4 Meeting the Blue Girl

A/N: Regarding the multiplier of the Primal Saiyan transformation - yes, I know it's high. the other transformations will behave slightly differently multiplier-wise so even though PS is as strong as SSJ1, SSJ1 isn't irrelevant.

As for how fast he's growing - compared to what? Original Goku? Start of DBZ Goku's PL is at slightly over 400, then he wastes nearly half a year on snake way, trains with King Kai, fights Vegeta, and after 10 days of heavy gravity training on the ship to Namek, Goku's estimated power is at 90k.

Gohan at 10 years old, including the year in the time chamber, had access to SSJ2 and had beaten Cell.

SI Goku's power at 14 isn't crazy IMO. He's strong for the timeline, but that's due to his knowledge. He lacks some of the biggest resources others had, otherwise he would've been even stronger.

Back to the story!

*********************************************************************************************

Goku was spending his time cleaning the house, as today he was going on his journey. One of the birds he was connected to has detected Bulma, who was still some ways up the road taking a break from her own journey. While making sure that everything was in order in the house, Goku was also watching his future traveling companion.

He was glad that at least this event happened, as it was a worry he carried for years. While Goku didn't plan on following canon events for the sake of not changing the timeline, he did want to have some idea of how events are going to unfold.

Feeling that there was little he could do, Goku left the house to greet Bulma. As he was watching the car quickly approaching his house, Goku noticed that the driver seemed distracted. Bulma wasn't even looking at the road, but soon she did and noticed Goku and his home. She seemed startled by that and lost control over her car, swerving straight into Goku.

Calmly lifting his leg, Goku stopped the car, though he used his Ki to soak the excess energy so the car didn't get damaged, nor did Bulma get thrown out of the car due to the sudden stop. Goku didn't just train to increase his strength or learn new techniques, he also constantly worked on mastering his strength. Though some of the things he practiced were for his amusement and had little practicality.

Goku watched as Bulma sat frozen in her seat, wide-eyed and slacked-jawed, and he couldn't help but eye her hair curiously, as even though he had seen several people with dyed hair, but naturally blue hair… Or was it cyan? Turquoise? He wasn't a color person, so he didn't really know.

After a few moments of intense staring, Bulma blinked before rushing out of the car. Frantically looking between Goku and her car, her mind seemed to be taking its time rebooting, as she muttered "what" and "how" repeatedly.

She seemed to compose herself and looked at Goku with a bright smile.

"Hi I'm Bulma!" She said. Or shouted. Her voice was too high pitched and panicky, and she stood too straight. She was not composed at all!

Goku glanced down from her face for a moment. Bulma was wearing the same outfit she did when she met his counterpart, the rather short pink dress with her name on it. Goku was surprised by her looks, and though he expected it, he still found her more attractive than he would've otherwise thought. There wasn't anything different about her compared to her animated self that he didn't expect, yet something within him called to claim her, and if he hadn't had his self-control, he wouldn't have been able to stop himself. Saiyan puberty was definitely hitting on him.

The biggest difference from the anime was actually coming from him. He wasn't tiny as Goku was, and instead he was only slightly shorter than Bulma, himself being around 5' and her being several inches taller. He wore a blue Gi similar to his canonical counterpart as well, though his muscles were considerably more defined. Bulma's fidgeting and reddening face suggested that she noticed that about him as she was checking him out.

"I'm Goku!" Goku introduced himself after a moment. "Do all your clothes have your name on them? Are you working, or is it some sort of fashion? I don't really understand fashion…" He confessed.

"Ah!" Bulma let out, slumping and blushing for a different reason now. "My mom insisted on packing my clothes and she's weird, okay? I'm not working, I'm on an adventure! And it's not a fashion choice either! It's not a choice at all…" She complained, before mumbling quietly. "She even packed me a bunny-girl costume, saying that it's just in case… In case of what? Stupid…"

Goku smirked, he wasn't supposed to hear that. "Maybe in case you want to impress a boy? I can say that it's already working, and I didn't even see it yet…"

"You heard that?!" She exclaimed. She just met the boy, and she was either shocked or blushing all the time. "What do you mean by yet?! How old are you, anyway?" She demanded, hoping to shift the conversation from such dangerous topics.

