Hello everyone. At first I thought about skimming through the early chapters of Dragon Ball, and I still might some, but I decided that would be lazy. Introducing new characters so early in the story means changes that will build and compound so skipping ahead just doesn't feel right. This chapter will be set begining the same time as the first episode of the dragon ball anime. Goku, or Kakarot, is still going to be rather naive and foolish as a result of his sheltered upbringing and brain damage but he will have slightly better social skills and education as a result of being raised by a family. Please enjoy.
Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based work of fiction. Dragonball, Dragonball Z, and Dragonball GT Super are all owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, and Akira Toriyama(RIP). Please support them.
Chapter 3
Age 784
"Hmm I think this goes here." said a petite middle aged woman with blue hair. She was busily tinkering away with a strange yellow vehicle of some kind.
"It looks like we're ready to administer the heart medicine as a vaccine." said a young man with blue hair styled in a bowl cut, calling to her from a few meters away.
"That's great, Trunks! Well, I guess we have the Saiyan scientist Tato's research on Saiyan physiology to thank. Who would have thought super cells were both an excellent accelerator for viral progression and a means of inoculating someone against the heart virus? The only downside is that a non-Saiyan's body would reject the vaccine, so anyone else will have to take medicine when the symptoms arise." said the woman.
"Mom! Be careful. The fuel system is connected so that the engine will fire up if triggered."
"You worry too much, Trunks. I'm the most brilliant person in the universe." she said cockily.
"I know. Just be careful. I don't want you to get hurt and I'd feel much better if I went instead." said Trunks, blushing at his mother's arrogance, as he handed his mother a vail and a syringe.
"Don't worry. I'm almost done. I just need to..." she began while tightening down a bolt when her hand slipped and she bumped her head on the console as her weight carried her forward. The console lit up without warning, along with the rest of the vehicle.
Trunks noticed the vehicle activating though as it lifted up into the air so he leaped forward to his mother's aid. He was too late though as in a flash it was gone.
Moments later she was somewhere, sometime, else as the vehicle plowed through a row of trees and set down in a deep ravine.
"Oh no. Where am I?" she though aloud. She looked out to see she was in a forest.
"Goku! Goku!" a voice was calling out in the distance.
She began to punch in the calculation to return home when the name being called out caught her attention. 'Goku? I've heard that name somewhere before. This must be it. I'm at Mt. Puzu the day Kakarot hit his head and lost his memory.' she thought upon remembering Kakarot was at one time called Goku by his grandfather.
She reached for a branch near her vehicle and shambled down to investigate. When she reached the ground she looked around more carefully. She was in a ravine of some kind at the foot of a canyon. As she walked along the canyon wall, adjacent to a row of trees she crashed through, she heard a wimper. It was very quiet but it was there. A few more moments of searching confirmed her suspicions. It looked like a toddler but he was covered in blood. He wasn't moving, save for his chest rising and falling with ragged breaths. She immediately recognized the child as a very young Kakarot. 'I just need to administer the vaccine. He'll be okay. Grandpa Gohan will come to his aid as he did in my timeline.' she convinced herself.
However, this time around there was an additional danger. One of the trees she had crashed into was teetering on the verge of falling directly on Kakarot; so without a thought of the potential consequences she rushed forward to the child and pull him by the ankles just before the tree crashed down in the space he occupied only moments earlier. "Kakarot!"
The child couldn't move. He only managed to turn his eyes to meet hers. "Who are," he struggled to say before a reassuring hand clasped his and another placed a finger over his mouth.
"I guess, um, I'm your personal angel." she said before producing a large syringe and filling it with the contents of the vial. "Don't be scared. This is going to help you get better and make you nice and strong." she lied as she injected the vacine in his little arm. Turning away she shouted out as loudly as she could, "Gohan! Your grandson is over here!" She then turned back to the child, Kakarot, and said, "I have to go but you'll be okay now. I promise." For a long moment their eyes met and Kakarot seemed to be gazing at her in wonder.
A few moments later an elderly man came running out of the forest to her left and rushed over to the side of the young Kakarot. Kakarot just looked into her eyes smiling as he fell unconscious.
She took a moment look at the grandson and grandfather together before she stood and slipped away in the excitement. Upon returning to her ship shr was suprised to see no fuel had been used traveling here but set her curiosity asside and entered the coordinates for home. 'Grandpa Gohan was going to find him anyway right? I hope I didn't mess up the timeline.' she thought.
Gohan turned to thank the woman for finding his grandson but she was gone. All he saw was a strange vehicle rise into the sky and disappear into a flash of light.
September 1, 749 at the foot of Mt. Paozu
It was a beautiful summer day. Kakarot was just returning from his morning chores. Before him sat two houses. The first was he home they innitialy stayed in with Grandpa Gohan. It now served as a shrine where Kakarots mother would go and reflect or where Kakarot would go and talk to 'Grandpa.' The second house was considerably larger. His mother built this house shortly before Grandpa died. Kakarot's mother, Gine, built it to be an exact replica of her home on planet Vegeta except with a large storage building built on the back to hide the two pods she and Kakarot came to Earth in. He briefly considered meddling in the storage building but decided not to when he remembered the whooping his mom gave him last time he dug a hole under to get in through the floor. 'Stay away from the pods and grandpa Taytoes things. That room is off limits.' thought Kakarot, remembering his mom's words to him.
Kakarot instead decided to go into Grandpa Gohan's old house and turned to a small shrine on the wall. There was a scouter. A small stone his mom carved the names of lost loved ones on. Unlike his little sister, he couldn't read very well but he recognized some of the names. "Bardock, Yam, Tato, Son Gohan." He said recognizing them as sight words rather than truly reading them. Next to the stone was his late grandpa's most prized possession; a golden orb with four red stars. He believed his grandpa's soul was in here so insisted it sat on placing it on the shrine with the stone tablet. Kakarot respectfully placed his hands together and bowed. The golden orb began to glow and Kakarots eyes lit up with excitement. "Grampa stay there, okay. I'm gonna go get some food. I'll be back." he said as he began to walk outside.
"Huh...?!" Said Kakarot as the orb began to glow
"Uh. Golly,I've never seen you shine bright like that before, Grandpa! How strange! Can you do it again?" he said more curious than pensive.
"You can wait until later if you have to. You can show mama and Wasabi too that way! I'll see you in a little while." he said as he turned and took his leave. Just as he stepped through the doorway he was knocked down by a little girl with a tail. It was Wasabi, Kakarot's younger sister she was wearing a long gi tunic that extended about halfway down her thighs with no pants, similar to what their mother usually wore. on her back was an orange stick. It was Grandpa Gohan's second most prized possesion, the power pole. she had the same face shape as their mother but with their fathers eyes. Wasabi's head had a messy mop of black hair that extended nearly to the small of her back and according to Gine it was very similar to their oldest brother Raditz's hairstyle but thankfully not as long. Kakarot had no memory of his big brother so he took her word for it.
"Brother!" said Wasabi exuberantly.
"Wasabi? I thought you where going herb gathering with Mom?" said Kakarot.
"I was but Mom wanted to go tail fishing instead and told me to come get you so we can meet her at the river later for bath time after she finished fishing. So I went home to get you." whinned Wasabi.
"Oh. Well ok but I'm starving. Mom will be tail fishing for hours so lets go get a snack first." replied Goku which caused Wasabi to jump up and down with excitement.
