Val felt the weight of the capsule pack in her pocket yet again as she flew towards what was bound to be a warmer, but possibly just as rural mountain village as the last one she frequented. She sensed for Piccolo, finding that easiest to seek out until she was close enough to sense him stronger along with Goku, Gohan, and Chichi. She landed early in the morning, smelling faintly the scent of what had to have been their breakfast. She thought of her own, taken in her room to avoid seeing Vegeta lest he make yet another snickering remark about her pining over a weakling. That alone was reason enough to stay away from him.
She reached for the door to knock when it opened with a black haired, taller, and stronger Gohan laughing and running out the door. She caught him before he could barrel her down. She felt her stomach sink, catching on that even he out stripped her in strength. He looked up at her, greeting her with a child like smile. "Hey, Val, what brings you here?"
She felt an odd thrill of nerves shoot through her, which did not fit how she was otherwise feeling, which was excited to see this child. She let Gohan go and opened her mouth the answer Gohan, when she heard a deeper, more serious voice echo, "yes, what are you doing here?"
She flicked her gaze up, seeing Piccolo come out the door, and soon after followed by Goku. "Oh hey, what brings you here?" Goku said in greeting as well.
Val stood there for a moment, trying not to wilt as she stood in front of the three of them who had grown a lot stronger than she had in the months they all started their intensive training. She straightened her back, answering, "I need somewhere new to train and to research." She braced herself for the questions she figured were coming. "So I came to ask if I could join you three."
"Why, what happened with you training with Tien and Chiaotzu?" Goku asked, tone only curious.
She hummed, opening her mouth to answer, "we broke up." She shook her head shyly.
Gohan looked oblivious. Goku looked genuinely surprised. Val felt a discorded wave of panic. Piccolo looked unexpectedly nervous. "How long ago?"
His reaction was off, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. "A few weeks," she admitted.
"Have you been at Capsule Corps that whole time?" Piccolo asked her intensely.
She nodded. "Yes, but I don't want to be," she answered. She felt her nose twitch, recalling how Vegeta goaded Tien for her Anthromorph name the day the fighter from the future came. She recalled fighter, shaking her head in thought that he was nothing like her.
"Why?" Piccolo asked.
"I need a break from Vegeta," she answered sourly, but honestly.
Goku looked up in the air above himself, moving his fingers like he was counting. He seemed to reach the end of his counting and looked suddenly shocked. He looked over at Piccolo who briefly nodded. He turned back and look at her. "Then you need to stay away from him," was all he said, but with a more serious tone than he had when he greeted her.
Piccolo offered a solution, "go to the old man at the Lookout. And stay up there until the androids make their appearance."
She took a steeling breath and shook her head. "I did, second. I went to Krillin first, but there's no space for my capsule house on or around Kami Island, so I decided not to train there. I went to to Kami, hoping he would take me on, but he told me the only way he would do so is if I started training to become guardian instead."
Piccolo snarled at her. "Then do that," he demanded, tone short and frustrated.
She blinked at him, feeling her own temper want to bite. "No," she retorted. "I'm having enough trouble trying to split my time between research and training, which was your idea. I can't do all three. I can barely do the two and I've been lacking in both." She looked away from him and over at Goku. "I've been trying to figure out making an antiviral medicine based on the medicine I took from Frieza's ship to fight off the heart virus you're supposed to die from. More than just you will die from that if I don't," she finished. "I'm at the point in that work that I can do it away from Capsule Corps for now, so long as I am somewhere suitable for me to set up my house with room and my research space." She looked around the area, seeing the trees, but a lot more space. "Here works where the Kami House was lacking. There's enough space for my house," she hinted at shyly.
Goku listened, watching her kindly. He throw out another, unexpected suggestion, "what about Yamcha...?" He looked unsure as he suggested it.
She threw him a look of disgust that deepened when she remembered how Vegeta said Bulma had the courage to dump her weakling. "I'd rather stay with Vegeta," she mumbled out of loyalty to Bulma.
Goku crossed his arms, thinking out loud, "well that wouldn't be good. Well, I guess-"
"Goku, we need to talk in private," Piccolo interrupted, walking away from the area quickly, bristling.
