Friends - an AU Vegebul Highschool Fanfic by LadyVegeets

Ch.01 - The New Guy

Bulma absentmindedly tapped her pencil on her paper. The teacher was explaining how to solve the equation on the board, the same equation she had already answered in the first five minutes of class. She was in the advanced high school program, but even so the material the teacher gave them barely challenged her. She was a genius after all. She'd spoken with the teacher about it and he'd suggested she start taking college courses next semester, but as it was it was too late to sign up for any now. She'd just have to bare with her course work for the time being and do extra credit assignments in her own time to challenge herself. Bulma sighed. Although her easy classes meant she had a lot of time to socialize and work on her own projects, it also meant classes dragged, and sometimes the temptation to skip and spend the day tinkering in the lab with her father, or go and study in the library sounded far more appealing.

Bulma was brought back from her thoughts by the classroom door opening, and an unfamiliar face entered. The boy wasn't tall, but what he lacked in height he made up for with a fierce surly expression. He had spiky hair with a widow's peak, and an otherwise good looking physique, but his clothing and attitude screamed, 'I'll beat you up and take your lunch money'. The principal's assistant stood behind him. "Mr. Popo? This is the new student we told you about."

"Ah yes, come in," the teacher, Mr. Popo bade the new boy. "Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?"

The surly-faced boy grunted and complied. He shoved his hands into his pockets and glared at the class. "I'm Vegeta Saiyan."

The class waited expectantly until it became obvious that Vegeta wasn't going to say anything else. The teacher, Mr. Popo, cleared his throat. "Ah, yes, well… Vegeta's father just moved here for work, I believe," he explained. Vegeta looked away, as though disinterested. "Why don't you take a seat there, Mr Saiyan," the teacher pointed to an empty seat in the front row.

Vegeta slumped into the chair, swinging his bag down under the desk haphazardly. Bulma was sat two rows back from him and one to the left. She was able to watch Vegeta's back inconspicuously from her spot. He seemed so out of place in the class, surrounded by nerds and goody two shoes. He looked like a thug. Thugs weren't usually admitted into the advanced program.

"I was just explaining to the class how to solve this equation," Mr. Popo kindly told Vegeta, indicating the blackboard. Vegeta cocked his head, looking at the board, and then huffed.

"Tch. Easy."

Mr. Popo raised a brow. "Indeed? Perhaps you'd care to show us?" he offered a piece of chalk.

Vegeta snorted and stood up, grabbing the chalk and walked up to the board. Bulma watched, curious, as the new boy gave the equation a final once over just to be sure. Then he wrote down his answer confidently and handed the chalk back to the teacher before slumping once more into his chair.

Mr. Popo gave a small smile. "My, my. Very good, Mr. Saiyan. I'm impressed. Miss Briefs, you might have some competition for top of the class next test."

Bulma's brows rose above her bangs in shock. She tried to give the teacher a confident smile. It was hard to believe such an unpleasant looking guy could be so smart. She chided herself for judging people based on their appearances. She, more than anyone, should know how that was. Most people didn't take her seriously either. Bulma decided to attitude adjustment was in order - it was the poor guy's first day, that was always rough, perhaps his surly attitude was born from nerves. She'd have to try and make his acquaintance later, perhaps he'd make for a good partner during the next group project. It would be nice to have someone able to pull their weight on an assignment for a change.

The rest of the class was fairly uneventful. The new guy kept quiet, and Bulma soon found herself lost in her own thoughts once more as class failed to hold her attention.

Finally the bell rang and the class was over. Students hurried to grab their belongings and move into the hall, Bulma among them, wanting to meet her boyfriend. She usually met up with Yamcha in the hall where they could catch up and he could carry her books. Bulma waited, back against the hall wall, as students filed out and moved on to their next class. As she waited she saw the new boy exit the class, scowling and ignoring everyone. He checked a piece of paper in his hand that looked like a schedule, then looked around the hall. His eyes met hers. Bulma gave him a polite smile. Vegeta didn't return it.

"Where's the gym?" he asked her bluntly.

Rude, she thought. He could have at least said please or introduced himself. Bulma struggled to keep her smile friendly. "Oh, do you have P.E. next? Me too. I could take you there in a minute."

Vegeta just stared at her, scowling. Bulma could feel her smile crumbling. "That way?" he asked impatiently after a minute, pointing down the hall.

Bulma lost her smile entirely. She nodded. "Yeah."

Vegeta turned and headed off without so much as a thanks. Bulma glared after him. So much for him acting surly because of being nervous. The boy was just downright rude.

"Hey, babe!" a familiar cheery voice called out. Bulma turned to see Yamcha jogging towards her, waving his hand and giving her a goofy smile.

