Goku led Vegeta into the house, where he saw Bulma and Tights.
"Vegeta!"
Tights spotted Vegeta at a glance, and her eyes never left him. She rushed forward and wrapped him in a tight embrace.
"T-Tights!"
Our proud Prince Vegeta grew a little shy, and a blush crept onto his face. His hands hung awkwardly at his sides, and he didn't know what to do.
"Let's go and give them some space," Goku said, walking over to Bulma.
"Sure!" Bulma said with a smile.
She thought it best to give the two of them some space. After all, her older sister's future happiness was at stake.
Bulma wrapped both hands around Goku's arm and led him to their bedroom.
"Goku, do you know about that Vegeta? What kind of person is he? I wanted to ask my sister before, but she wouldn't tell me."
Bulma looked at Goku seriously. Her sister's future happiness was at stake, and she cared deeply about it.
Goku pondered Bulma's question for a moment.
"Vegeta is the prince of our Saiyan race."
Bulma was startled.
"Huh? A prince!"
"Yeah, but now we're the only Saiyans left, so his title as prince exists in name only."
Hearing that, Bulma couldn't help imagining a romance anime.
The story of a fallen prince and a beautiful adventurer.
How romantic!
She really wanted to know more about what had happened between her sister and Vegeta, but Tights was only willing to give her a brief account.
"What's he like as a person, then?"
Bulma's question left Goku unsure how to answer. Vegeta was different now.
If she meant Vegeta at this point in the original story, Goku could say with certainty that he was evil.
But...
"He's pretty tsundere, I guess, but he's also someone who'll care about his wife and family." Goku could only describe Vegeta as he was later on.
"What do you think of him?" Goku asked in return.
"What do I think? He always wears that cold scowl, and he's short, too."
Bulma thought Vegeta's constant cold expression was really irritating.
He wasn't tall, either. Even counting his upright hair, he was only about as tall as she was, and nearly a head shorter than Goku.
"Haha, he's always been like that, but he's actually a pretty good guy."
Meanwhile, an unknown number of light-years from Earth, a massive, round, flattened spaceship hung in space.
A red-skinned alien hurried over to Frieza.
"King Frieza, we were just listening in on Vegeta's squad, and we learned that the Dragon Balls really do exist!"
Frieza, who had been facing away from Dodoria and gazing out at the starry universe through the transparent glass, slowly turned his hover chair around.
"Oh? The Dragon Balls? The ones on Planet Namek that are said to grant any wish?" Frieza's interest was piqued at once.
"Yes, King Frieza."
"How did you find out?"
Frieza was curious. No one had ever confirmed the Dragon Balls' existence.
"Vegeta's squad is currently on a low-level planet called Earth. There's a Namekian on that planet, and he created Dragon Balls that can grant wishes!"
Frieza grew more excited as he listened. Earth was a little too far away, so he might as well go straight to Planet Namek. There were so many Namekians there that the wishes they granted were bound to be better!
"Come, we're going to Planet Namek! Ho ho ho! Thank you, Mr. Dodoria, for bringing me such wonderful news."
Frieza was quite polite to his subordinates. Otherwise, so many people wouldn't have been willing to risk their lives for him.
Back on Earth, the scene shifted.
Vegeta and Piccolo had already boarded their spaceship, ready to set off for Planet Namek.
"Goodbye, Vegeta, Piccolo!"
Goku waved to them and called out his farewell.
"Hmph!"
Vegeta and Piccolo snorted in unison and shut the hatch.
The spaceship then became a streak of light, flying into the sky.
Those two, honestly! They're total tsunderes, Goku couldn't help grumbling to himself.
"Don't worry, sis. Everything will be fine, for sure. Goku's here!"
Tights was worried as she watched Vegeta leave, and Bulma comforted her from beside her.
In Bulma's heart, Goku was always the most dependable person.
As long as Goku was there, no problem was a problem.
Just then, Goku's stomach rumbled with hunger. Bulma turned to look at him and scolded him with a laugh.
"You glutton, it's only been two hours since lunch! You're hungry again already?"
Goku was a little embarrassed by her words and awkwardly scratched his crab-like hair. This really wasn't his fault.
"Haha, you can't blame me. Vegeta joined us for lunch today, didn't he? But there was about the same amount of food as usual, so I didn't get enough."
"I don't care. You're a glutton anyway. Glutton! Glutton! Glutton!"
"All right, all right, I'm a glutton. Could you get me something to eat?" Goku looked at Bulma pitifully.
"Hmph! Honestly. Come with me."
Bulma gave a tsundere snort, then led Goku into the house.
Half a month later.
Goku used Instant Transmission to reach King Kai's Planet.
King Kai was sitting in his little car, driving in circles around the tiny North Supreme Kai, enjoying the breeze and humming a tune. He couldn't have been happier.
"Ah!"
Goku suddenly appeared ahead of him, startling King Kai into slamming on the brakes. The car stopped with only a few centimeters to spare.
King Kai breathed a sigh of relief and looked helplessly at Goku.
"Goku, next time you show up, could you not do it so suddenly? You really scared me!"
"Hehe, sorry, Lord King Kai. I'll remember next time!" Goku said with a smile, his eyes curving into inverted U-shapes.
"Sigh, I told you not to call me Lord anymore. Your dimension has reached Grand Kai's level, so it really puts me to shame when you call me Lord!"
King Kai truly envied Goku's talent. He had only trained for a few years, yet his dimension had already reached Grand Kai's level.
Unlike himself. He had trained for who knew how many years, but he was still only at King Kai's level. He had really lived all those years for nothing.
Not everyone could improve as quickly as Goku. Some people couldn't even reach Kami's dimension in their entire lives.
"Haha, I'm used to it, I'm used to it. Besides, I couldn't have gotten where I am today without you, Lord King Kai!"
Goku wasn't lying. The reason his dimension was so high was that he had eaten quite a lot of King Kai's divine food.
"All right, all right, have it your way. Did you come to mooch another meal this time?"
For so many years, Goku had come to mooch a meal almost every month, and King Kai had long since come to terms with it.
His resources were just sitting there anyway, and he had almost no chance of breaking through to Grand Kai's dimension in this lifetime. He might as well let Goku use them.
"I wouldn't say no, but I came to ask whether you still have any Tree of Might fruit, Lord King Kai." Goku didn't hold back.
"Tree of Might fruit? I have plenty left. How many do you want?"
People at King Kai's level had quite a lot of Tree of Might fruit.
"A few dozen will be enough."
"What do you mean, 'a few dozen will be enough'? I only have a few hundred in stock! Here, take them."
With a casual gesture, King Kai produced a few dozen Tree of Might fruits on the ground. Goku quickly put them into his storage space.
"Thank you, Lord King Kai!"
"Sigh!"
In the end, Goku mooched a meal before leaving King Kai's Planet.
(I'm not planning to include Turles in this book. He looks too much like Goku, and there's already going to be Goten later on. If I include him and then kill him, someone will definitely say, "There are only a few Saiyans left. Why kill him?"
If I don't kill him, he looks too much like Goku, and that feels awkward to me, so I'm simply not including him.)