Goku sighed, but followed after at a jog. Val watched them walk off with Gohan right next to her. They both stopped, out of ear shot, but enough in sight through the trees in the area to where it seemed like Piccolo was arguing, but Goku was just simply conversing. It was an odd sight to see, and she wondered at why her presence alone had triggered it.
Gohan next to her sighed, complaining, "they're arguing about the future again..." She looked down at him, humming curiously. He kicked a stone at his feet absentmindedly. "They've done this a few times about what to tell and not to tell about what the fighter warned my dad about the future. My dad wanted to tell my mom everything, and she wants to know everything, but Piccolo won't let him. He's not allowed to stay in the house because my mom is mad about it," he explained. "There's room in my room..."
"What am I mad about now?" a woman's voice asked behind the two of them. Val turned around, seeing Chichi had joined them outside. "Oh, hello," she greeted pleasant enough. Yet then she looked over at Piccolo and Goku in the distance. She scowled. "Must be nice to know everything that is going to happen in the future."
Val informed, "Piccolo told Kami everything."
Chichi's frown deepened. "Why does he get to know, but I don't?"
Val bit her lip, looking over at the two men arguing, wishing she could have just the one question she wanted an answer to answered. A question she refused to fully ask even herself. "It would be nice to know..." she hummed out in agreement.
"Well, if you get anything out of them, you let me know and vice versa. Anyway, what brings you here, Val?" Chichi asked her, looking at her curiously. "It's not as glamorous as Capsule Corps."
Val looked over at her and opened her mouth to answer, but Gohan answered for her, saying, "she wants somewhere new to work and train, Mom. She wants to train to both fight the androids with us, but also work on medicine to help with the heart virus coming. She brought her own capsule house to live and work in and everything."
Chichi gave him a stern look, saying, "I do believe I ask her that question." He seemed to wilt at that. She looked over at Val, looking deep in thought. "You were a scientist in space, weren't you? And now a researcher at Capsule Corps? Goku said you were as smart as Bulma," she mused.
Val watched her watching her, pondering. "I'm not as smart as Bulma," she admitted honestly. "And I need a break from Capsule Corps..." she added vaguely.
"A lot more humble than she is," she said, tapping her finger on her lips. She looked over at the two men, still arguing. Her face went from a bit sour to a bit amused. "You know, Gohan's been lacking a tutor to study with in the midst of all his training... And don't even get me started on how awful the last one was. And Piccolo's not welcome to stay in my house so long as he keeps Goku from telling me the future, but it would be nice if he showered somewhere else, stored that hydrangea water in his own fridge, and stopped tracking dirt in the house from staying in the woods..."
"Mom, I don't need to study. I need to train," Gohan huffed next to them.
Chichi looked down at him, clicking her teeth. "Nonsense. When the androids are gone, you'll still need to get into a good university. And a brilliant researcher employed by Capsule Corps could help you give you an edge... She wouldn't dare raise a hand to you like that last tutor..." Val gave her a puzzled look, but then shook her head in agreement. "How many bedroom do you have in your capsule house?"
"Two, but I'm using both. One is for research and one for personal use. But there's a loft area up the stairs," Val answered, right hand fiddling with her left bracelet nervously, not 100 percent picking up on what this woman was planning.
Chichi crossed her arms over her chest confidently. "Yes, that will all work," she decided.
Val looked at her confused, not quite sure what she had decided in her rambling, but it made her nervous to hope it would get her what she wanted. She flicked her gaze up and over to see Piccolo and Goku coming back from their argument. She sucked down a deep, nervous breath, worried what they might have said or decided about her. She felt annoyed as well, unnaturally so.
"Hey, Chichi," Goku greeted as they walked up. "Did I forget to do something before training again?" he asked, looking a bit worried as if his wife was going to scold him.
"No, Val and I were just talking and she and I have just decided she should stay here to work, train, and tutor Gohan when there's time for it. Because heaven forbid he falls so far behind on his studies that I have to change my mind about him training after all," Chichi ruled confidently. Val looked at her, eyebrows raised at first, but then nodded in support as she would get what she wanted if she went along with it. Tutoring sounded like a difficult challenge, but way more doable than training for guardianship. Goku looked rather confused by the decision. Piccolo did not look too happy to hear it either, grunting in his displeasure. It drew her attention onto him. "And you can stay with her. Her capsule house has enough space for you in her loft," she informed. She looked at Goku, asking, "well?" with the heaviest tone Val had heard out of the woman. She shuddered to think how the woman might react if Goku refused her decisions.
