Remember what I said?? It’s all going to be three happy go lucky chapters, yeah! I have a question, though. How many of you wanna see a lemon in the last chapter? How many of you want to see a sequel? And lastly, how many of you want to see the lemon wait until the sequel?? I’m just curious, is all.

One more thing: If Bulma seems a little pessimistic in this chapter, it is for good reason, ok?

(One more thing! ^-^ For the satisfaction of most of you, Yamucha/Rae/Shelly will appear very sparingly in this chapter and the one after it!! Yeah!)

Also: this chapter was inspired by Lindsey, who gave me a delicious idea! Thanks lots! Ok! Go read!

Princess

~~~~~~~

Bulma yawned and stretched as she woke up.

She looked around and grinned when she saw Chichi and 18 curled up in different corners of the room, protectively clutching their pillows.

She got up and quietly walked over to the bathroom.

As she opened the door she thought back on last night’s events.

"So… Vegeta is really serious about me, eh?" she asked herself as she turned on the tap.

"Hmm, the question is, am I really serious about Vegeta?" she asked her reflection as she leaned on the sink and stared into the mirror.

She blushed.

"Of course I am…but why? There’s nothing good about him. He is a total jerk, he’s cruel to all our friends, he has a horrible temper, he’s a bully, he gets bad grades and he’s extremely jealous." Bulma told herself as she frowned.

"But he does have a nice body, and he’s a good kisser, a good boyfriend, and he’s nice to me…"

She put her toothbrush under the faucet.

‘This is the most confusing point in my life. Why is Vegeta so interesting to me?? Why can’t I just say to him: We should just date a few weeks and then break up. After that I’ll be single for the rest of my life. Yeah, that’s the plan Bulma,’ she thought to herself as she put the toothpaste on her toothbrush. ‘All I need is to be a lonely prude with 19 cats. But… I’m only 17 and I told Vegeta that I want to spend the rest of my life with him?? No wonder he got all uneasy when I said that. What was I thinking?? Now he probably thinks I’m one of those weird girlfriends who corner their men into marrying them.’

Bulma began to brush her teeth.

‘But… then what if I were to stay with him? My parents would have a fit! Even my mom would not like me getting married to Vegeta. He does have a bad rep. If I love him, though, shouldn’t that be enough?’ she asked herself.

She quickly finished brushing and splashed water on her face.

"Am I going crazy!? Marriage?? I’m going to go to college and make something of myself! Why the hell would I want to be some stupid housewife?? Knowing Vegeta that’s probably all I’d be. He wouldn’t want me to go anywhere where I could possibly get ‘hurt’ or risk attention from another occupant of the male species." Bulma said with a grin.

She grabbed a towel and started to dry her face.

"Wouldn’t it be just so funny if he stayed home and watched the kids while I made the dough??" she asked herself as she laughed.

She pulled off the top of her sleeping clothes and then leaned into the shower to turn the faucet on. At that moment she heard a tapping sound.

She raised her eyebrow in question. She turned around curiously, wanting to know where the sound came from. She frowned as she heard it come from the warped window in the bathroom. She pulled the towel around her chest not wanting to be exposed even though she wore a bra.

She crept over to the window and soon found the latch that kept it closed. She pushed the window outwards and peered out. Her eyes widened as she found out who it was. Vegeta stood below her window with a characteristic smirk plastered on his features.

Bulma frowned angrily at him.

"What the hell are you doing out here, you little pervert!?" she asked as she clutched her towel closer.

"I’m not a pervert because I wasn’t spying on you." He informed her with the smirk still present.

Bulma frowned.

"What do you want? If you’re caught here…" she warned.

"So what." He told her as he shrugged.

Bulma noticed his bare shoulders and now took the time to see that he was decked out in his swimming trunks.

She gave him a curious look.

"Did you go for a swim?" she asked him.

"I’m planning to." He said as he reached up and grabbed her hand, pulling it out the window.

"And you’re going to join me."

"Nani??" she asked in surprise.

"What are you talking about? What time is it??"

"It’s about 6:30 in the morning." He told her.

She narrowed her eyes.

"And what makes you think that I would be willing to go swimming at 6:30??" she asked him.

"Oh, well, because we missed out on it yesterday." He informed her.

He was now massaging the palm of her hand, obviously trying to persuade her to accompany him.

Bulma pulled her hand back.

"Why should I go with you, huh? You’re a little peeping tom." She told him.

"I wasn’t spying on you, onna. It was more like eaves dropping." He said with a smirk.

Bulma’s statement darkened.

"What’d you hear, ya jerk?" she asked.

"Oh… some strange things. Like some stuff about Marriage. Besides, Bulma, if we did ever get married I sure as hell wouldn’t be taking care of the brats. I can’t spend more than in an hour in a room with kids." He said.

He then reached for her hand again.

"Come on." He said as he tugged.

"It’ll be a perfect time for us to be alone with out those idiots we call friends."

Bulma gave him an indecisive look.

"We really shouldn’t. Like they said, no going out before the wake up call." She told him.

He gave her a pout and she rolled her eyes.

"Fine! I’ll meet you outside in ten minutes." She said as she pulled her hand back again.

He grinned.

She closed the window and then silently berated herself for letting him persuade her like he did. She turned the faucet off reluctantly thinking about missing her hot shower.

She silently snuck out of the bathroom and into the room.

She retrieved her now dry bathing suit and snuck back into the bathroom.

She quickly donned the swimsuit and pulled her hair up into a high ponytail.

"I must be crazy! We are so definitely going to get in trouble for this, yet Vegeta insists on being childish." Bulma said as she wrapped her towel around herself.

She felt a small smile tug at the corners of her lips.

For some strange reason she actually wanted to do something daring for once.

She slipped on her beach slippers and decided that she was ready to go.

"This had better be worth it." She grumbled as she stalked through the room.

She was careful not to awaken her two sleeping friends.

She noticed, briefly, that Rae still hadn’t come back, which wasn’t much of a surprise for her.

She flung the door open only to be confronted by Vegeta.

"Hey, beautiful." He said to her.

She blushed as she looked at him.

‘Ok, maybe I can get over my anger at him. Arrgh… he’s too good at this mind control thing. That must be the answer; because there’s no way that I could fall for a guy as wrong for me as he is. And two times in a row if I count Yamucha! I’m not that misfortunate, am I?’ she asked herself in confusion.

"All right. Lead the way, and I’m telling you right now; if that water’s cold I’m leaving, is that understood!" she told him.

Vegeta smirked again and Bulma knew he was planning something.

"What’s going through your demented little mind?" she asked him.

"Oh, nothing." He said.

"Come on follow me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They arrived at the lake fifteen minutes later. As Vegeta had expected, there was nobody there except for the two of them. He smirked.

From where they were standing at the top of a hill they could see all of the lodge’s romantic woodsy landscape. Bulma walked up next to him and watched as the sun came up over the still lake water.

"Beautiful, ne?" she asked him.

He nodded slightly.

"Everything’s sentimental with you, isn’t it?" he asked her.

She pouted as she turned her head and looked at him.

"Not everything… only the things that count." She whispered.

He stared at her.

She returned his gaze.

Something transpired between the two and their uneasiness subsided.

"I’ll race you to the water… if your puny legs can keep up." He taunted her.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Oh you must mean if you can keep up, cuz I’ll definitely win!" she said as she got a head start.

"Yo, wait!" Vegeta shouted in surprise as he raced after her.

Bulma threw off her towel on the way down the hill.

Before Bulma could reach the lake Vegeta grabbed her hips and pulled her to the ground with him.

They rolled until Bulma was on top.

She placed her hands on Vegeta’s chest and leaned backwards.

"Oh… so I see you were so jealous that you would jeopardize both our chances at winning? Shame on you Vegeta!" Bulma scolded with a smile.

Vegeta smirked as he sat up making Bulma slide down into his lap.

He pulled her hands from his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He kissed her passionately on her lips, surprising Bulma.

"Vegeta…?" she asked him unsurely.

To her, it seemed he was being odd.

‘Vegeta’s been so nice and romantic to me… I thought it was too good to be true… maybe it is?’ she asked herself.

When Bulma came back to her senses she felt herself moving.

Vegeta had picked her up and was now walking the rest of the way to the lakeshore.

"Whoa! Where do you think you’re going??" she asked as she tried to get down.

He held her securely and started laughing.

He picked up his speed and ran into the shallow end of the water.

It was freezing cold and he shivered slightly.

Water splashed up and hit Bulma on her bottom, making her jump in surprise.

"No, no!" she squealed as she tried to get away from the water.

"Too cold!" she whined.

Vegeta kept walking until he was waist deep in the water.

Bulma’s butt was inches above the water and she was clinging to Vegeta’s neck to make sure she never touched.

Vegeta grinned as he crouched making her rear end slide into the water.

She yelped and flailed her arms falling backwards and getting drenched with the freezing water.

Vegeta broke out in uncontrolled laughter.

Bulma’s anger dissipated as she saw how much fun Vegeta was having.

"You really enjoyed throwing me into freaking cold water, didn’t you?" she asked him with a twinkle in her eye.

Vegeta stopped laughing and arched an eyebrow at her.

She smirked and launched herself at him, throwing him into the water.

They wrestled until Vegeta had a hold on her again.

They had come out a little deeper into the water so it was about chest high.

They stared into each other’s eyes.

Bulma’s teeth were chattering and Vegeta was smirking at her.

He closed his eyes as he leaned into her. She followed suit and pressed her lips to his.

After a few seconds they pulled away.

Bulma gave him a cynical look.

"You know what, I never thought the idea of swimming in freezing water at six-something in the morning would actually be fun, but you never cease to amaze me Vegeta." She sighed as she leaned her head against his chest.

"Onna?" he asked.

"What?" she responded.

"You’re trembling. Swim around to get warm because I am not letting you go back to your cabin yet." He told her.

She frowned at him and stuck out her tongue.

He let go of her and she started treading water.

"Oh, I swear if I get pneumonia and am sick for the prom I will so kill you!" she threatened him as she started to swim farther out into the lake.

Vegeta followed after her, swimming on his back.

"The proms like three weeks away, besides if you’re sick how will you have enough strength to kill me?" he asked innocently.

Bulma growled and splashed water into his face.

He sputtered then rolled off of his back. She shrieked as she saw him glare at her and speeded up her swim. He started a powerful pace to catch up with her.

She barely made it to the middle of the lake when he came up behind her.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." he scolded her as he floated behind her.

He ran his hands over her arms and let her lean back against him.

"That wasn’t very smart, baka." He told her.

"Why not, Vegeta? What’re you gonna do to me, hmm?" she asked teasingly.

He smirked at her. (A/n: How many times is he gonna do that??)

He grabbed her shoulders and dunked her under the water.

Bulma came up sputtering for air and throwing curses at Vegeta.

He laughed.

"That’s what you get!" he said as he splashed water in her face.

Bulma splashed him back.

They had just declared a water fight.

