Crossover Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Vendetta ❯ Chapter Twelve ( Chapter 12 )

Vegeta's Home, Morning

 

Rei woke early the next morning, feeling Vegeta shift and rise from the bed. A quick glance at the clock showed that it was far too early for breakfast, and Rei groaned, pulling the sheet up and burying her head into the pillow. Vegeta laughed at her, kissed her hair and was gone. Rei hoped she could fall back asleep, but to no avail. She was firmly awake, and no amount of squeezing her eyes shut was going to change that.

 

So she got up and dressed, choosing a modest red and violet gown that would not give Vegeta the pleasure of any excessively visible skin. Then, she went to the kitchen and had a light breakfast of fruit and toast, which was surprisingly already prepared. Apparently, the cook realized that one must allow a great deal of time to prepare a meal for a Saiya-jin, and had adjusted her routine now that Vegeta was back. Rei tried to offer help in the cooking, but was driven from the kitchen at spatula-point.

 

She then suffered the misfortune of having far too much free time and not nearly enough to do. She had books to read and a piano to practice, and if she got too antsy inside, she could go walk out back in the gardens. She would not have taken Vegeta as the type to have well-tended gardens, but he did. They were large enough for a good hour-long stroll, and had kept her from suffering cabin fever more times than she could count.

 

On other days, Usagi would come over and they would spend a minimum of a few hours chatting or simply being comforted by the other's presence. Today, however, Goku and Orso were unavailable to escort the blond girl, and the walk was far too long and dangerous to be made alone. If Vegeta were anyone else, she would ask him to take her over to Goku's apartment, but she wanted as little contact with him as possible, and she certainly wasn't going to start asking favors.

 

She settled on reading, knowing that it was important that she become as informed of her surroundings as possible. Many of the books she'd purchased dealt with elementary politics, universal economics and something akin to geography—in short, a study of different planets and their races, as opposed to different countries and their citizens. She was making some progress, but the massive amount of information available would have daunted even Ami.

 

After a couple of hours, she grew tired of the sitting room and took her book outside to the gardens. She planned to remain there until lunchtime, even if she could not maintain concentration on the books for that long. She could walk, burn some energy, or lay in the sun. The weather was still quite warm, but not anywhere near the scorching heat of the first few days. While it was still morning, the heat had not yet reached unbearable levels and felt quite nice.

 

She had hardly read a page when Vegeta sauntered into her peripheral vision. He was shirtless and his skin gleamed with sweat, evidence of his recent workout. Without a word he settled himself next to her, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head. His face was smirking, as usual, but he looked much more relaxed lying there with his eyes closed than she was accustomed to seeing him. When it became clear he had no intention of talking or jumping her, she went back to her book.

 

She tried to read, but found it impossible to concentrate with the Saiya-jin just lying there. Even if he were asleep, she wouldn't really feel safe in his presence. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore.

 

“Do you want something?” she snapped. He cocked his head in her direction and opened one eye.

 

“I have to want something of you? This is my property, perhaps I wish to enjoy a peaceful afternoon in my gardens.”

 

Rei snorted, not believing the flimsy excuse. “Right,” she said. She turned back to her book, pretending to be engrossed. Vegeta opened both his eyes and sat up. Scooting close to her, he wrapped an arm around her waist and looked over her shoulder.

 

“What are you reading?” he asked, dropping a kiss on her shoulder. She glared at him briefly.

 

“I thought it would be prudent to...become better acquainted with...everything.”

 

Vegeta chuckled and kissed her cheek. She tried to shrug him off, his attentions most definitely not welcome, but he would not be so easily dissuaded. His arm tightened around her waist and he pulled the book from her hands, dropping it haphazardly on the ground. As she turned her head, fully intending to shout at him loud enough to damage his hearing, he cupped her face and kissed her forcefully.

 

The kiss was entirely different from the one in the bathroom two weeks previous. That had been meant merely to distract her, and perhaps enrage her, both of which it had succeeded in doing. Since Vegeta was not currently trying to divest her of her clothing, she could only assume he was kissing her because he wanted that sort of intimacy with her. In all likelihood, he wanted a lot more than some relatively harmless kisses, though, and Rei, not wanting anything to do with him, tried to pull away.

