[complete]

[notpanties.livejournal.com]

Who: Bulma Briefs [notpanties] and Shotaro Kaneda [blamekaneda]
Where: Mariner High School Auditorium.
When: July 29th, 11:00 P.M.
Rating: PG? I can't remember whether there's cursing or not. :/
Summary: Kaneda drops in to check on Bulma after Ness' attack.
the log:

After the ruckus over the communicators, Kaneda was chomping at the bit to swoop in and intercept whatever was attacking Bulma and get her somewhere safe. However, someone got there first and moved her from her apartment to the clinic where she could recover. Things had been so insane between then and now, as he trudged along to street to the high school, that he hadn't gotten the chance to check in on her. Every day without word was making him antsy and he finally decided to brave the city alone and go visit her.

He hadn't seen the high school recently, though it was still as much of an ugly heap as he'd remembered, but at least the inside made up for the outside. The main thoroughfare and been swept and cleaned and it was easy to locate the clinic from there. Kaneda opened the door without knocking, expecting to see Bulma bandaged from head-to-toe and near death. The psychopaths in Discedo never did anything half-assed.


The clinic itself had been established in the auditorium, and whle she had been there for a short period of time before, she hadn't really thought of why they'd decided to keep the injured in there instead of the normal school clinic. Nothing was ever incredibly sterile in Discedo, but it was safer to keep patients in a closed environment, where germs couldn't spread and real rest could be had. It wasn't until she actually had to stay there that she understood just how many people got hurt on a daily basis, and the sight of it all made her sick.

She'd taken to sitting on her own by then, bandaged heavily and on the floor of the stage, leaning against a wall just beside the exit steps, stage right. Kid had been kind enough to drop by and leave her some paper and a pen, but her hands were still damaged and sore; writing was proving to be difficult. Her right arm was still bleeding from a gash, but, being left-handed, Bulma wasn't too affected. It'd take time, but the entertainment of her own notes drew her attention away from the groans of the other patients.

His entrance didn't go unnoticed; he had a bit of a trademark runnng with the way he'd walk into a room, and she was getting so used to it that she could tell when it was him. "Hey.. Kaneda!"


"Ya caught me," he said with a broad grin, pleased that she wasn't in as bad a state as his imagination led him to think. He cleared the rest of the distance between them and hopped up on the stage next to her, casting a curious glance at the papers in her lap.

"I thought you woulda been banged up more," he continued, swinging his legs.


"Nope," she said, "I'm not that slow. Where I come from, you learn to run pretty fast." She gathered up the papers and set her pen down. He didn't look like he'd been roughed up since she'd last seen him, and that was a relief. "Didn't make it any better, I think. I'm going to be out of commission for a while, since I haven't gotten my stitches in yet. This is gross.."

She scowled at her own wounds, before returning her attention to him. "You haven't gotten into any trouble, have you?"


His eyes turned wide and boyish and he affected that little grin again, jerking a thumb at his chest.

"Me? In trouble?"

Truth was, he'd been hesitant to go outside for some time. All the talk of an immortal killer, ritual sacrifices and ghosts had left a sour taste in his mouth. He was far from scared -- more like perturbed that there had been such panic and nothing to assuage it. After all, as much of a menace as Tetsuo had been, he was eventually killed. Evidently this Sullivan character wasn't going to make that job easy for anyone.

"You know it! I've been taggin', terrorizin' all the snot-nosed brats that wander out after dark, stealin' walkers from old people. There's no stoppin' me at this rate."


There was a reason that she liked hanging around with Kaneda, and this was one of several. In his better moods, he was very good at raising her spirits. After the week she'd had, she really did need it. "Yeah? I didn't expect anything less from you. Terror of Discedo, and all. Oh! Check this out," she raised one of the papers to face-level, grinning. Littered with calculations, measurements, and short musings, it wasn't half as precise and neat as most of her blueprints usually were. With the sunlight fading out of the auditorium and her own injuries to worry over, she was pretty satisfied with what she'd done. "Brand new plans for solar panels. I had some back at the apartment, but that place is trashed right now, and this clinic is boring."

She sat back, beaming at her own genius. "It's going to take a whole lot of scavenging and work, and we definitely need some kind of base of operations, but I think we can get this place powered for sure. I don't see how these guys can stand being here in the dark for so long. It's driving me nuts."


Kaneda took the scrap of paper from her and quirked an eyebrow at the mess of scribbles and formulas.

"Yeah, this, uh--" he turned it upside-down, pulling an enlightened expression to mask the fact that he had no clue how to read it. "Huh. You an' your giant monster brain have done it again," he said finally, handing the plans back to her.

