…

"You want to take only Bulma away?" Tights' eyes narrowed toward him in suspicion.

 

Yamcha kept up his poker face. He couldn't tell her that an assassin was following them. 

 

For someone like him, who uses Observe quite a lot and on almost everything, he obviously would use it against someone who bumped into him. Also, the name tag and level above his head were quite apparent. 

 

Yamcha couldn't see more about Mercenary Tao than his name and Level 118. Yamcha was stronger than him, probably, but with his lower level, he couldn't see through the man's exact intentions. 

 

But Yamcha had seen enough movies and anime and read enough novels. The weaker enemy kidnapping someone and holding them hostage is the oldest trick in the books, so he isn't going to fall for it. 

 

By calling Bulma away and how Tights acted toward him, Yamcha deduced she would follow them just so he and Bulma didn't get frisky. So that would pull her away from danger too. 

 

Oolong would follow because he had nowhere else to be. Puar was his friend, so he would come along too. The only possible outlier here was Carrot, and Yamcha came up with another excuse.

 

"How has he been behaving?" Yamcha nudged his head toward Carrot. 

 

The humanoid rabbit smiled while rubbing his hands like a convicted pimp trying to look innocent.

 

He didn't necessarily care too much how Carrot had been doing. But he needed this ruse to make it seem like he was suspicious and manipulate Carrot's fear of appearing suspicious to Yamcha. So as not to appear suspicious, Carrot would follow him to the registration, too… hopefully.

 

"No problems from him. Also, Carrot and dad have become terrific friends," Bulma explained as her arm intertwined with Yamcha's. "Maybe you can show me for real just how much you missed me," she whispered in his ear.

 

Yamcha could do nothing but laugh uncomfortably at Tights' frown. They weren’t even married, and he was already having problems with her in-laws.

 

'Hey, it isn't my fault your sister is clinging to me. Also, I roughly know from using Observe what Bulma has been up to. So don't look at me like I am the dangerous one. It says here she has built a dangerous weapon.' Yamcha wanted to say those thoughts out loud but knew better. 

While compared to assassins like Hit, Mercenary Tao was nothing. But the killer was still dangerous for those around Yamcha who didn't know. 

If it weren’t for all the people around them, Yamcha would have immediately gone on the attack against Tao. He hoped the assassin would come and attack him before the tournament so that he could end the man then and there without anyone seeing. 

 

But for the same reason, Yamcha isn’t attacking. Tao isn’t either, probably due to the people around them. 

 

Maybe Tao was being cautious just in case one of the people in his group had some dangerous ability, Yamcha guessed. The earth’s best assassin would be right to assume so since Carrot had a hazardous power. 

 

Yamcha went with everyone in tow and registered for the tournament without adding more drama to his life. There was no identity verification or anything. They were encouraging people to use epithets and other fake identities. Yamcha wasn’t surprised by this, as Roshi had been able to get in with a phony identity and no proof easily. 

 

But as Yamcha walked away from the registration and the person in charge put his name down on the official participant lists, he got a notification.

[New Quest: Win the Tenkaichi Budokai]

 

Yamched accepted the quest and waved it off. As they walked away, he noticed Goku's spiky hair sticking out of the crowd. The little kid Krillin was next to him too, and a dark, bluish-haired woman was accompanying them both. That was Launch, the multiple-personality woman. She was wearing a green crop tank top with yellow hotpants. Her outfit showed quite a lot of skin, and where she couldn't hide anything. 

"Goku!" Yamcha called out to his Saiyan friend. Goku turned around, and his eyes shined when they saw each other. They hadn't seen each other in a while. 

 

"Yamcha!" The Saiyan waved back.

 

"Who's that?" Asked the younger Krillin.

 

"They're the friends I told you about. That's Yamcha, and she is Bulma. That pig is Ulang-"

 

"It's Oolong!" The talking pig corrected him.

 

"Hahaha," Goku laughed without a care in the world and pointed a fist at Yamcha. "This time, I am going to win."

 

“He doesn't even care,” Oolong pouted and kicked a stone away. 

 

Launch tilted her head and smiled politely at them. 

 

"You can try it if you think you can win against me." Yamcha smiled too and sighed before fist-bumping Goku and encouraging his younger friend. "Where is the old hermit? Didn't he come with you?”

 

"Master Roshi went to do something as soon as we finished our registration," Krillin answered.

