Chapter Text
“That was a big step you took today, Vegeta,” Bulma said to him that night. “See? I told you no one was going to bother you.”
“It was still humiliating,” Vegeta said. He couldn’t get that mental image to go away; Laying crumpled in the dirt, incapable of walking another step, and no one having to wonder what the cause was. They all knew it instantly. And, worse still… “I… I… Did… THAT on the fucking—“
“Goku peed on the dragon ball too, didn’t he?”
“That’s different, Kakarot isn’t above such a vulgar, ridiculous action. I SHOULD be.”
“You didn’t even know at the time,” Bulma reminded. “It’s not like you did it on purpose.” She laid down beside him in the bed. “And, nobody mentioned it.”
“Just because they didn’t say anything doesn’t mean they weren’t thinking about it,” Vegeta huffed. “I thought I’d broken the damn thing when the dragon didn’t appear.”
“They’re indestructible, silly,” Bulma said. “Come on, just take the victory; You asked for help and it wasn’t the awful nightmare you’d always imagined.”
Vegeta sighed. She wasn’t wrong. Vegeta had always assumed that, if he ever broke down so dramatically, he’d hear nothing but hysterical laughter all around him, not a simple offer to make the pain stop.
“Think you can do that again?” Bulma asked. “Maybe BEFORE it gets that bad?”
Vegeta turned away. Would he be capable of that? He hadn’t exactly ASKED for help this time, he’d just gotten himself into such an awful situation that the others HAD to say something, and he’d HAD to accept what they’d proposed to him. Would he be able to make the first move, prior to his bladder becoming full enough to destroy him? “No promises.”
“Vegeta…”
“I’ll try,” he amended.
Vegeta struggled to fall asleep. It was absurd, considering how utterly worn out he was. Then, when he realized WHAT was keeping him up, it was even harder to drift off. This was the first night in a long while where he DIDN’T have Kakarot’s arms around him. He’d gotten much too used to that, and now it felt odd not having his body squeezed.
He moved closer to Bulma. Dammit, was he really… Did he actually… Did he… Maybe enjoy, ugh, ‘cuddling’ after all?!
Bulma couldn’t squeeze him like Kakarot, but he could hold onto her… He just had to be careful about it. He did feel more drowsy once he had her in his arms. How ridiculous…
Bulma had ASKED him to do this with her before, she’d told him that it was normal to want to snuggle with his own wife. Maybe for HUMANS that behavior was typical, but Saiyans weren’t meant to be cuddly. He’d only ever done this with her by accident, grabbing her in his sleep. If they were still in this position in the morning, he’d insist that was what had happened again.
It wasn’t quite the same as Kakarot’s tight embrace, but it still calmed Vegeta a great deal. Annoyingly, he couldn’t help but think that the BEST thing might be to be in-between the both of them; That might get him the best rest of his life…
***
The following day, Bulma insisted on having another party to celebrate their tournament victory. This was already a bit irritating. Vegeta was tired and not in the mood to deal with people. But, when MONAKA arrived, he gained some new information that really ticked him off. Beerus had lied about Monaka’s strength, the creature was just an intergalactic deliveryman with no fighting skills whatsoever.
Hit must have thrown the match against him on purpose for some reason. Such mockery… After the abject horridness he’d put Vegeta through…
As if THAT weren’t bad enough, they had to prevent Kakarot from learning the truth about Monaka by any means necessary; Believing that Monaka was the most powerful being in the universe was serving as Kakarot’s motivation. So, when Kakarot wanted to fight him, everyone had to take part in an annoying, elaborate ruse to keep him from figuring it out.
The worst part of that was when Vegeta had to pretend Monaka was strong enough to manipulate his body through some form of mind-control. It was so embarrassing! But, at least the trick worked. Thankfully, Kakarot was a moron.
It wasn’t until later on in the party that Vegeta REALLY regretted his role in the whole thing. He’d been eating with the others, his ankles crossed beneath the table, out of view. He was trying to work up the nerve to excuse himself when Kakarot, of course, noticed his discomfort.
