Work Text:
“Now, don’t get into too much trouble, you two.”
Today was the day of the twenty-eighth World Martial Arts Tournament and the two Saiyans, Goku and Vegeta, weren’t the only ones who were ecstatic.
Five-year-old Pan, granddaughter of Goku, was finally ready to participate in her first tournament. Due to her Saiyan genetics, she was a combat prodigy, allowing her to easily hold her own amongst adults. She had even flown around the planet in the span of minutes just that morning.
However, it would be a while before the main event would begin and Pan was dead set on perusing the various activities around the area with her grandpa.
“We won’t, dad!” Pan assured her father.
“Hey, don’t sweat it, Gohan! She’s in good hands.” Goku gave a reassuring smile.
“With you, that’s debatable.” Chi-Chi sighed.
“Ah, come on, Chi-Chi…” The Saiyan looked back at his wife almost pleadingly. “You’re always saying how I should bond with her, and I promise we’ll only buy a few sweets…”
She only sighed, a small smile forming across her lips, still ever amused by her husband after all of the years of worry. “Just go.”
On that note, Goku and Pan soon took to the heart of the lanes of vendors, looking to find at least something to occupy the time before they were called back for their matches.
“Where do you want to go first, Pan?”
“Ice cream!” Pan cheered, pointing to a nearby stand.
“Great choice! I was thinking that too.” Goku entered a running stance. “I’ll race you!”
“You’re on, grandpa!”
After a brief count of three, the pair began to rush towards the ice cream vendor. However, it didn’t take long for Pan to lose her pace.
She saw something. A tail from around a corner, lazily batting about in curlicues.
“Hey, why’d you slow down, Pan?”
“Look over there!”
Pan pointed to the tail around the corner. It was rather small, a dusty rose color and striped. Dangling from it was what appeared to be a small pendant keychain with a circular charm.
“It’s a puppy tail, grandpa! There’s a puppy over there!”
“Well, I think that’s kind of a weird color for a puppy…” Goku tried to explain, but Pan had already bolted.
“PUPPY!” She squealed as she ran towards the tail.
“Pan, wait!” Goku tried to chase after his granddaughter, but she was already prepared to pounce on the tail. When Goku could finally see around the corner and realize that the tail’s owner was in fact not a dog, Pan had already jumped and grabbed on.
“Gotcha!”
The tailed creature appeared to be a bipedal reptilian. The jewel that made up his skull was a brownish maroon shade and resembled a chestnut. The creature’s species was familiar to Goku, but he couldn’t place it in this rushed instance. He was clearly upset that his tail was grabbed and tears were forming.
The reptilian stumbled back as he freed his tail from Pan’s eager grasp, not noticing the pendant dropping from it. He started to bolt in the other direction, mumbling something panicked and incoherent. He didn’t get very far before tripping. He picked himself up and continued to run, this time holding his tail to stop it from dragging on the ground. He finally managed to cry out a word that was understandable: a wailing cry of “Papa!”
“Pan, that wasn’t very nice of you to pull on that little lizard boy’s tail.” Goku looked at his granddaughter with disappointment.
“But, grandpa, I didn’t know!” Pan whined.
Goku sighed. “Well, we should try to find him, so you can apologize.” Noticing the fallen keychain, he retrieved it from the ground. “And we should probably return this to him too.” He grabbed Pan’s hand and led her through the crowd. “Come on."
Several minutes had passed and the two had no luck with finding the lizard boy. It was rather unusual. How hard was it to find a boy with a tail in a place like this?
Pan was scanning among the legs of passing people to try to spot the boy with no luck.
Goku turned to look in the direction that Pan was searching while continuing to walk. “You see ‘im yet, Pan?” He inquired.
“No, not yet, grandpa, but…”
“What is it?”
“I think you should be paying more attention to the path!”
“Pan, it’s fine.” Goku assured his granddaughter. “I’ll be fine, I’m not going to bump into anyone!”
