Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Uber Babe ❯ Chapter 4

A/N: Not that this really has anything to do with this chapter, but stovetop made hot chocolate hands down beats the pants off anything in a packet, any day. If you haven't had the real thing, go make yourself a cup and sip it as you read. I like to add a little extra vanilla. Yum...

FYI, "ikimono" means "animal" in Japanese. Here's to having a little fun with names. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ. I don't want to own DBZ. I just want to fiddle around with the characters now and then.


"Hey, Bunny," Yamcha greeted Mrs. Briefs as he and Toshie entered the house.

"Hello, Yamcha dear!" Mrs. Briefs sang cheerfully. "I see you've brought Toshie with you, wonderful! Let me get you some hot chocolate." She hung their coats up and bustled toward the kitchen.

"Mrs. Briefs-"

"Bunny, dear. You can call me Bunny."

"All right... Bunny, we just had lunch. You don't have to do that," Toshie assured her.

Mrs. Briefs waved her hand in dismissal as they entered the kitchen. "Oh, but it's no bother at all, dear! It's so cold out today. Hot chocolate would be nice." She removed a pot from its hook on a large pot rack which hung from the ceiling. "Besides, Vegeta likes it. He's got a huge sweet tooth! Such a dear young man..." Humming contentedly to herself, the blonde woman commenced stirring together large quantities of cocoa and sugar.

Toshie couldn't help but smile when Yamcha shrugged his shoulders and gave her a look of resignation that clearly meant Bulma's mother wasn't one to give up without spoiling her guests. "Thank you, Bunny."

"You're so welcome dear." Mrs. Briefs added a pinch of salt to the pot.

"Where did the seamstress set up?" Yamcha asked. "Bulma said she wanted to fit us today."

"Oh, in the den," Mrs. Briefs responded, whisking in enough hot water to form a runny paste, after which she put the pot on the stove to boil the mixture. "She had to run out for a moment, but Bulma and Vegeta are still there. You could say hello while we wait."

"Sure. Toshie, I'll show you where the den is. I need to use the bathroom, then I'll head over there myself," Yamcha offered.

"Sure," Toshie agreed. She hadn't really had much chance to talk with Vegeta, although he seemed nice enough.

Yamcha lead her down a hallway. "This is the den," he told her, gesturing toward a door. "The bathroom is two more doors down, on the left, in the event you need it."

"Okay, thanks." Toshie couldn't hold in her giggle as he scurried into the bathroom. Evidently the four glasses of Mountain Mist he drank were beginning to catch up with him. She turned back to the den. The door was closed, which didn't seem out of the ordinary since they were trying on clothes, so she knocked lightly. "Bulma?"

No answer.

"Hmm." Toshie opened the door. Maybe they'd gotten bored of waiting and left. "Bulma, are you-" She let out a little squeak of surprise and hurriedly shut the door again, her cheeks going bright red. That hadn't exactly been what she'd expected to see.

When Yamcha came out of the bathroom he found Toshie standing a couple feet away. Judging by her disturbed expression and red face, it wasn't that difficult to discern what had happened. "Ohhh... let me guess."

"Never mind. Just don't go in there," Toshie muttered. "Remind me never to sit on the E-Z-Boy too."

Yamcha chuckled despite himself. "Sorry. It's just that sooner or later, everyone walks in on them. God, my eyeballs burned for a month the first time it happened to me."

"Everyone? First time?" Toshie echoed. Just how often and in how many places did they get caught?

"Yeah. At least they're not as bad as her parents are. I assure you, Mrs. Briefs has a very accurate first name."

Toshie's eyes went wide as saucers as she recalled Mrs. Briefs' first name: Bunny. "They're worse than them?" Her thumb jerked toward the den door. "But they're..." She didn't want to say 'old,' but couldn't think of a more polite way to express herself.

"Old?" Yamcha finished with amusement. "For as much as those two get it on, the Briefs still have 'em beat." He laughed at the expression on her face. "The scary thing is, Vegeta's one horny son-of-a-bitch, too."

Toshie stared at him in shock, then her eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute! You're pulling my leg, aren't you?" she accused him.

Yamcha let out a hearty laugh. "Toshie, you should have seen your face!" he crowed.

"You jerk!" she shouted, hitting him on the arm before crossing her arms over her chest.

Yamcha grinned at her. "Aww, c'mon. Don't be mad. You have to admit, it was funny."

Toshie couldn't hold back a smile. "You're sick, you know that?"

Yamcha snorted. "Spend enough time with Roshi and Oolong and you'll think I'm tame," he countered. "Well, hopefully you can't say I'm boring to hang out with, huh?"

