Cancelled?!

[Vegeta]

'She certainly makes some interesting faces...'

The living arrangements he would have set up at Capsule Corporation would see to her eating needs as well as where she would sleep. If she had things she needed from her own home, he would leave it up to her to retrieve them. He was sure Bulma would be tickled pink that he had made a new friend after all, she never shut up about the fact that he barely had any. The saiyajin snorted at the idea. "Yes, there will be plenty of food. Including myself, my son and my daughter...Let's just say that we saiyajins make for good food disposals in epic proportions."

With her one question answered and his levitating on display, he watched her assume a stance of concentration. Concentration when trying to fly for the first time was definitely key, but he was getting the impression that she was focusing the energy all wrong, if not too hard. Then, with little warning, she shot into the air a little faster than was really necessary and much higher than he would have liked.

Vegeta craned his head back, silently watching her stop and come to her own realization of just how far up she had gotten. And then down she went, crashing into the ground before him with an incredible thud. He stared down at her, unflinching and highly unlikely to offer her a hand up. If he let his composure slip, he would have a good chuckle at her expense, but he didn't feel laughing at his student's first attempt would be all that constructive. After all, it had not been that bad for the first try.

"Well, that is mistake one and two. That may work admirably if you intend to hit your opponent like a rocket, or to launch into the air, but it's not something you want to be doing on your first attempts for simple flight. Secondly, as you may have noticed when saying hello to your good friend the earth, you went much too high. Next time that happens, don't lose your focus and try to catch yourself with your energy midair so you aren't eating dirt." He exhaled deeply, maintaining some patience since this would be a long one. "If it helps...imagine clouds. You're floating on a cloud, only this one is made of your own ki. Light, airy. Opposite to what you already know and feel. Concentrate...but perhaps not as hard as you were before."

He wasn't sure if she could sense or feel the energy he was using for simple levitation. So the prince dropped back down, then did it again with the same slow build of energy he used before to lift himself. Unlike her, he didn't have to focus on it very much, due to the vast amount of use he put it to. "Once you start doing it, you'll be hard pressed not to do it and it will come more smoothly as you go. Now, again."

[Sansho "Pepper"]

Rubbing her head still, wincing at a bump she found, Pepper just kept her green eyes on him, immediately focusing in on him and him alone as he spoke. While her attention was hard to keep sometimes, she had her moments where she could focus pretty well. One of them being when someone offered to teach her and Kakiri was in her head, mentally berating and cursing at her if her attention wandere-

You IDIOT!

... Like right now. She blinked and shook her head quickly, focusing on and grabbing her memory, trying to remember what had been said. Oh. He was telling her what was wrong... Okay. Pepper chewed on her lip thoughtfully as she mulled over his words. How was she supposed to imagine it as clouds?

"...Can I imagine it as something else?" She asked as she tried to visualize something. No, a cloud would not work. A cloud did not have the stability of the earth. Wait. Maybe... Maybe she could imagine it as a chunk of rock? But wait. He wanted it light, and airy?

... The answer came to her and she smacked her forhead with her palm before blinking at him and watching him drop. Realizing that she was probably supposed to be observing him, she quickly scrambled for her senses, trying to figure out what he did.

"... Er... okay..." Pepper mumbled, scratching her head and wincing as she hit the bump. Sighing, she watched him again, her eyes narrowing as she studied what he was doing before closing her eyes, bringing up her hands again. This time, she tried to imagine stone beneath her. But not just any stone. Specifically, she was imagining a light grey stone with many holes in it. It was a bit of a rarer commodity, as there weren't any fire-mountains- Volcanoes, she reminded herself- in the immediate vicinity, but some of her kin who went into the mountains found some. Pepper herself had come across it in her travels.

It's light and airy... Okay. She concentrated hard, trying to channel the energy from the little bit that she had felt him channeling and the idea that she was making a sort of... cloud beneath her feet. She was used to propulsion, not a stationary mass of ki...

"...Am I doing it?"

[Vegeta]

As the lesson continued, Vegeta took note of all the odd things about this girl. It was a much needed habit, with allies and foes alike. Reading an opponent was vital to success after all. She didn't seem like she could focus on one thing at a time, which would make training her quite aggravating. Her facial features and her body language were a little fidgety and goofy. If he didn't know any better, he could swear she acted like she had some unseen person flicking her in the ear whenever she went out of focus, from the way she blinked and shook her head. Ignoring most of what she said, either to him or herself, he tilted his head in further observation.

