Chapter 10

August 5th

I tied the yellow string of my swimsuit top around the back of my neck. Fastening it as tightly as I had the one behind my back. I was currently sporting a triangle bikini top, matching bottoms, and a white semi-sheer sarong.

A minimal amount of cosmetics was applied, seeing as we were more than likely going to be getting wet. Though, I still wanted to look as appealing as possible. I had gotten the okay from Bulma to go out today, after she found a sit-in nanny for Trunks as I went off for the day for my date.

My date, with that oh so masculine Saiyan. A friend date, yes, but a date none the less!

After assessing myself in the mirror and tying my hair up into a high ponytail, I made my way out of my restroom, out of the bedroom, and finally down the stairs towards the front door to await my companion. After jumping over the final step, I landed with a soft thud, and walked across the carpeted floor. I slipped on my sandals that awaited me at the front door, using the wall as a balancing mechanism as I adjusted the straps across my ankles. As I leaned forward, one palm on the eggshell wall, I could hear a deep mumbling sounds. I quickly looked up and around, to spy where it came from.

No one was around.

I moved closer towards the front door, and looked out of the peep hole to see if there were people outside, and indeed there were. Not visitors, per se, but people standing outside the door and talking. Specifically, Goku and Vegeta. Curious.

Vegeta was wagging a gloved finger at Goku, whom was standing rather carelessly in front of him, half-listening to his scolding with both arms casually behind his head. I couldn't hear very well with looking, so I stood down, and placed my ear against the door. I was quite the eavesdropper as of late.

"... and you still aren't listening are you?"

I knew who was speaking then, though muffled. The deep and scratchy voice of Vegeta.

Goku didn't reply. If he did, I definitely didn't hear him at all. Vegeta continued,

"Damn it... warning you... a fool."

Finally Goku's spoke up loud enough for me to hear, "But... don't understand... stay away from her."

Then one more reply from Vegeta, "... Harvest moon ... warn you."

I huffed at the fact I could barely pick up more than a couple of words at a time. So I quit straining to listen, and pulled back from the door, twisting on the handle to reveal myself to them. They both paused in their conversation as I opened it and stood before them. Both of them staring at me.

"Ahem?" I cleared my throat, frowning at Vegeta, and crossing my arms over my chest. He eyed me, returning my frown before turning away from Goku and I. "Heed my words, Kakarot. Or you'll regret it, I promise you that."

With that, Vegeta started to walk off towards his training dome in a quick pace, leaving the two of us behind. I glanced at Goku incredulously. "What was that about?"

He shrugged, smiling innocently. "Just Vegeta being Vegeta." Again, I rolled my eyes. What was that supposed to mean?

"Anyways! Are you ready to go to the beach?"

I nodded in reply, "Of course! I've been waiting all week. Let's go."

He extended his elbow out towards me, and I graciously accepted it. With a flash, we disappeared from our spot on the front step and off towards our destination, where 18 and Krillin were awaiting us.

In an instant, we were materialized in front of the two. I felt my stomach turn slightly. I was in no way about to become used to instant transmission any time soon. I gulped, trying to keep the food that was in my stomach from coming up.

"Hey guys!" Krillin shouted, sitting up from his lying down position on the sand.

"Hey Krillin, hey 18!" Goku chirped up, and I waved at the two. 18 smiled, nodding towards us, before replacing her sunglasses over her eyes and relaxing underneath the bright sun on her dark purple beach towel.

"Umm.. Xue.. you don't look so good.." Krillin admitted, after noting the light green color adorning my face. Goku looked down at me at his comment. "Oh. I forgot you're not used to traveling like that. Maybe we should have flown."

"I'll.. I'll be okay. I just need to sit down." What a perfect start to our date.

Goku reached into the duffel bag he had brought with us, and pulled out large green beach towel. He laid it out in the sand, and we both took a seat upon it. Me much more ungracefully than him, seeing as I was in a hurry to get off of my shaking legs. I sighed as I was able to sit down, drawing in a much needed breath of fresh air. I was starting to feel better already.

