// denotes italicized words

~ denotes thoughts

CHAPTER FOUR:

“Private Vegeta!”

Silence.

“Private Vegeta!”

“Umm…he is not here, sir.” One of the boys finally answered.

“Where the fuck is he then?!” Kakkarrot yelled in frustration. All this week it had been the same crap. Vegeta always came late for squad formation. He didn’t get it. He always made sure he woke Vegeta up every morning. But somehow, the sullen boy never seemed to make it on time for anything. Not for early morning warm-ups, not for any meals… nothing. Gritting his teeth in anger, he swiveled around as running feet were heard.

~ Geez…look who decided to drop by. ~

Kakkarrot glared at the smirking boy as he was saluted in a mocking way.

“Private Vegeta reporting for squad formation, sir!” He barked out, with a mischievous glint in his eye.

“This is the fifth time, Private. I am at the end of my patience with you.” Kakkarrot spat out in clipped tones. “I am afraid I have no other choice but to send you to the Major.”

“But I had to go to the sick bay, Lieutenant. See…I have a permission slip.” Vegeta said smugly, shoving the paper into his superior officer’s grasp. Kakkarrot stared at the paper in disgust. It seemed that Vegeta always had a ready answer whenever he was late. The paper looked legitimate enough and he could find no fault in it.

“I wonder why you keep going to the sick bay, Private. Perhaps you want to check your head for brain freeze?” Kakkarrot drawled, earning sniggers from the crew, and unable to stop the smug grin that filled his visage as Vegeta clenched his jaw in anger. “Get back in line, Private. I will deal with you later.”

Kakkarrot watched as the scowling boy walked to his position. Giving the orders, he led his squad through the grounds of the Home, chanting marching songs as they paraded around the large estate. He nodded in recognition as he passed Trunks and his motley crew. He smiled softly to himself, as the two of them shared a brief but poignant look. Suddenly feeling the back of his skin prickle with awareness, he spun around sharply to stare at amused obsidian eyes that had somehow caught the look. Feeling his face heat up at being discovered, he swiveled back around and raised his voice louder, continuing with his chanting, not wanting to find out what the other boy was thinking.

Since the night of the initiation, he had barely had a one-on-one conversation with his roommate. Kakkarrot always made sure that the only opportunity to speak was either during squad meetings or meal times, when he was forced to eat with his crew. Other than that, he basically kept away from his quarters. Leaving early in the morning and only returning hours after official lights-out, when he was sure that Vegeta would be asleep.

From the little he had seen, however, he knew that Vegeta was different from his past roommate or any other new recruit he had had. Gohan was right. Vegeta was pretty levelheaded for a psycho. He had found out why Vegeta had been sent here and he had been a bit stunned at the ridiculous sentence. Vegeta still walked around with an attitude and Kakkarrot was gradually beginning to get tired of it. He was still disrespectful and he had a smugness about him that Kakkarrot wanted to smack off. Smirking to himself, he decided that some form of punishment was required for the wise ass.

~ It’s about time you got cut down to size, Vegeta. ~

~*~*~*~*~

Vegeta shoved his dirty laundry into his laundry bag, humming softly to himself. So far, so good. It hadn’t been so bad after that first night and he had sort of gained a lot of respect from some of the officers, although there were some he could rather do without. The one person he seemed to enjoy annoying, however, was his own roommate and squad leader.

~ Lieutenant Kakkarrot. ~ He mused, smiling slightly as he rolled the name across his tongue.

“Kakkarrot.” He said softly, feeling his cheeks heat up and not really understanding the reason for it. Sitting down on the bed with a ‘plop’, he rested his chin on his hands and stared at the empty made bed across from him. For the past week, he had barely spoken to the other boy. It seemed like he was deliberately avoiding personal contact with him or something.

He allowed his eyes to wander around the Spartan-like room. The only other sort of furniture in the room consisted of a desk and chair that was placed next to one of the windows that overlooked the lawns of the Senior Mess. No pictures, no posters, no real luxury item, unless you counted the small CD player that was placed next to his dresser. Vegeta had never heard any music played on it though and he wondered if he could borrow it. He had also noticed Kakkarrot’s impeccable neatness. Every thing of his was kept in order. Uniforms were hung or folded neatly, shoes and boots polished and shined, all kept in neat rows, Vegeta almost gagged at the sight. The boy was like a walking book on how a soldier’s room ought to be. Perfect. Just like Kakkarrot himself.

Vegeta frowned as he felt himself go hard at the thought of his handsome commanding officer. Oh, yeah, he had noticed all right. Shifting uncomfortably, he cursed himself for feeling that way and then jumping up, he began heading out of the room and towards the Laundromat. His mind wandered again to the little incident he had witnessed earlier in the day. If he had blinked he would have missed it, but he hadn’t, and so he had seen the soft look that had passed between the two officers.

~ Probably have a thing going. ~

He wondered idly why he felt upset about that. It was none of his business after all. Hell! Kakkarrot could have anyone he wanted, if he liked, so why should it bother him?

~ Admit it, Vegeta. You hate the fact that he ignores you. ~

“Hey, Private!” Vegeta jerked out from his reverie as one of the senior officers approached him. Saluting in return, he answered curtly, “Yes, sir?”

