Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Uber Babe ❯ Chapter 5

A/N: Maybe some of you may find Vegeta OOC in this chapter, but too bad! I'm siding with Bunny on this one- Vegeta can be sweet when he chooses to do so. ;)

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.


"There's something going on with those two," Vegeta commented after the front door shut.

Bulma's eyebrows rose. "Really? What makes you think so?"

How could the woman not have noticed? Even her air-headed mother acted as though she thought they were sweet. Then again, the blonde woman thought everyone was sweet, and Bulma was quite distracted by the final preparations for their upcoming marriage ceremony. Vegeta frowned. "I can just tell," he groused, not wanting to offer any other explanation that would implicate himself in the process. ~Be quiet, Blondie. Be quiet, Blondie. Be quiet...~

Mrs. Briefs nodded vigorously. "Oh, yes, Yamcha certainly likes Toshie," she agreed.

~Be quiet, Blondie. Be quiet, Blondie...~

"In fact, he looks at her the way you look at Bulma! It's so sweet..."

~Damn it, Blondie.~ So much for keeping himself out of the Oh My, But Such A Sweet Young Man You Are Dear equation. "Thank you, Bunny," Vegeta interrupted loudly before the older woman could say anything else. "It's time for bed. Good night." He took Bulma by the arm and steered her toward the stairs.

"Good night dearies!" Mrs. Briefs called after them cheerfully. Such a lovely young man her daughter was marrying.

Bulma could hear her fiancé growling softly as the entered their bedroom. "Oh, cut that out. You know how Mom is," Bulma chastised him as she closed the door.

"Yes, all too well," Vegeta grumbled peevishly. He peeled off his shirt and tossed it on the bathroom floor beside the hamper.

Bulma held in her sigh. There was no convincing the man that he should put his stinky laundry in the hamper meant for that purpose instead of on the floor next to it. "Mom's been nothing but sweet to you and you know it," she reminded him as she picked up the offending article of clothing. "In the hamper, dearest, got it?"

"Hmph, whatever." Vegeta kicked off his sweatpants onto the floor as well.

"Vegeta! Would you cut it out please? I'm not your maid," Bulma objected. "You're trying to skirt the issue by irritating me, aren't you?"

"Those are pants, Bulma."

"Ugh! You know very well what I was referring to."

"What issue?"

Bulma shook the boxers he'd flung that way off of her foot with disgust. "That Mom says Yamcha looks at Toshie the way you look at me." She sidled up to the prince, who was making a point of not looking at her. "Look at me, Vegeta. Please."

Vegeta sighed and lifted his eyes to hers. "What is it, Bulma?"

There it was. There, spelled out deep within those coal black eyes, was exactly how he felt about her. He was unable to hide it from her and he knew she knew it. Bulma smiled. "I love you too, Vegeta," she murmured, placing a soft kiss upon his lips.

He wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss with definite interest.

Bulma broke the kiss before he could get too involved. "Honey... honey, let's get some sleep. I'm tired." She gave him a quick peck on the lips and wriggled free of his grasp.

Vegeta crossed his arms and sighed. "Rejected and dismissed."

Bulma rolled her eyes as she put her clothes in the hamper and slipped into a lacy little something or other that hardly covered anything and undoubtedly itched in all of the wrong places. At least she looked hot in it. "Oh, you poor baby. Puh-lease, you act as if you never get any." She padded over to the bed and slid under the covers. "Come to bed, Vegeta," she told him, holding his side of the blankets up in invitation.

"Hmph." Scowling, Vegeta turned off the lights and got into the bed, pulling her against him.

"Ow!"

"What's your problem?"

"Point that thing someplace else. Are you trying to perforate my kidneys or something?"

"What?"

"Tell your soldier 'at ease', would you?"

"It's not my fault I'm horny. How would you kiss me like that and wear practically nothing and expect me not to be turned on?"

"Whatever. Just go to sleep, Vegeta."

"When was the last time you were interested and I turned you down? How about never?"

"Good night, Vegeta."

"Hmph." Vegeta stared at the ceiling for a moment. His fingers played absently with her hair. "Bulma, I..." He drew in a deep breath. "Good night."

"I know, honey." Bulma rolled over and kissed him. "You have no idea how lucky I feel to have you. To have a man who loves me as much as I love him." She kissed him again.

Vegeta wasted no time in rolling them over, cradling her beneath him as he kissed her as hungrily as a starving dog devours his chow. Perhaps she would allow him to show her how much he loved her after all.

***

"This is your room." Yamcha had insisted on walking Toshie into the hotel, given the late hour.

"Yep." Toshie had almost objected to his offer. As attracted as she was to him, it was tempting to lead him past the doorway. It was so soon after meeting him, and she didn't want to seem easy or loose.

"I enjoyed spending time with you today," Yamcha offered. "It was fun."

"Me, too. I had a lot of fun." Toshie looked down at her hands, then up at him without raising her head.

~God, I can't do this!~ "Would you, uhm, like to do something tomorrow before the rehearsal dinner?" Yamcha heard himself asking.

Toshie did raise her head then. "I'd love to." She smiled at him.

