets stolen throughout the day however whenever she senses the rapid diminishing of Vegeta's ki as he utilises the energy absorption gem. On his third trip there during the day she hears loud noises that are not the Saiyan's grief and upon investigation outside in the corridor she sees that the former husband of Bulma is doing basic construction work to fix the hole in the wall he made the day prior. When he works on the side of the wall not within his marital room she approaches him and watches to see how he is. He does not need help nor ask for it yet she hovers around and passes him tools and holds materials in line for him. With the job mostly done he asks her if she remembers the florist he went to the first time she came here and if so to get fresh flowers for Bulma's grave – either the same bouquet if in stock or something of her choosing for he is not clued up on the symbolism of flowers nor will Bulma's spirit be aware of them.
Fresh flowers are placed upon Bulma's memorial following half an hour of subtle teleportations about the city to track down the small building that houses the florist. Ryoko can sense Vegeta has gone back to training with Mrs. Briefs having laid out a tray of refreshments and drinks for him outside his training room. The pirate finds Ryo-Ohki having been unleashed into her space-ship form within the centre of the domed building used for housing the pet dinosaurs with Dr. Briefs studying her for recreational purposes. Carrots are a plenty to keep the cabbit's co-operation. Ryoko says all she knows on her friend's origin yet she is unsure if the planet she befriended the brown furball is the one she was born on with her being a space-ship. With Dr. Briefs' main claim to fame being the all powerful monopoly formed over capsule minimisation technology he pokes around the abilities of this spaceship to revert and compact into the small rabbit sized organic form to see if there is any merit to it.
Come late afternoon however Ryoko reaches a tipping point. She teleports from this urban environment back to the now abandoned lakeside. Lounging on the turf under the shade of a tree she rests and closes her eyes. Here she can breathe easy and escape for but a moment. Ryoko rests and succumbs to a peaceful nap. With the shifting of the shadows as the Sun progresses through the sky and shines onto her face she catches herself sleeping and wakes up. Next to her leaning against the tree is a Saiyan Prince.
"I shouldn't've left you to come here." Ryoko confesses.
"You are not leashed by my side. I ran here to gain peace and distance first, I will not pass judgement on you for doing the same. It's a fine place for it." His ki is slowly recovering after having removed the gem that saps his strength only minutes before. "You might be all for devoting yourself to caring for your darling prince during this time but that does not mean my responsibility towards your care has lessened. …"
"The plan was not to be smothering you and being my normal self pressing my help onto you and then maybe you'd come of your own will. Didn't think that'd actually work this quick... This is the place I've got with my memories of you, just like you got that house. You need a better poker face than that 'cos it's breaking my heart seeing you hurting so much." She leans to the side against his leg and looking down at his bare feet she spies a bruise and prominent veins on one foot and not the other.
Vegeta slouches down against the tree and lowers down to her level. Her empathy he sees and was the reason he gave her so many chances to back out from moving in with him to his parents-in-law's house. Maybe with a few more minutes he might be able to hide his thoughts better when his facade rebuilds along with his strength but as of now he is too fresh and raw from Bulma's room to do much of that. Only at times of great error on his part had he made Bulma hurt like Ryoko does now. This vulnerability he holds right now he needs for processing her passing yet its alarming contrast to his eternal efforts to appear the complete opposite is startling and frightening for Ryoko. She tells him that she is here.
"Trunks' gramps was right. He said you like those who are there for you, and here you are still being there for me when this isn't even supposed to be about me and damn ain't it been making me fall further for you.-"
"No. All I am doing is flailing in efforts to right a wrong I failed in allowing to pass at all. There is and was more I could have done. Your own loyalty towards me is undeserved until my failures are overturned." Pride kindles into existence falteringly as Vegeta rejects that what he has done for Ryoko so far is enough to atone or earn him this favour she claims.
"You took a bullet for me! I know sure as hell you ain't perfect but I don't have anyone else I could say would do for me like you. … Of course your whole crap of a mating season is... well it is. Still is. So we're both sadistic, we've both turned that anger and crappyness against each other. That mistake between us cost both of us so much. And I don't think I ever properly apologised to you for when the boot was on the other foot and I last had a defenceless man in my bed." She puts a hand on his shoulder as she tries to talk to the man and not to the ego. Ryoko earnestly admits that her forgiveness has not been completely earnt yet but even so her trust in him has been rebuilt by how he stands by her when she needs it whether that be crying in a Tuffle cell or here trying to get away from a house she feels has too oppressive an atmosphere for her.
