CHAPTER 5:

Vegeta was not happy. In fact, he was pissed off beyond all comprehension. The baka no Italians had finally come to their senses and had decided to go ahead with the merger. That should have been good news, if not for the fact that his vice president had botched the deal and now he had to go back to Italy to fix the problem again. He glared angrily at the mirror as he fixed his tie, refusing to focus on the other part of his problem, which happened to involve a certain sensei. ~ Kuso! You just had to think about it, didn't you, Vegeta? ~

Vegeta frowned at his reflection. It had nearly been a month since the kissing incident, and Goku had made sure that he made himself as scarce as possible. It was maddening to him. Goku would either eat his meals ahead or later than he, so he wouldn't have to be with him at the dinner table or he would deliberately disappear if he decided to drop by whenever he and Trunks were together. ~ He acts like I have the plague or something.~ Somehow that thought hurt Vegeta more than he would have liked to admit. Lightly touching his lips in remembrance, he thought of how amazing it had been. Vegeta knew that if Goku hadn't opened his mouth to say something, he would have taken the man right there and then. ~Chikuso! I am having the hots for another man.... Another beautiful man. With soft, warm, luscious lips. Tight buns. Muscles to die for...~

"Daddy? Can't I pleeeeeeease come with you?"

Vegeta jumped with a start, and feeling his cheeks heat up at the thoughts that had gone through his mind, he remembered that his botchan was in the room with him.

"I have told you, Trunks. This is an important business meeting. Daddy has to go and deal with some bakayaros and then he will come back and have lots of fun with his little tiger, eh?" he said, ruffling the boy's head and giving him a quick smile.

"But Goku-san said..."

Vegeta groaned. Not another one of Goku-san's famous lectures. He made a mental note to himself to have a little talk with Goku-san on the numerous bits of advice that he seemed to dish out to his son. Picking up his laptop, he turned to see a long face. Trunks was trying very hard not to cry and Vegeta felt a burst of pride at the boy's determination. Stooping down to his level, he looked deep into the blue eyes that reminded him of his dead wife, and said softly,

"I know this is hard for you, Trunks-kun, but trust me, I will be back. I promise. And when I get back it will just be you and me..."

"And Goku-san?" the boy asked, perking up.

Vegeta felt something close to a tight lump in his throat as he said nodding "Yes, and Goku-san."

Trunks ran into his father's arms and hung unto his neck like a vise. Vegeta smiled into the boy's hair as he breathed in the smell of fresh shampoo. Finally, detangling the boy's arms from his neck, he said cheerfully,

"Alright! Ready to go down now, sport?"

"Yeah!!"

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Goku was tense. Too tense. He paced  up and down the large living room, wringing fingers and running hands through his hair. He had to warn Vegeta. He couldn't let Vegeta get on that plane. Aoki and Suzuki stood in the hallway looking extremely worried at the agitation in the young man.

"Nani o shite iru n desu ka?" [What is he doing?] Suzuki, asked puzzled.

Aoki shook his head in bewilderment. This had been going on for the past hour and he was at his wits end. Goku had been asking whether Vegeta had gone or not every few minutes and when they had replied that he hadn't, Goku had seemed a bit relieved, but not before pacing back and forth frantically again.

Finally the sounds of Vegeta and Trunks coming down the stairs floated down to the hallway.

"Aaah...Suzuki-sama,  Chotto onegai ga aru ndesu ga..."[I have a favor to ask of you], began Vegeta walking towards the standing men.

Before he could get another word out, Goku had placed himself between Vegeta and the front door, spreading his arms out wide and shaking his head with a wild look of desperation in his eyes.

"Please, Vegeta-sama." Goku said fervently. "You cannot get on that plane today. Onegai shimasu! [I humbly beg you.]

Vegeta stared dumbstruck at this new display and then turned startled eyes to his trusted servants for an explanation. Getting blank looks and shrugs in return, he turned back to Goku and with a coldness in his voice, said steadily,

"Okurete, [Excuse me] Goku-san. But I have a plane to catch in twenty minutes and I would like to leave now! Now, please, get out of my way!"

"NO! I CAN'T!" Goku yelled suddenly, literally scaring everyone in the room (by this time, many of the servants were staring at the little sideshow). Vegeta felt his temper rising at an alarming rate.

"Listen here, you good for nothing bakayaro! I am your boss and current employer, so you will watch the way you speak to me or I swear you will never work in this country again!! Now for the last time, GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!!"

 He was about to push Goku out of the way, when he was suddenly caught in a vise-like grip. He stared dumbstruck as Goku began leaning towards him. ~ Oh, no! What the hell is he doing now? He can't want to kiss me in front of everyone now, does he? ~ Vegeta began struggling to no avail as Goku leaned his forehead against him. He felt a flash of pain shoot through his body and then merciful darkness slid over him, as he collapsed to the floor.