Moments later, the two children were sitting on the limb of a tree and devouring every last piece of fruit off said tree. As they finished their snack, Wasabi carelessly tossed an apple core, which hit a nearby saber-toothed tiger on the head.
The tiger angrily leapt at the girl who just fell backwards and hung upside down from the tree. The two children then leapt from the tree and engaged the tiger in a game of tag. Try as it might the tiger couldnot catch the children and eventually Wasabi ran across a deer as she was evading the tiger. The deer fled and wasabi gave chase to the deer.
Eventually the tiger grew tired and fell behind and then it was just the deer, Wasabi, and Kakarot engaged in the impromptu game of tag. As the deer began to grow wary Wasabi gained on it and was at this point only less than a meter away. Bit just as Wasabi came within reach of the deer, they crossed a dirt road and where hit by a car. Causing Wasabi and the deer to get knocked into a tree.
The car screeched to a halt. "Ahh!" screamed the teenage girl driving the car. "What the..." began the teenage girl.
Wasabi sat up and leaned over the now dead deer with a biwildered look while crying.
"You're alive?!" Said the teenage girl in a shocked tone as she was cut off by another surprise.
"Get away from my sister you monster!" Yelled Kakarot as he slammed into the side of the teen's car and lifted it above his head.
"Stop it! What are you doing?" cried the teenage girl.
"Kakarot! Stop it!" Yelled Wasabi between sobs.
Kakarot paused with the car containing the teenager over his head before reluctantly settling the car down and leaping to take a defensive position between his little sister and the car. "No funny business, monster. You better come out of your shell before I pull you out! Don't tell me you've used up all of your power already monster." Taunted Kakarot.
The teenage girl frantically responded by producing a gun and shooting the freakishly strong child. "Not quite." she said as she shot Kakarot.
Kakarot yelped as he fell back but he quickly sat up rubbing his head. "Holy cow! Wow. What was that?" said Kakarot, still rubbing his head.
"But... How'd you...? You shouldn't be alive kid!" said the teenage girl, trembling.
"wah!" Wasabi continued to cry.
"So you thought you finished me off again? Well Grandpa told me about evil creatures like you. Your black arts won't work on me." said Kakarot as he got into a battle stance. "Alright monster! It's your turn! he continued as he began to charge forward.
"Monster? Hold on! I'm not a monster, kid! I'm a human being! Just like you are!" cried the teenage girl pleadingly.
"A human?! Uh,... Really?!" replied kakararot as he halted his charge with a confused look on his face.
"Of course, I am!" replied the teenage girl.
"Uh..." Kakarot vocalized with uncertainty.
"You can see that for yourself. Can't you? Look. I won't bite." replied the teenage girl as she stepped out of her vehicle and approached Kakarot with her hands raised.
"Uh! Stay back." said Kakarot as he leapt back and continued, "A human you say?"
"That's right. Want to see me certificate of authenticity." said the girl condescendingly.
"No thanks." he said as he made his way around her, taking in every detail. She was pretty tall. Not as tall as his mom though. She was also wearing a pink garment of some kind which looked kinda silly to him. Also, there was something about her scent that was pleasant and put him at ease.
"How long is this going to take?" said the teenage girl, growing impatient.
"Well, you look like a person. But you're so scrawny." he said, still inspecting her.
"Thats because I'm a girl, stupid." said the teenage girl.
"She is a girl." chimed in Wasabi, now standing and apparently no worse for wear.
"Oh, Grandpa told me I should be as polite as I possibly could to girls. Sorry if a scared you. I thought you where going to hurt my sister." said Kakarot as he offered his hand to the older girl.
"I see. Well! What a nice thing to say! Your grandpa sounds like a very wise man. Is he?" replied the girl with a wink.
"Yeah, but it's just me, my sister and my mom now." said Kakarot as he stopped inspecting her and just looked down as though their was suddenly a great deal of guilt on his shoulders.
"Yeah, Grandpa got stepped on when big brother didn't listen to mom about going outside that night." interrupted Wasabi in a precocious manner, now standing behind the teenage girls.
'Aw. That's so sad. His grandpa must have been trampled by a dinosaur. What an awful thing for a child to go through' she thought empatheticly before a sensation on her backside stirred her from her thoughts. "Huh?" she said as she looked back to see that the little girl had lifted her skirt with a red stick.
"Shame on you! What do you think you're doing?!" said the teenage girl as she slapped the little girls hand away.
"I was just checking to see if you had a tail." said Wasabi as though it where the most obvious thing in the world. This caused the teenage girl to paused as she finally noticed the tails swaying freely behind the children.
"Don't worry! Maybe you're just a late bloomer." said Kakarot.
"I'm sure it'll sprout up any time now, kid!" replied the teenage girl as she chuckled, ammused by his unintended pun on her name. 'What weird children!' she thought as she noticed the girl was giving her a dirty look.
"How did you get that monster to do what you wanted it to do?" asked Kakarot as he pointed at the car.
"Hey brother. I think that's a car." said Wasabi as she poked the vehicle with her stick.
"A car?" asked Kakarot.
"Yes Grandpa told us about them. Remember?" said Wasabi with a slightly annoyed expression.
"We've never actually seen one so how can you be sure?" said Kakarot, still not convinced as he leaped onto the hood of the vehicle and lightly poked at the windshield with his finger.
"You know, for a little kid, you're really strong!" commented the teenage girl.
"Thanks but my sister's a little kid. I'm a big brother." said Kakarot.
"I'm sorry my brother doesn't understand some things, but he means well." said Wasabi to the older girl.
"Oh, thats okay. My, you certainly are mature for your age though. What are you, six?" replied the teenage girl.
"I'm eleven." said Wasabi in an irritated tone.
"Oh, and I'm technically twelve. Moy mom reminded me." stated Kakarot proudly.
"You aren't supposed to say the 'technically' part Brother!" fussed Wasabi.
'Whoa! These kids are way older than they look!' thought the teenage girl in suprise.
"Hey. You were driving a car around, right? So, does that mean that you're from one of the big cities?" said Kakarot to the teenager while ignoring his sister.
"You got it." Said the teenage girl.
"Wow! Why don't you come to our home and I'll cook you some lunch. You can tell me all about the city you're from! Come on!" said Kakarot exitedly as he ran to grab the freshly killed deer.
"Hold on! Just a second!" said the older girl as she pulled a strange metal device out of her purse and clicked a button on top. 'It looks like the Dragon Ball is right down the road! Maybe it's at this kid's house!' She thought.
Kakarot chuckled as he looked back at the older girl expectantly.
"I think it's safe to assume we're having deer for lunch. Well, alright! So what's on the agenda?"
"Well, we can have a bite to eat and talk, then play together."
"Now look. If you think we're going to do anything improper, you can forget it!"
"Improper? What does that mean?" he said as he looked back to his sister.
"I, uh, I don't know. I think it means being bad." said Wasabi.
The older girl chuckled as she thought 'This kid's so innocent that he's adorable. His sister a little precocious though.'
"You're strange!" said Wasabi in response to hearing the older gorl laughing to herself.
"Well anyway, let's go." said Kakarot eagerly as he began along the path to his family's home.
"Sounds good! I'll just follow the floating deer. Wait floating deer?!" replied the older girl as her mouth went slack at the sight of the boy floating into the air and taking of up the trail.
The older girl was roused from her amazement when Wasabi called out to her. "We better hurry of we'll be left behind."
