"Seth, are you okay?" Bulma's voice sounded with a hint of concern.
Seth had said that his grandfather had died, then he remained in deafening silence for long seconds, while making tense expressions.
Master Roshi, in turn, was not very different from the girl, there was a glow of sincere empathy on his face.
Seth nodded slightly "I'm fine" He said, as his mind continued to swirl.
The fact that he had killed Son Gohan didn't bother him, that would have happened anyway in the original, what bothered him was how uncontrollable he seemed in the fragments of his memory of that day.
'That certainly wasn't the Oozaru form, but it's related to it... If I'm going to lose control every time I see the full moon and I can't even prevent it by ripping off my tail, after all I don't even have one... That's going to be troublesome'
Feeling both of their eyes on him, Seth let out a sigh "Anyway, we didn't come all this way to talk about my grandfather or anything like that. Roshi, that thing on your chest, can you give it to us?"
Bulma finally noticed the presence of the dragon ball, a surprised expression appeared on her face, but she kept silent, avoiding revealing how valuable it was.
"Hmm?" The old man looked at the orange ball on his chest "Do you want this thing? I found it years ago at the bottom of the sea, it really looks like a beautiful jewel, but did you come for it?"
Seth looked at Bulma and gave a slight smile, something that left the girl confused, so before she could ask about it, he turned to the old man.
"It's really an amazing piece of jewelry, I heard you had it so I came to ask for it" He then used his thumb to point at Bulma "My girlfriend is very picky about birthday gifts, so I wanted to give her this piece of jewelry"
The girl's face quickly turned a vivid red, she stared at Seth full of anger, confusion and shame, her beautiful face distorted in her mixture of emotions.
'What the hell is Seth talking about?! His girlfriend? Me?! So that's why he was giving that shitty smile?! He wants to use me in his lie so we can get the dragon ball!' She had quickly understood, but she was still filled with anger and shame.
Master Roshi looked at Bulma in surprise "Boy, you really are a lucky man to have such a beautiful girl, it makes sense that you would want to give her unique jewelry" There was a smile on his lips.
Part of Bulma wanted to deny everything and curse Seth non-stop, but she wasn't stupid, revealing the lie would make it difficult to get the dragon ball.
Gritting her teeth in a fake smile, she said "It's like Seth said, I like pretty jewelry and I thought this was amazing" Right after she finished speaking, she turned her gaze to the young man beside her, and her eyes carried a message.
She didn't say a single word to him, but Seth could hear her voice in his mind "You'll pay for this!" That look made him smile even more.
Oblivious to the truth, Master Roshi could only envy the young man for having such a beautiful girlfriend.
"So, Roshi, could you give me that jewel?" Seth asked calmly.
The old man made a thoughtful expression, before his eyes found Bulma's body once more, then with a lewd smile on his face, he had an idea.
"That's an amazing piece of jewelry, it would make a great gift indeed... That means it has great value, I can't just give it to you, but if your girlfriend really wants it, we can make a trade, my jewelry in exchange for her panties!" He said, as his wrinkled face turned a pinkish color.
Bulma's expression completely lost her forced smile, her eyebrows had furrowed to the point that wrinkles appeared on her forehead "You old pervert!"
Seth sighed 'This old man really is hopeless' His gaze focused on Bulma's red face, before he turned back to the old man "That's out of the question, besides, it doesn't make sense for her to have to offer something in return for the gift I'm going to give her, so I'm the one who needs to offer something in return"
Master Roshi had a disappointed expression, not at all embarrassed about being called a pervert.
From Seth's words, he felt that there was no room for negotiation, so he said "If that's impossible, what could you offer me in return? This old man doesn't have many interests, he just wants to feel some feminine warmth sometimes, but you're so jealous"
"You're a complete idiot, aren't you?" Seth gave him a sidelong glance "I told you, you're not getting anything from my girlfriend"
Bulma, who was indignant at the old man's futile insistence, suddenly felt a strange sensation upon hearing Seth's words. Hearing him refers to her as his girlfriend made her body shiver, somehow she had liked that.
Meanwhile Seth approached the old man and said "Here's what we'll do, give me this and I promise that as soon as Bulma's vacation is over, I'll bring a girl willing to keep you company, what do you think of that?"
The girl he was referring to was Launch 'If Goku doesn't exist in this universe, I doubt Kuririn would be able to find Launch on his own, in which case she would probably be arrested and maybe escape at some point, but she would continue living as a bandit'
He felt he needed to intervene, so as not to end up leaving someone so interesting aside.
The old man's eyes widened "Are you serious? Don't you dare forget that promise of yours, and it has to be a young and beautiful girl!" He quickly removed the necklace from his neck and held it out to Seth, as if afraid that he would change his mind.