Trunks had been a less enigmatic and frustrating pupil. But in some ways, this girl was a little more amusing in her goofy, easily distracted way. The training would take some time and he figured he would learn plenty about her, there would be no real way to avoid it. Perhaps he would figure out why she was such an airhead and maybe he could beat that out of her during the sparring sessions.

He grunted as she questions imagining something else. What the hell did it matter what it was? "I don't care if you imagine rainbows and unicorns as long as it gets you to fly. I only said clouds because that's what people tend to associate it with." The prince was curious to some minuscule degree what she thought up to use as a reference. He'd heard quite a few funny inspirations over the years. Whatever it was, it seemed to have accomplished the task. She was levitating and thankfully not all that high off the ground. His words were bound to interrupt her concentration, so at least she would not have another epic fall.

"Very good. You're levitating. You've now proven that with some resilience you can master a simple feat. But the lesson is far from over. Now comes the harder part...for you. And that's mobility." As he spoke, he floated around her backwards with his arms crossed in a lazy circle. "You continue your concentration on your 'light and airy focus item', but now it's moving and your goal is to go along with it. You can try lying on it like a surface to glide around, or it can be a platform to simply float around. It could be a shell around you and that shell guides you wherever in the open air you please. Like I said, whatever visualization that helps you do it, use it. I don't care what it could be."

The prince continued the lazy circles, rising a little higher that her by a few feet. He fought the urge to let out an exasperated sigh. His stomach was starting to growl, he could have sworn he hadn't eaten that long ago. Vegeta growled. Fucking human food always left him hungry in a short time. "The sooner we have you flying, the sooner we can go get something to eat." He had noticed that she seemed concerned about food, perhaps some incentive would speed the process up more to his liking. His lips twisted with a snicker. 'Maybe if I train her with treats like a pup, that could work.' It was a terrible, yet hilarious idea.

[Sansho "Pepper"]

It was hard to believe that the puppy-mannered girl in front of him was a woman of twenty-six years, or that she had come in third place in the last tournament three years ago. Certainly it didn't seem like she could use the staff on her back as more then as an ornament.

It was clear that she was unaware that she was being used as a chess piece in Vegeta's little war with his one true friend, and cheerful and heroic Goku. She was nothing more then the anti-Uub, an extension of Vegeta's pride and inability to let Goku go on and do something that he could not match, possibly outreach.

Somehow, she completely missed the comment about rainbows and unicorns. For once she was completely focused on her task, and didn't even pay attention to his smart ass comment.

There were actually a few beads of sweat on her forhead. Handling ki wasn't a problem... holding it was. She was used to immediately releasing it in an attack or in propulsion while moving. Not that holding it was that weird... She had done it before, when meditating with the monks. It's just.. she hadn't done it in a long time.. In fact, she hadn't really been doing any meditating or anything since Age 774...

His voice jarred her, causing her attention to shatter. She yelped and fell to the ground, somehow managing to land on her feet in a crouch and not on her ass. Blinking up at him, Pepper rose to her feet again, her green eyes wide as she stared at him. Once again, she chewed on her lip, trying to pull the pumice stone back into her mind.

Ugh. Maybe I should do this. Let me take over, you moron. Kakiri snapped at her. Pepper shook her head, making a face as she broke away from her concentration.

I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, if you make him mad, he won't teach us! Just let me do this. I can do it, really! She pleaded with the other half of her mind. There was a tense moment where every muscle in her body went rigid, ready for the mental struggle of protecting her control from Kakiri. Then, finally, that angry portion of her mind relaxed.

Fine. But if you start messing up too much, I'm taking over. The voice hissed at her. A soft sigh escaped her, ridden with levels of relief, before Pepper smiled at Vegeta and nodded.

"Okay- Food?! If I do this, I get food?!" Her green eyes went wide at the thought and quickly closed them, scrunching up her face as she concentrated.

