The Birth of an Empire

Chapter 7

"Think you'll be able to make the reunion, Gohan?"

Goku blinked, urging his mind to wake up as his wife's voice broke through his unconsciousness. Reunion…Gohan…back pain…fuck…

Muttering slightly to himself, he focused on his surroundings, noting with a large amount of distaste that he was still in the house, in the city, with his wife. Letting loose a few more cuss words in his mind, Goku closed his eyes again, shifting uncomfortably on the settee.

'Fucking back…fucking couch…'

Grumbling irritably, Goku reflected on the past week. Why the hell wouldn't Vegeta claim him?! Spending every available opportunity together, the beach, going to see a movie…

Goku's lip quirked as he remembered the after effects of seeing a particularly bloody movie. The two Saiya-jins had stumbled out of the cinema, down an alley and round the back where he had spent the next 10 minutes pinned up against a wall with a hot Saiya-jin Prince between his legs…

Mind lingering for a moment, he moved on to his most recent memory with Vegeta. Kitten Bombing. Finding smallish buildings, Vegeta stayed on the street leaning against the wall, ready to catch, while Goku had settled himself on the roof with Carrot. Waiting for innocent pedestrians, Goku then dropped the demonic kitten onto the heads of the unsuspecting passers-by, rolling around laughing at the screams and shouts that reached his ears.

Seconds later, Vegeta would appear on the roof, holding a purring kitten in his arms as he stifled his own laughter. Minutes later, when all fuss had died down, they did the same thing again, Vegeta pretending to be shocked and removing Carrot from the various hairstyles and scalps of the victims each time.

Drifting back a little more, Goku hid his face in the couch and let a large grin take over as memories of Vegeta showing him ALL the uses of a tail washed through his mind …

Getting up abruptly, he rushed off towards the bathroom, leaving Chichi watching from the doorway behind him. After having ordered Goku to stay home for a while instead of disappearing off for the day, she was beginning to notice other changes in her husband's behaviour.

His constant pacing had been the first one, abrupt movements like she'd just seen had been another, Goku getting up and disappearing to the bathroom, only to return a few minutes later looking dazed or flushed. His personality seemed to have undergone a massive change too. The calm, gentle and obedient Goku had disappeared and was now replaced with an irritable, snide and at times cocky, man. His energy seemed to have disappeared too, probably the result of being cooped up in the house with nothing to do.

Staring at the book that was now in front of her, she barely glanced up when Goku returned, seating himself back down on the couch, Goten launching himself into his fathers arms a few seconds later. Watching Goku cuddle Goten against his chest as he gazed out of the window, she relaxed slightly, glad that the change hadn't been turned towards her youngest son.

Waiting for Chichi to get her bag from the bedroom, Goku held Goten in one arm as he stared at the ceiling in anticipation for the night to begin. For one he would be out of this godforsaken house, and two his friends would be there. Krillen, Tien, Yamcha, Vegeta…

Tail fluffing up slightly; he rocked on the spot a little as he mentally urged Chichi to get a move on. Moment's later, the dark haired woman rushed along the hallway and into the living room, clutching her bag in one hand, eventually placing her other hand on Goku's shoulder.

Seconds later, they arrived in Roshi's house, food set out on the table and in the kitchen in preparation of the appetites of the up and coming guests.

"Hey, Goku! Hey Chichi, looking lovely today as always…"

Looking around, Goku's eyes fixed on Roshi, a small, amused smile on his face. Still no change here, then.

Roshi paused a few feet away, head tilting slightly as he studied the swishing tail protruding from Goku's backside.

"I didn't know you had your tail back, Goku! When did that happen?"

"Aah, Chichi whacked me upside the head, when I woke up it was back…happened last week sometime…" Goku replied, smiling in an effort to end the conversation there.

Roshi watched him for a few moments, a familiar thoughtful look passing over his face before he decided to let it go.

"Goku!" Tien appeared in the doorway with a wave. "Long time no see! Hello, Chichi!"

Goku smiled.

"Hey! REALLY long time no see! Where have you been?" Goku asked, moving nearer to the table in preparation of food. In the absence of Vegeta, food would always be welcomed

"GOKU!"

Turning round and looking down, his eyes met with Krillen's.

"Hey, Krillen!" Goku let the smaller man hug him for a moment before stepping back with a grin.

Nodding at 18, she gave a small nod in return as she took Marron upstairs for a bath, the blond child protesting loudly before dissolving into giggles.

"Goku?" A voice came from the kitchen. Goku's head spun round as Yamcha strolled into the main room, drying his hands against his gi.

"Yamcha…haven't seen you for a long time either…"

"Yeah, been busy getting myself settled back down again after all that stuff with Buu..." Yamcha replied, averting his eyes and trying not to blush.

