Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ To the Stronger ❯ 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6

Sixth period, Speech, and seventh period, Computers, passed uneventfully. Brolly was in that class, too, in the far back corner. Vegeta found that he didn't like having Brolly behind him where he couldn't see him.

Vegeta felt other eyes on him. He looked up from his notes to see a human female with bright red hair staring at him with big green eyes. When he met her stare, she flushed and turned back around.

Vegeta nudged Radditz. "Who's that?"

"New girl. Don't know."

Vegeta shrugged.

"She looking at you, too?" Radditz grinned. "It's only to be expected, you know. You'll be considered quite the catch. You're a Prince. Whoever wins your attention could be a Princess someday. She'll have money, servants, power, the works. You'll have dozens of girls chasing you, I expect."

Chasing him? Vegeta automatically froze, then forced himself to relax. A girl couldn't. . . use you. She was, well, anatomically incapable of it.

But him being desirable? Ani thought so, but he'd never imagined anybody else actually desiring him. Lusting, yes, but that was different. These girls. . . Radditz was right. They wouldn't be interested in him, but they would like the idea of being a Princess.

As for marriage. . . kami, he was only 14. He wasn't thinking about that. The only girl he'd found interesting all day was. . . no. . . the human and the Saiyan. He frowned. It didn't matter. He wasn't about to pursue anyone. He wasn't going to make himself vulnerable to emotions he didn't even understand.

As for sex. . . hn. He'd had enough of that. Now that he was free from it, he meant to stay that way. It hurt. And as for lust. . . he'd never felt it. He never intended to. Only twisted, sadistic people felt something as. . . wrong as that.

Not that Vegeta was consciously aware of most of these thoughts. He only knew what he felt in the pit of his stomach. What was dangerous and what was not. What was unknown and what was not. What he understood and what he was afraid of. He was afraid of sex.

The female species was basically an unknown to him anyway. Most of the servants in the palace he'd been exposed to were men. His mother had died when he was five. He considered a woman to be. . . well, someone to be admired from a distance. And a girl was simply either an enemy or a friend, just like a boy. Since they were incapable of using you, they were in fact to be preferred to boys.

When the bell rang signaling the end of the day, Vegeta breathed a sigh of relief. His mind was full of images and sounds and experiences that he needed to sort through and make sense of. But as he gathered up his books, he could sense someone coming up behind him and knew it was Brolly. The only Saiyan he'd seen who hadn't bowed to him.

He put his books back down and faced him. He was much, much taller. "Hello, Vegeta," Brolly grinned. Vegeta nodded.

"So they let you out of the palace, eh?"

Vegeta's eyes narrowed.

"And now here you are, mingling with us commoners. Must be quite a shock to your system."

"So, Negi's your cousin."

Brolly growled. "I don't claim him, but yes. Our fathers are brothers, but they hate each other. His father is an idiot. His whole family is worthless."

"Hn."

Brolly realized he'd been sidetracked. "Never mind. Enjoy your stay in the real world." He started to walk away, then looked back. "It won't be pleasant," he grinned.

Vegeta smirked with true amusement. Brolly looked momentarily disturbed, then shrugged it off, grinned again, and walked out of the room.

"Go ahead. Involve yourself in politics. Get noticed by the King. He'll hunt you down and kill you like a dog someday," Vegeta said to the space where he'd been. "You're far too much of a threat, and yet so very insignificant. He'll hate you on sight."

"What?" asked Radditz. Vegeta had spoken in High Saiyago, which only members of the Royal Family knew.

Vegeta smiled. "Nothing. Let's go."

They went to their lockers. They all came together one last time just outside the main door. "Well, you made it through your first day, Vegeta," Kakkarot said cheerfully. "What did you think?"

Vegeta shrugged. "Different."

"That's it?" Chi-Chi asked. "That's the sum of your whole day?"

"Who's got homework?" Retasu asked.

They all raised their hands except for Nappa and Kakkarot.

"You do, too!" Radditz told his brother.

"I do? What was it?" They all laughed at him.

"How strong is Brolly?" Vegeta asked abruptly.

"I wouldn't ask him to spar, if that's what you're thinking," Mame exclaimed.

"He's very strong," Sarada said. "I don't think I've ever felt him at full power. Have you guys?"

"His ki's always suppressed. And still so high."

"Yeah. . . when we said who was strongest at school and stuff. . . well, we never actually counted Brolly," Radditz confessed.

Vegeta took a deep breath and let it out. That didn't sound good. He guessed he'd leave Brolly alone then.

_______ _______ ______

Vegeta, Radditz, and Kakkarot flew home. They landed in the yard and went inside. Sarah was waiting with fresh cinnamon rolls, applesauce, and milk. It was good.