Goku only smirked at the first question. "I'm 14, what about you?"

"You're not supposed to ask a lady her age!" Bulma replied with mock offense. She was still young, so she actually wanted to be seen as mature, instead of the other way. Mature women were offended by being asked their age, right?

"Well, you asked me, why can't I ask you?" Goku retorted.

"It's not the same!"

"Huh, why not?" Goku asked, before gasping. "Are you sexist?!"

"No I'm not!" Bulma replied, horrified at the accusation. "Women can't be sexist!"

"Nonsense! If women can do anything men can, and men can be sexist, then women can as well!"

"No, women aren't equal to men, they're better! They can do more than what men can, and thus they are above such flaws as sexism!" Bulma replied, raising her nose high in the air.

"Well, women can't scratch their balls!" Goku declared.

Bulma face faulted. "What are you even saying?!" She hollered.

A moment later both of them were laughing. Bulma quickly figured out what Goku was about and went along with it, though at first she was still worried, but then it became easy. Despite the lack of evidence, she knew she would've crashed into this boy, so he must've had some skill, and Bulma was afraid that she got him angry. With how he talked to her, she knew that he wasn't. And it felt really nice, since she never really had a chance to have playful and lighthearted conversations with anyone near her age, even if he was younger. Will he treat her differently once he knows her background? She really hoped not. Goku was easy to talk to, and considering the reason for her journey…

Bulma blushed at that thought, but Goku ignored it as he asked. "So, what are you doing all the way here? This place is pretty remote… You did mention you're on an adventure, right?"

"Yup!" Bulma confirmed, instantly moving on from the incriminating thoughts. "I'm looking for these!" She declared, and with much fanfare she pulled out two orange orbs from her pouch. How did they fit in there? It seemed that some anime rules still applied…

"Oh, you have two Dragon Balls?" Goku noted, though briefly thinking about the earlier conversation. Do these balls count for scratching? Bulma truly was a superior woman.

Unaware of his inner thoughts, Bulma was surprised. "You know about the Dragon Balls? Their legend is really obscure! My dad had these hidden away in the garage and had no idea what they were…"

"He had them in his garage… What?!" Goku really had trouble understanding that.

"Yeah, he's weird, but don't dodge the question! How do you know about them?" Bulma insisted.

"Weird like your mom?" Goku inquired instead, causing Bulma to blush.

"No, different weird! Stop changing the topic." She snapped at him.

Goku simply laughed. "Okay, okay. My grandpa had a Dragon Ball as well and he told me about the legend." Goku explained, though that was a lie. Gohan didn't know what the Dragon Ball was. Perhaps claiming ignorance and letting Bulma explain would've been safer, the lie is still unlikely to be exposed, and Goku felt it would help him come off as more knowledgeable and dependable so that Bulma will listen to him in the future.

"So you're living here with your grandfather?" Bulma enquired, looking around.

"No, Grandpa Gohan passed away six years ago." Goku said, his mood souring a bit. He got over it, but the reminder still hurt.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that…" Bulma apologized, only for it to be waved away. "Wait, you've been living alone since you were eight?!"

"Well yeah! Grandpa taught me how to live in the wild, and I'm really strong, so it was pretty great so far. Though it was getting boring, I was thinking of going on my own adventure."

"Really?" Bulma shouted, surprised and very happy. "We could go together! I could really use someone strong, you know?" She added with a slightly deeper voice, her eyes slightly closed.

"Sounds fun, but I have to ask… What do you want to wish for?"

"Oh…" Suddenly Bulma paled, then blushed. She didn't want to say! What will he think about her then? "Do you really have to know?"

