~ denotes thoughts

CHAPTER FIVE:

Vegeta slipped into his loose green tracksuit pants and shoved the black tank top over his head. Running fingers through his hair, he grimaced as the pain shot through his arms again. Although it had been a week since the incident happened, the memories and pain he had suffered at the hands of Major Flint, were still etched deeply in his mind.

The Major had refused to listen to his explanation on why he was still stuck in the laundry room at such an ungodly hour and he had made Vegeta run with his bare feet in the freezing night cold around the large outdoor race track for more than an hour. To top all that, he had had to do over fifty pushups. Already fatigued with lack of food and exhaustion he had collapsed a few times, but the Major would have none of that, kicking or shoving Vegeta until he had begun begging for mercy.

Growling low in his throat, Vegeta clenched his fists and cursed himself for displaying that much vulnerability. He was determined to show that no matter what happened, he was never going to give in, especially not to Flint. As for his roommate, Vegeta had noticed that Kakkarrot couldn’t quite seem to meet his eyes anymore. ~ I bet he had something to do with it. ~ The thought only angered him further and he slammed his fists into his gym locker, causing the other recruits in there, to stare at him in fear and shock.

It was free time now, and the recruits had the opportunity to pick a sport that they were good at. For the next two hours, they were free to do whatever they wanted. Vegeta had signed up for the martial arts classes, partly because he loved it and was pretty good at it, the second being that it was the only way he could let out his frustrations and aggressions. He couldn’t get himself a sparring partner though, due to the fact that he always seemed to scare his opponents away with his overzealousness. Banging his locker shut, he walked out of the room, not giving a second glance at all the looks he received, some more interested than others. He was aware of the extra looks he had been getting from some of the older officers and it always sent a wave of both fear and excitement at the thought of himself being attractive to members of his own sex. He had figured out that most of the guys here, gay or not, seemed to have had the experience of ‘doing it’ with their fellow mates. He had gotten subtle offers, but he couldn’t seem to get himself to actually go for it. The one person he really seemed to have an interest in was the one who could care less about him.

Shaking his head to get rid of his stray thoughts, he pushed open the doors to the gym and searched for a suitable prey amongst the many waiting.

The three boys tightened their training gi and grinned at each other in anticipation. They enjoyed using their free time to basically kick each other’s butts in their fights. Shutting his locker, Trunks turned to the others and asked,

“So what is it going to be today? Double assault or one-on-one?”

“Double.” Gohan replied quickly, before Kakkarrot could say one on one. Grinning at the scowl on the other boy’s face, he continued. “And it is your turn today, Ka-Chan.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Kakkarrot grinned in reply. “Just hope you guys are ready to get a royal ass whooping!”

“Blah, blah, blah.” Trunks sniggered. “All talk and no action. Let the fists and feet do the talking, my friend.”

Happy laughter followed the three of them, as they stepped into the bustling gym. Some of the junior recruits were involved in a basketball game, while some were in the middle of what seemed like a wrestling match. Some senior officers were locked in a game of either cards or pool, lounging around, chatting the free time away. The boys headed towards the martial arts area of the huge gym, noticing that several classes were already in session. Finding a relatively clear spot for themselves, they began going into a series of warm-ups. A sudden loud cheer made them snap their heads up, as they watched the small statured, but obviously strong, spiky haired boy, toss someone else across the dojo.

“Hey, Ka-Chan. Isn’t that your roomie?” Trunks asked, keeping his eyes glued on the action.

“Uh huh.” Kakkarrot mumbled, not really paying much attention. He was already thinking of ways to defeat his two friends and he had no time to look at a couple of new recruits fighting.

“He is pretty good.” Gohan said, staring at the fight as well. “Whoa!” He exclaimed as Vegeta performed a flawless back flip, causing his opponent to lose sight of him, before the poor boy was ruthlessly tossed out of the dojo. “Kakkarrot! You have got to see this! I bet he could be a good training partner.”

“Excuse me, guys.” Kakkarrot said, losing his patience. “I thought we came here to train.”

“All right, all right! Keep your shirt on!” Trunks said, glancing at his frowning friend in amusement. “If you so badly needed us to kick your butt, you just had to say so.”

