Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Another Time ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Another Time

By Karete-chan

Chapter 6: We found it! We think…

She was bored. Another meeting. Up the front of the room some old bald guy was droning on and on about some contract that Capsule Corp. and his supply company should participate in. Kat understood the use of materials but all these charts about costs and `supply and demand' went over her head. Her idea of getting supplies was: I want, you have, I pay, you give. As simple as that.

She glanced at Bulma. The older woman was sitting up straight and appeared to be listening intently but her eyes had a glazed look to them. ~She finds this as tedious as I do. I bet she brings me to these things just so that she's not the only one with no idea of what's actually happening.~ She grinned inwardly. Or at least she thought she did.

"Miss Son? Did you have something you wanted to contribute?"

"Huh?"

One of the young financial advisors was looking at her disgustedly.

"I…er…"

Bulma came to her rescue. "I think gentlemen, that I have heard enough." She gathered the papers in front of her. "My assistant obviously feels that our time could be better spent elsewhere and so do I." She stood up and the rest of the room followed suit.

"B...but Bulma-san we have not finished agreeing on the contract."

"I'll leave that to my advisors here. I am sure that they are more than capable at sorting out all the nitty gritty details." She smiled. "That is what I hired them for after all. I have other matters to attend to today so I must take my leave." Kat followed her out of the room.

"Bulma…"

"Kat we're at work, please try and remember to call me Bulma-san or Ms. President."

"Gomen Bulma-san, I forgot."

"I know, those old fogies could make you forget anything after a while. They just kept talking didn't they? Of course you apparently found something to smile at."

"Is that why that guy looked so pissed at me? Oh well, at least it got me out of there."

"You and me both kid. I can't stand all that drivel."

Kat grinned. "I know. That's why I was smiling. You've almost got your act down pat. You just need to work on keeping the glazed look out of your eyes."

Bulma cringed. "It was that obvious?"

"Only to me and that's because I wasn't paying much attention."

Bulma frowned. "I should probably tell you off for that but then it would just be a case of `do as I tell you not as I do'" she sighed. "Ah well," she looked at her watch. "I suppose we can call it a day."

"Already? Bulma-san it's only lunchtime."

"I know. Isn't it great when you own the company?" she grinned. "Come on let's get something to eat."

The two women trudged back to the large domed building they called home. Kat opened the door and mock bowed Bulma inside.

"After you Ms. President."

"Oh no. After you loyal employee," and mock bowed her in return.

"Oh I couldn't possibly," replied Kat who started to giggle.

"Don't be silly it's my pleasure," said Bulma who also started to laugh.

"What in the world is going on?" came a surprised voice from inside.

This brought Bulma and Kat back to their senses. Still bowing to each other they turned their heads to see a very startled looking Mrs. Briefs starting at them. They immediately straightened up and tried very hard not to look embarrassed.

"Uh hi mum, I just decided that Kat and I deserved the rest of the day off."

"Oh ok," she grinned as if this explained everything. "That was very good timing of you honey, there's a guest waiting for you in the lounge," and she disappeared into the kitchen.

"A guest? Do I have an appointment?"

Kat shook her head. "Not that I know of." She followed Bulma down the hall.

"Yamcha!" Bulma's cry was half happy, half scolding. From behind Bulma, Kat could see that the scarred warrior was playing with Trunks. Playing as in letting Trunks hold his finger while he dangled him five feet above the ground. Bulma was obviously of the opinion that this was not something that she wanted her son to be doing, Trunks on the other hand thought that this was immense fun as he was giggling in that inane way again. Personally Kat thought that if the kid were dropped he'd probably just bounce. He'd make a hell of a racket afterwards but he wouldn't be hurt.

"Ah heh. Hi Bulma," answered Yamcha, one hand behind his head.

"Put him down this instant!"

"Aw Bulma I was just playing with him."

"And what would you have done if he had fallen and Vegeta heard you?"

Yamcha paled. "I swear Bulma I wouldn't have dropped him."

