Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ To the Stronger ❯ 5 ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The science room had two-person tables instead of desks. Vegeta sat with Kakkarot, and the girls sat at the next table over. Nappa sat behind the girls, with a second-class Saiyan Vegeta had been introduced to earlier. What was her name? Kabocha. That was it.

Two of those pro-humans from first period entered the room, followed closely by two other humans, who seemed to be mocking them. Kakkarot called to the second pair. "Hey guys! Come meet Vegeta!"

They came, eyes full of interest. "You're the Prince the whole school's been talking about," said the tall, handsome one. "I'm Yamcha."

The other guy had 3 eyes, which Vegeta found creepy, but didn't comment on. "And I'm Tien."

Vegeta grunted in acknowledgement. The boys sat down at the table behind them. The other two closest tables filled up with more humans. The last pair of people to come in the room were Nametake and Ohitashi, who snagged a table of their own behind Nappa, as far away from any human table as they could possibly get. They nodded at Vegeta in passing.

Their teacher was a redheaded man with a slight lisp named Mr. Lester. He announced with glee that they would be dissecting frogs and sharks.

Vegeta snuck a glance over at Bulma. She looked thoroughly grossed out. Actually. . . he glanced the other way. Kakkarot did, too.

Third period was gym. This teacher was Saiyan. Vegeta was surprised at first, but then realized he probably had to be to keep the Saiyan students in control. He looked around the gym. There was a curtain down the middle, with the girls on the other side. All the boys he'd met so far plus a bunch of new ones were there. He felt the most uncomfortable he had so far that day.

Fortunately, his allies were with him. Kakkarot, Yamcha, and Tien flanked him on one side. Radditz, Nappa, and Retasu were on the other.

Their teacher was huge: 7 feet tall, all bulk and muscle. He'd shaved his head but had a black goatee. Nappa thought he was cool. His name was Jagaimo.

He kept a pretty strict eye on them, which was good, as testosterone was flying pretty high. Vegeta could pick out who hated who, who wanted to be a leader, who was a loner, who was a loser, and who was afraid. And the pro-humans and the pro-Saiyans glared at each other on opposite ends of the crowd. Vegeta knew he was going to dread gym.

By the end of fourth period, he was calmer. But after Japanese was lunch, and as Negi and his friends approached, Vegeta had to come to terms with what he'd impulsively done earlier: ask Negi to spar.

"I figured we could go to the old music room," Negi said by way of greeting. "It's prime sparring ground. And if somebody's in there already, we'll kick em out. You'll have precedence, ouji-sama." He smiled.

Vegeta schooled his face to his most non-revealing expression. "Fine." He turned to Radditz. "You're coming."

"Of course," Radditz replied. "Find the others and bring them there," he whispered to Sarada. "Vegeta can take this guy, but there might be trouble."

The six Saiyans led the way, Chi-Chi and Bulma bringing up the rear. They snagged Nappa and Kakkarot on the way, and when Chi-Chi looked over her shoulder, she saw Mame and Yamcha trying to catch up.

They reached the music room at the same time as a few other Saiyans, who instantly gave way. They turned on the light, and the spectators lined up against the walls.

"Good luck," Ohitashi said, looking somewhere in between the two.

"Yeah, kick his butt, ouji-sama," Nappa grunted. Negi looked at him in annoyance. Vegeta favored him with his most arrogant smirk.

Then he and Negi turned back to each other for the stare down. Vegeta realized with some unease he'd never even asked anyone how good this guy was. Well, when in doubt, bluff. He put his smirk back on and was rewarded when Negi's tail twitched.

`Might as well start it,' he decided, and launched himself at his opponent.

Negi barely had time to blink and throw himself out of the way before Vegeta had spun on heel, grabbed Negi by the waist, and threw him into the wall. Negi barely made it to his feet before Vegeta had attacked him again, raining blows into his face, stomach, and ribs.

Then Negi let out a yell and kicked out, striking his shin, then elbowing him in the stomach. Vegeta had his arm in a vice grip as he pulled away. Vegeta took in a deep breath and grabbed his fist when Negi tried to hit him. Negi was stuck. Using him for leverage, Vegeta kicked him in the ribs hard enough to crack several.

Negi screamed in pain and tried to fall back but couldn't because Vegeta was stil holding his arm. Vegeta kneed him in the exact same location and Negi saw black spots in front of his eyes. Vegeta let go and stepped back.

Negi leaned against the wall, holding his ribs.

There was silence.

"I think I'll yield," Negi said. Then the cheering started.

"He's amazing," Sarada murmured.

"He's ruthless," Yamcha whispered to Chi-Chi.

Chi-Chi shrugged. "He's Saiyan."

Negi offered Vegeta his hand. "Well fought, my prince."

Vegeta stared in his eyes, hesitated, and shook his hand.

"Maybe you'd like to hang out with us," Negi offered softly.

