Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Feeding Genius ❯ Confrontation ( Chapter 5 )

Feeding Genius

Chapter Five

Confrontation

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or any of the characters. I'm just an obsessive fan who has delusions of being able to write.

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The only sound in the room was the click of the door as it closed behind me. I forced all normal composure, logic, and calm through one deep exhale and opened my mouth ready to begin. Unfortunately Vegeta had pre-empted my anger and stormed out from the shadows with a look that would defy any creature. It dared me to cross him. His body moved as smoothly as the silk he was wearing. "Don't say it!" he shouted, piercing me with the anger of two ebony eyes. His mouth was set into an even more pissed off mould than was usually defined in his harsh features and a vein thumped with ferocity on his forehead. His stance, however, was completely nimble as though it was forced onto guard and the only way to deal with confrontation was to attack it head on.

"Don't say w…?"

"Oh spare me Bulma!" he interrupted, "I am not in a mind to be lectured by you. Neither of us is calm and it would do no credit to us if we were to discuss things any further. You have your victory over me for one night. Let is pass."

He turned away, very obviously wanting to avoid any more conflict. Pity for him I wasn't having any of it. My wrath needed direction and the Saiyan no Ouji was the only one worthy of it.

"It's not like you to walk away from a fight Vegeta." I shouted at his retreating back, "I guess you know you can't win this one."

He closed his eyes and chuckled from the corner of his mouth, "Hardly! You have already won Bulma, that is my gift to you."

"What the hell are you talking about? A gift? You just fucked my business and you consider it a gift? I knew your species was thick, but I had no clue its prince was just as dense as the rest! What you just did was inexcusable, and if you had a brain inside all that pig-headed brawn you would see as much."

He paused under my challenge and even though I knew it touched a nerve I would not have unsaid my words.

"Tell me Vegeta, when do you think it would be a better time to discuss this? Tomorrow? A week from now, or maybe we're talking months and months, because that is how long it will take for me to undo the damage you have just done; and quite frankly I can't think of any better time than the present to tell you you're a moron!"

His head turned slightly as though he was thinking about a response, but a full minute past and he didn't say a word. There were no lights on in this portion of the house; only the glow of the moon through the double patio doors highlighted the white of his shirt as his head relented from curiosity and tilted disdainfully back up into pride and unconcern.

Clenching and unclenching my fists I tried to tame my temper, "As much as I want it to be, this is not something we can simply ignore. It is not going to go away. I'm not going to suddenly get un-pissed at you and say 'thank you I really needed my business crippling today.' So what do you think I should say Vegeta huh?"

He snorted once and folded his arms over his chest. "It wouldn't matter what you say. Your life is your own. You live it how you see fit and so do I. Trivial matters such as these do not concern me and neither do the paltry and materialistic feelings that go along with it. You have no grounds to be angry with me, but it does not affect me if you are. Unreasonableness (be it sentient or not) is something I deliver not pander to."

"Unreasonable!" It felt like every chord of restraint in my body melted under those words as I spat them back in his face. "I'm being unreasonable? I think under the circumstances so far I've been moderately calm, but if you want to see how unreasonable I'm being then by Kami I'll let you. Do you have any idea how much it costs to run a business the size of Capsule Corporation a year?"

"No!" he growled, "But I have the unsettling feeling you are going to tell me."

"I wouldn't give you the satisfaction. Companies such as Jeremy's invest something like a quarter of that which is needed. We're talking serious amounts of money here! I have no idea how I'm going to survive. It's not so much his money I'm worried about, but the knock on effect it will have on other investors. That is the serious issue. After your display tonight do you think that any single one of them will want anything to do with Capsule Corp? What's stopping them from receiving the same treatment from you? I don't know the exact calculations but we're looking at a loss in the value of shares, which could dip below the forty percent mark, possibly more if Jeremy decides to go public. If only you hadn't been so pig-headed and stopped when I asked. I had everything worked out Vegeta - everything! I would have been free of Mr Simmons by the end of the week if only you had let me explain."

"And what would you have me do? I live on my pride Bulma. His actions were unpardonable and under Saiyan law, punishable by death. Under my teachings he is exceedingly lucky to be alive irrespective of anything else so utterly mercenary."

I stumbled under the gall of his comment. "Mercenary? You think this is all about me being mercenary?"

"I don't think on the subject, but you are forcing me onto it and as such I must speak as I find."

There was a steely resolve that started in my fingertips and ended up being slapped across the tanned check of the arrogant Saiyan standing in front of me. He hadn't moved as my hand lashed out. He hadn't so much as tried to block it, but sweet Kami did it sting. The sound of skin hitting skin seemed to echo around the small room, but I did not wince or cower under the pain. In fact I drank courage from it, enough to convey the full edge of the painfulness his words had cut through, even though we were lost in shadow.