The older girl looked back and saw the younger girl was sitting in the passenger seat of her car. She hurried and got in the drivers seat and started the car. "So y'all can fly?"
"My mom and brother can but I haven't figured it out yet. Enough about that though. We need to go before we get left behind." said Wasabi, matter-of-factly.
The older girl rolled the windows down when they got close to the flying Kakarot. "So, guys. What are your names anyway?
"My name is Wasabi and my brother's name is Kakarot." Said Wasabi.
"What's your name?" asked Kakarot, now flying along side the car at eye level with the older girl who was driving the car.
"Uh... My name? Mine?" she stuttered, still taken aback by the freakishly strong kid with supernatural powers.
"Uh huh." said Kakarot.
"Bulma." she said somewhat hesitantly.
"Hmm? Ha ha. What a silly name!" said Wasabi while laughing hysterically.
"Hey, Wasabi's not exactly normal. In fact I've never even heard a name like that and Kakarot sounds stupid." said Bulma defensively.
Kakarot frowned with a slightly confused expression before saying, "But I like my name, and I think your name is funny but I like it. If my name bothers you I guess you can call me something else. My grandpa used to call me Goku sometimes."
"Oh, well I mean Kakarot doesn't sound terrible. I mean it would sound bad on anyone else but it sounds just fine on you." said Bulma as she instantly felt a little ashamed of herself for lashing out like that. 'This little girl really gets under my skin. What's her deal? Her brother is sweet as can be but she really doesn't like me.' thought Bulma.
"We're here!" shouted Kakarot.
"Wow! That's an interesting little home!" said Bulma as she parked her car and stepped out.
"Gee, thanks! The house on that side was Grandpa's house. The big rocky house was added by my mom later. She said she made it this way because it reminded her of home and that's the only kind of house she knows how to build." said Kakarot, with a smile.
Bulma wouldn't have known but the house on the right was accually traditional Saiyan construction, which involved carving a dwelling from a single large stone to make a durable home that can hold up to Saiyan habitation.
"Just wait here one second." said Kakarot as he handed the deer to Wasabi and ran over to a small pile of wood and held out his palm. His goofy grin shifted to a serious expression as he shouted "Ha!" and a ball of pure energy shot out of his palm and set the pile of wood on fire. He then called to his sister, "Ready."
Wasabi responded,"Okay. Just a second."
Looking in her direction Bulma was shocked to see the little girl had already gutted and skinned the deer and was shoving her orange stick through it. She could have sworn that stick had grown longer.
"Okay. I'll be right back. I need to check on Grandpa." said Kakarot as he hurriedly ran into the smaller house.
"Kakarot. How many times do I have to tell you? Grandpa's soul isn't in that ball!" shouted Wasabi at her older brother while she mounted the deer over the fire.
"Hey guys come quick! Grandpa's trying to talk to me!" shouted Kakarot from inside the house.
Wasabi was the first to run in after Kakarot. Bulma followed along behind her and saw that they where both gathered around a small table against the wall, apparently a shrine of some kind.
"Sorry Kakarot but I don't hear anyone ta..." said Bulma as her eyes landed on the object that had the children so enthralled. She gasped in realization. "Oh my goodness! It's a Dragon Ball!" she said as she rushed forward and snatched up the ball while accidentally knocking the children aside.
"Hey! Give me my grandpa back now!" said Kakarot.
"Your grandpa? You mean this?
"Yeah! Grandpa gave me to that ball and my sister a stick to remember him by." said Kakarot matter-of-factly as he took the ball back. "Nobody can touch it but me. Look! Look what it's doing. I think Grandpa's trying to talk to me. What do you think he's saying?" he continued.
Bulma smirked and said, "I hate to do this, but I don't really have a choice. See!", as she retrieved two nearly identical orange spheres from her bag.
"What?! You've got to be kidding! You've got two Grandpas! No way!" said Kakarot, flabbergasted.
Wasabi facepalmed in response to her brother's antics. "They're not grandpas," she said.
Bulma nodded and said, "Thats right. They're called Dragon Balls."
"You're sure about that?" replied Kakarot uncertainly.
"Definitely. I'm positive. Your ball started glowing because it was reacting to the two that I have. Look. Put yours down." answered Bulma
"Well... okay. But just for a second." replied Kakarot as he cautiously placed his ball next to hers. He was shocked when they all started brightly glowing and pulsing in unison.
"Pretty cool, huh? Yeah, these gems have the power to do great things! And not so great! Let's just say if a bad person got ahold of these balls, he could really wreak some havoc!" said bulma matter-of-factly.
"Well, what do these Dragon Balls do exactly?" asked Wasabi with her arms folded, doing her best to not look intrigued.
"Sure you want to know?" replied Bulma.
"Yeah!" answered an enthusiastic Kakarot.
"M'kay..." said Bulma
Elsewhere, at that very moment
A diminutive blue man in well appointed attire was holding a dragon ball triumphantly. "Now for my wish" he said.
"Sir?" Interupted a woman with black hair. She was of average height but quite tall relative to the impish blue man, her apparent boss. She was wearing a long trench coat and combat boots.
"What Mai?!" exclaimed the impatient little man.
"I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you can't make a wish with just one ball, you have to have the others as well." She said.
"Mm! Huh?!" gasped the little blue man.
"There are seven Dragon Balls, Sire! You have to unite all seven of them before the Dragon will appear and grant your wish!" explained Mai.
"Hm... More searching." grumbled the little blue man.
"But just imagine, dear Emperor Pilaf, that glorious day when the seven balls are finally brought together! A beautiful burst of energy will light the sky, and in a blazing surge of fiery power, the Eternal Dragon will rise before you for the sole purpose of granting you a single wish. Whatever it may be." said Mai, appeasingly.
"Yes! Yes! I can see it! Well, okay! I guess I can handle a little more searching. Any wish I want, huh? Well then, I want to rule the entire world!" exclaimed the excited little emperor Pilaf.
"Sire." said a little anthropomorphic dog hesitantly.
"What is it Shu?! Can't you see I'm busy?" said an annoyed Pilaf.
"Yes Sire. It's just... don't we need to get back soon? It's the first of the month and Mistress Fasha will be stopping by to collect her tribute today."
Pilaf stiffened at this. He had forgot to prepare her payment once, which resulted in her vaporizing his only deep cover agent, and cutting off Shu's tail. Fortunately he learned his lesson and now prepared her tributes in advance. Her demands where always quite fickle though which made it impossible to prepare her tributes more than a month in advance. This month she specifically demanded a large 100kg sampling of the finest meats, and a refrigerator capsule. He had no choice. That woman was a monster beyond imagining.
"Not to worry Shu. I have prepared her tribute well in advance." said Pilaf as he smiled and turned his attention back to the Dragon Ball in his hand and continued speaking, "That monstrous woman will bow down before me too once I collect the other Dragon Balls. Ahahahaha!"
back at the Son family residence
"Wow! You can wish for whatever you want? And it will come true?! I wonder why my grandpa didn't tell me about any of this stuff!" said Kakarot while Wasabi stared at the floor with a serious expression on her face.
"He may not have known about it. Not many people do. The truth is, you and I are some of the few people in the world that even know about the Dragon Balls or the Dragon." explained Bulma.
"Don't get mine mixed up with yours, okay?" said Kakarot.
"Your's is the one with four stars, dear brother." said Wasabi, clearly irritated.
"Oh, I get it. They all have a different number of stars!" said Kakarot.
"Now you're catching on!" said Bulma, laughing.