Pumice stone, pumice stone, PUMICE STONE! She grasped at the energy, finding that, to her surprise, it was coming easier like he said. Still, now it was time to move. She began to move the 'stone' around, and struggled to keep it connected to her. It wanted to launch off on it's own...!

[Vegeta]

Ho ho, so food was a major motivator indeed! Vegeta tucked that away so that he would remember that. Treats for tasks done promptly and well might not be such a horrid idea. He would test it out later on, like when he got her into the gravity room for endurance building.

Gripping his chin with one hand, rubbing thoughtfully, Vegeta wondered why she had seemed so rigid for a second, then back to normal. Questions would definitely have to be answered later on. If she had some fit on him out of the blue during training, that was going to be irritating.

While it seemed she was getting the hang of seizing the necessary ki in order to lift herself, it would be interesting to see how she did on her initial attempts at manuevering. She had already proven she could shoot off like a firework into the air, she just had to get a handle on the control of it. His shoulders bunched with a stifled guffaw, a horrible scene playing out in his mind. One minute, she's hovering in a docile manner...then she's careening around and smashing through building walls. He almost wanted to see that, just for one hell of a laugh...And it was likely to happen, considering how excited she seemed over the idea of eating.

His thick brows twitched as he grit his teeth. No, no snickering at the trainee. That was for when she wasn't around and he was busy relaxing with some tequila. His mind wandered from the training session briefly to wonder if Bulma had gotten him more tequila rose. 'Oh, she better have or I swear to-' For good measure, he decided he would grab some after they attacked some poor buffet line. Thinking of food had him licking his lips. He had stopped paying attention for a bit, figuring he'd give her the moment to herself to concentrate while he debated on what sounded good. 'Me likey Indian buffet...Mmm, pakora and tandoori chicken...'

Over her, he continued his lazy backwards circles, feet kicking slowly and slightly as if he were casually swimming in the water. His focus came back to the lesson as he glanced down at her, sensing her energy, which was quite different from what he was used to.

[Sansho "Pepper"]

When it came right down to it, the best motivation always seemed to be food. A thousand scrumptious dishes flashed through her mind, causing her mouth to water as she focused on the pumice stone, eagerly channelling the energy. Because of her eagerness, she accidentally bounced in the air a few feet before coming to a steady hover a few inches off the ground.

It was true that Kakiri would be a better choice for this. Kakiri was able to concentrate infinitely better then she could. But Kakiri also seemed to have less patience than this man, though honestly, she- she being Wuko- didn't seem to notice. She wasn't that observant and seemed to miss all kinds of obvious signs about people... like the fact that this guy wasn't the nicest grape in the bunch or the fact that he was obviously not all that patient. Or humble.

Blowing out a sigh, she shifted, hitching her shoulders before concentrating, trying to move the pumice stone. It didn't want to budge, so she pushed at it with a bit more energy-

Slam.

She faceplanted into the wall. Only a last second scramble had kept her from slamming through it. Blinking, Pepper shook her head rapidly before pushing off of the wall, somehow still hovering. "Oops... Okay... A little bit less but a little bit more..." She muttered, trying to focus on funneling that energy somehow. Gaian energy was a bit hard to work with.. Wait. He said ki, right? Maybe that was like qi. Maybe she was supposed to use some of her own energy... Granted, it was still gaian energy, just stored. She already had a great deal of energy, why draw more from the earth?

For the moment, she closed off the channel to the earth and focused on what she had. Carefully, she tried budging the 'pumice stone'. It didn't work... Frowning, she shifted then realized her problem. Clouds were probably not full of holes like cheese- her stomache growled at that thought- and probably were pushed easier... So how did she get pumice to move?

It floats on water?

Experimentally, she sent the ki a different way. The wall scraped by her side before she remembered to turn away from it. It was slow going but... Maybe that's how she was supposed to do it!

[Vegeta]

The girl's abrupt bobbing into the air caught his attention for a second as he halted his aerial pacing to make sure she wasn't flying off again. Thankfully, it wasn't all that high and she managed to catch herself in the air pretty well. Good, she was certainly getting the hang of controlling her levitation at least. She would be a pro at it soon enough, then they would move on to the harder and more rigorous training.

