Chapter 017

Goku inched her way closer to the gravity room. She had no idea why, but it felt as if there were tons of butterflies fluttering around in the pit of her stomach. It was making her feel queasy, and it was starting to make her have second thoughts on if she should ask to train with Vegeta. Slowly she reached for the door handle, and turned it. She gulped nervously, and pushed the door open.

"Hey Vegeta," greeted Goku.

At the sound of Goku's voice ringing in his ears, Vegeta's right eye twitched. He casually picked up a towel, and wrapped it around his sweat-drenched neck. He turned around, and crossed his arms.

A burst of unexpected pain blanketed his whole being as his eyes laid their attention upon Goku. Nothing was different about her, she was just standing there in front of the gravity room's door with her usual goofy smile plastered on her face.

Goku crossed her arms, and frowned playfully at Vegeta, "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.

There is absolutely no way she's forgotten about last night already? How..? I know Kakarrot's a bit slow when it comes to brains, but that still doesn't give her an excuse to forget what happened between us so easily. Could it be possible that she is actually trying to forget about it? thought Vegeta with a small frown etching across his face.

Goku stood there gazing at him. He wasn't answering her at all. He was just frowning upon her. He's still mad at me because of what happened last night, isn't he? she thought to herself, her smile vanishing.

Suddenly, her butterflies became much worse, and she felt extremely unsure of herself. She was pondering whether she should still ask to train with him or not, but then she would have no reason for having barged in on him like this.

"What do you want?" spat Vegeta, breaking the silence.

"I-I was just wondering if you would like to train with me?" sputtered out Goku.

What? thought Vegeta in astoundment, She's never asked to train with me before. I thought she knew I don't ever train with anyone except myself.

After another agonizing moment of silence, Goku looked down at her toes in embarrassment. Why did I even bother? she asked herself.

Goku turned around, and began walking toward the door, muttering, "I understand, Vegeta. I guess you don't want to train with me after all. I'm sorry to have barged in on you like that."

Vegeta's frown deepened even more so. Watching Goku look so sad and disappointed was pitiful. He thought that it was nearly impossible to wipe that grin off of her face. Now that he saw it wasn't, it felt as if his heart had been torn out, especially since he knew it was due to his actions.

"Wait," called out Vegeta, "You can train with me. I guess it is better than nothing."

Goku stopped dead in her tracks as if it were a command. She turned around facing Vegeta with a great feeling of relief. Her frown was wiped straight off of her face in an instant, with a bright smile shining out in its wake.

"Well, are you just going to stand there, grinning like an idiot, or are you going to fight me?" questioned Vegeta, smirking with pleasure.

Goku mimicked his smirk, and launched off toward him. Goku immediately threw a right hook to Vegeta's face, but Vegeta caught it with ease. Vegeta countered by bringing up his right knee, and jamming it into Goku's stomach. Goku recoiled backward, but caught herself abruptly, and threw a speedy barrage of kicks, and punches at Vegeta.

Vegeta taunted Goku by laughing at her. None of the kicks, and punches were landing. If they even got relatively close, Vegeta would knock away Goku's limb with ease.

"You know, now that I think about it, I might have been better off training by myself," mocked Vegeta.

Goku let out a low feminine growl, and punched faster and harder than before, but it was still not enough.

Vegeta continued to dodge her for a while more, thinking that maybe she would be able to dish out more if she were enraged. His theory was starting to be proven wrong.

"You're weak!" spat Vegeta, the minute he lost his patience.

He backed up his words by immediately punching Goku hard in the face, and knocking her into a wall.

"I am not weak!" growled Goku angrily as she pushed herself off the wall, redirecting herself toward Vegeta again.

"Prove it!" shouted Vegeta, "You're boring me!"

Goku threw more punches and kicks at him. Still, Vegeta dodged with ease, and cackled at her weakness in enjoyment. She backed away from him, and threw multiple ki blasts in his direction. She was certain at least a couple would hit their target. She waited impatiently for the smoke of the ki blasts to clear up. Before they cleared up completely she caught sight of Vegeta launching toward her.