 

Yamcha nodded in acknowledgment. He guessed that the old man had gone and registered himself under the fake name Jackie Chun. Yamcha used Observe on Goku and Krillin. 

 

He skipped the useless info and only noted down their power levels. 

 

[Goku - PL: 103]

 

[Krillin - PL: 82]

 

[Lunch - PL: 2]

 

Yamcha almost felt sorry for Krillin. Goku and Krillin should have been quite close in power during these times. But due to Goku's power rising more during their short journey with Yamcha, he was now stronger than he would have originally been. 

 

‘I thought maybe Roshi’s training wouldn’t be as effective since Goku was so much stronger. But that doesn't look so. As expected of the character of a Shonen Manga, if it’s a training arc, he will grow stronger by quite a bit.’

"*Hatchu!*" Suddenly, Launch sneezed. In that split second, her hair changed blonde. It was quite a sight to see. Yamcha wondered what kind of science happened behind this transformation. 

 

Did she pull out a machine gun from her back pocket? Yamcha didn't know where the weapon came from. Just as Launch was about to put her finger on the trigger and shoot, he appeared in front of her in a flash.

 

Yamcha contemplated crushing the weapon, but that would likely make Launch even angrier. So he gently stopped her finger from pushing down on the trigger. 

 

"Where did you take out that gun from?" Yamcha asked, by which Launch noticed him, and her eyes wandered. It always felt nice to be faster than others. "I didn't see a gun on your back or anything like it."

 

In the original show, Yamcha never really bothered thinking about this too much. But now, he was curious, was it just Shounen Magic? Or was there a logical answer?

 

Launch's blue eyes met his own, and she frowned before her features mellowed out by surprise. "No one has asked me that before."

'Probably because they were more worried about you shooting them than wondering where your gun came from.' Yamcha noticed. But he didn't say that out loud and instead went for a more mellow approach and smiled at her politely. "Well, you are a normal human too. Why wouldn't I ask?"

 

"Are you flirting with another woman right before my sister?" Tights interrupted them. She had an incredulous look on her face.

"Wow, it seems like there is some drama here!" Krillin whispered to Goku. "It's like those romance shows on TV."

 

Goku was confused by what Krillin meant, never having seen something like that. He wasn't that interested in TV shows.

Yamcha was about to clarify things, but Launch answered his question first. "I hide the guns in my back pockets. They're sealed in capsules."

"Oh, that makes sense. Never looked at it that way," Yamcha was a little surprised how there was a logical explanation to this. He released Launch's finger, and she put her machine gun away by sealing it in a capsule again.

 

Some people around them had noticed her pulling out a gun but didn't say anything and just backed off. They were probably too scared to do anything. 

 

‘If I remember correctly. Launch had a bounty on her head, and it was quite high. So maybe some know who she is. So they’re scared.’

"Hey! I asked you a question. How dare you act like this in front of my sister?" Tights charged over. She turns toward her sister. "Bulma, you should just leave a playboy like him. Look what he does in front of you. What about behind your back? What does he do behind your back?"

 

Yamcha knew she was about to start saying dangerous things like: 'What could he have done during those six months when he was away?' Words like that would make any woman’s mind wander.

 

Even though he didn't bother with women during that time, the truth doesn't matter when the lie is so convincing. "I and Launch were just talking and nothing more. Why? Haven't you been curious about something before too? As a fighter, I was curious how she took out her guns. I would have approached the situation with the same curiosity even if she was a guy."

 

He was casual when he spoke and expressed no awkwardness or nervousness. Gamer’s Mind helped a bunch with that. 

Tights folded her arms, but her frown softened as Yamcha calmly continued explaining. "Also, Launch doesn't like me that way. That much is quite clear."

Bulma nodded, agreeing with Yamcha. She had a proud smirk that said a thousand words. Yamcha knew she would brag later about how loyal her 'boyfriend' was. But for now, he would play along since they had a dangerous assassin to watch out for. 

"You're wrong on that. I find you kinda cute," she smirked at Yamcha. 

Yamcha felt his polite smile stay there, frozen in place. He was more comfortable fighting dinosaurs in a freezing tundra than here.

 

Launch's words lit a fire in the group as Bulma looked at the blonde criminal with contempt and intertwined her arm with Yamcha's. The genius scientist looked at Launch as if she were a dangerous animal about to pounce.

'This… is such a drag.'

******

A/N: I work in an environment with a lot of girls. So writing arguments like these between women is quite easy.