Disclaimer: It's in chapter one. Man, it's been forever since I typed that!
I'm finally in the groove of things and getting inspiration for my works. However, I'm now writing on a limited schedule. College life might have a lot of space between some of the classes, but it doesn't mean that these classes don't come with high maintenence.
So, you can probably see more chapters coming up. I know that the last chapter took months (rather literally), but even with my tight schedule, I'm sure that I can handle putting out chapters much more often.
Now, If I can only have some bloody paragraph indentions!
Piccolo looked at the wallet with a little bit of confusion before he set it down on the sink and began to wash the blood off his hands.
"Good thing that fat millionaire didn't burn up before you could get his money," his father mused as he leaned back on the outer wall of the bathtub. As he was ordered, Piccolo snatched the wallet from Fugeru's pocket before abandoning the place and coming to an apartment bathroom. Piccolo didn't feel like asking his father why these steps were necessary. He didn't really feel like speaking.
The old Daimaou seemed to expect this. "You'll be in more stable mind after a while. Right now, especially with all this information, you feel a bit overwhelmed. You know that the information is significant, but you can't do anything to completely grasp it right now." He gestured over to the wallet. "It contains a lot of money and several credit and debit cards. You might feel a little awkward going to an ATM, but you're going to need a lot of bills."
Piccolo looked at him and turned off the faucet. After a moment of contemplating something to say, he only nodded in agreement.
Nition's girlfriend actually lived near the hotel, so Taifu decided that it wouldn't be too unethical to get him instead of the other way around. It looked like his girlfriend was still making food, since she was holding a bottle of milk in one hand and still wearing her pajamas.
Keshou apologized for coming so early. "Is Nition awake, yet?"
"Just a moment," the girl turned to the short hall in her living quarters. "Iggy! Could you come here?"
Taifu giggled a little bit, and Nition came out, wearing only boxers, then made an unusual squeak when he saw his employer at the door. He ducked back into the bedroom and tilted out halfway. "Keshou-san! You're... rather early."
She giggled again. "I know. I'm very sorry, 'Iggy', but I thought that I could meet your significant other before I go meet with my business associate, maybe even go down to my brother's pub for a bit if you feel up to it."
He blinked. "Is it even open at this hour?"
"Sometimes. Really, it depends on the time of year."
Before Nition's girlfriend could invite Taifu to sit down, Taifu's cell phone blared. "I'm sorry. Just a moment." She took it from her purse and pushed the button. "Moshi moshi!-- This is she...Yes. What about her?" Although she spoke no more words, her complexion became ashen before she dropped the phone.
Bulma was hardly able to drag herself from the bed when the alarm went off. Of course, the buzzing sent Vegita into a growling fit before he got up and went to the gravity room for his ante-breakfast training. These mornings were always hectic, or at least obnoxious.
At the bottom of the stairs, she rubbed her eyes a bit, again. Her mother had the main room lit up brightly and the curtains pulled back to let morning light in. She tried to compile a list of her morning activities before she noticed a tall figure at the door. Walking up, she still had trouble trying to see the person in the bright light until she opened the door and looked straight at him. "Piccolo?"
For a moment, something looked like it moved near by him, but she supposed that it was just a tree waving. He walked towards her, his arms still crossed, and gave a nod to accommodate a greeting.
Bulma tugged the collar of her night shirt a bit. "Is there something that you want to be here at this time of morning?"
"Yes. It's something that I had to get done as soon as possible."
Bulma got out of the lab later than she expected, but it didn't matter now. The answering machine picked up a message that the meeting was cancelled, and that she would get another call later to explain the reasons. Hopefully, the phone call would provide a rescheduling. It's been very difficult for her to get an open slot at the same time as her affiliate's, so they rarely got to get together.
When she got the call later that day, she felt shocked that her affiliate, Keshou Taifu, had lost her daughter. It turns out that their only free slot was on the girl's funeral date. Whether it was a sad twist of fate, or a grasp towards luck, Bulma was entirely fine with trying to help Taifu with her grief. She knew that she would feel great pain if Trunks died suddenly (and this came very close several times).
Speak of the Devil, the little torrent came down the stairs with Goten and immediately chanted for breakfast. She smiled and tapped her forehead lightly. That's right. It's Goten's birthday. Sympathy has to wait till later.
