"There's no such thing as killer butterflies."

The black-haired five-year-old saiyan sat cross-legged on the floor of his and his younger twin sister's room. For once, he was calmly toying around with a discarded scouter instead of jumping off of the walls with excessive hyperactivity. He shifted from his sitting position to lay down on his belly, his tail wagging playfully above him. He tapped the scouter on the floor growing impatient with the broken device. Finally, he struck it upon the floor, smashing it. He looked up at his sister who sat on her bed. Her smile left her face momentarily to be replaced with a grimace as she shook her head at her brother's childish antics. She placed a grin on her face once again.

"Want to bet there aren't, Mangetsu?"

"Yeah, sure," Mangetsu said half-heartedly as he looked about the room for something else to play with. His sister watched as he searched the room, thinking. She was going to play another one of her games today.

"I even heard, um..." she started, thinking of a reliable 'source'. An idea came to her. "The elders - the elders were talking about it. They said one of their friend's kid was attacked."

Mangetsu looked up, his curiosity aroused.

"When did you hear the elders talking, Kinoko?"

Kinoko bit her lip. "Oh, I don't remember when. It wasn't that long ago, though." She tried to suppress a grin as Mangetsu sat down cross-legged in front of her.

"What makes them 'killer' butterflies?" Mangetsu asked.

"I heard that there were two kinds. You know the dust that falls off of the wings of the butterflies here?"

"Yeah."

"Well, in the common kind the dust is really poisonous. Keiryaku got really sick, he almost died, I think."

Mangetsu gulped. "That's the common kind - what's the uncommon kind do?"

"Oh, I don't think you want to hear what the rare kind does."

Mangetsu sat up on his knees. "Yes, I do! Tell me, Kinoko!"

Kinoko leaned down and whispered in her brother's ear. "They say that there's some weird thing on their feet that if they land on your skin, they'll become attached and when they take off again..."

"Yeah?" Mangetsu trembled.

"They rip your skin right off!"

"EEP!" Mangetsu fell back onto the floor and curled up into a little ball. "Where did these things come from?!? More importantly, what do they look like?"

"I think they came from Namek 'cuz the Nameks are immune to them. They only attack Kobitians, but they really like us saiyans."

Mangetsu gulped again. "What do they look like?" he asked again.

"They're cream colored, with a little black dot on each wing."

"What about the rare kind?"

"That's the thing," the black-haired girl smiled. "Both the rare and common kinds look the same."

"Kinoko, Mangetsu." Akai poked her head into the room. "It's time for lunch."

"All right, Akai-san," Kinoko replied. Akai smiled and left the children in their room. Kinoko got up off of the bed. "I'm gonna get something to eat. And don't worry about the butterflies - you're fine as long as you've never heard about them!" With that, she left the room. Mangetsu looked about the room. All alone, he let out a tiny whimper.

Mangetsu peeked out of his room, looking up and down the halls for any unusual flying insect. Satisfied that all was clear he stepped into the hall. Hmph, he thought. There's no such thing as a killer butterfly. Kinoko was just playing another one of her tricks. He turned and shut the door. He was about to leave when he looked at the door again. He grew pallid as he saw a cream-colored butterfly with a black dot on each wing. Mangetsu took a step back - then proceeded to turn and run the other way down the hall screaming his lungs out.

"Milady, my lord - lunch is ready," Akai said.

"Thank you, Akai. We'll be there shortly," Zarbon answered. Akai smiled and nodded before leaving.

"Well," Zarbon said, standing and holding his hand out. "Shall we?"

Nashi smiled and took his hand. Zarbon helped her to stand before spinning her around in a hug. Nashi laughed.

"Zarbon, don't start!" she smiled. Suddenly, they looked to the door as Mangetsu ran by as fast as he could, and screaming just as loud. Both stood, at a complete loss for words. (classic anime sweat drop here!)

Tsuki stood and walked to her door just as Mangetsu was about to come tearing by. She reached out and grabbed the boy by the scruff of his neck. He stopped screaming for a moment, finding something a bit more terrifying than a killer butterfly - an angry saiyan mother. Tsuki held Mangetsu up at eye level.

"What is your problem?" she asked.

"The killer butterflies are gonna kill me!" he squeaked.

Tsuki's mate walked up. "Has Kinoko been telling you stories again?"

Mangetsu looked up at his father, turning red. His father rolled his eyes and proceeded out the door. "Your kid, your problem."

"Excuse me?" Tsuki said after him. Her mate turned, shrugged, and gave a grin before continuing down the hall. Tsuki let out a soft growl as she placed Mangetsu on the floor. "There are no such things as killer butterflies."

"But Kinoko said that they would poison my food and rip my skin off!! I even saw one!"

Tsuki turned and faced her son, annoyed but all the same chuckling. So, this is the fine-tuning of the saiyan race. "Mangetsu, saiyans can smell any type of poisoning and how could a little bug fly with enough force to rip someone's skin off?"

Mangetsu shrugged.

Tsuki knelt before her son. "What do these bugs look like?" Mangetsu told her. She chuckled again. "Mangetsu, you see those everyday in the garden. They aren't from Namek, they're indigenous to Komek, trust me."

Mangetsu groaned - he'd been tricked again. He held onto his mother's tail as he followed her out of the room.

"Ssshh! Quiet!"

Mangetsu came around the corner to find Kinoko talking with some other Kobitian girls.

"Hey, did you hear what happened to Demasu?" he heard Kinoko say. Another girl spoke.

"Yeah, he got eaten alive by one of those carnivorous butterflies!"

Hmph, they aren't gonna trick me again! he thought. He turned smiling - and walked right into an oncoming butterfly. The confused butterfly began circling the little saiyan's head. Mangetsu screamed and took off running, his arms waving around his head.