Da Ying

Chapter 11:

Kanassa: Yep. The pilaf gang are going to be little hell raisers...just not in this chapter lol :)

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Trunks curiously tilted his head to the side. His mom had asked him to wake up his sister for breakfast, but she wasn't in her room. He hadn't expected to find her in bed with Goten, lying on her stomach, long blue hair scattered across the mattress like jungle vines. Goten was on his back, arms and legs stretched out in all directions, with half his body slipping off the bed.

"He still sleeps with his mouth open," Trunks chuckled. He took a couple licks of his cherry popsicle. Some of it had already started to melt down the stick. There was a fan blowing in cool air from the open window, but the room was still very hot.

Trunks slurped loudly on his popsicle as he circled to Goten's side of the bed. "I always thought he'd grow up looking like Goku, but he looks more like Gohan." The thick, unruly hair that once spiked out in different directions on his head had been cut off. The back of Goten's head had been shaved, leaving about four inches of long hair on top. Most of his carefully maintained spikes stuck out on the right side of his head. A widow's peak took the place of his childhood bangs.

Goten's body had changed too. He was obviously three times Trunks' height. His shoulders were broader, his limbs were thick and packed on with muscles, his voice was deep and manly, and. . . Trunks didn't want to admit it, but Goten had to be stronger than him. He trained daily with Vegeta, after all.

"We can never do the fusion again," Trunks thought with remorse. Gotenks was gone forever.

Trunks carelessly dropped his popsicle stick on the floor. He wiped his hands on the end of his yellow t-shirt before covering Goten's mouth with his left hand and pinching his nose shut with the other. With his nose and mouth covered, Goten had no way of breathing.

Goten's brows knitted together in confusion. In his sleep, his body sensed that something wasn't right. He turned his head sharply to the side. Trunks tensed his arms. He'd been expecting this. Goten turned his head to the left, then right, searching for air. Finally, Goten kicked his legs and opened his eyes in a panic.

"What the hell are you doing?" Bulla shouted, jumping out of bed. It was Goten who had unintentionally woken her up.

Trunks smiled, removing both of his hands. "Bulma wanted me to wake you guys," he explained, looking only at Goten. "Breakfast is ready." As he left the room, Trunks heard Bulla call him a psycho.

. . . .

. . .

Trunks kept his head down, repetitively poking his waffles with a fork. He didn't have much of an appetite these days due to anxiety and stress. A red, plastic ball kept urgently flashing in his memory. He needed to find it before someone else did. He needed to get it back. The problem was, he had no idea where he dropped the ball. He was unconscious when a kind-hearted civilian took him to the hospital. It could be anywhere.

"Here, I'll cut those for you sweetie," Bulma offered. Leaning sideways in her chair she cut the waffles into chewable bites. To be cute, she stole a piece of waffle and popped it into her mouth. For her sake, Trunks smiled.

" Disgusting," Bulla muttered from across the table. To be extra dramatic, she pushed her plate away and said," I can't eat anymore. Can I go now?" Beside her, Goten was staring very intently at Trunks. He'd been staring at him ever since he came down for breakfast.

Trunks had blond hair and wore thick black glasses. He'd even changed his name. There was no way Goten knew who he truly was. Goten was stupid, that was something fifteen years could never change. Trunks defiantly stared back. Goten looked away first.

"So, Vegeta…" Goten began, calling Trunks by his fake name.

"What?" Vegeta asked gruffly, obviously not a morning person.

Trunks giggled.

Goten smiled." No, I was talking to little Vegeta."

Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "Who?" Bulma violently stomped on Vegeta's toe under the table." Ah! You mean the boy!" Vegeta narrowed his eyes at his wife. He picked up his two plates of food and stood up." I'm going to eat somewhere better than here. Anyone besides the harpy may join me."

"I have to pack my clothes." Bulla stated, rolling her eyes at her mother. She practically stomped out of the room, following behind her dad.

"Two grouchy peas in a pod," Bulma grumbled.

"So, where are you from, Little Vegeta?" Goten asked, pinching off a piece of toast and putting it in his mouth.

"Everywhere. My mother, Tights, likes to. . . um, travel a lot. I go with her because I'm her son."

" Yeah that makes sense." Goten nodded." How would you like to train with me after school? You like to fight, right?"

"After school?" Bulma growled.

Trunks nervously rubbed his arm. He wanted nothing more than to go toe to toe with his ex best friend, but Goten knew his fighting style better than anyone." No, sorry. I can't."

"AFTER SCHOOL?" Bulma shouted, her tone demanding an explanation.

"Yeah. I'm going to school today. "

"The hell you are! "

Trunks wasn't the type of kid to enjoy school, but if it meant having time away from his insufferable mother, then he was all in. He tried begging, but that didn't work. Instead of giving up, he decided to negotiate.

