Bulma was completely absorbed in tinkering with a small gadget on the table, so focused that she didn't even notice Kaito and the others walk in.
Kaito glanced at the device and immediately recognized it—it was Raditz's scouter.
He'd tossed it away casually back then, but it seemed Goku and the others had picked it up and brought it to Bulma.
Bulma had clearly inherited her father's brilliance—she was a bona fide genius. Even when dealing with alien technology like this, she handled it with ease.
Although Kaito had already repaired the scouter earlier, Bulma had taken it apart again for research purposes. Now, she was in the middle of reassembling it.
The three of them exchanged a knowing look and didn't interrupt.
After fiddling with the parts for a while, Bulma finally finished putting the scouter back together. She pulled off her face shield, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and said to herself,
"Finally done! This thing isn't that complicated after all!"
Stretching lazily, she turned around—and finally noticed Kaito and his companions standing by the door.
Startled, she instinctively stepped back, only to trip over a wrench lying on the floor, falling backward.
Behind her was the corner of a table. Given the angle of her fall, she could have seriously hurt herself if she hit it.
Swish!
Kaito appeared behind her in an instant, catching her just before she hit the ground. The speed left everyone in the room speechless.
Bulma stared up at Kaito, completely dazed, her cheeks flushing as she muttered,
"So handsome..."
Kaito pretended not to hear, smiling gently as he asked,
"Sorry if I scared you. Are you okay?"
Only then did Bulma realize she was still in his arms. She hurriedly straightened up and waved her hands.
"I'm fine, I'm fine!"
Then she turned toward Mrs. Briefs and asked,
"Mom, who are these two?"
Mrs. Briefs was still in shock from Kaito's display of speed, so Kaito took the initiative to introduce himself—and also introduced No.18 beside him.
18 quickly moved to Kaito's side, staring at Bulma without blinking.
Right now, she was regretting coming along. Just what kind of mother and daughter were these two? Why did they both have to keep staring at her Kaito?
Kaito pointed at the scouter on the table.
"This looks pretty interesting. Is it something your company's working on?"
Bulma didn't hesitate—she handed the scouter to him and even helped place it on his ear.
Then she told Kaito to look at her as she pressed the activation button.
The display flickered between 1 and 2.
That was about the average Power Level of most Earth women. For reference, that farmer with a shotgun back then only had around 5.
Kaito turned the scouter toward 18 next. This time, the number held steady at 3—clearly showing that her physical abilities were well above the average human level.
If the two of them fought right now, 18 could easily beat Bulma to the ground.
Kaito already knew exactly what those numbers meant, but he pretended to be curious and asked anyway.
Bulma leaned in mysteriously and whispered,
"Believe it or not, this thing actually belongs to aliens!"
Kaito widened his eyes in feigned surprise. 18, on the other hand, was genuinely intrigued and leaned closer to listen.
But Bulma smirked and waved her finger.
"As for the rest, I'd better not tell you. If word got out, it might cause a panic!"
What she didn't know was that the original owner of this scouter had been killed by the very man standing in front of her.
18 rolled her eyes. With Kaito by her side, she felt completely safe—no alien could scare her.
Kaito nodded, setting the scouter back down on the table.
"Yeah, aliens are way beyond us normal folks. Let's focus on Earth's technology instead."
"Huh? You're not even a little curious?" Bulma blinked, caught off guard. She'd only said that to grab Kaito's attention—but he just brushed past the topic completely.
18 smirked triumphantly. You go ahead and study your aliens, Bulma. My Kaito's not getting involved with that.
...
Just then, the loud roar of an engine echoed from outside.
Bulma's face immediately darkened; she looked furious.
Mrs. Briefs gasped softly.
"Oh my, that must be Yamcha back!"
Bulma snorted coldly.
"Who else could it be? All he ever does is drive around like some playboy. Guess he's back from another joyride!"
Then her gaze fell on Kaito and 18 standing so close together. A hint of envy flickered in her eyes as she sighed inwardly,
"How nice..."
She shook her head and headed toward the door.
Mrs. Briefs, ever cheerful, invited the others along.
"You should come too! You're all young people—I'm sure you'll have plenty to talk about!"
Before they could refuse, she grabbed Kaito by the arm and led him out, with 18 following close behind, clinging to him like a little shadow.
The three of them left the lab in this odd formation.
As soon as they stepped outside, Bulma's angry voice could be heard.
"Yamcha! You've gone too far this time! Care to explain this!?"
When Kaito and the others arrived, they saw Bulma glaring daggers at Yamcha while holding up a woman's jacket.
Yamcha scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Uh... actually, that belongs to my cousin. She must've left it in the car..."
"Yeah right! Last time it was lipstick, now it's clothes. Does your cousin forget things that often? Or do you just have more than one cousin?"
Yamcha's confidence faltered, and he couldn't even meet her eyes.
Seeing his guilty expression, Bulma's anger turned to disappointment. She sighed softly, her voice calm but distant.
"Forget it. Do whatever you want. But don't forget what's happening in a year. Goku and the others have been training nonstop for it."
Since Raditz had been killed by Kaito and Goku hadn't died, Yamcha in this timeline had no idea how serious things were. Thinking Bulma had cooled off, he quickly nodded.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it!"
Then he noticed Kaito and 18 behind her and hurried to change the subject.
"Hey, Bulma—who are they? They look kind of unfamiliar!"
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