Everyone stared in horror at their collapsed master and then raised fearful eyes to the sensei that suddenly looked older than his years.

"What did you do to him?" Aoki asked in a shocked whisper.

"Saved his life." Goku said simply, looking softly at the limp man. "Take him up to his room. He will not be traveling anywhere today. Come, Trunks, we have some work to do." And with that, he walked quietly through the numb servants with his student following obediently in tow.

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Vegeta opened his eyes slowly. His head was aching and his mouth felt as dry as sand. Wincing slightly, he tried to get up when he felt the cold wetness of water fill his parched mouth. Drinking greedily, he belched and turned to look into the warm, kind eyes of Aoki.

~ Aoki? What is he doing here? I am supposed to be in Italy, am I not? ~ Jerking around, he studied his surroundings and realized that he was still in his own bedroom in Tokyo. ~ What the...? ~

"You were unconscious, Vegeta-sama." Aoki said calmly, as he stood up and looked over his master.

"What do you mean unconscious? I was perfectly fine." he scowled, angry at how raspy his voice sounded.

"You must have been tired from your previous exertions. After all, you have hardly had a decent rest since you got back."

Vegeta stared at his good friend, wondering if he was hiding anything. Aoki had a perfectly blank and neutral look on his face, as if nothing extraordinary had happened.

"What day is it?"

"The twenty-third."

"I was supposed to be in Italy yesterday, was I not?"

"Hai, Vegeta."

Something wasn't right here. How could he have been unconscious for that long? And why did he have the nagging feeling that Aoki was hiding something.

"Where is Trunks?"

"Riding in the fields with Goku-san."

"Alright then. If you would please arrange for my flight now, I would like to leave for Italy in the next half hour."

"Hai, Vegeta-san." bowing in respect, Aoki walked silently out of the room.

Vegeta sat still for several seconds before he could move himself out of the bed. Stumbling around on shaky feet, he walked slowly to the bathroom, wondering what the hell had just happened to him.

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Aoki walked down the stairs, his brow furrowed in thought. He did not want to alarm Vegeta, since he was still in a relatively distraught state, but he couldn't shake the fear that still lingered in his spine.

"What did you do to him?"

"Saved his life."

Kami! How true that had been. The very plane Vegeta was to have traveled to Italy with yesterday, had crashed into the Okayama mountains and the news had been broadcast with much fanfare on all the major TV networks. Aoki shook his head. ~ How Goku had known, he would never know.~ He had always thought Goku to be an enigma, but this was ridiculous. ~ The man had to be a wizard or a sorcerer or something.~ Aoki knew all about those, he had been raised in a shrine as well and so he knew one or two things about powerful temple priests with unimaginable powers. Aoki slowly began putting two and two together. The single suitcase, the strange books, the special trainings with Trunks and the mysterious Golden figure he had seen doing kata routines in the early morning light. ~ Hmm...it seems that our Goku is a whole lot more than he pretends to be. ~ Shrugging, he decided he would have to talk to Goku sooner or later.

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The red Porsche drove up to the driveway and parked with a screech as Launch jumped out happily with another female friend.

"Ohayo gozaimasu!!" she chirped happily, as she danced into the house, dumping shopping bags on Suzuki. "Ooo...where is Trunks-kun? Where is my wittle, pwetty botchan? I have a present for you!!"

The wittle, pwetty botchan winced into his bowl of cereal as he looked over at his sensei for help. Goku grinned behind his newspaper, knowing the boy was dreading having to face another one of Launch's cuddle attacks.

Launch breezed into the dining room and stroke a pose, "Why if it isn't Goku-chan!!"

Goku felt his cheeks flush at the endearment and glared over at a giggling Trunks.

"Anoo...hello, Launch. How are you today?" he smiled weakly, as Launch draped herself on his lap.

Goku cringed, Vegeta was still away on his trip and Launch was always fond of flirting with him whenever he wasn't around.

"Hey, Goku-Chan,” she drawled lazily, tracing painted fingertips across his jaw.” I have someone I would like you to meet." Waving her friend over, she did the introductions." Goku, this is Videl, Videl this is Goku-chan, the hottie I was talking to you about."

"Hello." Videl said cheerfully.

"Hi..." Goku said, and then jumped as he felt Launch's hands slide down his crotch. Getting up quickly, which in turn made Launch fall down to the ground, he said,  "Would you look at the time? Trunks, I think it is time for us to go finish up that ...umm...that...umm"

"Project?" Trunks said helpfully.

"Yeah, that's it! The Project.  Well, bye, ladies, nice meeting you." And taking Trunks, who blew a quick raspberry at Launch, he practically ran out of the room.

"Geez...what is it with these men. Oh, well, V, you can help me set up for the party, ne?" and chirping away happily, she trotted off to begin organizing the big welcome party for Vegeta.