~ denotes thoughts

CHAPTER TWO:

~ Darn it! How long is this going to take? ~

The sun was beginning to bake his skin and he was beginning to sweat profusely. They had eventually filed out of the bus and now they were all made to stand in a line, as their names were being called out and assigned to their various sleeping quarters. Since, his name started with a ‘V’ he was going to be the last name called. ~ Every fucking time. ~ He had even contemplated changing his name to Aaaaron (yes, with all the extra ‘a’s) at some point.

“VEGETA!!” Major Flint bellowed.

~ About time. ~

“Sir, yes, sir!” He replied, raising his voice louder than necessary. Walking up to the scowling man, he tried to salute with his chained hands, which of course didn’t quite work out right and he ended up stumbling a bit. Trying to regain his balance, he felt himself being lifted up by the scruff of his shirt and raised slowly till he was looking straight into icy blue eyes.

“A funnyman.” Major Flint snapped curtly. “How cute. Captain?! What rooms do we have left?!”

“Sir, Rooms 121C and 122D, sir!” came the reply.

“Aren’t those in the senior quarters, Captain?!” Flint said in an exasperated way. “These are new recruits remember?!”

“Umm…we are out of rooms in the junior quarters, sir.” The other man replied, fearing the commanding officers’ wrath.

Mumbling something about incompetent officers, he bellowed out again, spraying a good amount of saliva on Vegeta’s face. “Alright! I want ‘Mr. Funnyman’ here to be in Room 121C! Who occupies that space, Captain?”

Checking through his sheaf of papers, the Captain finally replied just as Flint was about to lose his patience.

“Sir! First Lieutenant Kakkarrot, sir!”

Vegeta watched as the Major’s face broke into a grim smile. “Is that right?” he spoke in a smug tone. “Well, Funnyman. It looks like you are going to be rooming with your superior officer. Captain! Contact Lt. Kakkarrot and make sure his quarters are ready for his ‘new’ companion!” Dropping Vegeta like a sack of potatoes, he pivoted around and began barking out orders and instructions, not caring if he had broken the younger mans’ bones or not.

Vegeta grimaced as his legs buckled beneath him and he glanced up at the pitying looks that fell his way. Feeling himself get angry at the pathetic display he was putting up, he jerked to his feet and went back to his place on the line, scowling in irritation as he recognized the person next to him.

“Don’t worry.” Acne boy, breathed softly. “If you sorta, kinda, disappeared for a while maybe he won’t notice you anymore.”

Vegeta snorted as he kept his eyes focused straight ahead of him. Hopefully his new roommate would at least be more tolerable.

~*~*~*~*~

“GET DOWN AND GIVE ME FIFTY!”

“SIR, YES, SIR!!”

Twenty bodies collapsed to the floor and began a series of rapid pushups as they obeyed the commands of First Lieutenant Kakkarrot. The said Lieutenant paced and walked down the row of boys making sure that no one slacked off and tried to weasel their way out of it.

The Lieutenant was proud of his squadron. It was hard to believe that just a month ago they had all been a bunch of whiny crybabies. The change was pretty amazing. His no nonsense attitude combined with his rapid wit, had made him such a trusted and reliable young leader at his age.

It was also hard to believe that just five years ago, he had been sent here for second-degree assault and attempted murder. Being born and raised on the streets, Kakkarrot was a young man who displayed wisdom far beyond his years. Years of physical and mental abuse from his father had toughened him and he had proven his worth in this hellhole for five long years. At nineteen, he was already a First Lieutenant, something some of his other friends had failed to achieve. You had to be tough to survive a place like this. He knew that first hand. It hadn’t helped that he wasn’t exactly ugly to look at and so those first few years as a new recruit, had been lessons in tolerance, patience and pain.

His father had eventually died in a street shootout and he had had nowhere else to go. Since he was doing so well in the Home, the General of the facility had made him stay as a permanent resident. It wasn’t so bad when it came down to it. The Home had pretty much decent sleeping accommodation. The classes were great and the food was…okay, so he had tasted better, but at least it was better than nothing at all. He winced as he remembered the days he had gone without food as a form of punishment.