~~~~~~~~~

Goku shot up from his bed with a dazed statement.

He was just having a very ‘vivid’ dream about Chichi.

He looked around the cabin to see Krillin in his bed and Yamucha and Rae cuddled in the bed above him.

"Everything looks in order… whoa!" Goku said as his eyes went back to the sleeping couple.

"What the hell?" he whispered to himself.

"What are they doing here… together? I thought they weren’t dating anymore!" Goku continued as he looked at Yamucha and Rae.

‘How could I have missed this while coming in last night?’ he asked himself.

‘Wait, they weren’t here last night!’

He tapped the bottom of the bunk above him trying to get Vegeta’s attention.

When he heard no response he raised an eyebrow.

He knew Vegeta wasn’t a heavy sleeper.

He got out of his bed and looked up to see Vegeta was gone.

"Ah, kuso." He cursed quietly.

"Why is it that this cabin was destined to have the most problems? Yamucha will get in trouble if he doesn’t get Rae back to her room and Vegeta will get it if he doesn’t get back here." Goku said.

He quietly snuck across the room.

He tapped Krillin nervously while watching the top bunk.

He could care less about what kind of trouble Yamucha got into, but it was almost 7:00. Cabin checks would be at 7:30 and he had to get Vegeta back there, and quick.

Krillin grumbled some things as he turned over and batted Goku’s hand away.

Goku tried shaking Krillin’s shoulder but that was no use.

Goku sighed as he came to a conclusion.

He only knew of one way to get Krillin to wake up, although it would definitely wake all the other people in the room.

He took in a deep breath of air.

"FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he yelled loudly in Krillin’s ear.

Krillin shot up and Rae and Yamucha screamed as they clutched each other for dear life.

Goku rolled his eyes at the two and waited patiently for Krillin to get a bearing on his surroundings.

"What’d you do that for, Goku? There’s no fire." Krillin said as he rubbed at his eyes.

"Vegeta’s gone and if he’s not back in thirty minutes he’s definitely getting demerits so help me find him." Goku said as he walked over to his own bed.

He pulled on his t-shirt while Krillin contemplated the situation.

"Look, he’s probably getting breakfast or something…" Krillin said.

"Nah… I don’t think so. He’d definitely wake us up for that." Goku said.

"What is wrong with you, ya jerk?" they heard a feminine voice say.

Goku glanced up in time to see Rae pulling her shirt on.

He blushed and looked away.

"I’m talking to you, ya know." She said as she jumped down from the top bunk.

Yamucha groggily cursed to himself and laid his head down on his pillow.

"What do you want?" Goku asked the girl as she stood in front of him with her arms crossed.

"That’s really fucked up yelling ‘fire’ while people are sleeping you know?" Rae said angrily.

Goku frowned.

"Hey, isn’t it real fucked up to sleep with a guy who you know doesn’t want you?" he asked her as he glanced at the guilty looking Yamucha.

Rae frowned.

"You don’t know what you’re talking about." She said through clenched teeth.

Krillin looked around in confusion.

"Hey, how’d Rae get in here?" he asked.

"Guess who invited her in." Goku said as he tilted his head in Yamucha’s direction.

Yamucha growled angrily as he climbed down from his bed.

"What’s your problem, Goku?" Yamucha asked him.

"My problem is that you gave me that whole speech about how you were so good for Bulma and how I shouldn’t let her be with Vegeta but now you’re sleeping with Rae??" he asked.

Yamucha frowned.

"Well…" he said as he glanced at Rae who was glaring at him.

"It’s none of your business." Yamucha growled angrily to Goku.

"Come on, Rae. I got to get you back to your cabin before they find out your missing." Yamucha said as he grabbed Rae’s hand.

"Yeah, um… okay." Rae mumbled as she was dragged out by Yamucha.

"Hurry up and get dressed Krillin. I don’t know what possesses Vegeta to be so dumb sometimes but I can’t imagine graduating with out him and he’ll get hell from Mr. P. if he’s caught breaking the rules… again." Goku said.

Krillin laughed.

"Hey! You know what. He’s probably with Bulma." Krillin said slyly.

"What do you mean?" Goku asked as he pulled on his sneakers.

"Well, you saw them last night… maybe they picked back up from where they left off…" Krillin said.

Goku raised an eyebrow.

"Actually… you might be right. So, should we go check at the girls’ cabin to see if Bulma’s there or not?" Goku asked.

"Yeah, that’s a good idea, but we can’t waste time!" Krillin said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

18 and Chichi looked around groggily.

"Where could she be??" Chichi asked as she looked under one of the bunk beds.

18 stretched and yawned.

"Who knows? She’s not in the bathroom." 18 pointed out.

"Bulma!!!!!" Chichi yelled as she cupped her hands over her mouth to project her voice.

18 winced.

"Shhh, be quiet. Do you know what time it is!" 18 scolded her.

"Oh my goodness! What time is it?? If Bulma isn’t back by the wake up call, she’ll get demerits! Do you know what that’ll do to her record!!" Chichi said in shock.

18 frowned as she paced back and forth across the room.

"Where could she be? It’s not like she could have gone to get an early breakfast. At orientation they said that the mess hall didn’t open ‘til 8 o clock." 18 told Chichi.

