Chapter Thirty Nine

A little girl... Your... little girl.

It's still weird to hear that. Especially when she calls you dad. But... this is apparently your life now. And hers.

"Well-" You stretch your arms out and entwine your fingers before cracking them. "It's not like I wasn't doing this already."

"What's that daddy?"

"N-Nothing." You stand up and proceed to walk into the kitchen. "Hold on, I just need to get in character."

Moving over to the fridge and take out a can of Monster Energy Zero Ultra. Cracking it open you start sipping it before making an audible "Ah" noise. "Okay. Now I'm ready." You look over to the girl and start pondering what to do with her.

You scratch your head for a while before deciding "fuck it". "Okay kids. Who wants to watch Kale beat the shit out of me?"

"Me!"

"Me."

"Me."

"Y-You could at least pretend that you care about my well being you know..."

Taking the three of them with you to Kale you start thinking about how you're gonna handle this. After all her and Caulifla are amongst those that have no idea about this new girls existence. In the end you decided to just wing it, seeing how almost none of your ideas got anywhere.

"Oy! Kale!"

"Oh! Eric! And-" She pauses as she looks at the Tuffles around you. She looks like she wanted to greet the twins but her eyes linger at the new one. "Erm... She's your... sibling?"

"You could say that." Kamin shrugs.

"I'm their sister!"

"N-Nice to meet you! I'm Kale."

"And I have no name!"

"She's uh... She's mine."

"Hmmm? What do you mean?"

You scratch your head awkwardly, not knowing how to break it to her. Biting your lips you entertain the thought of telling Kale that it's your child and she's the "daddy" so to speak. But you toss that idea right the fuck out. You're a dick, not an asshole. "She's my... kid."

"K-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-kkkkk-" Aaaaaand she broke.

That's about what you expected honestly.

Kamin and Oren were nice enough to fan her with a piece of paper while you sat down next to her and slowly explained things over the course of an hour. By the end of it she managed to calm her nerves enough to respond properly.

With a long winded sigh of relief she spoke up. "I see now... that... makes sense."

"No." You respond firmly. "No it doesn't.

But... she's here now. And I'm responsible for her. At least she's... lively."

"Hehehe." The little Tuffle waves at the Saiyan once she realizes you are talking about her.

"So... Are we going to train then?" Clearly not wanting to speak more about this Kale attempts to derail the conversation. And you are thankful for that. Maybe that way you can both digest things a bit.

"Of course! That's why I came like I promised!"

You turn around to face the Tuffles. "Hey kiddo your older siblings are going to be keeping an eye on you while I train with your mother for a bit. You have two moms by the way."

"Okaaaaaay! Have fun mommy and daddy!"

The little cinnamon bun waves you off before returning to her siblings. "Hey, let's go draw pictures in the sand!"

Meanwhile Kale seems to be getting pale as she's repeatedly muttering something to herself.

"M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-mmommy?"

Looks like you might have overdone it a bit.

Whoops.

But looking over the area you start thinking about maybe moving somewhere else because if Kale gets out of control...

Best not to think about it too much. Then again... Maybe if you did some other type of training... You carefully think this through while your friend is busy spacing out from sheer terror.

Maybe you could somehow help Kale with her *ahem* anger management issues. Yes, that sounds good. It'd be good for her to learn how to rein in all that power that keeps overflowing in her. AND it'd be the perfect opportunity for you to practice telepathy. Maybe. Hopefully... Probably not.

"Hey Kale..." No response. "Kaaaale!" You extend your hand in front of her and start snapping your fingers. "Earth to Kale-"

"H-Huh?!"

"Welcome back. See... I have an idea about our training."

"Y-YES! The training! Let's train! Right now!"

"Hooold on a bit. I got a good idea!"

"W-What?"

"You have... trouble controlling yourself when you get excited, right?" Kale sheepishly nods.

"So I'd like to help you with that."

"H-How?"

"Just... trust me on this. It's hard to explain."

After a few moments she nods and agrees to give your idea a try. Feeling glad that she trusts you enough to do this, you have her sit down and you do the same while facing her.

"Comfortable?"

"Uh-huh?"

"Good. Good. Now... don't be alarmed. But I'm gonna touch you." Reaching out you see Kale visibly recoil for a moment before she relaxes as you reach upward and to her head. Touching her temples gently you try your best to give the saiyan girl a reassuring smile.

"Kale... Do you trust me?"

"Y-Yes..."

"Okay. Now... I want you to go mad. Can you do that?"

She freezes and says nothing for several moments. You can see on her that she REALLY wants to ask several questions from you, the first one probably being "Are you CRAZY?". But instead she takes a deep breath and then nods. Thanking her you prepare yourself for the worst. And as the ground begins to crack around you as Kales power rises faster and faster... you get it.

You see Kales eyes slowly changing, getting a yellowish tinge and developing pupils.

A vein pops out on her forehead and many bulge out on her arms as her muscles slowly swell. Her faint exertion noises start turning into ever louder growls as her aura flares up.