"I don't want to make you an enemy," Vegeta answered, very, very quietly. "But I've got human friends. Understand? Hang out with all of us, if you want. Or none. Understand?"

Negi frowned. "You won't be a very popular prince."

Vegeta smirked. "I don't need to be." He turned his back on him and walked away.

A Saiyan girl pushed her way forward into Vegeta's path. She had reddish-brown hair waving half-way down her back. She was attractive in an over-ripe, sleazy sort of way, and her clothes were quite revealing.

"Ouji-sama, I'm Karifurawa. Call me Kari. You probably don't remember me from this morning, all those people," she purred in a husky voice. "But I wanted you know how-truly magnificent-I think you are."

He raised his eyebrows. "Truly?"

"Mm hm." She leaned in closer. Vegeta wondered if it was allowable to just push her away.

He was rescued by Sarada and Mame, who each took one arm and led him away. She pouted after him.

They rejoined the others. Retasu and Radditz were watching Negi and his gang. "How are they taking it?" Vegeta asked.

"I'd say they're not happy," Retasu replied.

Vegeta shrugged. "Let's go. You probably want to eat." They left the room, with the rest of the audience still staring after Vegeta.

_________ __________

They found Tien in the lunch room, the only one of their friends who had missed the whole thing. They all sat down to eat as Kakkarot described what had happened.

"Do you think they'll let it go?" Tien asked.

"Doubtful." Radditz shook his head.

Sarada shrugged. "Nothing we can't handle."

"You should join the school martial arts team," Mame told Vegeta excitedly.

Vegeta turned out to be hungrier than he'd expected. "What's that?" he asked. "And what's this?"

"French fries," Nappa said, puzzled that he didn't know.

"I'm unfamiliar with some human foods," he answered haughtily and somewhat stiffly.

"They're not big on human cooking in the palace, huh?" Radditz grinned. Vegeta shook his head.

"You know what fish is, right?"

"I've never had it in a bun before, though."

Bulma laughed. "That's because you're upper-class. I hadn't either. You'll be amazed at some of the stuff they serve here."

"The martial arts team," Mame continued. "There's the unofficial teams, made up of pretty much every Saiyan in school, who just play around in the gym after classes. The official team is picked by try-outs. They represent the school in competitions against other schools."

"Since this is a new semester, they'll be having a new team. The auditions are coming up next week. They always have a certain percentage of humans, to be fair. Negi, by the way, could make the team easy, but none of his group try out. Nor do the anti-Saiyans. They don't want to come into contact with each other."

Vegeta looked at Kakkarot and Radditz. "Are you guys in it?"

Kakkarot blushed. "I skipped last semester cause my grades were down. And Radditz didn't want to because it's mostly all upperclassmen."

"Upperclassmen?"

"Juniors and seniors. But we'll all try out this time if you do, Vegeta. If you want," Radditz offered.

Vegeta thought. It would keep him out of the house. "Who's in charge?"

"The gym teacher. You met him-Jagaimo. And his assistant-some human teaching intern named Hercule Satan."

"Well. . . why not?" He distrusted teachers instinctively, but a coach was not a sensei, and he could always quit.

"All right!" Kakkarot was excited.

Vegeta nodded his head to indicate some students a few tables away. "They're staring."

"Oh. Them." They all looked over with distaste. The anti-Saiyan group. James, Teresa, Kurillin, and Laura.

"I despise them," Bulma sniffed, "and I'm human."

They laughed. "Just ignore them."

"So what class does everybody have next?" Yamcha asked.

"We all have Saiyan history," Retasu answered for all the Saiyans present. "It's the first time this course has been offered and we all wanted to take it."

"And so do we," Bulma said, pointing to herself and Chi-Chi and blushing just a little. "I'm sure we'll be the only humans there, but. . . we're really curious."

Kakkarot grinned. "We're flattered."

The human boys both had 20th Century History instead.

Vegeta waved a bowl at Radditz. "This is?"

Radditz grinned. "Jello."

"You want it? I'm not eating something that moves like that."

Radditz took it happily. As Vegeta passed it over, his eyes moved to follow someone walking to the tray return. "Who is that?"

They all looked and grew suddenly grim. "That is Brolly," Radditz replied, frowning.

"He's Negi's cousin," Tien said.

"He's a bully," Kakkarot scowled.

"He's huge," Vegeta breathed. He was. Taller than anybody else in the room, and bulky-but all muscle.

"He hates everybody, especially Negi and Kakkarot. It goes all the way back to when they were in preschool together."

"Interesting." Vegeta's eyes narrowed.

The bell rang. Time for class.

__________ ___________

When they got to fifth period, they discovered Negi was out of the nurse's office already. He and his gang sat in the front row-the only class in which they did so. Vegeta was amused.

Chi-Chi and Bulma, feeling conspicuous, hid in the back row. Vegeta, Radditz, and Kakkarot, feeling protective, sat beside them.