"You're late," she replied, holding out her books.

Yamcha grabbed them up with a bashful grin. "Sorry, babe. Had to speak with the teacher."

"Yamcha! Are you in trouble again?" she asked, exasperated.

Yamcha laughed. "Nah, nothing like that. C'mon, let's go or we'll be late for gym."

They started walking, making a stop at Bulma's locker to put her books away and grab her gym bag. Bulma got a whiff of an unfamiliar scent as Yamcha stood close to her. "Are you wearing cologne?" she asked him, surprised. He didn't usually go for that stuff.

"Oh, uh, no. New deodorant," he mumbled as he grabbed her things.

Bulma wrinkled her nose. "It smells like perfume."

Before Yamcha could reply they were interrupted. "Hey guys!" Bulma and Yamcha turned around and saw her friends approach with their gym bags. Goku, Krillin, Tien and Chiaotzu were already in their gym clothes. "We're going to be late, hurry up!" Krillin chided.

"Yeah, yeah," Bulma replied, fluffing her hair. "Where's my girl?"

"Chi-Chi's already there," Goku explained.

"What?" Bulma cried. She snatched her bag from Yamcha's hands and started running towards the changing room. "See you guys there!" she called back as she hurried down the hall.

She ran into the girl's changing room and found Chi-Chi already in her PE uniform. Bulma threw down her bag and hastily started to change. "You're fast."

"No, you're slow," Chi-Chi chided her. "I'm not going to be yelled at because you're too busy playing handsy with Yamcha."

Bulma poked her tongue out at Chi-Chi. "That wasn't what was keeping me. Yamcha was late."

"Again?" Chi-Chi asked, pausing, giving Bulma a concerned look.

"Yeah, you know him, he'd lose his head if it wasn't attached," Bulma laughed as she changed.

Chi-Chi didn't laugh with her. "He's been late an awful lot, Bulma. Even for him. He's usually tripping over himself to be at your side."

Bulma felt her smile slip, a nagging worry twisting in her stomach. "What are you implying, Chi-Chi?"

Chi-Chi shrugged. "Nothing. It's just odd." She hesitated, then added. "He's not smoking again, is he?"

Bulma froze, her eyes going wide. "Oh my god… I knew I smelt something on him. He said it was deodorant, but I bet he sprayed himself to hide the cigarette smoke. That jerk, we made a pact to quit together!" Bulma fumed, already thinking of ways to punish her boyfriend for reneging on their pact.

Chi-Chi shook her head. "Boys are so weak."

Bulma slammed her locker closed, and together the two women headed into the gym, Bulma furious and looking for a fight.

X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.

"Dodgeball?!" someone groaned, but was quickly silenced by a glare from the gym teacher, Coach Piccolo.

The coach went around, assigning everyone a number, one or two. They split into teams either side of the court, and Bulma was pleased to see that she was on the opposite team to Yamcha who she was mad at. With any luck, she could toss a few good throws at him, although she knew the chances of her hitting Yamcha were slim. He was pretty light on his feet. All her male friends were, as they were very athletic and competed at a state level in mixed martial arts. Yamcha might have been the weakest of their group, but he could still run laps around anyone else at the school, herself included. Still, Bulma was nothing if not stubborn and persistent. She was going to hit Yamcha with a dodgeball if it was the last thing she did.

The coach blew his whistle and the game started. The balls flew back and forth, students laughing and yelling, and trying to stay clear of the ball. The court quickly emptied of those students who had been hit. Bulma managed to stay on the court, although she knew why - most of her friends were on the opposite team, and none of them were suicidal enough to aim a ball at her, not until they were forced to if there was no one else left to get.

Suddenly a ball went bouncing by and Bulma hurried to pick it up. Triumphant at her catch, she scanned the opposite team for her boyfriend. Yamcha saw her and smiled, but it quickly died when he saw the look in her eye. Before he could think to escape, Bulma threw the ball at him with all her might. Too alarmed by her betrayal, Yamcha barely dodged out of the way. Bulma huffed, putting an angry hand on her hip. "You could at least have let me hit you!" she called out.

Yamcha gave her a hurt look. "Why?"

Bulma stuck her nose up and walked off. The game continued, more and more students were eliminated. Bulma realized her team was losing, and her athletic friends on the opposite side were starting to eye her as an easy target.

"You do it, Yamcha, she's your girl," Tien said, holding out the ball to him.

Yamcha held up his hands, shaking his head. "Are you crazy? That's exactly why I can't do it. Goku, you do it, you guys grew up together, she'll forgive you eventually."

Goku laughed nervously, taking the ball. He gave her an apologetic shrug. "Sorry, Bulma!" he called out to her from the other side of the court.