"F'you need those other plans from your place, I c'n get 'em for you."


The approval was welcome, even after Bulma had realized that her plans probably made no sense to him. It was a miracle that they even spoke the same language, but she had figured that the writing back home was different than what most people were used to. That, or Kaneda just wasn't into reading comprehension.

Either way, she set the paper down and smiled. "That's okay. That place is a mess right now anyway, and Kamina would probably jump you if you walked in there. He.. sort of does that to everyone, though," she rolled her eyes. Her room mate had been injured, but she hadn't seen him since Vegeta showed up to cart them away. Knowing Kamina, he'd probably already left to continue with that Justice thing he always went on about.

"Hey, do you still have my capsules?"


He snapped his fingers and dug into the pocket of his leather jacket, retrieving the poorly packed capsules and handing them over, hoping that she wouldn't notice that they had been tampered with. Really, it was an accident; he hadn't meant to open them, but the last thing he wanted her to think was that he was fishing through her clothes.

"The case grew legs an' walked away."


She raised a brow at him, before taking the small capsules into her better hand and looking over their numbers. "Oh, man," she frowned, "This was the weekend pack. Clothes, magazines, and tools, I think.. why couldn't they have sent me the one with the house in it?!" Bulma huffed, pocketing the capsules. "Whatever.." she looked back at him, resting against the wall once more. "Did you get anything when that happened? Like, when all that stuff started falling from the sky?"


Kaneda leaned back, propping himself up on his elbows and cracked his neck as he thought back to that day, feeling a twinge of disappointment at the memory. He didn't have much in the way of material things, but some remnant of home, or at least a sign that Kai and Kei were getting along fine without him, would've been enough.

"Nope. Nothin' for me. Guess they're waitin' until my birthday. I expect the good stuff then."


"That sucks." Bulma rested her hands onto her stomach, frowning. "Oh, you're telling me. Those jerks owe us so much after all the crap they've put us through. The next time they show up, I'm giving them what-for." It wasn't that she meant to vent about the scientists, but the mere thought of them just made her angry.

"Wait, your birthday? When's that?"


"Whoa there, tiger," he chuckled, pushing himself upright and patting the air in an effort to deflect her anger, though Kaneda could totally empathize and nurtured his own burning hatred for the scientists.

"September fifth."


"What? I so will. I have battle scars now, you know, I can totally take them." With her bout of anger gone, Bulma was back to smiling, raising her fist and very lightly punching the air. She wasn't a fighter, no, but she was really good at bragging. "Really? I'll remember that. My birthday's a ways off, I think.." turning seventeen in a place like Discedo didn't seem very glamorous, but she shrugged the idea off. She'd long since learned not to look too far toward the future in her situation, because everything was so unpredictable.

"Mine is on October twenty-fourth. Don't forget it!"


Kaneda regarded her with a smug, half-lidded gaze and angled himself close to her, his voice a low, conspiratorial growl.

"So that means...," he began, peering up at her from beneath his fringe of glossy black hair before pulling back suddenly and loudly proclaiming, "I'm older than you!" His laughter filled the auditorium and no doubt alerted and annoyed the other patients that had been resting up until then.


Her jaw dropped just slightly when he moved toward her. She wasn't used to boys being close. Usually, she was the one getting in their faces. Freezing up, she watched him, unsure of what he was planning. He was an impulse thinker, and one couldn't be sure of whether Kaneda would ruffle their hair or punch them in the face with his next move.

When he burst out laughing, her eyes went wide, and she crossed her arms. "Oh, whatever!" She willed the heat on her cheeks away, "That's only here! It totally doesn't count! I could be older where I come from, for all you know!" Bulma wasn't concerned with the commotion when it rose. The clinic was filled with groans of pain, coughing, and low whispers of condolences. The noise was welcome to her.


"No way," he stated matter-of-factly, standing and stretching on the stage before pacing the edge, arms held out for balance, teetering now and again. Finally, he crouched down in front of her and smiled.

"Yer just'uh kid compared t'me. Little baby Bulma." It was a good-natured joke at her expense; there was no derision or mocking in his voice, it was all an attempt to keep her smiling.


"Well, that's okay," she replied, her smile never leaving her. "Just means I'm young and beautiful, compared to Old Man Kaneda. Gosh, it's good to be me!"

It was nice, hanging out with him where they wouldn't be barreled over by chimera or slobbering killer dogs. The environment wasn't the most desirable, but with a friend like Kaneda around, Bulma decided that she could deal with it.

She looked him right in the eyes, uncrossing her arms and sitting up with a little effort. "How's that feel, Gramps?"