She, too, wanted to know how school went.

"Pretty well," Radditz told her. "We have some OK classes, and we're with our friends a lot."

"But we have to dissect things!" Kakkarot made a face.

"And Brolly and Negi are still jerks."

Kakkarot grinned. "But everybody bowed to Vegeta."

Vegeta winced. Sarah smiled. "That's nice."

"And he's got a girl after him!"

"Shut up, Kakkarot," Vegeta threatened.

Radditz kicked him under the table and he shut up.

________ _________

Vegeta went to his room. Radditz pulled Kakkarot aside. "If you tell all of Vegeta's secrets, he'll never trust you with anything," Radditz hissed.

Kakkarot looked confused. "They're not secrets."

"Have you noticed that Vegeta is a very private person?"

"Yes. . ."

"Well, he doesn't want you to go around saying stuff about him. Period. Didn't you see his face?"

Kakkarot frowned. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything bad."

"Just keep your mouth shut."

"I will. I promise."

Vegeta heard them through his door. Interesting. He didn't understand them-he didn't understand anybody he'd met lately, except Brolly, who was just like Ani, and Kari, who wanted to bask in reflected glory. Life here was so complicated. He wondered if it would ever get easier.

Vegeta stayed in his room until supper, absorbing everything that happened that day. Supper was taco salad and Spanish rice. Bardock watched Vegeta. His sons chatted happily away about school, but Vegeta stayed silent.

Vegeta was watching everyone, but so subtly they didn't really notice. Mainly he watched Bardock, waiting for hostility. Twice he was sure Bardock was thinking about him, not good thoughts. He wondered when he'd be taken down by him.

About an hour after the meal, they had their training session. They practiced on the Kaio-ken some more. Then the boys all sparred. Bardock still hadn't disciplined him. Waiting was slowly becoming painful.

He brooded, sitting on the couch with the twins, who were watching some movie full of shoot-ups and elaborate car chases. Memories came unbidden.

.:He had asked Ani if he could go play with the son of one of the servants. Ani stared down at him coldly. "You are a Prince. You do not talk to the servants." He had agreed immediately, but it was clear to Ani that he was unhappy about it. "Are you questioning me?" Ani had demanded, and hit him so hard he flew backwards several feet. Then Ani had pulled him up and started them sparring, but his brother was so much faster, and could hit so much harder, and showed no mercy. He never showed mercy.:

On the couch, Vegeta stared unseeing at the T.V. screen, hands clenched tightly in his lap.

.:Vegeta's head snapped back as Ani's fist connected. Then he hit him on the back of the head, and Vegeta fell forward onto the ground, catching himself with his hands and knees. Blood and salivia spurted out of his mouth and ran down his chin. Sweat dripped onto the floor. Ani laughed. "You're never going to amount to anything, Dai. You're too weak to fight. And you lower yourself to talk to servants. How demeaning." He walked forward and put his foot on Vegeta's back and pushed. Vegeta lost his hold and was shoved to lie flat on his stomach.

"Get up," Ani commanded. "Go on." But he kept his foot pushed down on Vegeta's back.

Vegeta tried. He got his hands under him. The muscles in his arms trembled under the strain. He got a knee to the ground, but Ani pushed down harder and he fell back. More blood ran down his chin.

"Come on, Dai! How weak are you? Can't you do anything?"

The pressure on his spine was becoming intense. He could barely breathe. Pain and shame sloshed through his soul. He tried to roll over, but he couldn't. He tried to knock Ani's leg away, but he couldn't. He tried to get up, and he couldn't. Ani stepped down harder and he felt several ribs break. He had no energy left even to scream. He earnestly wished that he could black out.

Then Ani moved to kneel down beside his head. Vegeta squinted up at him. Ani tapped him on the forehead with one finger. "Are you a servant or a Prince? I'm having my doubts. You'll have to prove you're Royalty. Get up, Dai. Let's see if you can make it to the regeneration chamber on your own."

Vegeta watched him walk away, although the edges of his vision were black and hazy from the pain. It had taken him two hours to crawl 80 feet, but he'd made it.:

Vegeta blinked, slowly becoming aware of his surroundings again. He relaxed the tension in his muscles. Kakkarot was still watching T.V. But Radditz was watching him.

Their eyes met briefly before Vegeta looked away.

_______ ________ ______

He stared up at the sky through his skylight. The stars were bright that night. He couldn't sleep.

He stood up on his bed and thought. Then he raised himself in the air, unlatched the skylight, and went through it and out. He sat on the roof, still gazing at the sky.