He was too fast for her to dodge, and had too much power for her to block. He thrust his arm out at her, faster than she could follow, the force of the blow hurtling her toward a wall, and actually denting the extremely dense material it was made out of.

"Not fun, is it?" questioned Vegeta with a scowl plastered in his face.

"What isn't fun?" replied Goku half-heartedly, still focusing 99.9 percent of her attention on pounding Vegeta into the ground.

Goku's eyes widened in surprise as Vegeta's form disappeared into an after-image. Where'd he go? her mind screamed desperately, as she frantically searched for his ki signal.

Suddenly, she was grabbed from behind. She tried to rip her arms away from her attacker, but they were locked in with his own. She tried to kick Vegeta off of her, but to no avail, she wasn't even abrazing the surface of his skin.

"Being weak, weaker than someone else, constantly aware that you're living in someone else's shadow," answered Vegeta angrily.

"What do you mean Vege—?" began Goku, before Vegeta cut her off.

"You!" Vegeta hissed in her ear maliciously, "No-matter how hard I tried, how long I trained, I could never surpass you! You were always one fucking step ahead of me!" shouted Vegeta, tightening his grip on Goku.

"Vegeta, I never knew you felt so strongly about that," muttered Goku solemnly, her ribs aching in pain from his strong grip.

Vegeta realized that he was being too rough with her. He sighed, letting go of Goku. He silently floated down to the ground, turned his back on her piercing eyes, and began walking toward the door.

"Wait! Vegeta stop!" shouted Goku.

Vegeta froze in place, clenching his fists, trying his hardest to keep his temper from taking control again. Without turning around, "What?" he muttered through clenched teeth.

"Why did you just tell me that?" asked Goku in concern.

"Because, I was curious if knowing that you are weaker than somebody else hurt you too. I already have my answer," explained Vegeta.

"I'm not weaker than you, Vegeta! Come back here, and I'll prove it to you!" demanded Goku, obviously offended.

Vegeta merely laughed, and turned the knob on the door, preparing to leave Goku behind.

Goku clenched her fists angrily and shouted, "Vegeta! Come back here, listen to me!"

Vegeta nodded his head in pity, pushing the door open, and walking out of the room. He paused for a moment, contemplating whether he should tell her what was on his mind. He turned around facing Goku's questioning and hurt expression.

"It's better this way," he muttered to her, "Only one of us can be stronger, Kakarot. You had your turn."

Vegeta frowned as the door closed between them, "I don't want you to fight anymore," he whispered hoarsely.

Goku's mouth opened half-way as if to say something, and then quickly closed. Her hands began to shake, and her legs gave way, causing her to fall to her knees. Goku gazed down at the floor somberly, and shut her eyelids tightly to hold back the tears that threatened to fall.

What does he mean by 'it's better this way'? she thought to herself, How can me being weak be better for me, maybe for him, but not me?

Goku steadied her trembling hands and mused over what he had said. Bulma's right, he's stubborn, and arrogant. He thinks he's so much better that anyone else. He thinks he can always get what he wants! Well, I'll show him! I'll show him that I'm not some weak piece of trash that he can discard the second he surpasses me! I'll show him that he isn't the best, and that with a lot of effort, I can surpass him again, even if it's more difficult in this body! 

I can do this!' I'm not weak… right?

𖦹𖦹𖦹

"I swear, if Goku plans to continue living here, she's going to have to pull her own weight," said Bulma to herself, hanging up Goku's new fighting gis.

She sighed as she finished hanging up the last one, and went to go sit on the edge of Goku's bed. Vegeta you aren't attracted to her, right? thought Bulma in worry, laying down on the bed, and staring up at the ceiling, But then again, I can't really blame him, she is beautiful, but this is Goku we're talking about. Well, I should be thinking about Yamcha, not Vegeta, but still it's hard.

Suddenly, Bulma heard the door to the bedroom creak open. Her eyes trailed from the bottom of the door up to the face of the person standing behind it. It was Goku. Bulma got up to leave the room, but stopped mid-way when she noticed how red, and puffy Goku's face was.