"What if I go to the same school as Pan? Will you be okay with that?" Trunks hardly liked the idea of trading one babysitter in for another, but he didn't have much of a choice. Pan seemed nice. If she was anything like Goten, then Trunks was positive he could manipulate her into doing what he wanted.

Bulma sucked on her cigarette. " Well. . . "

It was Goten, though, who talked her into it.

"School is a great idea. He'll make lots of friends there." Goten said, tipping his plate in the air, using a fork to scrape a stack of pancakes into his mouth. He could've told Bulma it was going to rain, and she would've grabbed an umbrella. She didn't give it another thought.

"Fine. You can go to school."

Trunks had gotten his way, but he wasn't too happy about it. "Oh, so it's okay for me to go to school as long as Goten says I can?" The words weighed down on the tip of his tongue, but he kept his mouth shut. He refused to let Goten think he was jealous.

.

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The family gathered in front of the taxi Bulla had called for herself. She handed the driver a thick wad of cash, motivating him to fill the trunk with her pink and purple suitcases. Panting and sweating, the driver didn't argue when Bulla ordered him to take out her individual shoe boxes from her bedroom and stack them neatly in the backseat.

"I don't plan on coming back for six months," she said with a big smile on her face.

Trunks glanced up at his mother. Bulma's eyes were wide with surprise, and she was uncharacteristically quiet. Trunks slipped his hand in hers for support. She gave it a tight squeeze. "Okay," Bulma nodded, her voice coming out as a whisper." Have fun and study hard. I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too." Bulla embraced her mother in a loving hug. She had to struggle a little to get Bulma to let go.

"I would give you some money but I lost it all," Goten laughed, pulling out the lint from his pockets. He hugged Bulla, whispering promises to take care of their mother in her ear that made her giggle. Trunks felt uneasy. He tried not to think about how his relationship with Bulla would be different if he'd grown up first like he was supposed to.

"Daddy!" Bulla squealed, running into Vegeta the second Goten let her go. Vegeta's face softened.

The driver slammed the backdoor. He wiped sweat off his forehead and neck with the back of his hand. " That's the last of the boxes, Miss."

Vegeta picked the driver up by the neck and raised him off the ground, shaking him a little. The driver screamed. Cigarettes, a gold necklace, a cell phone, and the driver's wallet fell to the ground. Vegeta knelt down and scooped up the wallet. He roughly tossed the driver on the roof of the car.

Trunks' face reddened with embarrassment as Vegeta took out the wad of cash Bulla had given the driver, and handed it back to his daughter.

"Vegeta!" Bulma gasped." I can't believe you! That poor man deserves his tip!"

Vegeta snorted." My daughter is a princess. She shouldn't have to pay anyone to assist her with her luggage. That man should be damn grateful he gets to keep his life!"

"I-I am!" The driver stuttered. He rolled off the roof of his car and ran to open the passenger door for Bulla. " I'm very grateful! Please don't kill me, sir! It'd be my pleasure to drive your princess anywhere she wants!"

"Thank you, Daddy!" Bulla cheered. She waved goodbye to everyone at her eye level, pausing when she remembered Trunks. " It was nice meeting you." She said through clenched teeth, going as far as shaking his hand.

"It was nice meeting you, too." Trunks replied. They had gotten off on the wrong foot and now that they were saying goodbye, he deeply regretted it. " I always wanted a little brother or sister."

Bulla's mouth tensed, wanting so badly to correct him. She was the older sibling now.

Bulma watched the taxi drive off with her daughter. Vegeta squeezed her shoulder, nodded at Trunks, then went back into the house. Goten quickly kissed Bulma on the cheek and summoned the nimbus to take him to work. Trunks noticed a girl wearing a red half shirt and beige pants crossing the street. It was Pan.

Trunks tugged on the end of his mom's dress, which came to her mid-thigh. She didn't look at him." Pan is here to take me to school."

"Okay, honey." Bulma responded.

"Pan and I might get something to eat after school. I should be home by five." Trunks arched his brow. "Is that okay with you?"

Bulma smiled. "Have fun."

Trunks picked up his backpack and raced to meet Pan. He glanced over his shoulder. His mother used to be strong and independent, now she was clingy and an emotional wreck. "I'm sorry I left fifteen years ago, Mom. I promise I won't leave you like that again."

.

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Since the crying incident at the barbecue, Pan felt oddly protective of Trunks. Of course, the fact that Bulma was paying her to look after him could've been the reason for that.

" Stick close to me," she said, grabbing the boy's hand as they crossed the street. She skirted past a horde of businessmen on their way to Capsule Corp. Trunks tripped over a piece of sidewalk that jutted out, and almost fell in front of the horde.