"I can't believe that I already have three of the balls! If I keep this up, I'll be able to wish for a boyfriend before the end of the month! This is so exciting! You are going to let me use your Dragon Ball so I can make my wish, right?" squealed Bulma with joy.
"You can forget it! Grandpa gave me this ball to remember him by and I'm not going to hand it over, just because you're a girl." shouted Kakarot.
"But your grandpa said to be polite to girls." argued Bulma with a pouty face.
"My mom and sister are girls too, though." Countered Kakarot.
"Uh! Hey, I know what. Look, I'll trade ya! You let me have your Dragon Ball, and I'll let you have a little peak." said Bulma as she lifted up her skirt to reveal her panties.
Kakarot was momentarily stunned and nearly belted out a snide comment about her fanny but a familiarity he couldn't put his finger on gave him pause. "I don't know why you're doing that but I can't give you my ball." he said instead.
Wasabi's eyes widened in realization as she placed her right fist in her left open palm with a hammering motion. "I get it! You're trying to do something improper with my brother. Aren't you?" she said perceptively.
Bulma's gasped in horror and she blushed at the precocious little girl's words. "No! I'm a proper lady! I uh, I was just testing him. I was thinking about inviting Kakarot and you to search for Dragon Balls with me but I had to be sure he was a gentleman." said Bulma desperate to save face."Oh, go hunt balls?" said Kakarot.
"Sure, why not? I mean, it would be nice to have a little muscle along, but wait. Youre just a kid there's no way your mom would allow that." said Bulma somewhat truthfully despite herself.
"Go hunt balls? That sounds like a lot of fun. I'll go." said Kakarot with barely a thought.
"No can do kid. I'm not going to jail for kidnapping a child from his mother! How about you let me borrow the ball and maybe I'll bring it back one day?" said bulma.
"No! I'm going to keep my grandpa's ball. If I give you the ball you might never come visit again. How about you come see us again after you get the other six and I'll let you borrow it then? That way I'll definitely get to see you again." said Kakarot stubbornly.
Bulma blushed a little at Kakarot's proposition. "You want to see me again? You drive a hard bargain, but have it your way." said Bulma. 'The little kid's stubborn, but this is the best option. They may be children but they are downright superhuman. I just let hi. hold onto that ball for now.Then when I come back here I'll wish for the most perfect boyfriend that ever lived!' she thought. "Well, I guess I'll see you guys later."
"Wait! you said you'd eat with us." said Kakarot.
"Sorry little guy but I really need to get going." said Bulma.
With everything settled, Bulma got in her car and drove off. Wasabi just crossed her arms and frowned. Kakarot, on the other hand, just stood there watching Bulma drive away with a forlorn look on his face. Wasabi lost interest and walked to the roasted deer carcass.
"What's wrong with you Kakarot? I'm about to eat without you." said Wasabi.
"Oh. It's okay. I'm not really that hungry." said Kakarot.
"What?! Are you serious?" said Wasabi, utterly stunned, but not too stunned to take a huge bite out of the roasted deer.
"Do you think she come back and play with us?" said Kakarot.
"Who? That girl with the blue hair? I don't know. Is that why you're being wierd?" said Wasabi dismissively.
"I don't know. I was just excited to make a friend." replied Kakarot dejectedly. Suddenly, Kakarots expression changed to a determined look and he ran in the house.
"Quit being weird and come eat before we go take a bath." said Wasabi between bites.
Kakarot either didn't hear her or was ignoring her as he loudly rummaged through the house. He emerged wearing the bodysuit and battle armor he arrived on this planet in as a toddler, a pair of gi trousers, and a backpack filled with an extra blue gi, the dragon ball, and a handful of other supplies. "I'm going to hunt Dragon Balls with Bulma! Please don't tell Mom. Oh, I should bring Bulma some food too." he said as he tore the flanks of meat out of the deer's back, wrapped them in a large leaf from the kitchen, and put them in the backpack with his battle armor.
"Have you lost your mind Brother? The back meat is the best part! And don't think for a second I wont tell..." Wasabi began to say but was cut short as Kakarot took off running at top speed a threw up a dust cloud behind him.
"As soon as I finish eating I'm going to tell Mom!" screamed Wasabi as Kakarot faded from view.
With Bulma
Bulma was driving down the road. She had left the home of the strange children empty handed about an hour ago. She pulled her dragon radar out of her pocket and clicked it once. she had checked her radar when leaving the home of those children but she want to check it one more time to make sure she was still heading the right direction. "Hmm looks like I'm still headed the right way but what's this? it looks like a Dragon Ball is following me!"
Bulma looked into her rearview mirror and saw the boy, Kakarot if she remembered correctly, chasing her car on foot. He was wearing what looked like armor of some kind. He was also carrying a brown backpack on his back and running after her at a speed that defied everything she thought she knew about physics. Bulma panicked and floored her gas pedal and drove as fast as she could. After several minutes he faded from view. She would like to have gotten that Dragon Ball from him but she knew getting involved with the child would only spell trouble. She would save collecting his Dragon Ball for last. About an hour later she stopped. She was sure Kakarot had lost her at this point. She thought to check with her radar just to be sure but the second reason for her stopping was that she desperately needed to go to the restroom. She hurriedly jumped from her car and ran into some nearby bushes.
Little did Bulma know that Kakarot was less than a minute behind her. Kakarot came running up to the car moments after Bulma had stepped into the bushes.
Kakarot came to a stop at the car and saw the open car door and that Bulma wasn't in it. He saw that she wasn't in the car so he closed his eyes and sniffed the air. "Hmm, Bulma isn't here. I don't se Bulma but maybe I can find her with her smell." said Kakarot, thinking aloud. 'I'm not sure why but Bulma's smell is so familier to me. It's like I've known her smell even longer than I've known Mom's smell.' he thought as he caught her scent.
"There you are!" said Kakarot as he picked up her scent and ran into the bushes.
He quickly spotted Bulma squating with her panties around her ankles and her pink dress pulled up to just below her chest and held up by her belt to keep it from falling back down, exposing her butt. Mere moments after Kakarot found her Bulma's bathroom break was interupted by a large pteradactyll looking monster grabbing her. Bulma screamed in responce.
Kakarot dashed forward in response and confronted the monster. "Hey! What are you doing with Bulma?" said Kakarot.
"I'm just picking my friend up for dinner." said the monster.
"Hey! I already brought deer meat for Bulma. Besides, my mom said it's not nice to disturb people when they are pooping, so I think your lying! I don't think you're Bulma's friend at all!" said Kakarot, growing angrier as he spoke.
"Of course this monster isn't my friend you little idiot. He's going to eat me! Help!" screamed Bulma at Kakarot.
The monster didn't give Kakarot time to respond as he jumped and flew into the air, powered by two large wings. All Bulma could do was scream as the monster carried her off into the air.
Kakarot jumped into the air and flew after the monster but he had only just learned how to fly from his mother recently and struggled to keep up with the monster. Bulma closed her eyes tightly and screamed in terror. Kakarot feared that, try as he might, he wouldn't be able to keep up with the monster much longer.
However, just as all hope seemed lost an incredibly long orange pole swung in front of the monster, mere feet from it's snout, causing the monster to slow down for a few moments. Looking down, Kakarot saw it was his little sister holding her power pole and their mom standing beside her, calmly watching the situation.
