Chapter 6
Capsule Corp was as busy as ever, even on a Friday evening. It was a fortune 500 company after all, Sundays weren't even safe when it came to business! But Bulma didn't care about that. Ok she did, but she cared way more about her Family. Goku's final few days of visiting had a way higher priority. What was the point of being a CEO if you couldn't pick what days you work? And if anything were to happen she had her work phone on her at all times. So instead of being in her office, she was next door at her house talking to her best friends in her kitchen.
"No, I don't think so. At least I don't remember." Goku said, looking up at the ceiling, trying to recall something. "But in hindsight I shouldn't have done it."
"Yeah. That was brazen even for you, Goku." Krillin replied. He was checking something on his phone, placing it down and replacing it for a swig of beer after he was finished using it.
"All I know is Vegeta wouldn't shut up about it," Bulma chimed in. "I think he was jealous, but he said you were ridiculous for enacting that sort of stunt."
"Hmmm, maybe. It all worked out though!." Goku was remembering one of the more memorable bouts in the ring. He fought Jeice Merah and Burter Blauw on the same night. The latter tried to avenge his best friend after he got knocked out in the first round, but he made the same fate ten minutes after challenging an incredible fighter.
"I can't believe you beat Burter so easily, considering he was the 'Fastest in the Universe' as his title said." Krillin mocked.
"Why did he have that nickname? He wasn't even that fast." Goku questioned.
"I don't know, no one knows."
"Can we talk about something else? Like who is coming to the party tomorrow?" He changed the subject. Goku was leaving Sunday morning, naturally Bulma wasn't letting him leave without a bang. She planned a backyard fiesta for whoever wanted to come.
"Course." The scientist pulled out a nearby notepad with names on it. "Let's see. There is us, Yamcha, Piccolo, Dende, Nail, Tien -I'm sure he won't come-, Popo, my parents, some other relatives, some of Yamcha's teammates, some of my employees, and I was hoping 18 would stop on by."
"WOAH! What? No way!" Krillin freaked out.
"Why not? You haven't seen her in over a week? And we can meet her, I've been thinking of getting an ear stud and she sounds like a perfect person to get an opinion from."
"Not gonna happen Bulma! You can ask her that later if you want! But she is not coming to your pool party tomorrow!"
"Why can't she co- OH! I get it. You don't want to see her in a bathing suit yet, you'll melt if you see her in a bikini."
"…" Krill was like a deer in headlights, he hadn't even thought of that, now it's all he could think about. He originally didn't want her to attend because he's sure something bad will happen. He'll embarrass himself, or someone else will embarrass him. Truth be told he's not ready to introduce her to anyone yet, he is adamant about taking things slow. Very slow. "That's not it….well it wasn't, I'd like to take this at my own pace and I don't want to introduce her to so many people. If it was only two or three I think I could handle it, but a whole party? Not gonna happen."
"Ok, I respect your wishes." Bulma responded.
"It's not hap- huh? …Oh, uh thank you."
"What?"
"I didn't expect you to drop it so fast. That's not like you."
"No use in continuing, you clearly don't want her to come and I have no way of contacting her. It'd just be a waste of time."
"Alright then, I'm gonna go to the restroom then when I get back we can talk about where and what we're gonna eat tonight."
"Mhmm." Bulma nodded.
Goku had zoned himself out of the conversation, but his ears perked at the mention of food. "Ooh, can we have pizza?"
"Pizza does sound good." Bulma said.
Krillin didn't have a problem with that, it looks like the discussion of 'what' ended quickly. Now was just the 'where', but first Krillin had to take care of bodily business.
As soon as his back was turned, Bulma got to work.
The super genius knew Krillin wasn't going to invite his blonde friend to her gathering, not a chance. That's why before even bringing it up she swiped his phone off her kitchen counter. It's his fault she got this idea, he shouldn't have left it there unattended…or look away at all. He was drinking beer, so it was only a matter of time before he had to go take a leak, leaving the room so she could perform her swift strike of assistance.
