A figure darted out from behind one of the crates, when she saw that Bulma’s back was to her, and dashed lightly into the cargo hold of the space ship. Wandering through the already packed crates, she searched for the small area near the corner of the cargo hold that was just big enough for someone such as herself to slide into. She had just gone over the plans for the ship last night, after sneaking into Bulma’s personal computer, and found the small storage space that she knew would be hidden by boxes already, since it was in the back of the hold. Now that she was safely inside the ship, she slowed to an easy stroll, a smirk on her pretty face, and dusted her white dress off with a free hand. In the other hand, she clutched a small white bag, which carried a bottle of water and a little bit of food to tide her over until it was safe to come out and make her presence known.

Happily, she pulled back a large box to face her hiding spot, only to find that it was already occupied by someone. A young girl was sitting there with her knees curled up to her chest, crying softly. She hadn’t noticed Tayhei yet, but when she did, she gasped and opened her large blue eyes wide.

“Who the hell are you?!” Tayhei demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

The girl opened and closed her mouth several times before gently brushing a strand of blond hair away from her face, blushing slightly. “My name is Marron….I….I’m sorry. I’ll leave.”

She stood up quickly, and brushed off her outfit, a pair of jeans and a pink sweater, still crying silently. Marron glanced at Tayhei curiously, but said nothing, and started to leave the cargo hold, feeling very defeated.

A lot of loud voices were heard then, and a round of cheerful cries outside the space ship. Obviously Bra had been found. And since the flight had already been pushed back, they were probably going to be all over the ship putting things away and packing. Things were definetily not going as planned.

Baka! Bra! You didn’t go far enough! Tayhei thought. Note to self: never send that little imp on another mission again!

“Wait!” Tayhei hissed and grabbed Marron by one of her pigtails. Marron yelped in pain and Tayhei clapped a hand over her mouth. “Shut up, baka! You can’t go. Everyone is back now. They’ll see you and then I’ll get caught!”

Marron pulled herself away and rubbed the sore spot on her head, looking at Tayhei in anger. She sighed and put her hands on her hips. “Well what am I supposed to do then?”

Voices of the Capsule Corp. employees that were loading everything started getting louder, and Tayhei knew that if they didn’t move fast, they would surely be seen, and then everything would be ruined.

Damn this stupid, slow moving girl! Tayhei cursed in her mind, glaring at her.

“Get back in the hiding place before someone sees you!” Tayhei said through clenched teeth. She and Marron ran back to the storage space behind the boxes and crowded into it, just as several men carrying boxes appeared in the large doorway of the cargo hold, laughing heartily and smoking cigarettes.

Tayhei gave her companion a sideways glance and glared. “Because of you, I almost got caught!” She whispered harshly at her.

Marron looked at her angrily. “It wasn’t my fault. You could have found your own hiding place. I thought you were going to get me in trouble. I didn’t know you were just a stowaway too.”

“I am not a stowaway!” Tayhei cried indignantly, forgetting about the workers. “There was just a simple miscommunication with Vejiita and I, but it will all be cleared up once we get to Sukuashi.”

Marron quickly put a finger to her lips to signal that Tayhei should be quiet. The workers were getting closer to the boxes, and she could smell the smoke from their cigarettes now, a sharp, unwelcoming smell that brought tears to her eyes.

Tayhei still sent her smoldering glances, but kept her mouth shut, feeling the hatred for this pigtailed girl growing inside her more and more every second. If they didn’t have to be so quiet, she would have made the girls ears ache with her yelling and would have smacked her clear across the room.

I will never forget this. Stupid girl.

Trunks and Goten were in the kitchen of the space ship, or the ‘galley’ as Bulma called it, looking at all the food that was available to eat. Trunks was checking out the cupboards while Goten opened up the huge refrigerator and gazed inside in wonderment. It was absolutely full of food, and he knew from watching all of the cargo go inside the ship that there was a lot of it in the cargo hold too. It seemed like a lot, but then again, there were a lot of big eaters going on the trip, and you can never have enough food when there are Saiya-jins around.

Looking at all the refrigerator shelves, he came eye to eye with a humongous chocolate cake, dripping with icing. He pulled it out and stared at it in amazement, almost drooling already. He held it up for Trunks to see.