Just at that moment, as if jinxed by his words, Goku immediately bumped into someone. He jolted back, almost letting Pan’s hand slip out of his.
“Woah, sorry, sir. Didn’t see you there!” He apologized.
“You’d better be sorry, monkey.” A snarky and sarcastic voice responded.
The sound of the voice resonated with Goku. Only one person he knew had that certain flourish to his voice and that same person was the only one who called him by that name.
Goku’s eyes turned downward to see a familiar reptilian figure with white scales and violet jewels. Unlike the lizard’s usual attire choice, he wore a loose-fitting button-up shirt, dark enough violet to pass for black, and Force-standard spandex shorts, as well as a pair of sunglasses- somewhat feminine in design, likely not something he picked out himself- that his ruby red eyes peeked over, giving the Saiyan his signature glare of condescension. This clothing was probably to help him blend in with the surrounding crowds and avoid suspicion, but Goku felt that his tail was somewhat of a dead giveaway.
“Frieza?” Goku looked in confusion. “I didn’t expect you to be at the tournament!”
“Well, I didn’t expect myself to be here either.” The Arcosian removed his sunglasses and folded them. “But, Vegeta’s woman insisted since it’s been almost five years since I helped you save the universe, or whatever sappy excuse she used.” He rolled his eyes. “And apparently there are no admission returns, so…”
“Yeah, Bulma’s quite the master of persuasion, isn’t she?”
“I wouldn’t call it persuasion. More like coercion.”
Meanwhile, Pan slowly glanced around her grandfather’s leg to get a better look at the figure before her. Frieza’s tail swished back and forth, almost pattern-like, but the young girl noticed something else. Flicking almost in sync with the white tail was another tail of a familiar dusty rose color. Could it be that lizard boy?
Pan eagerly tugged on the leg of Goku’s gi. “Grandpa, grandpa!”
“What is it, Pan?” Goku asked.
“This guy’s got a tail!”
“Yes, he does, Pan.” The Saiyan explained. “Mr. Frieza’s from space, so he has some body parts that humans don’t have.”
"Oh?” Frieza seemed curious about the small girl. “Who is this? Another one of your hellspawn I presume?”
“Actually, Pan’s my granddaughter. She was at that post-tournament party we had, remember? She was just a baby then.”
“You do remember I left before all of these festivities, right?” Frieza’s eyes narrowed. “I could barely stand being on your team for forty-eight minutes, so I definitely couldn’t stomach a full-out party.”
“Oh, right!” Goku remembered and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. “Almost forgot you’re not a party person.”
Frieza gave a displeased sigh at the Saiyan’s ignorance. His tail flicked about faster and the second tail behind him seemed to be having difficulty matching the speed. This attracted Pan’s attention yet again, prompting her to give another tug.
“Grandpa, grandpa!”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to advise her that this is hardly the time or place for me to explain my entire anatomy…” The Arcosian rolled his eyes.
“Pan, Mr. Frieza’s right. Maybe another time-”
Pan interjected. “But, he’s got two tails!”
Goku looked shocked. “He has what?!”
Frieza’s eyes practically flew open. “I-I can explain, don’t get too over-excited now-”
But, Goku had already started rambling. “I didn’t know you could grow another tail! Can you grow three tails? Do you think Saiyans can do it too? Can-”
“Silence!" Frieza barked, ending the rant. His own tail stiffened and the second one seemed to fidget, uncertain of how to mirror the other. He sighed. "The second tail isn’t mine.”
“So, you ripped it off another guy and surgically attached it to yourself?”