"Bulma? What are you doing with Krillin's phone?" Goku had to ask.
"Shhhh. Be quiet! I'm helping him."
"How?"
"I'm memorizing 18's number then I'm gonna put it in my phone and call her later."
"But he doesn't want her to come, and how did you even get into his phone?"
"Oh please, I have a photographic memory. I know all my friends' phone passwords."
"Ok then, what's mine?"
"Chichi's birthday, she's the one who set it up for you."
"Alright…but that's not the point, Krillin doesn't want her to come. Shouldn't you listen to him?"
"Goku, let me break it down for you. 18 has been like, what? 80% of Krillin has been talking about since you've been here. He's madly in love with her, and frankly I'm not going to let him ruin this. If everything he's told me is true, then this girl likes him a fair amount as well. If she comes I can make sure things continue to go well for them, and I can talk about how much of a great guy Krillin is in person. Word of mouth is the best form of advertisement you know. And besides, I'll think of a back-up plan if things start to go south. You gotta trust me Goku, how many times have I been wrong over the years?"
"..." Goku was silent, the bluenette's pushes usually did that. He scratches the back of his head. "Let me think about it, hold off on calling her."
"That's fair."
A door creaking shut them both up. Krillin came back to his two best friends staring at him. "Uhh, did I miss something?"
"Nope. Just still thinking where to get pizza. Nothing else." Bulma seamlessly covered. "Right Goku?"
"YEP! Nothing else at all!"
The accountant was creeped out. They were acting weird…but then again, they usually always did. "Ooookay then, I'm ready to go when y'all are."
"Can I get 4000 zeni on pump twelve, and one of these chocolate bars?" A, kinda chucky, middle aged man asked a woman who was over a counter.
She had extended one of her tattoo covered arms to scan 'one' candy bar. "...You said one, but there are two here."
"I know! I can't decide which one I want."
She sighed, and moved her gold hair behind one of her ears. "So…do you want both?"
"I WANT both, but I really should only have one."
"...So…are you gonna put one back…?" She kept glancing at him and the candy.
"I don't know."
I hate this job. "Look, I'm just gonna scan this one and I'll put this one back on the shelf." She flashed the barcode on the cookies and creme white wrapper, and put the brown peanut butter fudge bar in a box under the counter. "That'll be 4345 total."
"How did you know that was the one I wanted?"
"...Lucky guess..."
Somehow, the guy didn't do anything else to make the veins in her forehead bulge. He handed her exact change, said a corny joke (she already forgot it), and left.
"Ughhh, this shift is moving like a snail." 18 said to herself. Krillin's crush was at work, her REAL work. She was an hour into her shift at the Stop n' Fill and was already wishing it was over. She hated this job, but it paid the bills. There was no choice but to stomach it. What made it worse was that it was graveyard, meaning she wouldn't get off until 3:00 A.M.. Sure, it meant less people would visit the store, but that didn't make the customers any less annoying. Most of them were stoners, road trippers, or homeless people. All were a hassle to deal with. To pass the time she usually played on her phone, whether it was a game or social media. It's sad but that was the best part of her shift, getting high scores or seeing funny posts. "I hate this job."
"MINI!" A loud voice erupted. It almost made 18 jump out of her skin.
From around the corner, out came a rather tall dark-skinned woman with a big head of hair with a manager name tag that had 'Hopp' written on it.
"Fuck! Don't scare me like that. And do you really have to call me Mini? Like I get why I have the tag, but can YOU please just call me 18." The punk pleaded to the manager. And what she said was true, her work badge said 'Mini' on it. It makes sense when you think about it, having '18' written on it would cause a fair bit of confusion. She wasn't complaining about it, explaining the story dozens of times a day would be infuriating. But her boss, Hopp, knows the story, so why can't she call her by 18?
"Im 'bout to head out for the night. I need you to clean the women's bathroom, restock energy drinks, and refill the slurpee syrup." Hopp ignored her query. "And DON'T pawn that work on to the newbie when he gets here. Got it?" It might have sounded rude, but 18 got along with her superior. It wasn't her boss' fault that the job sucked, it was a formality. The only issue she had with Hopp was the aforementioned not calling her 18, but that was a bad habit if anything.