'This is my chance,' thought Kakarot as he quickly took the opportunity to surge forward, driven to fly faster than he ever had by a desire to protect this girl he felt such inexplicable familiarity with, and slammed into the back of the flying monster's skull, knocking the monster out cold and causing it to release Bulma.
Bulma felt the monster release her which caused her to open her eyes, then scream even louder than she had before as gravity pulled her to her impending death. "Help!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Kakarot acted quickly and dove after Bulma as she tumbled through the air. Less than a second before she hit the ground, Kakarot was able to get beneath her, and she latched on to him for dear life. The rapid change in velocity after grabbing on to Kakarot pulled something in her right shoulder, and her position to be carried in flight was less than optimal which further agrivated her shoulder. Her chest was firmly against Kakarot's back as she held on to his waist in a death grip, but she was upside down. As a result, her pantyless bottom straddled the back of Kakarot's neck. The situation was mortifying enough, but the worst part was that the excitement of her near-death experience was too much, and her bladder couldn't take any more. She urinated uncontrollably on the back of Kakarot's head, which caused Kakarot to nearly lose flight as his eyes grew wide.
"Waahaa!" Bulma cried. "I'm sorry, Kakarot! I can't help it! Please don't drop me!"
Kakarot quickly calmed himself as Bulma's pitiful state left him unable to grow angry. "Don't worry Bulma. I won't drop you. I'm just glad you didn't poop. Wasabi did that to me once when I held het as a baby."
Bumla paused, a bit stunned by Kakarot's odd anecdote before the sound of the monster Kakarot had saved her from crashing into her car shook her from her stupor.
Bulma started to protest in embarrassment, "Are you stupid or..", but was cut short when Kakarot came to a landing in front of a clearly irritated young woman. She was just a little bit taller than Bulma and had a messy mop of dark brown hair. The woman had either come in a hurry, had very little sense of modesty, or a combination of the two as she was only wearing a men's button-up tunic. The tunic was unbuttoned but still fastened around the waist with a fuzzy brown belt, revealing a glimpse of moderate to somewhat small breasts similar to Bulma's own. This also revealed her abdomen which was well defined but not quite muscular. 'This woman has an incredible body.' thought Bulma, a bit jealous and a bit shyly as she could tell by her exposed buttocks and the smallest fraction of her lady bits showing in the front that this woman wasn't even wearing panties.
"Uh, Hi mom. What are you doing here? I thought you'd still be fishing." said Kakarot fearfully.
Bulma raised her eyerows in confussion. 'Mom? This woman still looks like she's in her early twenties.' thought Bulma. The woman, apparently the mother of Kakarot, stood there for a moment with crossed arms before unfolding her arms and tapping a glass lense held in place over her left eye with an ear piece. "I would have been, but fortunately your sister told me what you were up to. What were you thinking running off like that? I was worried about you!" said the woman as her scowl soffened into a gentle smile.
"Sorry mom. I just wanted to go on an adventure with my new friend. Please Mom! Let me go with Bulma." pleaded Kakarot.
Gine's eyes shifted from her son to Bulma before tapping the device on her face. "Hello. My name is Gine. "So, miss Bulma. Did you invite my son to journey with you?" said Gine in a gentle voice.
Bulma eyes widened a bit at Gine speaking to her directly but quickly resonded dispite her discomfort with the situation. "Well yes ma'am but I told him I wouldn't steal him from you. He followed me own his own I promise." replied Bulma while holding her throbbing right arm.
"So, you're saying he chased after you even after you left him behind?" reiterated Gine as she moved her hand to cover her face and a light blush covered her face. "Well how would you feel about my Kakarot accompanying you?" continued Gine.
'Unbelievable. She doesn't blush at all her lady bussiness being on display but the thought of her son traveling with a girl is risqué to her? This can't be a human family.' Bulma thought to herself before answering aloud, "Oh! Well I'm pretty sure I'd have died if Kakarot hadn't followed me. If you're okay with it, I'd be glad to take Kakarot along. I can't deny I'd feel safer with him tagging along."
Gine looked at Bulma appraisingly for several seconds before breaking the silence. "Well I guess it can't be helped. I must say I've never seen Kakarot fly that fast before. Kakarot can travel with you. Good luck, Bulma. I'll be routing for you." replied Gine kindly but somehow almost mischievously.
"Are you serious, Mom?" interjected Wasabi who had apparently made sure the flying monster was dead and had already begun gutting it in much the same way she had prepared the deer earlier.
"Come now, Wasabi. Your brother is growing up and as much as I hate to admit it he is ready to leave the nest. Don't worry. Kakarot will still come home from time to time. Isn't that right Son." said Gine sweetly yet pointedly.
"Uh! Yes Mom! Of course I will." said Kakarot almost timidly at the end.
Wasabi let go of the carcass and ran over to her brother, Kakarot. "You be careful Brother. Here. You can bring it back to me later." she said as she handed her power pole to Kakarot before turning her attention to Bulma and rushing over to her before Kakarot had a chance to respond.
Bulma blinked and started to acknowledge Wasabi before she was cut off. "My brother isn't very smart, as I'm sure you've noticed. He hit his head when he was little. But Kakarot is a very good person. So you better be good to my brother, and if you don't, I'll beat you up," said Wasabi quietly before running back to her gutted carcass. Bulma, for her part, felt she would have peed herself out of fear of the small girl, had her bladder not just recently been emptied.
"Okay then so where will you two be headed?" Inquired Gine.
"Oh yeah. Hey, Bulma! How do we know where to start looking? The Dragon Balls could be anywhere in the whole world, right?" said Kakarot.
"Just who do you think you're dealing with here, kid? I'm no amateur. Look; check it out!" said Bulma as she pulled a strange gadget from her pocket.
"Huh...?" vocalized Kakarot as he looked at the devise curiously.
"It's a special radar that tracks the Dragon Balls. Look. See these three dots? These are our three balls. And these are the other Dragon Balls. It looks like the closest ball is right here, about 200 or so kilometers that way." said Bulma as she turned and smiled while pointing toward to horizon exitedly, having momentarily forgotten about the nearly naked woman standing behind her.
Gine nodded her head at Kakarot and Bulma before speaking, " Good, then we better get going Wasabi. Bring that beast with you. I'm starving."
"Yes mother." said Wasabi as she drug the carcass over to Gine then clasped her mother's hand. Gine then grabbed the carcass with her other hand and looked back at Bulma to give her a wink as she lifted off into the air and flew back toward her home, carrying both her daughter and the dead monster's body.
"Bye Mom! Bye Wasabi!" shouted Kakarot at the receding dot in the sky.
Bulma blinked blankly before speaking. "What exactly did she mean when she said she's routing for me?"
Kakarot just chuckled before answering foolishly, "I'm not sure. I bet she wants us to have a good adventure. My mom is kinda wierd though." then laughed.
Bulma nodded and said, "I'll say. Hey speaking of wierd, why wasn't your mom wearing any pants?"
Kakarot turned to Bulma and answered simply, "Mom always fishes naked. She swears she can sense the vibrations in the water better that way."
Bulma forced an uncomfortable laugh and said, "Oh! Well to each their own I guess. Well we better get moving. we're loosing daylight."
Kakarot started to run in the directions Bulma had been pointing when Bulma called for him to stop. "Hold up Kakarot. thats way too far to travel on foot." said Bulma as she began rummaging through her bag.
Kakarot stoped but looked at her quizically. "Uh. But Bulma. I don't think your car can move anymore." said kakarot.
