#brotenweek23

All the noises and crowds of people made Son Goten feel nervous and he thought about dropping this idea and going back to his house on Mount Paozu. He just wasn’t used to the chaotic lifestyle from West City. But then he thought about the money he would be receiving and how it would help his family, so he put on a brave face and went for it. He looked down at the paper he was holding to check the address again and make sure he wouldn’t get lost, though it seemed impossible. Still, he refused to give up. His mother was counting on him and he wouldn’t let her down. After a lot of effort, he finally managed to find the store he was applying for a job at, but really wish he didn’t.

“So I’m supposed to wear this?” He couldn’t hide the disappointment and disgust in both his voice and his face as his new boss handed him a white gown and a few arrows with red hearts on their edges.

“That’s right.” She confirmed. “Valentine’s Day is coming soon and we want to attract as many people as we can to our store. Being as handsome as you, it would definitely be helpful.”

He looked down at the outfit in his hands, still feeling disgusted and dirty he would put himself into such a humiliating and embarrassing situation. He took a deep breath, feeling glad he didn’t know anyone in the city.

****

Bulla played with a small piece of the cloud she was lying on and rolled over, sighing with frustration. As much as she adored being a goddess, she couldn’t help but think it was also very boring. She’d much rather be down there, in the multitude of people.

“What happened, Bulla?” Her mother, Bulma, asked, without taking her eyes from the knitting she was doing.

“Mama, why do I have to stay here? It’s much cooler down there.”

“Because you’re a goddess and goddesses aren’t allowed to descend to the city. Besides, it’s cool here too.”

“I’ve tried every little thing we can do here and none of them made me happy for a while. I’m sick of being a goddess.”

“Don’t ever say that again!” Bulma replied in a condemnation tone. “Especially in front of your father.”

“I’m not afraid of papa.”

“But you should be. He’s our leader and you know how strict he can be with gods and humans being in a relationship.”

“I don’t want to be in a relationship with a human.” She retorted with annoyance. “I just want to see how they’re like. To have fun with them.”

“Whatever. You’re still not allowed to go down.”

“Ugh.” With a heavy sigh, she went back to her previous position and stared down towards the city.

It didn’t take long until something caught her attention and she looked at it with more attention, not believing her eyes. She was taught humans couldn’t wear gowns and that gods couldn’t come down, so why was that guy wearing one? She was really intrigued, and determined to find out one way or another.

****

Goten couldn’t even explain how happy he was that his shift was over. Not only he was completely embarrassed by his outfit, he was also made fun of by some people and blatantly ignored by others. All he wanted was to get home and forget about this day, though he knew he’d go through it all again tomorrow and God knows how much longer.

“Mom, dad, I’m home.” He announced when he walked in; the smell of his mother’s food immediately filled his nostrils.

“Welcome home, son.” Chi-Chi said with a grin while she set the table. “How was your first day at work?”

“It was…” He pressed his lips together and decided not to tell her the truth. He didn’t want to disappoint her. “It was great. The store is great and people are very friendly.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” She looked at him. “Dinner is ready, so go take a shower so that we can eat together.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.”

****

Bulla looked up at the light blue sky above her and prayed her parents wouldn’t notice she was gone before she returned. Then she took a quick and subtle look at the store the guy from yesterday supposedly worked and waited for him to start his shift. She didn’t have to wait long for that, and found herself involuntarily smiling when he came outside. She couldn’t help but think he was a very handsome man. Now all she needed to do was find a way to get closer to him. Bulla was almost falling asleep when she heard a loud noise that seemed to be from a group of people talking. She glanced towards the store again and noticed there was a circle around him, but he wasn’t paying much attention to them. He was being entertained by a dog, and the goddess just knew how to approach him.

When she was close enough to the store, she purposely let go of the dog’s collar and the dog started running towards Goten was fast as he could. Thanks to his great reflexes, he managed to grab the collar right before Bulla ran to him, yelling.

“Thank you so much for stopping my dog.” She took a few deep breaths. “It’s so hard to get him when he runs away like that.”