 

He was, quite obviously, far too strong for her resistance to be of any use. She tried to pull her face away, but the hand cupping her cheek prevented it. She tried to scoot her body away, but every time the arm wrapped around her waist pulled her closer. She tried to voice her protest, but with his lips planted firmly against hers, making any distinguishable noise was out of the question. She was, for all intents and purposes, completely helpless.

 

Subtly, Vegeta began to shift, moving her until she was lying on the ground beneath him. His intentions were becoming quite glaringly obvious, and Rei started to panic and squirm. One of her arms was free and she tried to push him off, but he was far too heavy and had no plans to relocate himself. Finally his mouth left hers, trailing down to her neck.

 

“Stop it,” she growled. “Get off!” Vegeta chuckled.

 

“Why would I want to do that?” he asked. He paused in his kissing, his dark eyes staring into hers. Rei found the intensity of his gaze almost as frightening as the position they were in. “It's so much easier to properly ravage you this way.”

 

“No!” Rei shouted, panicking.

 

She fought with everything she had, hurled every insult and curse at him that she could think of. He seemed to grow tired of her shouting and silenced her with another kiss. With one hand he secured both her arms over her head to prevent the admittedly weak attempts at hitting him. The other he ran down her side, causing her to shiver, unable to fight the reflex to the tickling sensation.

 

“Are you done bitching?” he whispered. She glared.

 

“You're disgusting, you vile monkey!” she shouted, not the least bit finished with her “bitching.”

 

The insult would not have been all that insulting on earth compared to some of the other things she'd called him. But something about it seemed to enrage Vegeta. His hand immediately went to her throat, his eyes glinting dangerously.

 

“Feel lucky I am not in the habit of beating my slaves,” he growled. He looked murderous.

 

Forgive me, Usagi, Rei prayed. I'd rather he just killed me. Death appealed to her more than being raped, and she couldn't think of any other ways out. So, she decided to push some buttons.

 

“So, are you physically incapable of finding a willing woman? Is that why you have to rape those who are weaker than you? Does it make you feel powerful, manly?” she sneered up at him, daring him to try something. To her great shock, his expression shifted and he laughed at her.

 

“I'm certainly capable of having any woman I want. Who wouldn't want such a powerful, wealthy, and dare I say handsome prince? You should feel lucky.”

 

“I don't care one lick about your power or your money, monkey-boy,” Rei felt like spitting at him, but as he was above her and she didn't exactly practice much, she wasn't going to risk having her own insult falling short and landing on her own face. “I'd never be willing.”

 

“Oh, I beg to differ.” Vegeta kissed her nose, the previous affection returning.

 

“Prove it.”

 

There, a dare. Given Vegeta's arrogance and egoism, he wouldn't turn it down. And, Rei was reasonably confident that she could withstand whatever he could dish out in the “love” department.

 

“You'll see.” And with that, he sat up, allowing her to get off the ground. “If I win, you will share my bed until I tire of you, no protests, no compromises,” he whispered in her ear, running a hand through her hair.

 

“And if I win?” Rei asked, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring.

 

“I suppose for you to win we'd have to set a time limit. Eighteen months. I would say six, but I'll be on a completely different planet half the time. If you hold out for eighteen months, you may have your freedom.”

 

Before Rei could reply, he gave her one last, chaste kiss, and then returned to the house. Shaken, Rei took up her book and began to read, firmly placing the entire event in the back of her mind. Eighteen months was a long time, but there wasn't anything about a raping, murdering jackass like Vegeta that appealed to her. She'd win her freedom, and hopefully by then would be able to find a way to get Usagi out. Rei smiled. Things were looking positive for the first time in weeks.

 

A Few Days Later, Early Morning

 

Rei had always been accustomed to rising early, eating a light breakfast and then doing chores or praying before going to school. Being kidnapped and taken into outer space had thrown off her internal clock for a few weeks, but now that she had become accustomed to the length of days on the new planet, she hoped to fall into some sort of similar rhythm.

 

She'd tried to pray and meditate many times here, but never could clear her mind properly. She also wanted to consult the fire, but had yet to find a place that seemed made for fires. Vegeta probably wouldn't be very happy with her if she just started lighting fires in random places in his house, either.

 

Now, though, the desire to pray became overpowering. It woke her from her sleep, bringing her to consciousness instantly. Her room was still relatively dark, the sun just rising past the horizon and sending pale light in through the window. Vegeta, as seemed to be his custom, had come into her room at some point in the night and currently had an arm thrown across her waist. Whether or not he was awake, Rei wasn't sure. Probably awake and waiting to pester her as soon as she showed signs of being conscious.