"Okay." He swallowed. "I'll, uhm, call you tomorrow morning and we'll figure it out. What time will you be up?"

"Any time after eight," Toshie told him.

"Okay."

They stood in silence for a moment. Both of them wanted to say the thing they were both thinking but neither of them had the courage to yet.

"Well, I guess I should hit the sack so I can get up tomorrow," Toshie murmured. "I'm not exactly a morning person."

~Yet she wanted me to call her at eight.~ "That's a good idea," Yamcha agreed. He gave her a shaky little smile. God, did he want to kiss her! "Good night, then."

"Good night," Toshie responded softly, giving him a shy little glance as she slid her room key in the door lock and let herself in.

Yamcha sighed as the door clicked closed. Tomorrow already seemed too far away. He tried to push thoughts of not going anywhere from his head as he left the hotel. She was sweet, fun, and very attractive. He didn't know that by most people's standards she was average as far as looks went. In his eyes, she was beautiful. He'd never acquainted a woman with whom he'd clicked so completely. Not even Bulma had seemed to mesh so well with him, and they'd dated for years, until Vegeta came into the picture.

Yamcha got into his car and started the engine. As he pulled out of the space, he made up his mind right then and there that he wouldn't be able to just let her go after the wedding on Saturday.

Or maybe ever.

He needed to talk with her, get her honest feelings about him, about whether or not she was interested in furthering their relationship. He certainly was, and hoped beyond anything he'd ever hoped for that she would be willing to give dating him a try.

He sighed and reached in his coat pocket for his phone to see if he had missed any calls. Knowing his teammates, they had probably left some juvenile- albeit dirty- message on his phone. He frowned as he pulled it out. "This isn't my phone," he muttered. "Whose... Toshie! I stuck her phone in my pocket at the restaurant today." How was he supposed to call her the next day if he had her phone? She couldn't call him, either, as she'd never written his number down, just stored it in her phone.

There was nothing else to do. Yamcha took a quick glance and, not seeing any traffic (including law officials), made a U-turn back toward the hotel Toshie was staying at.

***

Toshie slipped into her night shirt and began to fold up her used clothes. She sighed. Would he have stayed if she'd asked him to? He seemed to have at some attraction to her; otherwise he wouldn't have almost kissed her in the den at Capsule Corp. Oh... God, he'd almost kissed her. She'd wanted him to. What would his lips have felt like? She was sure they would have tasted good.

Toshie shook her head, blushing at her thoughts. "You're acting like a little tramp, girl," she muttered to herself, dropping her clothes and heading into the bathroom. She grabbed her hairbrush, yanking it through her long brown hair violently as she pulled it back into a ponytail. "I need to get a grip." She washed her makeup off and began applying a cleansing mask to her face.

A knock at the door startled her. "Just a minute," she called, grabbing her bathrobe from the hook on the back of the door and slipping it on. Who would be knocking at her door this time of night? Why? She peered though the peephole and her eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Hey," Yamcha greeted her a little sheepishly as the door opened. "Sorry to bug you again."

"Nonono, not at all," Toshie responded, hoping she didn't sound too eager. "I, uhm, just don't look the greatest right now, sorry." She blushed, knowing very well that she looked like a mess at the moment.

Yamcha gave her a lopsided little smile. "Nah. You look fine to me."

"Liar. I have clay all over half of my face." Toshie blushed even deeper. "Is something wrong?"

"No," he responded, snapping out of it. He'd been thinking about how he wouldn't mind seeing her with green goo on her forehead more often than not. "It's just that I had your phone in my pocket and forgot to give it back to you."

"Oh." Toshie giggled. "I suppose it would be a little difficult to call me if you had my phone."

"Yeah, just a little," Yamcha murmured. "I didn't want you to be looking for it, or think that I changed my mind about calling you."

Toshie thought that if she blushed one more time, her face would permanently turn red. "I, uhm... thanks for bringing it by."

"Not a problem." The feeling she seemed to effortlessly trigger within him returned to Yamcha's belly. Without even thinking about it he approached her, taking her arms gently.

Her soft brown eyes shone as she looked up at him. He swallowed. Her face softened a little as they moved closer.

"Y-Yamcha... I feel like a schoolgirl with a crush," she admitted, dropping her eyes shyly.

He tilted her chin up. "No, don't look away," he whispered. "I feel it, too."

Her eyes rose again to meet his. "I've never felt like this before," she whispered back. "Is this happening too fast?"

Yamcha answered her with his lips, unable to keep himself from kissing her any longer. "Is it?" he asked, his voice a little husky.

Her eyes opened wide and full of wonder. "No," she whispered.

Their lips met again and her arms slid around his neck, his arms holding her close. He let out a moan when she deepened the kiss. She was a treasure, a rare gem he'd been blessed to discover, and he was finding it increasingly difficult to remain a gentleman with her arms around him, her slim body pressed against his, the soft sounds of pleasure she was making as his hands ran along her back.

"Azuna, come back in here," a woman's voice came from the hallway. They broke the kiss and turned to see the woman pulling a giggling little girl into a room a couple doors down.

