#im already super over leveled. and i only have like 2 more chapters left. i could finish tonight if i rly wanted to

[orcelito]

i think the fact that persona series & fire emblem series are two of my longest lasting interests that i still actively engage with. says something about me.

#speculation nation #right up there w/ naruto being another of my longest lasting interests #Bad Taste Alert except i kinda really enjoy my bad taste media #not my fault the fun video games are rife with misogyny #THO IN MY DEFENSE my fav fire emblem game is one of the best out there in that respect (echoes) #ive been thinking replaying it again after i finish engage. for the like.. 4th time... #im just genuinely so obsessed with this game i could play it for forever #man i just looked it up. i was hoping there'd be something harder than hard mode #bc i played hard mode for my last run. & like yea it was hard but i wanna be kept busy for even longer. i swear that game flies by so quick #really wanna play it............. might just bite the bullet and push for finishing engage rather than dilly dallying lol #im already super over leveled. and i only have like 2 more chapters left. i could finish tonight if i rly wanted to #probably wont. but i think. that i Will play another map lol

[stabletwooriginals]

CHAPTER FOUR: Perspective

LittlePip had the bright idea of looting a building she is way too underleveled for. That's not really a Gamer Joke, as FoE really does seem to take a lot of rules and mechanics from the Fallout games. But it's also funny.

Her opponents are the classic brain-bots we know from the games, made more horrifying with the simple detail of sounding like children. "Come on out. We only want to kill you for trespassing!" also reminds me of the turrets in Portal.

This is also where we get our first reference of the zebras as the enemy, via the intercom playing an ancient, automated message. Oh, and the first mention of the Minstry of Technology too!

The Mr. Handy equivalent of a plasma weapon is said to look like a unicorn's horn. That's cool.

While trying to escape on collapsing catwalks we get the first instance of self-levitation! That's a creative use of the canonical ability unicorns in the show possess. I'm not even sure if a unicorn levitaed *another* pony in season 1. But I think they never levitated themselves? This also gave me flashbacks (or rather flashforwards) to all the cool stuff LittlePip can do later with her levitation, I'm excited to get there.

 Oh fuck me with Celestia's forehooves!

The first instance of a PipSwear! Now, I love them. They are iconic. But heck, gosh, darn it if they don't sound awkward when said out loud. Which kinda makes them not work as swears, in my opinion. But for me, they are dumb fun and sometimes that's enough. Her remark that she picked these exploitives up from the raiders is a nice touch. That she keeps them up and builds on them is all her, though.

IRONSHOD FIREARMS How do you like *them* apples?   I didn't get it.

So, I am not a native English speaker. I know this saying, but I was curious where it comes from. *Apparently* that's not really known, but according to this article the phrase was used like this in 1895 already. However, it was also used to refer to anti-tank granades in World War I, for their apple-like appearence. Since granades also look like apples in FoE, I will take the risk and say that I think I do get Ironshod Firearms' slogan.

The anti zebra propaganda found in the factory overmare office is both creative and glossed over. The slogan ("Better Wiped than Striped! Join the Equestrian Forces Today!") is heavily reminicient of the German rhymes of similiar racist nature from the world wars. And the depiction of the zebras as some dark creatures with evil glowing eyes is over the top, but only a reread might reveal this as the neon sign it is, as the zebras have not yet been introduced as the enemy force properly.

In the overmares office Littlepip finds a ton of useful items, from spark batteries , a StealthBuck and gum (which could be the first instance of MintAls, altough not called such, as LittlePip doesn’t know them yet (and if they aren’t, she finds some later in this chapter in an abandoned camp under a bridge), to the one, the only: little macintosh. This revolver will become LittlePips iconic weapon that she keeps until the very end of the story. Presumably made for or at least by Applejack, so this also gives Littlepip a neat little tie to one of the original shows main characters.

Hacking the terminal LittlePip discovers that she could have opened the safe she picked with a bobby pin remotely from there. Intentionally or not, this is a dig at Fallout 3′s design philosophy of giving you several ways to open locks, making only learning one of them enough, while skilled characters are left feeling a bit overqualified.

Leaving Ironshod Firearms, LittlePip admits to having given up on finding Velvet for now and being set on just exploring the world instead. Again, very Fallout 3 in my book.

Past a playground that became a graveyard for little ponies (dark!), she finds a “Sparkle~Cola” vending machine. This becomes LittlePips favorite drink and when I first read it, I was super happy about that for some reason. The book keeps mentioning how she sipps on carroty cola sometimes and every time I remember thinking it was a fun detail. I have no idea why.

Resting on a bench closeby we get a description of this poster:

(Art by Droakir - DeviantArt)

First mention of the Ministry of Morale, first instance of Pinkie Pie and a really fun description of how her graying mane makes it look like a candy cane. Like the poster on the zebras, this is also great, classic propaganda writing. Obviously it is a reference to the episode Green Isn’t Your Color, but while I feel that it is referencing some real life propaganda, I do not know a specific one.

Watcher suddenly is back, helpfully explaining that the MoM is “another well-meaning idea that was so much better on scroll.” What a fitting description of pre-war politics in FoE.

Getting jumped makes LittlePip call back to the slaver, that complained about sprite-bots sneaking up on ponies. If I recall correctly this will be one of the biggest sources of fun in FoE: Callbacks like this, that help paint the world in your mind by connecting the dots for you. Im certain some find this aspect annoying, as they rather enjoy doing that work themselves, but as a casual reader (of a very long story) I always welcomed it. I will also stop pointing them out from here on, unless they strike me remarkable in other ways.

A quick reminder of the raider armor she is wearing and some foreshadowing how it makes her look like “a nightmare pony”, before Watcher offers that she needs to find her virtue. This will be as important as in the original show, but also almost take LittlePip until the end of the story to really figure it out. Right now, she doesn’t quite believe him and his connection to the sprite-bot drops. Now we get a different voice from the radio the sprite-bots play, when Watcher is not in control of them. Similiar to President Eden of the Enclave in Fallout 3. This however, is Red-Eye, altough not named yet, giving a motivational speech about the posibility of rebuilding Equestria. Naturally, this confuses LittlePip even further, having seen no trace of any leaders or reconstruction efforts.

Well, technically she has seen slavers, so, unbeknownst to her, she actually has seen a part of Red-Eyes plan.

But it gives her the idea to look for settlements and actually finds one in the distance. A undamaged looking caravan is moving away from it, all in all a great disovery.

While a fun and memorable scene in itself, what follows is meant to reflect a corner stone of LittlePips character. As she approaches the settlement she gets mistaken for a raider by her barding and shot at. Remembering the caravan she collects her strength and stands up to her agressor, threatening to kill them if they attack the others. This reveals the misunderstanding -- her attacker thought she was endangering the caravan -- and LittlePip exits the chapter loosing consiousness from her insuries.

Footnote: Level Up. New Perk: Egghead -- You will add +2 skill points each time you gain a new experience level.

What a chapter! While it might feel like not much happened, so many pivital and iconic elements were introduced here. Even if a lot weren’t named yet. Like Calamity! It does feel weird that LittlePip just admits on giving up on Velvet like that, though. On my first read I didn’t mind, because I just enjoyed how similiar the experience felt to playing Fallout 3, which I liked more than any other entry at the time. Now it seems odd, but there are a lot of other things to focus on and enjoy in this and the coming chapters.

#fallout equestria #fallout #mlp #my little pony #littlepip #ironshod firearms #reread #reading #calamity #red-eye #ministry of morale #ministry of technology #applejack #pinkie pie #braeburn

[mrpenguinpants]

Alright, I finally read Reincarnation no Kaben

AFTER MONTHS (it’s probably been a month? My mind doesn’t keep track of the days) I FINALLY CAUGHT UP TO RNK. Ty to Okita anon for the recommendation (*￣3￣)╭💕💕💕 I absolutely loved it. 

After this I’ll start on the other recommendation you gave me. I kept a bit of a log of my reading journey under the read more tag. 

Major spoilers for literally everything in RNK up to ch 53 “Withdrawal”. 

Oh, and I’ll finish answering all my leftover asks and I SHOULD have a fic done by tomorrow. I was so ready to write and then I got up. Now I’m back to bed. 

I’m just gonna write this as a log since I read super super slow and I’m only on ch 7 at the start of writing this but I’m really liking it already. Though to be fair. I love everything okita anon recommends haha. I remember you saying you were simping over Kouu and I haven’t gotten to the part where he appears but I wanted to quickly google what he looked like to prepare myself and I see this:

Well. That’s reassuring. 

I was actually kinda surprised by how many western figures were in the manga since I know there are only like 7? Around 7 western figures that pop up in any anime/manga but seeing people like Albert Fish was kinda surprising but I really liked it. Also, at the end of certain chapters they write little bio’s on them so you get to know more about them was such a nice touch.  I also love that the tradition of making males -> females still stays strong even outside the fate universe hehe.

---

Literally, the next chapter I see him. AHHHHHHHHH. Well maybe not him but his eyeballs. 

This guy lowkey reminds me of the MC’s brother but it’s 99% because he has the same long ponytail. I wouldn’t be surprised if the brother was apart of the the Greats. Honestly, Ein reminds me of those really hard headed girls that are actually really kind on the inside but aren’t good at expressing themselves (maybe because that’s pretty much her character). I also like that Ein doesn’t like males but she’s hiding behind this guy. At least, I’m..99% sure this is Ein. 

I FUCKING KNEW IT. AS SOON AS I SAW HE GOT A THEIF TALENT I COULD FEEL THE SOLO LEVELING VIBES IN ME. HE CAN STEAL TALENTS I FUCKING KNEW IT!!! I’m surprised that Neumann didn’t say anything and  Haito seems to be aware of it.  

Edit: Ah okay, I understand a bit now but it almost seems like Haito is the only one aware of Toya’s second talent.

Edit 2: Okay, as much as I love power hungry MC’s I’m really glad they didn’t make Toya into that. I am such a softie for sympathetic and kind MC’s like these even though it’s been done so many times. I’m really glad this didn’t feel like a rehash. I mean, some points some of the stuff Toya says it does but it’s fine, I don’t mind that. I actually gave a crap about him since I usually prefer the side characters (I UNDERSTAND ANON, I CARE ABOUT KOUU SO MUCH AHHHHH) but HAITO?? AHHHHH. 

---

I like that Izo always has the same hat in every adaptation he’s in lol. Istg, cats are always op. Schrodinger seems so strong and the parallel universes are my absolute shit. Sometimes I think, in one universe I did this and in this universe I’m not. Would I rather stay in this universe or be in the one where I am actually productive. Usually I pick the productive universe and actually work but sometimes I’m a bit of a slacker haha. I think this is my approach to a lot of things in life. But I digress, I don’t wanna get too deep into my life. 

I can sorta sympathize with the sinners. At least the ripper guy to say the least. I love love love unhinged characters that just want to basically destroy the world or at least have fun. But then you find out- wait they are actually sympathetic oh no. That’s how I felt about Djoser in “im the great priest imhotep” (please...i beg...someone read this...I’m so starved). 

As much as character development and rooting for the hero is cool and all, I just want to simp for the crazy “let’s burn the world to the ground” kinda character. I’m also so glad Toya doesn’t automatically become evil and try and steal everyone’s talents because he does seem like a good person and I really don’t see him suddenly switching fields so when he saved (I don’t remember names I’m sorry), the undead solider it was really nice. Proves that he still has his humanity and isn’t strictly relying on the branch of sin. 

It makes sense that he wants to steal talents since he never had one (and it was kinda out of left field when he killed Vlad and we just never addressed that ever again haha) but to see him actually consider his actions and if he actually want’s to steal his teammates talents feels right to me. Poor guy doesn’t seem to have a lot of friends so this is the first time he’s ever seemed to have companionship, aside from Haito, so I really hope he doesn’t attempt to steal their talents. I think I’m thinking of the slime? That time I got reincarnated as a slime manga/anime. Where he’s the pokemon catcher of skills. I thought that was where it was going. 

But I do kinda like how selfish Haito and Toya’s talent stealing relationship is (I mean, later it develops but my first draft of writing this I wasn’t there yet). I’m not sure if selfish or like self-gratitude/pride is the right word but it’s kind of a breath of fresh air. Rather than Haito trying to contain or “help” Toya’s inferiority she’s actually encouraging it and using her own talent for her own...acknowledgement? Er, yeah let’s go with that. 

---

This. This interaction. I love this. Like, genuinely love this. We need more of this. Two people from opposite sides finding some common ground and their fight to the death is less about morals or whose on whose side but for themselves. I love that. This is actually some wholesome stuff. 

Edit: AHHHHH CATCH MY UGLY CRYING IN THE BACK BECAUSE ALL THE “SINNERS” ARE ACTUALLY AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. IM DEAD. YOU’VE KILLED ME. 

---

I KNEW IT! YOU CAN NEVER TRUST THESE KIND OF PEOPLE!! I’m going to slap the whiteboard on this but if I see any “goofy” character I’m immediately sus of them. 

As much as I hate that Hitler is getting drawn as a small child I really like this. I know the whole, oh I killed your friends but I’m letting you go because you express humanity but I’m gonna finish my death with a sympathetic line, can be annoying to people but idk I really liked this. 

Honestly this and the undead soldiers death hit me hard ngl. This manga might not have my favourite art style during some points compared to like main stream manga but it has some really beautiful scenes. 

BOOM CALLED IT, though it’s pretty obvious lol. 

THE PONY TAIL NEVER LIES AND HES DA VINCI IT MAKES SENSE NOW

He looks so cute lol. I like that Seiya has the talent of being talented in everything while Toya has the talent to steal other talents. Seiya can probably only cap his power by his own physical/mental abilities with Toya can pull a solo leveling and go further beyond. Thinking of it like jack of trades vs master of none type deals. Though, I might be thinking too hard on this. I like that this man is actually humble but I really wish there was a tiny bit more to him since we only get this one interaction/backstory but the manga isn’t completed yet. I really hope we get to know about Seiya more;; like how he became da vinci or etc. 

Everytime I see Neumann I look at that comic sans type and it kills me on the inside. But I love that her eyes are 01 just, mwah perfection. These little details that aren’t that big but it’s soooo nice. I also ahem, unhinged character heart be still. It’s really nice reading manga in bursts because you can see the art progression and damn does she look good. 

tiny fang appreciation post. 

ngl i’M HARD SIMPING FOR THIS MAN. It’s the pony tail, I have such a thing for guys with long hair (and this is why genshin broke me) but man the art really picked up here. 

I didn’t get into it but OKITA ANON I GET IT. KOUU??? AHHHH. WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DIE??? As much as his whole “war” was a bit questionable in the beginning and tbh I still don’t really get it I like that he knows he’s not the same as the other Greats but still tries to help the other “sinners” in a way only he knows. That’s why Seiya was so important;; I get that he wanted them to have a fun death and to be understood but idk, the whole war idea and having them kill each other (especially the Hitler fights because I understand the others since they reached some kind of acknowledgement) but nonetheless, what a great guy.

Nightingale gives me mad masaki vibes from chainsawman. I hate them and I can’t wait for you to fail, but the inner part of my is cheering for you because unhinged characters are my shit. I feel really bad for Neumann, I had suspicions she wasn’t actually like that since it’s sooo out of left field but I’m really glad the manga seems to know what it’s doing. I really wish we got more Kouu interactions with everyone tho. 

NOW THIS. THIS IS SOME WHOLESOME STUFF. I WANT THIS. I REALLY WANT SPIN-OFF OF REALLY SAD ANIME/MANGA/STORIES WHERE ALL THE DEAD PEOPLE HANG OUT. That’s how I’m feeling about JJK and the scroll segments or BSD WAN that just came out. IT’S SO WHOLESOME TO SEE EVERYONE NOT TRYING TO KILL EACH OTHER. 

UGLY SOBBING IN THE CLUBBB AND KOUU AND CHARLOTTE AHHHH. I hate how this is phrased but the respect I have for Hitler?? YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD THAT IS TO TYPE?? Kitazuka is cool tho, I really like him. Some god given talent. I’m hard simping over him but I really hope we get to know more about him later. 

Getting smug mona vibes, I love this. 

AHHH IVE NEVER FELT THIS UPSET OVER AN APPLEEEE. I’M ACTUALLY UPSET. IF HE DIES IM ACTUALLY GOING TO CRY MY HEART OUT. 

THE FAMOUS SLAP 

I’M SORRY WHA- SLENDERMAN?

Oh..wow. Okay, be still my heart. When I first saw her I thought she was really pretty but now I’m absolutely smitten. God damn, can I please have some more crumbs on these characters before they die;; 

AHHH SAME GIRL FUCKING SAME????? I adore these small panels and translator notes. It’s a real breather after the sad 3am hours talk these characters go through. 

Yagyuu. Jesus christ. WHY ARE ALL THE DEATH SCENES IN THIS MANGA ACTUALLY SO PRETTY AND STABS ME IN THE HEART??? that’s it. goodbye. im fucking out. im actually so upset rn. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME? 

---

In conclusion, and I should probably re-read what the characters say and not go off on memory because I’m about to get really deep. I really like how they phrased why they wanted to stop the branch of sin. That there are people just like Toya and Haito who, if they never found the branch of sin, could still probably lead respectable and okay lives. That there was a “them” in another universe that didn’t go down that road and that they want to be in the same universe as “them”. I know this sounds really confusing if you haven’t read the manga but going back to what I said about the parallel universe stuff. 

There was a universe where Toya and Haito didn’t rely on the branch of sin, that even without their talents from becoming a returner, they could still live a happy life given their own personalities and attitudes. It was kinda moving since in the beginning, Toya wanted a talent so badly and now that he has one. He’s realizing that wait, I don’t need a past life talent in order to live. Honestly, I hard relate to that because I totally agree with him. If you have a talent you can probably live a very happy and comfortable life that other factors wouldn’t matter if you just have that incredible talent. Thinking of it as a painter or artist, if you had actual god-given talent you wouldn’t need to worry about other factors since people would naturally seek that talent. So you end up comparing yourself to others and setting that limit on yourself. 

But that’s okay, it’s completely natural and I’m not saying it’s horrible if you do this. Fuck, I do this all the time. I’m not saying the manga is changing my life but it’s kind of refreshing that it get’s talked about since other adaptations of this just make the character super OP. I understand wanting to have that incredible talent, fuck who doesn’t? but you don’t need it in order to live earnestly in the bigger picture sense. Not everything you do has to be productive and honestly, learning to be okay with having fun is nice. Just being okay with who you are right now, even if it isn’t perfect in your eyes, you still have time to build upon yourself and your own talents but doing it for yourself. 

But I probably missed the point and I’m going way to deep haha. But I really enjoyed reading this and thank you once again to okita anon for the recommendation^^ I always love everything you send me and I’ll start reading the next one. If anyone else has any recommendations let me know! 

#WOW WHAT A FUCKING TRAIN RIDE #AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH #ALRIGHT TIME TO GO CRY MY HEART OUT #JESUS THIS ACTUALLY SO BEAUTIFUL??? #PLEAE PLEASE PLEASE READ IT #IK THE BEGINNING MIGHT SEEM A BIT WEIRD WITH SO MUCH INFORMATION THROWN AT YOU BUT DO IT #IT GETS SOOOO GOOD LATER #ITS GETTING SO GOOD RN BUT I NEED TO WAIT FOR UPDATES #OKITA ANON YOU ARE SUCH AN MVP FUCK I LOVE IT #BUT YOURE ALSO KILLING ME #super duper fucking i love you i actually love you mwha #okita anon #lovely anon #anon ask #reincarnation no kaben

[horansqueen]

You & Me : chapter 5

A Niall Horan fanfiction ; rated MA

Sequel to AM CONVERSATIONS

CHAPTER 1 || CHAPTER 2 || CHAPTER 3 || CHAPTER 4

NOTES:

-one chapter is her pov, the next is his. -4.3k -im sorry, i never proofread, i hate it. -there WILL be smut. but not only smut. -this is a romance, comedy, smut story. -for the summary, check my MASTERLIST.

- notes: i hope you guys enjoy this. i hope no one loses interest in this story. im super scared that ill lose my readers. so if you read, comment, reblog, like or message me about this story, i fuckin’ love ya

Chapter 5 : His chapter

NIALL

I was going to kiss her but she backed away. Or at least, that's what I liked to pretend to myself. I liked to think I wasn't shitting my pants and that I was courageous enough to do it, as stupid and useless as it definitely would have been. Did she back away because she knew I was going to kiss her and she didn't want me to? Or did she back away because she wanted it and it scared her?

Truthfully, I was scared, too, but with a few beers swallowed and the music of the bar only coming from afar as we stood in the hall of the washrooms, the moment seemed surreal, almost like a dream. She proposed to go back and my heart dropped in my chest but I didn't mention it. I just nodded and turned around but when I glanced back at her, I noticed she was typing something on her phone and I couldn't resist.

"Texting your boyfriend?" I just asked, licking my lips, trying not to show how hurt I was.

"Yea, i'm asking him if he wants to join us." she replied, making my whole body throb.

Was it stress that made my heart start beat quicker suddenly? She moved closer and we walked side by side back to the table but this time, I took a seat next to her and she looked up at me when my thigh brushed against hers. I wanted to tell her not to invite him but I didn't have any good reason to do so. She could invite whoever she wanted, do whatever she wanted, say whatever she wanted... we were barely friends anymore, I didn't have a say in her life.

I ended up drinking a bit too much and was pissed when her boyfriend arrived. I groaned low and tried to hide the grimace that his presence brought to my face but ended up just raising my nose up. She got up quickly and used my thigh to support herself, making me hold my breath. I watched her wrap her arms around his neck and the way he smiled at her made me realize immediately how much he loved her. I was sort of hoping to see that he didn't care about her, making me a more obvious option for her, but he truly and sincerely loved her and I felt my heart sink in my chest. I stared at them as they kissed, making me feel in a way I hadn't felt in a fucking long time. I let the jealousy invade me like a deadly poison without being able to stop it or take my gaze away from them. I remembered when I was the one who would kiss her, when I was the one who would make her happy.

"Hey, Dylan, nice to meet you." he let out after turning to me and extending his hand. "Heard a lot about you."

I breathed in and got up, shaking his hand firmly and sending him a small smile. I glanced at Liv who was staring at me and decided there was no way I was going to disappoint her, even if it hurt me. I had to get used to it anyway, she was about to marry that guy.

"Niall, nice to meet you too." I just replied.

They took place at the table and I could see Olivia hesitate to sit back next to me but Dylan sent her a smile and made a quick head movement, inciting her to take a seat and I felt relieved when she sat back where she was. Her knee brushed against mine and she glanced at me, sending me a small smile. It was horrible to realize that he was funny, smart and sweet, and that everyone already liked him. Of course, most of my friends had met him before but seeing with my own eyes how good they got along made me feel like utter shit. Did I even have a place in my own group of friends anymore?

They all started laughing at something he said and I just got up quickly, feeling  suddenly dizzy. Everyone turned to me and I saw Olivia frown and get up too, bending my way and tilting her head.

"Hey, Nee, are you okay?" she asked, her soft voice like music to my ears.

"Mmhm, yea." I replied, shaking my head slightly. "I think i'm gonna go home, perhaps I drank a bit too much."

"You can't drive, i'm not letting you drive." she quickly replied, making me smile.

"It's okay, i'll take a cab and pick up my car tomorrow."

She stared at me for a few seconds as I said goodbye to everyone and as I was about to leave, she grabbed my arm gently. I turned around and our eyes met and even if I was seeing a bit blurry, I could see her face perfectly. Or maybe it was just that It was engraved in my mind forever.

"I'll drive you home in your car, gimme your keys." she let out, extending her hand.

"And what? Sleep at my place?" I asked with a smirk, raising my eyebrows.

"Niall, your keys." she repeated firmly, shaking her hand more.

I sighed and searched through my pockets before placing gently my keys in the palm of her hand. Her lips curled and she licked them as I noticed her boyfriend getting up too.

"Dylan will follow us to bring me back home after." she explained.

It saddened me but at the same time, I was well aware that she wouldn't sleep in my bed like she used to do. Fuck, I missed it more than I thought. I missed waking up next to her every morning and it made me realize that I took it for granted. I took her for granted. I was a fucking idiot.

Everyone waved at us as we left but I noticed they were also getting up and ready to leave. We walked to my car and I took place on the passenger's seat quickly and in silence as she explained where I lived. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. I couldn't hear what she was saying but my gaze followed her lips as they moved, and her tongue as it slipped on them from time to time. She always did that when she was nervous, shy or embarrassed and for some reason, I found it endearing. I even stopped blinking when an other mouth pressed against her and it made something stir in my stomach again. Perhaps, the fact that I felt the need to hurt myself by looking at her boyfriend kissing her was a way for me to punish myself for all the hurt I put her through. After all, I deserved it, didn't I?

I stared at her as she started the car and leaned my head on the bench. I did most of the driving when we were together but watching her in control made my head throb and turned me on slightly. She pushed her brown hair over her shoulder and I let my eyes roam on her neck as a bunch of nasty thoughts ran in my head. I was so fucking drunk I had to press my lips together to make sure I wouldn't let out something dirty but I couldn't stop my hand from reaching her thigh. She didn't tense like I expected, she just glanced down at my fingers drawing shapes on her thigh and licked her lips before focusing on the road.

I didn't know how long it took but when she parked, I made a huge effort to look away, noticing we were in my driveway.

"Hey, I never gave you my address, did I?"

I saw an emotion appear on her face but she pushed it away and shook her head a bit without answering me. She got out of my car and walked to my side, opening the door quickly and bending down to my level.

"Can you walk by yourself?"

Shamelessly, my eyes dropped to the collar of her shirt, smirking a bit when I saw part of her breasts and her bra.

"Fuck, is it my birthday?"

"Shut up, Niall." she said gently and low. "Come on."

Her boyfriend wasn't there yet, perhaps he took a longer road, and I let her help me get out of the car as I followed her to the door. I could walk by myself but feeling her arm wrapped around mine was nice and I decided not to say anything. We walked inside and she closed the door with one of her feet, bringing me to my room after I pointed it to her. She let me fall on the bed and I stared at her as she took my shoes off. The way she took care of me made a rush of affection spread through me and I licked my lips after she took my socks off.

"Need help for the rest?"

Without a word, I kept looking at her and nodded firmly, making her roll her eyes but I saw a small smile appear on her lips. She undid my pants and pulled on them hard to take them off. I didn't want to help her because I didn't want her to leave. The more time it took her, the longer she stayed. She brought her hand to the covers probably to pull them over me but I grabbed her hand, making her look up at me. I stared at her fingers as I played with them with both my hands and noticed she wasn't wearing any engagement ring but I didn't mention it.

"You're still my best friend." I let out, feeling my heart jump in my chest at my confession. "And I miss you Olivia, I fucking miss you."

"I'm right here, Nee." she pointed out softly. "We spent the evening together."

"Nuh-uh, no." I quickly disagreed, shaking my head, turning her hand around and brushing my fingertips on her palm. "We spent the night with a bunch of our friends, it's you I miss."

Silence. Nothing heavy or awkward. Just a long silence as we both remained motionless except for my fingers on her skin. It stayed like that until I looked up in her eyes and noticed she was staring at me. I wish I could read her mind.

"Mm, I need to tell you something Olivia, it's very very fucking important."

I felt her free hand press suddenly on my mouth and my eyes got bigger. She shook her head and took her hand back slowly, as if she knew exactly what I was going to tell her.

"No, not now, you're drunk."

"But Liv-"

"Please. Niall." she insisted, cutting me and talking slightly louder. "No."

I looked into her eyes and I could swear I saw pain and sadness. I just nodded at her request and I could read how relieved she was on her face. I loved her. I wanted to tell her that I loved her, that I never stopped, and that I always would. I wanted to tell her that I needed her, that I would give anything to be with her again, and that I couldn't live without her. I wanted to tell her she was beautiful, that no one compared to her, and that I was extremely in love with her. Instead, I stared at her as she looked down and breathed in and out deeply.

Without thinking much, I brought my hand to her leg and she jumped in surprise as it took her out of her thoughts.

"A penny for your thoughts." I smiled. "I know, with all the money I have, I could propose you more, but it's just a saying."