"Yeah yeah, I got it. We getting any shipments tonight?"
"Not until four or five, so the newbie will be in charge of that. I'll see you tomorrow, I gotta get home and get to my man before he falls asleep! If you know what I mean!"
"I don't." 18 played dumb. "Bye."
Hopp waved and strutted out of the store, clearly happy that she didn't have to be there anymore. One person's joyfulness was another's misery however, and no prizes for guessing who.
18 performed her favorite work pose: resting her chin on her palm and propping her elbow on the counter. She thought about starting on her work tasks, but brewing up some coffee sounded a whole lot better. That was one perk she actually enjoyed, free caffeine. And it wasn't half bad, given that it was from a gas station.
"Welp, guess I should start on something productive."
.
.
.
By 9:00 P.M. 18 had already cleaned and restocked, but she felt like there was something else she had to do? Surely she will remember before her shift ends. It was very boring tonight, more than usual. She didn't have anyone come, which wasn't really a downside. But her phone had failed her. Nothing really to make note of on social media, and she wasn't feeling like playing her game tonight. It's on a stale streak, the devs need to hurry up and patch it again. There was something else she did when situations got drastic enough, and it looked like things were about to get there.
The employee pulled out a huge pack of bubblegum from under the counter, "I'm making it as big as my head this time." She was serious, 18 has perfected the art of bubblegum blowing and is adamant about breaking her personal record tonight. Or at least she was.
*RING RING RING*
*RING RING RING*
"Huh? Oh. I bet that's Hopp. The woman woke up and first thing she thought to do was call me. Go figure."
But it wasn't Hopp. When 18 retrieved her phone from her back pocket she thought it was going to be her boss, or at the very least someone she knew. Instead it was a number that her phone didn't recognize. It was from the area, most spam calls were from out of town. It could be someone she knew calling from a different device, or it could be a wrong number entirely. She wasn't going to find out just by staring at her screen, and Kami knows she wasn't busy.
"Hmm….Hello?" It couldn't hurt to answer, so that's what she did. Making sure to sound extra stern, just in case
"Hi! My name is Bulma, is this 18?"
"Yeah…Bulma, that name sounds familiar."
"I'm one of Krilln's best friends.
"Oh shit…I mean, shoot. Well I gotta say, I've heard a lot of good things about you. So what's up?"
"Ditto. And I'm calling to ask if you could do Krillin and I a favor?"
"Maybe, but why didn't he call me?"
"It's a surprise, for him. See, I'm throwing a party for Goku's last day on his trip and I was wondering if you wanted to come?"
"Hmm, is that right? That sounds cool, I did want to meet some of his friends…If you guys are as cool as he says y'all are that is." She giggled. "But sure, I'd love to stop by. When is it?"
"GREAT! It's tomorrow at two. I can't wait to meet you. There will be a fair bit of people, but Krillin can introduce you with little to no issue."
"Don't worry 'bout that. I'm an extrovert, I'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow then, Bulma."
"Mmhmm, I'm looking forward to it. See you tomo-"
"WAIT! What should I wear? Formal? Casual?...Formal casual?"
"It's a pool party? Don't worry though, no one will judge you if you don't want to swim."
"You kidding me? In this hot weather? 'Course I'm gonna go swimming. I bought a new bathing suit last month. That means I'll get to show Krillin a little skin, I bet his reaction will be priceless."
"Yeah, I can tell we are going to get along. See you tomorrow, thank you."
"No, thank you. See ya" *CLICK*
A drab and very sluggish night just got a little more interesting….for a minute. The thought of having an out of the blue fun day tomorrow filled with sun, (hopefully) good food, and another chance to spend time with Krillin was great! But the potential memory fleeted. She was still stuck at her job for the next four hours with nothing to do. "Sigh…." 18's breath couldn't stay in her mouth. "Now that I think about it…the Name Bulma sounds familiar.