The Arcosian was starting to lose patience more rapidly. “No, I mean that there’s someone behind me, you imbecile!” He pinned his folded sunglasses to his shirt collar. “Just give me a second.” Frieza turned around and bent down. His voice seemed to mellow as he near silently spoke to the small being behind him. “Come on, Kuri. Don’t be scared…” After a brief hesitation, the pint-sized figure flinched forward into Frieza’s embrace, allowing him to scoop up the tailed creature. “There we go…”
When he faced them again, he was holding a smaller lizard being. Their form seemed to be similar to Frieza’s first form, but it was missing horns. Their jewel skull resembled a maroon chestnut. They donned Frieza Force-regulated battle gear. The armor seemed to be of a model similar to Vegeta’s, as it lacked the shoulder pads present on Frieza’s usual armor. A black silk scarf, somewhat large on them, was tied at their collar and draping along their shoulders.
“It seems that some introductions are in order.” Frieza finally managed a smile for once. “This is my son, Kuriza. Born two years after my revival."
Kuriza, clearly bewildered, briefly glanced over to Goku, then to Pan. After his analysis, he quickly averted his gaze and attempted to retreat back behind his father, who quickly stopped him. He must have been rather shy.
"Wow, never thought you had it in you, Frieza!”
Frieza hesitated for a moment. “What are you implying here, Goku…?” His eye twitched angrily.
“Well, um… It’s just… You’re Frieza and all, and I didn’t really think you were interested in-”
Pan interjected with her own question to spare her grandfather from Frieza’s wrath. “Who’s the mum, then?”
Frieza stammered as a red color spread across his face. He refused to look either of them in the eye. “That is… none of your concern, child…”
Goku laughed a little. “Same stubborn Frieza! But, anyways, it’s nice to meet you, little guy!” He held out his hand for Kuriza to shake or, at least, grab onto. To the Saiyan’s surprise, the young lizard’s already frightened expression seemed to further sour, shortly afterward attempting to snap his small fangs at Goku’s hand.
“Kuri! Manners!” The older Arcosian scolded him through gritted teeth.
“Woah! What the heck was that for? Did you set this up?”
Frieza seemed shocked as well. “I swear, I didn’t. I know that vengeance has been in the cards for quite some time now, but I’ve never trained him to attack you specifically.” He let out a small chuckle. “I guess it’s only natural for him to attack what he considers a threat. Just my luck that you automatically fit the bill~”
Emerging from the brief silence, Kuriza suddenly started to mumble something. It was hard to decipher at first, but even Goku was able to deduce what he said. “He’s… with… her.” He seemed to be referring to Pan and was clearing speaking about her with fear in his tone.
“This is because of Pan?” Goku looked surprised before the emotion was quickly overshadowed by fear. Frieza was glaring at him.
“Alright, monkey,” The Arcosian growled. “I don’t know what your little spawn did that traumatized my son, but you’d better explain… now.”
Goku started to sweat as he tried to once again hide Pan behind his leg. “I-I honestly… don’t know what happened…”
“Sh-she…” The young lizard stuttered. He eventually gave up on trying to work out the words and grabbed the end of his dusty rose tail. He made a tugging motion lightly enough to not cause himself discomfort. Goku’s eyes widened with realization. Kuriza was the lizard boy from before!
Frieza looked to his son with a gaze of concern. “Kuri, did that girl pull your tail?” Kuriza simply nodded. “She did?” His eyes turned back to Goku and his concerned look turned to an infuriated scowl.
“Um, Frieza, I can explain!”
“What is there to explain here? This little mutt pulled on my son’s tail because she doesn’t know how to keep her paws to herself…”
“She didn’t really pull though, she was only grabbing on for a few seconds-”
“Well, the tail is very sensitive! She could have hurt him!”
“Frieza, I’m honestly very sorry for all of thi-”
Goku’s defense of his granddaughter was cut off by Pan herself stepping up, her voice reduced to whimpering. “I didn’t wanna hurt him! I thought it was a puppy tail because I like to grab puppy tails, I didn’t know. I won’t do it again, don’t hurt me, Mr. Frieza!” She was almost diminished to an emotional puddle faced with the angered emperor.
Thankfully for the trembling quarter-Saiyan, Frieza’s temper cooled with a sigh. “I guess if you promise never to do it again, I can let it slide. Fortunately for you both, Vegeta’s woman also forced me into a ‘no violence’ agreement, so I, unfortunately, can not destroy you if the mood strikes me.”