 

Sure enough, as soon as she tried to move his arm and crawl out of bed, he tightened his grip and chuckled.

 

“And where are you off to so early in the morning?” he asked, nuzzling her hair. She glared at him.

 

“I want to pray. Is there somewhere I can start a fire?”

 

“Why do you need a fire to pray?” Vegeta was immediately intrigued. Her request was possibly the strangest non-sequiter he'd ever heard, and he was eager to hear her explanation.

 

She had wiggled out of his arms and got up. She fumbled around in her closet until she found the robes she had been wearing the day she was captured.

 

“It's hard to explain,” she said before disappearing into the bathroom to change. When she emerged, Vegeta had pulled on a pair of pants and was standing with his arms crossed. He quirked an eyebrow at her.

 

“This way.”

 

He led her upstairs to a room that looked like it was never used. It was spotless, and Rei wondered silently who cleaned it. It had a fireplace, and while the flame wasn't as open as she would have hoped, it would serve her purpose. She could do a fire reading in a candle if necessary, though it was difficult.

 

Once the fire was blazing, she settled herself in front of it, kneeling and with her hands clasped together. She started to clear her mind, but realized that Vegeta was standing behind her, watching her intently. It was impossible to focus with his eyes boring into the back of her skull, so she turned and glared at him.

 

“You can leave or you can participate. You can't just stand there.”

 

To her surprise, he didn't argue or leave. “What do I do?” he asked.

 

“Kneel behind me and keep your ki in check. I assume you can manipulate ki?”

 

Vegeta laughed and knelt behind her. “I'm surprised a weakling like you even knows what ki is, let alone how to manipulate it.”

 

Rei chose not to respond to the insult. Instead, she began to clear her mind, pushing Vegeta to the back of her consciousness. Meditation was difficult and required dedication and practice. She'd spent her whole life studying to run Hikawa Jinja after her grandfather, and she had only become able to enter the proper state of mind for fire reading shortly before she'd met Usagi. Hopefully, Vegeta wouldn't interrupt too much.

 

The images appeared almost immediately, in such quick succession Rei almost missed the shorter ones. She saw Sailor Pluto standing before two separate Time Gates. She saw Chibi-Usa, a teenager, weeping. But the most detailed image was equally the most confusing. Usagi knelt, clothed in a silvery robe, belted with a garter of green lined with blue and buckled with silver. She wore a silver necklace with a five-point star engraved with crescent moons and planetary symbols, and a matching silver bracelet. A short, dark-haired woman stood over her, holding a small vial of a clear liquid. She was dressed similarly, and seemed to be chanting something. Then, she sprinkled some of the liquid on Usagi, who stayed eerily still. She laid the vial on an altar and picked up a circlet, also silver, with crescent moon adornment. She spoke again, and laid the circlet on Usagi's head. Finally, Usagi moved, raising her head to look up at the woman, looking unsure for a moment before standing. The woman kissed both her cheeks and her forehead, and then turned to someone in the shadows. Before Rei could make out the face, the vision disappeared and she was back in Vegeta's house.

 

“What the hell was that?” Vegeta growled.

 

“I don't know. The visions are usually more clear.” Rei turned to face Vegeta, a frown on her face. “I think I understand the first two, but I have no idea what that woman was doing to Usagi. It looked like some sort of religious ritual or something.”

 

“That `woman' was my mother, and she was initiating your little princess to be a priestess in the Saiya-jin faith,” Vegeta said. “Which is impossible, because my mother has been dead for twenty years.”

 

Rei stared at him, completely befuddled. She'd had strange visions before, but none of them had ever been physically impossible. Sometimes the visions were of a possible future, and sometimes they were definite, but never anything like this.

 

“You're presence must have thrown my concentration off,” she said, knowing it probably wasn't true but not willing to admit that she might be at fault. Vegeta obviously didn't believe her, but said nothing. Then, something else odd struck Rei, and she glared. “Why'd you call Usagi a princess?”

 

She knew for a fact that neither she nor Usagi had told Vegeta. Almost immediately they had decided to keep certain pieces of information secret from their `masters.' There was no possible way Vegeta could know about Usagi's former life as Princess Serenity.