Bulma glared at them, fuming. She hadn't been able to hit Yamcha all game, and now her friends were trying to decide who would take her out. They didn't see her as a threat at all and it was infuriating. The worst thing was, she knew they were right.

"Would you stop waffling about already and get on with the game?" someone shouted. Everyone turned and saw the new guy, Vegeta, standing with his arms crossed, an annoyed expression on his face. Bulma looked at him, surprised. She hadn't even noticed that Vegeta was on her team, she'd been too preoccupied with getting vengeance on her boyfriend.

Goku grinned, eying the new guy with interest. "Yeah, of course. Let me just take care of our friend here," he said, amiably indicating Bulma.

"Tch," Vegeta replied, looking away with disinterest.

"Take care of me?!" Bulma screeched, and Goku winced, regretting his choice of words. Bulma pointed a finger at Goku. "If you throw that ball at me, Goku Son, so help me, I'll-"

"Sorry Bulma, that's the game," Goku protested, and before Bulma could finish her threat, he threw the ball at her.

Startled, Bulma screamed and threw her arms up to protect her face. She never felt the impact of the ball, but she heard it. At the sound of flesh being hit, Bulma opened her eyes and saw a large hand inches from her having safely caught the ball. Vegeta had darted to the side and caught Goku's throw before it hit her.

The entire gym fell silent. No one had ever caught one of Goku's throws before. Even Goku looked stunned. The silence was cut by the coach's whistle.

"Son, you're out."

Goku blinked, and then headed off the court. Bulma glanced back at Vegeta, still feeling a little shaken that she'd nearly been hit in the face. "Th-thanks," she stammered.

He gave her a side long glance. "Move if you don't want to get hit," he snapped at her.

Bulma nodded and hurriedly moved out of the way. Vegeta wound up and threw a furious ball at the opposite team, striking Krillin so hard it knocked him down. One by one, Vegeta proceeded to take out the opposition, striking them down with a hard throw or catching one of theirs. Soon all that remained were Vegeta and Bulma on one side, and Yamcha on the other. Both guys had a ball. Bulma was trying to stay out of the way. Yamcha threw straight at Vegeta, but the new boy dodged and threw his own ball. It smacked Yamcha right in the face, and Yamcha fell down with a cry, grabbing his nose. The coach blew the whistle, calling the game over.

"Yamcha!" Bulma cried, and ran over to her boyfriend. Despite having wanted to hit her boyfriend, the sight of him now on the floor clutching his nose didn't give her any satisfaction. "Oh my god, you're bleeding!" She looked around to find the coach for permission to head to the nurse's, but instead saw Vegeta, still standing on their side of the court.

He was just standing there, staring at them. He didn't seem pleased by his win, but neither did he seem apologetic about his throw. Everyone else came running over to check on Yamcha and to help take him to the nurse's office. Bulma saw Vegeta turn away and head to the changing rooms alone, hands in his pockets, his shoulders hunched.

X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.

"Who was that guy, he seems like a total jerk," Yamcha groaned as he touched his swollen, bandaged nose.

They were sitting in the nurse's office. Yamcha was fine, luckily nothing was broken, but the bruise to his ego seemed the worse injury.

"He's new. 'Vegeta'. He joined my class today," Bulma explained, her hands resting in her back pockets.

"Your class?" Krillin asked, his eyes going wide. "So he must be pretty smart?"

Bulma nodded.

"And good at sports," Goku pointed out, looking a little too excited. Everyone knew Goku was always keen for a new challenge.

"So what? He's a jerk," Yamcha pouted.

"He didn't seem terribly friendly," Tien agreed. "He didn't even apologize. Did you talk to him?" he asked Bulma.

Bulma shrugged. "Not much. He's kind of rude if you ask me," she said, her voice soft. The image of Vegeta's outstretched hand clutching the dodgeball in front of her was imprinted in her mind. She couldn't decide if Vegeta had saved her, or simply seen an opportunity to catch Goku out.

"See? If my Bulma says he's rude, then he's a total jerk," Yamcha declared, grabbing Bulma around the waist and tugging her in. Bulma let him, her previous anger at her boyfriend gone. They could talk about him smoking again later. "He looks like a punk too."

Krillin snorted. "Like you can talk."

Yamcha spluttered. "Hey! I'm like, a good punk. He's clearly a bad punk. Total bully type I bet. Grade A asshole."

"You watch your mouth, Mr. Rekishiyoma," the nurse snapped as she re-entered the room. She gave Yamcha the okay to leave, and their group headed out to go get lunch.