Despite the positive news, Goku’s shoulders seemed to slump in disappointment. “Aww… So, does that mean you won’t be fightin’ in the tournament today?”
“Violence clauses or no, I am much too powerful to safely fight the normal Earthling combatants. I could quite literally tear up the competition while holding back.” The Arcosian’s expression turned into a cocky smirk. “Besides, I can’t trust any of your questionable companions to watch my darling Kuri.” At mention of his son, his scarlet eyes darted over to Kuriza, who was further attempting to bury his face by snuggling into his father’s embrace, the gesture met by a brief cheek nuzzle.
"Speaking of watching over and such,” Goku added with mild confusion. “How come the little guy was out and about without you? I figured you’d be watching him like a hawk with how protective you are.”
Frieza sighed. “I try to stop him from wandering off, but he keeps trying to scavenge anyway. The boy has a mind of his own some days.”
“Scavenge?”
“Yes, for coins- and, before you try to give me any money, we’re fine on that front. He simply adores shiny objects like that… I even had to buy him a shiny little trinket in the hopes it would keep him occupied for a spell, but it seemed it didn’t work that well. It’s this little medallion charm from a little vendor back there.” He turned to Kuriza, who finally peeked back out of his reserved hiding. “Show them your little charm, Kuri.”
The smaller lizard looked back to his tail, only to find no such object dangling from it, letting out a small gasp. Frieza’s eyes narrowed. “Where did your charm go, Kuriza?” He was met with a mumbling response that Goku couldn’t make out but Frieza somehow could. “I told you not to put it on your tail, you know that’s how things get lost.”
“What’s the matter?” Goku inquired.
The lizard emperor sighed yet again. “It seems that Kuriza lost his little trinket while he was out scavenging. It must have slipped off his tail while he was up and about, it could be anywhere in this place. Such a shame that-”
“Shiny…” A small sad whimper came from Kuriza. He depressedly tried to slide down out of his father’s arm, only for him to be scooped back up.
“Aww… Poor guy… Are you going to go look for it now?” Pan asked from behind Goku’s leg.
“I’m afraid that will not be an easy thing to accomplish, little- Gkk!” Frieza was cut off by a sudden pain: a small kick from Kuriza, right in the upper ribs. The little lizard’s mood had greatly soured and he was now resorting to kicking to fuel his agenda.
“Goku!” Frieza interjected, still being given small jabs in the ribs from his son’s silent tantrum.
“Yes?” Goku perked up. Frieza had no snarky nickname for him, so he knew he was serious.
“By any chance, do you know someplace private I could go for a minute or so?” He spoke through pained grunts. “Preferably one nearby?”
“Wait, why?”
“Well, you know how he likes shiny things? Seeing my Golden Form helps calm him down and I don’t want to attract any undue attention. So, if you would-” A single harder kick made Frieza’s eyes widen mid-explanation to near the size of saucers. “Please…” He turned Kuriza around in his carrying, getting his legs to face outward and redirecting his frustrated kicks, unfortunately trying to find ways to swing backward.
“Ahh… Gotcha…” The Saiyan nodded understandingly before briefly shooting him a casual finger gun. “I think there should be bathrooms off around the outskirts- Maybe around the konpeito booth?”
“Much appreciated…” Frieza grunted through his teeth as he turned in his tracks off towards the other direction, redirecting his attention and softening his tone towards his son. “It’s okay, Kuri… Papa will do the pretty shiny thing for you soon…”
However, before he could get too far, Pan suddenly chipped in, her voice still somewhat stuttering in fear of potentially upsetting the short fused emperor. “Wait… Umm, Mister Frieza?”
One iris darted back to look at the petite partial Saiyan, Frieza’s default look appearing like a glare. “Yes? What do you need, little mutt?”