"Well, that only means one thing…" Chichi said as she gave 18 a knowing glance.

"She’s with Vegeta." They said at the same time.

"I don’t know what goes through her mind sometimes!" Chichi said as she pulled on a pair of jeans.

"Well, love can do that to some people." 18 sighed as she started getting dressed also.

Chichi stopped and glanced at her.

"Do you really think Bulma could be in love in love?" Chichi asked 18.

"Well, we know she’s in ‘love’, but love love is a big difference. We’ll just have to wait and see." 18 told her.

Chichi bit her nails.

"Oooh, we have to have a talk with her, and I mean ASAP!" Chichi said.

"Well, let’s go then. I don’t think she could have gone anywhere far. Vegeta is such an idiot to drag Bulma out of here when he knows it’s against the rules." 18 said as she walked out of the cabin.

Chichi smirked.

"It seems like no one’s following the rules around here; Rae’s not back." Chichi said as she followed 18 outside and stepped into the cool summer air.

~~~~~~~~~

Goku and Krillin were approaching the girls’ cabins when they saw 18 and Chichi emerge.

"Hey you two!" Goku called as he ran to meet up with them.

"Oh, Goku-sa! Ohayo!" Chichi squealed as she ran up to Goku and threw her arms around his neck.

Goku looked down at her with a bewildered statement.

"Um, good morning to you, too, Chichi." He said as he tried to pry her off of him.

"Ahem," Krillin said as he tapped the faceplate of his watch, impatiently.

"We don’t have time for this."

"What’s the rush?" 18 asked assuming they were also looking for their roommate.

"We want to know if Bulma’s around." Goku said as he looked for the lavender haired girl.

"Nah, we were about to ask you the same thing about Vegeta." 18 admitted.

"So, it’s true then!" Chichi exclaimed as she finally released Goku.

"What’s true then??" Krillin asked.

"Well, we figured that since Bulma’s not here that she would have to be off somewhere with that boyfriend of hers." 18 said.

"Also, her bathing suits missing and I have a good hunch she went for an early swim with you-know-who."

Goku laughed.

"Yeah, well it would make sense." He agreed.

"How’d you figure that out 18?" Chichi asked.

18 opened her mouth to respond but Krillin cut her off.

"It doesn’t matter." Krillin said.

"So, we’ll look for them at the lake, agreed? Cuz we only have fifteen minutes to get them back here!" Krillin told them.

"All right, come on let’s get going." Goku ordered.

~~~~~~~~~

Bulma and Vegeta had just tiredly dragged themselves onto the shore. They were still laughing hysterically and pushing and shoving each other.

"Gosh," Bulma exclaimed as she collapsed on the ground.

"We’re acting just like little kids."

Vegeta nodded as he landed next to her.

"Yeah, but so?" he asked her.

"Well… nothing." Bulma smiled as she closed her eyes.

"What are you smiling about, onna?" he asked teasingly.

Bulma opened one eye to look at him.

"Nothing… just that acting like a kid is fun, that’s all." She said as she smirked.

He chuckled.

They were quiet for a while, content with just lying there enjoying the other’s company.

"You think the guys are up yet?" Bulma asked him.

Vegeta turned his head to look at her.

She still had sparkling droplets of water in her hair and she looked beautiful.

He smirked at her again.

She sighed.

"I asked you a question. What are you smiling about?" she asked him.

"Nothing." He said as he shrugged.

"I do think they’re up though. I mean it is already 7:20." He told her with another smirk.

Bulma shot up from her seat on the ground.

"Seven twenty!! We’ll never get back in time! Kuso!" Bulma cursed.

"You’re trying to make me get demerits, aren’t you??" Bulma asked as she balled her hands into fists.

Vegeta tilted his head upwards to get a better look at her as she towered over him.

"No, really that’s not it at all, Bulma." He said to her.

"Then what is it?? Hmm? Because it’s not everyday that I’d be dumb enough to come out here with you. Gosh! This is unbelievable! Did you put some drugs or something in my food?" she asked him seriously.

He laughed at the absurdity of it as he stood up.

"No, I didn’t drug you. You came out here because you wanted to." He told her.

Bulma pursed her lips and decided not to answer.

Vegeta was going to continue egging her on when he heard shouts coming from behind them.

Bulma turned towards the sounds and broke out in a grin.

"Chichi! 18! Hey you guys!" Bulma said as she ran to meet them.

Krillin and Goku made their way over to Vegeta who was about 20 yards away.

Chichi and 18 looked at Bulma in surprise not expecting to really find her at the lake.

"Bulma, Bulma!" Chichi scolded as Bulma stopped in front of her.

"We were worried sick. How could you just leave like that without saying anything??" Chichi asked.

"On the contrary." 18 said with a smirk.

"She was worried sick. I figured you would be with veggie-head and it seems I was right." 18 said as she watched Krillin and Goku yell at Vegeta.

Chichi grinned.

"Aww, so are you going to tell us why you decided to go for a swim?" Chichi asked.

"Well… I was in the bathroom and Vegeta just popped up." Bulma admitted.

"Popped up?" 18 asked.

"Like the subject of him popped up?"

"No… well, I was talking about him, but he ‘popped up’ at the cabin." She told them.

"Uh… exactly where? If he were to knock on the door, we’d surely wake up." Chichi said in a confused tone.

"Well… I was in the bathroom and he was knocking at the window." Bulma said.

18 raised an eyebrow.

"He was at the window… ok… why?" she asked.

"He wanted me to come out with him to the lake and didn’t want you guys to tag along." Bulma explained.

"Oh, yeah, sure. That’s BS! He just wanted to have a make out session!" 18 teased.

Bulma blushed.

"That’s so not it, 18. We had a water fight, and that was all." Bulma said.

Chichi nudged 18 and Bulma.

"What?" Bulma asked.

"Look who’s coming." Chichi said as she pointed.

18 and Bulma’s eyes widened.

"Mr. P! Oh no!" Bulma said.

"He’s got the demerits list with him…" 18 pointed out.

"You six! Get over here!" Mr. Piccalurius called out to the group.

~~~~~~~~

"I don’t understand… Chichi, Juuhachi-gou, and Bulma. I would never expect a thing like this from you three girls." Mr. Piccalurius said as he looked at the three girls.

The three looked down at their feet guiltily.

He had had all six of the teens stand lined up for scrutiny.

"So… you missed role call… Then you leave your quarters and roam the compound." He said directing it mostly to Vegeta and Bulma.

"Well, what else can I say but you all are faced with three extra demerits." He said.

Goku blinked.

‘I thought we’d get in a lot more trouble than just ‘3-demerits’.’ He thought to himself.

"So far with these added three demerits, Krillin has 8, Goku has 4, Vegeta has 18, Bulma has 3, Chichi has 3, and Juuhachi-gou has 5." He stated.

"My main concern is you, Mr. Ouji." Mr. P. said as he walked over to stand in front of Vegeta.

"I have increased the cut off mark for prom demerits to thirty but at the rate you’re going you’ll hit that in no time. See, if I’d left it at twenty you wouldn’t be accompanying Ms. Briefs to the prom, now would you? And she’d probably have to go with Yamucha instead." He said as he watched Vegeta’s eyebrows narrow at the comment.

"You wouldn’t like that would you? So I suggest you stop showing off and doing dumb shit because I will not be as lenient next time." Mr. P. growled as he turned his back to the six teens.

He sighed heavily.

"You all go to your separate rooms and get cleaned up. If you had been at role call you’d know we were having a meting in the rec. hall at eight so you have less than fifteen minutes to get ready and you had better get there on time." He said as he turned again and started marching towards the teacher’s lounge on the far side of the snack bar.

The group glanced at each other, not exactly sure on what to do.

"I guess we had better go…" Bulma said.

"Yeah… We should. Mr. P. is acting weird, though… letting us off so easy right, don’t you agree?" Chichi asked.

Bulma shrugged.

"If it had only been Vegeta he would have dished out at least 10 demerits. But… I guess since the rest of us are basically good kids he watered it down a little." Bulma explained.

She looked at Vegeta who was smirking as if what she had said was a compliment towards him.

She rolled her eyes.

"Chi, 18, let’s go. Vegeta, Goku, Krillin, we’ll see you guys at the rec. in fifteen, ok?" she asked.

Everyone nodded and they went their separate directions. The boy’s going left towards their cabins and the girls going right towards theirs.