Growling, Kakkarrot fell into a fighting stance as Trunks and Gohan took their stances as well. With a loud cry, the two boys rushed towards the waiting Lieutenant, beginning a series of kicks and punches that were amazingly fast. Kakkarrot dodged and blocked each one with equally amazing speed and agility, flipping over and over again as his two opponents increased their efforts.

A small crowd began to gather around the fighting trio as the fight wore on, some cheering and hollering as they got into the excitement of the action. With a low growl, Kakkarrot became more aggressive, causing his opponents to be on the defensive. With a swift move, he crouched low and struck out his legs knocking both boys off their feet in one fluid motion. Surprised gasps accompanied the move, as Gohan and Trunks, were effectively eliminated. Their hands had touched the outer boundaries of the dojo and according to the rules they had lost.

“Kuso! I can’t believe we lost to that lousy move.” Gohan said angrily, banging his fists against the soft padding.

A grinning and panting Kakkarrot walked up to them and stretched out his hand to lift them up. “Ha! Look who’s laughing now?” He crowed, smirking as his hand was ignored.

“We want a rematch, Kakkarrot and I mean it!” Gohan retorted. He hated losing. About to continue his admonishment of his friend, a sudden voice stalled his next comments.

“I want to fight with you, too.”

The three boys, along with several other heads, turned to look at the slight boy with the folded arms, complete with a self-righteous smirk on his face. For a few moments, nothing was said as a sort of stunned silence greeted the statement. For starters, no new recruits were allowed to address any officer in that manner, let alone dare to challenge them in such a condescending tone. Many of the new recruits wondered what the reactions of the officers would be, as they all leaned in to watch the scene before them with growing interest.

Vegeta at this point didn’t quite care what they thought of him. He had watched the fight and he had felt a strange rush of heat envelope his being as he watched the masterful skills displayed by the handsome spiky-haired Lieutenant. So far, no one here had been a real challenge for him and he had been more than excited to see that, maybe, Kakkarrot might be the one to actually make him sweat a little. He knew he was treading dangerous ground, asking out bluntly for a fight, but he didn’t care. He wanted to fight his roommate and damn the consequences. Staring straight at Kakkarrot, he repeated himself again.

“I said, I wanted to fight as well.”

“Why, you little…” Trunks began, growling in anger as he stepped menacingly towards Vegeta.

Gohan held him back and gave a small look that signified that he would take care of everything. Walking up to Vegeta, he started calmly,

“Listen, Private. We might be in free time, but he is still your superior officer and you will speak to him with respect. Secondly, you may not ask for a challenge in that manner, or you would be punished. Is that understood?”

“It’s okay, Gohan.” Kakkarrot said softly, his eyes firmly locked on the challenging ones before him. “I think our ‘friend’, Vegeta, needs someone to deflate his oversized ego.”

“Kakkarrot…”Gohan began, not liking this one bit. “Fine. But make sure you kick his butt really, really hard. Got it?”

Nodding absentmindedly, he watched as Vegeta’s smirk slowly transformed into a small grin of victory. Those onyx eyes seemed to dance with an eagerness and excitement that was strangely contagious. Feeling his own adrenaline begin to flow, he fell into another fighting stance and emitting a soft growl, as Vegeta crouched as well, he smirked and spoke softly,

“I hope you don’t chicken out on me, Private, for I have no intention of going easy on you.”

“That’s fine with me, Lieutenant. I will just have to make it quick then.”

Glaring at Vegeta for that final jab, he rushed towards the smaller man in a move so fast, that he landed a clean blow on Vegeta’s chin. Staggering back at the hit, Vegeta rubbed his jaw and smiled grimly. ~ Yes, this is more like it. ~ With a yell, he leapt towards the taller boy and struck out his legs giving Kakkarrot a good sidekick that sent him flying a few feet across the padded floor. Shaking his head, to clear away the spinning stars, Kakkarrot sneered and standing up he muttered to himself, “You asked for it.” With his own cry, he rushed towards Vegeta again, this time punching and kicking in rapid succession, not really giving the smaller boy a time to regroup or anything.

By this time, the entire occupancy of the gym had made their way towards the fight. It had suddenly become a battle not just between two boys, but a battle between officers and new recruits. Of course, the new recruits and juniors rooted for Vegeta, yelling and cheering him on as each punch or kick was given to Kakkarrot. On the other hand, the officers were twice as loud, especially Gohan and Trunks, who wanted to see the cocky slight boy beaten to the ground.