She chuckled and I hoped she remembered the time she actually told me that, but she didn't say anything.

"Bring your knee on the bed." I added as she frowned and I raised my eyebrows. "Please, petal."

Her traits softened, probably because of the nickname, and slowly, she did as I asked. I ran my fingers on her jeans, on the inside of her leg, my eyes following them up slowly.

"Remember that time you put me to bed when I was drunk?" I asked, licking my lips at the memory. "And then you rode me until I came.. and all my cum ended on my stomach. And I watched you lick me clean. Remember that, petal?"

I looked up in her eyes and tried to suppress a smile when I noticed her lip had parted. She was holding her breath and the sight of her at that exact moment made me swell in my boxers. I could say I wished I had the blankets of my bed over me to hide it but I was too drunk to care.

"You really need to stop talking, Nee." she pointed in in a very gentle tone, which surprised me. She grabbed my hand and brought it back on my stomach, leaving it there. "You're too drunk, you'll regret it tomorrow."

"The only thing I regret is hurting you." I admitted, swallowing hard. "And I also regret-"

The sound of her phone cut me and she moved away from the bed to grab her phone and answer. I watched her press her lips together but finally let my eyes roam on her body. She had changed slightly and I loved her curves. I wanted to run my fingers on her and feel every single one of them.

"No it's okay, I don't need help, i'll be there in a few minutes." she explained, taking me out of my thoughts, in which she was completely naked and riding me. "Yea, give me max fifteen."

She hung up and put her phone back in her pocket before looking at me and sighing. She moved closer and grabbed the blankets before tucking me in. Her face was so close to mine I had to grip the mattress with both hands to stop myself from touching her.

"Do you need anything else?"

Of course I needed something else. I needed her to get under the covers with me and let me cuddle her all night the way we used to. I needed to wake up with her in my arms tomorrow morning and all the other mornings of my life. I needed to hear her whisper to me how much she loved me before we both fell asleep.

"No, thanks Liv, i'm good."

She nodded and walked away and I kept looking at her as she turned around and turned off the lights. She closed the door and I remained motionless for a few minutes as I felt my whole body throb, It was the first time in a while that I lusted someone as much as I loved them, but I knew I would probably regret my words in the morning. I felt bad. I didn't know if i made her uncomfortable and it really was not my intention. She was normally not bothered by crude words or sex discussions but we were not dating anymore and she had a fiancé, maybe I went too far.

I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep but everything seemed to turn around behind my eyelids because of how dazed I was. I tried to focus on my breathing but I felt nauseous and it took me a while to calm my stomach. It's only when I was half-asleep that I heard the door open again. It was not completely closed but someone was pushing on it gently, making an annoying noise. I stayed still, too exhausted to move, and I recognized her scent immediately. Vanilla and honey. No one else smelled that. I thought she was gone... how long had it been since she left the room? Ten minutes? Twenty?

"Tu me manques aussi." she whispered as I felt her warm breath hit on my chin.

It took me by surprise when I felt her lips brush against mine and I decided to pretend I was asleep like she thought I was. She pressed her wet and warm lips softly on my mouth again and I felt my whole body throb at the feeling. My drunk ass wanted to kiss her back, though. I wanted to hold her close, lay her down and make love to her slowly and gently while telling her how much I loved her without caring that her boyfriend was waiting for her outside, in his car. I wanted to whisper to her what she meant to me and apologize over and over again until she'd start shaking beneath me as she'd cum. I wanted to run my mouth on her neck and hear her pant and whimper while i'd tell her how good she feels and how I never want to be away from her ever again.

Instead, I waited until she left again to open my eyes and it took me so long to fall back asleep that I didn't even remember when I did. All I could think about was her lips against mine and how bad I needed to kiss her again while fearing it may have been the very last time.

                                                     ----

I woke up with a groan, seeing the sun peeking through the curtains over my eyelids, and turned around in bed, pressing my face on the other pillow, feeling the cold from the fabric. I had a headache that would probably turn into a migraine as soon as i'd open my eyes and I sighed, knowing I wouldn't be able to fall asleep again.

I opened my eyes slowly with a grimace and let out a curse words when an intense and painful throbbing appeared in my head. Defeated, I got up and rubbed my eyes as I walked to the kitchen, my feet brushing on the floor and realizing I didn't have socks on. I stopped dead in my track when I remembered the night before as it all played over in my head in the span of a few seconds.

She had kissed me. Olivia had kissed me. She thought I was asleep and she told me she missed me after kissing me. I swallowed hard, remembering all the sexual things I told her too and shut my eyes tight again before sighing loud. I could try and blame alcohol but it would be a sad and pathetic move and I decided to apologize as soon as I could. I shook my head slightly and walked to the fridge, frowning when I saw something on the counter. I smiled when I realized it was a note and read it quickly.

"For your headache. Pills and coffee. Just turn the machine on. Love you! xx"

She had signed her nickname but she didn’t have to, I could recognize her handwriting anywhere, and I pushed on the 'start' button of the coffee machine before taking the pills and walking back to my room. I grabbed clean clothes and ended up in the shower. I knew I smelled bad and it was well needed but as I washed my body, I kept thinking about the night before. I thought about the way I reminded her of one of our sex encounters and the thought made my heart skip a beat. As much as I wanted to feel bad for throwing that at her in a moment of weakness, the memory of her riding me was turning me on. I groaned low, thinking about the way her lips had parted when I told her about it. Even if I was drunk last night, I could remember clearly her facial expression and I felt my cock swell at that thought.

I put my hand on the wall of the shower to hold myself as the water fell in my hair and slipped down on my face. My other hand reached for my dick and I stroked it slowly until the tip, breathing through my teeth at how sensitive it was. I wrapped my hand more around it and squeezed it harder before jerking myself in slow motion, my eyes shut tight and my fingers curling on the wall. When was the last time I had sex again? A week ago with my girlfriend, perhaps? The truth was, I hadn't felt this horny and excited in a while and the fact that it all came from a facial expression, a memory and a chaste kiss on the lips from my ex girlfriend made it even more pathetic. I wanted Liv on her knees in front of me, her mouth wrapped around my cock and her eyes staring up at me. I really needed this release and It took me only a few minutes to feel the rush of an orgasm invade me. I whimpered her nickname low as I came, feeling my cum spurt in jerky squirts on my thumb and all over the shower wall. When was the last time I did exactly that thinking about exactly the same thing? It was right after tour, when I woke up with my hard cock pressed on Olivia's ass. Some things never change.

I sighed low and finished washing myself, cleaning the wall at the same time and getting out. I quickly dressed up and when I got back in the kitchen, I jumped slightly when I saw Heidi, leaning against the counter, sipping on a cup of fresh coffee.

"Are you okay?" she asked with a frown. "Thought I heard-"

"I'm good." I cut her, not wanting to have this discussion with her at all. "How are you?"

She stared at me for a few seconds and finally sighed, taking a step closer to me and grabbing something on the counter. My heart skipped a beat when I noticed what it was and I just licked my lips a bit nervously. Did I forget to mention that I had seen Olivia again?

"When were you gonna tell me?"

"Oh, I thought you knew." I lied with a shrug. "Yea I was drunk last night and Liv and her boyfriend drove me home."

Her traits softened when I mentioned Olivia's boyfriend and she sighed with a nod. I didn't like lying to her and I didn't like how messy it was becoming. I didn't want to hurt her but at the same time, I knew that what we had couldn't continue.

"Maybe we could invite them over for dinner? We could invite Liam, Louis, Harry and their girlfriends, too."

I raised my eyebrows, glad that she proposed it because I had thought about it too. I just hoped it would go well between all of us, especially between Heidi and Olivia, since they really didn't get along. There would be many other persons though, so they wouldn't have to interact too much.

"Yea, good idea, i'll text them." I just shrugged with a nod.

Heidi sent me a smile but my heart jumped in my chest when I saw her crumpling Liv's note in her hand before throwing it in the bin. I blinked a few times, trying to keep my emotions in, and cleared my throat.

"Tomorrow night?" I proposed.

"Yea, i'm free tomorrow."

I nodded and grabbed my phone in my pocket, quickly texting my ex girlfriend as Heidi moved past me, letting her hand slide on my upper arm.

"It's my turn, I need a shower."

I held my breath, hoping I cleaned the wall well and kept on typing.

'Thanks so much for the ride last night. We're having a friends' night at my place tomorrow, would you and your boyfriend like to join us?'

I hit send before texting Louis, Liam and Harry something similar but when I heard the shower, my head raised up and I glanced at the bin. I licked my lips, wondering if Heidi would notice anything but decided that I didn't care. I walked to it and took the paper back from the trash, folding it quickly and putting it in my pocket. I felt like a teenager for wanting to keep that kind of souvenir but it didn't matter. It was not my type to keep useless stuff but I couldn't resign myself to throw away a symbol of affection from her since I was not getting them anymore.

"You're an idiot." I whispered to myself as I poured coffee in a mug.

I only had time to take a sip before I heard my phone beep. and almost dropped it as I tried to check it.

'We'll be there! What time and what should we bring?'

I smiled, staring at the words she had typed, and felt relieved to see she was not pissed at me or felt uncomfortable. I could apologize in a text message but I really wanted to do it face to face so I just decided to wait, quickly typing her an answer. I felt a bit nervous, not knowing how it would go but at the same time, I couldn't wait to see her again.

I brought my fingertips on my lips, remembering hers against my mouth not even twelve hours before and I couldn't help but wonder when I'd feel them again. When I found out she was getting married, I thought it would never happen but the night before brought back more hope inside of me. I had to do something, I just didn't know what yet. All I knew was that I still was not ready to give up. I probably never would be.

#niall horan #niall horan smut #niall horan fluff #niall horan story #niall horan writing #niall horan fanfic #niall horan fan fic #niall horan fanfiction #niall horan fan fiction #my fanfics #yam #i hope you like this :X

[drmedicsgamesurgery]

Danganronpa Togami Volume 3 Part 5 (Summary)

You thought chapter 2 was over? Think again!

Thanks to @enoshima-pyon @shockersalvage​ @jinjojess​ @hopeymchope​ for helping out!

5.

██████████████████████████████████████████████████████████ I ██ Why… am I still alive, █████, I am alive. I’m not in pain, either. I gently touched my face with my hands that were shaking with fear, and there was an odd feeling around my right eye. The same hard and sharp thing... had pierced me deeply. I used all my imagination to come to a conclusion. What happened was obvious. I made up my mind to try to pull it out, the rustling sound echoed inside my head, and Borges fell out of my eye socket with the bullet that was stabbed in it. It was a strange sight. In a sense, I felt that Borges was more intimate with me than even Byakuya-sama, just like my eternal twin brother. And it has been skewered like grilled octopus, and now it seems to be shivering in front of my eyes. Im sorry, poor little thing.

Borges was broken.

Borges is broken but Shinobu knows it’s not the time to be sad. They were attacked by a sniper and Hiroyuki is already dead. If she is still alive, it means the sniper can’t see her while she is in the corner of the room. She gets down on the ground, using her remaining eye to asses the situation. In the center of the room she can see Hiroyuki, or at least, who she thought was Hiroyuki’s face lying in the chicken he was eating, making it look like his head was a chicken. If it weren’t for the blood leaking out of him, she would have thought it was an elaborate set up. In front of him was the window which covered nearly the entire wall, with the glass shattered near the center. The sniper shot through the window and there is a mountain on the other side of it.

I didn’t know if the sniper was hiding somewhere in the mountains, and I didn’t know what kind of person he was. I couldn’t use the optical ranging function nor the infrared function nor the radio function nor the search function now. I couldn’t grasp more information. Although my left eye was still intact, it felt like my eyes were blindfolded. I really relied on Borges a lot. I couldn’t remember how I saw things before I put Borges in my body. I didn’t know anything. The only thing I knew is that I had to escape from that room. Therefore, I intend to open the door to the hallway, but the problematic thing is that if I want to do this, I must pass by Hiroyuki, and I must expose my whole body to the range of the sniper. This makes me unable to do so. I don’t know if I should work up the courage and try my luck, because the sniper is likely to be monitoring the situation in the room through a scope... But is that really the case? Maybe the sniper thought that I had been killed. After all, I was shot, and I should have already died on the spot. Maybe the sniper thinks I am dead, and now packing bags and getting ready to go home... Is that really the case? Since the opponent's goal is me, then the other party should know that my right eye is a fake eye, then I should also be aware that I am lucky enough to have that eye save my life... Is this really true? On one side is a sniper, and on the other is that my eyesight is now poor. I don't know, I don't know anything. Nothing is 100% certain.

I was hiding in the shadows and looked around the room again. The most conspicuous thing in the living room is the table and Hiroyuki’s body. Although you can see the luxurious sofas and paintings, they can't play any blocking role in the face of sniper rifles. The enemy is stationed in the mountains, and may be looking for my position through the big window. If this is the case, then the door leading to the corridor is within the range of the other party, so i can’t go that route. Although I really hope that there is another way to escape, most of the other windows are also within range, and even if I venture to open the window, it wouldn’t help, because we are on the top floor of the building.

I had two choices:

> Get out of the room

> Don’t get out of the room

She doesn’t think she’ll make it if she tries to get out of the room. She doesn’t have the strength of the SHSL Martial Artist nor the ability of the SHSL Affluent Progeny. She is just a secretary. So she decides to lay down and close her remaining eye. Soon she falls asleep.

“Are you awake?”

Shinobu wakes up at the sound of that voice. Was it Byakuya-sama?

It came from out of the window. Just like with the World Domination Proclamation, the voice came from the city’s broadcast system.

"It's me, 'Super High School Level Heir', Byakuya Togami. Are you sleeping well? Well, let me explain to you dullards. The deadline for the 'World Domination Proclamation’ ends today at 6 pm. There are five hours left. The world will soon be owned by me. You will be affiliated with me. Of course, this is equivalent to supreme happiness, but presumably you will still resist to the last second, trying to kill me and trying to uncover the secret of the 'pitiful cattle'.

"However, that is useless. Everything is useless. You also know that you are weak and pathetic. Just like you can't beat a chariot with a paper cutter, you can't beat me. This is a principle. A truth. No one can let Togami yield, no one can make me fail. You are like the gum sticking to the soles of my new shoes, seconds after I put them on... At most, it affects my mood.”

"Five hours from now, the world will be reborn. The unprecedented new world will be kicked off in my rule. This kind of happiness, this kind of luck, you will feel it in your bones. You can't stop it.”

"However, this is too unfair. Yes, this war is unfair from the beginning. In the face of an opponent like me, you have no chance at all. This overwhelming battle gap even makes someone like I have some sympathy for you. This once again proves that miracles like the Winter War [1], the Battle of Kollaa [2], and the Siege of Oshi [3] will not happen easily. I am-almost-saddened by this. Therefore, I have decided to be extra gracious to you.”

“I am in one place now.”

"A place that is commensurate with me. If someone were to visit that place before the deadline of the ‘World Domination Proclamation’, you will be glad to know I might be willing to talk and listen to you.You should be able to understand. Okay? See you later.”

Shinobu feels like she’s heating up. Is it anger or is she just regaining vitality? She doesn’t care about giving a name to that feeling. She found her way back to feeling like herself again, part of her own story and that is enough for her. She is just a simple secretary, a recording device, not a noble son or a god. And that is enough for her. However since she doesn’t have Borges she doesn’t have as much faith in her japanese language skills but:

I am the Super High School Level Secretary, so then I should go to my writing topic as soon as possible.

> Get out of the room

Don't go out of the room? It’s giving me a headache to think about that stupidity. I never thought about choosing the latter. I never want to sleep in this place, because Byakuya-sama is waiting for me alone. Byakuya-sama only wants me to go alone and look for him.

At the end of the speech, he did not say the collective "you" but the singular "you". He said, "You should be able to understand." That is to say, he only calls me alone, Byakuya-sama, he believes that I will go to him, if this is the case, then I must go to him, because I am his sister. I have to act, I must act, even if I have to gamble on life, I will not hesitate to gamble on everything. That's right…

“I’ll stake the Togami name on it!”

I stood up quietly and began to do stretching exercises, one, two, three, and my knees creaked whenever I bent them. I am not sure if this is the sound bones are meant to make but since Borge is broken, I can't get more knowledge on that. Now I can only rely on my own naked eyes and intuition, so if I don't force myself to fight, I will have no way to break through this situation. Isn't this just what I want? If you don't speculate or calculate, then you won’t be able to plan your move. I quickly moved to the side of the big window. The opposite of this large window is the door I longed for, about ten meters away. I beg you, I beg you, just a few seconds, give me time to let my body reach the place safely.

"Oh-"

I grabbed the thick cloth and ran forward in one breath. Fortunately, the cloth was not stuck, and it swung forward smoothly, covering the large window.

A curtain! Yes!

Shinobu’s plan went something like this: Cover half of the big window with the curtain so that both parties have only half of their vision. Then use the curtain’s barrier to run to the door, and then have them shoot so she can figure out their approximate position. She goes for it and a bullet brushes past her hair, barely missing. She rushes to the door and another bullet hits her side, however it doesn’t kill her Wondering to herself how she is still alive, she dashes out of the room in pain. She doesn’t want to go through the lobby, so she smashes through a window on the first floor and jumps out. 

The window sill was unexpectedly high, and my butt landed firmly on the ground

I looked up and saw the sun. The heat outside, the blue sky and the wind that caressed the cheeks made me feel that I was still alive. I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. A book fell from my arms to the ground.

"Journey Under The Midnight Sun" had in it, a big hole, and spread out with the wind.

The book had saved her from any major injury.

The record of the existence Byakuya Togami, the text created by me as its medium, which has always been with me, rises like a group of butterflies flying in the air, and then flies away in the distance; Biography, my self identity, is flying away in the wind. I watched this scene, and I felt almost unbelievably happy. “Goodbye, my book!” An old writer who won the Nobel Prize once shouted, and he continued to write novels after that. Nothing much, just write again, as long as I am still alive.

"Thank you."

I did not say goodbye, but said such a sentence.

Borges, Journey Under The Midnight Sun, thank you. Thank you for helping me all this time, but... you were my compass and my purpose, and now that I lost you, what should I do next?

I suddenly realized that I held something in my hand, like a newborn baby. I remembered that when Hiroyuki was attacked, his hand had held mine. Much like Taro Urashima opening the jewelled box [4], I slowly opened my hand and saw that there was a piece of paper with only one letter written on it:

                                                         K

Translation Notes:

[1] The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union (USSR) and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union from the organisation. 

[2] The Battle of Kollaa was fought from December 7, 1939, to March 13, 1940, in Ladoga's Karelia, Finland, as a part of the Soviet-Finnish Winter War. Kollaa is often considered to have been one of the most difficult places to defend during the Winter War. It has been estimated that the Red Army fired almost 40,000 artillery rounds at the defence line during a single day, whereas the Finnish artillery could fire only 1,000 rounds per day at the very most. However the Finnish managed to come out victorious.

[3] The Siege Of Oshi (1590) was one of many battles in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's campaigns against the Hōjō clan during Japan's Sengoku period. Oshi Castle was a stronghold of the Narita clan in north-central Musashi Province. The Narita were originally vassals of the Ogigayatsu Uesugi clan and under the leadership of Narita Akiyasu completed Oshi Castle around 1479. The castle was built on a small elevation near the Tone River and used surrounding marshes and swamplands as part of its outer defenses. It was regarded as one of the seven most important strongholds of the Kantō region. During the Siege of Odawara in 1590, the daimyō Toyotomi Hideyoshi dispatched one of his senior retainers, Ishida Mitsunari, on an expedition to reduce the outlying castles still loyal to the Odawara Hōjō clan throughout the Musashi Province. Three days after capturing Tatebayashi Castle, Ishida's forces of 23,000 troops arrived at Oshi. On arrival they discovered that the Narita clan leader, Narita Ujinaga, was at Odawara with the bulk of his forces. He had left his home castle defended by only 619 samurai and 2000 local conscripts led by his daughter Kaihime and younger brother Narita Ujichika. After the castle refused to surrender, the castle held off numerous attacks from Ishida's forces. This included a copy-cat effort to flood the defenders using the same method that Hideyoshi used at his famous Siege of Takamatsu. Despite Ishida's impressive construction of 28 kilometers of dikes and torrential rains, the castle still held for over a month. Eventually the defenders only surrendered after hearing word that their lord had been defeated at Odawara.

[4] Urashima Taro is the protagonist of a Japanese fairy tale, who in a typical modern version is a fisherman rewarded for rescuing a turtle, and carried on its back to the Dragon Palace beneath the sea. There he is entertained by the princess Otohime as a reward. He spends what he believes to be several days with the princess, but when he returns to his home village, he discovers he has been gone for at least 100 years. When he opens the forbidden jewelled box, given to him by Otohime on his departure, he turns into an old man.

To Be Continued.

https://drmedicsgamesurgery.tumblr.com/GameSurgeryDRTranslations

#Danganronpa #Danganronpa:Togami #danganronpa togami #DRT3 Summary #Danganronpa: Togami #Part 5 #Time for mindfuckery #prepare yourself for next chapter #also i reccomend reading first #Kirigiri Sou #SO do that if you haven't #trust me you aregonna wanna do that

[rosykims]

DRAGON AGE QUESTIONS

tagged by: @nordxz​ thanks so much !!! *heart emoji* 

favourite game of the series?

origins! although inquisition is very close as well.  inquisition was my favourite for a very time, but like midway through last year i replayed origins and it just felt.....so good. i really struggled with enjoying dao because of the clunky fighting system but an amazing mutual introduced me to a mod that lets u skip fights basically lol, so i was just able to focus on the story/characters/exploration of the game, which just....made me realize how immensely beautiful the game actually is, and i fell in love all over again aaaaa

how did you discover dragon age?

i was a huge mass effect fan ! mass effect was the game that motivated me to make this blog, actually, and obviously through following people i saw a lot of posts from the da community as well. so i bought origins and inquisition (i had NO idea there was a da2 until half way through awakening lmao) and tried to play origins but HATED it gtrhutgrhugtr and then eventually gave it another try like a month later and completely loved it and now here we are

how many times you’ve played the games?

not as many times as some people on here have - i would say origins maybe four times, da2 maybe twice, inquisition three times. but that also doesnt count all the timesw ive created new games and then abandoned them lol bc theres too many to count 

favourite race to play as?

love me some elf booty ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

favourite class?

at first it was rogue dual wielder ! i played as a rogue in every single first-time playthrough and idk i felt that class has always been the easiest/most op. but in the last maybe 2 years it’s changed to mage. ive always been super intimidated by magic classes in every game i play but i LOVE inquisition’s mage classes/specializations and i can never go back now

do you play through the games differently or do you make the same decisions each time?

im so so so bad and i usually end up making very similar choices, but usually bc i just......replay the same characters every time hgtuhgtruhgtrui. i REALLY need to make more da ocs to explore more choices but....i dont want to lol i already have to many. i still havent sided with the templars in a playthrough like i just cant do it 

go-to adventuring group?

i always bring my characters love interest with them no matter what, just bc its cute, but usually i try to evenly cycle the other characters around that. i always try to have a warrior/rogue/mage in every party. but sometimes i’ll go warrior/warrior/mage/mage especially if i need to focus on straight damage and a LOT of healing lol

my favourite parties would probably be:

dao - alistair + zevran + wynne (wholesome and also funny)

da2 - anders + fenris + merrill (SO much chaotic energy)

dai - solas + cassandra + cole (i just love them ok)

which of your characters did you put the most thought into?

ashara lavellan, my canon inquisitor who was never supposed to be canon tghtgurhtrg. my original canon inq was a trevelyan rogue, who was super nice and good. i made ashara so that i could actually play as an evil/mean character without feeling bad lol, oh and i also wanted to see what the deal with solas was bc i had heard his romance was good ;;;;) anyway that backfired and i ended up completely falling in love with her, and i STILL couldnt make the tough choices with her so i was like ok maybe she isnt THAT evil and now shes just..... the way she is now i guess lmao

favourite romance?

trhhtruih okay u guys KNOW its solas. u know. i dont even have to say anythiing about it bc...u fucking know

(alistair’s is very close tho)

have you read any of the comics/books?

i havent :(((( im such a bad fan but i cannot deal with ordering online and thats the only place ive been able to find them. im planning on reading asunder and the masked empire as soon as i get the chance (and the money) tho !!

if you read them, which was your favourite book?

nope

favourite DLCs?

trespasser ! its pretty simple and very plot-driven like u didnt have to worry about side missions as much as u would with other dlcs so idk that was... refreshing. but obviously i loved it just bc it was so beautiful and intense and sad (since my chara romanced solas obviously) and that music score????? unbelievable i’ll never be over it

things that annoy you.

can i say the fandom trghuitgrhutrhui

mostly the thing that pisses me off the most is the grey morality. writers trying to make everything deep and Thought Provoking like..... no jerry, slavery IS bad theres no alternative viewpoint lol??????? also the fucking whitewashing makes me see red. 

orlais or ferelden?

ferelden!!!!! (*blows a kiss* for highever)

templars or mages?

mages <3 

if you have multiple characters, are they in different/parallel universes or in the same one?

i only have like 3 protag da characters and they’re all canon, although emeraude is an au. so ella is my canon warden and ashara is my canon inquisitor, but emeraude does exist in that universe, bc i hc she befriended the warden and alistair when they visited the alienage, and she was very outspokenly angry and didn’t really give a shit that alistair was going to be heir. which alistair really,,, appreciated i guess? so emeraude is made his official elven adviser after his coronation but she also kinda helps out as a royal protector because she’s one of the only people in court they both trust completely lol. also she is....stronk. 

and the only other characters i have for da are obviously side characters who are related to my canon protags so. they’re all canon as well lol

what did you name your pets? (mabari, summoned animals, mounts, etc)

ella named her dog ser bark gthutgrhutghruihtr she thought it was cute ok

emeraude just went with barkspawn since alistair came up with the idea as a joke but she thought the joke was so bad she made them keep it as punishment vjhuightui

i dont really have a hawke oc but.....he named his dog shepard in my playthrough ! like from mass effect ;;;;)))

have you installed any mods?

origins is modded to hell and back and i genuinely couldn’t play the game without mods at this point. inquisition is slightly modded but im in the process of removing them all, and only keeping a few because my game runs pretty terribly with them installed 

did your warden want to become a grey warden?

ella did ! but it was kind of,, a naive childhood dream, she had a really romanticized view of the wardens and she wanted a life of excitement and bravery and adventure, not really taking into consider all the bad things about it (and obviously not knowing the full truth about what it means to be a warden)

emeraude did NOT want to be a warden. she basically had to be dragged out of the alienage because she wanted to stay and protect her community. she never really enjoyed being a warden, although her friendship with alistair was its one redeeming quality 

hawke’s personality?

uh i cant remember the colour/personality thing but he was a combo of funny/ethical. mostly there for memes tho. 

did you make matching armor for your companions in inquisition?

for origins i do ! i always make sure alistair and ella wear the grey warden armour, as well as every warden in awakening. thats like, all theyre allowed to wear lmao.

if your character(s) could go back in time to change one thing, what would they change?

ella would obviously change her family’s murder lol, and emeraude would at least try and change what happened at her wedding, to prevent shianni and the others from being hurt. 

ashara would change romancing solas :((( she was so angry at herself after discovering who he was, and she felt weak and foolish which she HATES more than any other feeling, so she definitely wishes she had never met him for a long time. after she kind of processes it though, and learns to deal with her anger, her answer would be that she wishes she had saved the chargers. it’s the one move she made that actually keeps her up at night sometimes. 

do you have any headcanons about your character(s) that go against canon?

ghuitrhuigtrhugtr so many. canon? dont know her. 

the biggest example would be that i hc king!alistair was at the winter palace during the wicked hearts level. because uh..... celene and the fereldan monarchs had been corrosponding for over 10 years, trying to build up rapport, of COURSE the king would be there to see who the potential ruler/s of orlais would be and whether or not he ought to be worried. like. im sorry but alistair was there lol you can’t change my mind. i also hc he helps ashara with information about the grey wardens during this chapter, because ???? it just makes sense??? im so angry i wish this was canon

are any of your characters based on someone?

ok it was unintentional but ashara reminds me of an english teacher i had in highschool who was very scary but also....really cool and i loved her. it was an accident but,, still counts. 

who did you leave in the fade?

gtiturghtugh okay at the risk of pissing off EVERYBODY who reads this, i left hawke in the fade, even though it was a toss up between hawke and stroud. it was ashara’s fault tho !!! she would have 100% prioritzed an alliance with the grey wardens over like,, some guy. it broke my heart but yeah That happened. 

favourite mount?

i like all the elk mounts mostly ! but i never use them bc they sound ugly af

tagging : @trvelyans​ @f3nharel​ @allisondraste​ @ensevens​ @tethraas​ @talizorah​ @fereldun​ if u are up to it <3 and whoever else wants to do this ! 