As fate would have it, the date of said gathering was gorgeous. Krillin was grateful, for now.
He pulled into Bulma's parking lot of a drive-way and turned off his car. He was proud of himself, he managed to be, what he considered, fashionably late. He had his swim trunks and a t-shirt on, and his first of many applied layers of sunscreen under that. He grabbed a few things from his car, a bag to keep his phone and wallet on when he swam, and a boogie board for a game Goku and Krillin made up when they were kids. It was just jumping on it and trying to not fall off, he wondered if it would be harder or easier as an adult so that's why he had to bring it.
Walking down the curved sidewalk and through the black iron gate, he waved at the members who were already there: Goku, Dr. Briefs, Mrs. Briefs, Bulma (of course), and to his surprise Piccolo.
Piccolo is a weird guy. Don't get anything twisted, everyone loved the VERY tall man, but there is no other way to word it. Despite his size he was quiet, kept to himself most of the time, strangely gave good advice, and actually started out hating Goku (and to a lesser extent Krillin and Yamcha) before becoming good friends with him and the gang. They were rivals for a short time, then became sparring partners, and now are full blown friends! Piccolo gave up being a boxer though and is now a high school basketball coach. It makes sense, given his size, but the truth is he loves coaching. He wouldn't tell anyone that, but if you got close enough to him you'd figure it out. Why did he decide to coach a different sport? Maybe he was able to coach more kids? Was it safer for those he was mentoring? The pay was better? It was anyone's guess. He is still no stranger to sparing, the tape around his knuckles gives that away.
"Hey guys!" Krillin yelled out. "Is that you Piccolo? You're here very early."
"And you're here late." He retorted with a smirk, then dapped up the man he was who he was over three heads taller than.
"Yeah Krillin, how come you're ten minutes after two. Traffic that bad?" Bulma piggybacked.
"Very funny you two!" Krillin said.
He hugged the bluenette's parents, as it's been a while since he'd seen them. They were incredibly kind people and he considered them to be an aunt and uncle.
"Good to see you Krillin sir." The good doctor greeted. "The caterers will be here at 2:45, you got that Goku?", Son threw him a salute, "Hopefully people start rushing in so we can get this party on the way, yours truly will be the master of ceremonies."
"Oh heck no dad!" Bulma declared before Goku said "Yea I don't know about that Dr. Briefs, heh heh."
.
.
.
Bulma, unsurprisingly, had a huge pool and backyard. People really started noticing that at around 2:30, which is when the first batches of guests started to show. Other than Yamcha and Dende (Piccolo's younger cousin), Krillin didn't really know that many people. He recognized some faces, but no one he would consider an acquaintance. He probably will hang close to Goku or Yamcha and interact with whoever approaches them. That way he'll greet and talk to some new bodies, but it will never feel awkward. Hopefully. But that's who he wanted to see the most at this gathering anyway, it was Goku's party after all.
The caterer's got here when Bulma's dad said they would, with them came a bevy of tacos, chips and salsa, guac, burritos, quesadillas and perhaps most importantly of all, margaritas. Things were going great, Krillin was having so much fun talking and eating that he almost forgot about jumping into the water to cool off.
"Yo Krillin. You see that chick over…eh nevermind." Yamcha approached the accountant with his almost question.
"What do you mean never mind?" Krillin responded back.
"You have a girlfriend now, and knowing you you probably won't even look at another woman."
"...Yeah that sounds about right. BUT she's not my girlfriend, not yet at least."
The baseball star pats him on the back. "Hmph, well I'm ready to cool down. Wanna jump in? Maybe see who has the better belly flop?"
"Ouch…You're on, should we get Goku too? You think Piccolo would partake?"
That's what the boys were up to, and as much as Bulma would love to watch them hurt themselves, she was camping the sidewalk that led to the backyard. She was on double duty. Greeting guests, but more importantly looking for a certain blonde. The businesswoman didn't know exactly what 18 looked like, but blonde hair, piercings, and sleeves should be more than enough to point her out.