The kids had a blast at Goten's surprise party. They ran around all over Mt. Paozu and played games with Goten's new toys from Gyuu-maou and other family and friends. However, some of the adults were oddly sullen. The one that you would expect to be sullen wasn't there, and it worried Gohan and Goku more than was comfortable. Furthermore, Bulma was giving off enough bad vibes to put them on edge. She was acting like someone had just died or something.
Chi-chi, not having anymore of the eerie silence, finally questioned the group, "What's wrong with you guys? It's Goten's 8th birthday! Can't you be a little more jolly?"
Bulma bowed her head a bit. "I apologize, Chi-chi. I just found out that the daughter of a business associate died last night. I told you that I wasn't originally going to come because I was going to a meeting with that associate, but she had to cancel."
"That's awful. I hope that she copes well." Chi-chi chattered a little bit on it with her and then passed her glare over towards her boys. "And what is your excuse for being so gloomy?"
Goku and Gohan snapped out of their quiet attitudes like from a trance and just grinned at her. They didn't really want to explain the whole situation with Piccolo and the weird air that just seemed to flank them at all sides.
Taifu stood rather alone by the rectangle hole that Uwaki's coffin was suspended over. Very few people came to the funeral, and most of them came more to give their condolences to Taifu rather than to bid Uwaki a farewell into the next life. Nama stood by her right, silent and still. Bulma and Nition kept a few steps away, trying to think of some way to speak with her. Mari, who had been bid to come by Nama, fell back the farthest from her, looking nervous and shaking slightly with her uncomfortable sadness, wanting dearly to be able to retreat to her absent husband's arms.
Keshou Taifu kept the most still. She didn't bow her head or let a single sound escape her. Her eyes only looked forward, and scarcely seemed to blink. Even after the priest said his words and left, she didn't move. It was a while before Nama and Mari retreated, and even Nition ended up announcing that he would wait for her in the car. Bulma forced herself to remain and step forward to speak to her.
"Was she a good daughter?" she finally broke "she must have been pretty humble to have so few people come."
"No. She wasn't humble at all. She was selfish, conceited, and rather rude."
Bulma blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I know what you're thinking. 'How can she speak in such a way of her own daughter after she has died?' It's quite simple, really. It's the truth."
"Do you suppose that someone that hated her did this?"
"Obviously. Her body was broken, burned, and decapitated."
"Do you have any idea who?"
Taifu nodded. "Several years ago, there was this young couple that worked in my brother's bar. The night before they left, a gang leader's corpse was found decapitated--"
"But, that could just be coincidence--"
"The police saw the killers. A man and a woman, their description fitting the couple to the smallest detail. Moreover," she finally turned her head to face Bulma, "I saw his head."
"You saw it? Why didn't you say anything?"
Her eyes turned back forward. "At the time, I thought it was fake, and even after I found out that it was real, I didn't know where they went."
"But why would they kill your daughter?"
"They both hated her guts. She constantly hit on the man, and she had a rivalry with the woman. And, to wrap things up, a lot of the killings that night was similar to what happened to Uwaki and Shuran."
"Shuran?"
"A man that they also hated. He pretty much had the same situation with them. He was killed the same night as Uwaki."
Bulma involuntarily shivered in the following silence. She finally couldn't stand the morose feeling any longer and took her leave without another word.
The bag with the head rolled around in the closet of the ship every time there was a shock from Piccolo's training. He wasn't sure if the sound that it made should annoy or amuse him. But it was certainly a distraction, and his father finally told him to quit for the day.
"Training is more important than ever, but you have to rest. You might have noticed your mind becoming more coherent already. After you have a good amount of sleep, you'll be functioning better than you have been for months."
Piccolo broke his meditating position and released a heavy breath. "Very well, but I still don't understand why I have to completely leave Earth."
"I'll explain it in your sleep--" He was momentarily interupted by a sour glare on his son's face. "--after that, you won't see me again for a long while. I will only be hindering the process."
"Lovely. I can finally be alone." He went to the sleeping quarters and shut the door behind him.
The old Daimaou chuckled. "Soon, in more ways than one."
I finally finished it! Woohoo! I was wanting to make more chapters after Uwaki's death, but, Hell, I don't think that I can handle it. Anyway, I will get another sequal out after this (you guys must be groaning). The next one will be... the 3rd sequal, and I'm still thinking about doing the Mebana prequal. A Iesu Christo! It cannot be escaped (atleast by me, anyway)!