Toshie's smile widened. "No, not at all," she agreed softly. She tilted her head down and looked up at him in a somewhat shy manner, a touch of pink gracing her cheeks.

That feeling returned to Yamcha's belly. "I could say the same of you," he murmured.

Her blush deepened. The way he was looking at her made her feel warm inside. "Yamcha, I..."

"Bulma dear! Kae's back!" Mrs. Briefs' voice shouted.

Yamcha took a step back before she got there, not wanting to embarrass Toshie any further.

"Bulma!" Mrs. Briefs stopped in her tracks, the seamstress right behind her, when she saw her two guests standing a couple doors down the hallway. "Aren't they-"

"Don't!" Yamcha and Toshie yelped in unison when Mrs. Briefs put her hand on the doorknob, making the poor woman jump in surprise.

"What..." Mrs. Briefs paused, then rolled her eyes in disgust. "Oh, don't tell me."

"Again?" Kae asked, both eyebrows rising. "You're aware that you're paying me by the hour, aren't you, Bulma?" she yelled at the closed door.

"How many times do I have to tell you two to go to your room? You have guests, young lady!" Mrs. Briefs hollered, not embarrassed in the slightest as she opened the door enough to make her presence visually known. "Oh! And on your father's favorite chair, too! You'd better not break another one, young man!" She yanked the door shut hard enough to make it rattle.

Kae sighed. "I guess we might as well go have some hot chocolate," she decided with a shrug. The kitchen had smelled wonderful when she'd come back inside.

"Oh, my! I almost forgot about it," Mrs. Briefs exclaimed, completely switching mental gears as she scurried off.

Yamcha watched as Kae and Mrs. Briefs headed toward the kitchen. "At the risk of sounding like a broken record, you can say it. Oh. My. God."

***

Kae handed Toshie the blue satin dress she'd altered. "Here we are. Go ahead and try it on."

Toshie accepted the dress. "Thanks."

"Mmm-hmm. I'm going to help Bunny with her dress while you do that. Be back in a bit." Kae left the den, shutting the door behind her.

Toshie slipped the robe she'd been wearing off and tossed it onto the nearby couch where her clothes were. She stepped into the dress, smiling to herself as she zipped it up. It fit like a glove.

"Toshie?" A knock at the door startled her from her thoughts. "You decent?"

Toshie giggled. "Yeah, come on in," she called out.

The door opened and Yamcha entered the den, looking quite dapper himself in a sleek black tuxedo. "Okay, let's see," he demanded teasingly.

Toshie smiled at him in the full-length mirror she stood in front of. "You look nice," she told him. In actuality she thought he looked quite handsome, but was too shy to say so.

"Thanks." Yamcha returned the smile. "Turn around so I can see your dress." When she did so, he swallowed. It was a simple, classic dress, but she couldn't have looked any better in anything else. She was beautiful. "Toshie, you're not supposed to outshine the bride, you know," he joked, recovering his composure. He couldn't imagine just what she'd look like all made up for the ceremony.

Toshie rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Heaven knows that I'm not pretty like Bulma is."

"We aren't talking about Bulma," Yamcha objected. "I think you're pretty," he finished in a low voice.

Toshie blushed and looked down at her hands. "Thanks, Yamcha," she whispered.

"You're welcome," he whispered back. He stepped forward, tilting her chin up gently. "In fact, I think you're quite lovely."

Her eyes shone at him happily. But it was more than that. It was fondness, affection... attraction.

Yamcha smiled weakly, feeling himself powerless to resist her as their faces slowly moved closer together. Their eyes grew heavy, their lips parted...

"Toshie, are you dressed yet?" Bulma yelled, making them both jump in surprise. She burst into the room and gasped in delight. "Oh, it fits perfectly! You look great!" she exclaimed excitedly.

~Damn it damn it damn it! I was just about to kiss her!~ Yamcha inwardly seethed. ~Wait... holy cow, I was about to kiss her.~ He hadn't realized just how intensely he'd longed to do so before then.

"Thanks, Bulma."

"Doesn't she look great, Yami?" Bulma continued, beaming from ear to ear.

Yamcha nodded weakly. "Yes, she does."

Bulma was still smiling and turned to him. "Your tux looks great, too. Kae is the best, I'll give her that. Mom's dress is perfect, Daddy and Vegeta's tuxes are perfect... Oooh, Saturday will be just perfect!" Bulma scurried out of the den.

"Not an ounce of shame," Toshie noted, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Nope, not even half an ounce," Yamcha agreed.

They stood in silence for a moment, both of them affected by what had nearly happened. "I... I think some more hot chocolate might be nice," Toshie murmured, a blush returning to her cheeks as she dropped her eyes.

