In her entire life, Juuhachigou had never known a man whom she would consider nice. All of those who claimed to be nice were simply being generous for selfish reasons; their motivation was gain for themselves. Dr. Gero was an excellent example of one such creature, and Juuhachigou's life was littered with instances of disgust and regret where men were concerned. The only one she had ever learned to trust was her brother, and she trusted him about as far as you could separate Juunanagou from fun.

This was her life, until Cell was destroyed, and as she watched from behind a pillar, one man from all those of Earth stood out for one minute as he made a selfless wish to dispose of the bombs laying inside her and her brother. This meant they could exist without fear of being destroyed. It also meant there was great trust now laying between them, but this one man barely knew her.

Sure, she said many things expressing her irritation at his actions, but inside, she was overwhelmed, and she only spouted harsh words to protect herself and let him know he had no power over her. She was not moved in anyway, no, not Juuhachigou--never again!

But before she knew what she was doing, she was following him to find where he lived.

Once she knew where he stayed (an island in the middle of the ocean), she retreated to a forest to think for a while and evaluate where her life had led her thus far. She spent many days just contemplating her lot in life, and how she currently felt.

For a while she hunted for her brother across the span of Earth, but she had trouble finding him, and soon gave up the endeavor. With little else to do, she headed back to that island; a small speck of green parting the span of blue velvet.

Always forward, Juuhachigou marched up to the door and knocked, only to have it answered by a wrinkled, white bearded, old man who promptly dropped the glass in his hands and asked, boisterously, "Wow! Baby, where did you come from? Heaven?"

Juuhachigou stared at the old man as her wrath heightened, and with one cold maneuver she punched the old man, and sent him flying across the house, as she bluntly said, "No. Last I checked, everyone thought I was from Hell. Where is the one named Kuririn?"

Nervous, Kuririn looked to where Roshi had landed, and then at Juuhachigou. When she realised he was right there, she pointed and loudly said, "You! You are going to take me somewhere tomorrow at eight. Be ready, and look decent."

"U-uhh? You mean...like a date?"

"Whatever, just be ready!"

Without another word, Juuhachigou slammed the door closed and flew off to look for a store to rob, only this time, when she robbed it, she quietly lifted one dress she thought would like nice on her, and left in peace. She had no desire to stir up trouble, but she had no money to pay for clothes, and she had a need. To her, the situation was handled very well.

As for Kuririn, he spent the night, and the next day wondering what place Juuhachigou had in mind, and how he had been talked into this. Well, he dared not end up in Roshi's position, so he decided it was best to go along with her wishes and see where they led.

The next evening came fast, but at the same time crawled to Kuririn's door as his stomach turned itself over, flipped inside out, then promptly split in half and combined itself again. It repeated this process at least twice every minute as he stood in the main room holding a small bouquet of roses and waited for Juuhachigou to arrive. 

When, finally, a knock sounded at the door, Kuririn felt his stomach ease slightly, until he opened the door. Before him stood a blonde vision dressed in deep red silk that accented every curve and highlighted their existences; his stomach turned to ice, melted, then started to burn.

"Uhh, hel-lo," Kuririn squeaked as he opened the door and handed the roses to Juuhachigou, who stared at them with curiosity.

"What the hell do I do with these?"

"Err.... I suppose you put them in water somewhere."

Juuhachigou looked at Kuririn, then pushed him out of the way, as Roshi viewed her from afar, holding a paper cup under his nose as she waltzed right into the kitchen, grabbed a glass, filled it with water, then plopped the roses right in the glass. When she was done with that, she turned to Kuririn and gave him a shining smirk as she said, "Let's go."

Outside, Kuririn bravely asked her, though with a still squeaky voice, "Where are we going, exactly?"

Stunned, Juuhachigou stopped and tried to think of where she wanted to go, with the realisation she had not considered this matter before.

"I...well...." When Juuhachigou went silent and started to stare at Kuririn, he figured it was time to take action. There was, after all, no point in going to a restaurant, and Juuhachigou was rather unfamiliar to the surrounding area, so Kuririn thought of a neat little place, then told her, "Follow me!" as he took off to the sky.

Curious, Juuhachigou followed as Roshi watched them from the doorway and he sighed. "Lucky bastard!"

High above the world, Juuhachigou looked down at the scenery as it zoomed past, and the stars above her became streamers of silver. They were still going slower than flying, but the lack of effort was what truly mesmerized both Kuririn and Juuhachigou as the ride zipped along its tracks.

"What is this place again?" Juuhachigou shouted above the screams and rush of air.

Kuririn smiled when he saw her laughing with glee, and answered, no longer nervous, "An amusement park."

"We should come here again!"

"Hai...we should."

When the ride was over, Kuririn exposed Juuhachigou to different rides, and at the end of the night, they flew back to Roshi's island where Juuhachigou leaned forward. Gently, her lips touched Kuririn's, briefly, then she said, "We shall meet again. Next weekend. Think of another place, though."

"Umm...well, I know you don't eat, but I need to," Kuririn said, bashful as his stomach rumbled.

Juuhachigou tilted her head, and replied, "This is true. Then next time we shall dine, and I will simply enjoy the conversation. Afterwards we can do something new."

"Okay," said Kuririn as she flew off. He was left standing on the island in a daze.

It took a few more dates, but through this time Juuhachigou became closer to Kuririn and learned he was trustworthy, and honest. His word meant everything, and further more, for the first time in years, someone managed to tickle the dormant pieces of her, and she laughed. A real, true, hearty laugh, full of warmth.

Kuririn showed her not everyone was like the others she had met in her life, not male or female, and that some people could be different. He gave her back parts of herself she had been unaware she lost along the road of life. Perhaps they had been tossed off, or shed as she morphed, but they slowly returned from dying embers, stronger and brighter than before. And she knew why--him.

Not long after, they returned one night after another date, and this time, when Juuhachigou leaned in for a kiss, as Kuririn's lips met her own, no longer afraid and bashful, she embraced it fully. Normally she would brush aside any little emotion that managed to break through the cracks in her heart's ice, but this time, she poured every ounce of exquisite joy into it.

When they finished, Kuririn asked, breathless, "So when will we meet again?"

"We won't."

Shocked, and horrified, Kuririn said, "You're not coming back?"

"No..." Juuhachigou said as she looked down and thought over her words carefully, "it's not like that. This time I won't be leaving."

Slowly, Kuririn's hurt look transformed into a brilliant smile as he asked, "Really?"

"Yes. Really. I want to make this my home, with you."

And so it was.