"Hey Bulma! Long time no see!"
"Hmm?" Bulma hemmed at the mention of her name. "Ohh. Hey…what was this guy's name? It's Pepper something…I think…Pepper?!" Bulma ran into, or rather got run into, by one of Yamcha's teammates: Pepper Johnson. She didn't really care about him, all he did was try to flirt with her every time they interacted. He's pretty harmless all things considered.
"Thanks for inviting me-"
"That's gotta be her!" She said, not really responding to him. "Yeahnoproblem. Gottagobye." The billionaire darted past Pepper and another bunch of people and stopped right in front of. "18? Is that you?" Bulma eyed the punk from bottom to top, it all looked in order. She had on a pair of black athletic shorts and a white and red baseball tee, it was highly likely that there was a bathing suit underneath. Her arms, ears, and nose were the real dead giveaway, no prizes for guessing why. But as far as Krillin's description of the woman, he was correct. She was very pretty, and confident. She made the most of that ink and those piercings.
*THUD* 18 dropped her purse when she saw the bluenette in front of her. Not that she got jump scared, it was that…well…"Holy shit…Oops, I mean uh, holy crap. Yo-you ARE Bulma Briefs. Krillin is friends with THE Bulma Briefs?"
"Oh, you didn't know?"
"When I heard the name Bulma I didn't think much of it, but when you sent me that address and saw it was right next to a Capsule Corp building, well I was sure it was no coincidence. There was no way Krillin is best friends with a fu-fricking billionaire…Wow."
"I didn't know you weren't informed. I would have told you, but I assumed Krillin did. But listen, please treat me like you would anyone else, I'm just a woman like half of the planet is. I just happened to be the CEO of a fortune 500 tech company."
"Okay. Yeah yeah. Um, should we…go in?"
"Yes! You hungry?"
"Yeah, but I might eat something small then do some swimming. I don't wanna cramp up, but it's so hot."
"You got that right! But you might not wanna leave your purse behind."
"Oh shoot, yeah good call." 18 grabbed the strap and put it back over her shoulder. "I usually don't use these but I wanted to bring some sunscreen and an extra shirt with me ya know."
"I feel you on that. It's a hassle to keep up with, and in the summer it gives me a damn tanline."
The two entered the backyard, she was taken aback at how big the place was but she should have expected it given who the owner was.
"So is Krillin here yet? Did he ever find out I was coming?"
"He is! And no he didn't. But before you find him, I was hoping you and I could get to know each other a little better. Wanna chat over a margarita?"
"On the rocks?"
"Only way I drink 'em."
"Lead the way doc."
The two women sat at a nearby table, they were stationed all over the event. A caterer brought each of them a margarita, and 18 couldn't help but grab two tacos as an appetizer.
"So- mmm, these are really good, mmm- what did you wanna talk about." 18 said, her mouth full through most of it.
"I like picking people's brains. It sounds bad, but trust me it's not. I just wanna get to know you is all, I feel like I practically do after hearing how much Krillin talks about you…"
18 sensed an abrupt ending to that sentence, some that didn't sit right. "CRUNCH mmm- is something wrong?"
There was a pause.
"Can, can I be real with you for a second?"
18 nodded.
"Krillin's last relationship was awful. He was emotionally manipulated by this woman that none of his friends could stand. She only took an interest in him because of his money. He only stayed with her because he was insecure and she was pretty. It went on for way too long and by the time it was over he was a total train wreck. Goku and I, and even Yamcha, wanna protect him from that ever happening again. And it's totally unfair to assume anything of you, I totally get that, but we don't wanna see him get hurt again."
"That's really shitty, I don't have any intention of doing that, but why did you tell me that? Did you think that I was-"
"No no, heavens no. I thought you deserved to know. And maybe it helped you see something different in him…in a good way!"
18 was offended by Bulma's tale at first, but her intentions seemed real. "I get it. That's nice of you, thanks. And while we are being real, it makes his self deprecating attitude make a little more sense. SIPPPP!" 18 finished that statement off with a big gulp of her alcoholic beverage.
