Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Show Him How ❯ A shadow in the night... ( Chapter 17 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z or any of the characters seen in the show, movies, manga, etc. I am not making any money or profit whatsoever off of this story.

Author's Note: Hey everybody! Not much to say today…Sorry though, for the lateness of this chapter! I know, it should have been out last weekend, but I was sooo busy, and I didn't even get a chance to start writing until the time I was supposed to be posting…and then I had to send it out for beta-ing, to those lovely people who have been thanked below! And then, well, I didn't want to mess up my weekendly schedule again…so here's chapter 17…eh heh heh…

*Special thanks to Vegetababe and Eric Jacobson for beta-ing this!*

Show Him How

Chapter 17

A shadow in the night…

Last Time: Bulma and Vegeta land at the Training academy, and Vegeta has plans to take Bulma as his mate, but she doesn't know yet. As we left off, Bulma was taking a nice walk when suddenly; she was grabbed by the wrist.

"Ahh! Let go!" Bulma shrieked, fearing the worst.

"Calm down, baka Woman." A gruff voice sounded. "It's only me."

"Jeez, Vegeta…I thought you were some sort of rapist!"

"People here are too honorable to be rapists…" Vegeta growled, but then realized that this was the perfect opportunity to bring up the subject of training her. "It's too bad you're such a weakling though. Even if I was a rapist, even a weak human one, there's no way a little pushover like you could fend me off!" He laughed, attempting to goad her into a fight.

"Oh shut up Vegeta! Don't make me worry about that crap more!"

"Well…" the Saiyan no Ouji shrugged, putting on his best act, which was actually very good, considering all the years of hiding his emotions had enabled him to project nearly any image or attitude he wished. "We're at a training academy, woman. When in Rome…"

"You mean train?" Bulma cocked her head. What was with him? Why was he being so…not mean?

"No, I mean sit on that cute little butt of yours and eat your own feet." Bulma's eyes widened in surprise, but Vegeta went on as if he had never said the words 'cute little butt' at all, though he was cursing himself on the inside. "Of course I mean train, baka onna!" he growled.

"Vegeta, I don't know the first thing about training!"

The Saiyan shrugged. "It's not hard. I can probably teach you the basics, just enough so that you can do a bit on your own and raise your strength a bit."

"Really?" Bulma's eyes were wide with excitement. "Would I get to use ki blasts and all that cool stuff?" she bubbled.

"No. You are not strong enough or skilled enough to use ki. It takes a lot of time and devotion to train your body in such ways. And besides, nobody in their right mind would teach a crazy woman like you how to use ki." He stated, matter-of-factly, with a devious smirk. He loved to see her angry, with a flushed face and sparkling eyes.

"You are such an ass, you know that?" The 'crazy woman' growled back, somewhat hurt that he should say that sort of thing, but also realizing that he was merely baiting her. She knew that Vegeta loved a good verbal spar.

"The ass that's gonna be your sensei, woman. I'd watch that mouth if I were you." Vegeta warned. She was cute, but he still wouldn't take her insults when he was being so nice and offering to train her…even though the training would ultimately allow him to hunt her. So, if anything, he should be the one eager to train her. But well, Vegeta's mind really did not work like that.

"I…damn…"

"Tomorrow, after breakfast, be in Training Room XIII-B. Toomar roped me into taking over his early class while we're here."

"You mean…I have to…train…while other people are…watching?" Bulma stuttered nervously. She would surely embarrass herself.

"Yes."

"But I'll make an ass of myself!" she protested, and Vegeta only smirked.

"I guess that's too bad then. If you don't want to become stronger…"

"Oh fine…" Bulma grumbled. "Tomorrow, after breakfast. Training Room XIII-B."

"See you in the morning." Vegeta's smirk widened to a playful grin, though Bulma could tell it was not at all the type Goku would wear. It was a teasingly malicious grin, the perfect expression for the Saiyan no Ouji to wear.

"Yeah…" she grumbled. "See you." At that, Vegeta took his leave, disappearing quickly into the night shadows, and in a matter of seconds, Bulma could not even hear his booted feet padding lightly on the pavement. "Wait!" she called, wondering if perhaps he was still there.

"What now?" his deep, slightly husky voice floated out from the darkness.

"I…I wanted to ask you a question…"

"Fine." She heard his footsteps coming back toward her, only slight scuffing sounds, as if his feet were barely touching the ground. He reappeared, and Bulma had to take a moment to calm her breathing as he stepped out of the shadows, looking very much like the fallen angel himself.

"Did you tell everyone here that you defeated Frieza?"

"What?!?" Vegeta hissed. "How dare you accuse me of being so dishonorable!" he snarled.

