Hello,

This is my first posting into the FFML. Below is a one-shot short story
of mine, "Vejiita: Babyguard!?". C&C are welcome. (Yes, I know some
people spell "Vegeta".)

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Vejiita: Babyguard?!

"To raise a daughter these days is much harder than rearing cows..."
� Malay proverb.


Bulma wiped the sweat from her forehead. The day�s workload was just
*too* much. With Trunks doing administration duties at Capsule
Corporation, it had become more of a burden than a help to Bulma. That
young man, instead of being the serious and extremely responsible
President of Capsule Corporation, had ran off away from his duties
again, forcing Bulma to leave the comforts of home to run as President
in his absence.

It had to be her, there was no one else qualified. Her father, Professor
Briefs, was old and needed his well-deserved retirement. Vejiita, *hah!*
The thought of the Saiyajin Prince in an office-room doing *paperwork*
is simply... ridiculous. And since Capsule Corp is her father�s own
blood and sweat, there was no way that Bulma going to hand over the
company to someone else.

Bulma sighed, relaxing into her plush chair. She had finally cleared the
pile of paperwork, and she began to think of her seven year old
daughter, Bra; which brought a slight smile to her tired face. Ahh, so
cute and charming and so full of life... Even Vejiita had changed when
Bra was born. Oh sure, he still have that bloody arrogance of his, and
his mean-streak was still a mile wide, but Vejiita treated Bra...
almost... lovingly. However, that doesn�t mean that Bulma can trust
Vejiita to take care of Bra for several hours on his own... He might
take her to hunt something and then cook it... 

She abruptly ceased her daydream when her, *Trunks�s*, she reminded
herself; office doors slammed open. Several harried employees ran in,
each of them holding a pile of paper.

"Need clearance... Please sign this... Urgent! Mr Doori is on line
four..."

Bulma covered her face with her hands. She hoped that Vejiita can
baby-sit Bra for several extra hours...

**********

Vejiita was stumped. 

Why do seven year olds contain so much energy?

Indeed, Vejiita stood bewildered as Bra literally ran circles around
him, between his legs, up and down the stairs, slashing her way across
rooms...

She kicked his legs mischievously and quickly ran away. Vejiita scowled
as he heard the little scampering of feet in the kitchen and a slight
giggle. "Bra, don�t do that again," Vejiita said sternly.

There was silence.

Vejiita slowly walked into the kitchen. Vejiita remained calm, even as
plates, glasses and other assorted kitchen equipment went flying towards
his face. With a look of indifference, Vejiita caught every item and set
them on the table next to him. He made it look as if it was almost too
easy.

When the barrage ended, the table stacked neatly with plates, bowls,
glasses, chopsticks...

"Bra, come out here," Vejiita said calmly, not even breaking a sweat at
his exertions.

Suddenly, another item came sailing towards him. Vejiita was going to
grab it when he saw that it glinted. Vejiita�s eyes widened at the speed
of the approaching missile and quickly moved his head to the side. He
heard a *whoosh* as the thing sped by, inches away from his right ear,
and then a dull *thud* as the missile struck into the wooden doorway.

Vejiita turned back and he saw a chopper stuck four inches deep into the
wooden doorway, its edge glinting evilly.

Vejiita slowly turned towards the source of the knife, and his glaring
eyes found Bra trying to sneak out through the back door.

As quick as lightning, Vejiita dashed forward, and before Bra knew it;
she was dangling from Vejiita�s hand that was gripping the back of her
dress.

"Awwww... papa caught me..." She whined cutely, hoping to diffuse
Vejiita�s temper with her sweet voice.

Vejiita grimaced. After having Trunks, Vejiita knew more than enough on
how do deal situations like this. Vejiita had enough trouble dealing
with Trunks, who grew up spoiled by Bulma. Vejiita was determined not to
allow Bra to grow up like her elder brother.

Bra sniffled as Vejiita set her down. She shuffled her feet uneasily.

"Bra, go to your room and play with your dolls."