"Yeah, and on top of that he's so self conscious about his height, after Maron came along it made it ten times worse."
"Maron? Was that her name?"
"Yeah. Ok, we got the serious talk out of the way. Let's talk about something else!"
"Like what?"
Bulma moved her hair out of the way so that she could show off the side of her head "How would you go about getting another piercing on my ears?"
.
Meanwhile, back with Krillin and the boys. "Wow, look at that redness Goku." His best friend ogled.
"Yep, I think he's the winner. How'd you do it?" Yamcha asked the boxer.
"I just close my eyes so I don't see the pain coming. That flop sure made me hungry, Imma go find an empty table. Ya guys wanna join me?"
"Sure."
"In a minute."
The former was said by Krillin and the ladder by Yamcha.
"I gotta apologize to Bulma for one of my teammates, I know he's not gonna do it…And there is this one girl I saw that peaked a bachelor's interest. Heh heh, but I'll catch up with y'all. It won't be long."
Goku and Krillin nodded, that sounded like him.
The pitcher found his friend after a short search, he was glad to see he was going to kill two birds with one stone. Bulma was talking to the baddie he saw earlier. Who is she? HMPH, only one way to find out! Yamcha approached the eatery stand with his usual swagger. Though he had to make himself known because of how much giggling was going on.
"Hey Bulma!" He started the conversation.
"Sup' Yamcha, glad you could make it."
"Wouldn't miss it for the world. I had to come tell you two things-"
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?" 18 freaked out, if music wasn't playing maybe everyone would be staring at her for yelling.
"AHHHHH!" Yamcha got frightened. "What's wrong!"
"N-nothing, it's just that. Y-you're famous too! You play for the Los Monos Bandits. Shit what was your name again…"
"It's Yamcha Wolfe, and yea that's me. Nice to meet you." He extended his hand out to shake the blonde's.
She immediately accepted. "I don't watch baseball that much, my brother does, but that's still so crazy. Krillin is friends with two fuck- oops, fricking celebrities."
"You know Krillin?"
"This is 18!" Bulma chimed in.
Yamcha's eyes became as wide as first base. "OHH!" Yeah, now that he knows that it should have been more clear. Given, well, you know. Damn, Krillin is a Casanova I guess. Good shit buddy. "Well in that case, it's very nice to meet you. Though I'm not even the best athlete that Krillin's friends with."
"What do you mean?" 18 was confused.
"There's Goku, and…hmmm. Bulma, would you consider Vegeta a friend to us?"
"Sometimes." Bulma didn't sugar coat it.
"Ok, I know Goku was, or is a boxer. I don't know jack about the sport. How good is he?" 18 asked the two.
"Oh he was the best in the country at one point for his division. He is very humble about it though. He is taking a break now, probably for the best. And Vegeta-"
"That's my boyfriend by-the-way." Bulma intervened.
"Yeah, he is currently in the top ten. Both are heavyweight."
18's jaw was practically on the floor. Krillin grew up with some superstars. It was incredible. What were the odds of that? She didn't think of it initially, but it popped into her head later. Another missing piece of the puzzle of why he is so disapproving of himself at times. He is subconsciously comparing himself to his fundamental family. And those are some peaks to compare himself to. "Anyone else?"
"No, I think that's it…Say, does Krillin even know you are here? He didn't mention anything to me about it."
"No he doesn't, it's a surprise. I'm gonna go find him as soon as I'm done talking to Bulma…this is so surreal to me right now." 18 took another sip of her drink.
"Ok well I'm gonna go get some food- OH YEAH! Sorry about Pepper Johnson Bulma, I told him not to make a move on you."
"Pfft, don't sweat it. He's mildly annoying at best." Bulma mimicked 18 and took a drink.
Yamcha stood and talked for a few more minutes before going to get some grub himself, he waved the two ladies off and intended to see them again at the party. He walked away, very impressed.
