Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Saiyan Graduate ❯ The Saiyan Graduate ( Chapter 3 )

The Saiyan Graduate: Chapter 3

"Mom?" Bulma asked in confusion, "What are you doing here?"

She'd finally gotten up the courage to open Vegeta's door to go in and check on the sleeping prince, only to find the rumpled bed empty, and her mom standing in the center of the room, naked.

Bulma couldn't help the suspicions that immediately rose to the surface of her mind, but quickly shoved them aside.

Her mom, and Vegeta? Absurd! Her mother was completely devoted to her father!

"Oh, dear, what are you doing in my room?" Mrs. Briefs asked.

Bulma blinked. "Your room?"

"Yes."

Bulma stared at her mother for a minute. "But, Mom, this is Vegeta's room."

Mrs. Briefs looked around before putting her hand over her mouth and giggling. "So it is! Silly me! I must have come to the wrong room! I wondered why the bed seemed a little lumpier than usual."

"O-kay." If it had been anyone else, Bulma surely wouldn't have believed it. But, seeing as how there were precedents for her mom doing this sort of thing, such as the time she had accidentally wandered into Yamcha's room years ago when he had lived with them for a short while, she wasn't surprised. After all, the ditziest woman in the universe was entitled to make a few mistakes now and then.

"Well, you'd better go back to your own room now, Mom." Bulma folded her arms over her chest and leaned against the doorway. "I'll walk you there to make sure you don't get lost."

Mrs. Briefs blushed and picked her robe up from the floor, putting it back on. She then turned around and took a good look at her daughter, who was dressed in a very skimpy negligee that revealed far too much skin, especially around the bosom and leg areas.

"Oh, that reminds me, what are you doing here, dear?" Mrs. Briefs asked pointedly.

Bulma blinked, then blushed. "I, er, umm, what I mean to say is …"

Mrs. Briefs frowned. "You should stay away from that Vegeta!" she exclaimed, a little too harshly.

Bulma was taken aback. Wasn't her mother the one who was always singing Vegeta's praises, about how nice and sweet he was, in spite of the obvious fact that he was neither nice nor sweet. "Mom! I'm not with Vegeta! It's only been a month since I broke up with Yamcha, I need a little `me time' before I go jumping into another relationship." She felt guilty about lying right to her mother's face, but the alternative would have made her feel a whole lot guiltier.

"Dear," Mrs. Briefs began, walking up to her daughter and placing her hands on Bulma's shoulders, "I wasn't suggesting an emotional relationship, if you know what I mean."

Bulma blushed. "Mother!" she exclaimed, extremely embarrassed that her mother would suggest such a thing-even though it was true!

"I've lived a lot longer than you have, dear, and I know the games men play! I just don't want to see you with a broken heart." She patted her daughter's cheek. "Now let's go to my room and have a slumber party, hmm? Just like we used to in the old days!" Mrs. Briefs giggled. "A mother-daughter slumber party!"

Left with no choice but to accompany her mom and have a `slumber party' with her, Bulma did just that, reluctantly closing the door to Vegeta's room on her way out.

She could think of a whole lot of things she'd rather be doing than listening to her mother prattle on about flowers and cooking.

So, as her mother continued to chatter, Bulma zoned her out and recalled her breakup with Yamcha.

She was still reeling from the discovery that she was in love with Vegeta as she opened the door to let her boyfriend-soon to be ex-boyfriend-in. Their small talk was polite, yet pointless; their silences, awkward. They both knew exactly what was coming, but neither had the courage to just come out and say it.

Finally, Bulma couldn't take it anymore, and burst out, "Yamcha, we need to break up."

He stared at her for a moment before nodding. "I-I thought that's what you'd say." He looked her in the eye. "You're sure."

Bulma nodded and looked away. "Yes, I'm sure."

"Then I guess I'll be going."

As Yamcha stood up and prepared to let himself out, Bulma rushed to him, catching his arm in her hand.

"Yamcha, wait, I-"

He turned back to her. "What is it, Bulma?"

"I …" she looked away. She hadn't thought it would be this painful, letting go. She wasn't even in love with him anymore! She had already given her love to another man, and yet, a part of her still wanted what she'd had with Yamcha to last. A part of her didn't want to let him go. "Can we still be friends?" She asked finally.

