A business proposition

"You heard him, though," Goku told Bulma, "That Pilaf guy will be back. Why does he want these things so bad?"

"Oh, you don't know?" Bulma asked, "Well, I guess you wouldn't of course. It is a pretty old legend...,"

She then told him all about the Dragon Balls, how when one gathered all seven, they could summon Shenron, the Eternal Dragon, and have him grant a single wish.

"Any wish?" Goku asked, "Dang, that's pretty neat! So I guess he wants to rule the world, what about you?"

"Oh, w-well, I, uh," Bulma said smartly, suddenly redder than a tomato, "I was going to wish for a field of strawberries!"

Well, that was convincing. But then again, Goku supposed that it was a deeply personal question. He somehow doubted that this young woman wanted something as nefarious as world domination, anyways.

"Uh-huh," Goku said simply, and then started to walk off, "Well, good luck with that!"

"Wha? Wuh, wait a minute!" Bulma called out, "Aren't you going to give me that one?"

"This one?" Goku held the necklace up, "Why would I?"

"I helped your friend!"

"And I saved you from being mugged," Goku shrugged nonchalantly, "Possibly worse. I'd say we're even."

"I'll do anything, please!" Bulma begged him, grabbing at his shirt sleeve. There was that promise again.

"It's not mine to give," Goku told her again, but then acted like an idea just occurred to him, "But how about this? I can't give you this, and you need protection. So how about I stick around?"

"Really?!" Bulma's face lit up. Damn, she was downright adorable.

"But this particular Dragon Ball stays with me," Goku said, "And my protection doesn't come for free."

"Huh? Oh, well if it's money, I can...," Bulma started, pulling something out of her bag, but Goku cut her off, "I'm not interested in money."

"Huh? Why not?" Bulma asked, nonplussed.

"I'm the Budokai Tenka'ichi champ two times running," Goku boasted, "I'm not exactly strapped for cash." That wasn't technically a lie. During Goku's first tournament, he had lost to some old bloke named Jackie Chun and afterwards he'd been treated to dinner by Roshi who'd just so happened to receive some kind of windfall. The next tournament, he won and treated everyone else to dinner, and was surprised to see just how fast his food bill had run up, so last tournament he dialed down the afterparty quite a bit. He still had quite the nest egg saved up, but not enough for what he wanted to do. There was another tournament starting up this year, which he definitely intended to win. Thus, he wasn't lying when he said he didn't need cash.

What he was lacking, however, was little side action.

"Oh," Bulma said, then suddenly realized, "Wait, so you're Goku? The Son Goku?!"

"Wow," Goku's eyebrows shot up, "I didn't realize my name had any sort of recognition outside of the usual marital arts crowd."

"Well, Capsule Corp. has been one of the tournament's biggest sponsors for the past ten events," Bulma smiled proudly, "It one of the reasons why the event can throw around the big bucks as prize money!"

"Oh yeah," Goku thought back to the last time he'd been there, the Capsule Corp. logo had been plastered all over the stands. At the time, he hadn't thought much of it, but now it made total sense.

"Well, anyways," Bulma looked confused, "If you don't want Zeni, then what do you want as payment?"

"Oh, boy. Here we go," Turtle muttered.

"Favors," Goku said simply, "I want you to do stuff for me. The more I have to do or the bigger the job, the bigger the favor I'll want in return."

For the first time since they met, Bulma actually looked apprehensive, "Like..., what kind of favors are we talking?"

"You're a smart girl, I think you know," Goku smirked, acting coy on purpose. Whatever she was imagining would be better than anything he could provide as an explanation.

"Uuggh!" Bulma groaned, stamping her feet, "I should've figured it would turn out to be something like this!"

"If it's too much to ask, I can always go back where I came from and you won't have to do anything," Goku shrugged like it was no big deal, "I'm not forcing you to do anything. If you don't want my help, then you don't have to pay me. But those three will be back, and they will more than likely be expecting me to be with you."

Bulma crossed her arms, fuming. Goku knew that the best course of action here was to do nothing but wait. There was only one real option here, and everyone present knew it. Bulma could never hope to wrest the Dragon Ball from Goku by ****. Goku wasn't willing to part with it except by the reasons he'd given. Not only that, but whether Bulma like it or not, she did need protection now, and Goku just offered his services as a mercenary. Goku could see the gears turning in her head over and over again, arriving to the only real conclusion every time. There was always the chance she'd refuse, of course, but like Goku said, Bulma was a pretty smart girl...