Goku noted the expression, wondering what was bothering his friend.

"Sit down, Yamcha! Might as well start enjoying ourselves now…"

Face flushing redder, Yamcha stiffly sat himself down next to Goku, making sure to keep a small bit of distance between them. Chichi soon followed, making conversation with the rest of the group, Oolong appearing soon after and helping himself to the food on the table.

Questions flew back and forth as everyone enquired into the other's lives, children, family, work, training and so forth.

Meanwhile, Goku tried to get Yamcha to talk to him, the one-word answers frustrating him no end. Shuffling a little closer in pretence of getting some food sitting at the edge of the table, he cast a quick glance at his other friends who were deep in conversation. Leaning over, he let his hand brush against Yamcha's arm while his tail bushed itself out and traced a line down the human fighter's spine, the tip brushing over his butt before pulling away again.

Jolting upright, Yamcha's eyes widened, heart stopping for a second as he tried to comprehend what had just happened. Casting his wide-eyed look to Goku, he stared helplessly until the Saiya-jin took pity on him.

"Sorry, has a mind of it's own…" Pulling a plate of food back with him, Goku stared at it moodily as he ate, the end of his tail twitching in annoyance.

Mind sparking, he turned back to Yamcha, who seemed to have calmed down a little now that the furry appendage was staying away.

"So, Yamcha, have you bee training recently? Your power level has grown…"

"Yeah, was starting to get a bit restless just dating and that so…" Yamcha paused as Goku began sucking on his straw, tongue darting out to catch a stray drop of liquid as it escaped his mouth.

Goku raised his eyebrows, waiting for Yamcha to continue; seemingly unaware of what he was doing as he took the straw a little further into his mouth before pulling away again.

"Yamcha?"

The human stared for a few more moments.

"Oh, nothing, but anyway. I trained pretty hard, have gotten a lot stronger!" Yamcha declared, lifting his drink to his mouth to cool himself down.

"So, you think you could take me…?"

Yamcha spat his drink all over the table, choking as he tried to cough up the remainder of the liquid that had disappeared down his windpipe.

Goku's eyes widened at the display, hand automatically patting him on the back as everyone else looked on in confusion. Lips pursing, as he tied not to laugh, he let his mind play on the images that had probably crossed through Yamcha's brain too.

A minute or two later, Yamcha had recovered enough to inform the table of people that some of his drink had gone down the wrong way. Promptly starting a conversation with Chichi and Tien, Goku was once again left to stare moodily at the food on his plate.

Reaching for some more food, Goku glanced around the table, noting the lack of meat, the main foods consisting of snack food and various fruits, vegetables and rice…

Pouting slightly, his eyes landed on Oolong. A dark, feral look crossed his face.

The shape shifter blinked and looked over to Goku, seeming to sense his gaze. Eyes widening in fear as he caught the look, Oolong froze in place. Goku shifted slightly, getting his legs under him, thigh muscles tensing…

"Hey everyone!"

Goku started, tipping backwards onto his butt as Bulma's voice rang through the air, the loud shouts of Trunks and Goten following seconds later. Looking up to the doorway, his eyes met with Vegeta's, a strange expression written on the Ouji's face for a few moments before it was wiped away.

The new arrivals settled themselves at the table. Vegeta promptly sat himself opposite Goku, placing a rucksack on the floor under the table. Bulma took a seat next to him as the two youngest demi saiya-jin ran around the room. Conversation grew with the addition of another woman into the group, discussion ranging from fighting to the latest happenings in the world.

So absorbed were they in the conversation, no one noticed the half lidded looks that Vegeta and Goku were sharing. Goku's straw sucking trick being put to full use, while Vegeta watched from the corner of his eye.

Frowning slightly, the Ouji watched as Goku's glances switched back and forth between himself and Yamcha. The flirting seemed directed at both of them, though the human appeared to be doing his best not to notice.

Mentally growling, he turned his gaze more directly onto Goku, absently rubbing his fingers up and down his cup. Smirking when he had the other Saiya-jin's full attention, he paused, letting Goku carry on with his little "show".

An hour or so later, while Goku performed some subtle yet obscene acts on a banana, Vegeta finally decided that enough was enough. Opening his mouth to speak, Goku beat him to it.

"Hey, Vegeta? Wanna spar?"

Yamcha coughed a mouthful of food back onto his plate, gasping for breath as several pairs of wide eyes turned towards him. Once again, Goku patted him on the back.

"You need to watch how you eat things, Yamcha. That can't be healthy…"

The two Saiya-jins turned to leave the room, Vegeta slinging his bag over one shoulder. Chichi didn't bother to try and persuade her husband not to go, if the past week had been anything to go by, it would only end in a shouting match.