Bulma eyed him for a while longer then smiled. "I know, just don't do it again ok?" Yamcha grinned back. Then his eyes flicked to Kat.

"Hey Bulma, introduce me to your friend."

"Oh how rude of me. Yamcha this is Kat. Kat, Yamcha." Kat nodded politely as he sidled up next to her.

"You were at the Cell games." He looked surprised but quickly puffed himself up.

"Uh, yeah. Thought I might take a crack at him `cause I've been doing marshal arts since I could walk." He gave her a quick wink.

~Oh puh-lease. He's trying to hit on me.~ Kat saw Bulma's face darken. She smiled at him. "Well I'm glad that Mr. Satan was there to bail you out of trouble. You should have known that only the Strongest Man on Earth could take him out." This time it was Yamcha's turn to look surly.

"Oh. A fan of his are you?"

"Oh yeah," Kat glanced in Bulma's direction. "A huge one." Bulma was trying hard not to smile. "Look, you came to see Bulma so I'll just get out of your way. Bulma I'm going duck over to Gohan's and give him a break from ChiChi."

"Ok. Will you be back for dinner? Oh and I need you to baby-sit Trunks tomorrow."

"Yes and okay," answered Kat as she walked to the window and threw it open. She stepped up on the ledge.

"Hey!" exclaimed Yamcha. "What do you think you're doing? We're two stories up!"

Kat grinned as she looked over her shoulder at him. "You know, it was really good of you guys to stay and give Gohan a hand in kicking Cell's ass. Ja ne!" She took off into the sky as Yamcha stared dumbfounded after her. He turned to Bulma.

"What the hell was that?"

"How long have you got?" she asked.

*****

Kat watched as Trunks climbed out of his playpen for the sixth time that day. "Why is it that you behave for everyone else and not for me? Am I that `uncool' to you? Am I not worth listening to? And why in the world am I talking to you? You don't even understand." She sighed and went back to her book when she saw that the young child had given all his attention to a ragged old teddy bear and had commenced rendering it into pieces.

She sighed. Babysitting Trunks was not one of her favorite pastimes. Bulma was away at a three day conference and if she even thought for a moment that Vegeta would lend a hand she would have walked herself to the nearest insane asylum. Kat lived for the moment that the Briefs would come home so that she could escape to her room. She sighed and glanced back at Trunks, who had disappeared. ~Damn~

She got up and let her senses stretch out then she stopped. A trail of teddy bear bits led out into the hallway. She followed the path of destruction until she reached the kitchen. The cause of her current misery had seated himself in front of the knife rack on the bench, having climbed there through the use of one of the kitchen chairs. "Annoying little brat." She said as she picked him up. "Someone should tell you that babies shouldn't have the strength or intelligence to drag a kitchen chair across the room." She sighed as the doorbell rang and turned to go and answer it. "Can I ask you a question terror? And don't giggle at me." Kat asked as she walked down the hall balancing Trunks on her hip. "How long is it going to be before you grow up?" She opened the front door.

She stared at the man in front of her and he stared right back. "Well that was quick," she said softly.

"Who are you?" asked the lavender haired youth on the doorstep.

*****

"So my kassan's not home then?"

"No. She'll be back tonight though." Kat turned around as the kettle began to whistle. She poured two cups of tea then turned back to the table. "Vegeta's here but I doubt you'll see him, he's too busy training." She sat down and they began to drink the tea. A loud crunch interrupted them. Kat turned to see Chibi Trunks sitting amongst the rubble of one of her carefully reconstructed robots.

"Bit of a terror aren't I?" Marai Trunks laughed. He turned back to his tea and stopped when he saw the look on Kat's face.

"That's it! I've been putting up with you for three days!" She stormed over to the crib that she'd dragged into the kitchen and picked up the startled child. "I'm sick and tired of having to watch you break everything in sight!" She threw open the back door and almost flew across the yard. She balanced the child on her hip once more and opened the small panel on the side of the gravity machine. She backed off as she heard the expected thump and muffled curses.