Toshie's cheeks flushed pink. "Oh, well. It was just a little girl."

"Yeah." Yamcha gave her a stupid little smile. "Hey, why don't you sleep in a little tomorrow? I'll come by and pick you up tomorrow around ten. We'll have brunch."

"Okay," she whispered. They stood in silence for a few seconds.

"I guess I should head on home," Yamcha murmured.

"I suppose so," Toshie murmured in response.

"Good night, Toshie."

"Good night, Yamcha."

Yamcha pulled her back into his arms and kissed her again. "I... should go..." he managed between kisses.

"Mmm-hmm..." Toshie pulled back. "If you don't go now..." Her blush returned fiercely.

Yamcha nodded, a little blush of his own across his cheeks. Gods, he wanted that too, but he had to do this right. "I'll see you tomorrow at ten." He gave Toshie one last quick kiss. "Good night, lovely lady."

"Good night," Toshie whispered, a sense of loss flooding through her as Yamcha walked down the hallway. Just before he turned the corner, he looked back over his shoulder at her, giving her a little smile that made her knees quiver.

Toshie shut and bolted the door. She leaned against the wall, clutching her cell phone to her breast as if it was a lifeline, or perhaps he himself. She let out a shaky little laugh as she scrolled through her contact list. Her heart was pounding a million miles per hour as the phone rang in her ear.

"Hello?" a groggy voice answered. "Toshie? Are you all right, honey?"

"Hi, Mom. Don't worry, I'm fine," Toshie responded as calmly as she could manage. "I'm sorry to wake you up so late, but there's something I just had to tell you."

"Toshie, you sound so anxious," her mother said, worry coloring her voice. "What's wrong?"

Toshie let out a nervous little giggle. "Nothing's wrong, Mom-"

"Then what is it?" her mother broke in. "You're not acting at all like yourself."

***

"Well, that was pretty darn good," Toshie commented as they headed out to the car. "Who knew I could have both a chocolate chip waffle and a pork chop on my plate at the same time and it would be perfectly normal?"

Yamcha laughed. "Yes, I do love brunch," he told her. "Plus, I can eat as much as I want for one price."

"Oh, gods. They probably cringe when they see you," Toshie teased as he opened the car door for her. "You sound like an advertisement, by the way."

Yamcha snorted. "If you think I eat a lot, just wait until you see Goku tonight. He eats just as much if not more than Vegeta does," he informed her. "I do feel obligated to warn you, however, that Goku is, well, a bit of a slob."

"A slob?"

"Yeah." Yamcha pulled the car out of the parking lot. "Okay, he's not a bit of a slob. He is easily the messiest eater I have ever seen. His table manners are so disgusting that I would guess that in actuality he probably doesn't ingest any more than Vegeta does, because while Vegeta does eat quickly, at least he has good enough table manners that he gets all of the food in his mouth."

Toshie could see a little glimmer of amusement in his eyes. "Oh, no. I'm not falling for another one of your lies," she retorted stubbornly.

"They're not lies!" Yamcha objected, pretending to act hurt. "They're stories. Fun stories."

"Hmph." Toshie crossed her arms. "Stories. Let me guess. If we were driving through some farm land, you're the guy who would tell me that any rolled bales of hay we see were illegal, and when I ask why, you'd tell me that the cows weren't getting a square meal. Am I right?"

Yamcha was laughing so hard that he was practically hyperventilating. "I love that one! I managed to pull that one over on little Ms. Genius herself once. Boy was she mad!"

Toshie giggled. "I'll bet she was," she agreed, easily imagining a red-faced and angry Bulma screeching in rage after having been had by such a lame joke.

Yamcha wiped at his face with the back of his hand. "Yeah... she's a fun one to get the upper hand on, because it doesn't happen often." He merged onto the expressway.

"Where are we going?" Toshie asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe we could walk along the pier, although it's a little cold for that. Or we could hit the mall. Maybe see a movie while we're there," he suggested. "There's a lot to do during the summer, but unfortunately not so in this area when it's cold out."

"That's okay," Toshie assured him. "I'm sure we'll have fun no matter what we do."

A warm feeling welled up inside Yamcha's chest. She didn't care where they went or what they did. She was simply content to spend time with him.

She was perfect.

"Okay. Want to do something wild and crazy?" Yamcha suggested.

Toshie giggled. "Sure! What did you have in mind?"

Should he do it? What if he was totally off base? He didn't want to ruin what wasn't even started yet. But... he'd gotten so many positive vibes from her. She hadn't objected in the slightest when he'd kissed her the night before; in fact, she'd encouraged it by wrapping her arms around his neck. A girl like Toshie didn't go around kissing just anyone. She was a special girl, one that he knew he had to act soon with if he meant to. After all, there was no reason that he'd see her again after tomorrow. Tomorrow was approaching far too rapidly.

Yamcha gathered up his courage. Wild and crazy... "We could go mountain climbing, or rent a helicopter, or wake up a hibernating dinosaur... or..."

"Yamcha?" Toshie smiled inquisitively at him. "What's really on your mind?"

Yamcha gripped the steering wheel tightly and stared straight ahead. It was now or never. "We could get married."