#/ long post #sorry this is so long i got carried away oops #dai #dao #da2 #personal

[comicteaparty]

December 27th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on December 27th, 2018, from 5PM - 7PM PST.  The chat focused on Inhibit by Eve Greenwood / evegwood.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB START!

Good evening, everyone~! This week’s Thursday Book Club is officially beginning! Today we are discussing Inhibit by Eve Greenwood / evegwood~! (http://www.inhibitcomic.com/)

Remember that Thursday discussions are completely freeform! However, every 30 minutes I will drop in OPTIONAL discussion questions in case you’d like a bit of a prompt. If you miss out on one of these prompts, you can find them pinned for the chat’s duration. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is fun and respectfully appreciating the comic. All that said, let’s begin!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

there are many great scenes, but i am particularly fond of victor in the parking garage. specifically, i enjoy the unfolding of events once masha joins the party. i love the fact that victor freezes up and just flat out doesnt know what to do. not only does this fit with his character, but i actually think its refreshing for a protagonist with powers to still just be a regular person deep down who does not have the required training to deal with that sort of situation. not to mention i love seeing paulina's powers in action

spire

Agreed! The garage is one of my favorites too. I love how Paulina is breaking rules left and right- not just laws (lol) but all the concepts that have been established so far about how powers are supposed to work. I really want to figure out what's going on(edited)

RebelVampire

or is she breaking laws? as in the powers. obviously shes breaking the other sorts of laws like dont set ppls property on fire. but i will save theories on the powers for a bit later. i do enjoy that she throws a wrench already into what's established. tho i felt bad for victor that nobody is listening to him.

another scene ive been enjoying is the current flashback where victor is a bouncy child. mostly because i love how excited about everything victor is. like wanting explosions just cause its cool. and i think its just this real contrast that builds tension for the narrative since youre like "victor man what happened O_O"

spire

No one listened to him then and no one listens to him now. I would love it if someone took him seriously for once

I would also love it it someone let him REST

RebelVampire

yeah my heart really hurts for him. because ive been in that position of sitting there constantly trying to tell someone something and then being ignored.

although i really think ppl need to learn moderation in regards to their expectations for victor most of all

cause it seems like ppl either 1) expect nothing from victor and think hes a loser or 2) pull a nate and expect victor to auto be this extremely capable person despite not having trained for anything in years

Superjustinbros

*jumps in

Hello~!

RebelVampire

hey super!

Superjustinbros

Hey Rebel!

Pleased to be here~

spire

Hello~

Superjustinbros

And hello to you too, Spire!

RebelVampire

another scene that i enjoy was when julia, david, and victor snuck back in to the building to eavesdrop. on a technical level i liked the writing for it because it was a scene that moved the plot along but also served to show off the relationship dynamics that exist between those specific characters. so as a narrative construct everything in that scene felt like it had purpose to one end or the other.

Superjustinbros

I just want to say, the faces in this comic are incredible.

http://www.inhibitcomic.com/comics/2658763/chapter-5-pg-11/ Especially this one on the bottom right

And then they play bloody Laser Tag

RebelVampire

yeah the faces on the kid are really some fantastic exaggerations

Superjustinbros

Oh yes

RebelVampire

but suits them cause theyre kids

Superjustinbros

There's lots of fun to be had with giving characters over the top faces.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 2. Victor has been shown to be a drastically different person than he was in his youth. What is the past incident that several characters bring up that apparently resulted in a trial and inevitably got Victor kicked out of Urquhart? What does it have to do with Masha, and do you think Julia was involved somehow considering she’s also at Earl Estate? Is it the reason Nate and Victor’s relationship soured as well? Do you believe the incident is what changed Victor so much, or is it several aspects of his life? Do you think any of this has something to do with why Victor has failed to improve at Earl Estate? Also, why do you believe Victor’s inhibitors are now failing him so badly? Lastly, do you believe his missions with Nate will have an effect on Victor’s personality? How so?

Superjustinbros

tfw it's already time to answer question 2

I'll stop posting these to the chat now

RebelVampire

well considering adult victor has some issue controlling his powers when hes emotional, im gonna assume something of that nature happened. potentially maybe to that bully who keeps picking on young masha. cause i feel like victor is gonna stand up to them or attempt to and get mad and then accidentally severely injure them or something. idk about julia being involved

tho looking back it looks like she has all her fingers as a child

Superjustinbros

That seems like a very good interpretation.

Considering he does shoot out electricity at impractical times, at least from what I've seen(edited)

RebelVampire

as for nate and victor's relationship souring, i think theres more at work than just this incident. i kind of get the impression that nate just kind of likes taking things out on victor even when everything has nothing to do with victor. but i think basically all this crap combined to shake victor's confidence and that's a large reason hes not improving. cause he just has no reason to be confident anymore.

spire

I think Vic's self worth has been raised into a precarious position thanks to being a gifted (in this case- super powered) child, and with how much his spark-outs are emphasized through the whole comic, something terrible must have happened with a spark and that lack of control was touted against him, which makes it near impossible to repair his self esteem

RebelVampire

yes definitely all that. cause i feel by and large that victor has just given up on himself. which tbf i dont blame him cause literally nobody is doing anything to help really. like theres not a truly positive influence. although to nate's credit i guess he's trying? just ya know, in a super bad way

spire

Lol yeah. That's a good way to put it

Nate is helping but in the worst way. Vic needs some genuine, earnest support

As for Julia, I suspect she gave herself frostbite? Noor is very strict about Julia forming ice around her limbs, and she must have been moved to Earl for a similar outburst of her own powers

RebelVampire

tbh i think julia has more control of her powers. from the impression i get anyway. i kind of think julia is just reckless and doesnt think her actions through. though i mean might of been an outburst too. i could really go either way. and maybe its both.

though frostbite is way more tame than what i was thinking happened XD

i was picturing more encasing an ice and then shattering said ice

frostbite sounds more reasonable and less horrific

spire

Omg

Julia just thought one day that it would be cool to be a snowman

She didn't consider the fact that she can't move. Once she becomes the snow man ️

RebelVampire

that sounds like something shed do. even now cause i dont feel shes anymore responsible than she was as a kid

which ya know narratively speaking is kind of a good contrast with victor in a way

spire

Yeah

RebelVampire

cause victor has no control of his powers but has a sort of reserved control of himself. whereas julia has control of her powers but is an explosion of bad decisions waiting to happen

spire

I love that about them. Despite Julia's recklessness I think it's good for Vic to not be sitting alone in his room 24/7

RebelVampire

idk i agree and disagree. its good for him to get out and socialize, but im not sure the ppl around him are well-suited to kind of give him teh space he needs.

tho tbf im not sure the estate is the healithiest place in general

it kind of feels like prison

QUESTION 3. Victor’s life changes a lot when he’s forced to join Nate’s team. Why do you think Nate is so vehement about having Victor as a temporary member on his team? Is he honestly just trying to help Victor, or is there is some other hidden reason? What did you think the way the retrievals were handled says about the world and its view on Variants? How might the first mission change Victor’s perspective on Variants and how they’re treated (if at all)? How will it affect how Victor deals with other team missions and/or the course of the story? Lastly, do you believe that Victor will be able to makes amends and bond with the team, or will he continue to be chastised and treated somewhat lesser?

spire

The way that variants are trained at places like Urq and Miller to almost solely police their own community is disturbing. Vic wants no part of it and it's perfectly understandable

Variants are monitored so closely through their whole lives. it's invasive.

RebelVampire

yeah. and i mean...theres a degree i want to be understanding. i would not want untrained variants just walking around causing accidents and such. cause theyve shown that their powers can be damaging not just to others but themselves and also all the property around them. so i can understand that variants kind of need a special thing going on for everyone's protection

but man do those places feel like prison

like when you cant even let someone's mom see their kid off

thats a bad sign

spire

In that kind of environment a variant is pressured to do whatever they can to appear trustworthy. Even if Nate is trying to help Vic out I think he's ultimately trying to make himself look better by helping Vic succeed

RebelVampire

that could be although i feel theres easier ways then making under the table secret deals. tho tbh i think theres a mix going on here. like i think nate does want to help victor and wants to see him succeed. but i also feel like nate isnt altruistic either. more like he wants to help victor cause he feels like victor is his one failure that he cant leave to continue to be a failure just for the sake of his own pride.

Superjustinbros

“I think he's ultimately trying to make himself look better by helping Vic succeed”

This thought caught my eyes

RebelVampire

although it could also be that nate sees something of himself reflected in victor. cause nate did freak out when masha wasnt just flat out listening to his captain's orders. and i kind of feel that reflects his own feelings of being unsure of himself

Superjustinbros

Perhaps

RebelVampire

but i kind of wonder if theres an issue of dormancy at play in all this? cause if nate feels like he's losing his powers and position soon, that could be a prime motivator in whatever he feels hes got to do

like hes running out of his chance to do that one super awesome thing that immortalizes him in history

spire

Ooooooooo that's a very interesting thought

Reminiscent of thinkin you need to be ultra successful by the time you're 30

I hadn't thought of nates motivation that way before :0

RebelVampire

yeah and this is kind of an extreme case of needing to be successful by 30. cause in this case its kind of true in a way. since im sure if youre a variant the powers are kind of part of who you are. but by 30 you lose that and essentially have to redefine who you are as a person. and i think thats more true with the way their system is set up since their glorified prisons are so life encompassing.

spire

Yeah. That's got to be terrifying, knowing your whole identity is going to disappear one day, one day SOON

RebelVampire

yes. or so were led to believe. cause tbf i got sinister vibes from that scene with the doctor checking young victor for dormancy. so maybe all we know is a lie and dormancy is not a natural process but something forced upon variants.

spire

OOOOOOOOHH

Terrifying if tru

Superjustinbros

Yeah that scene creeped me out a bit

and it just came out of nowhere

RebelVampire

cause i agree with young victor. why are you checking a kid for dormancy if you know the typical ages for dormancy

and i feel that line is there for a reason

spire

I wonder if he's still wondering that now, 9 years later?

And I hope he is

RebelVampire

maybe hell remember it

Superjustinbros

Exactly, Rebel. (about the dormacy part)(edited)

RebelVampire

cause to tie in the 2nd part of that question, i def think victor is on the path to see the injustice in how variants are treated

those facial expressions in the van were already on the extreme i feel sorry for these people side

QUESTION 4. Inadvertently, Victor becomes involved with a dangerous arsonist named Paulina. What do you think Paulina’s powers are? Is she a pyro as many believe, or is there something funky going on with her powers like Victor believes? Why do you believe Paulina attacked Miller, and why do you think she’s so desperately looking for Chalice? Where do you think Paulina even came from given she isn’t declaring any facility as her origin? Why, of all people, do you think Paulina went to Victor specifically for help? Given Victor gets Julia involved, how might the residents of Earl Estate affect Victor helping Paulina or not? In general, do you believe Victor will help Paulina or not, and how will this choice affect the rest of the story?

Superjustinbros

I'm going to say maybe she has multiple powers versus most of the other characters that only have one

spire

That's what I was thinking too

Superjustinbros

I mean she really is mysterious, since her profile is still //||?⁄⁄/⁄\ | on the site

RebelVampire

idk. i mean its certainly possible. but im also willing to think that she has one power that doesnt fit any of the predefined powers the world established. so like shes a new variant type. or that she knows how to use her pyro powers in a way that nobody thought possible

but multiple powers is still possible

im just more willing to error on the side of it still fitting in with established laws and we just dont get the full picture yet

Superjustinbros

maybe like dark/gravity powers, or some power that's otherwise considered taboo?

spire

I think ultimately Vic's going to be looking for some truth and working with Pauli will appear? To get him some answers

Superjustinbros

Considering het background is nothing like the others

And yeah, maybe that ends up happening

http://inhibit.smackjeeves.com/files/what.png I mean can anyone translate this(edited)

RebelVampire

no but its probably just for the purposes of making her mysterious

and wont change to not give new readers spoilers XD

spire

Yes I believe that's simply to keep it mysterious for new readers

Superjustinbros

Yeah

RebelVampire

i think victor will def help paulina, although im not sure i get the impression paulina is gonna inspire victor to look for truth persay. though if she gets him to chalice, i think chalice will make him question stuff.

Superjustinbros

Maybe, just maybe.(edited)

RebelVampire

i kind of get the impression that paulina didnt come from any facility but instead has been living and training outside the system. cause we dont really know the process by which the facilities collect variants in the first place. like obviously we see victor's mom bring victor. but like...was it the law? was it under threat hed be taken anyway? how did ppl know?(edited)

and without knowing these things i can think of a lot of reasons paulina just skirted by the system

Superjustinbros

Definitely could be something outside the system, since it's still a mystery

spire

I'm wondering if the only reason Pauli chased Vic down to Earl is because she has blackmail to make him help her find chalice. If she asked anyone else she's obvs get turned in to the police or taken home?? Wherever that is???

Well, I guess it's not really black mail. So I don't really know

RebelVampire

maybe paulina just picked him cause hes the only variant she knows now who didnt immediately try to arrest her

and tbf

victor is a good choice cause he would seem easy to intimidate into doing what you want him to do

spire

TRUE LMAO

RebelVampire

tho i couldnt fathom why she wants to find chalice. i mean the assumption is she wants their help. but maybe she super hates them and chalice is corrupt and bad. and that there is no good in this world. or something depressing like that.

Superjustinbros

lmao

Plus he's the protagonist

RebelVampire

paulina got super meta and said "hey victor you feel like a protagonist. you can probably help"

XD

Superjustinbros

XD

Protagonist Syndrome in a nutshell

RebelVampire

that makes me feel bad for victor. victor seems like the last person whod ever want to be a protagonist

just wants to sleep in his room instead

spire

Hashtag relatable tbh

Superjustinbros

Yes

RebelVampire

since we only have 4 mins left, are there any final thoughts to share?

Superjustinbros

I'd love to do the same lol

I want to say this has been a great read so far, it's got great characters, lots of emotion, and lots of charm.

(And lots of good expressions)

Good luck with the comic, Eve, it's really going strongly so far.

spire

I think inhibit really nails what it feels like to be pinned by the expectations put on you by all levels of society, but still allowing itself to breathe and be funny and so human

RebelVampire

i think inhibit is a great story with memorable personalities. but most of all it has a relateable protagonist whose inner demons can speak to most ppl, and watching his journey is definitely probably something that will inspire hope

unless victor dies

then no hope

COMIC TEA PARTY- THURSDAY BOOK CLUB END!

Sadly, this wraps up this week’s Thursday Book Club chat for now. Thank you so much to everyone for reading and joining us! We want to give a special thank you to Eve Greenwood / evegwood, as well, for making Inhibit. If you liked the comic, make sure to support Eve Greenwood / evegwood’s efforts however you’re able to~!

Read and Comment: http://www.inhibitcomic.com/

Eve Greenwood / evegwood’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/evegwood

Eve Greenwood / evegwood’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/evegwood

Eve Greenwood / evegwood’s Paypal Donation Link: https://www.paypal.me/evegwood

Eve Greenwood / evegwood’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/evegwood

Comic Tea Party- Thursday Book Club

Next week’s Thursday Book Club will be about Princess Pups by Lindsay Hornsby. For participants, you have the next week to read as much of the comic as you would like~! We hope to see you on Thursday, January 3rd, from 5PM to 7PM PST for the chat in #thursday_bookclub!

Comic’s Main Site: https://tapas.io/series/Princess-Pups

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic book club #webcomic bookclub #comic tea party #ctp #inhibit #evegwood #eve greenwood

[irkimatsu]

@cryptobiologist and @jyushinoodles - I’m gonna answer your replies beneath a cut. I’m doing both at once because they’re similar, and using a cut because I usually try to make my NDRV3 posts somewhat vague-ish, and to reply in the way I want, I need to be very not vague. So, spoiler cut for the end of chapter 2!

cryptobiologist said:                                                                                                                         ‘kirumis rlly smart’ im laughing if she had just left hoshi drowned in the prisoner lab she would have gotten away w it but no 👀    

                       jyushinoodles said:                                                                                                                            kirumis just rlly smart dhfghsjdf but yeah i kinda agree, also sad to see her go like that :(                          

I’m laughing that both of you commented on the same exact quote. (Even if one was joking about the other, I still sense the sarcasm in both. =P) ...however, while I do disagree with the assessment that Kirumi had to be exceptionally intelligent to pull this off, I do understand the logic behind her batshit plan and understand why it was better than just leaving Ryoma’s corpse in the lab. That might have been a better idea if this took place on the outside and escaping capture didn’t have an extra reward outside itself, but within the rules of the killing game, when I compare that idea to what actually happened...

Scenario 1: Kirumi drowns Ryoma and leaves his body in the lab. She manages to leave behind no specifically incriminating evidence, but there’s nothing else to point to anyone else, either. With no leads, false or otherwise, the students are left without a starting point when discussing things in the trial... and the longer they talk without having any direction to follow, the more of a chance they have of hitting on a piece of evidence that Kirumi had no control over, like everyone else having alibis or someone seeing her by the lab even though she has no personal relationship with Ryoma. Even one piece of damning evidence against you can be deadly if everyone else has zero, especially if they start pressing you and you slip up in your attempt to defend yourself. Also, even in a worst case scenario where everyone shoots in the dark and hopes for the best, there’s still a chance that everyone could randomly point at her. 1/13 are some pretty shitty odds, yes, but they’re not foolproof.

Not only that, but how long would it have taken someone to even realize that Ryoma was dead? He didn’t exactly have a wide social circle. Even if he stopped showing up for group things, people could easily assume he’s happily holing himself up somewhere like Maki and doesn’t need people checking in on him. This would be fine in a grudge killing, but to get the trial started, people need to actually find the body. That would take a long time in this case, and given her motive, Kirumi didn’t have that kind of time.

Scenario 2: This is the one we’ve got - Kirumi stages things to frame Himiko. Yes, this means leaving behind more evidence, but the way I see it, a plan like this doesn’t rely mostly on leaving no evidence - it relies on leaving enough false evidence. With the way she staged the body reveal, everyone’s eyes were on Himiko before the investigation even started. If everyone’s already thinking it’s her, then they may not even bother investigating very much, or they might try to link any evidence to Himiko due to confirmation bias. Just look at all the effort she made them waste in investigating the escape trick, as if the secret behind it had anything to do with the murder. If she can get everyone to panic and vote for Himiko five minutes into the trial, then it doesn’t matter if they go “wait, fuck, they couldn’t both fit in the staircase” shortly after voting - it’s too late, no take-backs. These casts always have enough students willing to jump the gun on flimsy evidence, and I could see a ploy like this working without a level-headed protagonist around to start refuting things in the debates.

I do still find some things like the piranhas eating the corpse and the inner tube to be pretty insane, and the layout of the building is a little too convenient (why does Ryoma’s lab have a window to the pool?), but... eh, it’s Dangan Ronpa. The second game had a guy murder a super-strong robot by making his pet hamster hit the robot’s sleep button. These games are weird.

(I have no excuse for the prime minister thing, though. what)

#irk blubbers about nothing

[thefruitsofloveff]

Chapter 2.

King

11:20 

“I don’t know Neal. This case is kinda fucked up. She is his girlfriend, the mother of his child and she lives with him. How can she prove she had nothing to do with anything”.

I questioned. First day back in the office and they throw this 2 week old case on my desk. I love my job, but it comes with it’s challenges.

“Listen skip. I know she’s innocent. She might be all those things, but one thing she’s not is a criminal. When s-”.

There was a knock on the door before Crystal my secretary opened the door. 

“Tiana Williamson is in”.

I nodded, watching her open the door wider and letting the young girl walk in. She looked to be super young. Why was she involved in this kind of mess. I watched as she held her alert young son in her arms and sat on the couch.

“Im sorry, How old are you?”.

I questioned. Before I take on anything, I need to know what I’m getting myself into.

“22 years old. Is this about my age or case because last time I checks the state of New York will put at 15 year old behind bars if necessary”.

I scoffed, and shrugging my shoulder. Walking over to the seat across from her, me and Neal sat down and began reading from Dominic’s file.

“Alright. So From the charges that have been brought to me, He is facing 2 counts of Drug possession. That includes Heroin, Cocaine, marijuana, prescribed pills and methamphetamine... anything sound familiar”.

She exhaled, looking at Neal and nodded.

“I knew, he was selling drugs. I never knew the lengths of it and I was never involved”.

I nodded. I really didn’t believe her, she was dressed nicely. Too nicely to not be involved in illegal activity. But I’m not a cop, just a lawyer. I continued on with the charges.

“Level 3 aggravated assault with deadly weapon. 3 Counts of Drug Manufacturing and Cultivation. Drug trafficking along with distribution and lastly but probably not least Extortion”.

She shook her head and looked at her friend.

“Ok, so where does Tiana come into play with all this?”. 

Her friend spoke. Neal looked at me then back at the two of them.

“Because my team was told that she was his partner. That she knows more then what she’s playing. That’s a problem because that's called Aiding and Abetting. In other words accessory, which is a easy 10 years”.

I seen tears well up in her eyes. Looking to the ceiling to stop them from crying she then looked back at me.

“Ok, so what do I have to do?”.

“You would have to testify against him. Likely chances he’ll be released on bond. Around that time we might have to wire you up to get more information on him”.

I spoke. She shook her head, about to stand up but was pulled down by her friend.

“I can’t, he will kill me”.

“So would you rather do time. Away from your kids. This is necessary. And unless you have something to hide, you have to do at least one of these things”.

She nodded. Not really saying much, but I could tell she was thinking about it.

“I’ll testify. I’ll talk and give ya’ll any information ya’ll need, but I can’t wear a wire infront of him. I’d be putting me and the kids lives in danger”.

Me and Neal looked at each other, then nodded at her.

“Ok so can ya’ll get her and the kids out the house. Like ya’ll said, he could get out on bond. She hasn’t been answering his calls so he gotta think something is up. He’s hit her before an-”

Tiana nudged her friend, signalling her to stop. But Neal already heard enough.

“If he has ever hit you. That is also a domestic violence charge that could be brought forward. Has it ever happened Tiana?”.

He questioned. She exhaled, looking down at her son and nodding.

“While a child was present?”.

She once again nodded.

“We’ll talk more about that. As far as getting her out the house. I and Neal will find a home for her to reside in”.

She nodded, wiping her eyes and kissing her sons head. 

“So tomorrow, come to the office. I should have housing ready for you?”.

The both of them nodded. Rising from there seats and shaking our hands. After walking them out I looked at Neal and shook my head. Laughing he grabbed his jacket and shrugged his shoulders.

“You are the only one that can get this done. We need this dude behind bars and her safe”.

Tiana

6:20 pm

“Does Dominic have to come back?”.

Trent Questioned. I smacked my teeth and shook my head. Trent was beyond afraid of Dominic. And for the longest, I hated myself for letting it go as far as it did with him. I put him first and everything else last, and for him to do this to me is completely fucked up.

“He’s not coming back, matter fact we’re leaving soon. Tomorrow soon”.

His eyes lit up with excitement. Maybe all this is happening for a reason. To finally open my eyes and get me out of this toxic relationship. I feel horrible about ever my grandmother down. She was my number one fan, and I did no wrong in her eyes. I fought her hard about Dominic, tried to convince her he wasn’t the man that corrupted my own mother and later killed her. I tried but she seen right through him, even before I did. When she died, I should have left him. I should have took Trent and left him, but I didn’t I stuck around. He took care of the both of us. Not with a relationship, but with money.

“Where are we going exactly? Will I be going to a new school?”.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“I can’t really answer all those questions yet but just know tomorrow we’re starting over”.

He smirked, putting his plate in the sink and walking over to me. I smacked my teeth as he squeezed into the chair, causing  Titan to scream.

“You know what, wherever we go, just see if I can play a sport this time”.

I laughed rolling my eyes.

“We can arrange it, definitely”.

Sitting back we enjoyed the Movie home together. It was shortly interrupted by a knock on the door.

Still engaged in the movie, I got up and headed to the door. Not looking out the peephole, I swung the door open. My mouth instantly got dry and my head began to hurt. Looking back at Titan and Trent, I stepped out the door and slightly closing the door behind me.

At the door stood Q and his niggas. Q has always had beef with Dominic. I guess recently he stole from him. Word around town he been looking for him in every hole until he found out he got locked up.

“Why are you here. Dominic isn-”.

“I know. And I’m just making sure you know that if you trying to cover that nigga tracks, stashing my shit. Ima kill you and them kids. You feel me”.

He stepped closer, placing both his hands at the top of my head on the wall. Lowering his head to my neck, he chuckled darkly before placing a small kiss and backing up.

“I’m not fucking playing”.

I nodded, opening the door and watching him walk back down the hall. Closing it quickly, locking and standing  with my back against the door.

King

8:36 pm

“When I said dinner out daddy. I meant you and I out... at a restaurant.... without all your papers”.

I bust out laughing, placing the folder on the side of me and bringing some rice to my mouth. 

“Sanaa What’s wrong with Chinese?”.

She shook her head and laughed, looking up from her box of food. 

“Nothing, at all. But it’s not quality time if you’re not paying attention”.

I scoffed smirking a little. She was too much like her mom. Mouth and all. I decided to close the folder and finish the night with her. 

“Well I’m sorry. How was the first day back?”.

She exhaled, shrugging her shoulders.

“It was pretty good. I missed my friends. They kept asking me if I was ok”.

“Did it bother me?”.

She shook her head.

“No, It means they care. I’m glad they do”.

I smiled, getting down on the floor beside her and eating my food along with her.

“You know what’s awesome though?”.

I shook my head, eating some of my Chicken and mixed vegetables.

“Having my daddy. I know a lot of kids don’t. So I’m glad I do. Even though mommy died, I still got you”.

I smiled nodding my head.

“And I still got you. I wouldn’t have it any other way”.

She smiled. He smile soon feel and she looked at me with a serious face.

“Will you ever get a new wife?”.

I looked at her confused, sitting up straighter then I was.

“Why you ask that?”.

“Because Ginger said after her Daddy moved to Seattle, her mommy got a husband. I was thinking that could happen to us”.

I shook my head pulling her into my lap.

“No, No time soon? You are my main focus”.

"Ok, just making sure". 

I laughed smiling at her as she ate her food. As soon as I was about to dig in, my phone vibrated on the glass table. Looking at Sanaa, i smiled before answering it. 

King: wassup

Neal: I found a place, Jersey City

King: 44 minutes away nigga really

Neal: It's the best that could be done on short notice. Just make sure when you moving her, you're watching your surroundings. Get close to her, I feel she knows more then she's telling, which could be good for this case.

Rubbing my eyes, I nodded to myself before answering him.

King: Got it. Off my line Neal.

Hanging up my phone, I threw it on the couch. Looking at my watch, i looked over at Sanaa and stood up. 

"Time for bed munchy".

I watched as she took one last sip of her soda before standing to her feet and grabbing my hand. 

"Rough day at work". 

I chuckled, nodding my head. 

"Yeah, already... brush you teeth". 

Pulling her covers back, I sat on the edge of her bed, looking at the picture of her and Regina. My trance was broken as her face leaned in towards mine, blowing her breath in my face. 

"Smells good. Looks good. Ok your good".

She smiled, climbing in her bed allowing my to pull the covers to her neck. Kissing her forehead then nose, i walked towards the door and turned out the light. 

"I love you daddy"

"I love you too Princess".