But Goten couldn’t find any words to say. He was completely speechless by her beauty. He didn’t think he’d seen such a stunning woman before in his life. She was almost like… a goddess.

“Is everything okay?” She blinked a few times and waved her hand in front of his face, trying her best not to let a smile come to her lips. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t celebrating the success of her plan.

“Yes, everything is fine.” Goten eventually forced himself to shake his head, to break away from his trance. “You should be more careful next time. You might not be lucky again.”

“I’ll make sure to remember that.” Bulla gave him a smile. “I’m Bulla Briefs, by the way.”

“Son Goten.” He returned the smile and the goddess thought she was going to pass out. He looked even more handsome with it. And he also had a pretty name. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around. Do you live nearby?”

“Not really. I’m staying at a relative’s house for a while and decided to explore the city.”

“That’s great. West City is amazing.”

“So I was told. And I surely believe it.”

“Uh… may I?”

“Huh?” Goten looked down at the collar in his hand and gave it back to her. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She smiled at him again and he could feel his heart beating insanely fast in his chest, making him blush and her giggle at the sight in front of her. “I guess I’ll see you around then.”

“Sure. I was wondering if you could give me your phone number.”

“My phone number?” Bulla raised her eyebrows at him.

“Yeah. I mean, it’s totally okay if you don’t want to.”

“I could…” She walked to him, getting very close to his right ear. “But you should earn conquer it first.”

The black haired boy was completely dumbfounded when she began to walk away. He had no idea who that woman was, but he could already tell he would get to know her pretty soon.

****

Bulla spied behind the cloud she usually stays on to see if it was safe enough and quickly lied down over it. But to her misfortune, her older brother, Trunks Briefs, was lurking in the shadows.

“There you are!”

“What do you want?” She snapped at him as she turned around, very annoyed.

“Where were you?”

“That’s not your business.”

“I wonder what dad will think about this.”

“You can’t tell him.”

“Really? So you were doing something wrong. Otherwise you wouldn’t be so terrified.”

“Why must you be such a whistleblower? That’s why a lot of people don’t like you.”

“I don’t care about that.” Trunks sat down next to her. “So are you going to tell me where you were or should I tell dad? I’m assuming you don’t want to be grounded.”

“Ugh, fine!” She put two lockers of her long blue hair behind her ears and raised her pinky. “But you have to promise me you won’t tell dad or mom. Or anyone, for that matter.”

“Okay.” He linked his own finger with hers. “I promise.”

****

Goten looked to both his right and his left as soon as he walked out of the store, in hopes to find Bulla around. He dropped his head in frustration and turned to his right to make his way home when a voice echoed in his ears.

“Goten!”

A smile automatically appeared in her lips when he lifted his head and gave her the most beautiful one she’s ever seen in her life. A few days had gone by since she had come down for the first time and it quickly became a daily habit for her.

“I thought you wouldn’t come today.” He admitted when she got closer to him.

“Like I would miss an opportunity to see you.” She reached out for his hand and held it between hers.

“Do you have any plans for tonight?”

“Not at all.” Bulla knew she’d probably get into trouble with this, but it was the least of her worries at the moment.

“Would you like to get a coffee or eat something?”

“I’d love to.”

“Like I would miss an opportunity to see you.” She reached out for his hand and held it between hers.

“Do you have any plans for tonight?”

“Not at all.” Bulla knew she’d probably get into trouble with this, but it was the least of her worries at the moment.

“Would you like to get a coffee or eat something?”

“I’d love to.”

“I heard this is a nice place.” Goten said as he held the door of a coffee shop for her.

“So you’ve never been here before?”

“Actually, no. I always go home after work is over. I live far from here, so it’s a quite a trip.”

“Where do you live?”

“On Mount Paozu.”

“What?!” Bulla was glad she wasn’t eating anything. Otherwise she’d be choking. “That’s like 100 miles from here.”

“That’s right.”

“You must really need the money to do this.”