“Well, umm…” She hesitated. “If you tell us what it looks like, we could try to find the little charm for him…” After her initial nerves, she perked up, confidently cocky like her grandpa. “I’m good at finding things!”
The emperor was resistant to accept the offer, especially one from a five year old, but he eventually let out a begrudging sigh. “Very well, but don’t get your hopes up about finding it. It’s a small circle shaped pendant- Two sides to it. One has a picture of the sun, the other has a crescent of your planet’s moon- and it’s very shiny as you could presume.” He rolled his eyes as he turned back around. “Now, if you don’t mind…” He trailed off, grumbling.
Not long after Frieza had only taken a few steps ahead, all while trying to reign in the silently fussing little lizard in his arms, a thought caused Goku’s shoulders to lurch up, like a jolt coursed through him to turn on the metaphorical lightbulb. He turned to Pan, fetching something from his belt as he did- the small keychain that had been dropped from earlier. Of course, it appeared a touch less shiny than hoped due to the dirt on it. “Hey… Pan, do you think this might be it?”
“Yeah!” The young quarter-Saiyan piped up. “After all, we did find it when the little guy ran off.”
“Well, Mister Frieza’s not too far, so do you think you could-”
Goku was barely allowed a chance to finish before his granddaughter yelped out to cross the few feet gap between her and the father-son pair of lizards. “Hey! Mister Frieza! We have it!”
The lizard emperor flinched in his tracks from the volume of her voice, pivoting back around on a dime and returning back to the two Saiyans. “What?! How the hell did you find that so fast?”
Pan briefly flinched as well, sensing hostility in his tone, but quickly recomposing herself. “Well, we think he lost it when I pulled his tail. It was on the ground where he was, so…” She held out the keychain, Frieza’s eyes nearly lighting up in relief, only for his expression to remain the same typical disgruntled.
“It’s all dirty, monkey…” His glare shot up to Goku, who quickly understood what Frieza meant by it, letting out a brief “oh!” before taking the keychain from Pan, hastily wiping it clean with the edge of his top, then handing it back. “That’s better.”
Upon seeing its glimmering beauty reflecting the light of the sunshine, the once stubborn little Kuriza’s expression seemed to melt into stunned wonder, a matching glitter in his eyes. “Shiny…” He let out an awestruck whisper, his tiny hand now attempting to reach out toward it, only to be limited by the length of his arm and the hold his father, who was smiling for once, kept on him.
“Yes, yes, I see it, my little chestnut.” The emperor sighed. He knelt down to a shorter level, closer to Pan’s, as he set Kuriza back onto his two feet and quickly snatched the charm from the Saiyan child’s hands. “Now, so you don’t lose this again…” He untied the knot of the boy’s scarf before quickly retying it again, this time making the knot around the looped end of the keychain. “We’ll tie it here.”
Kuriza almost immediately looked back down to admire it, fumbling with it in his tiny hands and flipping it between sun and moon, continuing to do so even as his father scooped him back up and rose to his feet. The smile remained on the older lizard’s face even as he shot a glaring look with his eyes at Pan. “Don’t expect any sort of ‘thank you’, mutt. You were part of the problem, after all.”
“Well, she was part of the solution, to be fair.”
Frieza simply scoffed. “Water under the bridge, monkey…” He shifted his son in his arms, transferring him to his backside and, no sooner after the small being had securely latched himself into his new position, his eyes progressively lowered, already tired. It was interesting to see how Frieza seemed to mellow around his son- was it parental hormones or did he actually have a sweet side?- yet his characteristic cold nature seemed to remain beneath.
“Now, if you have nothing further to contribute… I’ll continue perusing this overly sappy human carnival until the main event starts.” As the lizard turned around, precious cargo slumbering on his back, it wasn’t long before his route forward was cut short by another voice calling out toward him, this one feminine, but not belonging to Pan.