He continued to study her, taking note of her energy levels, her mannerisms, how she reacted. His overly studious stares often put him at odds with people. Watching, not socializing, that was how he worked and it unnerved most people. Only the truly clueless seemed to be unaffected by it, and he figured maybe that was why he wound up around so many of them. Their ignorance to his boring gaze kept him from having to explain himself or deal with some awkward conversation. So far, this girl didn't seem to mind his intense stares, even while she worked out manipulating the energy for flight. Later on, there might be a difference, since she was focused on a task now but they would see.

Vegeta grimaced as she collided with the wall. "A little less force and a little more control." It was debatable if that was what she meant but he doubted it could be anything else. He figured there were probably other, better ways to go about teaching her, but he was no teacher. At least not normally. And his basic method for learning was to see, then do. She saw him do it, now it was her turn. If she really messed up, he would alert her and correct the technique. Otherwise, it was all her. To him, it was the simplest and possibly best way to learn, though he had gotten disagreement from more than one source on it.

After she collected herself, she seemed to be moving again, albeit slowly, which was good. But he wanted her away from the wall in case she involuntarily tried to use it as a crutch. A crutch would do her no good. Quickly twisting in the air, he moved a few feet away and hovered a little higher than before.

"You're getting the hang of it, despite a few bumps, you're doing excellently." He crossed his arms over his broad chest, staring down impassively at her. Soon, he would start to pester her, even make attempts to jar her from her concentration, which was why initially they were only going to fly so high. Aerial enemies would not sit idly while she got herself and her movement under control. "Away from that wall, we don't use tools. Try to come to me, I'll lead you somewhere with very tasty food."

[Sansho "Pepper"]

It was doubtful that she would be bothered by his piercing gaze, even when she was paying attention. As he so kindly said, only the utterly clueless seemed to be immune to it. And this girl had to be the epitome of clueless, if nothing else.

Her head swivelled to him, short dark hair flaring from the movement, before she looked to the wall, tilting her head to consider it. Away from the wall... Well. That was simple enough. She looked down at her feet, almost as if she could see the ki there.

Tasty food.

Her eyes widened, and her brain completely shut down, despite Kakiri's protests. She was starving, and she could only remember two things he had said: Away from the wall, and tasty food. Her head jerked up, green eyes glowing. She braced herself then suddenly shot into the air, the force of her launch leaving a crater in the wall.

Food food food! Her mind seemed to chant. The air rushed by her but she didn't even notice it, as it was a familiar sensation. She was, after all, one of the fastest of her people.

[Vegeta]

Okay, either she was starving or food more to her than he fully realized.

"Tch!" Vegeta shot back, barely avoiding the battering ram of a girl. He wasn't about to get pile driven out of the air by some novice flyer. Figuring that she was pretty much set on getting her some food, he might as well lead her along while they were moving. "All things in good time! Try to have some discipline! I'm hungrier than you but you don't see me flitting about like some spastic!"

The saiyajin steered close ahead of her at a speed he felt she could keep up with but not too close that she could have one erratic movement and go knocking into him. They flew low but just high enough to avoid power lines and poles, in case any accidents happened. He focused in on the restuarant he chose. It was likely the buffet hours were done, but it was nothing that little plastic card Bulma gave him for food expenses couldn't handle. With a quick glance back at her, he dipped down and skillfully landed on the cement sidewalk, one foot, then the other.

His dark eyes widened for a second, realizing that with her spastic manner concerning food, she might wind up planting her face into the concrete when she aimed to land. He hoped she had some sense not to leave a crater in front of the Indian restuarant. The prince whipped his head around, watching her carefully because he had no interest in becoming her personal landing mat. "Land slowly and carefully!"

[Sansho "Pepper"]

It was unclear whether or not she was actually starving or if she just really, really loved food. Maybe it was both. Maybe she was a spastic little twitch. Or maybe she was just a diabolical genius that was using Vegeta for her own game pla-

Okay. I couldn't type that one with a straight face. This is what happens when you listen to Team Four Star bloopers, kids. You make a blooper in your own goddamned RP post.

Anyways...

Ahem.

It only took a second or two before Mister Vegeta launched after her and overtook her. It was only the fact that she didn't know where food was that she hadn't launched at a higher speed... Well. That and the fact that she was used to running fast on land, not in air. Her green eyes blinked as he pulled in front of her. Then, she looked down.