Bulma simply smirked as she held out an open cartridge filled with rows of capsules. "That won't be a problem. Hmm. What am I in the mood for. Oh. This will be perfect!" said Bulma as she threw one of the capsule out in front of her.
With a small explosion a motorcycle appeared out of a cloud of smoke.
Kakarot yelped with fright. "Ahh! What is that? I didn't know you could use magic." said Kakarot as he took up a defensive posture with his sister's power pole.
Bulma rolled her eyes before saying, "It's not magic dummy. Haven't you even heard of dyocaps? Everyone has them. Now hurry up and hop on. We're burning daylight." Bulma then got on the motorcycle and Kakarot hesitantly did the same, getting on behind her nd wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Aright then. Off we go." said Bulma.
Emperor Pilaf's castle
The diminuative emporer Pilaf was diciplining his anthropomorphic dog henchman, Shu, from some manner of torture device when his other henchmen Mai strolled into the room.
"Sire." said Mai, curtly.
"Mai! So good of you to join us. Please tell me you are making yoursel more usefull than this baffoon. Have you checked our contacts on any leads to other balls? What about our deep cover agent?" rattled Pilaf in his demanding yet shrill voice.
"No sire. He was killed last time he returned to the castle by Fasha. That's actually why I've come sire." said Mai in a monotone yet serious manner.
"I already told you Mai. There's no room in the budget to hire additional agents. Especially now with Fasha's unpredictable and sometimes costly demands." said Pilaf dismisively.
"Right. Actually, Fasha is here now, sire." said Mai, emotionlessly.
"What!! Why didn't you say so before? You should have lead with that instead of personel questions!"
"Of course sire." said Mai emotionlessly again, yet with an eye twitch that reveaved her frustration with the little blue baffoon, Pilaf.
"Well if it isn't little Pilaf." said a harsh and menacing yet also feminine voice.
"Ahhh! Fasha!" screamed Pilaf as he turned to see Fasha was already seated at his table and dining on the meal he had set for himself. She was wearing her torso armor, still bearing the battle damage from before her arrival to earth, and a short pink skirt. There was a fairly well built young man with black hair standing behind her. He had some sort strange blue cat sitting on his shoulder.
"Oh my. I see your patience with your subordinates is as short as you. I hope for your sake the same can't be said of your tribute." teased Fasha in a threatening tone as her hand landed on box containing the dragon ball sitting on the desk.
Pilaf was sweating profusely as his eyes where glued to the box in Fasha's hand. "Of course milady. I have everything you demanded here in these capsules." said Pilaf as he fetched a dynocap case from his pocket. "Feel free to check them. I promise they are all there." continued Pilaf as he creeped closer to hand her the case but the young man stepped forward and snatched the case from Pilaf's hand.
"That won't be necessary. If anything is missing, I'll just hunt you down and kill you. By the way, this is Yamcha. He's my errand boy, so from now on, he'll be dropping by to collect my tribute when I don't want to do it myself," said Fasha as she lifted the Dragon Ball from the box and up in the air as though testing its weight, then squeezed it hard enough that several veins began bulging on her arm.
Pilaf softly approached Fasha as he spoke, "O...Of course milady. Well if that will be all I'll just take that bauble off your hands, ah, I mean hand and,". before he was stopped by Fasha's booted foot pressed into his face. The act of raising her leg to press her boot in Pilaf's face had the unintended conequense of revealing her Saiyan genitalia and the gory mess where her left leg and butt cheek once where. This caused a mixture of embarsment and revoltion in those gathered. While the exhibition seemed uninended Fasha seemed not to care.Fasha then stood, or rather hovered into a standing position, floating a few centi.eters of of the ground. "This bauble, as you call it; what is it?" said Fasha as she continued to appraise the dragon ball.
Pilaf desperately reach for an explination in his mind tat might cause her to loose interest in the ball. "Oh, that's just a little trinket I picked up. I got it as a paper weight but it isn't even good for that. It keeps rolling off my desk." said Pilaf lying through his teeth.
Fasha raised an eyebrow. "Hmm. It's more durable than anything I've seen on this planet. I think I'll take this too. You got problem with that?" said Fasha as he mencingly cut her eyes at Pilaf.
Pilaf studdered and fell back on her haunches while managing to say, "N-Not at all!"
Fasha snorted a small chuckle as she carefully positioned the dragon ball under her armor over the spot where her left breast was destroyed many years ago. she even turned the ball so the single red star on the ball was positioned where her nipple would have been. The result was a now perfectly symetrical chest with a red star peekinf through the hole in her armor. Satisfied, Fasha then drifted through the air towards the exit. "Come along Yamcha. We're leaving." she said.
A whimper in the affirmative was heard from the back corner of the room. Everyone except Fasha turned to see it was Yamcha hiding in the corner sheilding his eyes with one hand and stiffling a nose bleed with the other. He quickly stood up and moved his hands away from his eyes, revealing a face beet red with embarasment. He nodded and followed after Fasha, brushing past everyone except Mai who he carfully detoured around with avoiding eye contact. This did not escaped Pilaf's notice.
Back with Kakarot and Bulma
Bulma was driving her motorcycle down the road with Kakarot sitting behind her as they sped down the road with the setting sun visible in the distance.
"Hey Bulma. Pull over I just saw a snake. That should tied us over until diner." said Kakarot.
"Eww gross. You won't be eating snakes and nasty things like that while your traveling with me. You'll just have to toughen up. Why don't you eat that hunk of deer meat you've been telling me about?" said Bulma.
"I can't do that. I brought this for you. You killed that deer so you letting you have the best cut of meat is only fair." said Kakarot adamantly.
"That's very sweet, Kakarot, but unnecessary." said Bulma.
"Oh... okay." said Kakarot quietly.
Bulma could hear the sadness in Kakarot's voice and a few short moments later her concience got the better of her. "Tell you what Kakarot. When we find a good camping spot I'll make sure that meat is properly cooked and we can share it. There's no way I can it all." said Bulma, hoping she could get away with just taking a little nibble.
"You want to share with me? You serious? Gosh." said Kakarot.
Bulma was quite confused. "Gosh? Is that so suprising. Nobody ever share with you?"
"Hahaha. You're silly. Of course my mom shares all the time. It's just, my mom said if a girl shares food with me, I should be extra nice because Saiy- uh, I mean people only share with people they care about. So, if a girl shares with me, she might be special. I think Mom was right." said Kakarot, who was being uncharacteristically thoughtfull.
Bulma blushed a little before frowning agrily. "Just what are you implying kid? I'll have you know I'm nearly a grown woman." said Bulma with a rude tone.
Kakarot blinked several times in confusion before speaking, "I'm not in plining. I'm sitting right behind you."
Bulma eye twitched. "I mean, what are you trying to say? Stupid!" Yelled Bulma.
Kakarot responded earnestly, "I just mean you act like a mean, selfish person and call me mean words, but even so, you still decided to be my friend, and you'd even share really good food with me. I think you're special because you're actually a really nice person, but maybe you're scared that people won't give you as much niceness back."
Bulma's scowl immediately faded. She was ashamed of herself. This naive, innocent little boy was just expressing kindness and her first instinct was to shoot venom at him. He was at least partially wrong though. Truth be told she was a spoiled little brat from a rich family but this boy, at the very least, was inspiring her to work on that. "Sorry I got mad at you. Oh, this looks like a good place." said Bulma as she came to a stop and pulled her motorcycle over to the side of the road.