There was something peaceful about stars. They'd been there millions of years, burning in the sky. They endured in fire. There was something fascinating about fire, as well.

He watched for a long time before he went back to bed.

______ ______ ______

They'd had breakfast and flown to school. They met up with their friends at their lockers. Vegeta realized every day was going to be pretty much the same. This made him feel better.

Math went by with no problems. Negi's gang mainly ignored him, although they cast him more than a few looks.

He joined Kakkarot at their table for Biology. Tien, Yamcha, and Nappa came up to talk to them.

"Did you see that martial arts match on TV last night?" Yamcha asked.

"No. Who was in it?"

"Chong, Anzu, Akira, Piccolo. . ."

"We've seen Piccolo in person," Kakkarot interrupted smugly.

"You have? When?"

"Just a couple days ago. Vegeta got us backstage to see him."

The other guys looked at him excitedly. "Wow, could you do that for us? I would love to meet Hoorensoo."

"Yeah, me, too!"

"I want to meet Piccolo!"

Vegeta looked at them, rather taken aback. "Um, I'll see what I can do."

"I want to meet Bareesho," said a female voice. They turned to see Nappa's Saiyan friend, Kabocha. It figured that she would rather meet the most famous woman fighter.

Their teacher walked out of a back room. "Children, children. Be seated, settle down."

They all made faces at being called children, but took their seats. "I assume you did your assigned reading, so let's all turn to Page 5."

That class passed uneventfully. Vegeta braced himself for gym as he entered the locker room with Kakkarot and Radditz. And came to a sudden stumbling block as he realized he was expected to change clothes in front of all these other people.

No way. Nothing doing.

"I'm going to the bathroom," he muttered to Radditz as he gathered up his clothes. He locked himself in a stall and changed in there.

"Guess he's shy," Kakkarot commented to Radditz.

"Wonder if he's hiding something."

"Like what?"

Radditz couldn't think of anything. "Well," he said at last, "he is a Prince. Maybe he just likes his privacy."

"I can't say I'm crazy about this myself," Nappa put in from across the way.

Radditz laughed.

Eventually they all went into the gymnasium. Vegeta appraised their teacher. If he was really seriously considering trying out for this martial arts team, he wanted to make sure their coach was. . . safe.

Jagaimo seemed to be a practical, no-nonsense sort of man. He regarded them all impartially, determined to prevent trouble and whip them all into shape. "The condition of your bodies is important to your overall health," he told them. "Physically, mentally, emotionally. We're going to improve your condition, as well as practice various sports. You're going to learn a lot in this class!"

Vegeta saw a boy roll his eyes. Another boy, very overweight, looked decidedly uncomfortable at this speech. The Saiyans, however, seemed to take it all in stride.

"By the way," Jagaimo added, "no unlicensed sparring."

"Are we going to do martial arts, though, sir?" Ohitashi asked.

He smiled. "As if I could do otherwise. Yes. But not right away."

Vegeta returned to the bathroom to change back. He skipped the communal shower as well. There was no way.

On to fourth period and Japanese. The back row gang was there again. This time the four main human leaders were all there, too-the front row, of course.

Vegeta, Radditz, and Sarada sat exactly in between the two groups, with Chi-Chi and Bulma one row ahead. The girls were joined by a human friend of theirs named Heather. And one row behind them was actually a cluster of two humans and a Saiyan sitting together. Vegeta was pleased that his gang weren't the only ones who mixed.

Mrs. Yamada was their teacher for Japanese literature and grammar. She was nearing retirement age, but still sharp. She seemed to think that a member of Saiyan Royalty in her class was a fascinating thing that leant an air of dignity to the school. Vegeta wanted to laugh.

After class, the Saiyan bowed to him. "You don't need to do that every day," Vegeta said self-consciously.

The Saiyan smiled. "Sorry. My name's Zukkini. Zukkini, Junior, actually. My father's on the Council."

Vegeta had heard Ani complain about his father. He was very vocal about ethics and the responsibilities of a King. He was also totally for improving relations with humans.

Vegeta nodded at him. Encouraged, he continued. "I'm just glad to see you have human friends."

Vegeta smirked. "Whatever."

Zukkini blinked. "Yes. Um. I shouldn't keep you from lunch."

Vegeta brushed past him and followed Radditz out the door.

Lunch that day was hamburgers, green beans, and tator tots. Vegeta was not impressed.

Neither was Bulma. "I've thrown away food better than this."

"So, Vegeta, how do you like staying at the twins' house?" Tien asked.

Vegeta was caught off guard. What answer would be safe? "Well, I, um, like having my own room."