He wordlessly fell back into a cross-legged position and feigned a sour look.

"Guess that means I'm too old to hang out with ya, and now you have no friends." Then he thoughtfully tapped his forefinger to his chin and his eyes took on a lewd glimmer. "Maybe I can pick up on all the older girls here, like Rangiko or that lawyer chick with the whip."


Were he not joking--Bulma was sure he was--she'd have probably gotten defensive. Instead, she shrugged, and leaned back, closing her eyes. "Guess you don't, either! Granted, I am the prettiest and most talented girl in Discedo, so you can go off and try to schmooze with all the rest of them. Maybe they'll fix your bike. Or, you know, maybe not, because none of them are as smart as me." She opened one eye, smirking. "Face it, buddy. You've got the coolest friend possible."


"I s'pose yer alright," he said with a dismissive wave of a hand, taking up his spot next to her on the edge of the stage again. "When d'you think you'll be outta here anyway?"


"I don't know. They won't let me leave until my arm closes up. Once I'm good to run on my own, I think I might try and at least get back to the apartment, since sleeping in a warm bed is way better than this." she let her arms rest at her sides and shifted, trying to make herself more comfortable. Truth be told, the stage floor was cold and gross. Bulma didn't want to complain too much, but it was one of her fortes, and she was pretty sure she had reason to.

She gasped, then looked to him, a glint in her eye; the same glint that seemed to show every time she asked him to do something for her. "How about you do me a big favor while I'm stuck here?"


Kaneda instinctively recoiled as if electrocuted and shot her a suspicious glare. Even cocooned in bandages, she had work on her mind. Couldn't she sit back and relax like a normal person, allowing him to relax in the process? Granted, as chaotic as Discedo currently was, no one could just kick back and sip tea at their leisure, but he could've at least snuck off to have a smoke with Reno.

"...Yeah, what?"

"Oh, don't look at me like that. You're going to make me feel bad." she grinned, clapping her hands together. "Just keep an eye out for a garage, okay? I miss the old place, and having no where to hang out but home was starting to get to me. Alright?" There really was no space for a vacation in Discedo. If Bulma had it her way, she'd be relaxing on a beach back home by now. The beaches in Discedo, if there were any, were probably littered with crazy piranha monsters and full of goop. Her only getaway had been the auto shop, and that was long gone.

She waited for his answer, her eyes concentrated on his; pleading blues that assured their victims trust and loyalty. Really.


"Dammit," he muttered, raking a hand through his hair. "Izzat all, Bulma? Yeah, yeah, whatever -- I'll look for a garage, but you gotta help me clean it f'it looks like shit inside. I ain't yer maid, got it?"

Actually, it was a brilliant idea and gave him the chance to get out of his place more often now. Kaneda and cabin fever did not mix well and he anticipated the look on her face when he'd found a workspace that was better than their old one in every conceivable way.


"Oh, don't worry. We fixed the old place up, so a new one won't be that hard. Just need to fire-proof it and make sure it's locked up tighter, that's all!" She was beaming at the thought, leaning back again and curling up in her spot. The effort was a little harsh on her wounds, but she'd rather be warm in her own body heat than freezing in a dark auditorium. "Yep, that's it. See? It's not so bad!"

She rested her head back onto the wall, grinning at him. "When I'm back in action, things are going to change for the better. You just watch."


Kaneda nodded, though he wasn't sure if he believed they'd have better luck with the new auto shop. It seemed that anything that could be destroyed inevitably would be destroyed. It was one of those laws of nature things, like everybody dies or a girl can't get pregnant if she's on top.

"Yer gonna try'ta save th'world. That it?" he inquired as he peeled off his jacket and held it out for her.


"The world? I don't know," after a moment's pause, she took hold of his jacket and drew it snug around herself. "Maybe, some day. But until we figure out how to get back home, I'm going to work on making this place not suck as badly as it does." She wasn't up for playing into the scientists' will, but she would do whatever she could to make the city less harsh on her friends.

"Hey," she added, "Thanks for coming." It meant a lot, but she wasn't one for elaboration. After traveling with Goku for as long as she did, Bulma had learned that simple sentiments spoke volumes.


He hopped off the stage with a flourish and shoved his hands in his pockets, turning to face her with a lop-sided smile.

"Yeah, well. Someone had'ta make sure you weren't in pieces."


She smiled back at him, keeping a light grasp on his jacket. "It's going to take a whole lot more than that to take me out." Bulma shifted again, her eyelids growing heavy with sleep. "See you later, Kaneda. Don't have too much fun without me."


He waved at her over his shoulder as he shuffled toward the exit.

"I wouldn't worry about that too much."