I cracked her door, then headed back to the living room. Flipping the channel to ESPN, i began to much on my food once more, and continued working on the civil case against Dominic.

[rennyji]

family, friends, enemies, the be natural thing, normal tweets

Its June already...another month in "the situation"...June 1st tweets...

You know, with the exception of one or two cousins, most of my family, maybe because of “the situation”?! Is more loyal (for lack of a better word) to my parents, than me. Such is my revelation over the last 11 years. One cousin I lived close to, in India for a while, -

-he’s around my age, and should be a brother I can tell secrets to, or “hooks me up.”Otherwise, he’s a very sincere/caring individual who is a real asset to our family. “Hook up” as in connect me -

- with my kind of women from his multicultural work establishment at TechnoPark or take me to a “todi shop” , where you get special kind of alcohol and spiced beef in this part of India, so that I can get different taste of life, make a memory, and have life experience. -

-He’s attending to my parents desire of keeping me as an individual who prays all day who needs to talk to someone, when that’s one side or nonexistent side to a guy who’s image is facing life’s obstacles in a leather jacket. -

-At this age and in my freakin’ 20’s, he chooses to be like a parent or uncle worried about what my parents think, or doing what my parents want for me, instead of thinking of what I as an individual need. All instead of being a brother or friend, understanding of me. -

-I think he’d try to talk to me or ask me questions to get information for my parents and this undignified “thing” of a situation-very brotherly.-

-On a different note, I mean, he spends a lot of time knowing his kids, but my parents, no offense to them, don’t listen to me when I speak because they’re in a rush to speak or defend, and they don’t know my likes/interests/hobbies.-

-Until recently, my mother didn’t know my favorite color. She’s stubborn to the point where she won’t try to learn either. They may have recently found out about such things like likes/interests/hobbies through the eavesdropping/stalking situation. -

-I mean, for the sake of a point, while in my very early 30s, it’s only now that I even shared with my mom, and not my dad, that I had two girl friends while in college. Some things like that, you cannot share with Indian parents until things get serious -

-and you want to move to the next chapter/adventure. I love my mom and dad, and would die for them and care for them in old age, but they don’t know much about me. My memories of my mom, for instance, are of her cooking, cleaning, buying me clothes,-

-taking me to doctor appointments when sick, and used to paying tuition, and a lot of yelling - ACTUAL BIG THINGS but nothing that requires a heart, it’s a parents duty. I tried telling her that, but no patience. She’s too busy taking it as an insult. -

-When Ive had any kind of problem in life outside of getting me a tutor for school or whatever when struggling, I’ve been on my own. Never helped me with a problem. It’s culturally not allowed to talk to her about problems with a girl friend, fears you may be struggling with,-

-or the cherry on top: talking about “this situation” and its origins. It’s a hard sad d**che bag thing to say, but if I manage to get my own maid, there wouldn’t be much to reminisce over my mom. -

-My dad is too busy philosophizing about family ideals &preaching. I mean he couldn’t dream of making the religious points I do, or no offense, pray “heart fueled” prayers in the mind over “out-loud” mechanical singing/praying out of thinking that makes him a solid human being. -

-Both my parents need to listen more and talk less. When I share something I like or about myself with my mom, she’ll be like, why are you telling me or will hammer @ something while I’m talking, literally. I mean I tried correcting things with my mom by talking to her about it,-

-but you never get through, although forgivable on both sides as and when needed. On a side note, quality of life in India is understood as how religious you are and your spending power. Me using saved potential rent money on fitness equipment-

-and massage guns makes it seem like I have nothing to complain about. It adds to my family being unable to admit to problems, when I mention things to do with a life of meaning. Stuff like that gives life experience and teaches you what you want. -

-In my girl friend/wife, I need a woman who’s patient, listens, comprehends, and so forth...but back to the point about the cousin...-

-I mean, after a certain age, you want friends in ur family. In India, amongst my family, if a relative does a favor like sit with you for a day in mostly silence, at someone else’s suggestion, that means ur best friends.-

-All these random formalities and awkwardness arises with genuinely good, sincere people. My best friends are people who “do stuff with me or for me” and that I can “confide in.” But I guess that’s where you gotta go out and meet people. -

-Family can’t always be as you desire or expect, as life is complicated in its own respective way for everyone, be it through difficult personalities or cultural formalities. People need to find their kinda people to be friends and family. I’ve heard:

-“Friends are the brothers and sisters God forgot to give us.”

what else, what else....

I don’t understand how the orchestrators overpower or left me under my parents. For that, do they meet all the criteria for their entertainment? Did anyone do psychological background checks on everyone involved for something as massive as this? -

-This could take a toll on my parents when they have to betray their son. This could take a toll on the orchestrators after 11 years of failure and lies. I mean parents’ culture restricts them from letting me live the normal American life required of the “show.”-

-For them, it’s religion all day/everyday(Christian that is). While they’ve been in the country for 11  years & dealt with non Indian people, do they understand things or see things the way I have the potential of doing? Did they understand the depth & severity of this project?-

-&like a lot of minority parents, or parents from elsewhere,or who haven’t been in America's love dovy way of handling things for generations, despite myParent’s undeniable love4me &willingness 2give me everything b4 this, theyd beat me as a child if I misbehaved/got a badGrade.-

-There were instances where my dad, who I don’t see any less &just doing his job cuz of what Im used to, beat me w/a hanger till my legs turn red. But when American entertainment officials come along yrs later, does this kind of history check out w/ ur possible background check?-

-Did the orchestrators do their homework at all? Its amidst this kind of setting, that Ill punch a wall once or throw things twice in 11 years after days of provocation. In our normal lives, do the orchestrators think any of this matters or at least 2 us, as people, as a family?-

-For taking eleven years of my life, when I was at my prime, when friends have mine have become lawyers with beautiful couples and children, if I can take that kind of beating and what you did to me through these years along-

-with personal hardships and growth, wait till you see what I do to you, one by mine. Riches and glamour can’t replace 11 years of torment. -

-Life is great, but between the orchestrators and me, it’s kind of like Jefferson Pierce in final few episodes of Black Lightning against Tobias Whale for killing his father and tormenting his family. Jefferson has a life with super powers. But when he loses them, -

-he faces Tobias in a showdown, where he accepts the possibility of death. I am willing to lose everything and end up on the street to see the orchestrators rot in jail for persisting, carelessly, in what is, my life.-

-The orchestrators messed up my youth, my family, my chance at a 4.0 GPA education, the resulting career opportunities, my health, social opportunities, putting me through the indignity of having my world basically on team on speaking terms against me who they never talk to...-

- all for an America that I once compared to heaven because of its potential for altruism and representation from all over. Do the orchestrators realize what they set up today I had already without them years ago? Way to steal my life on "multiple levels."-

-Enjoy the rest of our time together, orchestrators. U, the orchestrators, cowards, hide behind high end tech &possible authority figures or government contracts, but when we’re face 2face, provoke me in person, I dare you, as urself, &me as me, not you doing ur weird mind cr*p.-

-Let’s see if the orchestrators have the b*lls, before one of us undeniably is guaranteed to go down, whoever it is.

moving on ... what else ...

I’m honestly talking about my family and the situation, because after 11 years, through observations and the situation not ending, I’m convinced no one is actually being honest about me.  (I used the word “observations” in the last sentence.-

-Problem with using that word is that the orchestrators will forge the next setting with things for me to pick up on cuz they’re psychotic and refuse to restore the natural setting and normalcy of my life-natural setting is what I’ve been after for 11 years...)-

-I mean what comes to mind in seeing me without any of this in ur head, while not denying/hiding/ what’s happened to me over these 11+ years?! - THATS THE NATURAL SETTING. ONE directive, ONE instruction...and if taking care of what I’m after was ur goal, this is it, ur done. -

-Doesn’t require resources or effort on anyone’s part. It’s just people being themselves- natural.-mentioned/repeated multiple times in old complaints.) 

so now some normal tweets before I get on with my day...

So apparently, a massage gun isn’t a substitute for foam rolling or stretching...

“Tea tree hair and body moisturizer” leave in conditioner is, I think, the greatest hair gel ever. When my hair was thick and long, I used to use tea tree styling wax, topped off with Sebastian potion 9 leave in conditioner...but I really love the tea tree moisturizer...-

-the tea tree moisturizer...you can use it on ur hair and skin...wish this stuff existed ages ago...

The kiehls blue eagle shave cream provides a smoother shave 4“me” than their lotion...they have another version that I just want to try: the white eagle version-$7 more...I put “me” in quotes, cuz it might work for others...i think different men have different kinds of stubble.-

-There’s this one guy working at a coffee shop I go to, who’s got to be having the smoothest cleanest shave. You see no stubble. But I mean the concept of shave lotions are nice cuz you can just wipe off when done. -

With Shave creams over shave lotions, you gotta wash off, and washing ur face and neck in the sink just gets water everywhere.

“Yogibo Support” is good for reading or looking at your phone on your bed. Google it.

I’ve talked about Punjabis and “ pagdiwalas, “ but that being said, if there are any Guju’s like Ameesha Patel, hit me up.

Best combination of an idea: get the DoorDash dash pass free trial for a month and if you have around a $150 rewards from ur credit card, transfer it to DoorDash gift card. It’ll get you 2 weeks of outside food or restaurant food for breakfast, lunch, dinner. -

-Credit card rewards! Take advantage. Nice to use card with benefits-quite an incentive over cash. That’s how I’ve been ordering food, if that too is part of the “entertainment”, not cuz I’m loaded. Just a regular guy under 11 years of hype. -

-Be natural. React in what comes to mind on seeing me, minus pre-exisitng cr*p in ur head, without hiding/denying the existence of that cr*p.

[ts-crossroads]

Episode Two - “Tumblr Survivor Don’t Want Me To Live” - Julia

A legend DIED today wtf. I miss Rhone and we weren’t even on the same tribe. I know last confession I was like oh Rhone didn’t vote for me in Themyscira he can go to tribal bye but NOW I feel HORRIBLE!!! He actually went home!!! I didn’t think he was gonna go home!!! Fuck!!!

OMG WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT RHONE ALWAYS GETTING BAD PLACEMENTS !!! 1 rip my baby and 2 I’m a fucking fortune teller, future predictor, queen of the past and future castaway

Rhone getting voted out? Fucking fantastic! One of the stronger vets coming into this, in my opinion, and also probably one of the only few people I didn't get to speak to, at length, during One World. Bye Bye Rhone! 

Okay so like bitch. I really am tryna not be a messy bitch already butttt Rebecka is being one so its triggering me to be one. Like girl i ain't got time for that bs. Not to mention she and Rhone wanted to flip on me? Good that their asses aren't a thing anymore lmao! But anyways, pray bc im tryna not be a mess

Thanks to my strategy, we dominated the first Immunity Challenge. When Optio realized that Fatum and Imperium had teamed up, it was too late for them to do anything about it. I'm not crying, though- the only person on that tribe I felt a connection with was Jake, and he survived Tribal. In addition to allowing us to win, my strategy revealed a lot of interesting information. For instance, before I could even mention working with Fatum specifically, Bryan had ALREADY begun talking to Emily about teaming up. https://imgur.com/cd5ebDW First of all, this shows me that Bryan feels very comfortable with Emily- who isn't even on our tribe- and also that Emily was playing me. Hard. From talking to Autumn and Chris, it sounds like she's dominating Fatum with her social game, and she tried to work her charm on the rest of us, too. Someone that manipulative is going to be dangerous down the road, and make it more likely that Bryan will flip on us when we swap. Autumn, Chris and I seem to be on the same page, and Chris and I are working on convincing Dane that Autumn is a non-entity so he'll be more open to her working with us. Dane thinks the trio is himself, Chris, and me, but in reality, he's the loose 4th number that I won't hesitate to cut if necessary. The working alliance name is Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. That's important. https://pictures.abebooks.com/isbn/9780671502904-us.jpg At this point, I feel pretty good about the way things are going. I've got a total cross-tribal bromance with Johnny going on (#FratBrosAlliance), a solid threesome-plus-one on my tribe, and it doesn't sound like Sam or Bryan have tried to form an alliance at all. They better pray we win immunity, because this game is heating up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaryPBAz_Pk

WOW OKAY. FIRST OF ALL....... Icon me getting an automatic bye in the semi finals of the reward challenge, by simply doing nothing, and then losing horrifically on my first go at the challenge. It's okay! I showed I'm a team player by not playing for the storyteller for next round, and our tribe didn't win anything for reward in particular, which didn't bother me at all, because that means that no one on our tribe looks particularly good, and we all are on a level playing ground, which is good strategically from my perspective. Now, heading into post reward challenge, which is the more ICONIQUE part of my night..... I go to search for the idol, and it's the first round, so very meh, the odds of finding ANYTHING are typically not in my favor... rt? NOT RIGHT!! NOT RIGHT AT ALL!!!!! [12/13/17, 11:11:39 PM] Owen (Crossroads Host): You open the book to the marked page. The prologue has ended, and you turn the page. “Chapter One,” it reads, “At Castle Crossroads.” Immediately, the world around you shifts. You find yourself standing in a dimly lit hallway. Lit torches line the walls, and surrounding you are two large doors. What would you like to do? You can… 1. Continue down the hall. 2. Take the left door. 3. Take the right door. 4. Take a torch from the wall. 5. Cry out for help. [12/13/17, 11:17:19 PM] ~~Johnny~~: hmm [12/13/17, 11:17:53 PM] ~~Johnny~~: I really wanna see what happens if I choose option Five [12/13/17, 11:18:03 PM] ~~Johnny~~: But the SMART version of Johnny is telling the dumb version of Johnny not to choose that option [12/13/17, 11:18:11 PM] Owen (Crossroads Host): do whatever you want :) [12/13/17, 11:18:17 PM] ~~Johnny~~: watch crying out for help mean an idol gets put in my hand [12/13/17, 11:18:18 PM] ~~Johnny~~: fuck it [12/13/17, 11:18:20 PM] ~~Johnny~~: it’s round one [12/13/17, 11:18:22 PM] ~~Johnny~~: it’s all luck [12/13/17, 11:18:25 PM] ~~Johnny~~: I’m gonna cry out for help [12/13/17, 11:18:44 PM] Owen (Crossroads Host): Your calls are soon answered by the most handsome man you have ever seen in your entire life! “Hi,” he says. “I’m Sir Nestor.” What’s your name? You introduce yourself, and he grabs your hand, shaking it firmly. “What did you come here for?” You have two options - profess your undying love for this beautiful man and claim to have come here to woo him and take his hand in marriage, or, try to play it cool and make him jealous, claiming you are here for the Ball, and a chance to meet the Prince. [12/13/17, 11:19:09 PM] ~~Johnny~~: oof [12/13/17, 11:19:20 PM] Owen (Crossroads Host): I know [12/13/17, 11:19:20 PM] ~~Johnny~~: one will probably mean that he grabs me tight and gives me an idol [12/13/17, 11:19:27 PM] Owen (Crossroads Host): that's what I said when I saw sir nestor too [12/13/17, 11:19:27 PM] ~~Johnny~~: Another would mean that if I play it cool, he might say fuck off [12/13/17, 11:19:48 PM] ~~Johnny~~: So I think the safer option is to profess my undying love for this beautiful man [12/13/17, 11:19:55 PM] ~~Johnny~~: as if anything that I’m saying makes any logical sense [12/13/17, 11:20:01 PM] Owen (Crossroads Host): gdgdfsgd [12/13/17, 11:20:03 PM] Owen (Crossroads Host): one sec [12/13/17, 11:21:02 PM] Owen (Crossroads Host): Sir Nestor is flattered. “I’m sorry, but my heart belongs to another,” he discloses. “But I owe you for the piece of your heart I have stolen.” He grabs your hand again and presses something small and wooden into it. “Take this for safe keeping.” He winks at you and walks away, into the darkness. [12/13/17, 11:21:19 PM] ~~Johnny~~: uhm [12/13/17, 11:21:21 PM] ~~Johnny~~: excuse me? [12/13/17, 11:22:55 PM] Owen (Crossroads Host): Sir Nestor has given you half of a hidden immunity idol! This half of Sir Nestor's heart can be combined with any other idol half to make a hidden immunity idol. These halves can be obtained in numerous ways - you will have to find them! [12/13/17, 11:23:03 PM] ~~Johnny~~: OMG [12/13/17, 11:23:04 PM] ~~Johnny~~: STFU [12/13/17, 11:23:07 PM] ~~Johnny~~: I found a half of one? [12/13/17, 11:23:09 PM] ~~Johnny~~: I’m dying LISTEN READERS!! I KNOW THAT'S A LOT TO READ, BUT FFS PLEASE READ WHAT JUST HAPPENED. I chose "Cry for Help" and "Profess undying love for strange man" and got half an idol! THIS IS FUCKING FANTASTIC!! Now... on a serious note. Having half an idol is huge for a lot of ways. For starters, I am definitely not telling anyone I have this half of an idol. I learned last season from my Steffen incident, and I know that there's no chance in hell I can share this information with anyone. I am, of course, going to try to go for the idol every single round, in hopes of finding the other half, but I now, more than ever, need to play a super strong social game, but not delve into strategy talk (Thanks Andrew for that piece of advice) and just keep it purely social, and let people bring up things like "I trust you" and "I get good vibes from you" so that way they can maybe feel more comfortable telling me about the idol. This gives me a lot of leverage early on in the game, and I'm pretty stoked, but I've gotta keep it cool. As for not participating in the immunity challenge. I see there being no upside to competing for several reasons. First off, I said over and over I'd compete if someone else wanted to sit out, which shows that I'm willing to compete, and also, if we win, I'm immune and didn't have to do much work for the challenge, meanwhile if we lose, there's likely going to be a member of our tribe who didn't do as much, and it's going to be easier to divert attention on that person. I'm thinking I'm safe if we lose, but I honestly don't believe my connections are as strong as they can be, so I'm going to really have to pick that up the best I can, but I do feel confident in my relationships with Ryan, Haley and John. I know Haley likes Emily, so that can maybe give me an in there. I see Nicole being first out of our tribe. She doesn't seem the most active, so I've got faith in that being the vote if we lose still. I know I keep talking about who I would vote over and over again in these confessionals, but it's always a thought in my head, and rightfully so, because eventually this game is going to pick up entirely, and it's going to be chaos.

I have 2 scavenger hunts in 2 games this week and I just want rhone back what the actual FUCK I was so excited to meet/play with rhone

Anyone who disagrees with me on Hanukkah is racist CONFIRMED 

Not to be that bitch but if my tribe loses after I drank jelly, jam, maple syrup, and Olive Garden dressing all together I’m going to McFreakin lose it! Also I did 30/36 things? If my tribe doesn’t pull their weigh I’m going to scream. Like I’m screaming. Some of them are talking about only having like ten things done and I’m like ????????? WHAT

Sooooo we lost the challenge, which is exactly what I was anticipating. I knew that this challenge was going to be one we were going to lose, because our tribe didn't give a half of a shit in terms of effort, and it kinda pisses me off, but now we're headed to tribal in the second round, and I think i'm partially ready for it. I knew that Ryan, John and Haley have all been pretty tight, and it should've been pretty simple in knowing that we were going to choose between Emily and Nicole, but then the LOVELY twist of the best scoring player from our tribe bringing a member from the winning tribe to tribal council is NOT bueno. Emily decided to bring over Bryan, which was an interesting choice. Honestly, I don't think Bryan being here or not being here will make an impact on tribal council, and I know the conversations I'm having right now with him are pussy footing around almost, and I'm trying not to make it seem too casual, because I can tell he's fed up with the small talk and wants to know what's happening with tribal council. APPARENTLY, according to Haley and John, is that Emily has admitted to both of them that she enjoys talking to Ned and Bryan more than she spoke to us, so like BUH BYE BITCH!! I tried to bring up the counter argument that Nicole is probably going to be detrimental in challenges when it comes to effort, compared to Emily, because Emily seems to care a lot more, but in a smaller cast, with an inevitable swap coming very soon, we can't keep around Emily, when she has way closer relationships on the other tribes, and we'll almost rather take a loss in a challenge with Nicole, than a few wins and bringing Emily into a swap, where she might screw us. On top of all of this, I know my social game couldn't possibly be as strong as it could be this time around, considering Emily didn't trust me with the information of her talking to other tribes more than us, which she did tell John and Haley, so this means I've really just gotta watch out and make sure my name isn't the name that is being brought up today for the potential vote from Emily. I think Nicole is going to be on board with voting with us too, to get rid of Emily, so I've gotta do a bit of talking to her today to make sure that Nicole feels some loyalty to me, and will feel closer to me after this vote, than hopefully the other people on our tribe, and then I've gotta talk to Emily and just make sure that my name isn't the name she plans on throwing out there. I think she's going to throw out Ryan's name, but who knows. Only in due time of tribal council will we find out.......

SOOOOOOOOO an alliance was made called the "The Stoners" which is actually my favorite alliance of all time, and I couldn't be happier with the title of it. The title alone just makes me want to trust them whole heartedly until the game is over. jkjkjk on a serious note NOW So the alliance is pretty damn perfect if you ask me. I have the three people I trust most in the game so far, and that's Ryan, John and Haley, and being in an alliance with them is good. I trust them, and I'm always pretty nervous going into a tribal council, but I do think we'll be fine this round, and I'm just going to try to make my name not come up at a tribal. My social game could be better, but i've gotta make it stronger with nicole and emily. AS FOR THE IDOL SEARCH THOUGH: Last time we spoke about my idol searches, I FOUND, check that out, FOUND half an idol on my first try, and I was like HOW DID I DO THAT WTF!! So then I decided to search again, and I ended up going down the main hall, and down the stairs, and I found a witch, and she asked me to play a game! [12/15/17, 9:51:18 PM] Owen (Crossroads Host): You walk down the stairs and find yourself in a dark, damp room - presumably the dungeon. You hear a noise up ahead - it seems to be a chain dragging along the ground. Cautiously, you walk ahead into the darkness, and come upon a jail cell. Inside is a tiny man dressed like a jester. “Hello,” he says, surprised to see you. “My name is Mervyn. I’ve been down here a while… Would you like to play a game?” [12/15/17, 9:54:47 PM] ~~Johnny~~: Hmmm [12/15/17, 9:54:54 PM] ~~Johnny~~: Do I have to say yes or no? [12/15/17, 9:55:18 PM] Owen (Crossroads Host): fkjadshjf yeah [12/15/17, 9:55:32 PM] ~~Johnny~~: Okay. I'll say yes [12/15/17, 9:56:08 PM] Owen (Crossroads Host): ok so here is what will happen [12/15/17, 9:56:15 PM] Owen (Crossroads Host): “Excellent!” Mervyn exclaims. “It’s been a long while since I’ve had some entertainment. Here is how this will work: I am hiding a coin in my left hand or right hand. If you can guess the correct hand three times in a row, you win! I’ll give you three attempts. Understood?” I lost the game, unfortunately, but IMAGINE if I won, it may have been the other half of that idol, and I would've been tripping my balls off, but I didn't find it, so I decided to try to gain some favor, and this may have been a HUGE mistake, but I get this feeling that this makes Haley, who is playing the game pretty hard, trust me more than she trusts John and Ryan. So I told her the exact path I took, and I told her that she had to play the game, try to win. I alsooooooo may or may not have decided to tell John too. I think this level of transparency that I can have with John and Haley this early is good. I'm definitely going to have to tell Ryan too, in hopes that one of them gets the half an idol, and tells me. At this point, I'm giving them a huge piece of information in this game, and I think they'll be thankful later, and maybe even secretly tell me that they found the other half of the idol that I'm looking for, that they don't know I have. I know this may be a flashback from Japan, but I've got a pretty decent vibe from these three, and at least knowing that Emily doesn't have it is just a step better than anything else, so I'll take that as a moral victory for now, and hope I'm the one who beats the game to get beyond the "Win."

ummm so wow thank god we won this challenge i was so nervous with bran literally ghosting like the fuck??? so after tribal bran told me that he wanted to get close with rebecka, and ended up making a chat with me, him and her. and then the next day brandon made a chat with me, him, and julia. Lmfao king of being in the middle?? well maybe im boo boo the fool and don't know! but...I don't trust Rebecka? She literally just voted me. So Bran isn't thinking that much, plus he told me he doesn't trust Brandon, who literally saved my ass.,.,.ok. Brandon told me the TEA which is that Julia was talking to him A LOT about saving Rebecka if we lose. It seems like she's close with her, prob bc they're both girls and that worries me. Like this heaux literally tried to send my ass packing obv if she wanted to target someone it would be me again so she can get less blood on her hands. She worries me, she went HAM in the immunity obv to get back into our good graces, so I'm kinda nerv. Also bc if we survive to a tribe swap and end up on the same tribe she'd prob try to throw me under the bus so fast LMAO. I told Brandon that he was my ride or die, I trust him the most. I rly hope he doesn't try to fuck me over in the future. I'm also worried about the idol cus if everyone's being honest then me, Brandon, and Julia don't have it. If Becky has that gaddamn idol then im fuckd. 

YAYYYY, I’m so glad my tribe won the immunity challenge! We are really doing that! And Emily brought me over to her tribe for the vote! That’s awesome! I get to expand my social game too now and be more prepared if a tribe swap were to happen. The thing is. These people are so boring. I have not heard one fucking name the whole time I’ve been here. And I’ve literally been asking for one. They all say everyone is so nice. And they don’t wanna vote anyone off. Pft. Whatever AutumnI’m so blessed/ this tribe is amazing!!! It all came together and we did that. Also shoutout to Ned cause he killed it and wow what a lad #thatsmyally . Meanwhile I got into Athena All Stars so guess who gets to flop in yet ANOTHER scavenger hunt 🙃 I have neither the time nor the WiFi to pull off all these fucking photos and videos. I had 10 points worth of stuff that just never submitted because WiFi but I’m on Imperium sooo I’m nervous though because I feel like we’re literally the Healers tribe from Season 35 and I think we’re only gonna lose 1 person before merge, especially if we keep winning. Basically I need us to start losing so Opossum and Fart don’t take us out in the merge simply because we’re Impartial lol

Okay so Ned, Chris, and I formed an alliance and I’m really happy because I need numbers so badly in this game. However, when I went on call with Ned I noticed he was very hesitant to talk game with Chris and I so I’m scared that he’s playing both sides. Also we’ve all been working together to map out the storybook but I feel like I’m the only one that actually gives them step by step instructions on what I did and it’s pissing me off because I really want to get an idol. Now, for the rest of the tribe. During the one world interactions and the first immunity challenge Bryan and Emily formed a bond and that’s why our tribes teamed up on Optio, but I’m starting to get real sketch about him since she also picked him to come over and view their tribal council. Whenever I talk to Bryan he’s so boring and I think it’s because he doesn’t think that I’m useful to his game and that he’s only going to be super friendly whenever he needs me. But with that being said if he feels comfortable on my tribe then he thinks he has the majority and thats why it ties back into Ned. I really think Ned and Bryan are low key working together but I’m not going to let my paranoia get the best of me in this game. I just have to really work on Autumn and get closer with Chris. 