"The fault is mine. I worked myself to the bone to that point of exhaustion and Washu helped little with her idiocy with yourself and her irrational actions she took because of her own complex surrounding babies and children." The weight of the world shall be borne on the shoulders of the strongest. As a Saiyan Prince he assumes responsibility for mistakes and failings. He shakes his head to himself. She should not require his forgiveness when he committed the unthinkable sin to a Saiyan of being so weak as to be helpless.
"Stop that! I am allowed my own fault, I am allowed my own responsibility, don't keep side-lining me and shouldering it all yourself 'cos you're a Saiyan and treating me like some useless woman. I chose to tie you to my bed then and almost chose to see what I could get from you when asleep, and I also chose to go to that damned rock in space. We both have shares in this. Together. You don't get to take that freedom from me."
Ryoko's hand on him becomes rough as she turns him to look her in the eye. Whether or not there is a way to break through his Saiyan psychology she will loudly let him know that she will not allow him to take her own agency and blame from her. He can self pity and self hate till the cows come home however she is an adult and does not need him to baby her like this even if he thinks it is a kindness. There is a mute apology as his eyes meet hers. Offending her was not his intention. Her grip relents. Ryoko lowers herself slowly down to rest her head on his lap and lets out a long exhale.
"You've grown into an even more wonderful woman since you first landed on this planet." One of his rough hands goes near hers and she holds it as he compliments her burgeoning maturity and strength as a person.
"Crashed onto this planet. That responsibility you can still keep." She playfully grumbles back with a half-smile on her face.
"I broke Ayeka's ship not Ryo-Ohki. One day I wish I will be wise enough to see why you decided chasing down the one who defeated Frieza in single combat was easy money." Vegeta teases back.
"Honestly it is. If I ask Kakarot he'd come with me and I can turn him in for cash then he breaks out and we both win."
"Fair point. I thought my extermination of the remainder of Frieza's force to be thorough enough, who has made that clown a wanted man?"
If there are more people that he might have to kill matters little to him, that or he can easily pass this clean up job to his mother for her to release some of her bloodlust. The state of galactic affairs is a concern for Jurai and not him. He knows where he stands in terms of power and that is all he cares for. There is small talk between the two as Ryoko discusses things beyond the stars from when she last saw them and of the criminal underbelly Vegeta did not manage to find. Cautious flirtation comes from her to cheer up both him and herself as she wonders to herself whether she can only do this since they are not where Bulma rests. Vegeta gives some of his silver tongue in return to Ryoko as she lies on him.
An apology comes from Ryoko in not being able to do her job in looking after Trunks so far since the lad left. The father of the wayward boy muses that Trunks will not be as keen to spend large amounts of time in that building as he is, and that Trunks will have far more memories of his mother in that place than Vegeta will. She tells him he is doing fine as a dad thinking as thoroughly on this as he does and gives him a light hug. Ryoko passes a small amount of her ki to him sensing his growing power as an offering of permission, wishing him luck in his training. The Saiyan smirks down at her and reminds her if she is bored then instead of lazing around whilst he uses his new training room the old one within the house is free for her to be productive within. He stands from her and vanishes back to grow his strength to levels that can tackle Goku and under the tree alone again Ryoko sings to herself.
Once Misaki's training room is constructed and Piccolo has given it a quick check to ensure all runs as expected so begins the task of teaching control to the Counteractor. A randomised amount of time dilation varies from either 75% – 150% real time to maintain a level of unexpectedness to when Misaki is training so that there is less of a routine for Kagato to learn and take advantage of. The Namekian warms up in just his dark blue gi and the two royal Juraians with him follow his example. Both Misaki and Ayeka wear their Juraian combat harnesses and so have darkened grey skin and costumes suited for high levels of mobility – all save for one item. Piccolo walks up to Misaki and instructs her that it is time that she removes the cast as it will severely impede all efforts, if she desires she can wear it in public to conceal this change yet when training she needs to also be at one with the dark arm and its power. As she hesitates in thinking of some excuse Piccolo uses his speed to rip the cast from her. She cannot hide from this if they are to train properly. First she has to accept it and then together they can learn what to do with it.
