Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Slumber Party! ❯ The Day is Saved! ( Chapter 2 )

He hadn't really meant to be watching her. He'd actually been asked by Bulma if he'd go see what was taking her new friend so long and had ended up trailing her, wondering what the hell he was doing babysitting, because he realized that was pretty much what Bulma sent him to do. He didn't know why he didn't just go up to her and introduce himself. It would have been the proper thing to do. Instead, he had just been watching and listening.

He sighed, now it looked like the girl was in trouble and he'd have to go rescue her. He really did not want to listen to all the women screeching at him if he failed to do so.

"I suggest you let the girl go." He said, glowering threateningly at the three thugs he had just materialized in front of. She looked up and they just laughed. He quickly pulled her away and shoved her behind himself, hissing to her; "Stay back if you don't want to get hurt!"

"Who are you?" One of the thugs asked, mockingly, "You can't just swoop down `ere and take our prize!"

"Yeah! That's not sportin' of ya at all!"

"Are you going to stop me?"

"Well…I…ummm…" The first thug stammered, suddenly unsure, and not to graceful on his feet, either.

"Your too drunk to do anything!" Tori's sudden rescuer said, disgusted, "Go sober up and maybe, just maybe, it'd be worth my time to beat the crap out of you. I doubt it, though." He turned around to leave, not bothing with the men behind him and felt the clumsly attack rather than heard it.

Tori had never seen anyone like him. She sat in the middle of the street, as he laid waste to the three horrible men who had been harassing her so fast that she was afraid she may have missed something. Everything happened so fast! One minute, they were charging at his back, the next all three were sprawled on the ground, either not moving at all or moaning softly.

"Are you okay?" It took her a moment to realized he was talking to her. She got up and shook her head, still a bit dazed, and more than a little frightened.

"I-I guess so." She said, "Umm…thanks…"

"Don't mention it." He said, "Your on your way to Bulma's, right?"

"That's right! How did you know?"

"I'm one of her friends." He said, "She asked me to see what was taking you so long."

"Oh." Tori said, "Okay. My name is Tori by the way."

"Piccolo." Tori had gathered her stuff together again and started walking, Piccolo floated in the air beside her. She thought that was a bit odd, the floating, but then, she'd never met anyone who was green before either so she decided the floating wasn't too weird, all things considered. "You know, you really should have a way to defend yourself from guys like that, Tori."

"Well, I normally don't go walking alone after dark…but I sorta got side-tracked." She said, "Thinking about other things, my old friends and town and daydreaming about stuff."

"Not paying attention to where you were going." He said, "Next time, stay awake and maybe things like that won't happen to you!"

"Thanks again, Piccolo." She said softly, "For showing up when you did. I really mean it."

"Well, you were lucky." He said, Did she notice a faint flushing to his face? "There's not always going to be someone nearby to come rescue you."

"I know." She said, as if she'd heard and said it a thousand times before; "Stuff like that only happens on goofy tv shows and in books."

"Precisely."

Bulma was looking out the window, waiting anxiously. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Piccolo's familiar form and Tori's considerablly smaller figure coming towards the house. She raced to the door just as they were at the end of he walk-way and ran down to embrace Tori.

"Tori! I was so worried! What happened? Why is your makeup smudged around your eyes? Have you been crying? Piccolo! What did you say to her!?"

Piccolo shook his head, "I didn't…"

"It's okay, Bulma!" Tori said quickly, "I was…approached…by some hoodlums, but he got rid of them for me."

"Oooh!" Bulma said, her arm around Tori's shoulder, she gave Piccolo a brief smile, "Thanks, Piccolo. Come on, lets go inside and have some coffee. I should have warned you that it's not so safe to go walking out alone at night around here, Tori…"

Piccolo didn't bother with a reply. He took off into the darkness, seeking solitude elsewhere. He failed to see Tori look over her shoulder at him with a strange glint in her blue eyes that could have been something more than curiosity.

"Hey, guys, come over here and meet my new friend, Tori!" Tori was called from her musings by Bulma's loud, excited voice, "Tori, this is Goku, Krillin, Gohan, Krillin's girlfriend Marron and Master Roshi, The Turtle Hermet, guys, this is my new friend Tori. We met at the mall a few weeks ago!"

"Nice to meet you, Tori!" Krillin, the short bald one, spoke first, holding out his hand to her. Tori took it and shook it breifly.

"Are you hungry, Tori?" The one with the weird hair she remembered was called Goku, she shook her head and smiled at Gohan. Marron, whose hair was just one shade off Bulma's, hugged her and giggled and the old man leered at her; "What's a pretty young thing doing in a place like this?"

Tori shook her head, overwhelmed and Bulma pulled her quickly away and into the kitchen, fixing her a cup of coffee with cream and sugar. "Sorry about that. They get…overexcited at times."

"Oh, no, It's okay, Bulma." Tori smiled, "I don't mind. A nice welcome…is well…nice!"

"Yeah! Your right! It is nice!" Bulma sat down at the table next to her, "So, tell me, Tori, how are you settling in? School okay?"

"Well, I miss my old school…and my old friends." She said, "But, I think it's gonna be…interesting living here."

"Are you sure your okay after tonight? You don't need to go lay down?" Bulma placed her hand over Tori's gently and looked concerned. Tori shook her head and said; "It was scary at first. But, nothing really happened and it's over now, the past, not even worth a second thought…well, other than remembering never to go out walking at night alone again here!"

"That's for sure!"

"Excuse me, are you going to stay over tonight, Tori?" Tori turned in her seat to see the little boy, Gohan, yes that was his name, standing in the doorway. She smiled at him and nodded; "Bulma invited me. I hope that's okay."

He grinned at her and said; "Sure it is! Do you want to watch me train?"

"What?" Tori smiled, shaking her head, and looked at Bulma, who laughed, "Sure, kiddo. Sounds like fun."

"Not really." He said, "Piccolo doesn't really like to have fun…but I'm getting stronger and stronger every day!"

"Get out of here!" Bulma yelled, "Can't you see we're trying to talk?"

"Cute kid." Tori said, turning back to Bulma, "Kinda reminds me of my little brother."

"Oh, he's a pest." Bulma said, "But, your right, he is cute! Little kids usually are!"

"Um, Bulma," Tori began, after taking a sip of her coffee and nearly burning her tongue, "About Piccolo…"

"Oh, don't worry about him." She said, refilling her own cup, "He may not talk much, but he's one of the good guys. Don't let the way he looks frighten you."

"Oh, no, it doesn't…I mean…" Tori began, stumbled over her words and blushed, "I was just…curious about him. I've never seen anyone like him before…"

"That's because he's a namek, Tori." Bulma said, and began to explain to her exactly what and where beings like Piccolo hailed from. When she was finished, Tori just shook her head, more than a little overwhelmed. She held out her cup for another refill and Bulma went on to tell her about herself and her friends and family.

A few hours later, Piccolo was back and sitting outside the house, near the little fishpond Bulma had built in the backyard on a whim, the night air cool on his skin as he sat on the grass and watched the dark waters of the pond ripple and bubble with the fish beneath it.

He could hear, with his sensitive ears, the females giggling and talking indoors and knew that Bulma's little get-together was in full swing. He was a little curious as to what, exactly women do together…but had more dignity than to go sneaking about trying to alleviate said curiosity. He decided to meditate instead.