Hearing the tone in Vejiita�s voice, Bra miserably hung her head and
slowly made her way upstairs to her room. Vejiita resisted the
overwhelming urge within him to pick Bra up and give her a ride on his
shoulders. Gritting his teeth to enforce his opinion on discipline,
Vejiita barely uttered one word.

"Now."

Bra sobbed as she ran up. Vejiita felt something that was tearing his
heart out. Frustrated, Vejiita did the next best thing for him, he
opened the fridge and ate. And ate and ate.

Hours later, Vejiita stood up from his seat at the dining table, his
appetite sated, the fridge emptied. It was late afternoon when he
finished.

�Time to check on Bra,� Vejiita thought to himself. He had to walk
slowly, stuffed as he was. 

He knocked on her door gently. "Bra?"

There was no answer.

Vejiita frowned, and he opened the door. It was unlocked. He took a
glance about the room, and to his shock that she was no where to be
found. The window was open.

�Chikusho!� Vejiita inwardly cursed. He leapt out from the window,
determined to find his daughter.

**********

Elsewhere in mid-town, Bra wandered about aimlessly. She was scared, and
she gripped her oversized teddy bear tightly. The sheer amount of people
in the city simply dazed her. 

She was lost. She was afraid to ask for directions. No one cared to ask
her.

She walked past a dark alley, her eyes taking in the bright lights and
busy streets of the city.

"Hey, you see what I see?" "Heh heh heh..."

Seconds later, two pairs of hands grabbed Bra into the dark alley. She
dropped her teddy bear on the slimy ground.

"We phone her parents and ask for millions, shall we?" The person
holding her was your average street punk, tall, lanky and bad taste in
fashion. His accomplice, a great bear-man; nodded enthusiastically in
agreement. Both of them began to dream of great wealth.

"Put. Her. Down."

The two street punks stopped dead in their tracks. Before them, stands
the Prince of the Saiyajins, Vejiita. His face was shadowed by the dark
alley, but his eyes were shining red.

Bra took advantage of the moment by biting the hand of her would-be
kidnapper. The punk yelled in pain as Bra literally jumped into her
father�s hands.

"Otousan!" Bra cried with joy. Vejiita, stoic as he was; could not help
but caress her back with a gloved hand while Bra cried into his
shoulder.

"Don�t be so happy yet, friend!" The second punk said, drawing a pocket
knife. The first punk hissed in pain, rubbing his hand. "Dare to dance?"

Vejiita grinned and pulled Bra back so that she can look at her father
straight in his eyes. She stopped crying and dried her eyes.

"Do you dare?" Vejiita asked her daughter. She winked at him and gave
him a thumbs up. Satisfied, Vejiita placed Bra upon his shoulders.

"What do you think you�re doing, shorty?" The first sneered. "A circus
act! Bwahahahahaha!" The second replied, and both exploded into
laughter.

The second punk suddenly stopped laughing and lunged at Vejiita, his
knife seeking to draw blood. Vejiita merely grabbed the hand and clamped
down hard, not enough to break the bones but sufficient to make the punk
yelp in pain and drop the knife. Bra took the initiative and slapped the
man. He howled in pain and fell to his back when Vejiita let go.

The bear-man cursed at his friend�s failure and aimed a kick at Vejiita.
The mighty prince merely side-stepped and grabbed the outstretched leg.
Bra did a little kick of her own that struck the bear straight in the
chin. Vejiita then merely *flicked* a finger at the punk, causing him to
crash to the ground.

Vejiita swung Bra in front of him and set her down on her feet. She
hugged his legs fiercely. "Otousan..." Vejiita smiled, proud of his
daughter.

The two punks got back to their feet, and when Bra shook her little
fists at them, they bolted into the darkness of the alley, howling all
the way.

"Let�s go home. Your mother would be worried about you."

As Vejiita led Bra by her hand out of the alley, Bra grabbed her teddy
bear.

"Can we do that again tomorrow, otousan?"

"No."

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Hope you enjoyed reading it, and thanks for your time!

--
'Raging Demon' Arion Wong
-"Tien Sang Tien Xia Wei Wo Du Zun!"
-Tigerlord's Fanfictions
-http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/5169/