“Hey, Vegeta…” Kakarot whispered. “I just had an idea.”
“I hate it when you say that,” Vegeta groaned.
Kakarot pressed forward anyway. “You remember how Monaka can control your body?”
Vegeta rolled his eyes. “Your point?”
“Well, maybe that means he can help you… You know… It wouldn’t hurt to ask him, right?”
Vegeta nearly choked on his mouthful of food. “K—Kakarot!” Yes, it WOULD hurt to ask! And, it wasn’t even like Monaka could ACTUALLY do that anyway! Not that he could let Kakarot know that part…
“It was… Just a suggestion,” Kakarot said. “You can think about it more if you want t—“
“No,” Vegeta interrupted. “This… This is MY nemesis, Kakarot. I want to be the one to defeat it. Relying on the use of Monaka’s immense power would be cheap and underhanded, it wouldn’t be a true victory. When I defeat this thing, it will be because I earned it.” As he spoke, he was surprised by how much he meant every word out of his mouth. He’d started out just wanting to cover for Monaka, but that wasn’t all anymore.
If he ever DID encounter something with the power to banish his Problem away until the end of time FOR him, THAT wouldn’t be a win at all! He would have cheated. He would have tacitly admitted that this was too hard for him. He would be giving up. And, in doing so, his Problem would have actually defeated him. It would have achieved total victory.
He was GLAD Beerus had taken the wish yesterday, using it for himself would have been nothing more than a mistake! Vegeta wasn’t a quitter.
He’d also said ‘WHEN I defeat this thing’… And he’d meant that, too. He’d BELIEVED that, too! For the first time ever, he thought it was POSSIBLE for him to overcome this someday. He could get better… He WAS getting better.
So, when Krillin asked him what he and Kakarot were whispering about, Vegeta took that as an opportunity to KEEP getting better. “N—Nothing,” he stood and tried to ignore the icy feeling taking hold. “I just… Um… I’m going to… Uh… Freshen up. Don’t bother me.”
“Oh, okay. No problem.”
Vegeta rushed quickly back inside.
He’d said it… He’d said it! He’d actually said it! And, the world HADN’T ended!
He made it to his restroom and relieved himself easily. That had been so simple… He hadn’t needed to fight and suffer to make this happen. No, he just said what he needed, and he’d immediately gotten it. No ridicule. No mockery. No judgement. What a wonderful alternative to torturing himself.
***
Vegeta waited out in the hallway for Bulma to finish showering. He felt that he had been continuing to improve these last few days. In fact, just a few minutes ago, he’d managed to make himself knock on the door to their bathroom and mutter “Will you hurry it up in there?! I… I stayed quite hydrated while training today, you know?!”
Bulma had claimed that she was going to be done soon, but she must have had a very lax definition of the word ‘soon’, because Vegeta had spent the next several minutes fidgeting beside the door, trying not to listen to the water spraying.
THAT was why he’d headed to the hallway instead; He’d tolerated that awful noise for as long as possible and couldn’t put up with it any longer. Besides, it was fine to wait in the hall in THIS area of the house, the employees didn’t come here. The only person who might walk by and see him wriggling was Trunks, and THEN Vegeta could just scold him for not being in bed yet.
He could still sort of hear the shower running. Ugh, that sound… He tapped his fingertips against the wall behind him, leaning from side to side. Come on… Come on…
There were plenty of other restrooms. There was one not too far from here. He HAD used it successfully once before, maybe he could do it a second ti—
“AHHHH!”
Maybe not! Bulma was screaming in there! He turned back to the door, shoved it aside and ran in, ignoring the way his harsh steps unsettled his bladder. “What’s wrong?!” He came to a grinding stop when he saw Kakarot sitting in his and Bulma’s bed. “KAKAROT?!” He exclaimed. What was this about?! Why was he in the—
Had Chi-Chi given permission for them to… Do… Something new? Right now?! But, Vegeta still really had to— Was Kakarot SURE he wanted thi—
“Explain yourself right now!” Bulma yelled.