 

“That other blond girl told me all about it. Personally, I think vowing to protect a princess with no throne is stupid, but your loyalty to her is admirable.” Vegeta reached up a hand to brush some of Rei's sweat-soaked hair out of her face. “Tell me, girl. If I set you free and offered to pay for your ride back to your planet, would you go and leave your princess here?”

 

Rei answered firmly and without hesitation. “Absolutely not. My duty to her outweighs any personal desire. I owe her my life three times over.”

 

Without warning, Vegeta leaned in and kissed her. Unfortunately, Rei was starting to get used to it. He was very physically affectionate when they were alone, and while she would prefer he stop, there wasn't much she could do about it. He seemed to realize that it unnerved her, and did it more for that reason than out of any sort of true affection.

 

“We're having guests for dinner. I suggest you change into something more appropriate. A bath wouldn't be out of the question either.”

 

The last sentence was spoken with a smirk, and Rei realized immediately his intent. Instead of letting him get away with dragging her down the hall, striping her and throwing her into the bathtub, she tried to distract him.

 

“You talked to Minako at some point,” she said, assuming that was the blond he had spoken of earlier.

 

Vegeta shrugged. He did not apparently put much stock in the names of females Rei's age, preferring to call them `girl' or something even less nice. “I visited the house of a friend after my last mission, and she was staying there.” Vegeta smirked again. “Here's another question. If you were given the choice between living your entire life in servitude or having the option of earning your freedom working as a whore, what would you choose?”

 

The meaning in those words registered almost immediately and Rei jerked away from him, horrified. She stood for a moment, staring at him, unsure of how to react. It was too overwhelming, thinking of what Minako had to endure, what Vegeta had done and how he was so casual about it. He just sat there, smirking up at her, not the least bit bothered by the fact that he had revealed that he patronized prostitutes and had compounded that transgression by hurting one of her dear friends.

 

Without verbalizing her answer, Rei stormed out of the room and retreated to her own, locking the door behind her. It wouldn't keep Vegeta out if he really wanted to get to her, but she could hope he would respect her need to be as far away from him as possible. She could just imagine him, still sitting up there, laughing at her.

 

While she had not at all forgiven him for enslaving her, trash talking Usagi or committing rape and mass murder frequently, she had somewhat gotten used to him. Whenever he wasn't training, he was following her around, wrapping an arm around her or kissing her, always without her consent, and she was just starting to feel the slightest bit of comfort in his presence. Perhaps comfort wasn't the right word, but she was becoming accustomed to it at the very least.

 

He had shattered any sort of bond or trust that had been forming by opening his mouth. If he thought she would be more likely to sleep with him after what he'd said and done, he had another think coming. Rei's sadness at her friend's condition turned almost immediately to pure rage, which lasted for some time, until finally confusion crept it.

 

He could very well never have told her about Minako, and she would never have known any better. He surely could not believe she would have been jealous to hear such news—he was cocky, but not stupid by any means. The honesty hardly seemed to fit his personality, or what she could tell of his personality from the few weeks that she'd known him. What was he trying to accomplish? He certainly liked to make her angry, but surely he recognized that this had gone too far.

 

Overcome with too many emotions to properly name, Rei sank to the floor next to her bed, and, for the first time since she'd been taken from earth, she allowed herself to cry.

 

* * *

 

Vegeta opted not to follow Rei, realizing that he had upset her greatly. However, he felt no remorse and had absolutely no intention of apologizing for something he didn't see as wrong. If she was going to be a frigid, humorless bitch, then she could very well be one all by herself. He had been completely truthful, and had even assured her that her friend was alive and well. He was of the opinion that, with the notable exception of his hatred of a certain lizard-tyrant named Frieza, telling the truth outweighed any sort of coddling or ego petting, and he wasn't about to change his basic beliefs just because one weak girl found him undesirable.

 

His team would be arriving some time after lunch, and he had no desire to speak with them while distracted by Rei and her excessive emotions. He decided to forgo breakfast for the time being and spend a few hours in meditation. It was hard enough to listen to Nappa ramble on and on about his gaming addiction and current choice of lady friend with a clear head, and attempting to do so while distracted would lead inevitably to a massive headache. Wishing to avoid such a headache, he entered one of the numerous dojos added specifically when he'd purchased the house and spent the next four hours in blissful silence.

