By Donny Cheng
Pan paced around worriedly as she watched the monitor every so often. A number of graphs and diagrams fluctuated in conjunction with Ranma's physical condition as he rested inside the regeneration tank. Though the numbers didn't show him to be in any danger and that he was recovering at a rate that would make a Saiyajin envious, Pan was restless all the same. Where had Vejita run off to? The moment he had secured Ranma into the tank, Vejita had flown off again muttering to himself. The glint in his eyes as he watched Ranma was the reason she felt she should stay at her new friend's side. There was an unwholesome look to it that made Pan shiver.
Vejita stared hard at Satan. "Well?"
Normally, Satan would have been cowering behind the couch at Vejita's tone of voice, but fortunately his friend Buu was there in the room with him. As a result, his hands only did a bare minimum of shaking as he poured Vejita a cup of tea. "H-He's a new student. A few of my students graduated, so he was able to register. I haven't even met him yet."
Vejita waved the man off. "No matter. I'm taking him off your hands. If his family phones, tell them he's busy."
"F-For three years!?" Satan stammered loudly, almost forgetting who he was talking to. "That's about how long most students stay here for. I can't cover for you that long."
"Not my problem, it's your school. Think of something." Vejita turned and left the slack-jawed Satan staring after him.
Satan looked desperately at Buu for help.
Buu looked back at Satan thoughtfully. "Cake?" he asked after a moment and pointed at the pastry on the table.
Satan sighed. Buu was right of course. Debating right and wrong with Vejita was as useful as arguing with the sky about the weather. Besides, there was another tournament coming up and he did not want an angry Vejita suddenly deciding that Mr. Satan was due for a downfall.
Ranma yawned loudly. Or he would have if he hadn't been submerged in water. He coughed uncomfortably as the water flooded into his mouth. He barely had a second to pull himself together, when he was suddenly upended out of the tank and onto the cold hard floor. He shivered at the sudden change in temperature "What the..?"
"Oh good, Ranma, you're okay!" Pan quickly reached over for the towel for Ranma to cover his body with. She was glad that Vejita had had at least the simple decency to leave the boy's boxers on.
"What happened?" Ranma finally managed to ask out.
"You remember the last thing that happened? We were in that fight. You did some weird move on me but ended up saving me from it. We brought you here to help your wounds."
It was all a blur. But Ranma remembered cursing himself for his stupidity. Ryoga would laugh at him for having to resort to using the hiryu shoten ha on a girl. In all honesty, it had been pure instinct that that caused him to use it. He had regretted it the moment he launched it and had as a result jumped into the tornado himself. "I remember. Are you okay? That was stupid of me to use that technique in a sparring session."
Pan laughed it off. She punched herself lightly on the head. "I was the stupid one. If I hadn't been so blind in attacking you I would have been fine. That tornado wouldn't have worked very well on a person that can fly."
Ranma sighed in relief. He looked over at Pan and was surprised again at the girl's ability at such a young age. She figured out the weakness of the technique already. "That's good. So are we going back to the dojo now?"
Before Pan could answer, Vejita entered the room. He ignored the younger girl's glare. "No. You will not be going back. I've taken you out of Satan's hands. You will be staying and learning from me."
"Hey, that's not fair," Pan objected. Just when she finally found a person she could practice with, Vejita took him away.
Vejita merely glanced at Ranma. "You have any objections with this?"
Ranma shivered and not from the coldness of the air this time. The other man's eyes were deeply disturbing. He found he could not turn away from the penetrating gaze. This was the man that had shown him the art of flying just simply by example. Unlike his father, Ranma held no illusions as to what he could learn from Satan and he did not like it one bit. This Vejita, on the other hand, he knew was different. "No."
"Good," Vejita smirked. "Your training begins an hour after you've eaten. Your body will need food after the time you spent regenerating. Pan take him to the kitchen and get him something to eat. Bring him to the gravity room when he's done."
"You can't..."
"Does Videl know you were at her father's dojo beating up the students again?"
"...let him do that without getting him some clothes first," Pan finished, cursing Vejita silently under her breath. Her father wouldn't do anything, but she knew that her mother would ground her for a week.
Ranma finally pulled his eyes from Vejita's face and noted his torn clothes on the ground beside the tank. He shuddered at how strong the hiryu shoten ha must have been to do that. It reinforced to him that he did want to learn from this man who was miles above Pan and himself. "I have some extra clothes in my bags at the dojo."
"No need. Your clothes wouldn't last a second with what you will be going through during your stay here. In the corner there are some of the clothes I've picked out for you. I have other matters to tend to first," Vejita said before he left. He had to check if Bulma fixed his room for him yet. Sometimes that woman drove him crazy with what she considered top priority.
