The Way it is

The way it is
By: Kichi

Why can\'t I come up with a decent title?
DISCLAIMER: All characters in this fic belong to Akira Toriyama and are being used without permission.

Vegeta sighed. The program on the television was not humorous in the slightest, yet Bulma and Kakarotto were laughing as if it was the funniest thing they\'d ever seen in their life. He sighed again in irritation. He would much rather be training than sitting there, it was only three weeks after Goku had returned from Yardrat and the need to become a super Saiyan was constantly nagging at him. But no, Bulma had refused to fix the broken gravity room unless Vegeta came to Kami House with her. He remembered their argument clearly.

\"All you ever do is eat, sleep, and train. You never do anything fun!\" Bulma whined, the noise severely grating on his nerves.
\"How can you call sitting at an old perverts house \'fun\'?\" Vegeta mused. Bulma sighed, rolling her eyes.
\"Forget it. I don\'t care what your idea of fun is. I\'d rather not know.\" She snapped in disgust. \"But if you don\'t come with me, not only will I refuse to fix the gravity room, but I won\'t feed you either!\" Vegeta\'s eyes widened in fury but he quickly masked his rage with a cold smile.
\"You can\'t do that.\" He said, his eyes shining.
\"And why not?\" she asked.
\"Because, I\'ll trash your house.\" He said, the smile growing.
\"Oh yeah?\" Bulma challenged. \"Well if you do then I\'ll kick your ass out and you\'ll have nowhere to live, how about that, tough guy?\" Vegeta scowled, damn that woman, its not that he couldn\'t make it on his own without her help, but then he\'d have no gravity room to train in. Damn it!!!
\"But I don\'t want to go to that perverts house!\" he yelled, his face turning pink with frustration. Bulma sighed and gently placed her hand on his arm, ignoring the fact that he immediately backed away.
\"Quit being such a baby!\" Bulma cried, letting her hand fall. \"You can\'t always get what you want, Vegeta. Even if you are a prince.\" Vegeta snorted in disgust.
\"I am not a baby, and I never get what I want, obviously!\" Bulma quickly turned away gritting her teeth.
\"Listen to me.\" She said in a low voice. \"I don\'t care what you want! I don\'t care that you never get what you want either! No one ever does! That\'s life! If you don\'t like it, that\'s too damn bad!\"
\"Oh, shut up already!\" Vegeta yelled his anger rising. \"You think I don\'t know that? I\'m not stupid!\" They glared at each other silently for a moment. Time began to slow and Bulma wondered why Vegeta stared at her for so long. She didn\'t dare break his gaze.
\"Are you coming with me or not?\" Bulma hissed. Vegeta frowned and appeared extremely disgusted. He stood silently his face contorting from rage to indecision, and back to fury.
\"Fine!\" he yelled his face flushed and he turned and stomped away muttering: \"Bitch.\" Loud enough for Bulma to hear. But she didn\'t say a thing, too busy she was gloating over her obvious triumph to care.

So now here he was, miserably bored and cursing himself for agreeing. Why had he let the baka onna trick him into coming? What was it about her that he felt he had to do what she wanted, even if he wanted the exact opposite? He firmly decided the only way out was to fall asleep, and roughly fifteen minutes later he was dead to the world.

Bulma was having a good time. Goku was making her laugh to the point that her stomach was aching; Master Roshi, Krillin, Chaotzu and Tien were playing some card game. Yamcha and Gohan were watching T.V. and Vegeta... Was sleeping.
\"Vegeta!\" Bulma yelled, startling the Saiyan awake.
\"WHAT?!\" Vegeta yelled loud enough to shake the house.
\"Why are you sleeping?\" Bulma said, trying to stay calm.
\"What the hell do you care? I\'m here aren\'t I? That\'s what you wanted isn\'t it? Why do you care what I do?\" he said, almost as loud as before.
\"Come on Vegeta, lighten up.\" Goku said with a grin.
\"Shut up!\" Vegeta snapped. \"Why can\'t I just sleep?\" he said, glaring at Bulma.
\"Why do you need to sleep now? Why can\'t you just wait till later? The sun hasn\'t even set yet.\" She said.
\"BECAUSE I am BORED.\" He replied. \"My dreams are WAY more interesting than this.\"
\"Fine then you jerk! Just go home and go to bed!!\" She yelled. Vegeta sat up, trying to hide a smile.
\"Fine. I will.\" And he left ignoring everyone\'s curious stares.

