Again, a big thanks to all you lovely folks for reviewing! No more back flips today.... oi... broke my back last time... and since it seems like italics doesn't show up here, I will have to use something else to denote those.

~ denotes thoughts

/ / denotes italicized words or sentences.

CHAPTER THREE:

"I think we need to set some ground rules here. Don't you think?"

Vegeta stared at the taller boy with irritation. ~ He is about my age and here he is talking to me like I am in kindergarten or something. Just because of some stupid ranking. ~ Snorting, he sat up and returned the icy glare from Kakkarrot with a non-committal look.

Short of exploding in anger, Kakkarrot decided to talk to the smaller boy in a mature manner. It wouldn't do for him to lose his temper on the first day. Sitting himself on his own bed, which was across from the other. He leaned forward and began speaking in as calm a voice as he could manage,

"For starters, I am to be addressed as either Sir, or Lieutenant. Is that clear?" Not waiting for a reply, since he was sure none was forthcoming, he continued. "Secondly, I am very picky about the people I share a certain amount of space with. Obviously you have a very nasty attitude, which is something that I do not tolerate. Hopefully, you have better personal hygiene basics than my last roommate, and since you are on my squad, I expect you to be on your toes at all times. I hate, repeat HATE, people who try to mess up everyone else's routine, just because they can't get their lousy asses in gear!"

By this time, he had gotten off the bed and was now pacing up and down the spartan room, reeling off instructions a mile a minute. Vegeta tried to keep up with all the rules and what-not from his commanding officer, but he was failing miserably at it. He had had a long day and all he wanted to do was shut his eyes and go to sleep. But Lieutenant-boy here wasn't going to make it any easier for him. Feeling his eyes droop in sleep, he shook his head and tried to keep them open again.

~ Don't know how long I can keep this up�... ~

"Oh and another thing! I insist you keep yourself tidy at all times! Do I make myself clear?!!"

Silence.

Spinning away from his position at the window, Kakkarrot nearly blew a blood vessel as he saw the dozing boy passed out on the bed.

~ Grrrrrr... Deep breaths, Kakkarrot. Deep breaths. ~

Calming himself down, he made up his mind that he would let the boy sleep for now, but once it was time for the nitty gritty, there would be no mercy. Slipping out of the room quietly, he headed towards the cafeteria.

~*~*~*~*~

"He what?!" Gohan asked in surprise, as he stared at Kakkarrot over their lunches.

"He fucking fell asleep on me!" He replied, scowling as his two friends began snickering in amusement. "Yeah... well laugh all you want. At least I don't make my entire squad go into a slumber party."

Gohan burst out laughing as the smile on Trunks' face was replaced with a pout and a frown.

"Yeah... well at least I didn't get dumped twice in a row!" Trunks spat out, forcefully digging his fork into his mashed potatoes and chewing with a vengeance as Kakkarrot and Gohan went into fits of laughter.

It was lunchtime and the cafeteria was beginning to fill up with senior officers and some junior recruits. Today's menu, Chicken and veggies with a side order of mashed potatoes, which by the way, Trunks loved to death. The three boys always sat together whenever they had a chance to eat at the same time, and it was always something they looked forward to. Except for the few intrusions, like right now.

"Whoa! Lookie here, Jason. It's the pretty boys convention. May we join, pweeeeease?!!"

The three boys gripped their eating utensils tighter and kept their faces in as neutral a stare as possible, ignoring the snickers and laughter from the older men. Kakkarrot felt like bashing someone's face in. He hated it whenever the older officers began picking on them. Even though he was higher ranked than some of them, they never failed to put him in his place. Chugging his drink in a gulp, he hissed through clenched teeth to the others.

"I am going back to my squad. I have a meeting with them in a few minutes. See you guys later."

Receiving nods in return, Kakkarrot got up to leave the table when he was suddenly tripped. Landing with a painful thud on his face, he felt his whole body go hot with embarrassment and anger at the spatter of laughter that floated out to him.

"Looks like Lt. Kakkabrat has a case of bad footies!!"

Picking himself up, he dusted off the food in deliberate gestures and then slowly picked up his tray. He was supposed to be used to this stuff by now, but it was always the same. The humiliation, especially in front of the new recruits. A burly shadow blocked his path as he raised his eyes to stare at his tormentor. Second Lieutenant Asuza was always out for him, since the day he set foot into the Home. He had even more cause to be upset with Kakkarrot because of his ranking; after all he was older than the bastard and had been in here much longer.

"Going somewhere, Lieutenant?" Asuza asked, sneering in derision.

"I have a meeting with my squad..."

"I don't give a fuck what meeting you have or do not have! You and I have a score to settle, Lieutenant. Remember?" He continued, sticking his face closer to the younger man's.

Oh, he remembered all right. Kakkarrot had caught Asuza and his cronies spray painting the General's new car and being the good citizen he was, he had reported the incident, resulting in Asuza's temporary suspension and withdrawal of his promotion.

"You have a new recruit, right?" Asuza said, a sly grin crossing his face.

"Yeah�... "Kakkarrot began, feeling his heart sink at the imminent request.

"I don't have to tell you what to do. See you later, Kakkabrat!" He howled in grim laughter, slapping a hand across the tense shoulders.

~ Shit! Please forgive me, Vegeta, for what I am about to do. ~

It couldn't be helped. Private Vegeta was about to be welcomed to the Home in the rudest way possible, and Kakkarrot was powerless to stop it.

~*~*~*~*~



"Oh, yes, just like that... " Vegeta moaned softly as he felt himself being stroked with gentle, yet eager strokes. He groaned as soft, warm lips traced a delicious path down his throat. "Oh... yes... harder, please!" He arched his back off the warm grass, as sudden bright rays of sunlight hit his face. It was blinding. Trying to wade off the lights he tried to reclaim back the warmth, when a sudden,

"GET THE FUCK OFF THE BED, YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!!" was heard.