There were, of course, some dark sides to the House that he would rather not try to remember, but they always seemed to resurface in his nightmares.

“Wow…he is such a pretty boy, isn’t he?”

Kakkarrot swallowed through suddenly parched lips. ~ Do not think about it!! ~ He screamed soundlessly, as his hands began to feel sweaty.

“Come here, pretty boy. Lets’ see what you have got!!” His breath began coming out in short breathless pants. Squeezing his eyes shut, he shook his head rapidly to erase the awful voices.

“Ooohh, lookie guys! He is hung as a bull!” Cruel laughter, searing, burning, the pain, oh, the pain…

“LIEUTENANT!!”

Kakkarrot snapped out of his dark thoughts and raised fevered eyes to his appointed squadron leader.

“We are done, sir.” The boy said, giving his commander a worried look.

“That’s…that’s fine, Private. Report back to your quarters and have them assemble again at 1800 hours.” He said huskily, straightening himself out and giving the other boy a small smile and a quick salute.

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir!”

Kakkarrot watched as his boys, which was odd, considering that some were his age mates or even a bit older, filed neatly towards their various extra curricular activities. Tucking his hands into the pockets of his fatigues, he began strolling towards the offices, with the intention of finding out when his next vacation time came up. He always looked forward to those moments for it was the only time he could really let loose and relax.

“Helllooo, Lieutenant…” came the drawl of his best friend, as he felt strong hands drop across his shoulders.

“Hey, Trunks.” Kakkarrot smiled as he took in the sight of the lavender haired boy. Trunks was still a Second Lieutenant, but that didn’t stop the two men from hanging out every once in a while. Trunks had come into the facility a year after Kakkarrot, having been charged with assault and shoplifting, and both boys had gone through the same painful initiation rites. It had been worse for the lavender haired boy though. He was too handsome for his own good, which around these parts was not considered a good thing. The fact that Trunks had worn his hair much longer in the earlier days made him a target for all the senior officers back then and needless to say, Kakkarrot had been the boy’s support group after each painful session with the older men. He had listened and had wept with him on certain nights, each of them slowly becoming attached to the other. Trunks had also ended up becoming a permanent resident of the Home, since he had been raised in a foster home all his life; he had felt no need to go back there. Sighing, Kakkarrot glanced at the other boy and said softly,

“I gotta go check if I have my vacation papers out yet.”

“Oh, yeah! Shit! Forgot to check mine as well. Guess I will have to go with you.”

“Hn…you think Gohan has gotten his own yet?”

“Probably.”

Gohan was also one of their best friends. A year older than the both of them, Gohan had been in the Home before their arrival. He had been charged with attempted murder, which was kind of odd, considering that now, Gohan was the most admired and respected young officers in the Home. At just twenty, he was already a Captain and was in charge of over several hundred new recruits. Unlike Kakkarrot and Trunks, however, Gohan did have a home he could go back to whenever he liked. All three had spent several holidays and vacations at the huge ranch owned by his father. Gohan had served his time at the Home, but he had wanted to remain as a volunteer, with his reason for staying, as a way to help other boys improve in life.

“How’s your squad doing?” Kakkarrot asked, smirking, as he knew that Trunks always seemed to have trouble with his crew.

“Geez, Ka-Chan. You know how those bakas are. I always get stuck with the losers. It’s not fair!”

Kakkarrot was about to burst out laughing at the pouting look on his friends’ face when he heard his name being called. Spinning around, both boys faced their friend Gohan, who was coming towards them at a brisk pace. His usual good-natured face was set in a frown, which meant that he had either bad news or….really bad news.

“About time I found you, Kakkarrot.” He said, reaching his two friends and saluting in greeting (since they were in public of course). “Major Flint wants you in your quarters immediately. It seems you are about to have a new roommate or something.”