"Feeling better?" Goku asked, rubbing the top of my back. I sighed, "Yeah, I am. Sorry about that."

"No need to apologize."

Goku promptly stood up from his spot, taking off the black wife-beater he had worn, which matched his black swim trunks. He flung it over his head and into the spot he was sitting. Turning back to face the small trio, he placed his fists onto his hips, smiling. "So, who wants to go swim?!"

Nobody answered.

His body. Oh fuck, his body was so perfect I wanted to die. Pardon me, time and space. I had to take a moment for myself to shamelessly eye-hump him.

"Uh, Goku? When did you start training so hard?" Krillin spoke up, standing up slowly in front of his friend. Goku peered down at the vertically challenged man. Tilting his head the side, "Whaddaya mean? I've only started training again with Vegeta a few days ago."

18 threw a small seashell, clocking me in the side of the head. I snapped out of it, glancing towards her. She shook her head with a smirk, before repositioning herself to relax in the sun. "Krillin's right." I managed to say, lifting myself off the towel and standing with the guys. "You look a lot more... muscular, than when I first saw you." And it was true.

Goku hadn't been doing much at the house besides eating, sleeping, and a minute sulking. He really didn't seem to be working out enough to gain the mass that he had considerably acquired. Speaking of, thinking back on Vegeta this morning, he was looking rather ripped as well. Though he had reason, with his constant training.

Goku shrugged, "Iunno. Does it matter?" Krillin and I glanced at one another before shrugging to ourselves. "I guess not." I said.

"Well, come on, let's hurry up and go swimming!" Goku yelled, before running off into the water, Krillin following after. I looked back at 18, who seemed to have not a care in the world. "You coming?" I asked.

"Please. I'd rather soak up some sun than frolick in the water like a child."

With that, I too fled towards the ocean.

We indeed frolicked like immature children in the water. Splash fighting, playing who can hold Goku under the water the longest, and just tackling one another. Well.. mostly it was Krillin and I trying to take down Goku. Two of us were no where near close enough of a match for him, obviously. But it was still fun to try.

By the time we were done playing and made our way back ashore, the sun was still brightly shining. Even though it was already trying to set on the horizon.

Currently, we were all in our respective spots on our towels. 18 seemed to have been asleep, Goku and Krillin were catching up on old times, and I was texting Videl, leaning against Goku's shoulder with his arm loosely resting around my waist. Videl was non-stop texting me some weird language apparently Gohan had been teaching her. She claimed it was Saiyan, but as far as I knew the language was lost to everyone but Vegeta.

Though I suppose it was possible that Gohan could have learned from him when he was younger?

"Goku, do you know what this means?" I asked, showing him the front screen of my touch phone. He paused his conversation with Krillin to glance at it, tilting his head to the side.

"Oruko mi ni Videl... ? I don't know, Xue." He replied laughing. "What language is that supposed to be?"

"Videl says it's Saiyan, but how could she even learn it?"

"You know, back when Mirai Trunks was here, he gave a book about Saiyans to Gohan. I guess the Vegeta in his time gave it to him."

"Ahhh, that makes more sense.. I guess."

With that, he turned back to talk to Krillin, and I continued my conversation with Videl.

'Can you teach me?' I text her, and then sat my phone down aside me as I waited for her reply.

I listened to the guys' converation in the mean time.

"So you're doing a lot better, huh?" Krillin asked him, smiling as he held hands with his.. wife? I assumed his wife. Goku grinned, "Sure am. I'm doing a lot better than I thought I would, y'know? Living at Bulma's been helping a lot."

Krillin nudged him with his elbow, grinning slyly. "Sure helps to have a pretty lookin' girl around to .. OW!" He immediately shrieked, trying to yank his hand from 18's tightening grip. I couldn't help but giggle. They were a funny couple for sure. A blonde bombshell, and an extremely short Buddhist. Go figure.