Yamcha turned away from her then. "I don't know if I can, Bulma."

The pain in his voice was unmistakable, and Bulma was shocked. She'd thought that he had fallen out of love with her, too! But apparently his feelings were still involved.

"Yamcha, you don't still …"

He gave her a sharp nod. "I do."

Bulma took her hand from his arm as though it burned her, and hugged herself, turning sharply away from him. "I thought you had fallen out of love with me, too."

"Well I didn't." His voice was harsh as he turned her around to face him. "Who is he?" he asked. "Who is it that took my place?" He glared at her. "Is it Vegeta?" he asked with a sneer.

Bulma took a step back, shocked. What had brought this on? "No, Yamcha, it's nothing like that! There isn't anyone else, no one has taken your place."

He snorted. "You expect me to believe that? You're just proving yourself to be what you were all along, Bulma. A whore," he spat.

That did it. Bulma reeled back her arm and slapped him.

Yamcha staggered back from the force of the blow-for a human woman, she was incredibly strong when angered! With one final, angry glare at her, he left, fondling his wounded cheek.

Bulma felt the tears threatening to overflow, but quickly fought them back. She wouldn't cry about him! Not someone who, after so many years, could go and call her names like that! She still had her pride, and no matter what words he used in an attempt to defile her name, she refused to give in!

Even though her heart felt as though it were aching and bruised …

As she turned to go up to her room in order to brood over what had just happened, and what was to come, she stopped short upon seeing a lone figure silhouetted in the doorway.

"Vegeta," she whispered.

She wondered how much he'd seen … and why he was standing there, looking like that.

That expression on his face … it looked as if he were struggling to understand something, but couldn't quite get it, no matter how much he thought about it.

And he was looking straight at her …

Bulma blinked. "Vegeta?" she asked, taking a step towards him. "What are you doing here?"

His expression vanished, his features what again set in that blank, emotionless visage that he loved to present.

"Why did you do it, woman?" he asked softly.

Bulma blinked. If nothing else, Vegeta certainly was an enigma! She could never figure out his motives behind anything, be they actions or words. Well, anything that didn't deal with training or Goku, that is.

"Well, I did it because …" Bulma shrugged. "I just don't love him anymore."

She looked him straight in the eye. She wasn't ready yet to convince the truth about where her affections had turned; she'd just realized herself what was going on, that she had already fallen hard for the mysterious Saiyan Prince. But she still didn't know how he felt about her, or even if he felt anything about her at all. So she stood, waiting for his reaction.

After a moment of contemplation over her words, Vegeta walked forward until mere inches separated their bodies.

"Why don't you?" he asked simply.

By this time they had grown very close, or so Bulma thought. She had managed to get him to open up a little about his past, and she herself had opened up to him a great deal, telling him all about her teenage adventures with Goku and the others, and sometimes about her relationship with Yamcha. Although he always changed the subject when she brought up her ex-boyfriend, she still managed to get him to talk to her, a feat she was pretty sure was unprecedented.

Vegeta was a pretty antisocial guy.

But because of their recent history, he would have no qualms about completely dissecting her actions, and telling her exactly how stupid she'd been to give up the one stable relationship she'd ever had. Even though he disliked Yamcha, she knew that he'd be laughing all over her for her stupidity in ending such a long-lasting relationship. After all, Vegeta didn't believe in love; how could he possibly understand how important it was to her? She'd tried to explain it to him, the concept that he referred to, condescendingly, as `affection,' but he just couldn't seem to grasp it. He couldn't understand why two beings would align themselves together for such a mundane, pointless reason as `feelings.'

So how could he possibly understand what she had to say?

Bulma shrugged. "I don't know, I guess … well, I guess I just fell out of love with him."

Vegeta frowned. "But you told me this `love' thing that you humans are so fond of was supposed to last forever."

"It is."

"Then why didn't it?"

Bulma felt as though she were floundering, grasping at straws for an answer that would satisfy the Saiyan Prince's curiosity. "I don't know, I mean, it doesn't always."

"Then why is it so highly prized among humans, if it's expendable? I'm not stupid, I've seen you burst into tears after an argument with the baka weakling," he growled, as though ashamed of her weakness. "Yet you continue to pursue this pointless goal, trying to find `love.'" He shook his head. "Baka humans."