“I didn’t come here on purpose, okay?!” Kakarot said.
“Then, why the Hell are you here?!” Bulma demanded.
“Trust me, I’m just as confused as you!” Kakarot continued to protest, before finally teleporting back away.
“Well, that was fucking weird,” Vegeta grumbled. Maybe Chi-Chi HAD given him her blessing, but then Kakarot realized at the last second that he wasn’t as sure about doing it as he’d thought?
Whatever.
At least the bathroom was free now.
***
Vegeta didn’t give much more thought to Kakarot’s strange, sudden appearance the night before. He should have been used to the fool showing up randomly without explanation, That was fairly normal behavior for him after all.
Now, the main thing on Vegeta’s mind was trying to figure out which brand of soy sauce Bulma usually bought… And if he could finish this stupid shopping excursion before his bladder got too much fuller.
The awful indignity Bulma had foisted upon him today was grocery shopping. He had never done it before, he always just had so many other things to do, things that didn’t involve this level of tedium while surrounded by irritating humans. Today, Bulma had insisted that she was far too busy to handle it, and Vegeta’s eloquent argument that a warrior prince should always, ALWAYS have someone else doing the shopping FOR him only got him yelled at.
The Hell had he done wrong?
The end result was that he was HERE now, trying to find all of the items on Bulma’s ridiculously long list. And, since this had been an unexpected, impromptu trip out of the house, Vegeta hadn’t known that he SHOULDN’T load up on fluids after waking up that morning. He wasn’t spending the day in his gravity room, sweating and with his bathroom very close by. He was spending it in this air-conditioned, crowded space, his only option for relief would be a public restroom.
Bulma hadn’t even given him his capsule to take with him. He’d forgotten to request it, and she must have forgotten to offer it.
He wasn’t comfortable, and he was rushing to get this finished. He knew he was likely skipping over parts of the list unintentionally in his haste. He couldn’t help it, though. He was already to the point where he had to push his thighs together, and he didn’t want to risk it getting much worse when there were so many other people around.
He may have been getting more comfortable having the people he KNEW notice when he had to go, but strangers were an entirely different story. He couldn’t let himself squirm around THEM.
By the time he thought he’d gathered everything Bulma wanted, he was having some difficulty keeping his legs uncrossed. The thrumming in his middle was quite intense, and his bladder was still worn-out from what he’d put it through at the tournament days ago. It would be a while before he was up to holding it for his usual long stretches of time again. He shifted from foot to foot while he waited in the line to check out, taking care to do it very slowly so that it would look like he was just bored. The gentle rocking helped a little bit. He’d lean to one side, wait like that for about a minute, then the pressure would begin beating down on his length again and he’d sway to the other side. Back and forth, back and forth.
He wanted to be at home…
The line was aggravating, it wasn’t moving nearly fast enough. How long was this supposed to last? Each person ahead of him took SEVERAL minutes, and he had little else to focus on other than his bladder. ‘Move it along, idiots…’ he thought. ‘Some of us have other places to be.’ He’d have to remember to always request his capsule before going out on these little errands from now on. If he had IT, he could go just mere minutes after getting out of here. Instead, he was going to have to deal with this fullness all the way home.
Finally, he managed to get everything paid for and capsulized. He held the capsule tightly, not wanting to misplace it now that he’d gone through so much discomfort to get it.
On his way out of the store, he passed by the restrooms. He HAD promised himself that he would try more often… He could give it a chance, right? Just… Head in and see what it was like, then decide if he wanted to proceed? That wouldn’t be so bad…
He approached the doors. His chest dropped a few degrees. It didn’t feel frigid or icy, just noticeably cooler than the rest of him. The space just below his skin was tingling. This wouldn’t be so bad… This wouldn’t be s—
As he got closer, two men entered the restroom. Vegeta stopped and turned right back around. ‘Nope. Nope.’
It would be better to just head straight home anyway— He’d get there faster.