Once outside he breathed a sigh or relief and was about to take off when Bulma\'s voice halted him in his tracks.
\"Why are you such a jerk? Why do you have to embarrass me in front of my friends?\" She cried, her voice shaking. Vegeta turned to stare at her with wide eyes. What is wrong with her? He wondered.
\"What?\" he said, she looked like she was about to cry, and for some reason... it bothered him.
\"What do you mean, \'What\'?\" you are such a-a JERK!! You don\'t even know why I\'m upset!\" her eyes were brimming with unshed tears. Vegeta felt his insides twist and for a brief moment he wondered if he was getting sick. But in a moment of sudden understanding, he realized it was his own actions that had brought her to the verge of tears. I didn\'t want to make the weakling baka cry! I just wanted to leave!
\"There\'s no reason to cry, baka! I just-\" he was suddenly cut off by Bulma screaming:
\"I\'m not crying!\" but as soon as she said it, a tear betrayed her and slipped down her cheek.
\"Yes you are!\" he cried, pointing. He was shocked. Why would she cry? Surely she didn\'t really want him around? Oh, wait, she\'s just upset because I \"embarrassed her\" in front of her stupid friends. He thought angrily.
\"Shut up Vegeta!\"
\"No! Your just mad cause I embarrassed you in front of those stupid ninjen\'s and that fool Kakarotto! I can\'t believe you would actually cry over that.\"
\"That\'s not it!\" she began.
\"Then what is it?!\" he cried, throwing his hands up. \"Or are you just trying to drive me crazy trying to figure it out?\"
\"Why do you care?\" Bulma said, wiping tears away. She was absolutely furious at Vegeta for making her cry, and she knew everyone inside was watching them through the windows.
\"ARRGH!\" Vegeta yelled tugging his hair. \"Forget it! I DON\'T care!\" and he turned to leave when Bulma\'s voice stopped him again, this time he had to strain to hear her.
\"Of course you don\'t. The Prince of Saiyans cares only for himself. I don\'t know why I ever would have thought you might.\" Vegeta clenched his fists, shaking with fury and... something else he couldn\'t identify. He turned and quickly strode over to where Bulma stood.
\"What is wrong with you?\" he demanded. \"Why are you doing this? Why can\'t you ever just leave me alone?\" Bulma lifted her head and gazed into his eyes. He felt a jolt run through him when he saw that hers were still filled with tears.
\"Is that what you want? To be alone forever?\" her icy tone sent chills up his spine. She had no idea how she was affecting him, or how her tears upset him. She put her hand on his chest and he froze.
He sighed in resignation. He didn\'t know why but he felt guilty for causing her pain. He\'d never felt this way, ever. It was unsettling and he felt he had to do anything to make her happy so the sensation would stop.
\"What do you want from me?\" he asked, almost pleading. Bulma sighed blinking back her tears. She didn\'t know what she wanted from Vegeta. Well, she wanted him to be nice maybe once in his life and just hang out but it was painfully obvious that he did not wish to do so. She realized then that it was selfish of her to make him suffer just so she would be happy, but she had thought that he might actually enjoy himself after awhile. But there was no such luck, he hadn\'t even cracked a smile. She slowly lifted her gaze and was surprised to see that Vegeta looked... tormented. But how she wasn\'t sure. Did it bother him that much to be here? Or maybe it was her tears. If the latter was the case then she had a weapon that she hadn\'t been aware she possessed before. She shook her head, Vegeta would never care if he made someone cry... Would he? She wondered.
Her silence made him nervous. Was it possible that she didn\'t even know what she wanted from him? Or was she devising new ways to torment him? Furthermore, why did he even care what she thought? He was the Prince of Saiyans, and she was a stupid human female; what did he care about her weak emotions? But he did, he knew it made no sense, but he did care or why else did he feel this pain when she was sad? It was as if her sadness was his own as well. But no. It couldn\'t... Oh NO. He backed away from her as if she had the plague. Bulma noticed his hasty retreat and when she looked up she was surprised to see that Vegeta\'s face was a sickly shade of white.
\"Vegeta... are you okay?\" she asked, concern creeping into her voice.
\"I have to go.\" He whispered, staring at her with burning eyes. And without another word her turned his back to he and shot into the sky.
\"Wait...\" Bulma whispered. She watched him go, her eyes burning. As soon as he vanished from sight she reached into her pocket and threw a capsule onto the ground. With a loud bang a capsule car appeared. With firm resolve, she jumped in and took off towards Capsule Corporation.

