Days Until Universal Tournament - 2

Present Time - Earth- Paozu Mountains

"Let me go, Shallot!"

Shallot clamped his hand over Rhudas mouth and drug her from the door, shut it, and turned to face her. He put a finger to his lips.

"Eh?" She questioned.

He pulled a slip of paper from his armor and handed it over. "...He's gone, Chisato."

Rhuda gave him a glare, not done fighting yet, and opened the paper.

[Sorry about that. I had to throw Fu off the trail for awhile. He might do something crazier next. Don't hang out with me until the Tournament is over, okay? Just to be sure.

Shallot and I talked about what to do.

We both met Tie. That's our son. In the game, he was the one who healed me. Tie said he was my son, and also a genius.

However...

The version Shallot remembers wasn't. I say that based off of Tie coming without permission to save his Uncle Shallot. Also, he wanted Shallot to bring him with him when they met. So it's safe to assume he isn't 'my' son.

I know it's a lot to take in. But...you have to decide, Chisato, which child you want. And you should know that Gohan is the father right now. I'm...sorry.

Either way you choose, I will love you and stay by your side.

I hate to say this but pretend to be heartbroken for awhile, okay? Let Shallot 'comfort'. Just uh, not too much.

-T. B.]

Rhuda dropped the paper, hands trembling, and stared quite blankly at nothing in front of her for quite some time. Shallot eased her away from the kitchen and to the living room, pushing her onto the red couch.

"Noodles, was it that bad?" He asked.

She bit her lip and shook her head, aware that her words were being recorded. Instead, she pointed to the paper for him to read as well.

Shallot picked it up, read it, and balled it into a wad. He tossed it behind him and pulled the quivering girl to him. "...I see.."

They sat like that for some time, Rhuda trying to make sense of things. She was pregnant by Gohan--her own brother, now--and had to choose between his sons life, or another. "Shiroui...Shiroui.." she looped, tugging at him, as if he'd somehow give her the answer she needed.

"Shhh...Trunks will come back one day," he said.

That's right. She's supposed to be heartbroken right now, not debating something like two lives.

Rhuda rubbed against his neck, sobbing, and found it quite easy to cry, because all she had to do was think that her sons life would be forever changed because of her. It wasn't as if she was somehow more important than them. She needed help. She needed...

"Mm..."

Hearing Shallot make a noise, she realized she'd been rubbing a little too much and began to pull away, however found herself in a tight grip of his arms. He moved against her body, nuzzling back, and their tails twined like a DNA rope.

"S-Shiroui--"

She was panicking now. But couldn't just suddenly burst up, because she needed to stay sad. 'Let Shallot comfort you' Trunks had said. Thus she bid herself to calm down and took his affectionate nuzzling, despite it causing her body to grow very warm.

"I'll help you forget Trunks...." he mumbled, now rubbing his nose to her ear.

"P-Please--I c-can't stand the thought of h-him telling me goodbye," she tacked on.

"You don't need him....you just need me..."

His lips brushed the edge of her earlobe, touching, trailing down as he sniffed.

"S-Shiroui..." her eyes shut, due to the loud thumping of her heart, and added, "I...I'm pregnant with Gohans...baby..."

"Yeah. Don't worry, I like kids." He kissed her neck, "...And Tie wanted me to take him back to the real world."

His lips lowered down, the grip around her waist moving, so that he could tilt her head backward. There he gave a little growl and said, "...You know how I feel about you, don't you...Chisato..?"

The breath on her neck tickled and brought goosebumps. She shivered as a noise slipped from her throat, humiliated that it sounded so needy. He chuckled and leaned away only to gaze at her with deep longing. "...I'd do anything for you." He said, running his thumb down her cheek.

It was such a heart felt confession that Rhuda began to tear up. She looked into the eyes of the only one from the real world who'd truly 'saw' her, and her heart began to break bit by bit. "S-Shiro...ui..."

"Don't look so sad, babe. I'm not going anywhere anymore," Shallot said. He tilted her chin up and leaned, lightly brushing his lips to hers. It was a question, one made from emotions, and Rhuda answered by turning her cheek away.

"Why...him?" Shallot asked.

His voice had almost cracked. Like it was in line with his heart, ripping.

"...It will always be him..." Rhuda said.

"Yeah. I--I know--but...if you could just...give 'me' one chance, then--"

Rhuda pushed him away. "I'm sorry. Shiroui, I don't...see you that way."

"...You're lying. Chisato...if you only knew...your own heart..." he said.

The way he said it, as if it were a fact, gave her pause. She looked into his eyes once more, wondering just how it was he was so confident. Shallot sighed and moved away her bangs from her forehead. "Don't give me that look."

"W-What look?"

"Like I just kicked a puppy." He smiled. "Since--things will be different from here on out, and I'm pretty damn sure who you'll chase, anyway..."