Outside the store, Vegeta started to walk towards home, cursing the slow method of travel. The woman had told him he wasn’t supposed to take off into the sky in the middle of the city, insisting it would disturb all of the humans too much. If he wanted to fly, he had to launch from a secluded place instead. Hopefully he’d find one soon. Walking wasn’t quick enough, it would be ages before he was in his bathroom, soothing his irritated, tired bladder.
The fact that he had to be careful with how he walked wasn’t helping matters much. The city was always crowded, so SOMEONE would notice if his gait looked weird because he was trying to cross his legs and move forwards at the same time. Plus, if he moved too fast, the liquid inside of him was sloshed painfully, but if he went too slow he just gave himself more time to fill up before he got home.
He was walking without bending his knees much, which seemed to be gentler on his bladder for whatever reason. After he’d made it a bit further, he had to stop completely. His bladder felt heavy, pressing down hard against his opening. He jiggled in place for just a few seconds, eyes darting around in paranoia the entire time. No one LOOKED like they were staring, but it FELT like everyone was. It felt like—
It felt like Kakarot was nearby.
The energy felt a TINY bit different from how it normally did, in a way Vegeta couldn’t quite put his finger on, but he’d still recognize that loose, fluttery, yet immensely powerful chi anywhere. He quickly turned in the direction that he sensed it from, and found Kakarot exiting a store. Finally, some GOOD luck for once! “Kakarot!”
“Oh, hey Vegeta!” Kakarot smiled, but not as brightly as usual. Vegeta brushed that aside, if something was bothering Kakarot they could discuss it later.
For now, Vegeta just stepped closer to him, widening his eyes and letting himself shake, his knees touching like they’d been aching to all day. Kakarot never needed to be TOLD what to do in these situations.
Why… Why wasn’t Kakarot grabbing his arm yet?
“Kakarot, I want you to take me home,” Vegeta stated, as quietly as he could.
Kakarot bit down on his lower lip. “Um, but—“
“Bulma is there, use her energy,” Vegeta said, grasping Kakarot’s arm himself.
“W—Wait, hold on, I don’t know if—“
“I said NOW!” Why was the idiot stalling? If he had more shopping to do, he could come back later! This would only take a second!
“O—Okay,” Kakarot said, putting his fingers against his forehead. He took in a deep, shaking breath and closed his eyes. “Mmf…”
Finally… Vegeta ALREADY felt better. But, why was this taking longer than usual? Or, did it just FEEL longer because of Vegeta’s discomfort? He’d had to go WAY worse than this before, and it had never—
They had suddenly transported.
But, Vegeta was not home.
He was very, VERY far from home.
So far he didn’t even know which direction to head in.
And the worst part? He was under increased gravity now, too. The shift was completely unexpected, so the added pressure made him collapse against the ground, his legs twisting up with new, tremendous urgency. He stopped just shy of grabbing at his crotch as he tried to adjust.
“GOKU!” King Kai yelled. “WHAT DID I TELL YOU?!”
“K—Kakarot!” Vegeta exclaimed, his voice cracking embarrassingly. What was the MEANING of this?! Kakarot had never teased him before, not even a little, especially not like THIS! This was so… It just wasn’t LIKE Kakarot to do this!
“S—Sorry, King Kai,” Kakarot said, anxious. “It was an accident.”
Did Kakarot have to use THAT word right now?! When Vegeta’s bladder was searing and squeezing and dying to let the gravity here pump its contents straight out?!
“It was NOT!” King Kai yelled. “I told you not to use your chi until you’ve recovered, and now what are you doing?!”
“Okay, THAT part was on purpose, but I didn’t mean to come here!”
“NOT THE POINT!”
As Kakarot and King Kai continued to argue, Vegeta tried to figure out what was happening and, more importantly, what the FUCK he was going to do about his need now. It had been MODERATELY bad back in the city. He COULD have held it the rest of the way home if he really HAD to, but with Kakarot there he’d foolishly assumed he DIDN’T have to, that he could get himself comfortable again sooner.
That sure as Hell wasn’t going to happen now!
