If you haven't already, read the previous chapters. Available on request
or at my webpage - "http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-10956/creative/fanfic/".
Please C&C, MST or comment in whatever way you prefer - "thark@swipnet.se"
Please. I really want to know that you read the 'fic, if nothing else.
-----dragonball-----
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| NOT EVEN YOU |
| |
---------4----------
"I love baking!" Marron exclaimed excitedly. "This year, I'll win for
sure!"
"Sure," Kuririn said. "Just remember, practice makes perfect." He was
already looking forward to sampling what his daughter made.
"Well, I gotta go sign up."
* * *
She was not the only one determined to win. _I'll show Goten-sama how
great I am,_ Bra thought as she approached the end of the line, stepping
up to the desk.
Mrs. Darril, the Home-Economics teacher, was a little old lady, chubby,
with round glasses and legs so short it was a miracle she managed to reach
the ground. "Oh, another one for the baking contest," she said happily,
squinting at Bra through the glasses. "You must be new here, miss?"
"Bra," Bra said. "I'm going to win."
Behind her, Marron snickered. "You?"
Bra nodded.
"You've got no chance against me, little girl," Marron said derisively,
the effect lost a bit as she had to look up at the younger girl.
The two girls stared intenly at each other, perhaps intending to settle
the competition then and there.
The jovial mrs. Darril couldn't allow that. "Now, now, if you start
fighting here, I'm afraid I'll have to disqualify you both," she exclaimed
worriedly.
"Hmph." Marron and Bra stomped off in opposite directions, equally
disappointed.
* * *
After some practice, Bra was certain she was pretty good. She'd have no
trouble winning this little contest.
But then again ... perhaps not.
She wavered slightly, looking out over the kitchen. It was a mess, flour
everywhere, an egg here, a broken cup there.
Perhaps she wouldn't win after all.
She took off flying.
* * *
Marron looked at the cake she was baking. So far, everything was going
well.
Suddenly, Bra stepped in through the kitchen door. She smiled at the
older girl, pretending not to notice the evil glare she got. "Watcha
doing, Marron-sempai?" she asked.
Seeing Marron eye her suspiciously, she leaned over the bench, speaking
in her cutest voice. "Looks great. I'll never be as good as you!"
Marron grinned confidently, and failed to notice Bra grab her cookbook.
Waving the younger girl goodbye with the grin still on her face, she
returned to the recipe again ...
... and found it wasn't there.
Her Ki flared to life and her braids slowly assumed a horizontal
position. _The sneaky little bitch..._
"Hey," Goten shouted as he walked down the stairs at what he would later
realise was The Wrong Time, sniffing the lovely aroma of a cake in making.
"Watcha doin', Marron-chan?"
He was rewarded with a punch to the face and a broken nose. "I'M NO -
CHAN!" Bra shouted defiantly.
* * *
Vegita harkled.
"Yes, dear?" his wife said, not looking up from her latest invention.
"Why have you rebuilt the kitchen with reinforced steel and installed
Ki-dampeners?"
"Well, you see, Bra has been practicing for a baking competion."
"Oh."
With practice, though, the girl good better. She improved ever so
slowly, but she improved.
* * *
Gokuu and Goten devoured their twenty-fourth sponge-cake in seconds.
"Good," Goten exclaimed.
"But still not perfect," his father hurriedly added.
Marron sighed. "I guess I'll have to try again."
Father and son both grinned enormously, deciding that they liked baking
contests.
* * *
In the end, she had to give up. "This is good enough for me. You
perfectionists will never be satisfied," Marron exclaimed with a sigh.
Gokuu and his son both looked downcast into the table, until the young
half-sayajin realised something.
"Bra-chan's entered the contest, too," Goten said excitedly. "C'mon,
what're we waiting for?"
* * *
"So, what do you think?" Bra asked, looking expectantly at her supposed
fiancee, who sat opposite her in Capsule Corp's large dining-hall.
"Good," he said, "but not quite perf..."
Bulma interrupted him quickly. "It was great! Totally perfect!"
Bra beamed.
"But..." the boy started.
Bulma leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Kid, do you now how much a
high-tech kitchen costs? Will you pay for a new one?"
* * *
"So," #18 asked the not all to happy looking pair as they returned home
again, "how many sponge-cakes did you two eat today?"
"Fifty-four," Goten answered. "When's dinner?"
The android hit the floor with a *thud*.
"Hey," Gokuu said hopefully, "maybe they'll bake something else
tomorrow?"
* * *
_Let's see now ... what was the next recipe?_ Marron thought as she
walked among the shelves of the store. _Ah, right._ She reached for a pack
of powdered sugar.
She put it into her cart - or tried to, anyway. However, there was some
kind of resistance. Not looking up from the shopping list she had in her
other hand, she pulled harder. The pack budged a little, but still, she
couldn't get it to the cart.
"Hey! I took it first!" a familiar, angry voice shouted, and she looked
up to see Bra, holding on to the very same package.
"No way!" Marron exclaimed, pulling harder. "It's mine!"
"Mine!" Bra pulled harder, too.
"Mine!"
"Mine!"
Unfortunately, the pack could only take so much pressure, and it broke
in the middle, sending both girls flying back into the shelves.
Soon afterwards, an angry store attendant looked down on two embarassed
young girls buried beneath a mountain of packs of powdered sugar, each
holding on to one half of an empty pack, covered in the stuff.
* * *
"Yes, dearie?" Bulma put away the soldering iron and looked up at her
daughter.
"Mommy, I can't think of a plan to defeat Marron tomorrow!"
"Look, it's the baking contest, right?" Bulma put an arm around her
daughter's shoulders. "What do you think you should do to win over
somebody in a baking contest?"
Marron shone up. "Right! I should beat her up!" She rushed off. "Thanks,
mom!"