Not exactly inert but neither throbbing with power the black appendage sits there emanating a dark glow much like the passive aura of a perfected Super Saiyan. Her elongated fingers move as Misaki has full control over its motor functions yet the visual nature of her wanting her hand to move and this being what is there is not a thing her mind has fully accepted. Misaki sees that her daughter's eyes are upon this strange and ferocious new limb and out of shame she holds it close to her body and crosses her normal Juraian arm over it. If she can deny her fate as Counteractor she will. This is not a state a child should see a parent in.
Ryoko's scar across her back, Washu's aged and elderly form, even Vegeta and Goku's Oozaru transformation – Ayeka knows of many traits that people she knows would rather not be seen. She is here to help her mother and so she tries. Darkness and evil exists and she has confronted it and gotten the great Saiyan Prince to bow to her and so this wild energy shall not frighten her. Ayeka reaches out to her mother and goes to hold onto this new hand of hers. Wanting to protect her daughter from whatever energy this arm is made of Misaki reacts in fear. She whips her black arm away and recoils.
Blood drips to the floor as a talon of Misaki's cuts a shallow incision in Ayeka's forearm with no regard to the defences of the combat outfit. There is a pained expression on her child's face as they are both shocked by this accident. Using her old arm that has held and cradled her daughter before she carefully holds onto Ayeka and profusely begins to apologise for cutting her whilst holding the Counteractor arm as far back behind her as she can.
"You don't know how to use a hand with claws. I guess that's a simple enough place for us to start. Never been an issue for me but you learning to accommodate for the new physicality of that arm can keep us occupied for the next few hours." Piccolo holds up his own clawed hands and then reaches out and grabs at the black arm of Misaki. He looks to Ayeka and sees that the wound is nothing severe. Time for messing around and being emotional is over. This should be lesson enough how desperately she needs to start paying attention and doing as he commands.
Ayeka reassures her mother that it is only a shallow graze looking worse than it is and expects far worse injuries in training than this through her own experience with Vegeta. She tells her mother to listen to Piccolo and informs the Namekian that she can meditate independently whilst they focus on her mother learning her new part of her body. Misaki releases her daughter and with a grimace turns to face Piccolo, both somewhat equal in tallness as they face the other, and bows her head in request for guidance. He tells her for now light sparring between them shall serve for her to grow accustomed to the arm and its properties and not push her too hard into a dangerous situation. He throws the first jab and continues until he forces her into blocking with her black arm and using it properly in both defence and offence
Two concerned women sit in a sauna trying to release some of the stress from this week in a room adjoining one of the palace's gymnasiums and close to the training room their largest worry resides in. Funaho wipes at the sweat beading on her brow as Seto ladles more water onto the hot stones and releases fresh steam. Seto sits down again a comfortable distance from Funaho and lounges back.
"I think you overreach in your matchmaking. My son might be 'keen' in what you have set up regarding Airi however Jurai is facing too many conflicts now this need not be another plate we have to spin." The Empress of Jurai remarks.
"True. There is no urgency to be had on that front. Yosho can be tempered and if his focus turns more internal to the family then the reaction of only a dozen high families is all we have to work around when Haruna becomes your daughter. Airai would find a double marriage ceremony shared with a low born quite the insult. And who is to say, engagements are not signed contracts, romance and passion are fickle and trife." Seto agrees. Much has transpired since she cast those stones and much more can happen still.
Funaho nods at this as her own low birth lends her experience in terms of the handling and ramifications of Haruna. Her own son is not the only issue here.
"Is this in reference to our relation with the Saiyans through Ayeka or yourself, if that rumour is to be believed?"
"You doubt my resolution towards the empire in handling the issue of the Saiyan Prince?"
"If marrying for alliance or power was an act you personally partook in then my sister would be yourself and not your daughter. Holding but one sole husband does not benefit you in this. Nevertheless I find little chance in Prince Vegeta having want in falling for yourself when he knows it to be a scheme and you cannot hide your distaste towards Saiyans from his keen eye. Would it not serve us better if planning marriage into the Saiyan Royal family to not seize the roots of that tree for their Queen is vulnerable and widowed and as of yet the only one we can handle with our military." The black haired beauty calls out Seto on her plan and offers up her own.