"Yeah, maybe." Gathering up his courage, Yamcha took Toshie's hand in his. "You really do look lovely," he murmured, leaning over to quickly kiss her cheek. He let her hand go and moved toward the door, only to collide chest to chest with Vegeta as he rounded the corner.

"Watch where you're walking, would you?" the prince growled, although he didn't sound irritated. "You'll break an arm, then Bulma'll have my hide."

~How much did he hear?~ Despite being embarrassed by what had just happened, Yamcha couldn't resist such an open opportunity. "She already did not too long ago," he responded casually. "Don't tell me you're worried that she might wear you out."

Vegeta's mouth pinched into a straight line. "All right, weakling. You and me, five minutes, in back of the house. Got it?"

Yamcha managed to keep his cool. Vegeta would kick his ass for sure, and right in front of Toshie. Talk about embarrassing. "Bulma will be even madder if we end up with black eyes before the wedding," he ventured.

"Black eyes?" Toshie echoed. Just what were they planning to do outside in the cold?

The corner of Vegeta's mouth curved up. "I just so happen to have a few senzu beans if you need one," he responded smoothly. "You'll be none the worse. Or are you chickening out on me in front of your girlfriend here?"

Yamcha visibly bristled. "I don't have anything to prove to you, and I'm not afraid of you either," he growled.

"Good. Get changed. I haven't had a good spar lately." Vegeta turned to leave. "Five minutes."

Toshie frowned. "Yamcha, what is he talking about? Fighting?"

Yamcha sighed. He had the feeling that 'a good spar' meant kicking the garbage out of his opponent. "You'll see."

***

~Of all the stupid times for Bulma to have to run out for some last minute items.~ Yamcha stuck his hands in his pockets. With her gone, there was no buffer to get him out of this mess.

"So. You did show up after all."

"Yeah, I'm here. I'm not a coward." Yamcha eyed his aggressor tiredly. "Bulma's going to be mad, you know."

"No she won't. I'll take care of her." Vegeta gave him a knowing smirk and took to the air, Yamcha following suit.

Toshie's eyes widened as they took on defensive stances. "Oh, no... they really are going to fight," she whispered. What happened next completely escaped her notice; the two seemed to have disappeared save for some random blurs of movement she managed to detect.

The next thing she knew, there was a loud thud about twenty feet away. Momentarily Yamcha got to his feet, dirty and disheveled, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"Yamcha!" Toshie exclaimed, rushing over to him. "Are you all right?"

Yamcha nodded. "I'm fine, Toshie. Please keep back so you don't get hurt."

"But you're bleeding!" she objected.

"I'm all right, I promise you." Yamcha tried not to look at the distressed look in her eyes. "Look, Saiyans like to fight. Vegeta may not admit it, but this whole wedding is probably stressing him out. This is just his way of blowing off some tension. He won't do anything to really hurt me."

Toshie didn't look convinced but stepped back nonetheless. "I don't understand why you're doing this. You don't have to prove anything to me, either."

Yamcha's face softened. Her words were just another reason he found himself rapidly falling for her. She wasn't interested in a baseball player or a man who could fly or who was stronger than the average man. She was interested in him personally. "I know, Toshie. Thank you." He smiled at her fondly. "I'll be careful."

Toshie watched as he took to the air again. A couple more times Vegeta got the best of him, but she found herself proud of Yamcha when he finally got the upper hand on the Saiyan prince, sending him to the ground as well.

"Oh, I don't believe this. I suppose this was all your idea, Vegeta!"

Toshie just kept herself from giggling at the guilty expression on Vegeta's face as he saw Bulma standing nearby, arms crossed over her chest and a frown on her face. So... the guy wasn't as tough as he seemed, not when it came to Bulma anyway.

"It was just a spar, Woman," Vegeta informed his fiancée defensively. "You know I'm not going to harm him."

"Hmph." Bulma scowled at Vegeta as Yamcha set down beside them. "Just look at you two, gross! Go take showers, now. You can borrow some of Vegeta's clothes, Yamcha. Go on, get out of here," she grumbled as the two men lumbered off toward the house. She sighed.

"Are they always like this?" Toshie asked skeptically.

Bulma nodded. "Especially Vegeta and Goku, being full-blooded Saiyans. The Saiyans were a warrior race and loved to fight. It's in their blood," she explained. "I guess growing up with Goku around, I kind of got used to all the things the guys can do."

Toshie nodded. "I see. But you can't believe they're doing this now, right?"

"You've got it." Bulma chuckled. "I guess boys will be boys. There's no breaking them of it, I suppose."

"It must be neat seeing all the things they can do," Toshie commented, trying to further soften the mood. "Yamcha flew us here today. It was so cool. I'd love to be able to fly."