He still hadn’t managed to get back up off the ground. King Kai’s tiny planet had advanced gravity that was nothing compared to what Vegeta usually trained under, but he hadn’t been able to prepare himself for its effects. He certainly hadn’t been able to get his bladder ready for the huge, steel weights that the planet would throw on top of it. He pulled his knees up to his chest, pressing his crotch against his heels, and trying not to wriggle too much.
Granted, King Kai was too busy shouting at Kakarot to notice what Vegeta was doing… The man’s pet monkey, on the other hand, wandered over to Vegeta and sat beside him, staring intently.
‘It’s just an animal,’ Vegeta thought, chastising himself for the humiliation the creature’s observation brought. ‘Not even intelligent enough to speak. It doesn’t matter if it— Wait, what is it doing?’
The monkey had brought its own knees up to its chest, and was now fidgeting around, shaking.
It was…
It was mimicking him…
‘I do NOT look like that! Dammit!’ But, when Vegeta glanced down at himself, he knew that was wrong. The monkey was copying him perfectly. He was squirming, his lower body trembling… “St—Stop mocking me,” he growled under his breath. All this time, he’d been terrified that the humans in his life would all taunt him if they caught him in this compromising position, yet they hadn’t. Instead, he was being teased and made fun of by a damned monkey!
He grimaced and gagged as the thought popped into his mind without his permission; ‘Now I can kind of understand where Frieza was coming from. Stupid monkey.’
Kakarot finally came back over, nervous. His attention settled on the monkey first, he must have known Vegeta was about ready to bite his fucking head off. “H—Hey, Bubbles. What are you doi—“ He stopped abruptly when he realized what the animal was up to. “O—Oh, um… You… Sure do like to copy people, huh? H—How about you copy me instead?” He sat down, taking the position he would if he were meditating. “L—Like this?”
Bubbles continued to mirror Vegeta’s tense, wriggly form instead.
“Kakarot, c—care to explain what the FUCK is going on here?” Vegeta snapped. “Why a—are we here? I t—told you to br—bring me home! N—Not to another damned pl—planet with enhanced gravity, without even a—any warning!”
“Vegeta, I’m real sorry, I didn’t mean to, it just—“
“WHY?!”
“I didn’t mean to!” Kakarot repeated, loud and firm. “I really strained myself at that tournament, alright? I overused my energy, so now my powers aren’t working right— Including Instant Transmission. King Kai said I’m supposed to rest for a while, and it’ll all go back to normal.”
“How long is a while?!”
“A few days…” Kakarot said. “I tried telling you before, but you— Oh, man, Vegeta, you just really need to—“
“Get home, yes,” Vegeta interrupted, nudging his head sharply in King Kai’s direction.
“Right…” Kakarot nodded. “I’m sorry… I could try it again? I figure I can at least get us back onto Earth, even if we don’t end up at your house…”
Vegeta tried to get up again. His bladder was being mashed by this planet’s punishing gravity, and IT was so heavy that he couldn’t lift himself up while trying to carry it. He felt foolish leaning on Kakarot to climb onto his feet, it was Kakarot’s fault he was HAVING this much trouble in the first place!
“A—Alright,” Kakarot said. “Let’s—“
“Vegeta,” King Kai frowned.
Oh, right. Another problem with this tiny planet; King Kai could easily see everything taking place on it.
“What?” Vegeta asked. His knees were rubbing back and forth, thighs grinding. He needed to get AWAY from this gravity before it squashed his bladder so hard that it burst.
“Did YOU overdo it at the tournament, too? You don’t look so good.”
“N—No,” Vegeta said. Ugh, he didn’t have time for this!
“Are you sure? You shouldn’t be struggling this much with the gravity here.”
“That’s, um…That’s because… Uh…” Kakarot stammered.
Vegeta leaned more against Kakarot. The other Saiyan’s energy was still wonky, but that didn’t lessen its calming effect. “G—Go on…”
Kakarot nodded. “O—Okay, so the reason I used Instant-Transmission again, even though you told me not to, is ‘cause Vegeta wanted me to bring him to his house so that… Um… He just… He needs to… do something that’s really personal, and—“
“You didn’t listen to me just because Vegeta needs to pee?! THAT’S what was so important?!”