Me when I’m about to get blindsided hard. Just an observation. omg if I got 17th I’d quit the community SORRY SORRY. Mini mental breakdown that i get from people not communicating with me and me just going all NFJKDLSNVJKDSFNJLKVSDNFJKLNSDVFJKLN Okay I’m having a good conversation with Emily. She won’t target me. cool tbh I’d rather Nicole go a bit now, but I don’t wanna sound indecisive in my confessional, or ruffle feathers with my tribemates, so I’m just going to go with this and hope for the best, even though I'm sounding pretty indecisive now. Rip Emily, she seems like she wants to be here pretty bad too. This is not what I wanted. Haley wanted this, and that little lady is playing very hard for a rookie, which is fine for me partly, but also a bit concerning because I don't want her to be in the position to just call the shots and me potentially be a shot she's calling, but I'm hoping for the best for the future and thinking this may be a decent move for me EEK IDK

And the winning streak continues! The reward challenge was great. We decided to split the challenges with 3 of us playing for Storymaster and 3 playing for immunity advantage. I was put into the Storymaster challenge (Knight Moves) with Chris and Autumn, and our only competition was Julia... who left before the challenge even started. So we played amongst ourselves and had Alliance Bonding Time (TM), where Chris eventually won. Also, Bryan won the advantage for our immunity challenge, which we didn't really need because everyone put in a ton of work and we won in a landslide (even with Chris's disadvantage from the Storybook as well as him being sick all day). The alliances are going great. Chris and I have an alliance with Dane (called Wassup Homies) and one with Autumn (called Mystery Inc. I'm Fred, Chris is Shaggy, and Autumn is Daphne). Now Chris and I need to work on stealthily merging the two alliances into one, but it's looking like we're in a good spot at the moment. In addition, I found a challenge advantage in the Storybook, which Dane tried to convince me to play last night. Dude, try to make it a LITTLE less obvious when you want to flush my advantage, because now I'm not sure I can trust you. Dane, keep that hug *boop* for me. Cuz it wasn't real. http://oi53.tinypic.com/vg6kcn.jpg Now here's where Bryan screwed up. Again. Because Fauna lost immunity, the person on their tribe who scored the highest gets to kidnap someone from another tribe, where they will cast a vote but be immune. The winner of this advantage happened to be Emily, and it was no surprise who she chose: Bryan. https://media.giphy.com/media/xT0xeQ3Qqmf2ZZ9rQk/giphy.gif So Bryan's obviously going to get pulled into Emily's alliance, where he'll learn ALL about the relationships and goings-on at Faulty, which will set him up REAL nicely for a swap or merge. If he doesn't spill all the Faculty secrets as soon as he gets back to camp, I'm strongly considering throwing the next challenge to vote him out, because letting Bryan reach a swap is a risk I'm not willing to take. SamanthaI’m glad I’m on a tribe that keeps winning but that makes me nervous bc there is little strategy going on, and if we merge without having a tribal, we are fucked. I may be getting ahead of myself with the merge thing, but my tribe is kicking ass. I sat out of this comp though so I really can’t take much credit. I am nervous about how close Bryan and Emily are. Bryan was the one who talked to Emily about having our tribes work together and then she won a reward allowing her to borrow Bryan for their tribal. If they’re both around when we merge, that is definitely a duo to split. I also love Chris. We snap all the time and he’s so funny and kind! I think I want to work with him. And we were talking about people on the tribe and we both think autumn is on the bottom. I haven’t talked to autumn since the first night which is not good at all hahaha. I really like Ned, we have a lot in common. I didn’t realize that in our previous game, and I know I have Dane. We have been friends for so long. I think we can easily work together. Autumn and Bryan are the only ones I’m worried about, but overall I think theyre fine for now. I’m really interested to see what happens at tribal. I wonder how the other tribes see us. I know fantum probably hates us but oh well :) I want to do a lot of idol searching this game. I’m tired of never having idols, I get them so rarely, I’m determined this game.  

So Emily can't talk to me. She will ask John "how's Ryan doing in the challenge" etc etc all this shit. Like my PMs are OPEN. Haley and John both told me I was being targeted by Emily for tribal which idrc. Nicole said "I haven't heard anything" after we agreed to not vote each other and I think she's being a lil FAKER. But the stoner alliance of Haley/Me/John/Johnny should HOPEFULLY stick together and get Emily out.... 

Yay we won woohoo im still fuckin pissed that bran failed to complete a single scavenger hunt number???? How did we not lose like whatever i can't I'm just glad I'm safe this week !!! 

At the beginning of the round Haley and I finally went on call and we really clicked once we were able to really talk to one another. One of the things she brought up was that if we lost she thinks Emily should go first because she had so many connections to the other tribes, which she has openly admitted to. She said she wanted an alliance with me and Ryan, and a few days later a chat was made with myself ryan Haley and Johnny. We lost by just a few points on the scavenger hunt which definitely stings a bit, but what is even worse is that Emily killed it for our tribe on that challenge. Haley immediately threw Emily's name out in our alliance chat, and everyone seems to think it's the best thing to do for us going forward. If we swap we don't know if Emily will be more loyal to us than to the others. Bryan being on the tribe makes it complicated as he is deff close with Emily. He's automatically taking her side and trying to get ryan to be the person voted out tonight. Nicole seems to be on the fence at this point, I can't tell what she wants to do. I really want to keep nicole close in this game as I love her but I'm worried she won't agree with this decision. I originally wanted to work with her and ryan together but will she vote out Emily? Who knows. A girls alliance was made by Emily once we lost the challenge, but nicole immediately told me about it. Haley then came to me as well. I feel like people trust me at this point and I don't want to lose that trust. I feel horrible about it but I feel like ryan and Haley are both better for my game going forward. It just stings cause I really like Emily too and would like to continue getting to know her. It's messy but hopefully whatever happens it happens smoothly.

My confessing game is really low I’m sorry. So basically everyone was SKIRTIN around bringing up names and I just casually mentioned that I hadn’t spoken much to Ryan to Haley and she seemed to not be opposed to voting him. I did the same sort of thing to Johnny then he added onto that saying that Ryan is a WINNER and I was like ? Oh! LOL! I’m a winner too but not in a main so I guess it doesn’t count I’m gonna pretend like I’m scared of Ryan just so we’ll go for him and not me :0! And then I talked to Nicole and she also seemed good with voting Ryan and Nicole said she’d talk to John! So everything is good and if things go according to plan, Ryan will be the first boot of the Fatum tribe. I think people are already starting to um? Look at me like a leader? Or a threat? And I’m a bit nervous? But also, they can fear me all they want. Don’t vote me out because I’m big and scary!!! GRRR!!!

This whole cast is cancelled bring back rhone pls 

my social security number is 372-83-1938

#tscrossroads #episode two #confessionals

[chickpow]

No one like you

Chickpow here: I found an old disc/floppy disc in my attic containing a lot of very old fanfiction from authors and websites that are either gone or taken down. I am not the author but I would like to share what I’ve found. if you find the author please let me know so I can credit them properly. Thank you and enjoy 

No One Like You 

ime: Dragon Ball Z

Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Angst | Type: Continuation

Latest Revision: December 24, 2002 20:44 EST

Author: fusionHA

Pages: 27 | Words: 31578 | Size: 168 KB | Visits: 5800

Summary:

**WARNINGS: YAOI SITUATIONS, VIOLENCE, LANGUAGE, ANGST, & HARD LEMONS!**

 ____________________________________________________

It's seven years since Majin Buu has been defeated and peace has been restored on Earth, but the ever quest for strength lives on. Goten, now fourteen years old, is finally getting that chance to train with his dad just like Gohan did when he was younger. But being compared to the incredible talent his older brother once unleashed is harder to live up to then he can handle. Fifteen year old Trunks, on the other hand, has been trying to gain affection from Vegeta his entire life, but can never seem to match the impossible level of power expected of him from his father. These two boys, both pushing themselves to the limits for acceptance, are finding that everyone has their breaking point, but not everyone has had that life-long bond like thay have had with each other. As they continue to grow up together, they begin to realize that the strength that has been between them all along is growing greater than they could have ever imagined. It will change everything they know about each other...but only if they have the courage to let everything go.

 A new spin to a coming-of-age story about giving up, letting go, and what can happen when you try to fight the destiny you have in your heart.

