Chapter 4


Over the next few days, Bulma spent most of her time training fiercely in the gravity room and mulling her problem with Yamucha over and over in her mind. Yamucha, on the other hand, did his best to avoid her. Either he could sense that she really needed some time to think, or he was just afraid of what might happen if he did try to talk to her again. Bulma couldn’t tell which it was, but she did kind of prefer it this way. She really did need some time alone to think about this, and having him hovering around her certainly wouldn’t help to hurry this along.

It wasn’t until the morning of the fourth day – the same morning that she managed to last for a whole hour in 28 g’s – that Bulma finally made her decision. Yamucha was kind, and he really was truly wonderful… But her mother had been right. Bulma honestly couldn’t see herself spending the rest of her life with him. It wasn’t really the fact that Yamucha was a fickle man – although that certainly didn’t help. It was just that, deep down in her heart, Bulma knew that she would be able to live without him if she had to, and she was fairly certain that that just wouldn’t be the case if he was the one she was meant for. Bulma sighed as she switched off the gravity machine. So that was it. She had finally made up her mind. Now, how on Earth was she going to explain it to Yamucha?

Sighing again, she turned around and walked toward the door to leave. But she didn’t get a chance, because when she opened the door, there was Yamucha, looking more pitiful and forlorn than Bulma had ever seen him before.

“Can I come in?” He begged. “Please! I need to talk to you so badly, Bulma!”

Bulma shook her head wearily and smiled. “Sure,” she said. “I need to talk to you anyway. I suppose now’s as good a time as any.”

Yamucha looked really worried then, but he came in, and Bulma closed the door behind them. She motioned for him to sit on the bench up against the wall, and he did so, while she followed and sat down next to him.

“Do you want to go first?” Bulma offered. Yamucha looked up hopefully.

“Do you think it’ll change your mind?” He asked.

Bulma sighed and shook her head. She never could hide anything from him. But she wasn’t exactly being subtle with her feelings right now.

“I don’t think so,” she said, taking his hand and patting it affectionately.

Yamucha nodded, looking down again. He looked pretty sad, but he was being remarkably calm, she thought.

“I’m sorry,” she said, squeezing his hand. “I’m sorry if I ever led you on. I’m sorry for all those fights we had while we were going out. Yamucha, I’m sorry for everything!”

“Everything?” He asked dully, not even looking up at her.

Bulma tried to keep a firm hold on her emotions. She felt very close to breaking out into tears.

“No,” she said, looking down at his hand, still in her lap. “Not really everything.”

“Yamucha looked up at her. He noticed the pained expression on her face and he looked down again. Damn. He didn’t know if he could take this.

“I’m not sorry for sharing my first kiss with you,” she said, smiling bravely at him. “I’m not sorry for all the happy times we had together. And I’m not sorry that I… I fell in love with you.”

Yamucha looked up again, this time to see a steady stream of tears running down the side of her face. God, he felt like crying a little himself, just looking at her.

“To be honest, Yamucha,” she said, her voice wavering a little. “The only thing I’m truly sorry for is hurting you.”

That did it. Every bit of Yamucha’s strength and composure left him all at once, and he suddenly broke down and buried his face in his hands as he broke out into sobs of heartache. He just couldn’t take it anymore. “Oh, Bulma!” He cried, not even caring what she thought of him for acting like this. “How could this happen to us?! We were perfect for each other! If you love me so much, then how can you leave me like this?”

“I do love you, Yamucha,” she said gently, squeezing his hand tightly with both of hers. “But it’s not the kind of love that you deserve. It’s not the kind that you need for me to be a good match for you. I love you so much, Yamucha. But it’s just not enough.”

Yamucha laughed then, and glared angrily up at her. “How do you know?” He snapped. “You think you know everything about me?! Well, do you have any idea how much I’d give for you to change your mind? Huh? God dammit, Bulma! I can’t live without you! Can’t you understand that?”

Bulma winced. Yamucha was really hurt. What could she possibly say to make this easier for him? She couldn’t bear to see him like this.

Suddenly Yamucha’s expression softened, and he groaned as he buried his face in his hands again. “I’m sorry, Bulma,” he said wearily, shaking his head. “I didn’t mean it like that. I know you’re not trying to hurt me. But I just can’t stand this!”

Bulma just smiled softly at him. “You did have a point,” she said. “I suppose I didn’t break it to you gently enough.”

“Nah,” Yamucha said, shaking his head. He sat up then, and leaned dejectedly up against the wall. “You were probably a bit too gentle. You shoulda smacked me for talking to you like that.”

Bulma let his hand go and he folded them behind his head. She sighed again and leaned up against the wall alongside him. “I wouldn’t have ever thought of such a thing,” she said firmly. “You have every right to feel hurt by this.”

Yamucha shook his head and slouched on the bench. “Well, I guess that’s it then,” he said with a dejected shrug. “I suppose this is goodbye, huh?”