“I’d bet you a million zeni that I could eat this in one bite.” Goten affirmed, staring down at it.

Trunks grinned and walked over to him, drooling over the cake. “I bet you a million zeni I could too.”

“So who gets to try it out?” Goten asked.

Trunks tipped the cake away out of Goten’s hands and into his mouth before he could say another word. Chocolate smeared all over Trunks’s cheeks and big chunks of cake fell around his feet and onto his boots, making a huge mess. Trunks’s mouth was too full for him to laugh, but there were tears in his eyes from holding it in, and Goten fell to the floor, cracking up in laughter as he watched Trunks struggling to chew the cake.

There was a loud bang as the kitchen door swung open, and Vejiita stood there with his arms crossed, glaring at them. They both froze, and Trunks opened his mouth a little more and another piece of cake fell out onto the ground. Vejiita looked at him in disgust, but didn’t say anything about the cake.

“Where is the girl?” Vejiita demanded.

“Bugh?” Trunks asked, talking with his mouth full. His jaw worked rapidly at chewing up the large cake, but he wasn’t making much progress. Goten could practically feel Vejiita getting more and more impatient, and it was started to worry him.

“I think he said, ‘Bra?’” Goten suggested helpfully, and Trunks nodded gratefully. Goten got up from the floor and stood next to Trunks, careful not to step in the large mess of cake that was strewn around his feet.

“Not Bra. Tayhei. Where is she?!” Vejiita demanded.

“I thought we were looking for Bra?” Goten wondered, scratching his head. “Is Tayhei missing too?”

Trunks closed his eyes briefly, and Goten realized that he had just made a mistake and made Vejiita angry at them. And from experience, he knew this was not a good idea. More often than not, they ended up bruised and sore, and scared out of their wits. As much as his father made him sad, he was very, very glad that Gokuu didn’t have a temperment like Vejiita. That would be the end of the Earth right there. The two of them would probably fight until the death and destroy everything in their path. For the first time in a long, long while, Goten silently thanked Kami that his father was such a kind and caring person.

Vejiita sneered at him. “Iie, baka! We already found Bra!! I want to know where Tayhei is!”

Goten shrugged, trying to make the situation seem lighter. “I haven’t seen her since yesterday. Have you seen her Trunks?”

They both looked at Trunks who made a pitiful attempt at swallowing his food whole, but only succeeded in making a ‘glug’ type of noise. The cake still remained, and Trunks looked like a chipmunk with all that food stuffed in his cheeks. “Seewaghwaggan.”

Goten turned back to Vejiita to translate. “She went shopping. He definetely said, ‘She went shopping’”

He was proud of himself for being able to understand him. Then again, he had lived with his dad for at least a few years, and Gokuu had the worst habit of talking with his mouth full. He was even worse than himself when it came to that!

“How long ago?!” Vejiita demanded, walking towards them.

Trunks shrugged nervously and continued to chew frantically. “Awaph wawow.”

Vejiita suddenly grabbed Trunks by the collar of his shirt and shook him in fury. “Spit it out, damn you!!”

Trunks opened his mouth and let the half chewed food fall into his hands, in a big brown blob, staring at Vejiita with sheepish eyes. Vejiita released him and stood back a few feet with his arms crossed, waiting for an explaination.

“She said she was going shopping about an hour ago, because Kaasan gave her the gold card and she thought that was more exciting than a trip to Sukuashi. I saw her leave Capsule Corp. with my own eyes.” Trunks assured him. “She isn’t on the ship, trust me.”

“She better not be.” Vejiita threatened.

“She isn’t. The ship is totally sealed up, and besides, she left a long time ago. I’m sure she wouldn’t want anything to interfere with her shopping. She’s too materialistic. And Kaasan said we were leaving pretty soon anyway. So we can’t go and search for her.” Trunks said sensibly.

Vejiita glared. “If you’re wrong….” And he left it at that, and stomped out of the room angrily, slamming the door shut behind him.

With a sigh, Trunks stared down at the half eaten food in his hands with disgust.

“Are you going to eat that?” Goten asked, with his eyebrows raised.

Trunks shook his head. “No! Would you? Look at it!”

Goten grinned. “You owe me a lot of money, Trunks.”

Chapter 16
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