Next in the room was the predatory female, Kari, who came and sat in front of Vegeta. Bulma smirked and looked at him. He rolled his eyes. Retasu and Mame, next in, sat next to Kari to help fend her off. Chi-Chi giggled.

The room filled quickly after that. Nappa came in and sat in front of Retasu, shortly joined by his friend Kabocha and Sarada. Another female Saiyan came in and smiled at them and sat down in their row. A male Saiyan came in and smiled at Kari and sat down by her.

The last people in the room were the teacher and Brolly. The only desk left was next to Negi. They scowled at each other. Brolly pushed the desk backwards, next to Sarada's friend, who looked apprehensive.

The teacher was short, for a Saiyan, but wide and muscular. "Hello," he said. "My name is Saya Ingen. You," he pointed to Nametake, "pass these books out."

Nametake stood up and made his way around. It was only when he got to the last row that he realized, "Mr. Saya, there's two humans in here."

Saya nodded. "Yes."

"Is that right?"

"They can learn about our culture, too, can't they?"

"But. . ."

"Give them the books and sit down."

He scowled and did so. All the Saiyans were staring at Chi-Chi and Bulma, who were blushing.

"Girls, why did you choose this class?" Saya asked.

"We wanted to learn more about our friends," Chi-Chi answered.

"There," Saya said brightly. "See? Very noble." He began to talk about what they'd be doing over the semester. Vegeta ignored him and looked over at Bulma. She was lacing her fingers together and apart nervously, under her desk.

She caught Vegeta's look and glanced at him. She had no idea what he was thinking. She appraised him for a long moment. Then she wrote on a piece of paper and pushed it towards him.

"Very noble," he wrote back with a smirk.

She desperately wanted to understand this strange, exotic Saiyan-she didn't know why. "What do you think of humans, Vegeta?" she wrote.

A pause. "You want the truth?"

"Of course!"

"I met my first one 2 days ago."

She looked at him incredulously. "You're serious?"

He nodded.

"Well, what are your first impressions then?"

He stared at the teacher. He seemed to be giving it real thought.

`How to answer this girl?' he wondered. He didn't know what he thought. They were just more strangers, and difficult to understand. But for some reason he wanted to answer in a way that wouldn't upset her. For some reason, her opinion mattered more than anyone else he'd met, other than Bardock's sons. He wanted her for an ally.

He looked back and met her eyes and suddenly smiled, a genuine smile. He bent over the paper and wrote, then passed it over.

She looked and read, "I think they could be habit-forming." Her eyes darted back to him, and then her smile lit up the room.

"Briefs, Bulma?" the teacher's voice interrupted, calling roll. "Are you Bulma?"

"I'm here!" she snapped back to reality.

"Brolly?"

"Here," he said after an insolent pause.

"Daikon?"

Vegeta tensed up. Radditz and Bulma, close enough to notice, wondered why. As Sarada's friend answered to her name, Radditz whispered, "What is it?"

Vegeta looked down at his desk. "Nothing. Just-that was my mother's name."

Radditz's eyebrows went up and he leaned back in his chair as Kakkarot said, "Here," in his turn.

"Kyabetsu?"

"Call me Bets."

"Kyuuri?"

"Here," said Kari's admirer.

"And Vegeta, Prince. Prince Vegeta?" Saya appeared to finally put two and two together and realize who Vegeta was.

"Here," he responded as Kyuuri turned around in his seat and bowed. "Yeah, get up."

Saya's mouth twitched. "Perhaps the rest of you could bow after class," he suggested.

"Did you know he's one of only four Saiyan teachers?" Chi-Chi whispered conversationally to Vegeta as Saya resumed his lecture. "They don't want to have much to do with us humans."

"I heard that," Saya called to her. "And you're probably right about their motives, but never assume. However, as you'll see, human-Saiyan tension figures largely in this class, once we reach the part in Saiyan history where we settle on Earth. But we've got a lot of ground to cover before we get that far, so listen up. . ."

_________ __________ _________

Vegeta found the class fascinating and realized it would probably be his favorite one. As everyone was leaving, Daikon managed to squeeze in between Kari and Vegeta and made her bow. "Hello, Prince," she said softly.

Vegeta stared at her. She was slender, a few inches taller than him, with beautiful skin and black, black hair and eyes. She smiled at him shyly.

"Daikon," he said.

She nodded. "I've been hearing about you all day," she informed him. "I'm glad you beat Negi."

He seemed slightly dazed. "Thanks," he said finally.

She clutched her books to her chest. "I guess I should go."

His eyes watched her walk away. Kakkarot grinned and stood in front of him, blocking his view. "Want me to set you up?"

Vegeta blinked and scowled. "Shut up." He stalked off; they followed, Bulma cursing the Saiyan girl and feeling stupid for it.

__________ ___________