“You wouldn’t happen to be going to the laundry room now, would you?”

“Umm…yes…”

“Great!! Hey, Mark, someone is going to the laundry! You better get out your stuff!” Turning back to the now scowling Vegeta, the officer flashed a toothy grin and then shoved a big bag of dirty laundry into the startled boy’s arms. “Here you go, Private. You will help me, won’t you? I like my uniforms lightly starched. Okay? Thanks, buddy!”

Before Vegeta could say another word, Mark, rushed out of his room with an even bigger bag of clothes. Dumping them on Vegeta, he gushed out as well, “I want mine with no starch at all. Iron them neatly and with the crease and all. Thanks, bud!”

“Yes, sir.” Vegeta hissed through clenched teeth, feeling his fury growing. He was not the resident Laundromat. Why couldn’t the fools go there themselves? Vegeta’s troubles did not end there, however. By the time he got to the laundry room, he had accumulated six bags of laundry with instructions so jumbled up, he wasn’t really sure who wanted what done to his uniform.

~ Kuso! At this rate, I will never make it on time to squad formation. And I don’t have any good excuse this time. Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! ~

And with an angry snort, he began shoving in the whites, not caring who owned what, into the washing machines. The faster he got these things done, the better.

~*~*~*~*~

“We did it, Kakkarrot. Hand over the money.” The blond boy said, grinning at the spiky-haired boy.

“Here, here!” Kakkarrot replied, grinning in reply as he paid all his accomplices.

“Should we move on to plan B?” Mark asked, excited at the thought of further torturing the short-tempered recruit.

“You got the stuff?” Kakkarrot asked, turning to glance at his best friend.

“Right here…” Trunks said, smirking in reply.

~*~*~*~*~

Vegeta felt his eyes get heavy as he followed the gentle motions of the washing machine. Finally giving in to the temptation, he fell into a slight doze, never noticing the two shadows that slipped into the laundry room.

Jerking awake with a start, he looked at his watch and panicked slightly, realizing how late it was becoming. Seeing that the wash was done, he opened up the washing machine and nearly had a heart attack at the sight in front of him.

~ Oh! No! What happened?! ~

All the whites had suddenly turned….BRIGHT ORANGE!! How was he going to explain this to the officers? Could his day possibly get any worse? Biting his lower lip in consternation, he pushed the shirts back in and pouring a generous amount of bleach into the machine, he put it back on and resigned himself to the fact that he was going to be extremely late for squad formation.

~*~*~*~*~

“Hahahahahaha!!!! MAN! You should have seen his face!! It was fucking priceless!!” Trunks laughed, clutching his stomach as the memory of the shock on Vegeta’s face replayed in his mind again.

Kakkarrot smiled softly as his friends enjoyed the after effects of the pranks they had pulled. At the moment, he had to meet with his squadron and as expected Vegeta was not going to make it. If anything, he would bet his marbles that Vegeta would be stuck in the laundry room for a very, very long time.

~*~*~*~*~

Vegeta’s stomach growled with hunger. He hadn’t had a bite to eat since breakfast. He had missed lunch and now dinner because of this stupid laundry. Kicking another washing machine in anger, he glanced at his watch again, and saw that it was almost eleven in the evening. He had been in here for over eight hours, all because of the stupid orange coloring. He was lucky he hadn’t been caught here yet….

“Well, well, well. What do we have here? If it isn’t Mr. Funnyman himself?”

Vegeta spun around and stared open-mouthed at a very smug-looking Major.

~ Just fucking brilliant! Say goodnight to sleep. ~

“I can explain, sir….” Vegeta began.

~*~*~*~*~

Kakkarrot laced his hands behind his head and stared blankly at the ceiling. Looking at the clock again, he saw that it was almost three in the morning. He needed to get up in another two hours and yet his roommate had not shown up. Turning his head, he looked at the empty bed and felt a pang of guilt. He shouldn’t care really, he tried to tell himself. After all, Vegeta had it coming. The boy deserved the treatment for being such a rude and wisecracking baka.

Shifting restlessly within his sheets, he wondered if this experience would change the sullen boy. He doubted it. A part of Kakkarrot hated the cocky attitude, but yet deep inside, another part of him admired the courage and determination that he displayed. He had watched Vegeta throughout the race and had felt a burst of reluctant pride as he had finished the race ahead of his closest competitor by just a hand’s length. Now, if he could only tone down the cocky attitude….

He froze as the door to the room opened up slowly. Through hooded eyes, he watched as Vegeta staggered into the room, shutting the door softly behind him and landing with a heavy thud on his bed, not bothering to take off his clothes or boots.

It was too soft at first. Kakkarrot almost missed hearing it, if he hadn’t strained his ears. He felt something stir in his chest, something he had sworn he would never do, to feel compassion for someone else. But there it was.

Vegeta was sobbing.

Soft, hitching noises that could almost be mistaken for harsh breathing. Kakkarrot gritted his teeth and turned his head away to face the wall. He didn’t want to comfort the crying boy. He forced himself to ignore him, reminding himself that Vegeta needed to learn his lesson, by any means necessary. And so shutting his eyes and ears, he fell into restless sleep.

Aww….tis getting to the good parts soon people! Don’t forget to review!