~~~~~~~~~

Bulma brushed at her hair irately.

"I just can’t make it listen to me!" Bulma shrieked as she tried to pull her hair up into a ponytail.

"We haven’t got the time to waste it on your hair." 18 said exasperatedly as she walked over to Bulma.

She picked up a hair band and commenced trying to tame Bulma's hair.

"Arrgh, I knew I shouldn’t have gone swimming! Now my hair’s all funny." Bulma whined.

Chichi laughed as she pulled on her blue and white Sauconys.

"We have to get going Bulma-chan." Chichi said as she joined in the battle to straighten and manage Bulma’s hair.

After a few minutes of brushing her hair was back to its lustrous self.

Bulma smiled at her reflection.

She was wearing white shorts overalls with a light pink t-shirt inside.

Chichi and 18 had pulled her hair into two ponytails.

"Oh! We are so good! See, you would have looked ugly, as usual, if 18 and I hadn’t saved you." Chichi said as she grinned.

Bulma growled and pitched the brush at her.

"Shut up you!" she said to Chichi as she raised a bottle of hair spray, preparing to chuck that at her, too.

Chichi laughed as she backed up.

"No, no. Calm down. I’m just kidding." She said.

"What about my outfit, though? Do you think these floods look all right with this shirt?" she asked as she motioned to her jean floods and her light blue t-shirt.

"It’s ok… I mean, why should we dress up? We’re only going to the rec. hall, and probably just to listen to Mr. P. ramble on about misbehavior." Bulma said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

18 was wearing a pair of cutoff jeans and a yellow tank top.

"Look, it’s freaking hot in this cabin! Let’s get to the hall, see what’s up, and go find something to do that doesn’t involve being under the sun!" 18 whined.

Bulma laughed.

"Yeah… it is freakishly hot today!" she commented.

"Let’s stop talking, and let’s start moving!" Chichi said as she motioned towards the closed screen door.

"Yeah, and I’m starving! Got to get some breakfast!" Bulma said as she rubbed her stomach.

"You’re always hungry!" 18 laughed.

~~~~~~~

The recreation hall was buzzing with anxious conversation and whining voices.

Vegeta, Goku, Krillin, 18, Chichi, and Bulma were all seated in the two couches that were in the rec. hall.

Vegeta and Bulma were on the loveseat and Goku, Chichi, Krillin and 18 were seated on the sofa with Chichi on Goku’s lap because it only fit three.

Vegeta yawned and blinked, trying to keep his eyes open.

"What do you think Mr. P’s lecture is gonna be about this time?" Bulma asked the group.

"What does it matter?" Vegeta asked as he yawned and leaned on Bulma.

"Oh, so you’re tired, eh? And you’re the one who insisted on coming to me at six in the morning?" she asked him.

He grumbled some incoherent things about ‘stupid girls’ as he laid his head on her lap and closed his eyes.

Bulma smiled.

"All right, you can sleep there until Mr. P. comes ok?" she asked but Vegeta was already asleep.

Bulma grinned as she looked at her friends who all gave her an incredulous look.

She shrugged.

"What’s the problem?" she asked them.

"Whoa… Vegeta just lets his guard down around you, doesn’t he…" Chichi commented as she watched him sleep.

Bulma giggled.

"See, he’s not that bad and he’s unbelievably adorable." She said happily.

"What was adorable was him sneaking out and convincing you to go for a morning swim… Aww, how cute!" 18 sighed.

"Hey! Why can’t you ever do stuff like that!" 18 said as she nudged Krillin with her elbow.

"Well… um, Vegeta wouldn’t want me biting off of him… heh heh." Krillin said nervously.

18 locked him with a cold stare then rolled her eyes and sighed.

"I suppose you’re right." She said.

Chichi wrapped her arms around Goku’s neck.

"Really, Goku-sa, I think 18 is on to something. Ever since Bulma and Vegeta started going out you and Krillin never do anything sweet for us anymore. I mean, to see how Vegeta treats Bulma makes us unbelievably jealous." Chichi said as she pouted.

"Jealous?" Goku and Bulma both asked at the same time.

"But you and 18 don’t even like Vegeta!" Bulma said as she laughed.

"That makes it worse! Vegeta’s a total jerk yet he can do all that sweet stuff for Bulma and still be as annoying as ever to us!" 18 said.

Bulma giggled again.

Goku and Krillin shrugged.

"Fine, then, when we get back we’ll all go on a triple date. Like when we went to Club Z… actually, why don’t we go back there?" Goku suggested.

"Oooh! Wow, what a great idea!" Chichi exclaimed.

"See, I knew you had a brain for a reason." Chichi said as she kissed him on the cheek.

Goku blushed, talking that as a compliment.

Bulma smiled at the couple.

They heard the microphone on the stage click on and everyone in the room turned towards the speaker. (Except for Vegeta who was still napping on Bulma’s lap! ^-^)

"Ahem, class of 2002." Mr. P. began.

(A/n: I’m basing this on a regular school year, so it’d be that they were going to school from 2001-2002, ok? Good! Continue. ^-^)

"You weren’t brought to this camp to ‘chill’ and ‘have fun’, you were brought here to gain respect for your elders and to have discipline and obedience. All ready, I have issued demerits to six students, only six, which is a lot less than what I expected. I am proud of the ones who knew enough to stay put." Mr. P. said, as he looked meaningful at the specific six.

"The point of bringing you all here is because you will be on a survival mission for the next two days of your stay here."

Everyone in the room gasped.

Bulma nudged Vegeta, thinking that it was imperative for him to be listening.

He groaned but didn’t stir.

*Wake up baka!* she whispered to him.

He blinked and looked up at her.

"Can’t you be nice for once?" he asked her with a pout.

She smirked.

"I would have let you sleep but I think that this is important for you to listen to." She said.

Vegeta looked up at Mr. Piccalurius and angrily sat up, leaving the warm comfort of Bulma’s lap.

"Continuing; I will have fifteen groups of six since there are ninety of you. You can assemble into your groups but I make the final decision and you brats will be darned if I’ll let you be in a group that I seem unfit." He said as he smirked.

Most of the kids groaned and Mr. P. stepped down satisfied with himself.

"Wow… Survival, eh?" Bulma asked.

"Eeew, does that mean like really camping… like in the forest!!" Chichi asked.

"I suppose it does… But I’ll protect you, Chichi." Goku said.

"I don’t think so. Do you think they’ll let us go camping co-ed?" Krillin asked.

"Probably not." 18 said.

"Well, I don’t care, as long as I’m not stuck with that aho Yamucha." Vegeta stated.

Bulma giggled.

"Yeah, same goes for us and Rae." Chichi said.

"Hey, why don’t we all just be in a group anyway? 18, Chichi, and me can turn on the charm to persuade Mr. P. to let us all be in a group." Bulma said.

The other four people nodded in agreement.

Vegeta leaned over to whisper in Bulma’s ear.

*That’s not a good choice, chibi onna, because I won’t be able to keep my hands off of you.*

Bulma blushed hotly as he whispered to her.

He sat back and smirked at her.

"Well, you’ll just have to control yourself then." She said as she winked at him.

He rolled his eyes at her.

Mr. Piccalurius walked over to the group.

"Did the six of you find groups already, because as you can see that’s what every body else is doing." He informed them.

"Um… well, Mr. Piccalurius, we decided to all be in a group together." Bulma informed.

"Yeah, see, there are six of us, and we won’t be able to survive if we had to be split apart." Chichi said.

Mr. Piccalurius looked at them incredulously.

"Ok… you are asking me, to let the six of you, who all just happen to be involved with your counterparts, go on a camping trip for two days unsupervised in the woods… Do you think I’m stupid?" he asked the two girls.

"Mr. Piccalurius, what do you take us for, hmm? It’s not like we’ll be screwing around! We’ll be too busy thinking about how to survive in the wilderness." 18 told him.

Bulma, Chichi, and 18 smiled sweetly as they fluttered their eyelashes at him. He glanced at the pleading faces briefly.

"If I did allow you six to go in a group… would you swear to keep your hands off each other?" he asked them.

"Oh, of course sure!" the three girls agreed as they slightly blushed.

The boys agreed, yet less enthusiastically.

"All right, go to Joyce and Shannon to get maps, and a list of things you’ll need." Mr. Piccalurius told them.

As they all got up and started walking over to the counselors’ desks, Mr. Piccalurius grabbed Vegeta’s arm.

"This is serious, really, because we won’t come to the rescue if you guys get lost, so I’m asking you and your other two friends to grow up for two days and protect those girls." He told him.

Vegeta glared at the teacher.

He shrugged his hand off.

"I can take care of my girl just fine, and so can Krillin and Kakarot." Vegeta growled as he walked away from Mr. P.

"Humph." Mr. Piccalurius said feeling very sure that this group would be one of the first needing to be saved.