"Anyway, where were we?" Bulma quizzed her new friend.
"Piercings. And like I said, given your image I wouldn't go for anything on the face. Another stud in the top of your ear would be a good start." 18 said.
"What about the bar you have on your left one?"
"I like it, but it hurt like a bitch for a week."
"Hmm, any other recommendations?"
"Yeah, belly button is an easy one. It doesn't hurt and is sexy…in my opinion. Ya gotta be an innie though."
"I am! And that is a good one, I didn't think about that…Then I think it's settled, know any good places?"
"Uhh, duh. I could take you there if you want."
"I'd love that! I'll check my schedule and back to you on that. But while we are on the topic." Bulma leaned in so as to not say this next part too loudly. "What are your thoughts on nipple piercings?"
"Great question. Overrated. Don't get me wrong, no other piercing will get your partner as excited as those. BUT, they hurt even more than the bar in my ear and if they get caught on something it's terrifying. I had a close call climbing a fence and…well, let's just say I was lucky I still have both my nips."
Bulma snorted, she was uncovering 18's great sense of humor. "Do you still have 'em in?"
"Not at the moment."
"I can only imagine Krillin's face if he saw them."
Both of the women cackled at the thought of that. A new color would have to be invited for how red his face would get.
But just as their laughter started, it faded as this time an unwelcome guest made it over to their seats.
"Hey again Bulma! This party is awesome." It was Pepper Johnson, trying to talk to the young scientist for a second time this afternoon. It probably wouldn't seem like he was hitting on her, but he was. He did it all the time.
"Who is this?" 18 asked, she had a pretty good idea though.
"Oh, this is Pe-"
"My name's Pepper Johnson, but you can call me PJ." He interrupted her.
"Oh yeah, you um…you're a-"
"I'm the left outfielder for the Bandits, same team as Yamcha."
"Oh that's cool, I'm not really a baseball girl. No one in my family is." She lied. The face Bulma was sporting was a dead giveaway, she did not want to be around this guy. Even if he was harmless, he was like a mosquito bite. Yeah it won't kill you, but you don't want them on you. She just met the blue haired woman, but she felt like doing her a HUGE favor.
"And your name is?" He stuck his hand out, same as Yamcha did.
"I'm Uso." She shook his hand, with zero vigor.
"What were y'all talking about, I don't wanna interrupt!" The irony of that statement…
18 flashed a face and a wink to Bulma, letting her know she could get rid of this mosquito for her. Bulma leaned back, confident that 18 knew what she was doing.
"We were just talking about dating spots, what's the best one and where we would like to go."
"Oh yeah, that's cool. You guys planning on going on a double da-"
"No, Bulma is my girlfriend."
"What? No that's not true, she's dating Vegeta-"
"Cover up, the media is still too sensitive. How would they feel if the richest woman in the world was gay?"
"Oh. I-I guess that makes sense…" His demeanor was getting weaker by the second. "Sorry Bulma, I never knew."
"Yeah she didn't want it to get out. But it was clear you needed to know. Promise you won't tell anyone? It would suck if the tabloids found out about this."
"Y-yes, you have my word! I won't tell a soul. Thank you for trusting me!"
"No problem. And I don't mean to sound rude, but could you leave us be. We were ready to talk about some serious stuff."
"Mmhmm. S-see ya later." PJ ran off. If he had a tail, it would be between his legs.
Bulma was dazzled by 18's performance, it came out of the blue and somehow worked perfectly. She couldn't help but applaud the punk. "Wow. Amazing!"
"Sorry if that'll get you in trouble, but he won't be bothering you for a while."
"Oh I don't care. If he tells anyone they won't believe him."
"That's what I figured…I've heard about Vegeta twice today? What's he like?"
"A pain in my ass!" Bulma waited for 18's giggling to conclude before she finished her description. "No but we've been dating for a while, and he's a great guy. He likes to keep up this facade but around me he is a total softy. He shares a lot of my-let's go with the word competitive-attributes. We're stubborn, hard-headed, and hate to admit when we are wrong. He loves what he does too, the whole boxing shtick. That's actually why he's not out here right now, he's all bruised up. He might come out when it died down, he won't pass up the food."