_____________________________________________________

 ~~~~ COMPLETE ~~~~

 No One Like You

AUTHOR: djFusion

BETA: Ane S. Thesia

AUTHORS E-MAIL: [email protected]

RATING: NC-17

WARNINGS: Lemon, violence, corse language.

NOTES: A Goten/Trunks coming-of-age story about what can happen when you try to fight the destiny in your heart.

CHAPTER ONE ~

"Let's go already, Goten! Stop fooling around," Goku shouted from the other side of the field that his son was just knocked halfway across. After over an hour of pushing himself harder than he had in years, Goten found himself on the bad end of one of his dad's signature ki blasts which he clearly wasn't paying attention to. "Are you okay out there?"

Goten lifted his arm up from the knee-deep pile of weeds he was buried in to give a thumbs up back at his dad and flopped back down into the thick grass, facing up at the sky. He was exhausted. It was just supposed to be him and Trunks today. Just some quick sparring after breakfast and then all day to hang out. But, of course, once his dad found out Gohan would be gone for the rest of the afternoon with Videl, leaving him without his always-first choice opponent, he had to find someone else available to spar the day away with. Enter Goten, the usual son-choice #2.

Trunks, who was also now stuck training with them that day, had his own problems to worry about. Unlike Goten, Trunks didn't have an older brother to be compared to if he was slacking off on his training or getting lazy, or a dad who was constantly dragging him out of the house at 5:00am to spar with. Loafing around and goofing off were beginning to take priority in his daily activities. Naturally, it didn't take Vegeta long to catch on to it, not that he would take it as an opportunity to spend more time with his son. He instead decided that maybe what Trunks needed was a good swift kick in the ass to prove to him how weak he had become and how far he had dropped from what he should be, by Vegeta's standards anyway. There just would be no tolerance of any sign of weakness in his family. It was simply not an option.

Trunks knew this. So did Goten.

So there they were, a quick workout...turned into an all-out save-the-world training session, wasting their day together to only be kicked around in some field out in the middle of nowhere. Goten had already been pumeled enough by his dad to last a week and there didn't seem to be any sign of Goku wanting to call it a day. He wasn't ever going to be strong enough to spar with like his father the way he wanted to, the way he did with Gohan, so what the hell was his father trying to do to him? He glanced over to Trunks, who stood on a ledge of rocks about 50 feet away, body wound up tight like a spring and looking as if he was going to get sick. It was, after all, only a matter of time before he would be dragged off that rock to get the pulp beaten out of him next. It had been forever since Vegeta paid any kind of attention to Trunks, much less trained with him. Probably not since they were little kids. And there he stood, right behind him, arms crossed in his usual fashion, looking ready to rip the head off the first person to piss him off.

"Enough, Kakarotto, I don't have all morning. Are you done yet?" Vegeta yelled down the field, patience beginning to wear thin. "Get a clue, your son is obviously throwing in the towel. Maybe you should bring Gohan next time if you want a challenge. Your son is clearly still a boy."

Goku began to walk towards Goten, who was just sitting in the grass and leaning on his hands. "I know you can do it, Goten. You have to not be afraid to let go this time." He reached out a hand to help him up. 'This time?' Goten looked up with tired eyes.

"Come on, son, let's try it again."

This was getting old fast. Sure, he was getting to train with his dad, something he would have given anything for when he was a little kid. But now that Goku was back from the Other World, this was pretty much all that they did...ever! He just wanted to hang out with his dad. Go fishing, or something. Have fun. Do things he and Gohan used to do that Goten missed out on. Anything but this constant martial arts. He wasn't a fighter, and it wasn't even like they were training for anything in particular. It was just that ever-constant Saiyan quest to be stronger, more powerful, that was starting to grow more and more pointless every time he was out here.

Brushing the dirt off the front of his now grass-stained shirt, Goten brought himself to his feet without Goku's help. "Alright, dad." He and Trunks exchanged glances, both letting out deep breaths. How did their day turn out like this? Things were just so much more fun when it was just him and Trunks. They don't have to always prove something to each other. It doesn't matter who's stronger, faster, smarter... It's just them. No competition.

Goten did have to admit that the whole situation was pretty rare. Sure, he trained with his dad and Gohan all the time now, but it wasn't often Vegeta would be out anywhere with Trunks. Goten spent everyday with Trunks and knew that he didn't train nearly as much as he used to and wasn't getting any stronger either. Trunks spent his entire childhood killing himself, trying to win his father's attention, affection, respect... but to no success. After a while, he simply lost the drive to get any better. So why was Vegeta all of a sudden interested? Why now? Goten looked back at his father, now standing in front of him shaking his head with a smile on his face.

"I was starting to think you were quitting on me," Goku laughed as he picked some leaves out of Goten's unruly, jet-black hair. "Now let's get back to work."

"I don't know how much more I've got left today, dad," Goten let out with an exhausted look on his face. After all, they had been out there all day and he was sure Vegeta was getting impatient just watching from the sidelines where he and Trunks had been standing for quite some time. Getting Vegeta agitated was not something he wanted to be on the other end of. Nor did he want Trunks to have to deal with it. "I feel like I'm running on nothing, and if I get hit with another one of your ki blasts, I think I'll be shot back into our backyard," he said, a little laugh forced on his voice. Goku smiled.

"Just work at it a little more, Goten. I know you were really close that time. Just reach deep down and find that last little bit of energy and open it up. You have it in you. I know you can do it," Goku added is his usual over-supportive way as he walked away to give them some more space. "Gohan could do it at your age. There's no reason why you can't."

That was it. He was tired of constantly being compared to him. Everything he did was either 'not as good' or 'not as strong' as his perfect icon of an older brother.

--"Why can't you be more like your brother, Goten?"--

--"Why can't you be as smart as your brother, Goten?"--

--"Why aren't you as strong as your brother, Goten?"--

He snapped.

He was tired of trying to live up to what he did and what he was. Nobody would ever look at him without seeing 'Gohan's little brother' first. That was it. For the first time in his life, his anger was fueling his energy. His body snapped into Super Saiyan, arching his back and letting go a scream that dangled on the edge of all control. Goten's eyes surged to a deep green, his muscles began to expand and burn under his skin.

And then it happened.

"I'M NOT GOHAN, DAD!" Goten screamed, his hair spiking into an almost white gold, clentching his fists to the side of his head. He felt something inside of him break. It was maddening. Everything seemed to crash together and create a flare of blinding energy.

Goku snapped his head around, only to see Goten lift off the ground, raising his ki to an incredible level. He looked on in amazement as blue lightening crackled around his youngest son, the sheer force of his strength breaking the ground below him. Vegeta shielded his eyes from the wind as a flash of hard light swept over them and across the field, in complete shock at what he was witnessing.

"Goten! That's it! Use your energy. Don't be afraid to use it now, do it!"

But, just as quickly as the energy came, his power level dropped and his arms fell to his sides, no longer transformed into that second stage. His feet touching back down and breathing heavy to catch his breath, he looked down at his hands, not believing what just happened. He had never felt such an amazing surge rip through his body like that before, but it took everything he had and now he was more spent than he was earlier. He fell back into the grass on his hands, exhausted and drained.

Trunks, looking on from where he and Vegeta had been standing, couldn't believe what just happened either. He had always been stronger than Goten was. Always. Ever since he could remember, he was always a step ahead of him. Things just came to him more naturally. But now...now he reached a level only three others have ever acheived. He hadn't realized how strong he had become over the years. Trunks hadn't even come close to doing what Goten just did, his power far outweighing his own, especially now. Now that he hasn't been training as much as he should have. Now that, of all times, his dad is finally taking any sort of interest in him. And now that he'll lose that one chance to impress his father, a chance he long gave up on ever happening. He felt sick.

He looked upon his best friend in disbelief with eyes that should have been proud of him. Instead, he felt a hard lump in his throat begin to form, sweat dripping down the side of his face. He closed his eyes. His body tensed, knowing the wrath that this was going to bring.

"This isn't happening..." ~

CHAPTER TWO~

Goku knelt down to where his son had collapsed on the grass and put his hands on his shoulders. "Goten, I'm proud of you. I wouldn't have pushed you if I didn't think you could do it." He lowered his head to get a look at his reaction, to see Goten cracking a tiny smile under his heavy breath. He never had any doubt that his dad didn't believe in him, it was just that he was more than tired of being the shadow to his brother. Being pushed over and over again to live up to what Gohan could do, whether or not it was even obtainable for the youngest Son to acheive. He lost it, but maybe his dad knew that would happen. Goku was known to do things like that sometimes.

Push until you crack.

"You have ALWAYS made me proud," his father said softly as he ruffled his hair. "I love you, son."

Even being at the distance he was, just hearing those words echoed painfully in Trunks' head. He had never, EVER, heard his father say anything like that to him. Maybe except for that one time when he and Goten rescued him from Majin Buu, but it took him by such shock, he barely remembered it even after he was knocked out. He wished he had a father like Goku. He had been dead for most of Goten's childhood and still showed him more affection in that one day he came back for the World Tournament than Trunks had experienced his whole life from Vegeta. He tried to act like it didn't bother him when he saw how Goku treated his sons, encouraging them, bonding with them the way a father should with his family, but it tore him up inside every time.

Lately, he didn't even feel like he had a father anymore. Vegeta paid more attention to the status of his Gravity Simulator than he did his only son, but pointlessly knocking himself out to impress him just wasn't something Trunks felt he could put himself through any longer. He long gave up on any concept of Vegeta paying any attention to him years ago, so why was he so interested in him now?

"I would imagine Kakarott's son is more than done now. Let's get on with it, Trunks," Vegeta barked, that ever present tone of anger deep in his voice. "I want to see what you can do, now that you're not a baby anymore," he taunted.

Trunks swallowed hard and tried to ignore the vice-like feeling around his chest which was making every breath harder and harder to take. He knew he would be expected to reach the same level Goten just had, and probably then some, but he already knew it wasn't going to happen. He took a deep, unsteady breath and followed his dad down the edge of the hill to the open clearing of grass just below the rocks and rubble.

Vegeta didn't waste any time. The second his feet touched down he was ready to go. He braced his footing and curled his hands into iron-tight fists. Completely prepared not to hold anything back, even if it was his son he was facing. Trunks attempted with everything he had, to look as ready as he could, ready to counter what ever the hell Vegeta was going to throw at him. But being with his father in this sort of situation wasn't something he was used to, let alone being with his father at all!

Goku helped lift Goten back to his feet and sat down with him on a nearby pile of rocks that had been blasted to bits earlier on in the day. Goten rubbed the grit and sweat away from his eyes and watched nervously at the scene unfolding before him, knowing that this wouldn't be easy for Trunks to get through in one piece. He still sparred with him almost every time they hung out together, but he knew what his abilities were and they certainly weren't what they used to be and definitely not where they could be.

"What are you waiting for, brat? Do you want an invitation? I'm giving you the first move, now make it!"

Using every ounce of courage he had, Trunks lunged forward through the air throwing a punch right for Vegeta's face, but it was easily blocked. Unfazed, he came at him again with a combination of round-house kicks and sweeps, more and more force and aggression behind every throw.

Nothing worked.

Anger started to well up in his eyes as he unleashed a wild series of attacks on his father, beginning to fight with more than just the strength of his body, but all of the scars that filled his heart. As the face-off continued, his emotions began to get the best of him. His technique was getting sloppy and unfinished, and it didn't take long at all for Vegeta to land a hard side kick right in his stomach. Trunks fell to the ground with his arms wrapped around his waist in a shooting flash of pain.

"Ooo, that was a good one. Shake it off, Trunks!" Goku yelled over from where he and Goten were sitting, completely oblivious to the worried look right next to him across his son's face.

Goten started to feel his panic. He had never seen Trunks fight like this before. He was always so composed and in control of what he was doing. His style was usually elegant. Mature. Now it looked as if he were about to break.

Vegeta looked down over his son, scowling at his pain as though it was directed towards an opponent he were about to destroy. "Is that it? You're worse than I thought. Now get the fuck up! You have elite blood in your veins. Don't humiliate me, brat!"

Trunks quickly brought himself to his feet. He would not let this happen. He would NOT let his father think he wasn't worthy of being his son. He had to do this. He had to!

"Alright, then let's go!" Trunks screamed, his rage beginning to grow more powerful as he felt the control of his own body starting to slip. He pumped his ki up a couple of notches to transform into a Super Saiyan, spiking his now-golden hair wildly, his heart feeling as if it would pound through his chest. 'I can do this,' he said to himself. 'I'm going to do this!'

For the second time, Trunks took the first attack, throwing everything he had at his father. Every blow was met by an equally hard counter. Every ki blast was shot away. Trunks couldn't land a single hit. It was then he lost his rhythm and got hit hard with a kick to the head. Vegeta didn't stop. He punched Trunks across the face, then in his stomach and threw his elbow into his back, slamming him face-first into the hard ground beneath them. Vegeta slowly lowered himself to touch down in front of him.

The pain was unreal. Trunks brought himself to his hands and knees. There was blood dripping onto the dirt from his face and he could barely open his eyes.

'Oh, God, this isn't happening!'

He tilted his head back and looked over to Goten, whose anger was clearly rising just having to sit there and watch his best friend get destroyed by his father.

Goten bolted up. "I won't stay here and watch this happen to Trunks!" But he was pulled back down by his father's strong hand holding on to his arm.

"Trunks can do this himself, Goten. Now sit down. It's not up to you to interfere," Goku reasoned as he motioned to where he was just sitting. "He'll be alright. I know what Vegeta's doing. I think this might help him release some of the energy he's holding back."

Goten couldn't believe what was coming out of his father's mouth. This wouldn't help him! Father's aren't supposed to hurt their sons. How could he sit there and watch this, thinking something positive would come out of watching someone beating the daylights out of his best friend? Goten turned his attention back to the fight going on only a couple of yards away. That's what it was now. This was no longer training or a simple sparring match.

This was a full on fight.

"I'm ashamed of you, brat. Such weakness from the son of a Saiyan Prince. You're a disgrace to me," Vegeta yelled, knocking him off his hands with an open kick to crack the side of his rib cage and smashed his face into the dirt with his boot. Trunks screamed in pain. "It seems you're useless in every fucking timeline, now doesn't it? At least your other was a fighter. At least he could hold his own in a battle. But, you... YOU'RE A WASTE! I know exactly what you've been doing with yourself. Don't you think I know how pathetic you've become!?!?"

Vegeta lowered his voice, turned his back on him and began to walk away. "I never thought I would end up with a worthless half-breed like you."

Trunks squeezed his eyes shut, the words tearing right through him. But then he felt something powerful inside and he had to let out. It was his energy. It was his rage. Everything that he ever felt towards his father came flooding back to him all at once. All of those years of being pushed aside, neglected, and having his heart broken all came violently crashing together. He pushed himself back to his knees, slamming his fists to the ground and cracking through the solid rock as his muscles crushed under the stress of his own strength. His voice, shattering through his entire body, lashed all of the hurt and pain from his life he couldn't stand any longer.

He was loosing it. In front of everyone. And he didn't care anymore.

Vegeta turned around and took a step back, not being quite sure of what was happening before him. This kind of energy was something he had never felt from Trunks, or from anyone else for that matter. Trunks lifted himself off the ground, his energy chaotic and unfocused as tears started to stream down his face. Before his energy peaked, he fell back down to his knees, screaming.

"WHY CAN'T I BE YOUR SON? WHY? WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME?" His pain clearly heard in his voice and visible on his body. The tips of his hair were beginning to fade back to lavender.

Vegeta forcefully yanked Trunks up by the front of his shirt and up to his face. "This is what I get, Trunks? IS THIS WHAT I GET?" He grabbed a fistful of his son's hair. "A son who can't even hold on to his energy? Who would rather cry than fight?" He let go if his hair and backhanded his son hard across his cheekbone, snapping his head back from the force as blood spit from his mouth. With the same bloodied white glove, Vegeta wound up and cracked him in the face. Using enough power to knock Trunks off his feet, ripping the shirt off his body which was still tight in Vegeta's fist. His hair completely lost all of its gold by the time he hit the ground.

"Trunks!" Goten screamed, jumping to his feet, energy rising dangerously high. He felt everything in his heart that Trunks was feeling. Every emotion was becoming his. "Dad, I won't let this happen! Trunks is hurt and he needs my help, he...!"

Goku stood up with an arm out in front of Goten to stop him in his tracks. "Alright Vegeta, that's enough! He can't defend himself anymore. Leave him alone! NOW!"

Vegeta snapped around to face him and pointed his finger directly at his Saiyan counterpart. "Listen, Kakarott, don't tell me how to treat my son. This is of no concern to you." He threw the scrap of shirt left in his hand over to the side and walked towards Trunks, who was now crying face down in the dirt. His heart had been smashed into a thousand pieces as he realized how is father, who he had undyingly idolized every day since he was born, was truly throwing him away. The pain he felt inside made everything else insignificant. Vegeta bent down to lift up his son by the wrist, holding him just inches away.

For the first time, Trunks openly cried in front of his father. His head hung down. Tears and blood mixing, dripping down his already swelling face. Vegeta's usual heartless expression turned to disgust.

"P-Please, dad," he choked through his sobs in a whisper. "I love you d-dad. I love you. Please love me back. I can't...." reaching out for Vegeta's arm, desperately trying to hug his father. Needing to be held and loved. To have a father who cared about his son. Vegeta looked down at his hand trying to pull and grab himself closer, getting blood everywhere before smacking it away. Trunks looked back up at him with tortured eyes, begging for acceptance, half off his feet and unable to stand upright as he dangled by his wrist defeated and rejected. "Dad, please. I..I'm s-so sorry. Please love me. I love you..."

Vegeta looked on his only son as if he were the most disgusting waste of life he had ever laid eyes on. Ignoring the hard sobs wracking through his son's fifteen-year-old broken body. He brought him closer and spoke in his ear,

"I'm embarassed to be your father."

With those cold words, he threw Trunks to the side, hitting face-down into a pile of rocks. Without any expression or remorse of the amount of damage he had done, he simply turned his back and walked away. Leaving his son crying through screams of pain, completely realizing his father truly did not love him. Not at all. Not ever.

"VEGETA!!!" Goku shouted.

Vegeta didn't flinch as he walked past him, feeling Goku's eyes burn into his back. "Don't talk to me, Kakarott! I don't want to hear it, especially from you!" He picked up his towel that was lying next to a tree nearby, and took off into the sky back towards Capsule Corporation.

Having helplessly witnessed what just happened, Goten closed his eyes and felt an enormous ache overcome his body, his fists clenched, his heart racing. He had only ever seen Trunks cry one other time, back when Goku told them that Vegeta had died blowing himself up in an attempt to kill Majin Buu. But that was when they were little kids and it was different back then. This was far deeper. He knew what his father meant to him and how important he was in his life, even though he would never let on to it. He just knew these things about Trunks, whether he said them or not. He could always just feel it.

Goten ran over to where he was lying on the ground, not caring whether his father wanted him to or not. "Trunks!" He got to his knees and put his arm around him only to have it pushed away.

"G-Go away, Goten! Please, just go away," Trunks cried through the violent sobs that shook through his body, turning his head away from the younger boy. "Leave me alone!"

"Trunks, you're hurt. Please let me help you. It's going to be alright," he tried to tell him, knowing in his heart that there wasn't anything he could say that would take away the hurt he was feeling. Goten's eyes scanned over the hard bruises all over his body, blood spilling from a deep gash on his shoulder from the rocks. "Trunks, let me..."

"JUST GO AWAY!" he screamed back, a tortured mixture of anger and pain that felt like it was ripping a hole right through Goten's chest. Trunks had never said anything like that to him before. Not in that tone. He just wanted to be there for him. To help him. Goten looked up, his father now standing right next to them.

"Let's go, Goten. Trunks is going to be okay. He just needs to be alone for a little while." He reached out his hand and pulled his son to his feet. "He knows where to find us if he needs help."

"No, I'm not going anywhere!" Goten fought as he looked back down to his friend, blood drenched and beaten. Tense and shaking. He didn't want to leave him like this. He had to take care of him.

"Goten!" Goku said, his voice now more stern than before. He wasn't being given an option. His father held onto his arm and led him away from Trunks.

Goten walked with his dad, looking back over his shoulder, feeling like he was being torn in two different directions. His body one way, his heart another. Tears threatened to fall from his eyes as he whispered his name under his breath, "Trunks..."

They took off back to their house, just on the other end of the mountains. Not a word was spoken. The sun was showing the beginnings of setting on the horizon. As they flew home through the crisp autumn air, Goten couldn't stop thinking of what happened, or what was going to happen after this. ~

CHAPTER THREE ~

Goten and Goku landed in their front yard, the air full of the smell of dinner already being cooked inside. Not a word had been exchanged between the two the entire way home.

"Goten, why don't you go see if your mother needs help with dinner? I need to take care of something first, okay?" Goku said, motioning over to Gohan and Videl's house, seeing that they had come back from their day out with Pan. Goten didn't respond, his mind was clearly someplace else. He glanced back up at his dad with vacant eyes, looking as if he wanted to speak but couldn't. "It's alright, son. Everything is going to be fine, just give him a little time to be alone right now, okay?" he assured, reaching out and bringing him in closer to hug him. Goten felt himself starting to get upset again and wrapped his arms tight around his dad.

"Okay," he forced out meekly, trying to be as strong as he could to fight his emotions from taking over. He couldn't stop thinking about Trunks. He could feel his devastation, his hurt, and it was overwhelming. Goku pulled away and lifted his chin to look him in the face and could easily see it in his eyes. He gave a reassuring smile and gently put his hand on his son's face as he lowered his voice, "You're a good friend. You know, Trunks is lucky to have you. Trust me, it will all be okay tomorrow." With that said, Goku left him and walked over to the house next door.

Was he a good friend? Goten wondered to himself. He just sat there and watched Trunks' whole world come crashing down around him and didn't do a damn thing to help. He knew Trunks would have done anything to stand up for him, as he had always done in the past. He may have been only been a year older than Goten, but it never stopped him from being protective of the younger demi-Saiyan. Goten felt a heavy crush on his heart, knowing he had let down his best friend, his life-long companion, and very reason for living. He clenched his teeth, letting out all the breath he had been holding in his chest and opened the front door to his house, unable to get two steps into the kitchen before he heard his mother's screeching voice in his ear.

"GOTEN! You're filthy! Get out of my kitchen right now! You're getting mud everywhere!" Unfazed, Goten turned around and walked right back out the door, not missing a beat. He could still hear Chi Chi screaming her head off about him coming back in to clean up the mess, even after he slammed the door.

He made his way across the yard up to Gohan's house, letting himself in the side entrance and could smell the food Videl was making for dinner, reminding him of the appetite he'd lost hours ago. Goku and Gohan were talking in the living room and stopped their conversation once they realized he was standing in the doorway. Gohan walked over to his brother.

"Hey, bro, I felt what you did today. Not bad. Was that the first time?" Gohan tried to sound supportive, even though it was written across his face that he knew what happened. Goten rolled his eyes.

"Can I take a shower here? Mom's freaking out and I can't deal with her right now."

"Yea, sure. There's towels upstairs in the closet, help yourself to whatever..." Gohan trailed off as Goten walked past him without another word, looking completely distant and detached.

"Dad...?" Gohan said, turning to his father standing in the living room with his hand behind his head.

"I don't know, Gohan, I've never seen him like this. I don't know what else to tell him," he softly said as he finished watching his youngest drag himself up the stairs." I know he wants to go back out there, but I don't think it's such a good idea. Just keep an eye on him for me, alright?"

"Of course," Gohan responded. "It's probably a good idea he stay here right now and give him some space." The slam of the bathroom door shook the house.

"Well, I'm going to clean up before dinner." The eldest Son took a step outside and paused. "He needs us right now, so, let's try not to bring it up tonight during dinner." Gohan quietly nodded and closed the door behind his dad.

"Gohan, what's going on out here?" Videl asked, coming out from the kitchen with Pan in her arms.

"Well, I think you need to sit down..."

MEANWHILE, AT CAPSULE CORPORATION-

"Trunks! Dinner!" Bulma shouted from the bottom of the stairs. It wasn't easy working a ten hour day, only to come home and scramble to make dinner that nobody was ready for. "Trunks! Let's go, now!" There was no response from her son's room, which usually led to one conclusion. Bulma marched across the house, hot dinner plate in hand, to the GSR. If Trunks wasn't in his room studying, then perhaps he was training, or at least trying to if Vegeta got there first. She flicked off the external power switch and heard the ever-present hum of the machine grind to a stop.

"3...2...1..."

"Woman! What the hell are you doing?!" Vegeta yelled from inside, barging out of the room like a little kid told he had to stop playing with his toys. "Can't you see that I'm busy in here?!"

"Dinnertime." She shook the plate in front of his face." Where's Trunks? He's not in his room."

"How am I supposed to know, he's your son."

"He's your son too, Vegeta! He left with you this morning, didn't he come home with you?"

Vegeta turned his back towards her and folded his arms. "He's probably still sulking out there. He'll come home when he's ready to grow up, so I wouldn't sit around waiting if I were you."

"Vegeta! He's only fifteen years old!" A worried tone overcame her voice. "Please, tell me what happened out there today. Why didn't Trunks come home? Where is he?"

"Hmph," he grunted under his breath, walking past her into the house.

"VEGETA!!!"

BACK AT THE SON RESIDENCE-

Goten sat on the floor of the bathtub with the side of his head leaning against the wall. Closing his eyes, he let the hot water from the shower beat down on his face. He could feel Trunks. He knew he was still out there. Alone and scared.

"Trunks, I can't let you be by yourself. You need me," he said realizing to himself, "...I need you."

He got up and rinsed the soap out of his hair and off his body and reached out for the towel on the counter. Quickly drying off and wrapping it around his waist, he quietly walked down the hall and into their bedroom, closing the door behind him, hoping nobody heard. Goten threw open Gohan's closet and grabbed the first pair of jeans he could find. Throwing on a black long-sleeve shirt and sneakers, he opened the window and was ready to fly out when he stopped.

"They'll feel my ki rise if I fly. I'm going to have to jump out and run there. Shit!" Without a second thought, Goten took a deep breath, put both feet on the ledge of the window and took a flying leap off the second story drop. He landed on his feet and immediately pushed off into a fast sprint headed to where he knew Trunks would be. For the first time in his fourteen years, he was directly defying his father.

"Gohan, why don't you go up and get your brother? Dinner's almost ready," Videl asked as she handed off Pan to her husband so that she could help Chi Chi finish placing the table. Gohan carried his baby daughter up the stairs and noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that their bedroom door was open.

"He must be borrowing some of my clothes. I hope he can find something clean, huh?" he laughed to Pan, giggling back at her father. "Uncle Goten? Are you in...here..." The window was open and Gohan saw the wet towel on the floor next to his closet. "Goten!"

He ran downstairs to where the Son family was just sitting down for dinner, watching him bound into the room. "Dad, I think we have a problem." ~

CHAPTER FOUR~

   The air was starting to get chilly. The sun was almost down and Trunks was still lying on the same pile of rocks he had been thrown on hours ago. Most of the blood on the rocks and on his body had dried, except for the slice on his shoulder that was still a little wet to the touch. He couldn't remember when he had stopped crying. A blank stare into nothing was now the only expression he had left as thoughts of his life circled in his mind, over and over again. Thoughts of growing up. Trying so hard to get any attention at all from his father. Not ever realizing how much of his life had been devoted to such a pointless cause, until now...

  ...11 YEARS AGO-

 "DAD! DAD! DAD! Can I train with you today? Please! I want to learn to fight! I want to be a Saiyan warrior, too, dad!" Trunks begged, tugging on his father's shirt.

 "I don't have time to train with a child, as if you could. Don't get in my way, Trunks. Go bother your mother," he spat at his child, pushing him to the side to enter the Gravity Simulation Room, not even bothering to look down to his direction. Vegeta walked up the stairs and slammed the heavy metal door in his face.

 "But, I'm really strong, Dad! I want to fight with you," a tiny voice shouted from the other side of the door, too small to see into the windows. "Dad?"

 "GO AWAY, TRUNKS! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOU!" his voice boomed from inside.

 Trunks had never been yelled at before. Not by anyone. He just wanted to be with his father, do things that Goten did with Gohan... He just wanted to see his dad. Trunks sat down on the grass next to the door, remaining totally silent. He sat there patiently for hours. Not a peep.

 Six hours later, Vegeta turned off the machine and opened the door to find his small, four-year-old son sleeping on the stairs at his feet. He stepped over him and walked straight into the house.

    ...SOMETIME BEFORE THE WORLD TOURNAMENT-

 Vegeta threw dozens of kicks and punches at his invisible opponent, hell-bent on powering up to unbelievable levels while confined in the stressed walls of the Gravity Simulation Room. He broke his concentration to see his young son behind him, fighting with everything he had to just walk around.

 "Perhaps you should rest, son. One-hundred fifty times gravity is a man's training level, you're clearly still a child."

 "Goten called me last night. He said he..he's going to be in the Tournament. N..now I want to."

 Vegeta stopped his training and turned his focus to him. "So, what are you going to do about it?" he taunted.

 This was it! This would be his opportunity to show his father that he had reached a new level and was able to transform just like he could. Trunks contained his excitement, trying to act cool about it.

 "I guess I go Super...HAAAAAA!" With one simple burst of energy, Trunks easily transformed into a Super Saiyan for the first time in front of Vegeta without any effort at all. But, instead of the pride and encouragement he expected to get from his father, he got disgust. Almost anger.

 "Come here, son!" Vegeta barked with not the slightest bit of enthusiasm in his tone. Trunks walked over to his dad, not quite sure what to expect from the reaction. "Try to hit me!"

 Trunks looked confused. "Uh, why would I do that, dad? You know I'm not strong enough." Certainly this was some sort of joke.

 "You want to play like that? Fine, let's deal- If you can land a punch in my face, then I'll take you to the park for an hour." Vegeta's temper began to rise. So did his ki level. "Now let's just see what you can do." He made no attempt to hold back his power from the overly enthusiastic eight-year-old in front of him and fully transformed himself into an ascended Super Saiyan.

 Trunks' eyes lit up, heeding no attention whatsoever to Vegeta's incredible power. His only thoughts were of his promise-- His dad wanted to take him to the park? He NEVER got to go anywhere with him, but now that he finally proved himself, everything would be like he wanted it. All of his training and sparring in the woods with Goten was going to pay off! His dad DID love him after all!

 "Wow, you mean it? OKAY!" He powered up as high as his small frame could withstand and came flying at Vegeta with enough force to knock over their house. He threw everything he had at him, every technique, every angle with speed and control that was well beyond his years. He wound up hard, throwing one last big punch and nailed Vegeta right on his cheekbone. Trunks only enjoyed the moment for a second before... **POW**

 The Saiyan Prince had reflex-punched his son square in the face, sending him flying across the GSR to land on his back. He froze as Trunks struggled to force himself up on his hands, spitting up the warm blood that was now running down his face. But he didn't cry. He wanted to, but held in as hard as he could.

 "Nhhh, you didn't say you'd hit back, d..dad."

 "Well I didn't say that I wouldn't, now did I, Trunks?" Vegeta responded as cold and uncaring as ever, despite just giving his son one hell of a broken nose. "Come on, we're going to the park, NOW!"

 Trunks forced out half a smile and tried as best as he could to get to his feet. He wanted this more than anything else in the world, but as soon as he fully stood up, he felt everything go black and fell flat on his face, unconscious.

 Vegeta never took him to the park.

    ...AFTER THE WORLD TOURNAMENT JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

  "Did you see me, dad? I won! I won! Just like you told me to!" Trunks' eyes were beaming with pride as he ran up to his father. Vegeta just stood there, arms crossed and tense. His cold, black eyes lowered to his son's.

 "Congratulations, Trunks, you've managed to beat a bunch of little children, " he said, sarcasm pouring from his words to crush the young boy in front of him.

 "But I..I won, dad. I wanted...just to make you proud of me," his small voice shook as he spoke, begging for any sign of acceptance. He reached out for his father's hand.

 Vegeta simply turned on his heel and walked away, remarking over his shoulder, "I don't have time for such trivial things. Bother me when you can actually do something, Trunks, not some childish game."

 As Trunks was left standing alone in the empty hallway, he could feel tears welling up in his eyes and bit down on his lower lip. Nothing was ever good enough. Ever. Why couldn't his dad be happy for him like the other dads were for their sons? They didn't even win and they still got more attention then he did. He brought his small fists up to his face to cover his eyes, trying hard to choke back a sob.

 "Trunks! Hey! Do you want to watch the rest of the tournament with me?" Goten shouted as he came running down the hall to meet his friend. Trunks quickly wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and tried to put on a brave face. He turned around with flushed cheeks and red eyes. Goten stopped. "Trunks? Are you okay?" he asked, looking past him to see Vegeta walking away far down the hall.

 "Of course I am!" he answered with his toughest voice. "I don't care about this stupid contest anyway."

 He was telling the truth. He didn't really care about winning at all... He only wanted it for his father.

        ...Trunks pulled himself up off of the rocks and winced in pain. His ribs were obviously broken, and by moving his arm he had reopened the scab that was starting to form on his shoulder. Blood now dripped down his arm and off his fingertips. He turned over to sit up, trying to control his breathing as much as possible to ease the sharp stabbing in his sides. Using his good arm to help him get to his feet, he carefully walked over to the small pond on the other side of the trees.

 Kneeling down, he bent over the cold water to splash some on his face, catching a glimpse of his reflection on its mirrored surface. He scanned over his body, tear-stained and beaten. Closing his eyes to fall back on his hands, Trunks pulled his knees into his bare chest and held on to the gash over his shoulder, letting the blood drip through his fingers. The wind waving over the field began to pick up a little, sending chills over his body and blowing random strands of lavender hair in front of his eyes. Never before had he felt this empty or alone. His body, his mind, his heart-- Everything was torn to pieces.

 But he could sense something. Someone. Really close and watching him. Without lifting his eyes he knew who it was.

 "Goten, I know you're there. I can feel you, you know," he said flatly as Goten slowly peeked out from behind a tree, trying to remove the worried look on his face and in his voice.

 "Trunks...?" He stood with his hands buried deep in the pockets of Gohan's jeans, attempting to hide the fact he was completely out of breath from running on foot for almost five miles from his house.

 Neither boy could move. Goten finally took a deep, nervous breath and walked over to the older boy, sitting down in the short grass next to him so that they were both just staring out vacantly into the water. There was nothing to say really. They just remained quiet in their uncomfortable silence that surrounded them, listening to the water ripple by, the wind blowing through the branches of the trees scattered around the pond. It was starting to get dark. Goten swallowed the dryness that had built in his throat and attempted to say something.

 "Trunks, you don't have to say anything, but I...but I just wanted to let you know that I'm here for you." Trunks put his elbow on his knee and laced his hand through his bangs, holding them back away from his face. He listened as Goten softened his voice. "Listen, I know you don't want to talk abo-...well... I just, I wanted to tell you that I know what your feeling."

 Trunks turned his face away from him as he clenched his jaw, making a fist in his hair.

 "No, no, that's not what I meant... I mean," he fought for the right words. "I don't know what it feels like from experience... but I know what YOU feel like." He looked over to Trunks, body trembling, lowering his voice to almost a whisper. "And I know how bad it hurts you, Trunks. I just... want to be here for you. I don't want to leave you alone."