Lady Seto acts as if musing on this thought she has already fully mulled over prior and shakes her head in declination. If perhaps her wish to the dragon Porunga worked as intended then King Vegeta could be a suitable target however she fears little co-operation from Queen Vegeta or ability to control her through any marriage partner that cannot defeat her in battle. The wishes of that enemy monarch are within her own species and also of creating a new generation of Saiyans, neither does she hold a want to marry herself or pursue any romance. Any man they offer there is likely to die trying, and with one of their strongest male combatants being Yosho or Azusa this is not a sacrifice they shall fruitlessly be making.
"The Saiyans are a concern for when they reach our planet and of what Ayeka decides. That much is out of our hands for now. My Missy however … Airai will be an issue if the true religious nature of my daughter is revealed to them. They will not stand for this 'heresy', whether it stands against gods they do not believe in or not. No spin doctor I know can make that arm and her pre-destined fate look good in the public eye – my moniker aiding little in this endeavour. She can hide it for now, or for a year, yet not for the many millennia she shall happily live for. The truth will out. Once this training is completed to some satisfactory degree then I believe it is best for my daughter to make her own decision regarding this, and we shall both gain some new grey hairs for it."
"You should have more faith in what Azusa's caring love for his wife can do for her. The arm shall not be an issue for her. Nor do I believe it will amount to much with the public if handled properly. Her popularity with the masses will see her through that with only the smallest of inconveniences. On-top of all else cumulatively however it is highly worrying. What I care for Misaki now is what happens if all other injuries she sustains only serve to reveal more of that form."
"Pleasing to know I am empowering the new home-world of the Namekians and have instigated diplomacy with them. If any power can offer us relief over Misaki it shall be that dragon and its wishes. … So what love is the Emperor offering that is far more curative than that of me as Misaki's beloved mother?"
"Nothing I shall speak aloud to the Devil Princess focused like a Mitsu in marrying off my own son as many times as she can just in case her daughter should ever stray in fancy down that path again."
"Such a hilarious thought that those motives would be the ones behind my actions. Glad to know I am not the only one here with a wayward child that likes to cause bother for their worried parent. If marrying off your son were such a trivial task then Tsunami would have truly blessed Ayeka in saving her from that mess. … Give it 70 years and all this will have nicely quietened down. Then I shall see what new fun I can start up." Seto smiles to herself. Though there are mounting conflicts on the horizon she is confident that Jurai shall weather this storm and her family shall be seen safe on the other side. Funaho is a smart and strong ally for her to keep close to even before she was related to her through marriage. She stretches content and rubs at the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes. The sooner this stress is done with the better.
Night falls on planet Earth and a door to a child's room is thrown open and blankets are tossed onto the carpeted floor. Ryoko enters and is about to switch on the light when the kid already in his bed transforms into a Super Saiyan to provide her the light she needs and looks at the intruder. She lounges down onto her messy bedding and starts sorting it out and looks up to Trunks with him remarking how weird this is. She whistles and Ryo-Ohki phases through the wall following her and she plops the cabbit up with Trunks as a bribe to the youth. Ryo-Ohki likes the warmth of the energy from Super Saiyan and nuzzles in close. Trunks mocks that he will have to watch out since her power level has climbed what he thinks to be a low 2 digit value by her mess around in his dad's old training room.
"Small increase like that every day with my long life and I'm set." Ryoko retorts.
" … After 100 years at that pace Frieza still doesn't need to transform to kill you. You can sense how much me and dad increase when training right? More than your power even on bad days." Trunks replies back after doing some quick mental arithmetic.
"Yeah yeah, hooray for Saiyans, woo." She sarcastically cheers. Her golden eyes hold him with a serious look. "Not what I'm here about. You doin' OK kid?"
Trunks pauses. The light from his aura flickers and pulses. He looks down at the cabbit and awkwardly nods. Ryoko cocks her head to one side then acts in looking about the room and afterwards tells him Vegeta is not here so he can be honest and she is not patient enough to deal with two idiot men trying their best to hide their truthful emotions whenever possible. He shrugs and vaguely answers that he is not having it anywhere near as bad as his dad is. Following a few seconds of silence he then thanks her for getting his dad to agree to this and go through this to help him. Ryoko warmly smiles at those words.
"You going to sleep or d'ya rather talk for a bit?" She asks, mindful of the time of night.