Vegeta had closed his eyes after the initial shock and his breathing had become deep and deadly as he ran the back of his thumb along the line my hand had struck. In an instant his posture had changed and distance seemed no longer to be a barrier he could sustain. His body edged closer to mine with an eerie sedateness, and even though I knew it was the calm before the storm I could not move away.

With a strange mixture of gentle strength he cupped my chin with - if not enough force to bruise the flesh, then at least enough violence to let me know that it was not a caring gesture. Lifting my eyes to meet with his, he questioned me. "And since when did the truth rouse such fire in my little Chikyu-jin?" His words were heightened and toxic.

I tried to pull away from his grip, but his hand remained firm, not allowing me leverage. Giving up on an action that was futile I stopped thrashing in his hold, allowing my eyes to show him all the unconquerable resolve and resolution that pounded through me.

"If I was wrong, as the censure in you eyes would appear to suggest, then let me know." He continued, determined to hear me speak, "You pursue money with just as much fervour as I do power, and at this moment I will laugh at your humiliation, because I have suffered it myself so completely."

I was so spitting mad by this point that I might have easily broken under his control, but as is always the case when my composure is pushed to the boundaries I lashed out. "Oh right so this has nothing to do with anything but getting back at me, because you're a pathetic failure and can't feel content until everyone else experiences the same shit as you? I can't stand here and tell to you that I don't love the liberty and freedom that my living affords, because even you benefit from its perks in the training equipment that is available to you - But more than this is my responsibility to my father. I might be the CEO now, but the business will forever remain his! His hard work and dedication over the last forty years have carved it out of nothing more than his own genius. This company is his work, his legacy and his life, and as such… is mine as well. This is not humiliation for me Vegeta - this is war, and if you continue to be an obstacle in my path, rather than the support that I need, then you will feel the consequences!"

Laughter peeled through the air, and I could feel the rise and fall of Vegeta's chest. "Bulma!" he scorned, "Was that supposed to be a threat?"

"You better believe it!" I answered, not playing to his sarcasm.

In an instant I felt his grip on me change. His hand slid down the curve of my back, and I had to withhold the shiver it sent through me. Lust was the last emotion that I wanted him to see and it was fortunate that he grabbed the back of my dress and hauled me over his shoulder when he did, because otherwise I might have indulged in it a little too much. As it was though, my mind remembered its true anger as he deposited me onto the couch, and not minding the way I pelted my fists at his chest, he crawled over me, making escape impossible.

"If you want to bate me then you should give me ample opportunity for revenge onna!" he breathed, taking the lobe of my ear in his teeth and nipping it persuasively.

"Oh no you don't!" I screamed, trying fruitlessly to try and push his shoulders away and lessen the contact his lips were making with my neck, "You are NOT going to settle this with sex!"

"Really?" he questioned, catching my wrists and holding them securely. His lips travelled down and parted to let his tongue draw lazy patterns over my collarbone. "Your voice seems to be saying one thing…" he paused, lifting his head ever so slightly and smirking as he sniffed the air, "and your body is most definitely affirming another."

"Fuck you Vegeta!"

He grinned at my mistake, "That's what I want!" He purred deep in the throat. I continued to kick and scratch at him wildly, but to my utter chagrin it seemed to do nothing more than give him the opportunity to take complete control.

I couldn't believe he was doing this to me. Despite my bodies insubordination the last thing that I wanted was to give into an action that might be construed as reluctant acceptance! I was the one who should be torturing him, not the other way around!

Fighting him didn't appear to be getting me anywhere, so I let my body sag, and tried desperately to think of a way to get him to listen to reason. To my surprise though as soon as I gave up Vegeta stopped. He cupped the side of my face with a surprisingly soft palm, studying me. "Why?" he demanded.

"Why what?" I countered ripping my eyes from his and turning my head contemptuously to the side.

"Why do you resist me so completely, when I have done nothing but try to protect you?"

Taking advantage of his relaxed position I brought my knees to my chest. "And I could just as easily ask you why you are determined to take advantage of every opportunity to offend and insult me? You seem to completely disregard that anything has happened tonight that could materially hurt me! Don't you see that you have not protected me, but made me twice a vulnerable as before?"

I turned on the sofa and after swinging my legs over the arm, pulled myself upright. Vegeta didn't say a word as I walked away, aiming for the door and release from any more of his cuttingly cruel affection. I had all but walked through it when one word stopped my progress. "Bulma." It was so quietly spoken that all connotation was lost.