 Goten hesitated, knowing the reality of what he was about to say. His voice echoed his heart. "You're a part of me..."

 Trunks looked up at him with glossy tears building in his eyes as he continued, "...Just like I'll always be a part of you."

   The tears, pain, emotions, everything that had built up for so long inside, threatened to all come pouring out right there. But Trunks covered his eyes with the back of his fist, holding his breath as he looked down and tried desperately hard not to cry in front of him. There weren't anymore words left to say. More than anything, he just wanted to be held, to be told everything was going to be okay. He needed him, but couldn't bring himself to move from the position he was frozen to, still holding on to the last shred of strength he had to look strong.

 But Goten could see right through it and knew exactly what to do, moving over next to Trunks and wrapping his strong arms around him, holding on as tight as he could. He rested the side of his head on his and unexpectedly felt Trunks break into a hard sob. His emotions tore through the both of them as he held him closer, running his hand through the back of his silken human hair. Goten could feel the heat radiate from his half naked body as all of the pain that tortured his soul began to melt away. Trunks wrapped his arms around the boy's shoulders, pressing his cheek next to his. The hot tears that ran down his face were now spilling on to Goten's.

 They held each other and everything felt right again. Neither boy had ever been this close to anyone before, especially not each other. Not like this. Goten squeezed his eyes tight to Trunks' uncontrollable crying, pressing their warm bodies together, feeling a connection, a new type of bond, like something he never felt, not even when they had fused with each other so many times before.

 And then, without any warning, it happened...

 Trunks inhaled deeply through his choking breaths, slightly relaxing his body from crying, and slid his hand around to the nape of Goten's neck, pulling away so that the tip of his nose barely skimmed across his cheek, his nose... then his lips. His eyes slipped closed and he could hear his heart pounding wildly through his chest. Without any rational thoughts, he tilted his head, carelessly brushing his warm lips against Goten's, holding his breath in for a second as he felt his heart ache in response to his vulnerable need to be loved. Completely lost in the moment and forgetting what he was actually doing, Trunks moved him closer and crushed his lips against Goten's fully, parting them slightly. Wanting, almost begging for his response. They were so soft and warm and felt so good. It...

 Goten snapped his eyes open and pulled away. "Trunks! What are...you...?" He was cut off as Trunks placed his quivering fingers over Goten's lips, quieting his voice to a silence, looking back through his eyes with the deepest, most exposed part of his heart.

 "C-Chibi, I..."

   "Trunks? Is that you?" Bulma's voice called out from a dense patch of trees in the distance. Goten jolted upright out of Trunks' arms, scared out of his skin for multiple reasons. He frantically wiped his mouth off with the back of his sleeve and looked next to him. Trunks already had his head in his hands covering his face before Bulma ran towards them, Gohan right behind her.

 "Trunks! Goten! We've been looking all over for you two out here, are you boys alri...? TRUNKS! What happened to you?!?!" Bulma gasped as she got close enough to see the blood and bruises all over his body, torn clothes hanging off of him. "What happened? Who did this to you?"

 He didn't answer. He couldn't even look at her. He couldn't look at anyone. Especially not Goten. He curled up smaller and buried his head in his arms wrapped across his knees, feeling as if salt were being rubbed into every wound.

 Gohan exchanged glances with his younger brother, who was obviously in shock from what they just missed by a second. "Goten, dad is pretty upset with you. He wants me to bring you home," he chided, walking over to where the boys were sitting together.

 "Trunks needed me, okay?" Goten said almost frantically, jumping to his feet in defense, taking a step back. "I had to come! Would you have just left me out here?" Goten's voice was raised, clearly upset and shaken. "I...I'm staying with Trunks."

 Bulma bent down to get a closer look at her son. "Trunks, you need to come home. We don't have to talk about it right now, but I'm going to take you home so we can get you taken care of, alright?" She gently lifted his head with her hand under his chin, suddenly feeling faint as she could see how badly beaten his face was, noting how he was unable to even look her in the eye. A complete feeling of devastation and rejection tightened every inch of his body. He glanced up to Goten and could see by his body language just how uncomfortable and uneasy he was merely standing there.

 "Do you need help getting up?" Gohan offered, reaching out his hand to Trunks.

 "No! I'm fine," he snapped back. Trunks sucked in and tried to stand up by himself, but doubled over from the sharp pain of his broken ribs once he stretched up from being crouched down for so long. Goten's reflexes rushed to catch him, holding him around his back and chest for support. He felt him tense from his touch, scared and embarrassed all at the same time.

 Bulma opened up a silver case from the pocket of her jacket and flipped it open, removing the capsule for her car and throwing it to the ground after giving it a click. A dark-blue sports car appeared from the puff of vapor.

 "Trunks...?" Goten said to him quietly, barely audible under his breath, searching for a sign that everything was going to be alright. But he knew there wouldn't be anymore talking. Not tonight.

 Definitely not tonight.

 Without words, he picked Trunks up effortlessly in his arms and carried the older demi-Saiyan to the front seat of the car, being painfully tender and gentle as to not hurt him in any way. He wanted to say something. Anything. Not to mention the millions of questions that he had flooding through his head. He was so confused and couldn't just let him leave. Not like this. But what should he say? What COULD he say? He slowly let his hands slide away from his body as he helped him in the car, the slightest hint of hesitation in his fingers as he spoke the only words that seemed right.

 "...Good night, Trunks."

 Their eyes met one last time for a split second just before Bulma sped off back to Capsule Corporation, leaving the two brothers alone in the empty field. The sun was almost completely set in the distance and if there were still a moon in the sky, it would have already been out.

 Goten felt that heavy feeling in his chest again as he stared transfixed to the horizon, unable to comprehend what actually happened. Gohan sighed and put his arm around his little brother's shoulders, attempting to give him that brotherly assurance he knew was well needed and sparing him the lecture that would most certainly come later from his parents, regardless of the cause.

 "C'mon, bro, let's go home. You've had a long day, huh?"

 "I don't think you'll ever have any idea." ~

 CHAPTER FIVE ~

  "Sweetheart, why don't you go into the bathroom down here and wash off," Bulma asked as she helped her son into the front door of their house. Trunks had his arms wrapped around his middle, hunched over as to not stretch out the muscles around his broken ribs. Bulma hesitated before letting him go. "If you need anything, anything at all, just call out. I'll be getting the first aid-kit, okay?"

 Trunks managed to get out a nod, not wanting to speak. She watched him as he tenderly walked through the kitchen and into the guest bathroom that was located on the first floor. Her heart sank, instincts telling her the damage must be far deeper than what she could see on the outside. Surely her son had been banged up before, but seeing him like this was almost too much for her to handle.

 Trunks locked himself in the bathroom, his eyes catching his own reflection in the full-length mirror on the back of the door. It was a far different sight in the bright lights than compared to the one in the pond earlier. His fingers traced the cuts and blood streaks over the front of his chest and shoulders, tired, beaten eyes looking back at him. Defeat, in every way, written clear across his face.

 While he waited for the water in the shower to get hot, he could hear his mother screaming from in the kitchen, his father's voice screaming right back. She was upset. Maybe she was crying. He heard his name.

 Trunks tried to tune it out, that being the very last thing he wanted to hear. With a snap of his wrist, he tore off his already ripped pants and stepped into the shower. The hot water running off his body felt good as he closed his eyes and let it beat down on his face, bracing one hand on the wall. Every muscle in his body ached and stung, every part of his heart wanted to scream. Trunks looked down to see the bottom of the tub was pooling up with red water and let his head hang down to feel the heat cascade down his back and over his shoulders.

 Despite the temperature of the water, Trunks felt a shiver rush over his body. He thought of Goten. How he suddenly pulled away. How scared he looked after what they did. That wasn't the way it was supposed to happen. It wasn't supposed to happen at all! He promised himself a long time ago he wouldn't think of those things. He valued their friendship far too much to fuck it up for some stupid feeling he had. Some stupid feeling he convinced himself would destroy everything if he didn't feel the same way back. Without ever having seen Goten's reaction before, Trunks already knew that he didn't.

 His legs got weak just thinking of what he had done. How was he ever going to face him again? Goten was the only real thing he had in his life, the only thing that made him who he is, who he wanted to be. They had been best friends, way past best friends, as long as he could remember and were with each other nearly every day after. It was only after Goku taught them to fuse at the temple that they knew they had an unusually strong connection to one another, much more than other kids their age could ever understand. They shared the same body. They knew each other's thoughts. Ever since then, things were never quite the same. Trunks started looking at his friend differently and his heart grew attached to him... the same one that they once shared.

 But he kept it inside, hiding his emotions deep down, knowing full on that everything existing about their friendship would be ruined if he ever told Goten what he was feeling. But now it was too late. He wanted to take it all back. He wanted things to be like they were before. He was vulnerable and didn't think. Now everything was a mess. He couldn't lose him. What would his life be without him? He felt a knot in his chest as the water blended with the tears that stung his eyes.

 "Are you alright in there?" he heard his mother say from the other side of the door. "Do you need my help?"

 Trunks blinked, focusing his mind back to where he was. "I'll be out in a minute," he managed to call back with a slight crack in his voice. He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, flaring up his ki for a second to dry off. He wrapped a fresh towel around his waist from off the shelf and looked at himself in the mirror again before opening the door. Dark purple bruises were starting to show through his skin now that he had washed off all of the blood and dirt. Surely they would be worse tomorrow.

       "Ok, now this might hurt a little..."

 "AHHH! Mom! It stings!" Trunks winced as Bulma dumped the bottle of rubbing alcohol on his shoulder. He ground his teeth together hard, attempting to squirm away from her while she soaked up the blood from his wound with a cotton ball.

 "Alright, tough guy, I know it doesn't hurt that bad. Would you prefer a nasty infection?" she playfully asked, trying as best she could to lighten the mood and not let on to how worried about him she actually was. She focused her attention back to his shoulder, a lot more serious than she had originally thought. "I think you might need a couple of stitches here, Trunks." She knew that getting her son to a hospital tonight was probally not going to happen.

 He looked away, trying to suck it up and not complain. "No," he snapped, tightening his fists to dull the burn. "I don't want to go anywhere now. I don't care if it leaves a stupid scar." He did appreciate his mother's concern, but at this point, he just wanted to be alone. Sitting in the bathroom and having his mother baby him wasn't exactly what he wanted right now. "You don't have to do anything else, okay... I just want to go to bed."

 Bulma let out a deep breath and reluctantly reached over for the roll of gauze in the box. "Ok, honey. Just let me bandage this up first," she told him softly as she started to wrap it around his upper arm, careful not to make it too tight. She could read her son pretty well and knew this wasn't the night to fight back. Trunks watched his mother as she finished taping the end together. Without saying anything else, he got up and started to walk towards his room.

 "I love you, Trunks."

 He stopped as her words created a warm ache inside him. "I love you too, mom," he said, facing away from her, trying to keep his voice from breaking again. He waited a moment before speaking further. "...I know you know what happened today... with dad." he slowly turned to face her and started to cry once he saw the tears already on his mother's face. He lowered his head. "I'm sorry. I screwed everything up for us. I..." he choked out in sharp breaths, before Bulma ran to him and threw her arms around her son, holding on as tight as she could.

 "No... No, honey. It's not your fault. Please don't cry, Trunks. You didn't do anything wrong," she comforted, letting her son openly cry in her arms. "I love you so much. You're everything to me. And your father..."

 "No, don't!" he cut in, pushing away and shaking his head. "I can't. No, not now." He couldn't hear 'The Speech' again-- How 'you know how much your father loves you, even though he has a hard time showing it'. Or 'your father has always been so proud of you. Don't you remember the one time in your life he told you?'. They were just empty words. They meant absolutely nothing. Maybe she should try the truth sometime, like 'well, we all know that you're a failure, so maybe it would be better if you just stop calling him dad and forget that you're a Saiyan, okay?'.

 He was tired of crying over him. "I don't want to talk about it, I just...I just want to go to bed."

 Bulma sighed. She gently brushed the hair away from his eyes and wiped the tears from his cheeks. "Okay," she whispered, forcing a smile and kissing his forehead. She waited for her son to walk up the stairs and out of her sight before collapsing back into her chair, crying her eyes out.

    Trunks quietly walked down the hall past his baby sister's room, surely asleep by this hour, and slipped into his bedroom, leaving the lights out. He opened his drawer and pulled out a pair of loose, cotton pajama bottoms, throwing them on and tossing the damp towel on the chair next to his bed before crawling under his sheets and pulling the soft blanket up to his chest. His only thoughts were of Goten. He couldn't imagine his life without him, without seeing him everyday, his smile, his laugh. The way he twisted his hair in his fingers when he was nervous or bored. The way he wore the same ratty pair of jeans for weeks on end. How he drank his coffee in the morning, more like a sugary soup than a drink...

 And how his skin felt, so soft to the touch. How his hair would smell after just taking a shower. And the way he looked into his eyes, those beautifully dark eyes, staring back at him with a lifetime of memories. Trunks buried his face in his pillow.

 "I can't live my life without you, Goten," he said to himself, curling up tight into a little ball under the covers. "I love you so much. I can't lose you. I can't." Trunks remembered Goten's words from before, squeezing the blanket to his body. "You ARE a part of me, Chibi. You've always been. Oh God, I need you so much now, please don't leave me," he sobbed into his pillow, slowly crying himself to sleep. ~

 CHAPTER SIX ~

   Goten rolled over and looked at the clock at the side of his bed.

 7:48am, late by Son Family standards.

 Even though it was Sunday, his parents were probally already up for at least an hour by now, a gene not inherited by their youngest son. His idea of a weekend was more like sleeping in until noon and watching television in bed all day, even thought it never happened.

 "Did you plan on getting up today or should I serve you breakfast in bed?" Chi Chi questioned loudly in his doorway, hands on her hips and impatiently tapping her foot.

 "No, no..." he yawned out, still half asleep, but Chi Chi was not a woman of patience. "Mom, wait! I'm getting up! I'm getting up!" he pleaded as his mother started to yank him out of his bed by the arm. Chi Chi might have only been a house wife, but when she wanted something done, it damn well got done right then! No questions.

   Goten blankly sat at his kitchen table across from his father, already on his fourth or fifth bowl of cereal. Food just wasn't what he wanted to see right now, even though his stomach was rumbeling like a truck. He couldn't stop thinking about Trunks and what happened the night before in that field - His best friend kissed him! On the lips! DELIBERATELY! Did he miss something? Did he lead him on somehow by accident without knowing it? And does Trunks like him? Like that?! Has he... *always* liked guys? Goten swallowed hard.

 'There's no way he actually meant it! We're friends!  But what if he...'

 Goten put his hands over his eyes and rubbed hard on his face.

 'What the hell is going on?'

 "Are you ok, Goten?" his father asked, stopping mid-chew, looking at his youngest beat himself up at the breakfast table. "Goten! Hey!" He reached out and grabbed on to his wrist. He got his attention, but it was clearly not in the same room as his son.

 Goten snapped out of it. "Yea. Yea, I'm okay..." he quickly nodded, realizing that he must look like he's loosing his mind. After all, he did fall asleep in his clothes which were still smeared and stained with Trunks' blood, not that wearing blood stained clothes at the kitchen table is out of the ordnary when three Saiyans were once living in the house.

 He needed to get out of the house and talk to him.

 Now.

 Goten put his hands on the table and casually started to get up out of his chair. "I don't think I'm really that hungry. I'm just going..."

 "I don't think so, mister!" Chi Chi yelled, pushing him back down into his seat. "You're not going anywhere before you eat your breakfast!" Goten looked over to Goku for a signal that it was alright to just leave, but saw him quietly chuckeling to himself and already digging back into his food. It was clear who wore the pants in HIS family! He had lived in that house long enough to reconize that no-bullshit tone in his mother's voice and reluctantly reached for the sugar as he started shoveling it into his coffee. It would have to wait for now, or at least until after breakfast.

    BACK AT CAPSULE CORPERATION -

 *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BE..*

 Trunks slammed his hand down on his alarm clock, still face down in his pillow. His alarm was still set for 8:00am from yesterday when he was supposed to spar with Goten.

 'Amazing how your life can change in 24 hours.'

 He sat up in his bed, every bone in his body ached like it had been broken a thousand times over. His face didn't feel much better. He rolled over and put his feet on the floor, slowly standing up to be careful of his ribs, still tender and sore, before making his way down the hall. He gave a quick peek into his sister's room - Bra wasn't in her crib and he couldn't hear his mother running around downstairs like on every other Sunday morning, leading him to believe he was probably left by himself. Unless his father was home.

 "Oh, God. Please don't be home today."

 He made his way down to the kitchen. A small note was attached to the refridgerator. He read his mother's scribbled handwriting:

 TRUNKS,

I WILL BE OUT WITH YOUR SISTER UNTIL 3:00. THERE'S

FOOD PREPARED IN THE 'FRIDGE. HERE'S $20, YOU CAN

GO OUT FOR LUNCH WITH GOTEN IF YOU WANT. I LOVE YOU!

MOM

     Trunks stared at Goten's name on the note. What was he going to say to him? There was no way to just forget about it ever happening and pretend everything was okay again. It was hard enough hidding it before, and now... now Goten knew the truth. Trunks dragged his feet into the living room and sank down into the cushions of the couch.

 He valued their friendship too much to let it be thrown away. He was going to have to lie. Tell him that he didn't know what he was doing. He was confused and upset, and... things... just sort of happened. He had to at least try. Goten wouldn't want to come within ten miles of him if he knew how strong he felt about him and how many times he wanted to curl up next to him in his bed when he slept over his house. He didn't know that his heart broke everytime he'd flirt with some brainless girl in front of him, some girl who didn't know anything about what it felt like to fuse, or why he was so much stronger than everyone else at school, or why he had a tiny scar at the base of his spine.

 Even worse, Goten didn't know how turned on he was getting lately everytime the younger boy took his shirt off when they sparred, or how many times he'd be making out with a girl while imagining it was Goten he was kissing instead. Nevermind how many nights he fell asleep thinking about him only to wake up from... well it didn't matter now. Goten was most likely already disgusted with him at this point, and would probably run in the other direction if he came anywhere near him.

 He was so lost in his thoughts of how he was going to convince Goten that their...no, HIS kiss was a accident, Trunks didn't hear the footsteps walking into the room from behind him. The low rumble of Vegeta's voice jumped his heart.

 "Your mother went out shopping. Did you eat breakfast?" he said, sounding like he was forced to pretend like he cared. Trunks pushed himself up straight and hugged his knees into his chest, feeling more embarassed and nervous than anything else. He couldn't look at him and turned his head away so that he was facing out towards the window.

 Vegeta walked to the couch and saw his son visibly cringe at the very presence of him being in the same room. Unfolding his arms, he knelt down one knee in front of him.

 "Son..." he paused, looking at how bruised his body was - puffy cuts and scrapes over his face and arms, a bandage on his shoulder that had blood spotted through the gauze. Vegeta tried to soften his harsh rasp. "Trunks, you are my only son. I've seen you grow up your entire life, yet... I really don't know who you are."

 Trunks felt every part of him tense up into a knot. Breathing became harder to control. Vegeta never gave a shit about who he was or how he made him feel. Why didn't he just leave him alone, ignore him like every other day of his life? Why was he doing this? Had he found a new way to tourture him? To rip his heart into pieces for fun? Was he trying to make him cry just so he could laugh at how weak and worthless he was?

 "It's been hard... for me to realize this, but..." Vegeta shifted his weight, searching for the right words to say to him before taking a deep breath. "I don't know how to be your father, Trunks. I don't know how to treat you... not like you deserve. You didn't grow up a Saiyan. You grew up a human, with all these feelings, and... emotions. Like your mother. And I don't have any idea what it's like to be you. I just, tried to push you and raise you like a Saiyan boy. It's all I know and I..." he stopped, reaching out to put his hand on the boy's head, feeling him shudder under his touch. "I forgot to raise you as my son, Trunks. I... I'm sorry. This isn't what I had intended to happen to you."

 Trunks put his head down across his arms around his knees, pursing his lips together, trying to stop from shaking. He could feel his chest tightening up. Vegeta took his hand off his head and stood up where he was.

 "Stand up, son." He reached out his hand.

 Trunks looked up at his father with glazed eyes but didn't move. The two starred at each other for what seemed like hours, a suffocating tension between them. Gradually, releasing his arms from around his knees, he got to his feet without any of his father's help, giving Vegeta the first full look at the damage he had done to his body. Lately, Vegeta hadn't even looked at his son long enough to realize how mature and strong he had become for his age, his frame reminding him more and more of the mirai boy that came to aid them to fight the androids so long ago. He reached around and put his hand on the back of his head and pulled his son into his arms for only the second time in his life.

 Trunks couldn't let it go. It was torture. His shut his eyes, his body still completely tense with his arms flexed at his sides, forcing himself to keep it all inside. Not letting himself loose it. Crushing every feeling down so deep and so hard it actually hurt. He wasn't going to cry, not now.

 Vegeta could feel the muscles on his back, rock hard and frightened to the unfamiliar sensation of being hugged, especially by him. He could sense how uncomfortable he was just by his touch, just like the last time they were in this situation.

 "Trunks, my son, I care very much for you. And I do want you to know, I AM...very proud of you. I've always been." The awkwardness in his voice was starting to dissolve, replaced by genuine affection.

 Trunks bit down hard on his bottom lip, his face feeling like it was going to shatter. The moment he wanted more than anything his whole life, what he always wanted to hear his father say to him, all those years of neglect and abuse, throwing him away and pushing him aside... forgetting about him and breaking his heart over and over...

 "I LOVE YOU, DAD!" he cried, throwing his arms around his father, clinging on as tight as he could. Vegeta felt his heart melt, holding on strong to his fifteen-year-old son with all of the attention and love he never gave him and should have, feeling warm tears starting to soak through his shirt. Trunks was trembeling to such a degree it almost made him think he was hurting him, until he remembered the woman mentioning something once about 'tears of joy'. It had never even occured to him that his son had needed this so badly.

 "I want to... try to be your father. I promise, I WILL try," he said gently without any anger left in his voice. He pulled away to look at his son, his bright, blue eyes swollen and wet. "You're a Saiyan Prince, Trunks. Did you know that? You would have been the heir to the throne had there still been one, and... you've made me very proud."

 Trunks tensed his shoulders, inhaling a deep breath as he listened to those seemingly foreign words directed towards him. He looked up in amazement, now at almost eye level with his father, as a real smile appeared on his face. Not a smirk, but a real smile.

 He wiped the tears from his own cheeks and bravely smiled back. Trunks got what he wanted as Vegeta was finally accepting his son after a lifetime of ignoring him and forgetting to be a father at all. He finally had a father that loved him back, something he had never experienced before that moment. He wanted to run out and tell everyone, everyone that knew his life and how much this meant to him. But the only person he knew would understand, the one person he wanted to tell the most, probably never wanted to speak to him again.

 He had to see him. He had to undo the damage, whatever it took. He couldn't have Goten missing from his life, the other half of who he was in every sense of his being. Trunks knew the hard truth about his feelings and knew he was facing only one option to keep them together.

   He just had to see Goten... ~

 CHAPTER SEVEN ~

   Goten quickly finished helping his mother clean up after breakfast and changed out of the clothes he borrowed from Gohan the night before. Without wasting any more time, he was already darting through the kitchen and out the door before Chi Chi could even turn around. "I'll be back later, mom," he shouted from the yard, not giving her the chance to object. Within minutes, he was flying at full speed on his way to Capsule Corporation, more nervous than he should have been.

 He got close to the edge of West City and landed on a rural road near the outskirts of town. It was broad daylight and flying through a city wasn't really a good idea. Besides, running the rest of the way shouldn't be that hard, compared to the marathon he ran the night before.

 It took Goten only a couple of minutes before he was at the front door, palms sweating, heart ready to explode at any second. He reached for the doorbell and froze.

 "Why am I so nervous? It's Trunks. I'm sure there's a reason for this. He. he doesn't like me like *that*. He would have told me... right?" Goten started to wonder if just showing up without calling first was such a good idea. "Damnit, what am I going to..."

 The door flew open, nearly smacking him in the face. Trunks almost plowed him over before he realized Goten was standing right in front of him, finger still reaching out for the doorbell. "Goten! What the hell are you doing here?!" he asked, having the breath just knocked out of him and completely in shock to be looking at the person he was running out to find. Both boys stared wide eyed at each other, hesitant to say anything at first. "I was... was just on my way to see you."

 "Same thing." Goten felt numb.

 Trunks didn't know what else to do. Sure, he wanted to talk to Goten, but now that he was actually here, his mind went completely blank to what he wanted to say. "Do you want to come inside?" trying to steady his voice. He motioned into the house, figuring if they were going to actually talk, his front door probably wasn't the best place to do it.

 "Uh, sure." Every word out of his mouth felt awkward.

 They walked into the living room, completely alone and quiet. Too quiet. Goten's stomach started turning and twisting into knots, making him wish he hadn't eaten so much for breakfast that morning. He could hear the faint hum of the Gravity Simulator turning on, indicating Vegeta was in the house somewhere with them and not making the situation any more comfortable than it already wasn't. He shrugged his shoulders up and crossed his arms, making every attempt not to openly stare at Trunk's face that now looked horribly swollen with black and blue bruises.

 Trunks took notice to how uneasy his friend looked and finally forced himself to say something. "Thank you for... being there - for me - last night. I..., God, I don't...." He felt so clumsy with his words. How was he going to do this? He was going to slip and say something wrong, everything was going to get screwed up. "I, well..."

 "Trunks, it... it's okay. I was just worried about you. I'm sorry, I should have done something, I was stupid to just stand there and..."

 "No, Goten . Don't apologize. The truth is,... you were there when I needed you." Trunks locked their eye contact, softening his focus as his voice got deeper. He could see Goten's breathing start to quicken, looking back at him with eyes full of fear and confusion. "...You were right, Chibi. You really *are* a part of me. I, I don't know what I would do if you weren't."

 Trunks felt a knife pierce through his chest, looking back at the boy that was somehow crushing his heart without even knowing it. His mind was racing with all of the things he tried so hard not to imagine, but he didn't care. He wanted so much to kiss him one more time, one more chance to feel his soft lips on his own, hold him and feel his warm body pressed against his. To feel safe and loved like he had for that split second that everything changed the night before. To be next to the only person that would ever feel right in his arms. But that wasn't how things were supposed to be. Goten was everything to him, even though he would never really be able to tell him how much. It took every ounce of strength he had to not smooth his hand across his face, his neck, his hair...just one last time.

   He swallowed his feelings hard. His heart was breaking into a million pieces.

   "Heh, Goten, your my best friend in the whole world, and I'm really sorry I acted so stupid last night." He cracked an uncomfortable smile as he nervously tucked away a chunk of lavender hair that fell in his eyes. "I was upset and stuff, and I guess I just got confused or something... I don't have a clue what I was thinking! I'm mean, were best friends, c'mon!" he tried to joke without sounding too desperate. To his surprise, Goten looked down at the floor and stifled a small laugh. "PLEASE don't read anything into it...? We're cool, right?" Trunks held his breath, looking down for the response he prayed would come.

 Goten smiled. "Yea, we're cool," grinning with a faint sound of relief on his voice. "You're my best friend too, Trunks. I wouldn't stop being friends with you because of something like that. We've been together forever, that's not something you just go and forget about because *you* went and did something stupid," he joked as he playfully hit Trunks in his good shoulder, pretending to take the defense.

 "Oh, yea? I'll show you something stupid," he smirked, catching him off guard and sweeping the feet from out under him. Trunks let out an evil laugh as Goten landed flat on his back on the hard wood floor ensuing the mini fight that sparked up in the middle of the living room. Before they knew it, both boys were laughing and carrying on like usual again like nothing had ever happened, at least as far as Goten was concerned. But Trunks knew it was worth it. This was too important to him to lose and he *did* love Goten as his best friend. That would always make him happy.

 They ran through the house trying to catch each other, pushing off walls and jumping down stairs, knowing full well that Bulma would probably kill them when she got home for making a mess of the house and leaving footprints all over the wallpaper again. Trunks peeked around the kitchen corner to sneak up on his younger counterpart when Goten jumped out from behind the counter and sucker-punched him in the ribs.

 "AAAAHHH!!!" He instantly collapsed to the floor.

 "Oh no! Trunks, I'm sorry! I forgot...!" Goten rushed to his friend, doubled over on the floor. "Are you okay?"

 Trunks held his breath. "Yea, yea. I'm fine," he clenched through his teeth, wincing out the twisting pain from his already broken ribs. "I-I'll be fine."

 Goten helped him stand up and reached for his wallet, digging out an emergency senzu bean his father gave him just incase he were to ever need it. Now seem as good a time as any. "Here, take this," he offered, handing it to Trunks.

 "Goten, I'M NOT DYING! Put that away!" he snapped as he pushed his hand away, still hunched over in pain.

 "Take it! I'll just go to Korrin's tomorrow and get another one. Big deal. Besides, I want you to heal up already..." Trunks smiled at him, finally accepting and eating the bean. Goten laughed as he swallowed. "....So I can kick your ass!"

 Trunks instantly felt his body go numb as his power level shot through the roof. He had only taken a senzu bean one other time in his life but apparently forgot what an incredible rush it was, almost a sort of high. He stretched his back out and rolled his neck, looking at Goten who was obviously unaware at how powerful you get after taking one of them. Almost instantly the swollen bruises on his face and arms began to dissolve away through his skin, healing his body completely from the day before.

 "I'm going to destroy you," he smirked, tearing off the bandage on his shoulder from under his shirt. "Let's go to Korrin's now! I'll race you!"

 "You're on! Need a head start?" Goten taunted, raising a questioning eyebrow sarcastically. As it had always been before, no response was needed.

 Just as the two demi-Saiyans reached the front door, Trunks stopped and held the younger demi-Saiyan back. "Wait, Chibi - remind me I've got to tell you something later." An enthusiasm that Goten hadn't heard in years was obvious on his voice. "I've got the best news in the whole world and you're *never* going to believe what happened to me this morning..."

     The two boys raced out the door and down the streets until they hit the West City limits. Trunks and Goten took off to the air, fighting each other for the lead the whole way as the wind blew through their hair, flying around the tree tops in the forests, best friends more than ever.

 Goten watched as Trunks took off ahead and his heart suddenly felt heavy, watching him as he danced through the clouds, smiling as bright as the sunlight he flew through. Goten's eyes cast down out of focus. A part of this was different and he didn't really know why. Their friendship was stronger then ever and he felt so close to Trunks - like nothing could ever come between them. But somehow, he felt he missed something - something that wasn't there between them before. He started feeling a hollowness well up inside him, an emptiness in his heart.

 "Goten! You're falling behind! Do you want to catch me or not?"

   For the first time, he honestly didn't know. ~

 CHAPTER EIGHT ~

   MID AUGUST, SIX YEARS LATER...

 Goten impatiently looked down at his watch. He had been sitting in the car with the top down for twenty minutes already, and Trunks and Marron said they'd be finished shopping for tonight in five! It was the end of the summer and the three of them were going to have the entire weekend to themselves at Capsule Corporation - no Bulma, no Vegeta, no Bra - just them! It was going to be so much fun...

 "...if only they would ever get out of the freakin' store!"

 He looked back for them in the rear view mirror to see the two of them bolting through the parking lot like they had just robbed a bank, and slid himself over to the driver's seat.

 "What the...?" Goten stuttered, looking more than confused at why his two friends fell laughing into the front seat of the car. "What the hell did you guys do in there?"

 Trunks could barely talk he was laughing so hard, "Uh... Marron got us free liquor!" he busted out before getting slapped on the back of the head.

 "Trunks! Shut up! How did you think I was going to get it? *You* wouldn't buy it for me!" she shouted, her face blushing bright red, more from laughter than embarrassment.

 Goten tried to look serious in the midst of laughing under his breath and cracked a smile on the corner of his mouth. "You got liquor? You're not..." Realization hit. "What did you do, Marron?"

 "She flashed the clerk!!!" I saw it! He was so stunned.... he almost pissed his pants and totally forgot to ID her!" Trunks blurted out while receiving Marron's beat down as she latched on to him from behind. He yelled out from under her. "Stop! Stop! I'll have to tickle you! Don't make me do it..." he playfully threatened.

 Marron gave up after flashing him a dirty look and hopped in the back seat of car. She may not have known too much about the extent of her friends' strength, but knew being pinned down in a tickle fight from one of the strongest guys in the world would probably be torturous. "Alright, alright! Let's get going!"

 Trunks straightened up and tried to his most serious voice as he acknowledged the seating arrangement between him and his best friend. "Not if *I'm* not driving there - Chibi, you ARE NOT driving my new car!" Trunks demanded, starring down the younger demi-Saiyan in the driver's seat.

 "Oh, c'mon Trunks! You never let me have any fun. PLEEEEASE!!!" he reached out his hand for Trunks to give him the keys, knowing he would get his way if he annoyed him about it long enough.

 Trunks rolled his eyes and looked away, reluctantly handing over the keys. "I just got this car for my birthday, you know. I haven't even driven it that..."

 Goten already had the keys in the ignition, grinning from ear to ear just like when they were little kids. Trunks instead just laughed to himself, reminding himself of the fun they would have as it would just be the three of them together all weekend long!

 Goten pulled out of the parking lot, glancing over to the boy sitting next to him. Trunks smiling right back, the hot summer sunset starting to glow off his smooth, tanned skin. He looked beautiful. Goten knew that now. Everything about Trunks was beautiful. His chiseled features were so perfect, now looking more like a man than a boy and...

 He quickly focused his attention back on the road. Trunks would surely kill him if he found out about these thoughts, looking at him in ways that were completely inappropriate - feeling more attached and possessive than he should be. He cleared his head and gripped the wheel tight.

 Marron leaned between the two front seats and broke the tension Goten was creating for himself. "I don't know about you guys, but I feel like going swimming in your pool, Trunks!"

 "Sure, do you want us to swing by your house so you can pick up your bathing suit? Chibi here, can borrow one of mine," Trunks remarked as he poked Goten's arm, turning towards Marron who was biting her lip while her fingertips playfully danced on their shoulders.

 "Who said anything about bathing suits?"

 The car nearly swerved off the road. Trunks blushed bright red, questioning what he was hearing from *Their Little Marron*. The three of them had always been close with each other, partly because Goku, Bulma, and Krillin were all close friends when they were their age, too. But somewhere along the way, Goten and Trunks realized that they missed seeing that their little girl... wasn't quite so little anymore.

 Trunks blinked hard. "What! Are you serious? Well, w-what if, you know,... someone sees us?!" Whispering the second part as if a certain short, human Z-Fighter was listening to his question - painfully trying to hide the enormous grin on his face. He could see Goten struggling to do the same.

 "C'mon, were all friends here. Who cares? Besides...I have something that will make it more fuuuunnn," she sang, reaching into her purse and pulling out a tiny rolled piece of paper that clearly was not a cigerette. Goten looked over at what she was holding out in front of them and blankly shook his head in shame.

 "We're getting arrested."