For a moment there you feel anxiety, pants shitting fear and excitement all at the same time. "That's it Kale! Good! Keep going!"

"HRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

Okay. She's going off the charts now. It's now or never. You try to push yourself in an attempt to join minds with Kale. How hard could it be? After all... you've already mindmelded with a PLANET before. This shouldn't be too hard.

But as it turns out yes, yes it is.

Not exactly "getting in", no. It's what awaits you once you are linked with her that manages to almost BREAK you.

There is something... in there. Something... primal and terrifying. A pure form of animalistic rage the likes of which you've never experienced before. Just feeling that... roar wash over you makes you feel... ANGRY! Like you want to destroy anything and EVERYTHING that DARES to stand in your way.

But with sheer willpower and with a little bit of help from the pain you felt from biting down your own tongue you manage to keep it together until you can sort of block out this... monster. *pant pant* "Okay... what... the actual fuck? So this is the source of their strength huh? Looks like the whole "warrior race" spiel is not for nothing."

However even though you managed to shield yourself from this overwhelming rage you can still feel it growing. If you don't act quick Kale might snap on the outside and beat the shit out of you. But how do you help her stop such a thing? Or rein it in at the very least?

You think back to planet Plant, how you merged minds with their hivemind... how it was a two way connection. Now there's an idea!

Pulling back a bit you take a deep "breath" and begin basically thinking really, REALLY hard about what you feel about Kale. Especially about the moments she managed to stay in control and appear perfectly calm, like when she transformed into a Super Saiyan right before your eyes. Images of her flash through your mind as you attempt to recall each meeting with her and as you do you are filled with... adoration amongst many things.

You start projecting not how she is but how you see her, a strong and amazing warrior.

"KAAAAAALE!" You project your thoughts into her. "EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY! YOU DON'T NEED TO BE AFRAID OF YOURSELF ANYMORE!" The tempest appears to wax and wane as conflicting thoughts smash into each other. "Damn it! It's not working!"

You alter your thoughts as Kales self doubt seemingly overpowers your perceived image of her. Recalling how confident you are in your own abilities and how calm you are when using them, but also how that all pales in comparison to what the Saiyans are capable of. It seemingly works.

"YOU DON'T NEED ANYONE ELSE KALE! YOU CAN STAND ON YOUR OWN! BUT-" You pause.

"BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU'LL BE ALONE! CAULIFLA WILL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU AND- AND... AND SO WILL I! SO COME ON KALE! SHOW THIS STUPID MONKEY WHO IT'S DEALING WITH!"

Now even your own emotions are running out of control as you desperately try to reach her. In that moment where your concentration lapsed a few things may have... bled over into her. Feelings of not just respect... but adoration. Maybe even affection. But just before you could stop yourself you feel something bubbling to the surface. Something... green.

Quickly you let go and see as Kales hair turns yellow first and then green afterwards.

When she opens her eyes you see that they are unchanged, they still have that yellow tinge of ferocity to them. But what's behind those eyes is what's important. Not rage. But tears.

"Y-You mean it?"

You go in and give her a big ol' hug.

The muscular and frankly terrifying girl then lets out a cute little yelp. "Of course I do."

She then slowly tries to reciprocate the gesture and as she does so you try to join together with her. To show her how perfectly calm the both of you are.

"There there. So... how does it feel to walk on your own?"

But as you are busy "celebrating" this monumental success the two of you overhear the Twins making snide remarks.

"Hey Oren. Do you think this is what he did to our planet?"

"H-Huh?!" Kale gasps. "D-Does this mean I'll have your babies now?"

You can't help but snicker. "Y-Yes!"

She then gives you a mean look. "That's not funny..."

You then stop yourself. "Yeah... But you've been in here." You tap your head. "You know I do it because I like you."

She then... smiles. "I know." Then she... snickers? "But I'm not sure Caulifla does!"

"Y-You don't- You can't!"

"I won't tell her though. If you pay me that is-"

Looking at her you feel defeated. Is she really threatening you? That she'll rat you out?

You wait for a moment. "N-No! I refuse!"

"Hmmm?"

"If you want to tell her then just do it!" You swallow nervously.

"Hmmm... maybe I will. We'll see." She says teasingly.

Wait... does she mean she'll instead hold out on you? No. Nonononnono. Anything but that. You'd rather get it over with quick instead of this Chinese Water Torture shit. Separating from her you run off.

"You can't tell her if I do first!

WAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!"

Running at full speed and cackling like a madman you take off. Seeing this Kale fails to respond due to her confusion and by the time she recovers from it it's too late, you're out of earshot.

"WAIT! I WAS JUST KIDDING-"

"Wow. Look at him go." Kamin observes.

"Oh shooooot! What have I done?" Kale became a nervous wreck once more.

Not wasting any time you make your way to Cauliflas bedroom, kicking down any door that stands in your way. Even dashing past your mentor that one time.

"HeyaVadosgottagoseeCauliflabye!"