In a moment of weakness I turned to face him, leaning dejectedly back on the doorframe. Nothing was offered to continue conversation for several minutes and I stared as the shadows crept so mysteriously over his studious form. Thinking he had offered up all the pride he was willing to relinquish I sighed in exasperation at having expected more and for a second time intimated leaving.

"I do not know what you want from me?" He admitted, "Your are such an odd creature that even seven years have been insufficient for me to figure you out."

"That goes for both of us." I replied, catching the sentiment. "Maybe," I closed my eyes and swallowed the lump that formed in my throat, "Maybe this is something you will have to fathom out on your own Vegeta because I don't think there is anything else I can say that hasn't been voiced already. I've had enough of banging my head up a brick wall for one night. There is nothing I want from you until you actually realize why you're causing me pain, and no ground can be made up between us until you do."

I heard the rustle behind me as I walked forward, and therefore wasn't surprised to see that my exit had been cut off. A slab of muscular chest blocked my way and once again I was eyeball to eyeball with my Saiyan husband. He seemed to have some inward struggle as his gaze poured over me. The tips of his fingers seemed to move away from their folded position as though they wanted to reach out and touch me, but their possessor stopped them short.

"A time out?" he asked tilting his head.

"Yes." I agreed, trying to force down the emotion in my voice, as its very presence was making my eyes sting with water.

"Then perhaps…" he sneered, bringing his head dangerously forward, dipping it into even more obscure shadows, "Perhaps you could spend your share of this time thinking about what you expect from me. I have given concessions from every aspect of myself since Trunks was born, no before even that, since I first laid foot on this planets soil a second time. I have changed who I am so much in the last eight years I can hardly recognise what I have become. I think it is about time that I stop playing in front of you. You may never truly know how far I have come for you Bulma, and how that such pathetic distractions as these only prove to add weight to my dementia. You think of that when you judge what I am. If you want concessions then you will have to make some of your own, because be assured of this onna. During this break you are no more important to me than every other creature on this hunk of rock. You have no notion of how far I can hold a grudge and I will make sure you feel how truly you are pushing the line!"

I stood in complete shock as he pulled me towards him and sandwiched his mouth to my own. His tongue broke through my closed lips and tasted every millimetre inside. After a few minutes he violently ended the encounter, glaring evilly in the blackened backdrop of the hall.

"As a reminder!" he snarled, and without any other leave, he flew up the stairs and out of view.

His presence could still be heard though as door after door slammed in succession to pay for his bad mood. I was motionless under his temper for a good five minutes, as every fibre of my body seemed to give out on the strength that it had held onto for longer than I had believed possible. My legs crumpled underneath me and my back slid down the doorframe. My control seemed to slip with my body and several salty droplets had soaked a path down my cheeks by the time I made contact with the expensive carpet.

That evening had promised so much and yet there I was at the end of it with more pain in my chest than I had ever thought possible. In less than five hours I had managed to alienate every source of security I had - but one.

I stayed on the floor for a good half an hour contemplating my situation with misery overriding every conceivable path for my imminent future. At length I knew it was necessary to pull myself together. I don't like showing such utter soul consuming weakness and it was only a matter of time before one of parents found me there.

Slowly, sedately I dragged my frame off the floor, and with limbs heavy I walked up the stairs wanting nothing more than to claw my way under fitted sheets and lose all perturbation to the blissful ignorance of sleep. There was a single flicker of light under my bedroom door as I approached and the soft padding of feet. Realizing that it was more than likely Vegeta I turned away.

There was only one place left I could go. Only one place in the whole section of my home that I would feel some iota of comfort at that minute and my feet followed the short diversion to Trunks' room. Careful, so as not to wake him, I turned the door-handle and walked into the room. I made it half way across the carpet before I stubbed my toe on a toy that had probably easily missed 'tidy up time.' I cursed under my breath, but with such heightened senses my son started to stir.

"Momma?" he asked groggily.

"Yes." I cooed. "Momma couldn't sleep, is it ok if I bunk with you tonight?"

"Are you sad momma?" he asked, opening the covers for me.

Accepting his offer I lifted him over me so my back was to the wall and he was held securely in my arms. "Yes," I replied. Hiding emotions from him was useless. Even at his young age he had picked up on his fathers ability to pinpoint and differentiate them. "But I feel much better now I'm with you!"

He smiled up to me. "Night, night!" he yawned before snuggling back into my chest and falling asleep once again. Kissing him gently on the head I tired to copy him, but any rest I did actually get that night was not easy to achieve.

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A/N - I'm sorry this chapter took a little bit longer than I predicted. It was my birthday last week and so I didn't get as much computer time as I would have liked.

Chapter six should be up in the next couple of weeks.

*hugs*

Ember