Chi-Chi led Akira to her house, then stopped for a moment, staring at the front door. Her free hand went up to her heart, even with the armor in the way, she could feel the strong beat.
She looked at Akira, who had a gentle expression towards her, never letting go of her hand 'I can't be nervous now, I need to go all the way, or Akira might end up taking an interest in that blue haired girl!'
Chi-Chi's eyes filled with determination and she didn't hesitate any longer. She looked back and saw the three people who followed them, then said "You guys should wait here, this is a personal matter!"
She opened the door and pulled Akira inside with her, not giving anyone a chance to say anything.
Bulma huffed in irritation "Who does this little girl think she is?" She grumbled, then crossed her arms.
"She's the princess of this place, the daughter of the Ox King! Are you wanting us all to die?!" Oolong said with his gaze full of anger and fear.
"How can you be so scared?" Bulma said disapprovingly "Akira is a good person, he won't let the Ox King attack us" Her tone slowly turned syrupy.
"Are you crazy?!!" Oolong let out a scream "First you fell in love with that desert bandit who attacked us three times, we almost died because of him! Now you fall in love with this guy, who is related to the Ox King's daughter! He might very well turn us in right now and we will all die!"
"Hmph! You don't understand anything." Bulma looked away, no longer paying attention to Oolong's complaints.
At this point, Goku had already summoned his flying cloud and was sitting on it, waiting beside them.
...
Inside the house, Chi-Chi did not let go of Akira's hand, but held it even tighter, as if she was afraid they would be separated.
"What do you want to talk about, Chi-Chi?" He asked.
Akira was no fool, he knew it was something related to the girl's crush on him, but he didn't know exactly what she intended to do.
Chi-Chi kept pulling him "It's something important..." Her nervousness was noticeable even with her back turned "Daddy needs to be there when I say..." She wanted to look at him, but she couldn't, so she kept looking at the floor in front of her.
'Please... Let everything work out!' A desperate wish arose in her mind.
It didn't take long for them to come across the Ox King, who was comfortably sitting on the couch. When he saw the two approaching, a slight smile appeared on his bearded face "You guys came back early this time" he said.
Chi-Chi looked at him and said "Daddy... I need to talk to you about something very important..."
Seeing his daughter's seriousness and nervousness, the Ox King increased his attention "Okay, you can tell me, dear"
Chi-Chi gives a slight nod to her father, then tries to look Akira in the eye, but can't maintain eye contact for more than a second. "Daddy, I know I'm still young... And as a princess, I should be preparing for an arranged marriage, but..." She spoke slowly, her voice full of embarrassment, as her red face stared at the floor.
Hearing the girl talking about marriage, the two were surprised. It wasn't that it was something unthinkable, but it was surprising that Chi-Chi was talking about it.
The girl who blushed at his holding her hands was talking about marriage just a few days later.
Chi-Chi was looking at the ground so she didn't see the gazes, she was scared to see how they would react but she couldn't back down so she continued "I like Akira!"
When those words left her mouth, her chest felt like it would explode at any moment, and a wave of shame began to invade her mind.
She finally let go of Akira's hand, bringing both hands to her face 'Why did I say that?!' Her determination was gone and insecurity took its place.
Chi-Chi's mind was isolated from the outside world, she was not seeing or hearing anything.
The Ox King looked at his daughter with a complex look, before turning his gaze back to Akira.
The place was quite silent, no words were spoken, but Akira understood the message in the man's gaze.
'I'm such an idiot! Now he's going to think I'm a silly little girl! I knew I should have waited longer and kissed him before telling him I like him!' A great mix of feelings were running through Chi-Chi.
Suddenly, she felt a hand rest on her shoulder, making her come to her senses and slowly raise her shy gaze. The hand was Akira's, she knew without even seeing it, but she didn't know what to expect.
"Chi-Chi, I understand that you like me, but you're still too young" His voice sounded calm.
The girl felt her heart tighten, even feeling the kindness in Akira's tone, she couldn't help but feel sad.
The redness on her face slowly began to fade, but then she heard "When you're older, we can talk about this, if you still like me"
The sadness disappeared from her gaze and she looked at Akira in surprise, finally meeting his eyes, then noticed his kind smile.
Akira placed his other hand on top of Chi-Chi's head and stroked it. At that moment, just like when he trained Chi-Chi, he wasn't thinking about the woman she would become in the future, but that insecure and cute girl in front of him.