Ranma grimaced at the certainty in Vejita's voice about his clothes being ripped and wondered what he had gotten himself into.
Pan tried not to gawk at the human vacuum cleaner sitting beside her. She wondered if it was possible that Ranma really was a Saiyajin. "Sorry for getting you into this. If I hadn't made you spar with me, you'd probably be safe at my grandfather's place studying right now."
Ranma didn't know how to tell Pan that he really didn't think her grandfather could have taught him much anyway. So it really wasn't that very big a loss. "Don't worry, I wanted to spar too. And what did you mean by 'safe'?"
"Uncle Vejita seems to have noticed you. That can't be good," Pan shook her head. Nothing good could come of this. While mellowed out since his younger years or so Pan had been told, Vejita 'disliked' being around inferiors like regular humans. Whatever Vejita disliked never seemed to be around for long. The sound of the kitchen door swinging open stopped her before she could elaborate.
"That is the last time I go on a double date with you, Goten," Trunks said with finalty as he stormed into the kitchen.
"Hey, it's not my fault that the girls are hot for me," Goten said defensively.
"You were flirting with them, while you were on a date with Marron's friend. Marron is never going to let me forget this." Trunks' face took on a look of doom. His girlfriend, not only in looks, was exactly like her mother when it came down to coldness. His bankbook was going to feel a lot lighter, knowing how much it took to get back into her good graces.
"Hey, who's the kid? Your boyfriend, Pan?" Goten asked, changing the subject, as he caught sight of the pair.
Pan sighed and wondered what it was that made uncles tease their nieces. "No, this is Ranma. Uncle Vejita's new student. Sorry about those two, Ranma. They can be a couple of jerks sometimes."
Ranma wasn't listening though. His eye twitched in irritation as he felt the battle aura of the two young men. Another pair that dwarfed him. Just how many people were there in this world that surpassed him? He knew that he was not the best fighter in the world, but his ego refused to believe that he was not even in the top five. His stay in Satan City was drastically changing that perception. Having been called a kid made his eye twitch even more. However, the two idiots rolling on the floor laughing was the last straw.
"Good one, Pan. For a minute there, you really had me going. If you didn't want me to go blabbing about your secret boyfriend to Bra, you could've just said so," Trunks said, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.
"Aren't you a little young to be dating? Videl won't like this. He does look a little too old for you," Goten felt he should put in since he was Pan's elder. Personally though, he had been dating since he discovered girls and miniskirts. He didn't know why, but seeing a girl in one made his heart race. His mother told him that she would tell him why when he was grown up. He wondered when that would be.
Pan resisted the urge to slap the two silly. Slapping them would only hurt her hand. It turned out she didn't need to say anything.
"C'mon, Pan. Vejita said to be there in an hour. It's almost time anyway," Ranma said in an over exaggerated excited voice, "and I've got a lot to learn from the guy." Ranma smiled inwardly at the shock replacing the laughter on their faces. He didn't know why, but him aknowledging that he was Vejita's student seemed to be a big deal.
Goten blinked first. "I can't believe it. Has your dad suddenly gone nuts? This is the sort of thing I expect from my dad."
Trunks didn't know what to think. His image of his father had just been thrown out the window. His father would never under any circumstance teach a human or anyone for that matter. The man barely taught his own children as he simply didn't have the patience to be like Goku in that respect. He did not want his father to be put in jail for murdering a kid. Bra would know what was going on. She was the favorite after all. Where was that brat?
"I hope Pan will be okay. That girl falls in love way too fast," Goten mused. Trunks sister, Bra, did too, but Goten wisely did not say that out loud. Those two were destined to become old maids with the way they acted.
Dumped again! Bra's life was shot to hell. She now knew what Pan felt like every day. The only consolation Bra had was that she was dumped only five times to Pan's eight. It was not really a consolation if she thought about it since Pan was nearly two years younger than her. It irked her sometimes that her best friend got more guys with cuteness than she did with her bigger chest. However, both of them suffered the same fate more often then not becuase of their ability to fight. The idea that your girlfriend was stronger was a major deterance in most young teenaged boys.
Boys! Bra was in a decidedly unhappy mood. She needed to beat someone up, not caring that this was the reason she was dumped in the first place. She needed to beat a boy up, preferably. Her brother or Goten were perfect victims.
Vejita hadn't arrived at the gravity room by the time Ranma and Pan reached it. There was nothing else to do but wait.
"No kidding, huh? One's your uncle and the other is Vejita's son? They look like they're in pretty good shape," Ranma grudgingly admitted. Even in better shape than him. "Why doesn't Vejita teach one of them?"