Goku glanced back at me, smiling, replying to his best friend,

"Actually, she has been a big help."

I smiled up at him, unaware of the stranger bending down next to me. That was until they kicked up a big pile of sand into my face as he started running. I coughed, turning around angrily to look down and noticed that my goddamned phone was gone.

"Hey! He stole my phone, stop him!" I yelled as I moved to my knees, standing up and going after him. Of course the bystanders merely watched us in curiosity, but no one doing anything to stop him. Not swinging at him, tripping him, or anything. What useless assholes! I had only started to trail him for a mere three seconds, before Goku materialized in front of him.

I slid to a stop in the sand as the would-be thief collided into Goku's massive chest. The blonde haired man glanced up at him, taking in his size, before trying to quickly dodge to the side, only to have his arm grabbed by the aforementioned Saiyan.

"I think you have something that doesn't belong to you," Goku stated calmly, squeezing the man's arm until he dropped the phone onto the ground.

"I-I'm sorry, man! Let me go! Fuckin' let me go, damnit!" The man yelled trying to wrench out of his grasp. Goku frowned, squeezing harder. "Don't apologize to me, apologize to her."

The stranger turned to look at me over his shoulder, eyes welling with tears from the pain. "Tell him to let me go. Fuck!"

He kept pulling, and Goku seemed to be growing more and more frustrated when the man wouldn't heed to his command.

"Goku it's okay, let him go," I said calmly, walking forward.

"No. He needs to apologize." He stated harshly, making me stop in my tracks.

With a sickening snap, the man's forearm cracked, twisting back in an awkward position. Bone clearly broken and poking into his skin in a very unnatural angle. Threatening to pierce the thin layer of epidermis and expose itself for all to see.

The man shrieked, before he stopped moving entirely. Probably passed out from the pain as his struggling ceased. Goku continued to shake him by the arm. The rubbing of bones under collapsed veins producing a disgusting and stomach churning squelching noise. Possibly he was unaware that thief had fainted. "I said, apologize!"

"Goku, stop it!" I demanded, scooping up my phone and trying my hardest not to look at the broken limb in his grasp.

Goku's eyes flashed towards me, before he let the man drop in a heap on the ground. On lookers stared at us in horror, backing away from us. A little kid crying at the scene.

"Sorry," His frustrated appearance turned happy once more, a wide smile on his face. "Your phone okay?"

I huffed, looking down at the mobile contraption in my hand, swiping across the screen to make sure it indeed held no damages. "It's fine."

I moved away from him and walked back over to Krilin, who was now watching us approach him with a sickening look on his face.

"What the hell, Goku!?" He said to his friend whom only shrugged in response.

"What?"

"What is wrong with you?"

18 stood from her towel and appeared to be packing it into a small picnic basket. Yanking Krillin's from underneath him, and making him face plant into the ground before he could receive a reply from Goku.

"It's late. We should be going home now, Krillin."

"Huh? Wait, I was talking -" 18 promptly grabbed him by the ear, yanking him towards her. "I said let's go."

Krillin grumbled as he was released, grabbing the set of car keys that 18 held towards him. He held them tightly in his hands. With a sigh, he turned back around to look at us. "I.. We'll see you guys later." With that, he turned around, following his spouse.

"Of course, see ya next time!" Goku announced, waving to his friends as they walked away.

"Are you okay to use transmission?" He finally asked me, looking down at my face. I nodded. The image of the man's mutilated arm still in my mind. "Um, sure."

Goku's arm traveled towards me, his hand lacing gently with my fingers. I flinched slightly in surprise. And in a split second, we were back on Capsule Corp. property, standing close to the training dome.

"Ugh... okay, maybe I wasn't ready." I joked, though truly feeling a bit queasy. Goku grinned, giving my hand a squeeze before releasing it. "It just takes some getting used to, don't worry about it."