"Walk faster!" Pan barked, nearly pulling Trunks' arm out of its socket. He picked up his pace and stayed on Pan's heels as they dodged between the heavy sidewalk traffic. " We need to find somewhere private – like an alley – so we can fly without attracting attention."

"Why?"

Pan sensed Trunks gathering his ki under his feet. She bared her teeth. " Don't even think about flying in front of all these people! We don't want the media's attention, got it?" Every time she flew in front of a big crowd, someone always snapped a photo of her and it ended up on the news. She even had a site dedicated to her recent sightings. Being famous was hard work. She felt like the mythical Bigfoot!

"Fine. We'll do it your way," Trunks replied, nearly snapping Pan's arm in half as he turned sharply around a corner. He led her into the first open shop he saw.

" Good morning." The shop owner greeted from behind the register. His eyes followed them as they ran through his shop." Today we are having a buy one get one at 10% off sale. This doesn't include clearance items, please feel free to have a look around. Hey, stop! You can't go up there! " Trunks led Pan up the stairs against hers and the shop owner's protests, skipping three steps at a time.

"We're not supposed to be up here," Pan hissed, watching Trunks lock the shop owner out of his own apartment. She looked around. " Huh, this is a nice place. Look, Trunks, it has a great view!"

Trunks rolled his eyes." That's the point. Open the window."

Pan pulled back the beige curtains, unlocked the window, and slid it open. A fluffy white cat that had been waiting on the ledge came inside. It purred and rubbed up against Trunks' ankles, thanking him and possibly asking for milk.

"Heyy," Pan whined." I'm the one who let you in!"

"You fly out first," Trunks said, paying no attention to the cat. The man had stopped pounding on the door, and was starting to go through twelve different keys. It wouldn't be long before he caught them and called their parents.

"I told you to find an alley, not break into somebody's house," Pan said, flying out the window.

Trunks exchanged a look with the cat." She complains a lot."

.

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"Trunks will be fine. He's not going to disappear again," Bulma recited in her head. She was squatting in front of a new space pod model, with a blow torch in one hand and a helmet covering her head. Her vision was limited to what she could see out the thin glass window of her helmet. To do the task right she needed to give the space pod her full attention.

" Pan is with him. She'll keep him safe. Plus, I planted a tracking chip on the bottom of his shoes when he wasn't looking, so. . . " She continued to work on the space pod, distracted, until there was a beep from the speaker inside her helmet.

"Ms. Bulma, you have a new text message."

Bulma recognized the voice belonging to the new female intern, Mandi. She always had her hair tied back in a ponytail, wore glasses, and carried her ipad as if it were a toddler. She hardly ever spoke. Usually, Bulma never took text messages or phone calls while she was working, but had asked Mandi to notify her if she got a message on her phone.

Bulma stopped what she was doing. "What does it say?"

"It's from Pan. She says they made it to the school."

"Text back a smiley face."

" No problem. Oh, and Yamcha is here to see you." The helmet's speaker beeped, signaling the end of their conversation.

Bulma went into the nearest bathroom, splashed cold water on her face, and changed out of the grey coveralls all the mechanics wore. Her skin tingled. She had no idea when she started looking forward to Yamcha's surprise visits. Hanging out with Yamcha was the closest she could get to going out on a date. Vegeta never wanted to take her out on dates, and that bothered Bulma more than she wanted to admit.

Bulma took out one of her dino caps. POOF! It transformed into a makeup bag. She selected a tube of red lipstick and pink blush. "What am I doing?" She wondered, focusing on her lips. She told herself she was putting on makeup for herself, not Yamcha. " Sometimes a woman needs to feel beautiful." And if Yamcha commented on how stunning she looked? Then, she'd just say thank you and go back home to her grumpy, unromantic husband.

She adjusted her boobs and smoothed out her bra straps. Her black bra could only be seen through her white tank top if one stared long enough, or if she bent forward to pick up something. Who knows, maybe she wanted someone to stare. Bulma took out another dino cap and selected a pair of brown leather boots with chunky heels, just in case she wanted to have a few drinks. Thin heels and booze were the perfect recipe for falling and twisting an ankle.

"It's just a date between old friends. That's all," her reflection said back to her. Satisfied with her appearance, Bulma all but skipped out of the bathroom. She hoped Yamcha had plans of taking her to a classy, upscale restaurant with a bar. For an hour or two, she hoped Yamcha could help her forget all her anxieties and problems in life.

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To be continued. . .

Not much has happened this chapter, for that I apologize. Hopefully you enjoyed something about this chapter and are not staring at the screen, your mouth agape, asking," That's it? Really? Wtf!" * hits unfollow story*

Next chapter should be better, and longer.

On a side note, I beta read for the story "Dragonball Z: A Better Future," by To A Saiyan Pride is All. If you like , action, and stories written more closely to canon, i highly recommend it. :)