Bulma sighed and tried to think of a way to explain it to him. "It … it might seem very primitive to someone like you, who lives a life devoid of emotion," she told him, "but to us humans, love is everything. Sure, it doesn't always work out, and sometimes it can be very painful, especially if it's unrequited, but the rewards of love …" she smiled at him, letting all the love in her heart show for just a moment before she pulled it back inside herself, "The reward of loving someone and receiving their love in return is priceless."

He stared at her unnervingly, making her fidget beneath his gaze, before closing the gap between them and taking her face in his hands.

Her heart nearly pounded through her chest, and her eyes widened, staring up at him. The look on his face … he looked so confused, and yet there was something else behind it. It was as though he needed her, more than anything else. As though he needed her right now.

Bulma closed her eyes. She knew he was going to kiss her, and although a part of her was scared about what this would mean for their relationship, another part of her thrilled that he had feelings for her, too. He just didn't understand them.

Just because a person doesn't know anything about emotion or feelings, and doesn't understand them, doesn't mean that they don't have them. That they don't feel just as deeply as everyone else. That they can't cry if the situation calls for it. That they can't love if given the golden opportunity.

So she lifted her face, waiting for his mouth to brush against hers. Somehow she knew he would be tender with her, gentle. He would never hurt her, and would keep himself and his power in check around her at all costs. And more than anything, he would protect her with his life.

But, alas, Bulma's waiting was in vain.

The kiss never came.

Just as she felt his breath drawing closer, his lips moving at an achingly slow pace towards her, they were interrupted, once again, by her mother.

"Bulma!" Mrs. Briefs called as Bulma and Vegeta guiltily jumped apart. "I need to talk to you about something! Will you come here a minute, dear?"

With a heavy sigh and one last look back at Vegeta, whose face wore a stony expression now as he refused to meet her eyes, Bulma went off to talk to her mother. About flowers or something else totally unimportant, that she couldn't even remember an hour later as she lay in her bed daydreaming about how wonderful it would be to kiss Vegeta.

"It's night-night time, Bulma!" Mrs. Briefs declared with a giggle.

Abruptly pulled back from her reminiscences by her mother's announcement that it was time for them to go to bed, Bulma smiled. In her dreams, she could kiss Vegeta all she wanted. And they often ended up doing more than just kissing! Sometimes she would wake up in the middle of the night touching herself because her dream had been so racy that her body's arousal woke her up. Although the sensations were pleasant, she would have much preferred the real thing. His hard body on top of hers, his lips caressing her cheek, his erection pressing into her thigh, then going in between her legs and-

Bulma shook her head, trying to shake away her dirty thoughts. You nasty hentai! She accused herself. Stop thinking of him like that! Especially with your mother around! Her mom was looking at her expectantly, waiting for Bulma to get in the other side of the queen size bed. Pulling back the covers, Bulma crawled into her side as her mother climbed into the other side.

"Good night, Bulma dear," her mother said as she turned off the bedside lamp, removing all vestige of light from the room.

With a soft sigh, Bulma burrowed under the covers and snuggled against her pillows. She just hoped that she didn't have an erotic dream tonight; what if she moaned out Vegeta's name in her sleep? Then her mother would know exactly what was going on with her thoughts and feelings! She wouldn't dare embarrass herself like that, especially not in front of her mother.

But just as she was about to enter the land of the numbered sheep, she heard a faint creak, and the small sliver of light that invaded the room began to grow larger as someone softly opened the door to her mom's room.

Bulma panicked, wondering if it might be a burglar, or her father coming in to claim some "conjugal rights." That would certainly be an awkward situation, with her lying in bed next to her mother!

But the silhouette framed in the doorway, illuminated by the light from the hallway, was a familiar one. A short man, wearing nothing but spandex shorts, crowned by a flame-like upsweep of hair.

Vegeta.

The identity of the intruder confirmed, only one question remained in Bulma's mind: What was he doing, coming into her mother's room half-naked in the middle of the night?

A/N: Uh oh! Is Bulma about to find out the unpalatable truth about the secret relationship between her mom and Vegeta? Or will Mrs. Briefs be able to dissuade her assumptions yet again?

Love, Tina