Vegeta felt himself being yanked off the bed and he landed with a painful thud to the floor. Opening his eyes, he saw two completely black-clad figures with flashlights looking at him with faint amusement. Feeling his face heat up with embarrassment, he wondered how much of his dreams they had heard.

"Get a move on, Junior!! Let's go!!" Before he could think, he felt himself being blindfolded and his hands tied up in twine before being led out of the room.

"Goddammit! Could you guys take it easy?!!" he complained as he was roughly pushed and shoved. Snickers were his only replies as he felt the coolness of the night airbrush against his body. "Hey!! Where are you taking me to?!" He shouted in growing panic and confusion. He knew all about initiation rites and what-not that took place in colleges, but he wasn't really sure about this place. He grunted with pain as he tripped over a stone or rock-like object. They seemed to be walking through a forest of some sort. He could feel the crunch of the dead, fall leaves beneath his feet and he felt the light slaps of twigs from trees hit his face. He could smell something burning too, probably a fire.

~ Oh no! Please don't let them burn something or me! ~

Finally, they reached their destination and the blindfold was taken off his eyes as he was pushed to the ground in a kneeling position. Blinking rapidly to get himself adjusted to the light, he saw that he was in a small opening in an obvious woodland area. A bonfire graced the middle of the opening as he spied several other people tied up and in kneeling positions like himself around the fire. Surrounding the kneeling boys were a ring of black-clad figures with only openings for eyes to show through. Feeling a nervous flutter of fear at the pit of his stomach he noticed that the figures all had wicked-looking knives in their possessions. Swallowing tightly, he watched as the obvious leader of the group stepped out of the ring and suddenly announced in a loud booming voice,

"In the custom and tradition of the Home, you are about to take part in the initiation rites! If you do not survive this, you will not be allowed to make it through the night! Your stay in the Home will be a painful one! Untie them!"

Vegeta released a grateful sigh, as his hands were untied. Rubbing his chaffed wrists in slow motions he tried to take a quick look at his surroundings. Many of the other new recruits were pretty much in a state of fear, themselves. They already had the dazed looks on their faces and Vegeta snorted inwardly at them, reminding himself that he would not let these bakas get to him.

"Begin initiation. Strip off all items of clothing!!"

For a moment, none of the boys moved as the words sunk in slowly. Strip? How could they strip?! It was freezing cold and...

"Do you morons need earphones?!! I said... 'STRIP!!'"

With shaking fingers and jerky movements the boys began to remove their clothes, glancing in fear at the glares they received from the intimidating figures. Vegeta felt the bite of the cold sink into his skin as he removed his shirt. They had been given new uniform sets as they had made their way into the building earlier in the day; so most of them were dressed in their army fatigues and boots. Removing those slowly, he realized that he was the only one still left and everyone was staring at him with impatience. Giving a small apologetic smile, he began to strip even faster, till he was standing completely and totally nude. He tried hard not to shiver as a gust of wind passed through making all the naked boys whimper at their loss of clothing.

"Alright, you miserable lowlifes! Look ahead of you, to your right! There is an obstacle course about ten miles in length. There will be climbing, running, dodging, and you will wade through muck, my friends! If you survive, your reward awaits you at the end of the race! If you fall or stumble, you will start all over again, no matter where your current position is, do you understand?!"

"SIR, YES, SIR!"

"Good!! Recruits ready?! Set!! Go!!"

Vegeta, who wanted to get this over and done with, set off at break-neck speed. This was the survival of the fittest and he had no time to waste with nice or fair play. Shoving the other recruits out of his way, he began running towards the obstacle course. For the next two hours, he would climb ropes; scale over rope fences, brick walls; slush through muddy waters; crawl under low traps and climb up, only to slide down through a mountain of mud. He was beginning to hitch in painful gasps of air now and it didn't help that they weren't allowed to take breathers. He watched as some of the other boys either collapsed with exhaustion or were kicked back up by the officers and yelled at for being such wimps or crybabies. Gritting his teeth in determination, he began climbing up yet another rope bridge. Leaning against the thick ropes for a little rest, he howled in pain as he felt the whip hit his back.

"Who said you could have a rest? Move it!!"

He began moving back up again, reaching the top and then falling down to the other side. Picking himself back up quickly, he half stumbled, half ran towards the finish line. As far as he could see, he had only one more mud stream to pass through. Getting to the murky depths, he began wading into the brown waters, trying to catch in fistfuls of air. His lungs were at bursting point, his muscles ached and his back was still hurting from the lashes he had received. He stumbled and gagged as he felt the dirty water slip into his mouth. Spitting it out, he got back up and forced himself to move forward. He was beginning to feel faint. He wasn't sure he could make it to the other end.

~ I HAVE TO!! I CAN'T LET THEM GET TO ME! ~

He could see the line of officers waiting for him. He tried to see if there were any other recruits with him. It seemed that he was the only one for the moment, until he saw another figure wade past him.

~ What the...? ~

Clenching his teeth, he began to push himself even faster, although all his muscles protested the extra strain. He couldn't let the newcomer beat him. They were now neck and neck and he could hear some of the officers at the end of the bank cheer them on.

With a final shove, Vegeta dove onto the shore, beating the other boy by a hand's length. Collapsing onto the shore in relief and exhaustion, he sucked in gusts of air as his body trembled violently with pain. Coughing out the excess murk he had swallowed, he barely registered the congratulations that were thrown his way. Managing only a small smile, Vegeta passed out, content that he had at least won his first challenge.





Eep! Didn't mean to put poor Veggie through all that, but don't worry, it gets better! Don't forget to leave a review ^-^. Thanks!