They all looked at him. "You have to share a room? You live in a palace! Don't they have any extras? You're the Prince!"

Traps. Hidden traps. Apparently most people didn't share rooms with their brothers. What did he do now?

Lie. "Normally, there's a servant there. You know. In case I want something."

Tien looked awed, Yamcha disgusted, Bulma disbelieving. "Interesting," said Chi-Chi.

"I have to share a room with my younger sister," Mame complained. "I hate it. She's always getting into my stuff. I've got two sisters and two brothers."

"I had to share a room with my baby sister until I was six," Retasu reported. "Then we added on to the house."

Now Vegeta was very confused. If other people shared rooms, what was the big deal? Maybe it was only when your house was too small. He could only imagine what they'd say if he confessed he shared a room with his brother because they were lovers. He had figured out that that wasn't done. He wondered briefly why Ani did it then, but shoved it out of his mind. He'd wondered that before.

In Saiyan history, they began discussing how the Saiyans took over the planet Vegeta. "Kind of like the Europeans and the Indians, hey?" the teacher said to Chi-Chi. She smiled weakly. The girls were still uncomfortable surrounded by so many hostile Saiyans.

Brolly also didn't feel they should be there. He scowled at them, then turned to regard the person sitting next to him. Daikon. "Humans are so barbaric," he said to her.

She shifted nervously. She stared hard at her book, trying to get him to turn away.

It didn't work. He leaned nearer. "Or maybe you like barbarians. Do you?"

She shook her head.

Saya was busy writing on the chalkboard, and didn't notice what was going on. Kari turned around in her seat and batted her eyelashes at Vegeta. "Wild women can be fun," she winked at him. Her admirer, Kyuuri, frowned.

Brolly grinned at Daikon suggestively. "There's nothing wrong with tough men-if they're Saiyan. Like me." She flushed.

Kakkarot watched disapprovingly, but didn't feel like he could say anything. It wasn't really his place.

Brolly was reaching a hand over towards her when he felt Vegeta's ki spike upwards. He stopped and looked back at him with a smirk. "What's your problem, Prince?"

All the students were watching by now. Vegeta didn't notice them. His eyes were fixed on Brolly. "Leave her alone. Don't touch her."

"Why not?"

"I don't want you to!" Daikon cried, loud enough for Saya to finally turn around.

"No fighting in my classroom!" he stated firmly. "Do I need to separate you two?"

"Please do," said Daikon.

"Oh. Well. Kari, trade places with her," he ordered.

"What?" Kari and Brolly both exclaimed unhappily.

"You heard me. Do it."

Kari fussed a bit more, but had to do as he said. Daikon happily sat down in front of Vegeta, next to Mame. Mame smiled at her. Kyuuri pouted. Saya went back to writing on the board.

Bulma drummed her fingers on her desk and Radditz smirked as Daikon turned around to Vegeta. "Thank you," she smiled shyly.

"Not a problem," Vegeta murmured. He knew Brolly was going to be out for him now but he couldn't have let him harm this girl with his mother's name. It would have been. . . sacrilegious.

He looked over at Brolly and noted with an emotion he couldn't quite place that Brolly was not, in fact, staring at him. Brolly was staring at Daikon.

Sixth period was a required course, Speech. Students were assigned to it each semester, so it was a pretty fair mix of Saiyans and humans.

Once again the front row was filled with all four of the anti-Saiyan group, but only two anti-humans in the back, Negi and Nametake. Kari was also back to plague Vegeta by sitting in front of him, as if to make up for the last class. Kakkarot was next to him. Also in the class were Mame, Bulma, an acquaintance of hers named Jean, and another human/Saiyan pair of friends.

Their teacher was a melodramatic woman named Mrs. Phillips. She had a deep melodious voice and liked to trill her R's. She also seemed very excited about having an actual Prince in her class. Vegeta sighed.

Last period, seventh, was Computers with Mrs. Reynolds. This time it was Ohitashi and Kyabetsu in the back row, with only Kurillin in the front.

Vegeta sat with Radditz and Nappa, all four of his human friends in the row in front. The others were a group of two Saiyans and a human right behind them, two more humans in the very front row-one of them the red-headed girl, and in the far back corner, Brolly.

This teacher was oblivious to Vegeta's Royal status. All she cared about was computers. It was obvious that Bulma was going to be her favorite, as she was the only one who came close to following all she said.

Vegeta kept feeling Brolly's eyes on his back. Radditz and Nappa would turn around and scowl at Brolly every once in awhile. They were worried, too.

At least he'd found out the name of the redhead when roll was called. Fenora. She was from Ireland, she'd told Mrs. Reynolds.

_____________