Seth smiled, taking the dragon ball for himself "I'm an honest person, I'll do my part when the time comes, but I'll make it very clear, I'm going to bring the girl to keep you company, it's not for you to try your perverted things with her"
He knew there was no point in saying this, after all that decrepit old man would do his perversions anyway, but he still needed to say it.
Seth then walked over to Bulma and placed the necklace around her neck "I deserve a kiss for this, right?" His hands gently gripped her shoulder.
Her face turned red, but it wasn't from anger, she was surprised and very embarrassed, her heart had accelerated 'He... Does he really want me to kiss him? But... It's going to be my first kiss...'
Seth noticed that she hadn't backed away, and that her expression didn't seem to hold any revulsion, so he moved his face toward hers.
Bulma swallowed hard as she watched his face get closer and closer, her heart becoming more and more agitated. When their lips were two fingers away, the girl closed her eyes and her red lips came forward.
At that moment she had forgotten all her surroundings, she had erased Master Roshi's existence from her mind, all that was in her mind was Seth's lips touching hers.
It was a simple kiss, which had lasted no more than two seconds, but in Bulma's mind it was as if it were in slow motion. When she opened her eyes again, she was faced with Seth's gentle smile.
She could feel it in her heart, he wasn't laughing at her, he wasn't teasing her, he wasn't even bragging about getting a kiss from her, that smile was welcoming.
Seth turned to Master Roshi, who still had an excited smile from the promise, then said "Well, we're going, I'll come back another day to fulfill my promise"
...
After the two were far from the island, almost losing sight of it, Bulma finally broke the silence "I... I know you said I was your girlfriend so we could get the Dragon Ball easier, but... That kiss was..."
Her expression made her total confusion clear, she didn't even know what she should feel about all of that. At first, when he said she was his girlfriend, she got angry, after all he was using her without them having agreed on it.
But when he called her his girlfriend again, it was to defend her from the old man's perversions, so it had been more comforting than irritating. And when he moved in for a kiss, she couldn't deny that she wanted it, so she stepped forward and kissed him herself.
Bulma's hands tightened on the steering wheel as she lost focus on the sea, only thinking about everything that had happened. She also couldn't help but relate everything that had happened to their conversation before they arrived at the small island, in which she revealed that her wish was a perfect boyfriend.
'Did Seth do all that just to tease me? But he seemed so gentle at that moment...' The scene after the kiss played in her mind.
"You got all silly over a kiss," Seth chuckled, before gently placing his hand over hers on the steering wheel "If you had backed away, I would have told Roshi that you were shy and used that as an excuse to get out of there, but you wanted to kiss me, didn't you?"
The feeling of his hand touching hers made Bulma shiver, part of her wanted to refuse those words, saying that it was all part of the act, but another part of her wanted to tell the truth.
Her look said a lot, enough for Seth to understand the girl's indecision. Slowly removing his hand, he said "Well, you can think about it in time, but know that I liked it"
Bulma felt her heart skip a beat, she didn't expect to hear a genuine confession from him. Taking a deep breath, not daring to face him, she said "It wasn't bad... But what does this mean for us?"
Seth's smile widened "I was right about you never looking for a boyfriend before. You act like a little kiss is a big deal"
The girl got irritated, feeling like he was teasing her, but he quickly continued "Honestly, I would love for that to be enough to make you my girlfriend. You're beautiful, smart, have a personality that I like, maybe you'd look better with a bigger ass..." He could see the girl's angry look "But you're still a perfect girl. However, a kiss doesn't make us that close"
Bulma felt a mix of emotions, but agreed with his words, especially about her being beautiful and smart. She knew he was right, after all, she herself didn't know how to say what she wanted with him.
His words were honest and also carried a declaration, perhaps it wasn't something as intense as love yet, but he made his interest in her clear.
"You're right, it's still too early to decide anything..." She said in a soft tone, before finally looking him in the eye "And what's wrong with my ass? This is already the second time you've brought it up!" Her voice was filled with angry indignation.
Seth laughed at the girl's exaggerated reaction "Relax, your ass is beautiful, but if it was a little bigger, you would be even prettier. I think if you go to the gym you can certainly do that, so you don't need to use the dragon balls for that either"
The girl snorted but remained silent, her cheeks turning slightly pink. Despite her silence, she thought about his words, after all, she was very attentive to her appearance.
Suddenly she felt his hand on her thigh, despite the surprise, she didn't complain, feeling that it was a gentle touch, without malice.
"Like I said, we should get to know each other better, so I'll start by saying, I'm not from Earth, not originally" His voice came out in a calm and relaxed tone, but it fell into Bulma's ears like a bomb.