~~~~~~~

Bulma grimaced as she heard her overnight bag tear.

"Gosh! Why do they make these damn bags so small??" she asked angrily as she tried to stuff a pair of shorts inside.

Chichi nodded her head vigorously.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I can barely fit two outfits in here." She said.

"You can try rolling things, like deodorant and makeup, up in your sleeping bag." 18 suggested.

"Good idea!" Bulma praised.

Chichi picked up the list of necessary items that was on the dresser.

"They say we need about 8-10 40oz. bottles of water. Who’s going to carry that if we can barely fit our clothes in our bags?" Chichi asked.

"Well, boys don’t change their clothes that often, however disgusting that is, so we could just get one of the boys to carry that, also including all the other heavy stuff on this list." Bulma said as she pointed out a few choice items.

Chichi nodded her head in agreement.

"So, what exactly do you think is necessary to pack, Bulma? I mean we’ll only be out there for two nights." 18 said as she stuffed a t-shirt into her bag.

"Yeah… I know that. I am only packing the necessary." Bulma said as she folded a shirt.

"Yeah, let me see your bag." 18 said as she grabbed the bag from Bulma’s arms.

She dumped the contents on the floor, gaining a shriek of protest from Bulma.

18 sifted through the pile of clothes and accessories.

"What do you need this dress for?" 18 asked Bulma as she held up a flowered dress.

"I dunno, for a special occasion maybe." Bulma said.

"How special can an occasion get while you’re in the forest? Toss it." 18 said as she threw the dress onto the bed.

In the end, 18 had gone through both Bulma and Chichi’s bags and had left them with one sleeping outfit and two regular outfits.

"See, now you can actually fit stuff in here." 18 said as she held up the two light bags.

Bulma and Chichi frowned at what 18 had left them with. They each had one pair of shorts, one pair of jeans, one long sleeved shirt, two t-shirts, and one pair of summer pajamas.

"Come on, throw whatever else you need in there and let’s go. I remember Joyce and Shannon saying that we are supposed to meet all the other groups at the mess hall for lunch at twelve." 18 told them.

"Juuhachi! I will never again let you go through my clothing if this is what you leave me with!" Bulma said as she angrily started stuffing her removed belongings back into the bag.

Chichi started to do the same thing.

"Nuh uh, because survival does not entail having your ‘men’ do all the work for you. And you two preach about being independent women when you can’t even do it yourselves? Such hypocrisy should be a crime in ‘the rulebook’." 18 said as she crossed her arms and smirked.

Bulma and Chichi exchanged a glance.

They sighed heavily and removed their hastily stuffed in belongings.

Bulma threw her bag over her shoulder.

"Let’s go then." She said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ten minutes later

"Goku… could you please pull yourself away from your food and listen for once. Mr. Piccalurius is explaining the assignment." Chichi said as she pried a fork from Goku’s hands.

He pouted but obeyed her anyway and abandoned his meal.

"I believe that you students will be responsible enough to be let loose into the wilderness surrounding this area. For any of you who have concerns with getting lost and never returning home; a long fence separates areas that are not owned by this establishment, so if you see a fence your best bet would be to turn around and walk back. I can almost guarantee that all of you will make it back safely and in one piece." Mr. Piccalurius said to the gathering of students.

All the students were in the mess hall and were intently listening to Mr. P.

Bulma, Chichi, Krillin, 18, Goku, and Vegeta were all seated at a table in the back of the mess hall, quietly discussing the plans that had been distributed to them.

Each group of students had been given different directions to previously used campsites, making the stay in the woods considerably easier.

Bulma nudged Vegeta.

He glanced at her.

"What?" he asked her.

"I don’t like the idea of being alone in the forest. What is Mr. P. thinking? Do you know all the things that could happen?" she asked him.

The rest of the group turned to look at her.

"Oh, so now you believe me!" Chichi stated as she smirked.

"Believe you about what?" both Bulma and 18 asked.

"Well, that there’s some evil cannibalistic person roaming in the woods." She said.

Bulma rolled her eyes.

"That’s not what I’m referring to, Chichi. I don’t think anyone is out there waiting to hurt us… I just meant… like what if we did all get lost? Or what if we all got hurt or trapped and had no way of getting anyone to help us and we all starved to death!" Bulma said as she let her imagination run loose.

Vegeta scoffed at her.

"Woman, stop being so damn paranoid.

Bulma glared at him.

"The chances of us all getting lost, hurt, or trapped are few and besides we are only expected to be out there for two days. If we stayed out any longer there’d be search parties all around. Two to three days isn’t enough to starve woman." He told her.

Bulma bit her nails.

"Yeah… sure, that’s what they want you to think!" she said.

Vegeta couldn’t help but laugh at her.

"Get over it… we’re not going to get attacked, or lost, or anything else." He told her.

She sighed and put her head down on the table.

"It’s just a way for them to knock off all the kids who aren’t good ‘survivors’. It’s a plot to teach us Darwin’s theory… survival of the fittest. And I will not be one of the ones surviving!" Bulma said angrily.

Goku and Krillin laughed.

"Neither of you girls would survive! Not even Juuhachi is that outdoorsy." Krillin said with a grin.

The three girls glared at him.

"Did anyone tell you to speak cue ball?" Bulma asked as she narrowed her eyes at him.

Krillin gulped and shook his head, no.

Bulma rolled her eyes and turned to her friends.

"So… are you excited? Because I actually am." Bulma said to Chichi as she twirled a strand of her hair around her finger.

Chichi shrugged.

"The tents they are giving us seem good enough and the sleeping bags are okay, too. I don’t think it’ll be that different from sleeping on the floor at a sleepover." Chichi said.

"Yeah! Let’s think of it as that." 18 said.

"Oooh!" Goku said trying to make a ghost sound.

"There’ll be icky things like bugs, and raccoons out there! And there might even be ghosts!" he teased.

Bulma and Chichi went blue in the face.

"Son-kun that is so not funny, do you hear me? And I swear if you do those noises tonight that I will kill you!" Bulma threatened.

"Uh huh. Yes, Goku, stop being a jerk!"

Goku laughed.

"Sure you’ll kill me, Bulma." He said sarcastically.

Vegeta, Krillin, and Goku laughed at the girls.

Bulma turned her back to the three guys.

"Let’s go over this map because knowing the three stooges over there they probably haven’t and will be too stubborn to ask for directions." Bulma said as she unfolded the map.

"Hmm… who could we ask for directions out there anyway?" 18 asked.

"Do you think we’d run into any one of the other groups while we’re out there?"

"I wouldn’t doubt it. I mean this place is big, but it’s not that big." Bulma said.

Chichi sighed as she scanned the map.

"I don’t know how to read these things… it’s topographic for crying out loud!" she exclaimed.

18 laughed as she flipped the map over.

"This side is for normal people like me and you. The topographic side is for smarties who actually care about the terrain, like Bulma." 18 said as she winked at Bulma.

Bulma smiled and shrugged.