"Great Gaia I'm flying!" She squeaked, almost wavering for a moment before she flailed her arms and managed to get her concentration back, shooting after her tutor quickly.

There was one difference between her and Vegeta, however. She flew lower then him, and didn't seem to have any fear of running into anything. Then again, she had a slight advantage. Her own racial trait to process images faster per second meant that things didn't exactly 'zoom up' on her. The saiyajin dipped down, and she followed suit without thinking.

The feel of the earth rushed up to her and she reacted without thinking, curling her body forward. Her hand hit the ground and pushed off just as quickly, sending her flipping. But she didn't careen off and crash. Instead, she seemed to launch in a series of flips as she tried to lower her speed before finally tucking into a handspring and landing into a crouch.

Panting, she rose to her feet after a moment, shaking her arms out and realizing just how wonderful the earth felt beneath her feet. The different use of energy was tiring her out, but she refused to let it show, just shaking her head out and turning around to look at Vegeta.

"Heeey! Are we eating here?!"

[Vegeta]

It was surprising that she managed to land without causing some manner of demolition. He crossed his arm, snorting. Had she not been so set on food, he wondered how well she would have landed.

In any case, the vibrant smell of the spices in the air from the restuarant would have set his tail swishing if he still had it. Since arriving on the planet, he had mixed opinions on their cuisine. Indian cuisine had become one of his all time favored diets, to which he had little understanding of the jokes on the smell. It smelled great to him. There was little he hadn't tried. The only thing he had yet to venture and try for food was human flesh, which apparently was a big no-no. But he promised himself one day he'd haul off and do it, because Vegeta could not go without trying everything.

"Yes. We are eating here. And you will behave yourself. They see me on a regular basis and I will not be made a fool of." The prince pointed at her warningly. "I'll be paying to feed you, so keep that in mind."

He led her into the small restuarant. It was lit simply by the open windows, tastefully done, elegant in a very basic way. Inside, the smells of the spices were even stronger. They were greeted by the waiter, who led them over to a booth. As he suspected, the buffet was done but that just meant fresh food without having to go get it. Vegeta liked it that way.

The waiter handed Pepper a menu but the saiyajin waved it off. He always ordered the same really, and in big portions. They knew what to expect when he walked in. "I'll have my usual dinner. And keep the Chai coming. You...Pepper. Order what you will, it doesn't matter how much." His lamb biryani, tandoori platters, muglai methi matar and peshawari naan would be out in a good while.

[Sansho "Pepper"]

It was like some sort of ironic magic that caused her to stay on her feet. His hunch, however, was probably correct. She would probably flub her next landing.

Closing her eyes, she tilted her head back, sniffing the scent in the air. Her ears actually twitched as she gave a sigh, her eyes opening with a dreamy cast. "Food... It smells a bit weird... but food." No matter what it smelled like, or what it looked like, she would eat it. Well, almost anything. She was pretty certain there were a few things that she would not eat at all.

Pepper tilted her head to him, blinking as she listened. Then, she smiled winsomely at him and clasped her hands in front of her in her little gesture, bowing to him from the waist before she spun on one heel, the other kicking out almost comically before snapping back into a rigid, almost military like fashion. Lifting a leg, she began to stride in, stepping in that comical fashion before she jerked forward, almost like she had gotten slapped upside the head. Shaking her head, she wrinkled her nose before walking like a normal person.

As they reached the booth, she reached behind her, pulling the staff off her back and laying it on the seat, up against the back cusion. The monks had installed some good manners into her, such as sitting at the edge of her seat. The staff at the base of the seat prevented comfortable seating anyways. Before she took a seat, she reached up , fingers working to undo the red knots of silk rope holding her vest-like jacket closed. Once they were undone, she slid out of the blue-gold vest, folding it neatly and setting it next to her. Beneath the vest, it was an almost kimono-like wrap with long sleeves that clasped up the side. She considered the crap before shaking her head and taking a seat, crossing her legs beneath her and sitting indian-style. Murmuring a quiet thanks to the waitress, she glanced at it before looking up at him, her fingers going to the claspings along her neck that ran down the side of her body.