“Hey! There you are, Frieza!” He looked with a cold glare to find that the approaching voice was tied to the woman who had roped him into this mess herself- Bulma, waving towards the group ahead on the path. Of course, she was not alone, having her clearly disgruntled Saiyan husband dragged along with her, as well as an unfamiliar pint-size presence, her hair distinctly matching Bulma’s in color.
“Great… The woman…”
Alerted by this commotion, Kuriza’s attempted nap was instantly halted with an alarmed squeak. His panic amplified upon seeing the approaching Briefs family and, not wishing to confront even more people, released his hold on Frieza’s back, dropping to the ground and preparing to bolt away in the opposite direction. However, a stark white tail pushed him back. “No running off again!” Having no other escape option, he defensively kept a firm hug-like grip around his father’s legs.
While Frieza remained aloofly looking away, Goku was all smiles to see the group approaching, waving towards Vegeta in particular. “Hey, 'Geets!” His greeting was met by the other Saiyan letting out a small grunt and simply addressing him as “Kakarot”.
The emperor only rolled his eyes at this overly sappy “buddy-buddy” display, not finding any interest in whatever sort of bonding ritual the two Saiyans had to share, nor any of the human ones Bulma would force onto him. However, before he could make his discreet exit from the situation, the woman’s eyes locked with him. “I thought I saw you around. Thankfully nothing in utter chaos.” The smile on her lips was hesitant, even though dragging him here was her idea, and Vegeta held her back with a defensive arm, as if he were a zoo exhibit.
“Your lack of faith in me to 'behave’, as you put it, is insulting, Bulma.” Frieza scoffed, half-humoring her. “Anyway, thank you for the… human disguise you loaned me.” He motioned to the collar of the button-up shirt, speaking of it like it was a burden forced upon him. “And, if you don’t mind, I was just about to continue my rounds until you appeared.” As he turned around, he unpinned the sunglasses from his shirt and covered his glaring red eyes back up with them. “Without further interruption, I must bid you ta-ta, woman~”
The lizard dismissed the group that had formed around him with a flick of a wave, but, when he tried to continue his trail through the grounds, he was halted, as his legs didn’t seem to want to move. Looking down to see what was the matter, he noticed that Kuriza was still stubbornly grabbing him by the legs in defensive attachment, his grip keeping the two legs squeezed together. “Gkk! Kuri- please-”
Of course, it didn’t take Bulma long to notice. “Aww… Who’s that little fella you’ve got there?” Once the woman drew attention to the little lizard, his father let out a disgruntled sigh, his shades slightly falling and once again revealing a peek of unamused red irises.
“Oh, didn’t you guys know?” Goku started answering on Frieza’s behalf. “Frieza had a kiddo of his own the whole time!”
“Ah, that explains why you were asking about child admission when I got in touch with you! I just thought you were trying to pass one of your short minions off as one to get a discount or something.”
Vegeta added a begrudging “Him procreating? Tch…”
The emperor continued through gritted teeth. “Yes, his name is Kuriza and he doesn’t like new people, so could we just move on-”
Before he could finish, Bulma’s curiosity had already overtaken her, passing Vegeta’s arm barrier to her husband’s dismay. She had already made her way uncomfortably close to the lizard, kneeling down to reach the further fearful Kuriza, his grip tightening and his face becoming more obscured. “That’s okay. He just hasn’t come out of his shell yet.” Her voice became a coo. “It’s okay, little guy… Miss Bulma won’t hurt you!”
“Woman, please back off. He doesn’t want your company.” Frieza, raising his sunglasses up to his forehead, urged her, not being heard.
“Aww… Poor guy… Don’t be scared!” She reached forward, further triggering the boy’s fight or flight, and carefully examined the little charm tied to his scarf, flipping the token in her fingertips. “That’s a cute little charm you have there, Kuriza~ Did your dad get that for you?”
“You may not want to touch that-”
“I’m not going to take it away from him, I’m just looking at it.”
“Bulma!” Frieza, at the end of his rope, finally used her real name. “I really wouldn’t. He-!”