"Well, it shows that we are near a lake so swimming and bathing is a ‘yes’. We aren’t near any mountains or cliffs so climbing is a definite ‘no’. And we are in a very lush and vegetated area so wood is not going to be a problem." Bulma said.

"That’s good. I actually am getting excited Bulma. This might really be fun!" Chichi exclaimed.

Suddenly they saw Goku pop up between them.

"Not if Mr. Spider’s gonna be there!" he said as he dropped a spider down between them.

Bulma and Chichi screamed in terror as they eyed the disgusting thing.

The three boys broke out in laughter and Bulma and Chichi realized the spider was a fake.

"Goku!" they screamed at him angrily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Ok, this is gonna take a while… ^-^’)

Bulma, Chichi, and 18 waited silently around while the boys were out looking for firewood.

Bulma groaned as she stared at the place where a fire would soon be.

"They’ve been gone for a long time." Chichi said as she came to sit next to Bulma.

Bulma looked up at Chichi and gave her a reassuring look.

"Um… they’ve only been gone…" Bulma said as she glanced at her watch.

"One hour."

Chichi’s eyebrows knitted in concern.

18 chose this time to walk over to the two girls.

She kicked at some rocks in boredom.

"Knowing those idiots, they probably got lost." She suggested.

Bulma frowned at her friend.

"They are not lost." Bulma said as Chichi turned wide eyes to her.

"Well, I don’t think it takes hours to get some firewood when we’re surrounded by wood on four sides." 18 argued.

"Will you stop trying to make a bad situation out of this??" Bulma asked as she frowned at her blond friend.

18 sighed and turned her back towards the two girls.

"It took us an hour to get here, one arguing on how to set up tents, one to actually set them up, one to designate the areas where the tents looked best by discretion of you two, and another hour for these guys to go and get wood?? This is a freaking waste of time! We have spent so many hours doing meaningless things that it’s already near sunset… Bulma, Chichi, I think that if the boys want to goof around and shit like that, then we should get fire that’s close to the site and cook us something ‘cause I’m freaking starving then have them come back and cook dinner for themselves." 18 said as she looked at the pink sky.

Bulma and Chichi exchanged a glance.

"Maybe something did really happen to them… I’m worried." Chichi said.

"Yeah, 18. We should just go and check because after it gets dark we won’t be able to." Bulma suggested.

"Bulma they are three very capable jocks who are total smart asses so I think they can handle themselves." 18 said.

"Yeah, sure whatever Juuhachi. We’re going to go check it out and you can stay here if you want to." Bulma said as she stood up and dusted her pants off.

"Ugh… Bad idea to wear white pants in the forest… their all dirty now.’ Bulma commented then shrugged.

"Chichi shall we go?" Bulma asked.

"Wait… I’ll come too, since I’ll be so bored here." 18 said.

Bulma smirked.

"Ok, 18, whatever." Bulma told her as they started walking through the forest.

"Eww, weren’t we just walking through the forest yesterday… this is so annoying." Chichi said as she pushed a branch away.

Bulma shrugged again.

"I’m real confused though." Bulma said as she crossed her arms over her chests.

"Those guys are so dead if this is some kind of joke." 18 warned as she balled her hands into fists.

"And you guys say I’m the violent one??" Bulma asked with a smirk.

Chichi was about to respond when a twig snapped in the background.

The three girls immediately spun around only to see the bushes near them shake.

Bulma and Chichi clung to each other as 18 walked over to investigate.

"No, no 18!" Chichi warned.

"It might be a rabid raccoon!" Bulma shrieked.

18 rolled her eyes as she stuck her hand into the bush and pulled out whatever she grabbed.

She raised an eyebrow as she came up with a fist full of … Goku.

She stepped back and dropped him on the ground.

"Uh…" 18 said as she looked at him.

Krillin and Vegeta then burst through the foliage, panting.

"Where have you three been?!?" Chichi asked with her anger replacing her fear.

Goku blushed slightly.

"Well… we kind of got l-" he started but was cut off by Vegeta.

"Can it, Kakarot." He said angrily.

"So you got lost." Bulma deduced.

"That doesn’t explain why you don’t have any firewood!" she said angrily.

"Yo, we have a perfectly good explanation for that." Goku said.

The three girls crossed their arms and gave their guys unwavering looks.

"This huge bear popped up out of nowhere and chased us through the woods." Krillin said.

Goku, always being the truthful one, shook his head in disagreement.

"It was more like a bear cub and it only chased us ‘cause Vegeta was messin’ with it." He said.

Krillin and Vegeta smacked their foreheads.

The girls rolled their eyes.

"Let’s go back to camp." Chichi said.

"You guys are so immature." 18 said as she turned and walked away.

"Make sure you get some firewood before you dare come back." Bulma warned them then walked with her two friends back to the campsite.

"Amazing, isn’t it, how they didn’t yell an screech at us for ten minutes straight." Vegeta pointed out.

"Well, they must have been seriously worried about us, Vegeta." Goku said.

Krillin and Vegeta looked at Goku.

"Shut up, Kakarot." Vegeta said in annoyance.