"Yes, Mister Vegeta." She piped as she undid the top half of the wrap, shrugging her arms out of it. Beneath the top she wore a white undershirt that also had a high neck, though it was lower then the pieces of the changshan to keep it from showing. The bodice of the shirt was tight, showing the ribbing of a corset. It was a peculiarity of Pepper's that she hated the cumbersome feel of movement while fighting and tied herself down as tight as she could. Still, the shirt was still modest. It was sleeveless, showing off her lean but toned arms as she rolled the top half of the wrap down to her waist to keep herself from spilling food on it. Once that was done- and it had only taken a minute to alter her outfit so,- she picked up the menu.

Now Kakiri began to speak. Both of them agreed on one thing: Chicken. It was what they wanted that they kept argueing. Pepper wanted spicey, while the other voice in her mind wanted sweet. She did have one thing over some of the idiots that plagued Vegeta: She was literate. However, to the person who didn't realize she was conversing with someone in her mind, she was making an unusual amount of faces. Her eyes would light up. Then her ears would twitch and she'd frown, her eyes looking at something before shaking something and tilting her head at something else. A stubborn frown touched her lips and she shook her head before switching pages.

"Um... I'll get... The Chicken tikka masala..." She stumbled over the strange words. "Butter chicken. Palak Paneer. And..." Her eyes glinted as she said the last one quickly, before the other half of her mind could stop her. "Chilli pakora. And... Green tea. The Kahava I guess."

She loved spicey!

[Vegeta]

With Pepper's order placed and his well underway, Vegeta leaned back in his seat with his arms crossed. Their drinks were brought out but he didn't touch his chai tea just yet. Instead he settled for more study as he stared at the girl. He was also predetermining places where they could make improvement.

Her cumbersome wardrobe would have to be fixed. It appeared to him that it would get in the way, no matter how graceful it would appear she moved in it. He was uncertain whether it was heavy or not. If it was, it would be fine for training, but then he didn't want her getting cozy in it for training, then be a blundering fool out of it. Something simple, streamlined, it would be best for speed and flexibility and would leave little for an enemy to grab. Bulma often mocked his 'fashion sense' but he was aiming to be practical, not some peacock.

The staff, it was foreign territory to him. As a saiyajin warrior, he was strictly trained in working with his fists. He knew Kakarot had a similar instrument, but it had never been brought to their sparring sessions. Whether she worked with it independently was up to her, but he would not see it used when they worked.

"What is with you? Are your brains scrambled by any chances?" While she had been ordering, her facial quircks and the twitching of her ears had once again been going off and he could no longer deny his curiousity. Besides, that would be an important piece of information for dealing with her one on one. He was already preparing himself for whatever surprises that might sprout up during the course of his work. He took his straw, stirring his drink before he brought it up to drink. Dinner, or at least before it got to them, made for a good time to speak.

"If there are any...issues you have, you better be frank and spill them now." The dark haired man snorted. "For example, if you have not already figured it out, you could probably call me an egotistical asshole. Everyone else does. And I am. But I have all the right to be. Not only am I of royal blood, but I am easily one of the strongest on this planet and beyond. Tell me, were you around for the 25th World Tournament?"

It was debatable if she remembered anything about it. It had been the last tournament he had bothered with before the one today. He knew that it had been wished of the dragon that Majin Buu be forgotten, but he wasn't sure if his actions as Majin Vegeta had been erased from memory. Then again, he hadn't really cared enough to find out and if it was remembered, it didn't seem the demolition of half the stadium had been a major concern. But he was interested in seeing if she did, it would answer a few questions for him and they had time to kill.

[Sansho "Pepper"]

Weighted clothing was a universal ideal. The monks back in her hometown had trained in similar ways, weighing their bodies down during runs through the desert and climbs over the bluffs. Her ceremonial fighting gear was not weighted down and was lightweight to move easier. She probably didn't even have that much weighted armor, if any at all.

The green tea was set in front of her and she took in her hands, taking a sip immediately. Sputtering softly, she swore under her breath, making a face, both at her burnt tongue and at Kakiri's laughter and took care to blow on the liquid before sipping it again.

When he spoke, she stiffened a bit, her eyes shooting up to watch him over the rim of the mug. There was a brief flash of fear before she quelled it, watching him warily now as she set her mug down, though her expression was as child-like as ever.