They spent lunch together in the cafeteria, talking and eating. No one saw Vegeta, and rumors of the new guy started spreading no thanks to Yamcha loudly bad mouthing him and exaggerating the events of the dodgeball game. By the time the home bell rang that afternoon, Vegeta had gained a bad reputation. As Bulma overheard two girls talking about Vegeta beating people up in gym, she couldn't help feeling a little responsible. Maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to call Vegeta rude without getting to know him better first.

She was on her way out of school when she saw Vegeta with his bag over his shoulder, heading towards the gym. Irrationally, Bulma was overcome with the urge to say something to him. "Hey, Vegeta."

He stopped and glanced at her, his eyes dark and unfriendly.

Bulma swallowed but pushed on. "How was your first day?"

"What's it to you?"

Bulma's mouth dropped open, stunned by his rudeness. She struggled with her temper, trying to remain civil. "In gym today, I just-"

"Whatever." Vegeta turned away and continued walking.

Bulma clenched her fists, indignant. What a dick Vegeta was! Any sympathy or guilt she was feeling for him she quickly threw aside. Bulma turned around and stomped outside to meet her friends, deciding to the put the new guy far from her mind and ignore him as much as he clearly wanted to ignore everyone else.

Which was easier said than done, because the next day Vegeta was all anyone could talk about.

"Babe, babe!" Yamcha called to her excitedly. "Did you hear about Vegeta and Nappa? Apparently they got into a fight yesterday after school and that jerk, Vegeta, destroyed him! They had to send Nappa to the emergency room!"

Bulma's mouth dropped open, and she had to snap it closed. "No way, you can't be serious. Vegeta beat up a senior? And Nappa? He's twice Vegeta's size!"

"I know, it's incredible, right? See, didn't I tell everyone he was a jerk?" Yamcha gloated.

Bulma frowned. "Well it's not like we much cared for Nappa," she pointed out. The large senior wasn't terribly popular on account of his massive ego, and his tendency to boss and bully others around.

"That's not the point, babe," Yamcha sighed. "If Vegeta could beat up someone like that, he must be twice as bad as Nappa."

Bulma wanted to argue her boyfriend's logic, but she didn't exactly feel like jumping to Vegeta's defense after how rude he'd been, and the bell for class was ringing, meaning she had to hurry to class.

Vegeta was already sitting in his chair when she entered. As she walked past, Bulma tried to see if he had any injuries from a fight, but it was hard to tell. Vegeta was covered neck to toe in dark, baggy clothes, and he had his hands shoved in his pockets so she couldn't get a look at his knuckles. Unable to confirm Yamcha's wild story, Bulma sat down and focused on class, finishing all her work within minutes.

When class ended she headed out as usual to meet Yamcha, and once again her boyfriend was a no show. Scowling with irritation, Bulma went to Yamcha's class and asked one of classmates where he was. "He left before the end of class to use the bathroom. Maybe he's still there," the student told her.

Fuming, knowing that Yamcha had probably gone to sneak a cigarette, she marched her way over to the boy's toilets. Without caring about propriety, Bulma slammed the door open and marched inside. A couple guys started yelling at her but seeing her expression they quickly fled. She ignored them and went to the only occupied stall.

"Yamcha, if you're smoking a cigarette without me, so help me, I will murder you in your sleep!" she yelled and shoved the door, not expecting it to open, but it did.

The girl on her knees between Yamcha's legs must have forgotten to lock the stall door.

Bulma stood there, staring, stunned. She couldn't process what she was seeing.

"Launch?" she whispered, the world dropping out from beneath her.

The pretty girl wiped at her lipstick and kept her eyes lowered. "Sorry Bulma."

Bulma's eyes rose to see the face of her boyfriend. He was sat on the toilet, looking flustered as he struggled to put himself back in his pants. He was sputtering her name, and apologies, and a whole lot of other words but Bulma wasn't really listening to. It was like she was watching this happen to someone else. When Yamcha finally stood up to better try and fix himself and make excuses, Bulma turned on her heel and fled.

She crashed into someone as she hurried to exit the bathroom. She looked up into Vegeta's face. For the first time since she'd met him she saw Vegeta express a new emotion - bewilderment. He checked the bathroom door to be certain it was the men's, and then his eyes flickered down to her cheeks. Horrified, Bulma raised a hand and touched her face to find it wet with tears. Vegeta looked past her and saw Yamcha stumbling towards them, still fixing his fly, Launch behind him adjusting her short skirt. Vegeta scowled, but Bulma hardly noticed. She pushed past Vegeta and fled down the hall, wanting to get as far away from the bathroom and Yamcha as she could, ignoring her boyfriend as he called after her.

X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own DBZ characters - they belong to Akira Toriyama, Funimation and Toei Animation as far as I know.