He looked back down too late as the human woman let out a panicked yelp. “Oww! He bit me!” Sure enough, little Kuriza’s fangs were clamped onto Bulma’s finger, the other four fearfully releasing his pendant. The small creature, frightenedly unsure of how to react, was between moods, letting out a soft growl and tearing up at the same time.
“As I was trying to explain…” Frieza grumbled. “He bites when he feels threatened- and you were being quite threatening in his mind.” He reached down and planted a reassuring hand on top of his son’s head. “It’s okay, Kuri~ Let her go now.” While the younger lizard hesitated briefly, he acquiesced and allowed Bulma to withdraw her hand, shortly after transferring his hug hold by springing up onto his father’s arm.
“Well, that’s a lesson for later… Heh…” With a forced smile, Bulma tried to brush off the incident, rubbing at her sore finger. “I guess I’ll leave you two to your business! We’ll see you later at the main event!”
While both lizards were relieved in their own ways that the Briefs group was leaving, another voice, finally piping up, was not quite enthused. “Aww… But, I wanted to play with the lizard boy!” The tiny source was the small girl by Vegeta’s legs, the color of her hair, tied up in a ponytail, a mix of purple and robin’s egg strands.
“I know you did, Bulla, honey, but little Kuriza’s not quite in the mood to play right now.” While Bulma rationally explained the situation, Vegeta was taking the more protective route, trying to prod Bulla away. Perhaps it was fear of her being bitten too, or of her being 'contaminated’ by an evil emperor’s son.
“Okay…” Bulla disappointedly whimpered. As she was urged ahead on her way by her stubborn Saiyan father, she raised her hand to wave goodbye. “Bye-bye, then!” Her hand waving overenthusiastically at the same time rattled a small bracelet around her wrist, a few gemstone-like beads making it up- hopefully play-pretend plastic, unless they trusted a four-year-old that much. However, no matter what material it was, what mattered was its surfaces caught glimmers of light in their motions-
As well as Kuriza’s attention.
The Saiyans, partial and full, and Bulma parted to one direction, while the solitary emperor and his boy went to the other. However, Kuriza, now reclaiming his prior position playing piggyback, couldn’t help but look behind him as the others headed off- though the people themselves were of less interest to him than the real treasure. The bracelet continued to jangle around on its little girl owner’s wrist, further tempting him with its glittering allure. “Shiny…” He near silently whispered. His movements were quiet and stealthy, taking some time before Frieza even noticed him dropping down from his back.
Bulla, past her initial disappointment of not having a new playmate, was now busily chatting with Pan, walking to the side of her. Her braceleted hand was held behind her back while her father protectively held the other one. The surrounding footsteps that formed the ambience of the tournament ground made her miss the tiny and quickly approaching patters- that was until she felt the wrist behind her being suddenly grabbed.
“Oh!” She turned around to see Kuriza attempting to take a hold on her bracelet and suddenly frozen in his tracks, realizing he had to deal with the person attached. “Hey, it’s you! Hi!” The lizard wanted to draw back, but also refused to leave his prize.
Kuriza hesitated. “…Hi…?”
“It’s okay. You like my bracelet, don’t you?” He nodded daintily in response, just as his father worriedly approached.
“Kuri, what did I tell you about scampering off again?! That shiny thing already has a home…” The young Arcosian’s attention was still diverted, continuing to be subjected to Bulla’s small talk.
“My mum got me this for my birthday. It’s my favorite, but I really like your little shiny thing too!” Surprisingly, Kuriza did not grow defensive of his trinket when she pointed at it, his more important goal being the new object before him. “Oh! I just remembered! You don’t know my name. My name’s Bulla, nice to meet'cha!”
Since the lizard’s hand was already joined to her, Bulla simply grabbed his wrist in exchange to complete the handshake, causing him to slightly flinch. He knew he couldn’t run away now- especially since the treasure was in close range.