"We gonna camp here?" said Kakarot, having already forgoten the previous discusion as he hoped down from the motorcycle.
"In a manner of speaking. It's getting a little chilly out here anyway." said Bulma as she dimounted the motorcycle with her back turned to Kakarot, wincing as she put weight on her right arm dismounting, and produced her case of dynocaps.
"You might feel a little warmer if you pull your dress back down." said Kakarot.
Bulma freezed and slowly looked down. There was nothing there. Everything from just below her navel down was totally exposed. In all the excitement she totally forgot to pull her skirt back down and her panties must have flown from around her ankles when that monster was carying her though the air. 'Oh, no. I as sodistracted I did't even notice I was flashing everyone. If I wasn't destracted by his exhibitionist mother I would have gone ahead and changed clothes while was at it. "Ahhh!" she screamed as she quickly pulled her skirt back down.
"Whats wrong Bulma are you okay?" said Kakarot as he rushed to her side only to be immediatly slapped in the face.
Bulma's shoulder was in agony and her hand was now throbbing while Kakarot seemed nearly unfazed. "Why didn't you, or your family for that matter, tell me I was basically naked?" demanded Bulma.
"What? That's weird. How can you not know you're naked? said Kakarot.
"There was a lot going on. Hey! I'm asking the questions here mister! Now answer." demanded Bulma, now even more furious.
Kakarot found himself cowering at her fury as he held his hand up defensively. "I-I don't know. They probably just figured you where trying to let all the pee dry off so you don't get a rash." he said as he squeezed his eyes shut, fearing another smack. Though he wasn't sure why since she wasn't physically strong enough to harm him.
Kakarot slowly opened his eyes to see Bulma kneeling in front of him with her hand drawn back to slap him but now her eyes where closed. However, the slap never came as Bulma stood up and said, "Sorry for loosing my temper, let's just forget about this little incident. Okay?"
"Uh, that's okay. Say, Bulma, why do you squat like that to pee. My mom says you should stand when you pee so you can have better awareness of your surroundings." said Kakarot.
"Where you raised under a rock? Wait! I told you to forget about it! Stop distracting me! Now where did I put those capsules?" said bulma, at first to Kakarot and then to herself.
"You even have a tent in one of those things? You know, I don't like those witchbombs. Grandpa allways told me you should only use magic to help people." said Kakarot.
"It's not magic, Kakarot. Besides, I am helping someone. She's incredibly beautiful and has blue hair." said Bulma as she threw a dynocap into the clearing next to the road.
A loud explosion, a large puff of smoke, and there it was. A cozy little home, about twice the size of Grandpa Gohan's home. Kakarot's missidentified the house as a monster and his first instinct was to get between Bulma and the house and take up a defensive posture.
"Don't worry Bulma. I'll protect you from this Monster" said Kakarot.
"Thanks but it's not a monster Kakarot. It's just a house." said Bulma as she stepped into the house and turned on the lights.
"Wow. You made it light even though it's dark outside." said Kakarot, amazed.
Bulma smiled, grabbed the remote and turned on the television. This immediately caught Kakarot's attention as a man playing rock music appeared on the television. Bulma grinned mirthfully when Kakarot expressed concern for the man trapped in the box. Bulma then changed the channel to a romantic movie and became distracted until Kakarot took the remote from her hand and changed the channel again. This time it was a monster movie which scared Bulma out of her lusty daydream, much to Kakarot's amusement.
Kakarot chuckled which irritated Bulma. "You shut up." said Bulma.
"Hey, are you getting hungry, Bulma?" said Kakarot, changing the subject.
"Huh?" said Bulma, a little confused.
"Well, you're drooling." explained Kakarot, too inocent to understand that Bulma's drooling was caused by lust and not hunger.
"Now I'm embarased." said Bulma as she wiped her mouth and was, for once, greatful that Kakarot lacked the maturity to understand some things.
"Hey, what's that horrible smell? Ugh, Kakarot you need a bath!" said Bulma as she stood up.
"Well, I was going to take a bath today, even before you got pee all over me. We crossed over a river a little ways back. That would be a good place for us to wash up." said Kakarot.
"I have a bathroom. We don't have to live like savages." said Bulma as she rolled her eyes.
"Are you serious? How did you fit a river in a room?" said Kakarot, in awe of Bulma's magic science powers.
"I don't have a river, Kakarot. Just go in there and get washed up. Don't forget to use shampoo either, since that's where I... you know. Also, grab a towel to dry off. I don't want you dripping all over the house." said Bulma as she pointed at the door to her right. Her eyes closed tightly while her cheeks blushed with embarrassment.
"Uh, Bulma. What's a shampoo and a towel?" said a confused Kakarot.
"Are you serious?! How do you take a bath at home?" asked Bulma.
"Well, we all go down to the river near the house, do a little tail fishing, scrub our bodies with soap made from animal fat, rinse the soap off, and head home. We're usually pretty dry by the time we get home."
Bulma stared at him disbelievingly. "You're kidding, right? I guess I'll have to show you!" said Bulma, apprehensively.
So, Bulma ushered a confused Kakarot into the bathroom. She instructed Kakarot to get undressed and handed him a towel while she ran the bath water. Looking back, she saw Kakarot walking up to the edge of the tub, holding the towel to his side. "Look at you! You're supposed to use the towel to cover your front!" said Bulma, incredulously.
"Like this?" asked Kakarot as he held the towel up to cover only his face.
Bulma growled as she snatched the towel from him but the motion aggrivated her injury and she lost her grip while stifling a wimper.
"Bulma, are you okay?" said Kakarot as he rushed forward and gently placed a hand on her shoulder out of concern.
Bulma blushed slightly at this but didn't protest or become angry, as she appreciated his concern. "I'm okay. Just hurry up and get in the bath tub." said Bulma as the flare of pain in her arm faded back down to a dull throbbing.
Kakarot complied and Bulma grabbed a bottle of shampoo and started awkwardly scrubbing his head with her left hand. "What's this fluffy stuff you're putting in my hair?" asked Kakarot.
"It's called shampoo and it cleans your hair. I don't do this sort of thing often you know. You should consider yourself lucky." said Bulma.
Satisfied, Bulma decided to go ahead and help Kakarot scrub his back since she was allready here. When she saw the tail was still attached to his bottom she grabbed it and gave it a tug, thinking it was glued on. Bulma was quite shocked to learn it was real when he used his tail to take the brush out of her hand and proceed to start scrubbing his own back with said tail.
After he finished bathing Kakarot explained to Bulma how everyone in his family except his grandpa had a tail. For her part, Bulma was so interested in hearing about his families prehensile tails she all together forgot Kakarot was naked.
"So that fuzzy belt your mom was wearing was actually a tail?" asked Bulma as she watched Kakarot put on his black body suit and blue trousers.
"Yep! My mom says to always wrap your tail when you might find yourself in a dangerous situation but I'm worse than Wasabi about remembering to do it." said Kakarot while smiling.
"Well that's interesting but I better go ahead and get a bath myself." said Bulma as she got up and started walking toward the bathroom.
"Do you need a hand?" asked Kakarot innocently.
"What? Have you lost your mind?" said Bulma warrily.
"No. I just thought you might want a little help with your back since you don't have a tail and your shoulder is hurt." said Kakarot in a tone that conveyed innocence and honesty in equal measure.
Bulma rolled her eyes before saying, "Thanks, Kakarot, but I'm practically a grown woman. It wouldn't be proper."