Goku looked taken a back, laughing under his breath and scratching the back of his head. He was not answering. Piccolo spoke instead, starting, "that's not what we-"
Chichi threw Goku a temperamental look that made him, the strongest person on the planet, wilt. Goku put his hand out in front of Piccolo, interrupting, "yeah, but, no. That's fine. Gohan still gets to train, right? We'll work in the tutoring, of course," he promised in a rush. "Wouldn't want to make any decision that would make you change your mind on that."
"Good, so he trains and he learns so he doesn't fall behind. Going to Namek and losing all his homework set him back so far it was not even funny," she emphasized. She hummed smugly. "So now everyone gets something good out of this agreement." She crossed her arms over her chest, reminding Val she was probably the only one in the area getting wholly what they wanted. "You ought to go set up your house and show it to Piccolo since he'll be your problem to house from now on. You can set up anywhere over there." She pointed to an area behind the house.
Val had not even wrapped her mind around the sudden command that Piccolo was going to stay with her as a requirement for her staying. Val looked at the spacious area, nodding. "Right... yeah... yes, ma'am," She pulled the capsule pack out of her pocket, staring down at it for a bit. "Thanks," she added, stepping over to the area she pointed at.
Val picked the house out the capsule pack, throwing it into the area and watching the two bedroom house with a loft emerge. She stepped inside, leaving the door open for Piccolo, who followed her not long after. "You can take the loft," she pointed at the stairs that lead up there. "There's no door, but it's enclosed otherwise." He did not move, rooted in front of the closed front door. "I didn't put her up to this," she insisted, shaking her head. "I'm sure that conversation you overheard as well," she added, glancing at his ears.
He grunted deeply. "We had decided if you can't keep up, you have to go back to the old man," he informed her. "Under no circumstances are you to go back to Capsule Corps."
"I'm not going back to either place," she retorted. "I don't have the time to add in training to be guardian now, but Kami said he won't wait until after the androids and the heart virus are defeated. The androids seemed to really have him shaken up. He's fearful. Nor do I have the desire to be around Vegeta right now," she answered shortly. "So yes, I'll agree to stay away from Capsule Corps."
He gave her an intrigued look. "Why do you want to stay away from him?" he asked on bated breath.
"I can't stand him. At least, not right now," she only answered. "He's been awful about what happened Tien. Gloats over it."
He looked at her. "That's not your only reason," he picked up on.
"That is the only reason," she lied, trying not to think about the fighter from the future, whom she reminded herself was absolutely nothing like her.
"What happened with Tien?" he pressed, changing the subject.
She stiffened, debating how to answer. She rubbed at her bracelets absentmindedly. "That cold village-one of the women-the alienation- I couldn't stand it," she stuttered. Her eyes stung to admit even that to him. She blinked the feeling away. She stood up straighter, looking back at the room she had set up for her researching before turning back to him. "Tomorrow I can start training, and I will keep up, but today, I need to set up the house, especially the second room to research in-"
"If you're going to insist on staying here and train with us, you start now," he informed. "Keep up or I'll drag you to the old man kicking and screaming myself." He turned around, opened the door, and went through it. He did not even look back as he walked off. She gave the interior of the house a lookover, wishing she had time to change or settle first.
Instead she ran out of the house, shutting the door behind her. She caught up with him in a rush, seeing Goku and Gohan waiting for them. "I'm not going back there, so I will keep up," she insisted, not too certain how well she could, but unwilling to admit that to him. She stopped near Goku, unsure what else to do or say.
She watched Goku and Piccolo exchange a conversation in a look. "You two go on ahead," he told them "She and I will go together today to start."
Goku nodded, "if you think that's best." His voice lacked confidence when he said it. Val felt her ears draw back at the tone of it.
"Let's go, and keep up," Piccolo told her before flying off abruptly.
Val gave the two of them a nod goodbye before flying after him, determined to catch up and keep up no matter what.