Aeris didn't dwell on it any longer and spent some time walking around the place by herself. Most of the things inside didn't need replacing.
Except the bed.
That definitely had to go.
Once she decided what needed to be changed, Aeris used Instant Transmission to head back.
And the car?
Bulma bought that for her, so naturally it was staying at her new house.
From the moment Aeris left to the moment she got back, only a little over an hour had passed.
That was pretty damn efficient.
When she returned, she found Bulma reading by herself, and sitting on the table was the vanilla pudding she had been craving. Aeris pounced on it like a starving tiger, grabbed it, and immediately started eating.
"Bulma, want some too?" Aeris offered.
"I'll eat if you feed me."
Bulma turned to look at her.
So Aeris scooped up a spoonful and fed it to her. Bulma didn't complain or act picky. She just opened her mouth and ate it.
"Aeris, are you really planning to buy a house? Isn't it fine staying here?" Bulma asked, still a little confused.
Aeris shook her head and explained.
"That's not it, Bulma. Staying at your place is great, of course. But living in your house forever isn't really a good long-term solution, right?"
Then she leaned in and grinned.
"Besides, me moving out doesn't mean I'm never coming back. Don't tell me Bulma can't bear to part with me?"
She covered her mouth dramatically.
"No way. No way~"
"Eat your pudding and shut up. I'm ignoring you."
Bulma shot her a disgusted look.
"Fine, I won't bother with that anymore. But you're obviously going to replace the furniture over there too, right?"
Aeris said that aside from the bed, most of the rest didn't really need changing.
Bulma looked at her like she'd lost her mind.
"You really shouldn't keep using other people's things like that. Tell you what, I'll have someone go over and redo the place for you."
"Bulma… I fucking love you… I'm gonna have your babies."
The second Aeris heard that, she dropped the pudding and threw herself into Bulma's arms to act spoiled.
Bulma could only sigh helplessly.
Sometimes Aeris really was like a little kid. She was always throwing herself into people's arms for no reason.
Still…
Bulma didn't hate that side of her.
If anything, she liked it a lot.
After fooling around for a while, Aeris went back to eating her pudding.
"Bulma, I'll probably need to head out again in a bit, so I'll leave the renovation stuff to you~"
Aeris said that with a bright grin.
"As a thank-you, I'll give you something you've definitely never seen before."
With that, she hurried off to her room and started rummaging around.
A little later, she came back out holding a box.
"What is this?"
Bulma opened it and found a chunk of ore about the size of a basketball.
"Hehe. This is a kind of metal. It's used in the universe to build certain special ships. Don't let the size fool you. This one chunk alone is enough to build a small spacecraft."
Aeris said it seriously.
The moment Bulma heard that, she became intensely interested in the ore. If it was used properly, it could probably be turned into all kinds of things. And if she researched it enough, she might even find substitute materials for it, even if they couldn't achieve exactly the same effect.
Then Bulma hugged the ore and excitedly ran straight into her lab.
Aeris could only shake her head helplessly.
After finishing her pudding, she went to the garage, picked a larger car, and headed out.
Once she reached the shopping district, she turned the car into a capsule, put it away, and started walking around.
And then, by sheer bad luck or perfect timing, she ran into Goku's family again.
"Well, damn, what a coincidence. Goku, Chi-Chi… and this little guy should be Gohan, right?"
Aeris greeted them warmly.
Chi-Chi was genuinely happy to see Aeris too and immediately started chatting with her. After all, Aeris was basically her soulmate. And Gohan had always liked Aeris a lot when he was younger too. Especially when Aeris held him, the kid would always smile like crazy.
"Gohan, this is Auntie Aeris. You used to cling to her all the time."
Chi-Chi said that while reminiscing.
"Aeris, when did you get back?" Goku asked curiously.
"A few days ago. By the way, who's this little guy? Aren't you going to introduce him?"
Aeris looked at the "little guy" standing next to Goku.
Krillin.
Being called a little guy didn't even annoy Krillin. Honestly, it was way better than being called shorty or baldy.
"Uh, hello, Miss Aeris. My name's Krillin. I'm Goku's friend."
"Oh, damn, sorry~ My bad. That was rude of me, Mr. Krillin."
Aeris looked at him apologetically.
"No, no, it's fine. And you don't need to call me Mr. Krillin either. Just Krillin is fine. The honorific sounds weird."
Krillin scratched his bald head awkwardly.
"Alright then, Krillin."
After saying that, Aeris scooped Gohan up into her arms.
"This little guy got bigger. Nice. He looks like a good kid too."
Aeris teased Gohan a little, then kept shopping with them.
"Oh, right. Don't head home tonight. I just bought a house, so come over and help me celebrate."
Chi-Chi immediately looked envious, but still said a little awkwardly,
"Wouldn't that be too much trouble?"
"No, not at all. It'll be livelier if you come. Come on, Chi-Chi. Please?"
Chi-Chi had no real way to refuse after that, so she could only agree.
And Krillin got dragged into the invitation too.
"M-Me too?"
Krillin looked stunned.
After all, he had only just met Aeris.
"Come with us. You're Goku's friend, and my friend's friend is my friend too."
Aeris said that with a bright smile.
That completely threw Krillin off. He was honestly a little overwhelmed by how warm Aeris was being, but in the end he still nodded and agreed.
Still…
How the hell did Goku know someone like this?
No matter how he looked at her, she seemed like a completely ordinary woman.
And yet she also seemed really close with Goku's family.
Krillin had been to Goku's place before, but he had never seen her there.
Chi-Chi noticed Krillin's confusion and explained,
"Krillin, don't let the way Aeris acts fool you. She's basically half of Goku's teacher."
As she said that, Chi-Chi remembered the time Aeris had dragged Goku out to plow fields.
Of course, she had called it "training."
The whole thing involved hoes from start to finish.
Back then, Chi-Chi had seriously wondered whether Goku had been swapped out for a fake. There was just no way the real Goku would work that seriously at plowing a field.
But after Aeris explained the whole story, Chi-Chi understood what had happened.
Even now, Goku still worked the fields seriously.
Which was honestly kind of miraculous.
The moment Krillin heard that this white-haired woman was half of Goku's teacher, his entire view of her shifted.
That meant she had to be incredibly strong.
Because with Goku's personality, there was no way he'd willingly learn under someone weak.
That explained why Goku's battle power had increased so quickly.
Then suddenly, Krillin remembered the terrifying aura from a few years ago.
No way…
If Aeris was the owner of that aura, then didn't that also mean…
She was half of Demon King Piccolo's teacher too?
By the time Krillin reached that conclusion, his whole body felt numb.
...
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