"Krillin hasn't really mentioned him."
"Yeah he's not too close to anyone, outside of me obviously. He does have this weird obsession with Goku. He's never beaten him in any type of serious fight and he wants to so badly. Even though he won't outright admit it."
"How'd you two meet?"
"At one of Goku's matches. He was fighting this real dick named Frieza Cold. He beat Vegeta a couple of months prior, and it was Goku's turn to face him. We hit it off once we miraculously got seated right next to each other."
"That's pretty cool. How many months have you two been dating?"
"Oh…around 6."
"6 months, is p-"
"Years."
18 was flabbergasted. "6 years? And he hasn't put a ring on it?"
"Yeah…He uhh, it's complicated."
"It must be. That sounds personal, so you don't gotta tell me anymore…Wanna hit the water with me?"
"I'd love to." Bulma agreed, thankful that 18 didn't pry into that can of worms. She loved Vegeta and wanted nothing more for him to propose, but his pride won't let him. It's like he doesn't want anything good to happen to him unless he becomes number one in his division, and that means beating Goku. It was agitating, but at least he was still there for her. They were basically married at every level except in ceremonies and last names. It's something she thought about everyday, and it will eventually happen. She was positive of that, but dammit she was tired of waiting. That wasn't gonna stop her from having fun at this function, it never did.
"Am I the only one who's stripping?" 18 said, trying to break her out of her funk.
"Huh, oh yeah sorry."
The two took off their shirts, shorts, and footwear. Every man must have been staring at them because they had some great bodies to show off.
"Wow 18, you're hot!" Bulma was starting to get a read of 18's personality and open up more to her. She wasn't lying either. 18 could pass for a model if it wasn't for her accessories. It was beyond anyone how she ate that much and still had such a flat stomach.
"Thanks." 18 scratched her head. "But why did you get work done? You're beautiful, you don't need any help."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Those your real boobs?"
Bulma looked proud, she had to contain herself and not be too braggy. "Yep, no secret on why they look like that. Good genetics."
"Lucky girl." She extended her hand so that her fellow head turner could give her five. She accepted with gusto. *CLAP* "I think what I wanna do is find Krillin, let him lose his cool then jump in."
"That's a genius idea that I should have come up with. Let me scout it out first so that he doesn't accidentally notice you and ruin it. You should go to the diving board and get ready. Be right back."
18 gave the woman a thumbs up before they went their separate ways.
For Bulma, finding Krillin was almost too easy. He was going to be near Goku, and that man could only be so far from the source of food this evening.
"Krillin!"
"YAH!" She scared her friend. "Jeez Bulma, don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Sure. I need help. I wanna try this trick out on the diving board and I need someone to tell me how it looks."
"Wuh? Sure, I mean ok…but why me? That also doesn't really sound like someth-"
"Ok thanks, C'mon!"
Bulma grabbed him by the wrist and marched their way down near the opposite end of the swimming pool. Krillin didn't know what was going on and why his business woman friend was dragging him all the way over here. He was just trying to get this over with so he could get back to eating.
"Oh drats…someone is on the diving board, wanna watch what she does then I see what I've been practicing?"
"Bulma what is going….on…."
Deep down, he wasn't surprised. In fact he was kind of upset with himself he didn't prepare to see the woman he was dating at this event.
Yep, there she was. In a bikini, the bottom was a little bigger than normal and the straps a thicker than what he'd seen before, but it was a bikini. She waved at Krillin, he didn't wave back, he just stared at her bikini clad skin in awe. She bounced up and down in that bikini, until she got enough air. In said bikini, she hugged her knees and cannonballed in the water. *SPLASH* Her inked skin, and that bikini, were underwater.
She was in a bikini.
"I-I-I gotta pee." Krillin ran off, not knowing what to think about her being here…well he did know one thing, she was stunning.