“What?!” Kakkarrot shouted in disbelief. “What the fuck do I need a roommate for? Don’t I even get to enjoy my own space, anymore?!”

“Not until you become Captain, you don’t.” Gohan said smugly, before becoming serious again. “Seriously, Kakkarrot, I think you need to go. I mean we just got a whole busload of recruits and the facility does not have enough room for them. So you all will have to make some sacrifices. Hey, at least it’s just for five months, then you can have your freedom again.” He finished, smiling at the frown on the other boy’s face.

“Do I get a roommate, too?” Trunks asked, holding his breath for his own bad news.

Gohan turned and grinned at him. “Not yet, Trunks. But I have no doubt; you are going to get one sooner or later. Kakkarrot, I need you to follow me.”

“Sure.” He replied, still not happy about the new developments. “Hey, Trunks could you check to see if my vacation papers are out yet, I think I am going to need it sooner than necessary.”

“Will do. See ya later, Ka-Chan.” Sniggering as Gohan rolled his eyes at the endearment.

Kakkarrot was no longer in the mood for laughter and jokes. This was not the way he had envisioned his evening. He loved his quarters. He had transformed it into his own sanctuary and he cherished his few moments of privacy, and now…Chikuso! He didn’t need a new roommate, especially not a new recruit. Most of them, from experience, were first class a-holes and seemed to have this huge chip on their shoulders, bad attitudes and worse, terrible personal hygiene habits. Shivering slightly, he remembered the last roommate he had had. It had NOT been a fun experience.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it, Kakkarrot.” Gohan said softly, noticing his friend’s tense body language. “I bet you might end up getting someone who is pretty level-headed for a psycho.”

“Thanks a lot, Gohan.” Kakkarrot replied curtly as they headed into the senior sleeping quarters.

The two men walked down the long hallway, greeting other fellow officers. As they approached Kakkarrot’s room, they could see the Major outside his door glaring at someone already inside the room.

“Sir!” Gohan and Kakkarrot saluted smartly, as they came up to the frowning man.

“Captain! Lieutenant! At ease!” Flint replied curtly. Turning to Gohan, he continued, “Thank you, Captain. You will be briefed later on.”

“Yes, sir.” Gohan replied as he gave a small reassuring smile to his friend before heading out of the building.

“Lieutenant!” The Major began. “I have a new roommate for you. I know you will not like the intrusion, but it cannot be helped. This is crunch time, son! And you would have to deal with it. Have I made myself clear?!”

“Yes, sir.” Came the toneless reply.

“Private Vegeta! Get your no-good ass out here and meet your superior officer and new roommate!”

Kakkarrot heard a quiet mumble or grumble before the slight figure made his appearance. Cold, onyx eyes flashed with contempt and derision at him before going into a blank stare. Kakkarrot dug his fingers into his skin as he clenched his fists in growing anger at the sight of his new roommate. Yep! The guy had ‘attitude’ plastered all over him and the one thing he couldn’t stand were people who felt that they were too big for their own britches.

Through clenched teeth, he began the usual protocol. “Welcome, Private. I am First Lieutenant Kakkarrot and I will be your new roommate…”

“And squadron leader.” The Major added.

Kakkarrot swiveled around in shock. His squadron leader?! Goddamit, why was this happening to him?!

“Sir! I already have a squad that is filled to capacity. I cannot have any more recruits!”

“There is no room for discussion in the matter, Lieutenant! You have been assigned new recruits and that is all there is to it! Have a nice day!” Saluting, Flint turned away and shut the door to the room with a bang, leaving the two boys alone.

Kakkarrot was still fuming at the last bit of news, when he heard the rustling sound behind him, snapping his head around he found that Vegeta was already making himself comfortable on the extra bed that had been brought into the room. Gritting his teeth, Kakkarrot stalked over to the lying man, as lazy onyx eyes stared at him in insolence. Hissing in his breath, he snapped angrily to his new roommate.

“Alright, Private. I think we need to set some ground rules here. Don’t you think?”