"Yeah, and help us get this stupid wood." Krillin said.

~~~~~~~~~

After they had eaten their ‘wonderfully’ cooked meals they all went to their separate tents.

Bulma sat down on the floor of the tent, angrily brushing her hair.

"You shouldn’t do that so much. Your hair will fall out." Chichi told her.

Bulma sighed as she put down the brush.

"I still can’t believe those jerks. After all they did they still had the nerve to tell us our cooking was bad!" Bulma shrieked.

Chichi shrugged.

"Well… we did burn the rice…" she said.

"And the beef." 18 pointed out.

Chichi frowned at her.

She was sitting sprawled on her stomach tinkering with the mini portable T.V. Bulma had brought.

"Bulma, this thing isn’t working." 18 said.

Bulma scooted over and looked at the T.V.

"Well, I dunno what to do about it. I didn’t bring along any of my tools so I can’t just pop it open and fix it." Bulma sighed as she laid down next to 18 and tried to get a picture to come up.

Chichi squeezed in between the two, lying down also.

"Oooh! I am so happy, cuz we have a T.V. and the boys do-n’t." she sang happily.

Bulma giggled.

"Yeah, but it would help if it actually worked." Bulma pointed out.

She suddenly glanced toward the zippered door of their tent.

She could hear sounds coming from outside.

"Arrgh, what are they doing out there?" she asked once she realized that it was the boys.

Chichi frowned.

"Probably something stupid like comparing scars from when they were eight." She said.

18 smiled.

"I suppose we could expect them to do something like that. You wanna go check?" 18 asked.

"Um… no." Bulma said quite rudely.

"I am still beyond pissed at them but you never seem to be… It’s all ‘they’re just immature boys and blah, blah, blah’. But they are so almost eighteen! They should get over it." Bulma said as she sat up.

18 was about to retort angrily when they heard someone whispering to them through the closed flap of their tent.

*Hey, girls… are you asleep yet?? If you’re, not come on outside. *

They deduced that it was Goku.

"Son-kun… what do you want??" Chichi asked him.

"Open up the tent, Chichi!" Goku whined.

Chichi rolled her eyes and sighed.

"All right." She said as she got up and un-zippered the tent.

Bulma and 18, who were still pretty mad at each other, followed Chichi outside.

The three girls gasped to see their boyfriends holding pots and pans like shields and spatulas for weapons.

"What are you three doing??" Chichi asked in disbelief.

"We’re gonna play a game!" Goku exclaimed happily.

Bulma and Chichi exchanged a look.

"What type of game?" Bulma asked them as she raised an eyebrow.

"Survival." Vegeta said as he stepped up.

"Boys against girls."

Bulma laughed.

"Yeah? All right then. So be it, of course you know we will win." Bulma said as she glanced at her two friends.

Chichi and 18 nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, sure you will… And you may want to put on some pants before you claim ‘victory’." Vegeta said to the three girls.

They gasped as they blushed.

They had forgotten that they were all wearing short t-shirts with only their underwear for bottoms.

Bulma, Chichi, and 18 turned around angrily and stalked into the still open tent.

Chichi made sure to zip it up behind them.

"I can’t believe those guys. If I catch any one of them I’m going to bang him with a frying pan!" Chichi said angrily.

"Yeah, they think we’ll play fair after they just embarrassed us like that?" 18 asked as she pulled on the bottoms to her pajamas.

"Hey, I’ve got an idea!" Bulma said.

"What?" Chichi asked as she pulled on her pajama bottoms also.

"18, since you pajamas are green, Chichi’s are blue and mine are black we can have pretty good camouflage!" Bulma pointed out.

"What?" Chichi and 18 asked.

"Look, the boys were all wearing light colors. Krillin was in yellow, Goku in baby blue, and Vegeta in white. They’ll stand out like beacons in the forest! But if we wear dark colors, for instance dark green, navy blue, and black, they won’t be able to see us." Bulma said joyously.

"And we’ll have the upper hand!"

"I do not want to go running around the forest in my pajamas!" 18 said as she shuddered.

"Yeah, me neither," Chichi agreed.

"Besides, it’s too cold."

Bulma rolled her eyes.

"Chichi, are cheerleading jackets are dark blue so you can wear that. And 18, the jackets for the tennis team are the same color as ours so wear yours. Now you can’t complain!" Bulma said smugly.

18 sighed as she turned around and pulled off her t-shirt. She quickly pulled on the tank top that went with the shorts she was wearing. Chichi and Bulma quickly turned and followed suit.

"You had so better be right about this, Bulma." 18 said as she pulled her tennis team jacket on and zippered it up.

"I so am. I know about the rules of war and camouflage is a big necessity." Bulma said as she zippered her jacket.

She then pulled out her black eyeliner.

"What are you doing with that? You know I’m not big for makeup." 18 said warily.

"No, it’s more camouflage." Bulma said as she grinned.

She quickly drew lines across 18 and Chichi’s cheeks then did the same to herself.

"Now, smear it with your thumbs." Bulma said as she started to do that with her own thumbs.

Chichi and 18 looked at each other and laughed then they smeared the eyeliner across their cheeks.

"Isn’t this an unfair advantage, though?" Chichi asked.

"All’s fair in love and war, Chichi." Bulma said.

18 nodded in agreement.

"We can’t let the boys get too headstrong." 18 said.

"Yeah! We’ve got to keep them in their place." Chichi agreed.

Bulma smiled broadly.

"Let’s go show them what these girls can do." She said as she opened the tent and stepped out.

The boys were waiting around the since extinguished fire spot.

(A/n: I’ve never been camping… so what do you call that place where you start a fire?)

"Let’s go boys." Bulma said as she glared at them.

Vegeta shrugged as he stood up.

"Whatever. Just one more thing, whoever makes it back here first, gets to use this blanket as a flag to declare either side the victor." Vegeta said as he pointed to the blanket on the ground with a stick next to it.

"It’s so weird how you guys can come up with games like this." 18 said as she chuckled.

Bulma and Chichi agreed.

"All right!" Krillin said.

"One hundred paces to the left for the girls and one hundred paces to the right for us."

"We’re not having a shoot off… jeez." Bulma said as she, Chichi and 18 started to pace towards the left.

"Don’t worry, woman." Vegeta said to her.

"Doesn’t matter much because we’re going to win."

Bulma ignored him as she continued to count her steps.

The boys hurried to begin their paces.

All six were anxious with one question: who would win?

~~~~~~~~~

Bulma, Chichi, and 18 were joined at the hip. They were afraid to split up since the forest was pitch black.

"Oooh," Chichi said as she shuddered.

"I don’t believe I let you trick me into doing this. I can’t even feel my legs!" she complained.

Bulma shrugged.

"Shhh." 18 said as she pointed towards a bush.

They had been out there for fifteen minutes and hadn’t seen the boys since.

18, Bulma and Chichi quietly snuck over to the wiggling bush.

18 pushed some of the branches aside.

She smirked at what she came up with.

It was Krillin.

She rolled her eyes as she yanked her boyfriend out from between the bushes.

"One down, two more to go." She declared.

Chichi and Bulma quickly tied Krillin’s wrists and ankles together with a bandana.

"Tell us where the others are." Bulma said dangerously.

Krillin gulped.

"No way!" he said.

Bulma grinned.

"All right then. Be that way. Come along girls. And 18, if he starts to get fussy, use this jump rope to gag him." She said as she tossed the rope to 18 and continued walking through the forest.

18 was left with the job of lugging Krillin behind them.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Psst," Vegeta said as he whispered to his companion.

Goku looked at him.

"What?" he asked back.

"Where is that idiot? It doesn’t take that long to take a piss." Vegeta said angrily.

"Maybe he got caught in his zipper?" Goku suggested.

They both shuddered at the thought.

"Nah, he’s not that dumb." Vegeta concluded.

"Then the only logical answer is that the girls must have caught him!" Goku said.

Vegeta growled.

He didn’t want to believe that the girls had one up on him.

"Kakarot, let’s move out. I still don’t know how we haven’t seen those girls yet… I mean, if they were able to find chrome-dome than they must have been close by." Vegeta said.

"Or maybe Krillin went far away?" Goku asked.

"Nah, we specifically told him not to." Vegeta said.

Before Goku could respond Vegeta clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Shh," Vegeta hissed angrily.

"I hear something."

They heard twigs snapping and something that sounded like something was being dragged through the woods.

"You’re gonna have to tell us where they are sooner or later, Krillin, if you ever want to keep your pride." They heard Bulma say.

"Yes, how do you think everyone at school will react when we tell them that in a game of survival we caught you with your pants down?" Chichi teased.

"I’ll never tell!" Krillin said again.

‘Gosh, these girls are real good as interrogators.’ Krillin thought uneasily.

"Fine, it’s your neck your risking Krillin." 18 said.

Vegeta cursed quietly.

"That confirms it, Kakarot, they’ve got him. We’re gonna have to ambush them to get him back." Vegeta said.

"Uh… ambush them??" Goku asked.

"Yeah, here’s the plan. We’ll run in. I’ll be a diversion while you untie Krillin. You understand? Then once he’s loose, you two can work on pinning down the women while I go and wave the flag of victory." Vegeta said with a grin.

"Hey." Goku protested.

"Why can’t I wave the flag of victory?"

Vegeta rolled his eyes.

"Stop your pouting, idiot." He said angrily.

"You can’t do it because you’ll end up botching the whole plan!"

Goku was going to protest again when Vegeta sent him a look that shut him up.

They were silent for a few seconds.

"Their voices are farther away now." Goku stated.

"Let’s move. We have to keep up. You know what you got to do right?" Vegeta asked.

Goku nodded.

They ventured into the forest trying to be as quiet as possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Bulma stopped in her tracks and spun around on her heel.

Chichi and 18 came to quick startled halts.

"What’s going on?" Chichi asked.

"I… I thought I heard something." Bulma said.

Krillin giggled to himself, knowing that they were near to the place he had left Goku and Vegeta at.

Bulma glared down at him.

"He knows something." She stated.

"We have to revert to operation laugh." Chichi said solemnly.

"18, would you be a dear and do the honors?" Bulma asked.

18 nodded with a smirk.

She pushed Krillin on the ground and commenced tickling him.

He started laughing and squirming wildly.

"Juu-… ha ha… Juuhachi!" Krillin protested as he laughed.

"Tell us what your hiding, Krillin and we’ll let you go." 18 said.

"Ha ha… heee hee, n-never! Ha ha ahahah!" Krillin said as his laughter overwhelmed tears now came to his eyes.

Bulma shot up from where she had sat on the ground to watch Krillin’s ‘torture’.

"What the…" she said as she saw a clump of tall bushes shake violently.

Chichi turned towards the sound too.

They crawled toward the shaking foliage and squinted at it, trying to discern what could be shaking it like that. The two girls screamed and jumped back when they saw two figures jump out.

Chichi and Bulma scrambled to their feet while 18 made sure to contain their prisoner.

They heard a chuckling and their heads turned to the left.

Vegeta stepped out of the bushes.

18, securing Krillin to a tree with the jump rope they had brought with them ran to Bulma and Chichi’s sides.