“I do. I mean, we live by selling farm goods, but sometimes we don’t sell everything, so…”

“Oh…” Bulla was astonished with the realization humans had a different reality than gods. “I’m sorry about that. I had no idea.”

“It’s not your fault.” He talked it off with a kind smile. “Even if we struggle, I don’t have a bad life. Quite the opposite, actually. I have the best parents in the world.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” She couldn’t help but feel grateful for her own ones too, despite the fact they could be too strict for her liking sometimes.

“Oh, I’m afraid I have to go.” Goten looked at his watch.

“Already?”

“Yeah, my mom gets worried if I take too long to go back. She says it’s dangerous, though I can take care of myself.”

“That’s moms for you.”

“True.” He laughed. “I’m sorry I have to leave during our date.”

“Oh, so this was a date?”

“I guess so.” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and Bulla realized she had fallen in love with him. “It’s okay if you don’t want it to be, by the way.”

“No, no, I do.” She said quickly.

“Great! So it is a date then.”

Bulla felt like her heart was going to explode from happiness when they walked out of the coffee shop. Sure she had quite some experience with romance and gods, but this was nothing compared to that.

“So, this is it.” Goten turned to face her, while holding both of her hands between them.

“I think so.”

“Will I see you tomorrow?”

“Of course.” She smiled widely. “I’ll be here.”

“Awesome.” He let go of one of her hands and touched her cheek with his palm.

The goddess couldn’t tell if it was because of the warmth of his hand or because his gesture took her by surprise, but her cheeks were burning red from embarrassment. Even so, she didn’t want him to take it away at all. In fact, she wanted to be with him all the time, even if it was impossible. Her thoughts were all over that place and she didn’t notice he was leaning in her direction until his lips had touched hers shyly. He also may have asked something she didn’t register.

Next thing Bulla knew, she had her arms wrapped around his neck and felt his around her waist. She couldn’t explain what it was, but there was something about men in Earth that took her breath away. Or maybe Goten had simply stolen her heart. Unfortunately for her, that feeling didn’t last long.

“So this is where you’ve been going all these days.” A very familiar voice echoed around and made her shiver in fear.

“Papa.” She turned around, trying to shield Goten from whatever her father would do to him.

“You know gods aren’t allowed to came down to Earth.”

“Gods?” The black haired boy was taken by surprise and looked at her. “Are you a goddess?”

“I can explain.” Bulla’s voice was shaking when she turned to him.

“Why did you keep this from me?”

“I’m sorry.” She grabbed his forearm. “I didn’t mean to, you have to trust me.”

“Bulla, let’s go home.” Vegeta held her arm and began to pull her away. She hated not being that strong physically, to fight him.

“But papa…”

“No buts, little lady. You know quite well there are rules we can’t break.”

“Trunks told you, didn’t he? I swear I’ll kill him.”

“He didn’t tell me anything. Your mom did.”

“What?!” Bulla shouted. “I can’t believe it.”

“She did the right thing. You broke the rules. Now let’s go.”

“What are you going to do with her?” Goten said in a firm and almost daring tone, taking one step towards them; his right hand up and curled into a fist.

“It’s not any of your business, young man.” Vegeta said over his shoulder as he walked away and took his daughter with him. “It’s best if you forget about Bulla.”

“I can’t do that. I love her.”

“Goten!” She cried and forced herself free from her father’s grip. She started running towards him and cupped his face with both hands as they knelt down in the middle of the sidewalk. “I love you too.”

“Then let’s be together.”

“We can’t.” She let her forehead touch his and more tears fell from her eyes. “My father is right. Gods and humans can’t be together.”

“We’ll prove them wrong. Rules can be broken.”

“There’s a severe punishment to those who break them. I couldn’t put you through such thing. As a member of the royal family of gods, I need to set the example.”

“Bulla.”

“I’m sorry, Goten.” She bit her lower lip before placing her index finger on his forehead, erasing his memories of her. “I’m sorry I have to do this to you, but it’s for the best. I love you too.”