Bulma looked up in alarm. “What?” She said. “You mean… you’re leaving?”

“Well, I thought that you… ” Yamucha began, looking back at her.

“That I was kicking you out?!” Bulma said, looking hurt. “No way! I meant what I said, Yamucha! You’re welcome here! Besides,” she added, looking down again. “You’re my best friend. I don’t want you to leave. I certainly wouldn’t force you out!”

Yamucha smiled. Well, at least that was something. She’d never be his wife, but at least she wasn’t shutting him out of her life forever. But it hurt nonetheless, finally finding out where he stood.

Bulma wiped her eyes dry with her fingers, and she sniffled a bit. When she looked back up into Yamucha’s face, she realized at once that everything was going to be all right, at least after a little time. He was smiling at her, and it was a smile of genuine friendship. She wouldn’t have traded Yamucha for the world.

Yamucha cracked a grin. “Puar’s gonna kill me,” he laughed, putting his hand behind his head. “She’ll think I messed us up or something.”

Bulma smiled. “I’m sorry, Yamucha,” she said again. “I guess it was never meant to be.”

“Well, I can’t say I’m happy about it,” Yamucha sighed, standing up, “but I guess I’ll be able to live with it after a while. At least we can still be friends.”

“That’s right,” Bulma said, smiling warmly at him. She was grateful he was still willing to give her that. She hadn’t been sure he would.

“Well,” Yamucha said, grinning playfully. “Now that I know where I stand, I guess I can see other girls now, huh?”

Bulma laughed. “Oh, come on, Yamucha!” She giggled. “Like being with me ever stopped you before!”

Yamucha laughed. “Yeah, but you checked out the other guys too, you know!” He teased, smiling devilishly at her.

Bulma chuckled. “Yeah, but I was never really serious. Anyway, those days are over. I’ve got other things on my mind besides men.”

Yamucha frowned. “That reminds me of another thing I needed to talk to you about,” he said, sitting down next to her again. “I wanted to talk to you about Vegita.”

“What about him?” Bulma asked.

“I don’t think you should let him stay here,” Yamucha said with a scowl. “I really don’t think he’s as harmless as you guys make him out to be.”

“Oh Yamucha!” Bulma laughed. “The day I call Vegita harmless is the day I eat my gi! I’d never call him that! But you have to admit, he’s been behaving himself pretty well since he got here. I’m hoping that he’ll settle down and make his home here, where I can keep an eye on him. I’ll agree that he’s very dangerous, but I’d much rather have him here than out in public losing his temper and causing trouble. Don’t you think that’s a good idea?”

“I don’t think letting him stay on this planet is a good idea,” Yamucha growled. “The man’s a killer, Bulma! I’m telling you, if you lower your guard around him for a second, he’s bound to turn on you!”

Bulma sighed. “Look,” she said. “Try to look at it from his perspective. He has nowhere else to go. Freeza destroyed his planet, his people, and even his pride.” Bulma couldn’t believe she was actually defending Vegita. It felt very strange indeed. “Besides,” she added, “I think he’s changed. He’s been a lot calmer since he came here, and he hasn’t fought with anyone since the day he arrived with us on Earth. I say just let him be. It’s not like we could do anything if we had to fight him anyway. He gets stronger and stronger every time he comes back from those training excursions of his. If he ever did try something, we’d be hard pressed to do anything to stop him. So let’s not provoke him, okay? Let’s just leave him alone. He’s ignored us so far, and I guess he prefers that we ignore him.”

Yamucha sighed. He knew better. He’d seen the way Vegita had been staring at Bulma lately. He seemed a bit too interested in her to be accused of ignoring anything. He had some kind of awful plan cooking, and Yamucha just knew that Bulma was going to be the one to suffer from it. But he knew Bulma well enough to tell that there was no point in talking to her about it now. He’d just have to keep an eye on Vegita from now on.

“Okay then,” Yamucha said, yawning. “I guess we’ll leave it at that then. Well, I’ve gotta go. I’ve got a job interview today, and I need to get ready.”

“Really?” Bulma asked eagerly. “What kind of work is it?”

“Construction,” Yamucha said, winking at her. “I put in my application yesterday, and so far all they know about me is my work history. They can’t tell much from it, but they do know about my baseball record. I suppose they’ll assume that I’m in pretty good shape. I guess I’ll just have to show them myself, huh?”

Bulma laughed. “Good luck,” she said. “Does it pay well?”

“It will when I’m through demonstrating my skills,” he said, flexing a bicep ostentatiously. “They’ll beg me to work for them after I show ‘em I can lift a two ton girder with my bare hands!”

Bulma just shook her head. “You’re such a showoff,” she giggled. “I hope they give you the nastiest, filthiest job they have. That’ll teach you!”

Yamucha laughed. “We’ll see,” he said. “Bye Bulma!”

“Bye!” She said, waving at him as he left. Poor Yamucha. She really hoped he was going to be all right with this.



On To Chapter 5 ~~~>