Pepper said nothing and instead rested her hands on her crossed ankles, listening as he spoke, tilting her head at his words. Those green eyes blinked wide for a moment, a brief spark of mischief entering her eyes at the self-inflicted insult, a grin almost tugging at her lips. Her expression flashed to something of surprise at his admission of royal blood, though she made no move to bow or anything other then a curious head tilt.

The rapid facial expressions at his words, however, were nothing compared to the way her eyes widened and how still she went at the mention of the 25th World Tournament.

Those green eyes stared at him, a memory bubbling to the surface. Dying energy, corrupted energy, the utter destruction of the planet. Pain. Unending pain. Shattering.

Pepper shut her eyes quickly, bowing her head as she took a deep breath, trying to still her emotions. Unseen under the table, her hands shifted into that concentrating gesture as she tried to still her mind. In the back of her mind, Kakiri had gone into rage, set off merely from the horrible, scattered memory.

"No. Not scrambled, Mister Vegeta." The lightness was gone from her voice, though she tried to smile. "And yes... I was around. I was there, actually."

Sighing softly, she lifted her head, opening her eyes to gaze at the green tea. "It was my first tournament. I entered but didn't make it past the pre-liminaries... I had a bit of an accident... I remember you now. You broke the machine. After all the readings from the people before you had been off the records, and merely from taps..." She lifted her eyes to him for a moment, studying him before dropping her gaze back to the cup. "They weren't flukes.. They really weren't. Hm."

Pepper sighed, reaching up to run her hand through her short-cropped hair. There were very few things that could sober her up, but this was one of them, if only because she had to focus on keeping the murderous rage in check. Luckily for everyone around them, she was stronger then Kakiri right now. With the serious look on her face, she almost seemed her actual age of twenty-six instead of a youthful teen.

"In any case... I was there. And that's where my issues stem from. My brain isn't scrambled like eggs... It's... Fracture. Like a someone took a chili pepper and snapped it in half. Something happened that year, something that I can't even be sure was real, as I have no memories from it other then a brief, few flashes. Whatever it was... It shattered my mind in half. I'm not one person. I'm two persons... Wuko and Kakiri."

She finally smiled, though it had no humor, as she tilted her head. "Or just Pepper, to keep it simple. It doesn't get in the way of fighting. Kakiri likes fighting as much as I do, though for different reasons. There. That's what it is, and an answer in one for a question of two."

[Vegeta]

It was evident that the conversation had an interesting effect on her. As she explained, he processed the information. In a way, it reminded him of that Launch or Lunch whatever her name was, that Bulma had told him about. At first she was sweet and naive, but once she sneezed, she was homicidal. This just had significant differences. The darker personality probably came and went as it saw fit, he wasn't sure whethere it was homicidal yet. It wouldn't be an obstacle for the training though. Being stronger than the girl, he would be able to put her in her place if she gave him any trouble, and regardless, he doubted she wanted to forfeit training.

"Hn. Once in a while, you may need to let me deal with this other side of you even though I'm sure she picks up on what I tell you anyway."

He smirked, indulgent in the memory that he had broken the machine. It almost happened again this year, but he was threatened with starvation if he broke anything intentionally.

Vegeta thought of the 'something' that was evading her. She remembered, unlike so many people in the world whose dark memories of Buu's terror had been wished away. That was the feeling he got from her anyway. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He might as well come out with it and explain to her. Besides, were she to become something of a defender of Earth which was inevitable in his company, well she needed to know things. And if anything, if said events had been what damaged her mind, she pretty much had a right to know.

"Look. Something did happen. Something quite important. During the 25th World Tournament, a demonic creature named Majin Buu had gotten loose. He scoured the Earth, turned people into candy, ate them, caused wanton destruction wherever he went...The human populace had been wiped out near the end of it all. At some point during his shenanigans, he destroyed the Earth. Completely. Blew it into space dust. After it was all said and done, we used the powers of the dragon to wish back Earth, it's people, and had their memories of the whole ordeal erased." To most people, they would look at him like he were crazy. But he doubted she would, the look in her eyes told him as much. "Perhaps the memory wipe messed with your head."

He looked over, smelling the fresh food that was going to be on the way. Eating would put her back in ease, no doubt. His stomach started to gripe at him too.