Bundled in a blanket, Okashi slept heavily. Despite the wind that threatened to tear her hair off. Juunana and Juuhachi flew at medium speeds; Juunana to keep Okashi warm, Juuhachi to match her brother. Glancing over at Juunana, Juuhachi noticed the uncertainty on his face. He's wondering if he made the right decision.. impregnating that saiyajin.. Juuhachi thought.
Crossing her arms, Juuhachi pulled off an indifferent look. "You know, you should've just taken the baby. What were you trying to prove by making that deal?" She said, turning sideways to look Juunana in the eye. "Don't worry about it. I have a plan." Juunana replied, turning his gaze from Juuhachi. "What plan? Saiyajin get stronger, we don't. One day he may be powerful enough to destroy us. You know this."
Juunana sighed. He didn't feel like explaining, but as obvious as it was to any blind person, he had to. "Okashi will form a bond between myself and Gohan. Soon he will come to love me, and will not want to harm me, or anything close to me. Reverse psychology, I like to think." Juuhachi at first had nothing else to say. Then it came to her. "When did you start calling him 'Gohan'?"
Juunana was caught slightly off-guard by the question, but answered anyway. "He told me his name today. I'll still call him blondie though. Let's call it a 'pet' name." Juuhachi shrugged at that, and sped up a little.
Gohan sniffled slightly. He was feeling dark, moody and sentimental. Trunks saw his master's unhappiness, and unease. He'd have to do something about that. "Don't worry, Gohan-san. Okashi will be back." Trunks tried to sound cheerful. His neck was still in pain from where Juuhachi had him in a choke-hold. "How do I know to trust him, Trunks? How do I know?" Gohan replied.
"Gohan-san.." Trunks whispered. "..Thinking bad thoughts doesn't help you recover any faster. You'll have to trust him, even if he isn't exactly a trustworthy character." Ruffling Trunks' hair, Gohan smiled, despite his misery. The boy's intentions were good, and Gohan was happy for that.
"Thanks Trunks. Don't know what I'd do without you, you know?" Gohan's smile widened as he saw the effects of his word. Trunks had blushed lightly, and a smile lit his face. "Get better, Gohan-san. In the meanwhile, I'll go see what mom has cooking..." Trunks said, hugging Gohan before running out of the room.
Walking into the little house they lived in, Juuhachi huffed. She just knew that the plan her brother had concocted would backfire. Unless he took the time to improve upon it. Which was as unlikely as a snowball finding a cold spot in hell. Juuhachi watched in silence as Juunana set the sleeping Okashi onto a chair.
Feeling her surroundings change, Okashi blinked. Okashi didn't recognize the place, and it smelled different. Okashi found it strange, and didn't like it much. And she intended to make everyone aware of it too. As soon as Juunana turned around to unpack the bag, Okashi let loose a loud, ear-piercing wail.
Wincing, Juuhachi covered her ears. "Make he be quiet, damn it!" she tried to say over Okashi's voice. If there was anything to be said, it would be that Okashi had one good set of lungs. Juunana turned around quickly, scooping up Okashi to rock her. "It's okay.. it's okay.." Juunana cooed, in a voice not like his own.
Okashi's cheeks were turning pink from wailing, and her voice was getting louder by the millisecond. Juunana growled. This was not going well. Juunana tried everything he knew of the quiet Okashi. Rocking her, bouncing her, even singing to her didn't work. Juuhachi finally got sick of Juunana's attempts and stuck her arms out. "Hand her to me." Juuhachi said.
Juunana was frustrated beyond belief, and readily handed Okashi to her. Juuhachi cradled Okashi in her arm, glaring down at her. For a minute, Okashi kept screaming. Then she looked directly into Juuhachi eyes. Staring into her eyes, Okashi quieted down. Juunana saw this and uncharacteristically dropped into a dead faint. Juuhachi just looked down.
Part Five |
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