Again he shrugs and says that he has to be awake to keep shining for her until she falls asleep anyway and that he does not have any reason to be getting up early so can sleep in until whenever. Ryoko watches him. He is harder to get a read on than his father due to his young age and his mixture of both human and Saiyan behaviour. She starts by asking that in the past he has attacked her to protect his mother and so wants to be certain that her being anywhere in this house will not put her in danger from that. Trunks waves that off. That anger is long in the past. Unless she does something heinous that deserves his aggression she will not get it and if she does do that then it is his father she should be fearful of not him.
"Y'know I'm here 'cos your dad loves you and wants you taken care of so while he's getting his head on straight I'm here instead. That and he knows that he's got a few issues in parenting being a Saiyan so there's that, and we know who he gets it from. Not gonna hit you for crying 'n' all." Ryoko explains with a reassuring smile.
"I'm done crying. But you're wrong." He shakes his head but disagrees with the truthfulness of the overall message of what Ryoko is saying to him.
"OK, maybe I can't do all your dad can 'cos I don't have his years of experience being a parent but-"
"No, it's all wrong. You ain't here to sub in for dad. You're trying to marry him so you know who you're replacing. Maybe you don't wanna say it, maybe I don't either but that's what it is. And secondly it's a bit insincere you being here only because of my dad and not caring for me by myself. I'm not as naïve as Goten." There is no anger or much of any emotion within his rebuttal to her. He lays out the situation as he sees it.
Ryoko's voice catches in her throat. This kid is too smart for his own good. She pauses less so to think on a response and more to scan her surroundings with her ki sense to find how far away Vegeta is and if he could be listening. It is true that she is here for Trunks out of responsibility and duty towards Vegeta more-so than any personal attachment she shares with him herself.
"Mom." She sighs out the dreaded title. " We don't need to beat about that bush. I ain't being called that in this house, you ain't gonna call me that. You know my issues with that word and why I am a bit distant to you, but like your dad being a dick and having me go through so many hoops for him to fall for my formerly irresistibly charms you want me to love you then you can do stuff too – and not just wanting to fight with swords. All you need to know is if your dad's occupied and you want to talk or a hug or things that aren't a sparring partner then just come find me."
They talk for a bit about their common ground of Vegeta and how they view his handling of being here, and that with Vegeta's concern equally over how Trunks is handling it here he probably should not disappear off for lengths of time again. The Saiyan Prince is an odd one. To estimate how long he might need until he has sufficiently processed Bulma's passing is up in the air as to how long he can maintain this openness before he crawls and hides inwards again within his shell of Saiyan culture. Queen Vegeta is one such issue adding to this for she could influence her son into more Saiyan ways or remind him in how he should administer himself according to their code that he could have forgotten. However Trunks has faith that this location is too dear to his father for him to not stray more down the human path that was set before him here. This is a house he softens within, a place of comfort he can let down his eternal guard.
A few fond memories of his mother are mentioned in passing. Since his mother was such a constant within his life hindsight has him regretting how he sought more after attention and time with his father as it was such a rarity. Things trail off soon after as Trunks is tired and Ryoko will not push to artificially extend the length of the conversation and definitely not if it risks the light extinguishing before she herself is asleep. It is not until mid morning that either of this pair begin to wake up.
Trunks spends the majority of the day with his father. Together they either train or idle about resting close to Bulma's room or around the house. To all others within the house it is clear to see the great amount of solace father and son find within another in their shared company. For all the Saiyan Prince's want for extreme independence and in the similar manner he raises his son both rely upon the other. The son looks to and depends on his father. The father holds close the child born of the woman he loved. A year as a single parent by the lakeside and a year training together their strong bond is a heart warming sight for the grandparents. Yet one niggle exists in that near his child Vegeta does instinctually raise some guard about his emotions. As a Saiyan he cannot show weakness to his offspring for their task is to surpass him and all that weakness is will be an opening for them to seize.
The grandmother of Trunks invites Ryoko to come with her shopping within the city. Keen to impress Vegeta's in-laws and to have some distraction to occupy herself she tags along. Neither woman has that much in common besides their youthful appearance belying their age. Vegeta gave her money and so she can see if there is anything worth her time spending it on. Her pace she has to slow considerably for even when remembering she cannot fly in public Mrs. Briefs is only slightly younger than her husband and cannot keep up a brisk walk for long before tiring. Their movement through the city is hampered further when the celebrity status of Mrs. Briefs causes crowds and photographs to be taken which she is familiar with and she does not mind it but for Ryoko all this attention is unnerving and unwelcome.