"Why did you do that?" I spoke up, staring up at the ridiculously tall man that stood before me. He looked at me in question, so I continued.

"Why did you hurt that man? All he did was take my stupid phone.."

Instead of giving me typical Goku-esque answer that I was expecting. Like 'I'm sorry, I don't know my own strength' or 'It was a mistake, I shouldn't have done that', he merely rolled his neck around, stretching his thick muscles before he replied,

"Because he deserved it."

My eyes widened at his cold answer. I blinked a couple of times before I could speak up again. "Deserved it? It's not like he hurt me, you shouldn't have done something like that!"

Goku shrugged nonchalantly, not saying anything.

"That's not you at all, Goku. That's something that..." I trailed off, and he gave me that frustrated look again.

"Something that Vegeta would do? Is that what you were gonna say?"

"I.. well.. yeah but.. Hey! Why are you trying to turn this around on me!?"

His frown deepened about. He took a step towards me and I took one back.

"Because he's who you've been messing with. I know it."

"WHAT?!" What the hell did he just say?!

"When you opened your door, your room smelled just like Vegeta. I could smell him on your wrist where he touched you." Another step towards me, and another one I took back.

"Goku, stop it. I -..." I couldn't think of anything to say to his testament. And in a flash, his face turned bright and cheerful again.

"Xue, it's okay, really. He's in the past, and I'm in your present now. Haha!"

Gods, he was so hot and cold lately. Completely out of character to the Goku I had heard stories of.

"Are you feeling alright?" I asked, leaning forward and placing my palm on his forehead. Perhaps he was sick. Very, very sick.

He shook his head in protest, giving me a genuine smile that relaxed me a bit. "No, Xue. I'm fine. I just want you to know that, I don't care about whatever happened between you guys. Just like you don't care about what happened between me and Chichi. It's all in the past."

"I.. I guess?"

What else was I supposed to say? He was right, but he was giving me some very strange vibes just a moment ago.

"So, did you have fun with me today?"

I nodded, smiling a very small smile, and exhaling a breath I didn't know I was holding. Maybe I was just overreacting to the situation. I just needed to relax. "I had a lot of fun. I'm glad we went out today."

"So do I get a kiss?"

I blushed, trying to hide the eagerness on my face and slow my heart that was starting to speed up. "Goku, I don't kiss on the first date!"

He grinned childishly, "But I do."

He leaned down quickly, catching my lips in a short, dry kiss. Short as it was, it felt like tidal waves were washing over me, fireworks exploding in my chest, and my whole body was as light as air.

He pulled back, and the feeling was gone. I was left swooning, barely able to stand.

"Whoa."

That was all I was able to say, causing Goku to be the one blushing now, rubbing the back of his head. "Heh. Well.. I'm going to go train alright? I'll catch you tomorrow."

"Oh.. kay... yeah. See you tomorrow." I announced dreamily, still swaying ever so slightly. He laughed, before walking past me and up the ramp. The mechanical door slid open as he approached and he walked inside, naught but my eyes trailing after him. I could hear the door slide shut once he had entered.

My gaze remained held on the dome, glancing it over. Okay, we just kissed, right? He just kissed me!

I was about to leap for joy, cheesily. Maybe even click my heels together if I could get enough height, until I noticed something in one of the small circular windows of the dome. Something that stood out obviously like a black flame.

Vegeta was staring out, with a look on his face that I'd seen many times before.

Anger.

TBC

A/N: Before the flames, I gotta remind everyone: This is a darkfic. Keep that in mind as the story progresses, because it's only going to get gorey-er, more violent, and fucked up from here. :D But there will still be romance. Dun worry.

Hope you enjoyed. I'm on a roll with this story!
(Btw: the language I'm using for 'Saiyan' is Yoruba. A very cool tribal sounding language spoken in Nigeria.)