"What... just happened?"

Finally kicking down the final door you arrive at your destination and hear the groan of Caulifla as she shifts around in her bed.

"Urgh... who has... the balls..."

Swallowing hard and feeling your pockets open up to the spaghetti dimension you try to approach Caulifla. "H-Hi..."

She looks up from her bed and looks at you with eyes half shut as the light peering in through the door hurts them. Unsurprisingly she doesn't have the strength to make good on her word and kick your asshole for waking her up. What IS surprising however is that there is not even a hint of that intent in her.

"Mmmmmm... what?"

Your lips quiver as you attempt to form words that your big, stupid brain now decided to simply forget you blabber nonsense at her.

"Well... Good news everyone... Errr... Kale er... She's errr... I'm a dad now errr..... Shit."

"What? You're not making any sense..."

Suddenly Kale shows up in the doorframe, sweating and shaken. "E-Eric! I was just joking- Er... SIS! Don't listen to a word he says!"

You look over your shoulder with the most puzzled expression you didn't even know the human face can pull off. "Y-You... were?"

"Y-YES! What I meant was-"

"Okay..." Caulifla sits up and rubs her eyes.

"What the Hell are you two idiots talking about?"

"I..." You can't speak up. Your eyes alternate between looking sheepishly at Caulifla and utter horror when looking at Kale.

"HAHA GUESS WHAT! KALE TOTALLY JUST NAILED HER SUPER SAIYAN TRANSFORMATION JUST NOW, YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN IT, IT WAS AWESOME! AHAHAhahaha-haaa..." You fall unceremoniously on your ass and bury your face in your hands.

"A-Are you alright?"

"I'm... I'm fine Kale. Just give me a moment."

Collecting your thoughts you take a deep breath and open your mouth. "Oh god what am I doing?"

Standing up you take a few steps back to look at both girls at once. Caulifla however gets impatient and snaps. "Spit it out already."

"I'll... I think I will." You respond. "I... I have no clue how to say this so I'll just say it... I like you... both of you." There was silence.

"Look... I know how it sounds and... actually there is no "and". That is it. I've been here for... months but it feels like I... like I always was here. It's been the most wonderful part of my life without doubt. And thanks in no small part to you."

"E-Eric..."

"I honestly... truly don't know how I even feel.

All I know is that before this I couldn't even speak to a girl. But being surrounded by you?

I feel... I feel happy and once in my life I think I can talk with girls! Do you know how much that means to me? I never... had anyone before. Because I was a coward! I always tried to imagine how it'd be, being in a relationship.

But you are the first ones that I imagine myself with!" With that you finally let out a long winded sigh of relief that's been building in you for a while now. "So... as dumb and stupid and... dumb this sounds this is how I feel right now and I'm confused as hell!

But I could no longer keep it in me and I already regret saying it but I feel like I... like I had to say something. So if you could just... sorta forget this happened or just ignore it until I can sort myself out, I'd appreciate it!"

Unable to keep it together anymore your shoulders begin to slouch as you watch meekly for any sort of answer. Kale seems... touched? Confused? Weirded out? You'd wager it's a mixture of all. But it wasn't her that you were really worried about. No it's the girl with the penchant for dropkicking into rooms at mach 5. And while Caulifla doesn't exactly get out of bed or even sit up for that matter she seems to make an effort to support her upper body with one arm.

Making a similar pose to the famous "Draw me like one of your french girls" one she speaks up. "Well duh..."

"Excuse me what?"

"S-Sis?"

"I mean. It was pretty obvious."

"It... it was?!"

Caulifla then shoots a mean look to her friend.

"Oh come on! Don't you remember how he acted on Earth? Or here?"

"B-B-B-But I thought that was Kefla-"

"We ARE Kefla you dummy!" Caulifla then sighs and looks back to you. "Hey... It's okay to be fucking confused. We all are... That fusion thing is fun but... weird. It messes with ya' you know. So... thanks for coming out with it. It feels good to talk about it."

"Caulifla..." You are on the verge of tears as you look at her.

"Buuut ye'r still gonna pay for waking me up!

Kale! Kick him in the asshole!"

"Yes Sis!"

The muscular girl then walks over to you, leads you out through the door and gives you a sly little wink before """gently""" throwing you out the window. Digging a fucking trench as you land you hear your little girl cry out.

"DADDY!"

"Well that went better than expected."

Oren observes.

"Did you know that every other species that attempted to copulate with a Saiyan, be it male or female, died? I think you just set a record Eric." Kamin also chimed in.

"THANKH ASHHOLESH!" Pulling your head out of the ground you spit out some dirt.

Once you finish coughing you look back at the tower and can't help but smile.

"Was it a yes?" Kamin asks.

"It wasn't a no~!"

But now that you... somehow managed to get out of that alive, what's more with a shred of dignity left you are free to move on and worry about that later. However in your mind you vowed to yourself that you'll take the girls to Earth once this whole tournament shebang is over.