Bulma groaned. _She's been talking too much to her father._
* * *
The commentater adjusted his dark glasses and grabbed the microphone.
"Weeeeelcome!" he shouted, immediately raising the crowd's spirits. "To
the Satan High annual baking contest!"
In the audience, Gokuu scratched his head. _Hmm..._
"You all know the rules, but just in case, here's a repetition," the man
continued, speaking in a blinding tempo. "Each contestant will bake one
cake and two types of cookies. The specially chosen jury" - he pointed two
a booth, and Mr. Satan, flanked by two older women, rose, and bowed
proudly - "will then taste everything and decide who's number one!" He
made it sound like the most important event of the year.
"Now, let's welcome our contestants!"
Five girls marched in. Other than Bra, Marron, there were two slightly
older, unusually long girls, one of them with short, black hair, the other
one with long brown hair. The fifth girl was average length, chubby, and
wore a pair of thick glasses.
"First grade, Bra, new this year!"
Bra bowed to the audience, confidently holding up her right hand in a
victory-sign.
"Second grade, Marron!"
Marron also bowed, ignoring the younger girl.
"Third grade, Saiko, last year's winner!"
The brown-haired girl bowed, and some cheers were heard from the
audience.
"Third grade, Ei, won two years ago, now back!"
Ei was the other long girl. Cheers came from other parts of the
audience.
"Finally, second grade, Jinko!"
The chubby girl bowed, smiling cheerfully.
"There you ago! Another round of applause for our contestants!"
The result was ear-shattering, and the commentator continued, seemingly
exalted, after it had died down. "Now, we'll draw lots to decide who will
be where!" He gestured to the five kitchenettes behind him.
It turned out Marron and Bra got the ones next to each other - causing
both girls to smile evilly when they thought no-one was looking.
* * *
As the baking finally started, the commentator leaned back. _It's rather
boring, but..._
Having jumped down from his place in the audience, Goten approached the
man. "Hey, don't I recognize you?"
The man scratched the back of his head. "I don't know. There's something
familiar about you too, kid."
"Wait! You're the commentator at the Budokai! How come you're here at
this lousy school baking contest?"
"As you know, after the Buu fiasco, there hasn't been a Budokai in ten
whole years." The man sighed. "Now that it's finally near, I'm feeling a
bit rusty, so I decided I needed some warming up."
* * *
Meanwhile, Marron had to leave for the ladies room. While she were away,
Bra leaned over to the other girl's bench, holding a salt-shaker in one
hand, and quickly emptied its contents into the cake Marron was baking.
She quickly went back to her own place in time to smile sweetly towards
her returning opponent.
Not long after, Bra had to go, too. Not suspecting anything about what
had happened, Marron couldn't resist the opportunite to add some - in
fact, quite a lot - of pepper to Bra's cake.
* * *
Bra looked at her rival worriedly. The end of the contest was drawing
close, and while Marron's cake would be ruined, she seemed to have
succeeded far too well with her cookies.
She looked at the cookie she currently held in her hand. Anybody could
tell it was inferior to the ones her opponet was preparing. The decision
was not a hard one.
Weighing it a few times to find its balance, she threw the cookie with
all her might.
Marron dodged as she sensed the projectile approaching, and it scattered
some of her cookies, sending them flying all over the place. She rose to
stare angrily at her rival, and was greeted by another cookie, this one
smashing hard against her forehad.
"THAT DOES IT!" Marron grabbed a cookie of her own, retaliating swiftly.
Soon, the war was in full swing.
"Ooooh!" The commentator, who had once again come alive, watched the
brewing fight eagerly. "Bra-chan got a good hit with that one, folks, but
now..."
The two girls eventually had to be separated, after ending up wrestling
on the floor.
* * *
"Ladies and gentlemen, the jury is about to announce the results!"
Bra and Marron both smiled confidently, each sure that *they* would be
the one to win.
Mr. Satan rose, harkled, and spoke calmly. "After sampling all the fine"
- he winced slightly at that, remember two of the cookies - "pastries, we
have decided that the winner of the annual Satan High baking contest this
year is..."
He paused for effect, and everyone held their breath. Marron and Bra
both inflated their chests, knowing that their victory would now be
revealed.
"...Jinko! Congratulations, girl!"
* * *
"I can't believe it," Marron said, only faintly aware of the world
around her.
"Noooo! " Bra bawled.
"Ano ... Bra-chan, don't cry," Goten tried - mostly in vain - to calm
her down. "Look, it's your first time, right? You can try again next
year."
"O-OK," the girl sniffled, brushing away her tears. "Will you eat the
rest of my cake, Goten-sama?"
"I'll be happy to." He smiled, taking a large bite...
...and soon clutched an aching throath. "Pe- pepper..." he stammered.
"What? You think it needs more spice?" Bra scratched the back of her
head, confused.
"I can't believe it," Marron repeated, finally breaking out of her
trance. "I can't believe I lost!" Her tone became furious. "And it's all
your fault!" She raised her fist to strike the other girl, and Bra, happy
for the chance to vent her frustrations, quickly entered a defensive
stance.
"Ano..." Goten tried to step between them, and was rewarded with a
fierce mallet-strike.
"GOTEN NO BAKA!"
* * *
AUTHOR'S NOTES
--------------
I've been pondering renaming this to something along the lines of
Dragonball E, where E would be Engagement. Hm. What I *really* need is to
figure out something appropriate that could be abbreviated to TJ. ^_^
Does anyone know if either Vegita or Bulma has a family name? How about
Kuririn? That we know of, that is...
---
Ronny Hedin, thark@swipnet.se, http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-10956/
"If you meet Bhudda on the net, put him in your kill file."
Important read: "http://www.vvm.com/~dpressne/notcool.htm"