Through a sneaky teleportation from Ryoko they regain their privacy. Together they go clothes shopping, Ryoko having a need to expand her wardrobe beyond the limited amount she has from that last trip for clothing she took two months prior. Remarks about each other's fashion sense are bandied around and mainly chalked up to cultural differences between their species. Ryoko has to ask about the pearl necklace of Mrs. Briefs and wonders if Vegeta gave it to her. She answers that it was a gift from her husband many years back and Vegeta has never truly given her that many presents beyond a grandchild. The reason for her question is given as Ryoko has only seen pearls before in the ring given to Ayeka and with that topic brought up Ryoko goes on to discuss at length her last time buying an outfit; that being her reserved wedding dress.
The pirate seeks what advice she can and Mrs. Briefs answers from her own experience and from being there for her daughter Bulma and of want to be there for her elder daughter Tights whenever that time might come. They talk whilst Ryoko reluctantly actually buys clothes instead of giving into the easier method of stealing them through teleportation. Their next destination is a pet shop where Ryoko starts finding lots of things she can get to spoil her cabbit with meanwhile Mrs. Briefs places an order with the shop for a delivery of food for their dinosaurs to her house.
An intensive day of focused ki training is had by both Ayeka and Misaki. From a tutor who has mastered ki usage what they learn in this one day is vast compared to previous teachers not being able to sense ki, tap into it directly or using manuscripts describing the power of the Juraian Royal Family. Piccolo takes note of the blue colouration of both of their ki constructs. Changes in energy, of mood, of technique or power can influence the appearance of ki such as the Super Saiyan transformation. No such discolouration in the blue occurs with Misaki in her ki, no blackness pervades from her arm.
All activities within the training room are reported back to either Azusa or Funaho and in the allowed breaks Sasami cheers on her family. At no point is any simulation or enhanced gravity activated for it will serve no purpose in the current curriculum of training. Light sparring to warm up and become one with their body and energy, meditation to learn of and control their body's energy and ki manipulation through their techniques to practise its utilisation carries them through the day. Actually being actively taught is a pleasant difference from Vegeta's near cruel training practises which does not surprise Piccolo to hear. Between his own personal experience training with others and teaching the younger generation he is composed also of Kami and Nail who are no strangers to teaching either and hold great wisdom he has access to. It will take time to get Misaki's abilities with ki and emotional control where he reckon they need to be yet progress is being made steadily.
Less actual progress is being made on the criminal investigation – or progress that is worthwhile at least. The heads of the Galaxy Police who are close relatives of Mihoshi along with her partner Kiyone are in conference with Seto, her husband, and Funaho. Destroyed AI, memory wipes, disintegrated hard drives, multi-layered proxies, dimension hopping and more render dead ends for where they can go next in their investigation. Piles of evidence point all fingers to Kagato. Pursuit and arrest of the individual has them stumped. No leads point to a current or predicted location nor for any areas he returns to often. Having been believed dead after the Tuffle's planet was conquered they know of no home or close ties with other individuals. They are foiled and since even Washu cannot pinpoint where he will or might be they are at a stalemate.
Jurai itself has limited resources to throw at this problem. An empire of its size is spread thin. Decades of war and conquest has its people weary and its forces at just over a level for a territorial garrison. On-top of this since Frieza's Empire fell they are now in the middle of a welcome period of demilitarisation and cutting back its armed forces. Neither troops nor trees that can be offered can cover the ground needed to scour the galaxy for one ship that may or may not be in this dimension to be found. What can be given is. However Jurai has many borders to protect and keep an eye on as do the GXP. Utsutsumi predicts that unless Kagato is baited into action and is caught in the act there exists little chance of him slipping up after evading Washu's search for this long.
They all know what event is the most likely target. Only a few days exist until Washu's wedding when all the people Kagato wants gone will be handily gathered in one place. Lady Funaho herself doubts any direct confrontation for the presence of Saiyans and their might is a thing Kagato avoids in his plans – like with Kain - and she cares more for continued vigilance during Washu's honeymoon afterwards when they lose the eyes of their greatest asset and protector.