Sweating, panting and neither willing to give in, Kakkarrot and Vegeta were now locked in a stalemate. Straining, each of them gripped hands tightly and pushed with every fiber of their being, wanting to see which of them would cave in. Gritting his teeth, Kakkarrot stared into the flashing, taunting onyx eyes as he suddenly brought his head forward and slammed it right into the other boy’s face. A flash of pain shot through his body at the intensity of the hit and he could vaguely hear Vegeta’s groan of pain as they both collapsed to the floor in disorientation.

A slow chant of ‘Get up’ was started by someone, before the entire crowd picked it up and began a loud chant of multiple ‘GET UP!s.’”

“Come on, Kakkarrot!! Get up!!” Trunks and Gohan shouted along with several other officers.

“Come on, Vegeta!! You can do it!!” The recruits yelled in encouragement.

Vegeta groaned as he rolled onto his back, blinking at the ceiling. They were chanting his name. Had he won? Getting up slowly on one hand, he felt the warm trickle of blood flow into his eyes as his hands brushed against the gash on his forehead. Wincing, he glanced through a haze of red and he saw that Kakkarrot was also in the process of getting up as well.

~ Must get up…~

Kakkarrot tasted the metallic salt of his blood on his lips and he licked it off, shaking his head, as he tried to get some semblance of control. Standing up on shaky feet, he could hear his name being chanted and he wondered briefly if he had won, when he saw a flash of black in front of him.

~ What the....? ~

Suddenly he found himself locked within the arms of Vegeta. Somehow, Vegeta had gotten behind him and now he could barely move as Vegeta had his arms wrapped underneath his shoulders and was pulling his own arms into a really painful angle. Hissing beneath his breath, he refused to cry out, as the smaller man twisted his arms even harder.

“Give up.” Vegeta breathed harshly against his ear.

“No!” Kakkarrot hissed in anger, sucking in harsh breaths as Vegeta increased the pressure.

“Say uncle, Kakkarrot or I will break them.”

“I dare you!” he grunted in reply.

Vegeta snorted in anger and then squeezed even harder. Kakkarrot felt his vision go hazy. He couldn’t lose, not to Vegeta. But, Kuso! The pain was becoming unbearable. Shaking his head, he was just about to give in when a loud yell was heard.

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON, HERE?!”

In a matter of seconds, the crowd had dispersed and Vegeta dropped Kakkarrot’s arms, watching as the taller boy collapsed onto the dojo in a faint. He hadn’t wanted to squeeze that hard. Major General Flint walked towards the four boys in the middle of the dojo and glared at them in displeasure.

“Well?! Do I get an answer here or not?!”

“Please sir.” Gohan said, walking up to the scowling man and saluting in greeting. “We were having a training session and we were just trying to teach the new recruits some techniques.”

“Is that right? According to my source that wasn’t what happened, Captain. You wouldn’t be lying to me now, would you?”

Gohan looked away and tried to hide his embarrassment. Flint sniggered and then walked up to Kakkarrot, turning the lying boy on the floor over with his boot.

“I cannot believe he lost to a new recruit.” At that he turned his eyes towards the unrepentant ones of Vegeta. “Seems like Mr. Funnyman might be useful after all. Since you have so much energy to spare, Private, perhaps you would like to join your fellow recruit members in scrubbing the toilets in the Junior Mess. Captain Mitch! Escort Private Vegeta to his new job.” He finished smugly, smirking at the glare he received from the spiky-haired boy.

“Fuck you.” Vegeta spat out, not giving a damn anymore. He had had it with Major Asshole.

Everyone in the room seemed to freeze as the words were uttered out of Vegeta’s mouth.

Major Flint’s face went through several shades of colors, his jaws working soundlessly, before settling on red, as his fury grew. Finally, in a deceptively calm voice, he said softly,

“What did you say?”

Gohan and Trunks tried to make Vegeta shut-up, but Vegeta only raised his voice louder and said again, “I said ‘Fuck you!’” And to add even more insult to injury, he spat on the Major’s boot, grinning in satisfaction at the look on the burly man’s face. Gohan and Trunks groaned in despair, along with several other officers. They knew what was in store for the new recruit.

“This, Private Vegeta, is the beginning of your end.” Flint said softly, his eyes hard chips of ice. “Captain Mitch! Take Private Vegeta to a place where he can take some time to think about his actions! Solitary Confinement!!”