As they reached the doorway, Roshi spoke.

"Where did Oolong go…?"

A loud belch sounded from Goku, and an equally loud laugh burst from Vegeta shortly after as they headed outside and took off into the air.

Chichi sighed, watching the orange gi disappear into the now darkening sky.

"You alright, Chichi?" Bulma asked. "Usually you'd be telling Goku to get his butt back in here, especially as he's your transport here…"

"I've given up on trying to get him to do ANYTHING, lately. He's been behaving so weird, it's…scary, to say the least…"

"Weird? What do you mean weird?" Bulma asked, making sure Goten and Trunks were still running laps around the island as they chased each other.

"It's like…he's changed…become someone else. He's the complete opposite of what he used to be…"

"Well, Vegeta has been acting a little off lately too, and we have a new kitten in the house. It belongs to him and is named "Carrot". That little animal is horrible…"

"Goku DID seem a little quiet tonight, I mean he usually talks quite a lot. He looked kinda moody too…" Tien added.

"I say it's Vegeta's influence that's done it. He's always trying to get Goku to be "more saiya-jin". Now he's done something to make Goku start doing that!" Chichi said, voice rising.

"Don't just blame Vegeta for this, Chichi! Something else must have caused it a well. All these years Goku has remained essentially the same person with Vegeta around! And Piccolo as well. It's not something you can blame on another person!"

"Uh…guys?" Yamcha started.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"Well…" He coughed. "A friend of mine told me about this club, it's like a dance club, but there's a bit for lap dancing, and then other places where couples can go if they feel the need to…you know."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Chichi asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Well, I got convinced to go to the lap dancing part, so I did. And after a while I looked around, and at one of the other tables…"

"Yeeaaah?" Bulma said trying to get a now red faced Yamcha to hurry up and finish.

"Well, there was Goku…and Vegeta…"

"WHAT?! Goku and Vegeta hired a lap dancer?!" chichi shrieked, making everyone in the room wince.

"Not quite…"

"Not quite…? Yamcha…?"

"Well, Vegeta was sat in the chair, it was Goku who was doing the lap dancing…in this really…revealing outfit…"

The room went silent, the only noise to be heard came from Goten and Trunks as they raced around outside.

"You're joking, right Yamcha..? I mean, Goku dancing is hard to imagine, I don't think he'd even know how to lap dance…" Krillen interrupted, eyes boggling as his mind tried to slip into denial.

"I wish I was joking, but he was there, and he obviously had a clue what he was doing…Not even going to mention what he started doing before they left…"

"What?" Bulma asked, the pull of curiosity too strong to resist.

"Well he laid himself out on the table and started...eh…" Face glowing, Yamcha made a few hasty movements with his hand above his groin, hoping it would get the point across.

Chichi, didn't reply, only turned her gaze to the remnants of her meal while she tried to process. Remembering that night when Goku had turned up in those clothes…

Covering her mouth, she recalled what he'd said… 'Good news, Chichi. I found a job!'

"Oh Dende…I remember that! Goku turned up on our doorstep asking for Vegeta in those clothes! I remember being really shocked, but Vegeta was as well, he even dropped his drink…it can't have been him doing this to Goku, not if he was so shocked…"

"Chichi?" Roshi's voice broke through the musings.

Chichi turned to him, not saying a word.

"Goku grew his tail back last week, am I right?"

She nodded.

"You hit him with the frying pan, if I remember correctly. Did anything else happen, other than his tail re-growing?"

"He was out cold for a few minutes, when he fell down he was clutching his head. Then when he woke up, he yelled something at me in another language…"

Roshi paused thinking this over.

"And that same day, he disappears, finds those clothes and goes looking for Vegeta? Bulma, did anything else happen at your place?"

"He said something in another language there as well, Vegeta was still kinda shocked and replied to him…"

"Sounds like you managed to reverse his amnesia, Chichi…and it brought all his instincts back with it…"

"But why would he seek out VEGETA? Even if his instincts have come back, those two have been rivals forever and a day!" Chichi managed, suppressing her voice as well as she could.

"I don't have an answer for that, Chichi. Bulma?" Roshi replied, looking over to the blue haired woman.

"A guess, Vegeta's scent probably smells more attractive to him. No offence Chichi, but Vegeta is the only other person here who is a full-blooded saiya-jin. Not only that but he was bred to be the BEST, Goku's new instincts could well be reacting to Vegeta's scent, his ki signature…"

"So we're not dealing with Goku anymore…" Krillen stated. "We're dealing with Kakarrot."

 

 

 

 

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