"Yeah," Bulma agreed. "You get used to all of it after a while, and it doesn't seem like that big of a deal anymore. If anything, it's a pain in the ass because you always end up in the crossfire should anything crazy happen."

"Oh." Toshie found herself decidedly curious by the whole concept of super-powered beings but didn't probe further. Bulma seemed distracted enough by all of the last minute preparations.

***

Toshie set down her fork down. "Thank you for dinner, Bunny. It was delicious."

Mrs. Briefs beamed. "You're welcome, Toshie." Such a sweet girl this one was!

Yamcha nodded. "It was really good. But what else could I expect from you, Bunny?"

Mrs. Briefs giggled girlishly. "Oh Yamcha. You always were such a sweet young man." She got up from the table. "Why don't you all go in the den and watch a movie? I'll clean up the dishes and bring you some dessert."

"That's a great idea, Mom. Thanks." Bulma paused. "Unless you had someplace you needed to be, Toshie?"

Toshie shook her head. "No, I don't have any plans tonight. Are you sure you wouldn't like some help, Bunny?"

Mrs. Briefs tsked and shooed her away. "No, you're a guest, dear! Now go have some fun," she chided gently.

Toshie followed Bulma, Vegeta and Yamcha to the den, Dr. Briefs having opted to head to his lab. She silently thanked Kami that the only seat available was not the E-Z-Boy and sat down on the couch instead opposite Yamcha.

Bulma plopped down on the loveseat and pulled Vegeta down next to her. "What do you guys want to watch? I have DVDs, or we can get something on demand." She grabbed the remote and began channel surfing.

"Oh, no you don't," Vegeta growled, snatching the remote from her hand. "I can't stand it when you do that."

"Hey! Give it back!" Bulma yelled, trying to grab it the pilfered remote.

"Not a chance."

"Give it back, you big brute!"

A deep throated chuckle. "Make me."

"Uh! You're like an overgrown child. 'Make me!' What a dork."

"Whatever." Vegeta grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap, uncaring that Yamcha and Toshie were in the room.

Yamcha rolled his eyes. "Don't you two ever take a break?" he complained to the couple engaged in a heavy necking session on the loveseat. He knew that Vegeta was not one for public displays of affection, and that he was probably only doing it to make Yamcha uncomfortable.

Vegeta lifted his head. "Jealous?" he asked with a sneer.

Bulma pushed her way out of his arms. "Vegeta, behave." She had somehow regained custody of the remote and activated the on demand channel.

"Bulma dear!" Mrs. Briefs called from the hallway. "Your grandmother is here!"

"Oh!" Bulma jumped up from the loveseat. "Vegeta, will you help me bring her things in? She still doesn't get how to use capsules. Toshie, come meet my grandmother."

"Sure." Toshie got up and followed them out of the den. Shrugging, Yamcha followed them.

"Grandma!" Bulma exclaimed, hugging a feeble old woman who stood by the front door. "I'm so glad you could come," she shouted.

"What's that, dear?"

"Vegeta and I are glad you could come!" Bulma shouted even louder.

Grandma smiled. "It's good to see you, dear. My, but you've grown."

Bulma grinned at them. "Yes, just a little since last month."

"Oh, and who's this handsome young man?" Grandma asked.

"Grandma, you remember my fiancé Vegeta, don't you?" Bulma yelled.

Grandma's face suddenly brightened. "Oh yes, the handsome one," she repeated. "How could I forget you?" She hobbled over to Vegeta. "Come here and give an old lady a kiss."

Vegeta's cheeks flushed when the old woman unabashedly gave him a kiss right on the lips. "It's nice to see you, Mrs. Ikimono," he told her in a loud voice.

Grandma giggled just like her daughter always did. "You're just adorable," she cooed, patting the blushing Saiyan's cheek.

Bulma giggled. "Grandma, are you hungry?" she yelled.

"What, dear?"

"Do you need something to eat?" Bulma was going to be deaf herself with a sore throat by the time Grandma went home.

"Oh, no. I had dinner before that nice young man came and got me," Grandma assured her. "What's his name again?"

"Eiji?" Bulma offered the name of their driver.

"Yes, that's him." Grandma yawned. "My, but I'm tired."

"Grandma, let's get you to your room so you can rest, okay?" Bulma yelled.

"That would be nice, dear," Grandma agreed.

Toshie watched as Vegeta very carefully helped the fragile old woman up the stairs and to one of the guest bedrooms. For as strong and violent as he had been that afternoon, the gentleness he now displayed surprised her. She hadn't been sure what to think of the man after he'd demanded a fight with Yamcha, but the patience he was giving the old woman offered her a glimpse of just what it was that Bulma saw in him.