Vegeta lowered his head, heat scorching all over his face and down his neck, over his shoulders. Did he really have to SHOUT that?! They’d probably heard that yell all the way back down on Earth!
“Eheh… Uhhh….” Kakarot rubbed the back of his neck.
King Kai rubbed a hand over his face. “Ugh… Seriously, Goku?” He groaned. “Vegeta, just use my bathroom. No idea where this guy’s gonna end up taking you to next.”
Vegeta froze, his heart thrumming again, just as it had done when he’d contemplated entering the restroom at the store. “U—Uh— That’s… Um…”
Kakarot turned Vegeta to face him more directly, lowering his voice down to a whisper. But, with as small as the planet was, Vegeta worried he could still be heard. “I bet you can do that,” Kakarot said. “There’s just three people here. King Kai and I are gonna stay outside.”
“I’ll b—be gone for… A long time… Even if I do manage to—“
“Yeah? Don’t worry about that, I’ll keep King Kai so distracted he won’t notice how long you take. Promise.”
Vegeta hesitated, a cramp in his middle made him finally give in. “… Alright.”
“What are you two doing?” King Kai asked. “I thought you said he had to—“
“Vegeta was just reminding me he ALSO needs to get home fast ‘cause he promised to do something for Bulma,” Kakarot said. “Don’t worry, buddy. Once we’re back on Earth, I’m sure you’ll be able to fly there in time. A bathroom break won’t delay you too much.”
Vegeta nodded slowly, then made his way towards King Kai’s tiny house. He hoped that any strangeness in his steps could be chalked up to the gravity here. Once he was inside, he let his legs cross and grabbed himself firmly. Phew… That was better…
He looked around, thankfully there was only one door here, so he found the restroom easily. Still holding himself, he made his way into it. He got his clothing apart quickly. He aimed quickly. He did NOT start peeing quickly. Even with Kakarot promising to keep King Kai distracted, Vegeta still felt pressured to rush.
He also still felt the intense gravity all around him, squeezing and squashing him, especially around his already strained bladder area. It hurt, reminding him of the awful, awful way he’d felt at the tournament.
He shut his eyes and focused hard on the squishing sensation, the weight it put atop his bladder, the contractions it sparked. At the next harsh throb, he pushed down, and the trickle began to emerge, flowing—
Ack!
He had failed to fully account for EVERYTHING that the difference in gravity here would do. He’d stood the same distance from the toilet as he usually would at home, which wasn’t close enough when everything was so much heavier! So, when he opened his eyes, he saw that he was mostly hitting the floor. His face flamed as he stepped closer to correct it. Then, he was dismayed by how much LOUDER it sounded when it struck the water here.
But, it also felt incredibly relieving, all the extra pressure around him was making him pee hard and fast, his bladder contracting back down to a manageable size a lot quicker than it usually did. The force of the relief tore a sigh from his lips, much to his embarrassment.
Adding onto that, once he finally finished, he had to deal with wiping the small spill off of the floor. He was so paranoid that he went over the spot five times with a wad of toilet paper, yet still thought that the floor looked like it was glistening, and that the smell was lingering. He was very reluctant to leave the restroom, fearing that some evidence remained.
But, if Kakarot wasn’t feeling well, that meant they had to get back to Earth soon.
Vegeta hesitantly returned outside, shooting a glare at the irritating monkey on his way over to Kakarot. Kakarot smiled at him, seeing that his tremors were gone. Vegeta turned back towards King Kai, hoping he hadn’t been gone for a noticeably long amount of time. It was difficult to tell what King Kai was thinking, with his eyes covered up by his sunglasses. He didn’t say anything to Vegeta, which he hoped was a good sign.
“I’m going to try to take you home again now,” Kakarot said. “But, I can’t promise that’s where we’re gonna end up.”
Vegeta nodded. It wasn’t that big of a deal now, he could fly home from wherever Kakarot brought him.