"I'll take that as a no…"

"What in HELL would give you the idea that I would do such a thing?!?"

"Well…you see…I…well…Vegeta, you've got to admit that everyone here…well, they almost worship you…it's well…odd…"

"Kusotarre…baka woman…" Vegeta growled, hurt that she would accuse him of such behavior. "Have you ever considered that they have some idea of what I have been through?"

"Well…"

"Many of these people were soldiers in Frieza's army. Many of them come planets that were destroyed by his hand! These people respect what I've been through!" Vegeta yelled, suddenly livid. He could not believe that this woman would ask such a thing! "Anyone who went through something I did deserves respect! These people here, they know I played a big part in defeating Frieza, and before you open your mouth," he hissed "You need to realize that if I had not been around, your precious little Z-senshi would have died. Kakarott, the fool, would not have been put in the regeneration tank after he fought Ginyu, and your little friends would have died."

Bulma took a step back from Vegeta, genuinely afraid of him at this moment. He was so angry; she could see the veins in his aristocratic forehead bulging with his pulse. "Gomen…gomen nasai…Vegeta, please forgive me…It's just that well…"

"These people know who defeated Frieza, and like I, they hate him for it." Vegeta said quietly, visibly making an effort to calm himself.

"Wha…Why would they hate him?"

"Kakarott had no place in the battle against Frieza. He did not know the terrors of his tyranny. Kakarott does not care that he is Saiyan, nor does he care that his home, and his biological family died fighting for their freedom. He looks down upon his race, yet he does not know anything about us. He enjoys the power, but he is truly ashamed to be Saiyan."

"But still, shouldn't everyone be happy that he is dead?"

"We are, more than you know. But imagine this, Woman. Imagine that you have been working on a cure for…breast cancer. Yes, breast cancer…You've devoted your entire life to this cure," Vegeta, said, his voice softening with every word, until it was nearly hollow. "And then one day, a chauvinistic male who has no business dealing with the affairs of women discovers this cure…completely by accident. He doesn't like women. He considers himself above them, yet he is responsible for the saving of hundreds of female lives. And your work, your life goes down the drain. All your hopes and dreams, everything that kept you going just disappears…and of course you're glad there is finally a cure! Oh yes, you're ecstatic! But still, there is the indignation, the anger and hatred toward the man who had no business saving your life."

The anger in Vegeta's voice was overwhelming, and even Bulma found herself drawn into the situation. She felt angry with this man, this man who cured one of the most common female ailments. She found herself thinking that she would rather die of breast cancer than to be grateful to some chauvinistic bastard who discovered a cure by accident… And then she remembered that there is no sure cure…and that none of it happened…and that the chauvinistic bastard was, in essence, Goku.

She suddenly knew how Vegeta felt, though she did realize that his feelings would be far more intense knowing that he actually lived through his situation. He was right…Goku had absolutely no place in the battle against Frieza…And Vegeta's pride dictated that he would rather Frieza were still alive, in a way.

"Kami Vegeta…I…I'm so sorry…I…I didn't realize before…but now…I…" Bulma murmured, placing a cool hand on Vegeta's arm.

"There's nothing you can do." He snapped. "I'll see you in the morning." With that, he disappeared once more, deep into the shadows, and Bulma knew that he had gone for real this time. It was best that she head back to her room as well, and so she turned and retraced her path, walking quickly in the chilly night until Strata Phon's female dormitory came into view.

Unbeknownst to her, there was another being out in the courtyard, carefully, quietly, following her, watching her every move with shale gray eyes. A lecherous grin spread over his sharp, handsome features as he watched her move about, the curves of her body clearly visible beneath the thin robe and nightgown she wore. Her hair, having been brushed before she left the dorm room, shone in the dim light the half moons cast. Both would be full in a matter of days, since their circle of orbit wasn't nearly so big as Chikyuu's moon, their cycle was much shorter.

So this is the one Vegeta has taken a fancy to…well, I'll just have to make sure she doesn't return the feelings, won't I?

The shadow chuckled silently into the night, his soft, grating voice carried away by the gentle night breeze as he watched the Human female move up the steps and into the door of the Women's dorm. He would take her from the Saiyan no Ouji, and humiliate him…yes; it was nearly time for his revenge.

Next Time: Bulma starts training with Vegeta, and passions start to arise. But who is this mysterious stalker, and what exactly does he want?

Okay! Since author alerts have been pretty much taken away, if any authors out there who are not on support services want to be notified when new chapters come out, please send a BLANK email to cat_girl_26-subscribe@topica.com And that, of course, goes for non-authors as well!