The door flew open. "What the hell do you think you're doing brat?" Vegeta yelled in her face. "I've told you to never interrupt me!" He advanced towards her and she held Chibi Trunks up in front of herself.

"If you took care of your son on your own whim then I wouldn't have to be out here telling you to do it asshole!" She put the boy down on the grass. "I have my own things to do, not that you can see past your own nose and I refuse to do your job for you anymore." She turned away and began to walk towards the house when she felt a strong grip on her arm. She spun around to find herself inches away from Vegeta.

"How dare you tell me what I should be doing brat," he said coldly.

"It's about time somebody did." She found herself flying across the yard headfirst. She hit the side of Bulma's lab and bounced off. Twisting her body in mid air, she landed in a crouch and stood up. "Besides," she added mockingly. "You need to spend some time with your sons."

"Sons?" Vegeta looked at the small boy on the grass and then around the yard. Marai Trunks stood leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen and he gave his father a small wave when Vegeta spotted him. The Saiya-jin Prince turned around in time to see Kat disappear into one of the upstairs windows.

*****

A knock came on her door. Kat turned over and pulled her pillow over her head. "Muwumff," she answered.

The knocking came again. "Hey Kat, you dead in there or what?" Trunks. Or what, she thought, like sleeping. Oh well, at least it wasn't Vegeta. Removing the pillow from her head she rolled over…and fell out of bed. "Are you moving furniture or something? Remember lift from the knees." Smart-ass. She picked herself up and staggered to the door.

"What?" she asked, throwing it open.

Trunks was prepared for snarling mass of attitude that should have greeted him this early on a Saturday but was totally taken aback at the girl that answered Kat's door. Clad only in a pair of shorts and a singlet top, her hair lay in disheveled mess around her shoulders. He felt his cheeks go red. He shook his head. For Kami's sake, she's only sixteen! "I was wondering if you wanted to spar but it looks like it might be a little early for you."

Her eyes suddenly found consciousness. "Spar? As in, I get to fight back not just get the shit beaten out of me?"

"That's only father's definition."

"Do I get to eat first?"

"Grandma has breakfast waiting."

Her eyes lit up then dulled considering. "What time is it?"

"Seven thirty. It's late."

"Late he says. Seven thirty on a Saturday," she mumbled to herself. "You owe me," she muttered as she shut the door in his face.

"So are you coming or what?"

"Did you want to watch me get dressed?" she yelled sarcastically, through the door.

Yes…No! "Just hurry up."

*****

It was Noon by the time Vegeta had decided he was hungry enough to stop training. Leaving the gravity room he began striding across Capsule Corp.'s immense yard towards the main building. As he slammed the backdoor behind him, the woman's mother poked her head out from the kitchen.

"Oh Vegeta! Hungry already? Good thing I started early today!" Early? The baka woman never stopped.

She walked out and latched onto his arm guiding him to the kitchen. Food seemed to appear from nowhere and he concentrated on the food to drown out the woman's incessant chatter. He was half way through his third helping when the woman actually mentioned something of importance.

"What?"

"Oh. I was just saying that we weren't going to be home tonight and I was hoping you'd let Bulma know." That's all he needed, a night of her cooking. It was enough to put him off his food.

He pushed his plate away and stalked out. Now he was pissed. He needed a good fight. Where was the damn boy when you wanted him? He scanned the area. There he was. Off in the forest somewhere. He took to the sky.

It took him only a few minutes to find his son. He hovered in the air above and scowled. Down below Trunks was throwing stone after stone at the brat, an old training exercise to increase agility. He wasn't even Super Saiya-jin and the girl was still getting hit. Pathetic.

"Boy!" he yelled. Both the young Saiya-jins looked up startled. So startled that Trunks forgot what he was doing and Kat forgot to dodge. The stone hit her square in the forehead causing her to topple over.

"Ow!" she cried rubbing her head.

"Shit. Sorry Kat," Trunks called trying not to laugh. Vegeta landed beside him mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like `pathetic'.