Stammering, he suddenly spoke up again, his murmur making him harder to understand. “I- ’m… K-Ku-reeza… Nice to… mmm…” He mumbled, failing on the last word and looking up at his father for guidance, who simply sighed.
“Don’t hurt yourself… It’s an earth thing… Just say 'meet you’.”
“Oh… Meet you! Nice to meet you…” He finished, suddenly triumphant but still hushed.
“Very good, Kuriza. Now come along please. This little one has other places to be- as do we.” Frieza bent down to his knees to reach the young boy’s level again, attempting to gently disconnect his hand from the girl’s wrist. Though he was resistant to do so, Kuriza submitted to his father’s grab and returned to his embrace.
“Aww, so soon…?” It wasn’t the young girl who was whining, but rather her mother. “The little fella was just coming out of his shell. Didn’t you see it, Frieza?”
“I did.” Frieza glared. “And it was probably only because of her bracelet, so don’t read too deep into it.” He rose to his feet, Kuriza in tow, preparing to continue turning the other way- a simple task that he would have completed minutes ago but, with more pestering from Bulma, it became increasingly difficult.
“That’s because you’re not giving it a chance! Why don’t you just come with us then? You’ll still be able to see the grounds and the little guys can have their time together. Sounds like a win-win!”
The older lizard looked back with skepticism. “I’m not sure if he’d be… comfortable…” His vision then turned to the boy, who was trying to return to burying his face.
“It’s okay!” Bulla responded with her mother’s chipper and boundless enthusiasm, the arm with her bracelet raising at the same time and jangling the beads. “I’m lots of fun! I’ll be his friend!”
Once shy Kuriza almost instantly popped out of his reclusion upon hearing the little beads clatter and, again captivated like a magpie to its shininess, leaned forward to get a closer look, dropping himself out of Frieza’s arms in the process. He skittered over to Bulla and latched onto her braceleted wrist yet again like a magnet. “I see someone agrees!” Bulma, noticing the action, smiled.
This further hardened Frieza’s glare, the action proving his argument in favor of this being the bracelet’s fault and nothing else. Kuriza appeared happy, probably only because he was faced with a new shiny trinket to eye up. As he was about to make his rebuttal, surprisingly, someone else had an objection.
“Bulma, what are you trying to do?!” Vegeta’s brow furrowed, trying to tug Bulla back to his side by her other hand. “Why are you setting up my-” He corrected himself. “Our princess with this little… tyrant?!”
“Vegeta, you’re being ridiculous.” Bulma’s look equally soured. “I know he’s Frieza’s kid, you had some bad blood, but he’s three at most.” She looked down to where the children were standing, Bulla figuring out that her bracelet was like a laser pointer and moving her arm around to see if Kuriza’s eyes followed- sure enough they did and his tail waggled gently. “He’s not going to blow her up or anything.”
“No, all I’m saying is-” The Saiyan attempted to protest further, only to be silenced by a quick peck to the cheek by Bulma, the love behind it covered by frustration.
“Just trust me, okay…?” She muttered under her breath before readopting her excitement. “Now that that’s settled, shall we be on our way?” Bulma shot Frieza another sickeningly sweet smile, the lizard only folding his arms and sighing disgruntled as he followed them- skepticism in ever step.
Young Bulla seemed to be leading Kuriza along by her bracelet, making her own side of the conversation, all rather earthen topics, some of her favorite things and where to find the best snacks in the city, while he, probably not understanding most of it and playing along to remain tied to the shiny thing, let out occasional nods and mumbles of agreement. His father continued to watch the two closely to make sure they didn’t get into any mischief, glaring at the girl with an air of distrust whenever she looked back up at him.
Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to keep up this act for long. Soon enough, this charade would end with the passing of the tournament and he wouldn’t need to set foot on this dirtball again, unless he made plans to claim its Dragon Balls- and that was a note he could relax a bit on.
Unfortunately, for him, what he didn’t realize was that unfolding before him was the beginning of a long friendship that would persist for years to come.
So much for that idea…