Has she been crying? No, Goku never cries, but then again, she is a girl now, and girl's hormones are sort of unpredictable, thought Bulma. All her thoughts of jealousy, and anger toward Goku left immediately, while pity filled the void.

"Goku, are you okay? You look sort of sad, and out of it. You can talk to me ya' know," stated Bulma.

Goku looked up startled, and backed away a step from Bulma. "Bulma! I didn't see you there!"

"Sorry if I sort of snuck up on you. I was hanging up some of your new clothes. I see you're already wearing a pair of your new gis," pointed out Bulma.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I am, huh?" replied Goku, mustering a small laugh.

"So, are you okay?" asked Bulma.

"Of course I am, Bulma, I'm fine, really!" replied Goku.

"Well, if you say so. Hey, You might want to get into some of the clothes that I bought you," said Bulma.

Goku raised an eyebrow inquisitively and questioned, "Why?"

"Because, it's getting late, that guy… um… darn it, what was his name again? Oh yeah! Koshin. Koshin will be coming to pick you up soon! Remember, you said around 7:00 P.M.," reminded Bulma.

"Oh yeah!" replied Goku, "I completely forgot about that, if he shows up, just say I'll be ready in a few minutes."

"Can do!" said Bulma, taking out some of Goku's clothes from the closet, Hmm… a skirt, and this cute tank-top should do, she thought, handing them to Goku, and leaving the room.

Just as Bulma left the room, the doorbell rang, That must be him! she thought excitedly, glancing down at her watch, And five minutes early too… so much for fashionably late.

Bulma opened up the door, and found a well-dressed handsome young man of about 20 years old staring nervously back at her.

"Um, is Goku home?" he asked.

Bulma looked him up, and down, thinking, A tux, huh? Oh, and roses, how cliche, but cute. Man, Goku, you don't know what you've got yourself into! thought Bulma, accidentally letting out a girlish giggle.

"Yeah, she is, she'll be down in a few," replied Bulma, smiling sweetly.

Oh, this is just too good! she thought.

"You want me to give you a little tip?" suggested Bulma slyly.

"Sure," said Koshin.

"Goku likes it when guys make a move on her first date with them," stated Bulma, trying her hardest to keep a straight face.

"Really?" asked Koshin in utter surprise, "You aren't joking with me, right?"

"No, I'm not joking!" replied Bulma, putting a hand on her hip, and acting offended, "In fact, she actually gets a little bit disappointed when they don't make a move."

Koshin's only reply was an ear to ear smile. Bulma could already tell what he was thinking. Sooner than later, Goku approached the front door, and Bulma exchanged her goodbyes to them both. The second they were gone Bulma began walking toward the kitchen where her mother had already prepared dinner. Vegeta was already seated, and was stuffing himself with tons of food. Bulma made herself a plate of food seated herself also.

Vegeta glanced up from his dinner and asked, "Where's Kakarot, woman?"

Bulma wiped her mouth, a large grin forming underneath the napkin, Let's see if Vegeta wants her now, she thought.

She removed the napkin, and casually stated, "She went out."

"Went out where?" asked Vegeta, intrigued.

"She went out on a date with this really cute guy! She met him the other day when we were shopping together. He works at a martial arts store where Goku buys her fighting gis, " she explained with a strained smile.

Vegeta was completely still. He was just staring blankly at her face. Perhaps the subject of Goku on a date was confusing to him? Was this a 'play date' or a real date?

"Ya' know, Vegeta, it's only natural that Goku is attracted to guys now, since… well, since she's a girl. She was really shy when she met this guy, always blushing whenever he said something to her. They really hit it off right away. Hell, maybe it was love at first sight? Who knows, Goku's a big girl, they might even 'get it on' together tonight," Bulma continued, concluding with a small snicker of amusement. So I lied a little, she thought, It's not that bad. She is really going on a date with the guy and all. 

Vegeta suddenly dropped the fork that had been levitating half-way between his mouth and his plate for the past minute and a half or so. "She what?" he shouted, standing up and knocking his chair backwards. It hit the floor with a loud clunking noise. She did not! She did not choose that pitiful human over me, the Prince of all Saiyans! No, I will not let her embarrass me in this way! I will not let that man have her!