"We're sparring. Come," the prince-of-all-things-arrogant stated.

"What about Kat?" asked Trunks.

Vegeta glared over at the girl. She was standing now, arms crossed over her chest and scowling. "Karete," he said speaking to Trunks. "Will take her weakling ass back to the house and mind the other brat. The humans are going out and the woman won't be back until later."

"Hey, did it ever occur to you that I might be busy or even to speak to my face?" Kat called. "And don't call me that!"

Vegeta growled. "You don't have a choice either way." His aura flared as he took to the sky.

Trunks looked over at Kat, shrugged and followed his father leaving her fuming on the ground. They were both as bad as each other. All she was good for was to baby-sit. She sighed as she turned towards Capsule Corp. The Briefs were too good to her for her to leave them in the lurch.

*****

The first thing Trunks heard when he walked in the door was the TV blaring. Someone was singing an all too cheery song about ducks. He walked to the rec room and had to stifle a laugh at what he saw. Chibi him was seated in front of the TV bouncing up and down along with the singing while simultaneously pulling a `bot to shreds. Kat, oblivious, was slumped on the couch, asleep.

He walked over to himself, looked down and grinned. "We live to torture her don't we? I hit her with rocks, you destroy her hard work." He turned to the couch and poked her shoulder. "Hey!"

Her eyes opened. "What?"

"Not much of a job you're doing, I could've got hurt," he smirked.

"Ha ha. You're a comedian."

"I live to please."

She sat up, spotted the practically disintegrated robot and sighed.

"Another one for the bin?" he asked.

"I'm getting sick of this."

"Don't worry I think I grow out of it."

"There goes the comedian again."

He frowned. "What's got you so grumpy?"

She glared at him. "Do you always do that?"

"Do what?"

"Jump every time he barks."

Trunks sat down. "You're pissed because I went with tousan."

"No. I'm pissed because you did what he said. Have you ever heard the word `no'?"

"I didn't want to be around when you started yelling at me about the rock. I don't need that while I'm on holiday."

It was her turn to smirk. "About that…"

"Mama."

The conversation/argument stopped. "Did you hear what I heard?" Trunks asked.

Kat nodded, open mouthed. "Baby you just said mama."

"Mama."

They turned to look at Chibi Trunks. He was holding his hands out to the TV. Bulma was being interviewed on the news.

"That is so cool. I got to hear my own first word." Trunks grinned then slapped himself in the head. "Wait. That sounded really dumb."

Kat nodded again. "Hey terror. Say `dada'." Chibi Trunks looked at her like she had just spouted antlers. "Come on say `dada'." Again no response. "Mama?"

"Mama!" he giggled.

Kat frowned. "Ok then. We've got mama going. How about `Vegeta'?"

"Gee-ta!" More giggling.

"Trunks?" asked Trunks.

"Unks!"

"Close enough," he grinned.

"Kat?" Kat asked nodding hopefully. Chibi gave her a blank look.

Trunks smirked. "Karete?"

"Creet!"

Kat's face darkened. "The fates have written Kat," Trunks laughed.

"Yes. They've written that I'm going to kill you."

"Get in line," he said sobering up. "Kassan is cooking tonight."

Kat thunked her head against the arm of the couch. "This day just went from bad to worse."

Trunks got up. "It hasn't got there just yet. Worse will come when dad gets so hungry he'll actually have to eat Kassan's food." He turned to walk out of the room.

"Hey! Where're you going?"

"To take a shower." He turned around and smirked at her. "Why? Did you want to watch?"

She screwed up her face. "Please. I think I have some taste." She felt her cheeks tinge pink.

"Is that a no then?"

"It's a no," she said scowling.

Still smirking he left the room. "Your loss."

Quite possibly, her head thought before she could stop it. No it's not. I didn't want to see him in the shower. Did I…maybe. She looked down. Chibi Trunks gazed up at her and she felt her face go red. "Don't look at me like that." He didn't blink. She sighed. "Come on then," she said, picking him up. "Let's go make this day a little better."