"Of course! It would be highly irresponsible of me otherwise. Even if you don't want to wish for anything bad, what if there's something wrong about your wish that you didn't realize? Maybe someone gets hurt accidently?" Goku strongly objected.

"Oh, I don't think it's anything like that?" Bulma tried, but saw that Goku was unconvinced. "Really, it's just embarrassing. I'm hoping to get my wish without actually using the Dragon Balls, okay? If I don't get my wish when we finish gathering them, I'll tell you, okay? And if we do, then I'm sure you can think of a wish, right?"

Goku examined Bulma with narrowed eyes, causing her to blush and fidget under his scrutiny. The wording and way she behaved, since Goku knew what she wanted to wish for, he was picking up on her interest easily. "Yeah, alright. It sounds fun anyway, and I definitely wouldn't mind having an adventure with you."

Bulma blinked, registering the words before giving him a bright smile, though her blush deepened, she was probably imagining what kind of adventures they'll be having together. Goku simply smiled at her behavior before turning to lead her to his home.

"Say, do you have some large container I can use?" Goku asked as they were walking.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, sure. Why?" Bulma asked distractedly as she was observing the approaching house.

"I eat a lot compared to normal people. Grandpa told me that I eat at least five times as much!" Bulma was quite astonished at that declaration. "I usually hunt and forage, but it will slow us down a lot, so I rather take as much as I can to avoid that. Though I don't think we could take too much, your trunk didn't look like much…"

"Don't worry about that." Bulma waved her hand dismissively, trying to hide a smile at the thought of how surprised Goku will be when she reveals her amazing capsules.

Goku shrugged and opened the door. They immediately noticed the Dragon Ball sitting on a pillow by the far wall, glowing. The pair of orbs Bulma was holding was glowing as well. "Oh, they react to each other like that?"

"Huh, I guess they do." Bulma said, looking fascinated. "My pair didn't, so I guess they stop after a while."

"Wouldn't that mean they glowed when your dad hid them away? And he wasn't curious?" Goku asked. That didn't really fit with the image he had of the man.

"I don't think he noticed…" Bulma mumbled, feeling awkward. "Anyway, you should pack! Here, take this." She said, pulling out a capsule case and giving him one of them, purposefully not explaining, staring at him expectantly.

"Oh are those capsules? What were they called, pow wow capsules?" Goku asked holding the capsule curiously.

"Hoi-Poi Capsules, but people just call them capsules. You know of them?" Bulma asked. The reaction was disappointing. Sure, Goku was interested, but she hoped for more!

"Grandpa never had one of his own, said they are too expensive for his tastes and needs, but he said his master, Muten Roshi, did have his house adjusted to fit into one." Goku explained.

"Muten Roshi? The Turtle Hermit? Your grandpa studied under him?" Bulma asked, surprised.

"Oh yeah, and he passed on some of those teachings to me. Though I'm stronger than Grandpa, but I still learned a lot. You heard of Roshi?"

"Wow, you're stronger than one of Roshi's disciples? That's amazing… And yeah, the Turtle Hermit is quite famous, at least among the martial arts enthusiasts. The World Martial Arts Tournament attracts quite a large crowd every time, and there's one next year… Though I'm not that interested, but my dad told me about Muten Roshi. Apparently, he helped my dad some time ago, so that could be why he has his house capsule-fitted."

Goku went outside to open the capsule, and as the cloud of smoke vanished, it revealed what appeared to be a cooler larger than Bulma's car. It could be opened from above or the front, and Goku quickly realized it was split into many compartments that could be moved for more convenient access. "Hey, it's huge but almost empty!"

"Yeah, dad likes to go big, even though it's unnecessary. Well, he said it's just in case…"

"Oh, like with the outfits your mom packed for you?"

"DON'T TALK ABOUT THOSE!" Bulma hollered at him.

avataravatar
Next chapter