"Eh?"

Shallot leaned to her ear and whispered, "Let me...taste you."

"S-Shiro-ui! D-Don't say such things!"

"...I want to know what he knows. Feel...what he's felt." Shallot was practically begging.

"G-Get a hold of yourself...I'm too heartbroken to--to do such a thing." She reminded him.

Shallot leaned away with a sigh. His deep eyes gleamed, like there was a roaring fire in them. "The day I died. I saw your face."

"W-What?"

"...Yeah. I was shot...three times..." Shallot shut his eyes, putting his hand on his chest, "...I had been just about to ask you out on a date, you know? It's like even God himself said 'better luck next life'."

"S-Shiroui..? Y-You were...?" Her eyes brimmed over, imagining that pain.

He nodded. "Yep. I went down like a badass, at least."

Rhuda put her hand to his face tenderly touching, running her fingers across the tan flesh. "Shiroui...what do you mean, you saw my face?"

"I had my cell phone out. The plan was to call you, because I'd gotten your number from Fuma. Only...well, someone in a strange dark outfit came by the library. He asked me if I had played the new Xenoverse 3 game. Well, of course I had. He demanded to know if I'd saved the game. It was weird, so I didn't answer. Then he pulled out a gun and..I managed to...run away...but he had damn good aim..."

Shallot trembled.

Without words between them Rhuda climbed to his lap and brought his spiked head to her bosom, trying to comfort him. Her heart squeezed painfully, picturing it so clearly in her own mind. "...Yuusuke.."

"He's dead...Chisato. Shiroui Yuusuke is dead, you know?" His voice grew shaky. "I--I snooped too much. Now I know it was because I'd saw those damn files Matsuri had on everyone."

"..."

His shoulders shook. "She had one of me, you, and several other people. That--that bitch...she even had your address, your route home, where you ate...everything!"

"N-No--"

"Chisato--" Shallot lifted his head. There were tears running down his face now, shining. "--I killed you!

He sobbed harder.

"Shiroui....please...don't cry. Y-You're making me cry..."

His mouth pulled back in painful sobs, "Don't you see? It was me..! I--I was the first one to die and be brought here, all because I saw those files! And even you....even...the girl I...hic..It was me who asked her to check on you...after we met..I thought I was doing the right thing!"

The two held each other like that for a time.

"Please, Shiroui...you should know that none of this was your fault. They would have chosen someone else to be the vessel..." Rhuda said.

He put his forehead to hers, closed his tear filled eyes and replied, "Maybe, or maybe not. For all we know...it was fate that put us both here."

"You believe in fate?"

"I do." His eyes opened. "The only girl I ever cared for, came to this place...and from everyone who she could have befriended..? It was me."

"Hic..."

Shallot swiped her tear away and added, "But even here... I'm second. I'll always be second, because she's so far away. She won't even give me a chance to show her...that I would be anything she wanted..."

Rhudas face contorted into sadness and she wept, their faces brushing as each tried to inhale the others sorrow. It was a lost cause. They were thrown into the midst of chaos and confusion, leaving behind everything they knew, only to be apart. The walls around the girls heart began crumbling under neath the weight of his feelings, as if the only thing she'd needed was to hear him speak those words to her.

"Shiroui..." she whispered.

"That's me..noodles..."

She took his hand and put it to her face, smiling gently. "I'm right here."

Rhuda kissed his hand, placed it to her chest, and saw the redness seep into Shallots cheek. He blinked a few times before a slow and shy smile grew across his face. "You are, aren't you...?"

"I've always thought that you're a strange one."

She carefully touched her lips to his, giving in to the strange feeling that he needed her. At that moment, it was Rhuda who would be what Shallot wanted.

He answered her with his own lips, and the two quickly became intertwined, tails and all, until it became apparent that they were doing such a thing in such an odd place. Shallot leaned away, breathless, and grit his teeth. "Pretty sure Goku would kill me right now."

"Trunks, too..."

"Yeah. But he knew, you know? All along. Maybe he was waiting to see what you wanted to do, Chisato."

"Perhaps..." It did seem like Trunks to not force her either way, instead waiting patiently until she came to her own decisions. Just like when she had decided to stay in Conton, with him.

She bit her lip, still flushing from their intimacy, and looked away with regret. "I--I love him, dearly, Shallot."

"Yeah yeah. Doesn't mean you can't love me more, though."

"D-Don't act like that's okay! It's not! I--I didn't even know I liked you until just now!"

"Pfft. Everyone else did. The question is what do you want to do?" He asked.

"I..."

She stood up and hiked down her top, turning away. There she tried to clear her mind and focus on the reality of things. It was slow work, tuning out the chaos of her confliction, until the girl set her jaw firm and turned. "I need to train. There's a Tournament coming up and I'm not going to miss it. You and I have a world to save."