"They're not interested maybe. I don't know for sure. Who knows what Uncle Vejita thinks. He and my other grandfather only seem to think about eating, sleeping, and fighting."
"What's wrong with that," Ranma asked, genuinely confused. "Those are my favorite hobbies too." Vejita was starting to sound like a great guy.
Pan had been keeping quite calm since she met Ranma, except when he mentioned her chest of course. She was surprised and pleased at her own restraint. However, she just could not let the boy get away with what he just said. "Really?" she asked, smiling up at Ranma. "I like fighting and eating too."
Ranma nodded approvingly, thinking of Akane, Shampoo, and Ukyo. "I have some friends back home that are like you"
"So you don't think it's weird that a girl is better than you?" Pan asked hoping that nothing was betrayed in her question.
"Heh, I get that stuffed into my face all the time. That old ghoul could beat me most of the time." Ranma didn't see the need to explain that he only had one clear victory over Cologne and that he was a 'cat' at the time.
Pan was convinced. This boy was made for her. He ate like a Saiyajin so probably wouldn't mind if a girl ate the same way. She couldn't help it if her Saiyajin blood craved food! He also didn't seem to mind about a girl being able to fight. She had doubts about him caring if a girl was better than him or not. His right eye developed a twitch when he mention that ghoul who could beat him most of the time. Pan banished that thought from her mind. Plus he was not bad to look at. Adding up the calculations, she concluded that he was a nine out of ten. That was the best score she had ever given any boy.
"Hey, who's the boy?" Bra asked as she entered the room. Don't say boyfriend. Don't say boyfriend. Bra did not know what she would do if Pan had a boyfriend right now while she didn't.
Pan frowned. Too soon. She hadn't laid the groundwork yet. She did not want to lose another boy to Bra and her chest. Normally, she and Bra were the best of friends, but not when it came to boys. "Oh, he's my... friend, Ranma."
Bra picked up the hesitation quickly. She narrowed her eyes and gave the boy a quick once over. She gave him another longer glance. She stared at the boy openly. "Oh, hi. My name's Bra. I'm Pan's bestest friend in the whole world."
"Er... hi," Ranma prudently took a step back. Pan's battle aura had suddenly raised at a very fast rate. Best friends?
"Bra, what are you doing here?" Vejita asked as he entered the gravity room.
"Daddy? Oh, I just wanted to have a quick work out before dinner," Bra said quickly. Her father did not like it when she firted with anybody. Many a boyfriend left because of a broken arm or two.
Vejita winced. He never got used to 'daddy'. It made him all the more aware of the changes he had gone through since he was prince of the Saiyajins. "You can use the room after I do. Besides the gravity controls don't work yet. Your mother seems to have more important things to do."
Bra nodded meekly. There were times when she could tease her father and get him to get her anything she wanted. This was not one of those times. Her father was in rare form today. Must have been that fight he had with Uncle Goku. A fight always made Vejita more intense.
"You girls get out and Ranma, you stay."
Pan waved at Bra before the question could be asked. "Not now. Let's get out of here. I'll explain later."
And Ranma was alone with Vejita. He immediately got into a fighting stance as Vejita's battle aura started to manifest itself.
"...and now they're in there fighting," Pan finished explaining. Since Ranma did not exactly have any ties to her, she had been forced to explain the situation to Bra.
"So, he's not that bad a catch, hey? Same way, we always settle this?" Well the changing into a girl was not very appealing. But changing into an ape and having been born with a tail was also not very appealing, so Bra decided to let that slide.
"I can't believe you? Always going after the guys that I like!"
"It's not my fault that you only like older men. If you stayed in your age group, I wouldn't care in the slightest."
Pan sighed. There was no arguing with Bra. Her friend had been spoiled way too much by Vejita. Bra was used to getting anything that she wanted. Pan nodded, "Okay. No funny stuff this time. You wore that shirt with a button missing on purpose the last time."
Bra agreed, "Deal. You know if we don't get this one, we're doomed."
Pan nodded. The both of them had dated nearly everyone in their district already. They dumped those that they didn't like and those that they liked always dumped them. Their reputations were sinking way too fast for their tastes. It was one of the reasons she didn't go for boys her age. They all feared her. "Well, if you didn't get into so many fights, we wouldn't have this problem in the first place."
"Look who's talking..." Bra didn't get to finish as the door of the gravity room was opened.
Vejita came out, carrying Ranma over his shoulder. He passed by the both of them and headed for the room with the regeneration tanks. "Tell, your mother to get a room ready and save some dinner for two."
"Ick. That didn't look very tasty at all." Bra, made a face as Ranma's black and blue face passed by them.
"You want out?" Pan asked.
"Not on your life."