"Ok, well ok." said Kakarot.
"Good. You just sit tight for a little while, and we can eat when I finish bathing," said Bulma as she grabbed a towel and made her way to the bathroom. As she began to get undressed it became clear to her that her shoulder hurt too much to get her dress over her head. Bulma decided to go ahead and pour a healthy dose of bubble bath soap into the tub and get in before calling for help. "Oh, Kakaro...," said Bulma before her pride and embarassment won out.
Kakarot came through the door a few seconds later, answering Bulma's call. "Hey, Bulma, please don't get mad. I know you said it wouldn't be proper for me to help you, but I'm pretty sure I just heard you calling."
Bulma huffed. "I wasn't calling you, you little perv, but since you're here, I guess I could let you help me. My shoulder's a little stiff so the sooner you help me, the sooner I can get back to my bath." said Bulma, lying about both the severity of her shoulder injury and her desire for assistance.
Kakarot seemingly ignored Bulma's conceited tirade as he stepped forward and instead of gently lifting her arm, he brutishly ripped her dress off around the shoulder. This elicited a fearfull gasp from Bulma. "Relax, Bulma. I didn't want to move your arm until I got a good look at your shoulder.
"That better be all you're looking at Buster!" demanded Bulma.
Kakarot began very gently pressing her shoulder. The first few prods elicited yelps of pain from Bulma, but Kakarot was able to adjust his strength down and within moments Bulma was so comfortable she seemed like she was about to fall asleep. 'Hmm, humans sure are soft and squishy. Maybe she's just out of shape. I remember grandpa wasn't nearly this squishy.' thought Kakarot as he stopped prodding her bruised shoulder and started scrubing her back.
"Wha-, why did you stop? That massage was feeling really good." pouted Bulma.
"A what? I was just trying to make the muscles relax and feel all the meat and stuff in your shoulder. Nothing seems torn or broken but you have some pretty bad bruising and swelling. Just relax and soak a little. I cleaned your back for you so you won't have to strain yourself. In a few minutes I'll appy a salve my mom made." said Kakarot as he sat the brush down and walked out of the bathroom
"Wait Kakarot. ." said Bulma.
"Yes Bulma?" Kakarot replied as he looked back.
Bulma froze for a moment, becoming shy as she remembered her state of undress, though she had plenty of bubbles covering her body. "Can you grab the long, pink nightgown out of that dresser in the bedroom, top shelf, and hang it on the bathroom door?" asked Bulma, to which Kakarot smiled and nodded his head before running off. 'Darn! What I really wanted was another shoulder rub. What's wrong with you, girl?' Bulma mentally admonished herself.
A few minutes later Bulma finished soaking and walked into the kitchen with a towel wrapped around her body. She saw Kakarot sitting at the kitchen table with a jar of something, likely from his backpack. Bulma intended to ask where her gown was but Kakarot answered that question before she could even ask.
"Hi, Bulma. Hurry and come sit down. Your gown is on this chair but I need to put my Mom's medicine on you first, then we can eat, cuz I'm starving." said Kakarot in a blunt but friendly manner.
"Well, okay, but no funny business. I'm still older than you," said Bulma haughtily as she turned her back and sat down.
Bulma's phrase made Kakarot curious so he asked her, "How old are you, Bulma?" as he started spreading the medicine on her bruised shoulder.
"You know it's rude to ask a lady her age. But if you must know I'm 16." said Bulma.
"Wow! You're even older than my real age!" said Kakarot, sounding genuinely impressed.
"Real age? Wait. Earlier today you seemed to imply you held your sister when she was a baby. How can a baby hold a baby, let alone remember it. Something isn't adding up." said Bulma sceptically.
"I was born in 734 but grandpa registered my date of birth as april 737. He decided the day he found me would be my birthday. My sister's birthday is right though." said Kakarot as he placed a large leaf over Bulma's topically medicated shoulder.
Bulma spun around to face Kakarot so quickly that she almost gave herself whiplash. "Hold on a second! That means you're almost as old as me! Besides, your mother looks like she's still in her early to mid twenties! That's impossible." said Bulma, not believing her ears.
"ha haha! You're funny Bulma. If my mom was in her early twenties she'd be the same age as my big brother, Raditz. My mom is actually in her forties. Anyways lets eat." said Kakarot as he ran outside, totally oblivious to the fact these revaltions were freaking Bulma out.
'Geeze. maybe I should just wish to be whatever species this freaky family is. I'd have a tail but on the bright side, I'd look this good a lot longer.' mused Bulma as Kakarot reappeared with the deer meat he had been promising her. It was now fully cooked, over an open flame by the looks of it. "I have an oven in the house you little caveman." teased Bulma, amused by her new little friends antics.
"That's okay. I'm not really sure what an oven is but my mom always made sure I stayed out of the kitchen." said kakarot, foolishly.
Bulma chuckled.
Kakarot smiled in response and said, "I'm sorry. It doesn't look like we have enough food. I should have gone out and looked for more, but I was worried about leaving you here alone. Don't worry though, I'll let you eat your fill first."
Bulma blushed lightly at Kakarot's statement. "You were worried about me?" asked Bulma, a little stunned.
"Well yeah. I'm sure my sister would make fun of me but something about you is super familiar. I don't know why but I feel like we've met and somehow I owe you my life. I just have a desire to look after you. Uh, Bulma. Do you have a fever? Your face is red again." replied Kakarot.
Bulma was blushing brightly at the little buffoon. "Kakarot! Please don't say something like that again. You might be way older than you look, but you're still a kid. In fact, let's start eating." said Bulma as she frantically walked to the cabinet and fridge and returned with bread, milk, and a bowl of strawberries she hadn't initially planned on sharing with Kakarot.
"Um, okay. Sorry if I said something rude," said Kakarot as he absentmindedly grabbed a strawberry. Kakarot froze for a second before exuberantly declaring, "Wow! That's delicious!"
Bulma smiled at this. "That's right Kakarot. That's a strawberry. You should count yourself lucky. I dont share my straberries with anyone, so you should consider yourself lucky." she said as she cut a slice of deer meat and forked a small piece in her mouth.
Bulma was similarly impressed with the venison Kakarot provided and told him as much. The two carried on a conversation well into the night, and Bulma learned quite a bit from the increasingly candid Kakarot. Bulma learned that Kakarot lost his brother and father when he was very young, and that Wasabi was born several months after their father died. She even confirmed their tails and inhuman strength were Saiyan traits, though she was not yet aware of exactly what race a Saiyan was. She seemed to recall her older sister mentioning that name before.
Bulma made a mental note to ask her older sister, Tights, about that next time they spoke. That would have to be another day though as she was exhausted and quickly fell asleep at the kitchen table.
Kakarot saw Bulma fall asleep and decided the nicest thing he could do was get her dressed and in bed. Being as careful as he could to not disturb her, Kakarot removed her damp towel and craddled her in his arms as he levitated to her bed. He then fetched her nightgown and carefully worked the gown over her injured shoulder and then her breasts. He was almost done pulling her gown down when he caught sight of her crotch and froze, with a mixture of sadness and terror on his face. "Aw, Bulma. You poor girl. You don't even have a little front tail. I should apologies to her at some point for telling her she should pee standing." thought Kakarot aloud as he finished putting on her gown, pulled a sheet up to her shoulders and proceeded to fall asleep himself on the foot of the bed, in the middle of Bulma's feet.