"Oh, nice night, isn’t it ladies?" he asked.

It was pitch black and they could barely see him but there was no way to mistake Vegeta for someone else.

Bulma growled.

Vegeta smirked at the thought of her actually doing something with that pent up anger.

"Oh, yes, Vegeta. It’s a nice night to kick guy male butt!" she said.

Vegeta’s smirked stayed plastered to his face as he watched Goku, out of the corner of his eye, untying Krillin.

"Ladies, ladies, ladies." He said in a scolding tone.

"You should know better than taking one of our men captive." Vegeta said.

Bulma laughed.

"Well, I guess we didn’t know better. It did come out good for us, however." She said proudly.

Vegeta and Bulma locked eyes with each other, willing the other one to blink first.

Chichi heard a twig snap somewhere behind her.

"Bulma-chan?" Chichi asked as she slowly glanced over her shoulder.

"What now Chichi??" Bulma asked, not willing to lose the staring contest.

"Didn’t we see two people jump out of the bushes!?" Chichi asked as she turned fully around.

Vegeta smirked and Bulma blinked in realization.

"WHAT??" she asked as she spun on her heel to face Goku and Krillin leaning smugly against a tree.

"You bastards!" Bulma screeched.

"You tricked us!" 18 accused angrily.

"All’s fair in love and war, right?" Vegeta asked.

He nodded to Goku and Krillin and the three guys approached the girls.

‘Oh, hell no, we’re not going down with out a fight.’ Chichi thought to herself as she glanced knowingly at Bulma and Chichi.

Goku, Vegeta, and Krillin thought they’d have a relatively easy time subduing the girls… but they had another thing coming.

Chichi spun around and kicked Goku in the stomach.

He fell backwards with a dazed statement.

‘What???’ he asked himself in confusion.

18 quickly engaged Krillin in a headlock before he could make his move and had him on the ground in seconds.

Vegeta was baffled at the downfall of his partners and was even more surprised when he felt Bulma flip him over her shoulder and onto his back.

He groaned.

He noticed 18 had taken victory over the struggling Krillin and knew his last hope was Goku.

"Kakarot, get up!" Vegeta yelled as he, too, got to his feet.

Bulma was smirking.

"Oh, poor Veggie-kins, did you hurt yourself?" she asked.

"Woman, you’re asking for it." Vegeta warned.

Bulma laughed and gave him a smug look.

Goku went at Chichi again, this time receiving a punch to the stomach.

He didn’t fall this time and caught Chichi’s other fist.

"What’s with the hard hits? It’s supposed to be a ‘friendly’ game." Goku told her.

"Not when our reps as who’s the best are at stake." Chichi said as she smiled at him.

Goku shrugged as he tripped her and caught her before she hit the ground.

He put her in a headlock similar to the one 18 had Krillin in.

"I’ve got Chichi!" Goku called as Chichi struggled in his grip.

"I’ve got Krillin!" 18 called to Bulma as she glared at Goku.

Bulma and Vegeta looked at their teammates in shock.

‘That means one of us has to get the flag first to see which side wins!’ Bulma and Vegeta both thought at the same time.

They regarded each other warily then took off into the forest, both racing wildly to the campsite.

Goku and 18 released their captives.

"This isn’t going to be pretty." Goku commented as he stood and dusted himself off.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." 18 agreed.

"Doesn’t matter which one wins… one of them will get an over inflated ego and the other will have a very bruised ego." Chichi said worriedly.

The four friends hurried to see who would win the battle of the sexes.

~~~~~~~~~

Bulma and Vegeta ran besides each other at the same pace.

In Bulma’s eyes they were evenly matched, but she didn’t know that Vegeta was much faster than her.

He smirked at her, surprised that winning this meant so much to her.

‘Well… I guess I’ll just have to disappoint her then.’ He thought happily.

He sped up and left Bulma behind him.

She cursed angrily as she realized her predicament.

She grinned as she detoured off the path, knowing that going around Vegeta would be easier that running next to him.

She quickly ran through the trees and bushes swerving around them and ultimately coming out with scratches but she could see Vegeta just ahead of her.

She laughed as she came up beside him.

"Hey, nice to see you." she said to him.

He turned to look at her and gave her an incredulous look.

"How’d… How’d you do that?!" he asked her.

But she shook her head, refusing to tell, and just smiled at him.

He turned to look ahead of him and saw a pile of felled trees in their paths.

The pile was about five feet high and wasn’t possible for either one to jump over.

‘Ha!’ he said to himself.

‘I’ll just climb over them. I bet I’m better at that then she is!’

Bulma smirked as she noticed a small opening at the base of the tree pile up, knowing now that she was one up on him.

"Oh, Vegeta? Why are you smiling so? Did you forget I am a cheerleader?" she asked as they neared the pile.

He was about to ask her why that mattered when he saw her do a flip, roll, and then slide under the trees.

He immediately pulled to a halt, not believing what he just saw.

"Bitch!!!!!" he yelled angrily.

Bulma laughed as she got to her feet, dusted off her clothes, and continued speeding towards the campsite.

Vegeta quickly climbed over the trees, but he couldn’t see Bulma anywhere.

"I’ll be damned if I let her win!" he said as he followed the path to the campsite.

~~~~~~~~~

Vegeta cursed angrily as he saw Bulma standing in front of him, holding the flag smugly.

"You’re not the winner." Vegeta said angrily.

"Oh, yes I am!" she said.

"Lookie, I’ve got the proof right here in my hand." She said, motioning to the flag.

Vegeta grabbed one end of the blanket.

Bulma’s eyes widened.

"Hey!" she said as she grabbed the other end.

The stick fell to the ground uselessly as they started a very strange game of tug-of-war.

"Vegeta, I can not believe you’re being so jealous!" Bulma said as she tugged on the blanket.

"I’m not jealous! You just pulled a dirty trick, that’s all!" he said as he tugged back.

"Oh, it’s a dirty trick because I can think fast and use my assets?" she argued as she gave it another hard tug in her direction.

"No! You just knew all along that you were going to do that and you led me on!" Vegeta said as he pulled it harder to him.

Bulma could hear the blanket tearing under the strain but paid no attention to it.

"Oh! And so outrunning me like you did doesn’t count as knowing all along how you were planning to beat me??" Bulma asked as she angrily pulled the blanket towards herself.

"No! That’s natural! No one in their right minds can naturally flip and shit like you did!" he said as he pulled it harder, causing Bulma to move forward a little bit.

Chichi, 18, Goku, and Krillin had just appeared on the scene and were watching the weird match silently and with confused expressions on their faces.

Bulma growled as she tightened her hands around the edges of the blanket and pulled towards her.

Vegeta smirked as he tugged on it one more time, pulling Bulma with it.

She crashed into him and they both fell to the ground laughing.

The four spectators let out a sigh of relief, glad that it was over.

Vegeta grabbed the blanket and held it up.

"I WIN!" he said.

"You may have won the battle, but I won the war!" Bulma teased as she grabbed it from him.

She quickly got to her feet, and ran away from him. Vegeta chased after her, and soon Goku, Chichi, Krillin, and 18 joined in hoping to get the ‘flag’ and proclaim their side the winner.

* * * * *

Sorry, if I seemed a little sexist because I let Bulma win, but I am a girl so it only seems right to add a lil girl power in, you know? BUT, I let Veggie win the tug-o-war, right? So, is everything cool? Coooool!

Well, that is all. I had tried to make it a fulfilling chapter but it is fairly shorter than planned and is like this for a reason. I thought that since it took a long time to get the chapter out that people would be happy that it was so long… but a lot of people aren’t. So, as to your wishes, I have made it smaller.

Also, I will be taking a short reprieve from writing this, and any other fic, because of my own lack of confidence in my writing. I think, that it is slightly losing its spark and I am suffering from a bad case of writer’s block. There is also the fact that I have had a run in with a very vulgar and rude reviewer… so I have to get that straightened out.

Please don’t be angry! As soon as I have ideas for a new chapter I will come out with one. I just don’t want you to be checking daily and to only be disappointed that I let you down…

Um… to end it all, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Lots of love.