Damn that woman to hell and back! What the hell is wrong with her? And what in the seven Hells\' is wrong with me for letting her do it? Why? She makes me so angry, and then she makes me feel guilty for being angry at her! I can\'t believe it! Something about her twists everything around and I can\'t do anything to stop it. I have to stay away from her... as far as I can. But it will never work as long as I live in the same house as her...
Vegeta landed at Capsule Corp. and stormed into the Gravity room and cranked it up to 400 G\'s. For a moment he just stood there as the gravity changed. He was trying to rid himself of thoughts of Bulma but nothing was working. He was about to lift into the air, when the gravity shut off and the door was flung open. Vegeta turned, surprised to find Bulma marching up to him. How dare she? After all he went through to get away from her and she FOLLOWED HIM? It was ridiculous, it was absurd.
\"What the hell do you want woman?\" he said incredulously. \"Why do you insist on tormenting me?\" Bulma stopped inches away from him, her eyes glinting.
\"I want to know the truth.\" She hissed. Vegeta\'s eyebrows rose a fraction. \"Do you really want to be alone the rest of your life?\" Vegeta frowned and cocked his head to the side, actually pondering what she\'d asked.
\"No.\" he mumbled about a minute later.
\"Then why are you so... Difficult?!\" she cried in exasperation. \"Why is it that when anyone tries to be NICE to you, you throw it back in their face? Why are you such a cold-hearted bastard?\" she was close to tears. Again. Damn it.
\"Because... That\'s the way it is.\" He replied in a soft voice. It caught her attention immediately. She gazed at his face and was startled to see... what was it? Sadness, maybe empathy? He himself had once, long ago, wondered why he was treated so cruelly. He\'d thought it was to make him stronger but as he grew older he began to wonder if it was just out of spite, to torture and eventually break him.
\"What do you mean?\" Bulma said, he brow furrowing in anger. \"What kind of answer is that?\"
\"It is an acceptable answer. This is how I was raised. And you expect me to instantly change? For what? You?\" he snorted as if the thought was beneath his notice. Bulma felt fine tremors race up her spine. He would pay for that...
\"You. Are. So. Despicable.\" Bulma spat out. \"You won\'t even try. And I\'m not saying to do it for me. Do it for yourself. Your always miserable, locking yourself in the gravity room and training until you nearly kill yourself! Is that what you want? You want to die?\"
\"No!\" Vegeta yelled, cutting her off. \"Who the hell are you that you think you know so much about me? You don\'t know anything about me!\"
\"I know that you\'re alone. Just like I am.\" She said quietly, her eyes lowering. Vegeta felt as if something was caught in his throat. How dare she say such things to him. It was as if she was pulling his subconscious thoughts from his mind and waving them in his face. \"Haven\'t you ever sat in a room full of people and felt totally alone?\" she continued, ignoring his silence. \"I mean, at least I have friends.. who do you have? Anyone?\"
\"Shut up!\" Vegeta cried, his voice cracking. He grabbed her by the shoulders and slightly shook her.
\"Why can\'t you listen to what I\'m saying?\" she screamed, tears pouring from her eyes at last. As if on instinct, she flung herself in his arms. He gasped as her soft body pressed against his, and without thinking his arms encircled her. He buried his nose in her hair and inhaled deeply, he\'d always loved her smell. He just could never allow himself to dwell on it.
She shuddered and softly cried into his chest. Vegeta was such a heartless bastard, yet here he was, comforting her after it was his own actions that made her cry. She didn\'t know what to think, but part of her was overjoyed.
Vegeta didn\'t know what to think. First the bonnaonna was yelling at him and now she was crying in his arms. He was confused, angry, and for some bizarre reason, elated. He had to admit, the little human female, was beautiful and smart and had a fiery will to match his own. He didn\'t know why he hadn\'t seen it sooner. And now that he had his arms around her, he didn\'t want to let go. Her scent was intoxicating, he hardly was aware that his hand was running lightly up and down her spine. It seemed to have a calming effect though. Bulma had quieted and was deeply relaxed. He felt her knees give out and he held her up.
\"Woman?\" he said softly. There was no response. \"Bulma?\" a whisper. He gently caught her chin and tilted her face towards his. She was sleeping! And he knew if he screamed HER name and woke HER up, he would never hear the end of it. \"Damn you.\" He hissed, picked her up, and carried her out of the gravity room and into her house.
Part 2? Coming soon? Your reviews will help me decide!