 

He ate an early lunch, and wasn't particularly surprised that Rei was not present. He was only marginally concerned that she hadn't come out of her room, but after his wonderful meditation session, he forced himself not to think much about her. He made a comment to his cook along the lines of taking food to the girl's room, and then went into the sitting room to await his team's arrival.

 

At the end of each month, he, Goku, Nappa, Orso, and before his untimely demise, Raditz, would meet to discussion their missions for the next month. He was the squad's leader, and every six months Frieza's central control would set out a monthly timetable of tasks for him to divide between the members of his group. Occasionally, all of them would be necessary on a job, but most often he could send each of them off to one or two planets, and they could finish their assignment within a couple of weeks. That left them plenty of time for tournaments, vacations or working ahead. Vegeta was currently adjusting the timetable to allow him a four-month hiatus at the end of the year to take care of some personal business, and he needed to finalize the schedule with his team.

 

Orso was, as usual, the first to arrive at the meeting. He barely acknowledged Vegeta as he entered, and sat on the couch in the sitting room, eyes staring dreamily at the ceiling. Orso was far and above the strangest person Vegeta had ever met, and he couldn't really understand why he liked the guy so much. He wasn't a particularly gifted warrior, more often then not attending to the groups financial aspects and avoiding combat whenever necessary. Still, Vegeta found his deceptively vacant expression and strange mannerisms amusing, and had overridden both Raditz and Nappa's protestations in officially adding him to the team.

 

Adding Orso to the team was, quite possibly, the most beneficial thing he'd done for the group. He usually oversaw the organization of schedules and offered advice as to which tournaments they should enter based on possible competitors and earnings. For all his vacant expressions, Orso had managed to increase each member's yearly income threefold, even after taking out a reasonable payment for himself. Not once had Vegeta regretted his decision to include the young man on his team.

 

Nappa and Goku, with Usagi in tow, arrived shortly, and Vegeta was immediately thankful of the time he had spent preparing himself. Nappa, at the sight of the blond girl, felt a loud and obnoxiously lewd comment about her small stature was necessary. The girl hardly had time to blush before he grabbed her around the midsection and lifted her into the air, proving his that he could, in fact, encircle her waist with one hand.

 

“Put her down,” Vegeta snapped irritably, and the large Saiya-jin reluctantly complied. Usagi rushed to hide behind Goku, who shot her an apologizing glance. “Oi, Princess. Your friend is hiding in her room. Go see if you can convince her to join us for supper.”

 

Usagi recognized her dismissal, and moved to obey. However, she shot Vegeta a questioning look. Princess? He nodded slightly at her, and she flushed, hurrying from his presence to find out just what he'd done to upset Rei. He turned back to his team, glaring slightly at Nappa, and led them to the sitting room, where Orso had taken it upon himself to go over the schedule Vegeta had arranged.

 

“It'd work, but I think you overestimate the time necessary for Kakorot's last two missions. And you're pushing yourself pretty hard four months from now. You don't leave any recovery between those two, and they're both extremely belligerent races.”

 

Vegeta scowled. “It'll get done,” he stated, sitting down. “I need those four months off, maybe even five if we can get the next schedule ahead of time.”

 

“Why do you need that vacation so badly?” Nappa asked, eyeing the schedule. Whenever one member of the group needed time off, inevitably the others would have to do more work, and he certainly wanted to avoid that as much as possible.

 

“The Dankei princess has returned, and they are rebuilding.”

 

That was enough explanation for Nappa, and Goku and Orso didn't usually like to question Vegeta's motives, so the issue was put to rest. “The Dankei princess” had been promised to Vegeta at birth, but with the destruction of the Saiya-jin home planet, the deal was voided. Still, the two had kept in contact, and eventually Vegeta had purchased the planet, offering it protection from a possible purge and making a nice profit in the balance. In return, he allowed the ruling family to continue as it had, only insisting on a reasonably small portion of the planet's products to keep people like Frieza satisfied that it was, in fact, a business transaction and not an act of defiance.

 

Some time ago, the planet had been lain to waste by an unknown force that didn't seem interested in typical purges. The princess had disappeared and her lover had been killed. Upon receiving news of her return, Vegeta had immediately worked out a timetable to allow for a visit. The planet was rebuilding, and aside from the personal trip to ensure that his old friend was in fact doing well, he wanted to make sure everything was running smoothly. He'd lost a great deal of anticipated income when the planet was ransacked, and he wanted to get things up and running as quickly as possible.