He didn't care about this imaginary future anymore, he was focused on the present and wanted to do his best not to hurt the girl in front of him.
The Ox King was watching all of this and remained silent. If it were up to him, he would have already prepared a wedding, just to see his daughter happy.
He didn't say a word about Akira's answer, but he could feel his sincerity and kindness, so that was enough for him.
"You promise?" Chi-Chi's voice sounded with mixed feelings.
Akira nodded his head and said "Sure, I promise"
Chi-Chi smiled at the answer, then gave him a tight hug and buried her face in his chest, then said "You better not go back on your word! When I'm older, you'll marry me!"
'When did I say about getting married?' Akira complained in his mind, but he remained silent.
He could feel his shirt getting damp and knew it was tears Chi-Chi was hiding in her tight embrace.
...
Outside the house the heat was intense. Bulma was getting all sweaty "How much longer are they going to take inside? I'm going to end up melting in this heat!"
Not far from her, Goku was sitting on the ground, rubbing his belly "I'm getting hungry"
Meanwhile, Oolong was further away, he glanced at Bulma, then thought 'Maybe it's a good time for me to get out of here, without that witch noticing'
He was stealthily moving further and further away, slowly and silently, until the sound of the door opening rang out, catching everyone's attention.
Bulma was smiling as she looked at the door, "Akira...!" Her pretty face was filled with astonishment.
Instead of the handsome young man from before, she was faced with a huge man with a bearded face.
'We're dead!' Oolong's face turned pale as he saw the figure of the Ox King.
Suddenly a cute laugh sounded from behind the huge man, followed by a female voice "Did you see how scared that little pig was?"
The Ox King looked a little serious as he said "Akira said you wanted something that is among my treasures, I should kill you for that audacity, I will forget about it and offer a trade" His deep voice was impactful.
A sigh came out of Bulma and Oolong's mouths at the same time. Meanwhile, Chi-Chi and Akira appeared from behind the Ox-King.
Akira looked at Goku and said "You want the Dragon Ball that's in the castle, but it would be impossible with all this fire, wouldn't it? So we need to put out the fire first"
Bulma turned to Akira with an excited look "So we need to put out the fire to win the dragon ball?"
"If it were that simple to put out the fire I would have done it already" The Ox King's voice sounded irritated.
As Bulma trembled slightly, Akira spoke again "You won't put out the fire, but you will help this process" He looks back at Goku and says "You have a golden cloud, right?"
Goku agreed "Yes, it's my flying cloud"
At that moment, an expression of surprise appeared on the Ox-King's face. Akira spoke again "Did you happen to receive it from someone known as Master Roshi, a bald old man with a white beard?"
This time it was Bulma and Goku who were surprised "How do you know?" The boy asked with a curious look.
An excited smile appeared on the Ox King's face "So you really received this from Master?! Do you know where he is now? If we can find him, I promise to give you that Dragon Ball!"
While Oolong was regaining his color after seeing the situation calm down, not far from all of them, Yamcha and Puar were listening to the conversation, hidden in the rubble.
"Looks like they're going to get the dragon ball... We're in luck!" Yamcha said in a low volume.
Chi-Chi stood behind Akira and had a mixed expression on her cute face 'It's just like he told daddy, this kid received the flying cloud from Master Roshi, so if he tells us where to find him, we won't have to travel around looking for him...'
Goku stared at Bulma "Do we know where Master Roshi lives?"
The blue-haired girl said "Well, he must live on some island near that beach where we found him... But I don't know the exact place"
Akira smiled and said "That should be enough to find him. Goku, you have the flying cloud, so your speed is quite high. Go to Master Roshi and ask for an item called Basho-sen, make it clear that this is a request from the Ox-King"
The Ox King's excited smile softened and he made a doubtful expression "Will the master trust this boy? Maybe it would be better to send Chi-Chi along to confirm the veracity to him"
A slight frown appeared on Chi-Chi's face, she didn't seem very willing to move away from Akira.
"That won't be necessary, since Master Roshi gave the flying cloud to Goku, he must have a good opinion of the boy. Besides, the fact that Goku can climb the flying cloud would already prove that he's not someone who's deceitful, so Master Roshi will believe it" Akira said.
He didn't mention it, since he shouldn't know about it, but Master Roshi doesn't know Chi-Chi, so it wouldn't be helpful for her to go along.