 

The next hour or so was spent discussing various strategies for the various planets they needed to purge. With the exception of the two Vegeta faced back to back in four months' time, none of the battles would prove difficult at all. They also briefly discussed payment, Nappa grumbling about inflation and a lack of proper compensation in income. Vegeta was tempted to tell him to quit throwing all of his money away on games, but he'd tried it before and Nappa would not listen to reason.

 

“Enough of this business shit,” Nappa grumbled. “Let's spar. I haven't had a good fight in weeks. I say we gang up on Orso.”

 

Orso just smiled at him, knowing Vegeta and Goku would not agree to the large Saiay-jin's plans.

 

“I think we ought to go against Vegeta, get him ready for that run in four months,” Goku suggested.

 

“That would be nice if the two of you together were stronger than me, but that's obviously not the case.”

 

Vegeta smirked at them and headed to the gravity room. In truth, the two of them together would be more than strong enough to give him a good work out, but it was in his nature to deny any weakness in himself. They followed, Nappa with an eager glint in his eye. For all Vegeta hated being around him in social situations, there wasn't a more enthusiastic sparring partner in the universe. And, what Goku lacked in enthusiasm, he more than made up for in skill. Throw in seven times standard gravity, and you had one hell of a training session.

 

* * *

 

Usagi knocked softly at Rei's door before cracking it open. Rei was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, her eyes red and puffy from hours of crying. She still wore her temple robes, and her hair was mussed and tangled. She hadn't really bothered to brush it properly that morning, and had not had any motivation to do anything since then.

 

“Rei-chan,” Usagi said quietly, moving to the bed. She sat down next to her friend, and the dark-haired girl turned and buried her head in Usagi's shoulder. She had no tears left to cry, but she wrapped her arms around Usagi's waist, trembling. “What happened?”

 

Rei sniffed and let go of her friend. “I...I can't bring myself to tell you,” she whispered. “Soon, but...not yet.”

 

Usagi decided not to push for information. Rei didn't look like she'd been hurt physically, so she assumed Vegeta had said something particularly upsetting. She ran a hand through her friend's hair, pulling her into a tight hug. “I think you just needed to cry,” she said. “You haven't since we got here, right?” Rei nodded and sniffled again. “Come over here and let me brush your hair.”

 

Rei allowed herself to be pulled from the bed and sat, as instructed, in the chair next to the vanity. Usagi took up a brush and began working out the tangles in the long, black hair, all the while talking softly about harmless things. She told Rei about how things were going with Goku, how they were sort of becoming friends. There wasn't a whole lot to tell, since most of Usagi's days consisted of cooking, cleaning, and occasionally trying to read a book, but she managed to keep Rei preoccupied. She also related the incident outside Vegeta's front door, where Nappa had picked her up with one hand. Rei giggled, and Usagi decided she was doing a good job.

 

“Have you eaten anything today?” Usagi asked. She had the feeling Rei hadn't left the room in some time, but wasn't sure.

 

“No.”

 

“Well, we'll have to get you dressed for supper, then.” Rei started to protest, but Usagi stopped her. “Since when have you let stupid men stop you from enjoying a good meal? And anyway, they might not even be there. It's getting pretty late and they could very well have already finished.”

 

Usagi set the brush down on the table and moved to shuffle through Rei's closet, looking for an appropriate dress. She noticed that Rei and not moved, and glared. Rei stood and gathered the underclothing she would need. As she changed, Usagi found a dress she thought suitable and laid it out on the bed. She helped Rei tighten the corset, and nodded in approval when the dark-haired girl was fully dressed.

 

“You might want to go splash some water on your face,” Usagi suggested, noting the still red and puffy eyes. Rei nodded and disappeared into the bathroom for a moment. When she reemerged, it was still fairly obvious that she'd cried, but she looked better.

 

Unfortunately, the men had just returned from their bout in the gravity room when Rei and Usagi turned up in the kitchen for supper. However, Rei made it a point not to even look at Vegeta throughout the entire meal, focusing solely on her food and Usagi. Vegeta found her stubbornness most entertaining, and thankfully did not attempt to speak with her. After supper, Nappa and Orso left, and Goku stayed just long enough for Rei and Usagi to speak briefly.

 

Once left alone in the house, Rei retreated to her bedroom. For the first time since Vegeta had returned, she spent the night alone, and for the first time since arriving in space, she pulled the covers up around her, shivering and cold.