     They sat sprawled out around the pool and talked for what seemed like hours. Marron suggestively draped herself across Trunks' lap across from where Goten was lying on a stack of towels adjacent to them, but his eyes were glued to the older boy's hands - feeling all over her beautiful little body, playing with her long blonde hair now spilling over her shoulders. He felt a strange feeling in stomach. It was like... jealousy. He was jealous, but who was he jealous of here? He shivered at the first thoughts that shot through his mind.

 Goten tried to swallow the feeling, knowing it was completely stupid to be having in the first place. But it wouldn't go away. He watched as she slid over to hook her arm around Trunks' neck, playfully poking at him with her nose, whispering who-knows-what in his ear. Goten felt ill. He would have to forget about this. These feelings had to go away... eventually, not that going on six years wasn't enough.

 It started getting dark out and the dark blue illumination from under stairs in the pool now the only light source left. They finished passing around the joint, laughing and completely blown out of their minds, before Marron eventually climbed to her feet.

 "Ok, I'm getting in! Who's coming with me?" announcing her question as she slinked out of her shorts and tiny gray tank top, taking off her underwear and bra with them.

 They openly gaped at her naked form. Even in the dim shimmering light that provided only a minimal view, they were amazed at how open and confident she was about herself, whether they were friends or not! She walked over to the diving board and dove in. "Are you guys coming in or not?"

 Trunks and Goten stood up in unison and started stripping down to catch up, not wasting another second of missing out on this rare opportunity. Goten stumbled and fell backwards trying to get his shoes off and looked up just in time to see Trunks tear his shirt off and starting to undo the fly of his pants. Goten felt paralyzed.

 Trunks turned around to see his best friend, frozen with his shoe in hand, almost blatantly gawking at him. He didn't think twice about it. "Goten, you're too slow," he laughed, reaching for the back of Goten's shirt and pulling it over his head. Even the slightest warmth of Trunks' fingertips brushing across his bare back excited the younger boy. Even for that split second. It took every ounce of control he had not to let it show.

 "I'm coming, I'm coming!" Goten persisted, taking off his shirt the rest of the way to see Trunks was already naked and jumping off the side of the pool.

 This was going to hurt.

 Goten stripped down as fast as he could and took a shallow dive into the deep end, the cool water rushing all over his entire body at once. The dim lights of the pool provided a perfect cover if he should accidentally let his eyes wander and get too excited.

 The three of them carried on through the night, making a racket and skinny dipping at Capsule Corporation, probably pissing off the neighbors to no end. Trunks and Goten took turns firing simple ki blasts under the water to splash high waves across the pool, nearly drowning their little girl in the process. It wasn't the first time they overlooked the fact that what they considered rough play could seriously hurt a human.

 Marron, tired of being outmatched, decided on another course of action and climbed out, running over to snatch up the pile of their clothes heaped on the chairs. "Oh boys, you didn't want these, did you?" she played as she dangled a pair of boxer shorts in the air and running into the house with everything they had. Trunks and Goten quickly swam up to the side of the pool, now left completely alone and naked with nothing to wear when they got out.

 "Hey, give those back!!!" Trunks laughed out of breath, crossing his arms over on the edge of the pool as he leaned on his hands. Goten watched as the water glistened through his lavender hair, beaded off his skin, just barely catching the light. He pressed his own body up against the side of the pool, desperately trying to hide his growing arousal that came from Dende-knows-where? This was a nightmare. He started unconsciously twisting his wet hair in his fingers..

 "Goten, you ok? You're acting kinda weird."

 Goten nervously cracked a smile. "You're weird, dork!" he gritted through his teeth, pushing Trunks over and making him slip his grip off of the ledge.

 "Oh yea?" he smacked back, completely unaware to the younger boy's dilemma at hand. It was better that way. The constant teasing and fooling around - this is what made them such good friends. He watched as Trunks pulled himself up out of the side of the pool with water dripping off his muscular body, and casually walked over to the stack of towels lying on the chair near the door. Goten tensed, realizing he was now rock hard and could in no way get out.

 Trunks grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist. To Goten's relief, he didn't look back and just walked into the house. He let out a sigh, resting his forehead across his arms.

 This was more than a nightmare... this was torture!

     After the three of them dried off and started to come down from the high they had before, Marron walked into the dimly lit living room with bottle of chilled Vodka in one hand, three small glasses in the other.

 "Anyone up for a shot?"

 Trunks and Goten exchanged glances, knowing the night was far from over as they watched her pour three shots to the top, one in front to each of them where they sat around the small square coffee table.

 Goten stared wide-eyed at the glass in front of him being poured. "Marron, you know my dad is going to kill me if he finds out I got you drunk. You do realize that, right?"

 "No one's going to find out anything. We're all staying here tonight so I'm pretty sure we'll be sobered up by tomorrow," she teased. "Anyway, it's not like I've never had a drink before."

 This was news to them. It was still hard to believe that Marron had grown up so much in the past few years. She was sixteen years old now and definitely not the little girl they used to tease anymore! They each downed a set of shots. Then three more after that. Before they knew it, the bottle was almost empty and all three of them started to feel more than a little drunk, even Trunks who had earlier bragged how he could easily drink both of them under the table.

 Trunks nuzzled over next to Marron, playfully wrapping his arm around her waist and kissing her neck. Goten started to get that feeling again. He watched them with burning eyes from across the table, flirting together, laughing. Forgetting that he was sitting only two feet away. He hated it. He wanted Trunks to be paying attention to him, and to sit and watch him with someone else is what hurt the most. Had he lost his opportunity a long time ago? Back in that field that one night? Did he miss it by not kissing him back? It wasn't even until months after that happened that he realized how attached he really was to him. Not like a friend. Not like a brother. Like...like he was the only other half that could ever complete him, but didn't know it until it was too late.

 Perhaps that's what it took for him to see something that was there all along, opening his mind to the reality of what they had in front of them the whole time but never acknowledged it was there - forcing him to think about it, dwell on it, for all the years in between. Watching Trunks go on living his life, forgetting about that moment ever happening. That one beautiful moment their lips touched, even if it was just for a second.

 And there he was. Looking at Marron the way he wanted Trunks to be looking at him. Touching her with hands he wanted on his body, not on hers. He knew what his feelings were. He *had* known for longer than he cared to admit, but now that the alcohol started to go to his head, he felt even more incredibly uncomfortable about the situation before him.

 "Ok, break it up, break it up! I don't want to sit here while you two crawl all over each other," he snipped, not able to standing another second of it. Marron giggled and got off Trunks' lap, a little embarrassed at how forward she realized she was acting in front of Goten.

 "Well, why don't I get a deck of cards or something so we can play a game, huh?" Trunks stood up and ran up the stairs to his room, both Marron and Goten following him the entire way with their eyes until they heard him open the door.

   "Do you like him," Goten blurted out, turning his attention to across the table, his heartbeat getting stronger. "I need to know."

 "Yea, of course I do," she responded with a drunken laziness in her voice, probably more intoxicated than she was letting on.

 "You know that's not what I mean, Marron!" Goten's tone got serious, his pulse was getting quicker.

 "Why..."

 "You can't hurt him, ...okay? Please, just don't do that to him. I see the way he's looking at you. Just... just don't do this if you don't mean it."

 She crawled over to where he was sitting on the floor up against the couch. "Goten," she whispered, flopping her hand on his chest. "Don't be silly, you guys are my closest friends. I don't want anything, like, for real. Trunks knows that," she tried to reassure him, but she could tell by the look he was giving her back that he wasn't joking around and didn't believe a word she was saying. She took his face in the palms of her hands, a genuine soft feel to her words. "Listen, I love you two. I promise - I won't hurt either of you." Goten closed his eyes tight.

 *Just go. Just tell her. Let it go.*

 "I'm in love with him, Marron."

 She gave an almost small laugh under her breath until she realized he wasn't laughing with her. He was dead serious. Marron slowly let her hands slip away from his face and sat back, not able to believe what he was saying to her. This was Trunks he was talking about! His best friend! Everyone knew that. They were always together, but... not... not...? She was at a total loss for words, knowing at this point that he wasn't fooling around.

 "I, I love him so much... I don't know what to do anymore."

 Marron heard the breaking in his voice, completely exposing his heart to her as he said the words out loud for the first time. He stared his honesty right into her, and she knew he was telling her the truth.

 "How,...since when..." Marron tried to think clearly, hardly comprehending what he was telling her in the first place. Goten's breathing became sharp and quick, his whole body trembling from the truth he was spilling to her.

 "Ok, what did I miss?" Trunks interrupted suddenly as he jumped down the stairs, walking in to see Goten and Marron staring hard at each other. Something had obviously gone on while he left the room. He knelt down next to Marron and possessively snuggled his face into her neck, giving her tiny kisses on her smooth skin. She couldn't respond. She could see Goten's heart break in front of her, still staring her in the eyes - crying inside without any tears.

 She had to break the mood. They were all too drunk to be dealing with this right now. "Okay, let's play something. We need to play something," shifting away her focus with Goten and trying to pretend like nothing happened. "Trunks, why don't you deal out one card to each of us, highest one wins. Lowest hand has to tell us a deep dark secret, something you want that nobody else knows about. But if one of us really honestly knows about it, you have to take a drink, and vice versa. Easy, right?"

 Trunks sounded intrigued, and definitely drunk. "Alright, you asked for it," he warned, not sensing any of the tension flooding through the room from earlier. Goten repositioned himself across from Trunks at the coffee table, making every attempt to act normal again, if that was possible. He felt uneasy about going into this game in the condition he was in - they were in - and starting to twist his fingers through the front of his still damp, spiky black hair again. He zoned out at his card face down on the table in front of him.

 "Oh God, please be a good card."

 They peeled up their cards and looked at what they were dealt. Goten and Marron both threw down suits, Trunks only had a seven.

 Marron looked up to Trunks "Okay, I guess you're the low man, what's your secret? What do you want that neither of us know about?" She looked him square in the eye. Goten's body heat started to rise. They both knew this would most likely be something pretty good, considering Goten already knew EVERYTHING about him and liquor would most certainly influence his confession.

 At this point, Trunks was feeling pretty drunk and all of his better judgment had already gone flying out the window with that last round of shots they took. He looked intensely right back at Marron. "What if I said that I wanted a kiss from someone at this table? Would my wish come true, Marron?" he smiled, leaning directly towards her as he intently searched for her answer.

 She could see Goten's chest heaving from the corner of her eye. He was never so scared in his life. "M-Maybe..." sounding hesitant, lowering her head to nervously pull the hair away from her neck. What was she going to do? This was going all wrong, it was awful. Not her! Especially NOT now! Why did he want to kiss her? Why now of all times? Sure she had had a crush on Trunks ever since she was a little girl, but at the moment this was the very last thing she wanted to hear.

 "I don't think you knew that, did you," Trunks boldly stated, overconfidence dripping from his voice. "But I'll let you go by on the drink if YOU grant my wish." He said as he closed his eyes and leaned in closer to her over the table, waiting for her return. "Do we have a deal?"

 Marron couldn't dare look at Goten before taking a deep breath to gently run her hand down the side of Trunks' face, just inches from hers as he blatantly purred on her palm. She forced herself to slowly lean into him when she felt Goten's arm suddenly hold her back.

 *Don't think. Just go.*

   Goten leaned in from the same angle Marron was and kissed Trunks full on the lips - his soft sweet lips. Everything like he had remembered. He kissed him deeper, harder, feeling his tongue slide in with his and suddenly realized that Trunks was actually kissing him back! Goten's heart began to swell as they moaned together, tasting each other fully for the first time. No fear. Nothing holding back. Kissing more intensely as his feelings completely took over his body, loosing himself in the kiss he had only dreamed of happening until now. Goten gently let his lips slip away, smiling as he pressed his forehead to his, trying to catch his breath. Trunks, groaning for more, slowly fluttered his eyes open. It took a second to focus.

 "WHAT THE FUCK!?!?" He jerked back, shoving Goten away and shoved him back to the floor. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!?" Trunks jumped to his feet and wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand.

 "Tr-Trunks, I..." Goten tried to explain, starting to take deep, panic breaths, his expression clearly read that he was scared out of his mind. "I have to... I need to talk to you." His voice desperate and frantic for a chance to explain his actions. Goten stood up and took a step towards him.

 Trunks looked furious. "DON'T!" He threw out his hand to stop him, storming out of the room and up the stairs to the balcony, slamming the glass patio door behind him and nearly shattering it.

 Goten watched in horror, not believing what had just happened. What did he do? It was too late to turn back. He wouldn't let him push away. Not again. Not now!

 Marron stopped him. "Wait, Goten! Don't go! I really don't think he wants this, it'll only make things worse!" She tried to reason, but he ignored every word and pushed past her to run up the stairs after Trunks.

 He could see him outside crouched down by the railing, his face buried in his hands. Goten felt his heart race, praying for the strength to speak and fix everything as he slowly opened the door. He could see Marron just behind him in the reflection of the glass.

 Trunks snapped his head up to see him barely make a step through the doorway. "Goten, get the fuck away from me! I don't want you coming near me, OKAY!?!" he threatened, anger slicing through his voice. Goten ignored his warning and closed the door behind him, walking towards where he was standing near the edge. Trunks straightened up, fists clenched.

 "Trunks... I," he fought for the words - for the strength he no longer had to say them. He felt hot tears rolling down his face and just let the words spill out from his heart. "I...I lo,...I love you, Trunks. I think I've always loved you, I just didn't know it... not until that kiss, back in that field... you kiss me and everything..."

 "WHAT? I told you what happened out there!" He threw his arms out in frustration, screaming in his face "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!? I thought you understood THAT WE WERE FRIENDS, Goten! You're fucking throwing it all away! WHY?!?!" Trunks felt a hard rage building inside him, his ki level pumping higher and faster the more he thought about what was happening. "You're my fucking best friend! Why are you doing this to us?"

 Goten felt destroyed. His heart had been ripped out, his soul burned in total and utter rejection. His voice sounding shattered. "H-How can you say that, Trunks...I love you so much, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't regret not kissing you back that night. Oh God... I've fallen so deeply in love with you and... and I'm scared to death that I fucked everything up right now. Please..." Goten completely broke down into a hard sob, choking out his words. "Please, I-I need you so much... I'm ashamed," he cried, pressing the palms of his hands to his eyes, shaking uncontrollably.

 Trunks just stood blankly in front of him, watching his best friend of his whole life crumble to pieces before his eyes - having opened his heart only to have it smashed apart by the one person he trusted the most in his world.

 Goten's hands turned to fists, swallowing back hard on his tears, trying to clear his eyes. He walked right up to Trunks and cupped his hands on his face, forcing him to look him in the eye as he felt the older boy trying to flinch away.

 "Look at me, Trunks,... right at me, and tell me you don't feel anything between us. Nothing at all."

 Trunks stared at him for what seemed like an eternity.

 Goten bit his lip, fighting any urge inside him to run away to cry his eyes out, and forced him into a hard, searing kiss. Trunks froze for a moment, his lips cold and rejecting before he grabbed Goten's wrists and threw him off, not able to look him in the face as he hit the ground without any resistance.

 His voice lost all of the anger he had screamed moments before, speaking with no tone left at all. "I can't do this, Chibi. *I'm* not like that." He coldly walked away to reach for the doorknob, not even bothering to look back to him over his shoulder. "I can't...and I won't." He slammed the door behind him, not saying a word as he walked past Marron who had just witnessed the entire scene from the other side.

 She didn't want to believe what she saw. It was all her fault! Her body felt a freezing chill run down her spine, watching from the other side of the glass as Goten's screams ripped through his heart in pain. ~

 CHAPTER NINE ~

   Marron looked through the glass of the balcony doors. She couldn't speak, move, or anything as Goten collapsed to his knees, crumbling his body into a crying mess without any care to who was watching him.

 She felt responsible for all of it. None of this would have happened if she hadn't tried to interfere, only selfishly thinking about getting with Trunks herself, and in turn setting one of her best friends up for this incredible crush. Her chest tightened and tried to stop herself from losing it, putting her hand over her mouth in any attempt not to cry. Marron forced herself to open the door to help him, almost visibly able to see the devastation pouring from his body. She knelt down on the floor in front of him - comforting him - not having any idea to how deep this really went or how long he felt this way. His face was covered with his hands as he grabbed a fist through his hair.

 She had never seen anyone like this before. Never! Not this emotional or vulnerable. Marron rest her cheek on the top of Goten's head and spoke to him delicately. "Do you want to come inside?" She she softly said, not able to think of anything else to say as she heard Trunks leave the house and slamming the front door beneath them.

 "No, no... I," he wiped his face with the palms of his hands, trying to snap out of it. He wouldn't be like this. Not in front of Marron. Not here. He needed - wanted to forget. "...I think I need a drink."

       A few moments later, Marron came back outside with two rocks glasses in her hand, each half full of whatever was left of the Vodka. She handed one to Goten, now sunken into an arm chair by the railing of the balcony, facing out over the West City Saturday nightlife. He took the glass in his hand without any other movement in his body as he remained frozen in a trance out into the midnight sky, mind drowning in regret as he sat their in silence.

 "Why did I do that, Marron?" asking himself more than her. She knew it wasn't a question. "He was right - I ruined everything. We can't be friends anymore. I love him so much, I started imagining things. I-...I thought he loved me back. I honestly thought there was really something there... that kiss he gave me. We were so young, but I know that's what he wanted to do... It wasn't an accident, I was just. I was just too young. I was too scared! I didn't..." He could feel his eyes burning, his vision blurred from the tears that were glossing and threatening to spill over. "It took me so long to see it. He was always the one. How am I going to live. without him?" Goten's voice faded, sinking deeper into the oversized chair. Without looking, he downed the glass in two gulps and placed it on the ledge of the balcony, closing his eyes as he swallowed the harsh taste running down his throat.

 Marron was well aware that Goten was already pretty drunk before that drink, and followed suit to keep up. She shot her entire glass and knew she had now consumed much more than she should have to keep a straight mind. She immediately started to feel its effect.

 "...Have you always liked guys? I mean, are you..." she tried to focus, not to trip over her own words.

 "I don't like guys, Marron, " he snapped, feeling it starting to hit him, both the alcohol and truth. "I just want *him*. I love him so much. Oh God... I can't do this." He squirmed in the seat as he gripped the arms of the chair tightly, body physically in pain and breaking apart.

 Placing the empty glass down, Marron squeezed her slender body next to his on the chair, holding his head to her chest and let him cry it out. She felt slightly awkward as she felt him openly sob out loud in front of her; Goten was by far more emotional then Trunks ever was, but this kind of release was not something she was prepared for.

 He wrapped his hands around her back as she surrounded him with a soothing warmth, running her fingers through his wild hair, trying to relax him from everything that happened. After a couple of minutes of holding him, she could feel Goten's body starting to calm, and loosened her hold.

 "...Goten?" She lifted his head from her chest to look at him, her mind in a haze and not clear to what she was doing. She felt fuzzy and warm. The liquor did all of the talking. "I want take the hurt away... I want you to forget about all of this. Even if it's just for tonight," she purred on his lips, taking his hand in hers. "Just, let me. Just tonight," she said in a breath, pushing him into a deep kiss as she gently repositioning herself so that she straddled his hips.

 Goten moaned deep, drunk and not thinking whatsoever, and gripped her backside roughly against his own aching body. "Please Marron, I-I don't want to be alone. Please stay with me." He begged in a desperate whisper, blinking out the tears that swelled his eyes. He slid his tongue in her mouth, kissing her blindly as he pressed her hard up against his chest. His body felt numb.

 Marron broke away, only to leave Goten desperate for more. "Not out here - come with me," she whispered in his ear as she took his hand and pulled him up out of the chair. They had to fight to keep their balance once they felt how incredibly drunk they had actually gotten.

 Unable to completely focus on his own, Goten submitted to her lead, taking him to the first room at the top of the stairs that was open. Once inside, Goten immediately picked up on an all too familiar sent, reminding him of what he so desperately wanted to forget.

 *Of all rooms to take me, why did she have to take me here?*

 Marron locked the door behind them, turning around to see Goten leaning his forehead up against the wall with his eyes closed. She slowly walked over to him, tenderly reaching for his face and pulled him into another passionate kiss, sliding her hands down the front of his strong chest as she marveled at how incredible his body felt from a lifetime of fighting. Goten grabbed for her tank top and roughly pulled it over her head, pelting her with hard kisses all over her neck and shoulders while sliding the straps of her bra off her shoulders. His feelings were clouded, his movements were fumbled. He just wanted that release - that satisfaction. The lust and alcohol began to dull the pain.

 Marron stepped back, sliding her shorts and panties down over her hips and shrugged out of her bra, fully exposing her milky white body to Goten before kneeling back on the bed. Once their eyes locked, Goten started to feel his own body starting to respond to the rare invitation he was being given. She *was* so beautiful to him. She had always been. Maybe this is what he needed.

 He walked towards her as she reached out for his shirt and pulled it off over his head, throwing it to the side with her other discarded clothing. Goten felt weak staring at her naked form, completely in a daze while she started unbuckling his belt to let his cut-off cargo shorts fall to the floor without any protest.

 No words. No hesitation.

 Marron pulled Goten down over on top of her and wrapped her legs around his waist, bringing him closer as he supported himself up on his hands. She could feel his need pushing hard against her own through his boxer shorts. With her lead, Goten pulled them down and kicked them off, leaving the two completely naked on the bed together as they explored each other in a drunken passion, lost in the sensation of their breath searing against each other's bare skin.

 "Goten, I want you inside me," she moaned in his ear, the hot vibrations of her voice going right to his groin. "I know you want it, too."

 Goten looked hesitant and lowered his eyes. "I do, but...I don't think I know what to do. I...I've never really done this before, I-I'm still a virgin," he slurred, blushing at his apparent lack of knowledge for a twenty-year-old.

 "Relax, I just want you to feel me," whispering on his neck, pushing his tip into her moist heat. Instantly, a surge of desire rushed throughout his entire body, an almost primal instinct took over his actions. He sheathed himself completely inside Marron's tight wetness, losing his virginity to her all at once - something he realized he had always dreamed of giving to Trunks.

 Marron buried her head in the crook of his neck as he repeatedly pushed into her, clawing at his back, bucking her hips against his rhythm. Goten sucked hungrily at her neck, nipping at her soft skin while his hands roamed frantically over her curves.

 "Oh, Marron. Please ... God, not that!" he begged through clenched teeth, arching his back while her hand found its way to a tiny scar on his tailbone and almost sent him on the edge of his climax. His thrusts were beginning to become more forceful, grabbing onto fist-fulls of sheets beside her, nearly ripping them to shreds in his hands as he painfully suppressed any urge to scream. Without realizing it, the power in his body was now dangerously close to actually hurting the tiny Human frame beneath his.

 She squeezed her muscles tight around him, feeling Goten throb inside her, knowing he was getting close to his release. But as much as he wanted it, Goten's mind was still running wild with a million thoughts; feelings were coming stronger and faster as he pound his body into Marron's, closing his eyes and trying to forget. Trying not to imagine Trunks - trying not to imagine that it was him he was on top of and grabbing on to as their slick bodies grinded together.

 His breathing became more labored, quickening the pace, pumping even harder into Marron's shaking body. She was starting to orgasm. Goten wrapped his arms around her small waist and yanked her up against his chest, sitting back on his knees and frantically sliding her up and down on his hard length, now slippery with her juices. Kissing her mouth fully and hungrily, he felt his climax rush over him in a powerful heat, coming deep inside her warmth as she muffled her scream in his shoulder. Marron's eyes widened as she saw the front of his hair starting to streak to blonde, ki level rising high, almost fully transforming into a Super Saiyan right in front of her. Never having actually been around someone's transformation, she felt like they were in the middle of a hurricane.

 They finished together, hot bodies dripping with sweat, pulses racing. The front of Goten's hair gradually faded back to black as he collapsed back on the bed and pulled Marron on top of him, each completely drained and exhausted. Without anything said between them, Goten wrapped his arms around her and passed out, unaware that there was someone out there paying close attention to his ki level.

 Someone who knew exactly what he was doing. ~

 CHAPTER TEN ~

   He ran through the streets. Running away from everything that remind him of Goten. Everything that he destroyed, ruined, smashed. His anger was turning into a blinding rage.

 How could he be so selfish? Why didn't Goten cherish their friendship like he did?

 People stared as he ran past them - away from his life - away from his heart. Running nowhere and everywhere. He couldn't ever get far enough away to undo what happened. He could feel him. What he was doing. To her. To him.

 He stopped running, realizing their friendship was over and wouldn't ever be friends again after tonight. Trunks sat on the curb in the middle of the busy street, an unbelievable sadness overcame him in the midst of the crowds. He felt so lost, more than ever now without him. He clasped his hands together to his forehead, almost praying for strength as a single tear glistened down his cheek. His eyes looked up for an answer,

 "Goten, why are you doing this to us. You threw everything away. We can't be like that, we can't. You're my best friend, and I don't,.... I don't know what my life will be without you." He squeezed his eyes shut, picturing him with Marron, probably on his bed laughing at him. "You don't how to love someone Goten, or you wouldn't be doing this. You wouldn't be with her, you would-... No... NO!" He caught himself, angry at them, angry at himself. Angry for ever caring in the first place.

     Hours went by. The city was beautifully quiet as the first rays of sunlight peeked out from behind the mountains. A new day was dawning, but for Trunks, the night had never ended. He had nothing left in him, walking aimlessly down the streets with his hands buried deep in his pockets, pieces of silken hair hanging in his face. His body was defeated.

 Around seven o'clock, Trunks looked up to see that his subconscious had led him home, the smell of deception in the air. He threw open the door, making no attempt to be quiet as he stormed through the house.

   Marron heard the slam, waking her up out of a sound sleep. "Hmmm? Goten, wake up, I think somebody's home." He was completely knocked out, responding only with a muffled whimper in his pillow. "Goten! Wake up, we need to get dressed." She rolled off the side of the bed and searched out her things in the pile of their clothes from the night before, throwing Goten's on top of him as she sorted them out.

 "Huh, what happened," he groaned, still half asleep, incredibly hung over. He rubbed his eyes open to see Marron getting dressed, suddenly remembering that he was completely naked under the sheets. He grabbed a handful of his hair. "Oh shit, what did we...? We slept together last night, didn't we?" Marron froze, bent over with her shorts half on. She turned to Goten with a worried look in her eyes.

 "D-Do you remember anything?"

 "Yea, I think so," he slowly sat up. "I know that I got really drunk and, and..." he wiped his hands all over his face in a desperate attempt to jog his memory. "Oh God, I've made such a fucking mess of everything!" The night's events started flooding back to him. "...Trunks! No, what if he finds out? What am I going to do?!?"

 They heard footsteps outside, a fist pounding on the door. "OPEN UP THIS DOOR RIGHT FUCKING NOW!" A total rage in Trunks' voice as he screamed through the door.

 Without another thought, the two started scrambling to throw their clothes on as fast as they could. Marron zipped up her pants and pulled her tank top on just in time to see the cylinder of the lock shatter as Trunks throwing the door open and broke the hinge. His anger immediately dropped as he looked around the empty room behind her. The window open and Goten was missing. He knew he was already to far to catch.

 "Trunks, I-... I can explain," panic all over her voice. "It's all my fault, you have to believe me! We got really drunk. I didn't mean for it to happen..." she waited for his reaction.

 His expression grew cold, scowling towards the window. "This is probably how he planned it to happen. To use me, to use you. He doesn't give a shit about who he hurt, just as long as he got what he wanted."

 She was horrified that this was what he thought. "No! No, that's not what happened. You weren't here! You didn't see how he was after you left. We just started drinking too much and... one thing just led to another, and... we weren't thinking," she was confused and couldn't explain to him. "Trunks, Goten didn't start it," she took a deep breath to compose herself. "...I did."

 Trunks glared at her and turned away to walk out of the room. Marron stood in shock, left speechless as she stood there, unable to justify what they did. She cleared her thoughts and ran down to his room after him. "Trunks, wait!"

 She stopped in the doorway of Bulma's study and found him sitting on the edge of a chair with his back towards her, holding a small picture frame in his hand. She slowly walked up from behind him to see that it was a photograph - one of him and Goten from when they were little kids. They were at the World Junior Martial Arts Tournament, one of the few pictures that survived it...

     THAT DAY, 10 YEARS AGO -

 "Trunks, do you think we'll fight each other in the tournament?"

 "Of course we will, we're obviously the strongest ones here, just look at these kids, Goten."

 "I know, but what if we have to fight each other. Only one of us can win..."

 "It doesn't really matter because I know *I'm* going to be the winner."

 "Oh, yea? Not if I can do something about it!"

 "Listen Goten, it doesn't make a difference who wins. We're still going to be friends tomorrow, right?"

 "You bet, Trunks! We'll always be best friends, no matter what! You know, I don't care about who wins anyway."

 "Then let's make a promise - best friends forever, okay?"

 "Promise! We're always stick together!"

 "Now, let's get ready! I don't want to miss kicking your butt!"

 "Hey, Trunks! Wait up...."

       Trunks stood up and crushed the frame into a thousand pieces. "It was all a fucking lie, wasn't it! You ruined our friendship, Goten. And for what? For your own selfish desires? Well fuck you!" he shouted, looking at the crumpled picture on the floor at his feet. Marron watched hopelessly as he sat back down in the chair, his anger - his resentment - filling the room.

 She stepped back towards the door. "I think I'm going to go home, Trunks. I don't think I should be here now." She just about made it out of the room before she added one last thing, taking every bit of courage she had left to say it. "I'm sorry things turned out this way... between you two... us. I never meant for this to happen. You guys are my friends and... it's my fault things are the way they are now. I hope you can forgive me someday."

 "Marron," he stopped her, not turning around. "I don't blame you for what happened." His voice sounded so emotionless and detached. Like he really didn't care anymore. He paused as he cleared his head. "I'll drive you home if you still want to go."

 "I'll be fine… just call me later. If you need to talk or... I don't know." She waited for a response, any kind of sign that everything would eventually be okay. Trunks just nodded. Marron closed his door behind her and gathered up her things in her bag. She hated leaving like this, knowing that things would never really be the same between her and her two of her closest friends, but it was just too much to be around.

 She quietly slipped out of the front door and caught a bus home, leaving Trunks alone in that big house with nothing but his thoughts, wishing that fate had dealt him a better hand.

     BACK AT GOHAN'S HOUSE-

 "Goten? Can I come in?" Videl asked through he door, holding a plate of toast and crackers outside the room he was in. Goten knew damn well his mother would kill him if she smelled the alcohol that he reeked of, and wound up crashing at Gohan's house to sober up his hangover. Everything about him was a wreck. Videl cracked open the door to find him curled up in the fetal position on the bed, zoned out into space. "How you hanging in there, kid?"

 "Fine."

 "Well, I brought you something to eat. Try to get some food in you, you'll feel better," she said, placing the plate next to him on the nightstand. She sat next to him and rubbed his back. "Are you thirsty? Do you want any...?"

 "YO! How's my baby brother doing!" Gohan shouted as he barged in the room, reveling the fact Goten was suffering on the bed. He got down right in his ear. "ARE YOU FEELING ANY BETTER!?!?!", he laughed as Goten covered his ears with his hands, feeling as if his head were going to explode.

 "Gohan, please, go away," he mewed out in the tiniest voice, his stomach starting to feel uneasy again.

 Videl punched him in the arm. "Gohan! Be nice to your brother!"

 "Hey, he can go home if he wants. I'm sure mom would just love to get a whiff of the liquor on your breath. Heck, I could smell your drunk- ass a mile away."

 "Goten, why don't you take a cold shower, you'll feel much better?" Videl offered, helping him to his feet. But once brought to a standing position, Goten felt even more dizzy than he was lying down, and bolted for the bathroom.

 Gohan sat back on the bed laughing. "I thought I'd never see the day - my little brother's hungover!...Oh, I can just bet Trunks and Marron are probably up doing the same thing right now," he jokingly remarked looking back over to Videl, giving him a very evil eye in return. "What? Oh c'mon, Hon! He'll be fine. Besides, I'm sure they had a blast last night together, just go ask him." ~

 CHAPTER ELEVEN ~

   "Goten! You have a visitor," Goku shouted towards his son's room with no response in return. "Marron, I know he's in there, why don't you just let yourself in. He hasn't come out of his room in two days," he told her as he let Marron in out of the rain through the kitchen door as she closed her umbrella behind her. "I'm starting to really worry about him, he's not usually like this. Did he and Trunks have a fight?"

 "Uh, you could say that..."

     Marron walked up to the outside of Goten's room, focusing on why she was there to calm her nerves before she went in. She hadn't seen him since...that morning... when everything fell apart. "Let's go, Marron," she said to herself. "Pull yourself together! You made the mess, now it's your job to fix it!" She creaked the door open, trying to be as gentle as possible. "Goten? Are you in there?" saying as though she was afraid to interrupt what ever it was that he had been doing in his room for two days.

 She peered around the attic room and found him lying face down on his bed. He was wearing an old holey tee-shirt and his favorite pair of faded, beat- up jeans, almost worn down to nothing. She could tell that he heard her, but he didn't move an inch.

 Marron stepped over to the bed and sat on the side nearest him, feeling incredibly awkward about being so close to him again. "Are you alright? Your dad said you haven't been out of your room in a couple of days. Do you want to talk?"

 A low rumble came from out under the pillow. "No."

 "Well, do you want to get out, we can..."

 "No."

 "Goten, you can't just hole up in here for the rest of your life. Everyone's worried about you."

 "Who's everyone?" not even lifting his head to speak.

 "Me, for one. Your parents, Gohan, Bulma..."

 He lifted his face, his eyes obviously swollen and red from crying. "When did you see Bulma?"

 Suprised at his sudden reaction, Marron adjusted her position on the bed, fighting for the right words to say as not to stick her foot in her mouth. "Well, I saw her yesterday, we..."

 "Where did you see her?" he interjected, impatiently running right over her response.

 "Uh, I um... saw her at Capsule Corporation. I...went to see Trunks."

 Goten's focus dropped, as if he had just now thought of him for the first time since everything happened. He sunk his head back into the pillow.

 "Goten, you should talk about this. It's not healthy keeping it all bottled up inside like you're doing, why don't you call him and..."

 "And what, Marron?" his voice sounded more annoyed than hurt. "And say what? That I take it back? That I don't love him?" He started paying attention his own words, his voice getting weaker by the second. "That I would do anything to have things the way they used to be. To just..." He couldn't finish.

 Marron let out a sigh as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Goten, I..."

 "You know, after awhile, you just start convincing yourself that you'd rather be friends, that it won't matter if he ever loves you back. You start thinking that it's just some stupid crush and you'll get over it if you could just stop thinking about it for a minute - dreaming of it every night. But somewhere during all that... I..." he let out a long deep breath. "...I fell completely and totally in love with him. I didn't want, to but I did. And I knew he wouldn't feel the same way, and I knew if he EVER found out, we'd be over. He wouldn't be able look at me the same anymore. I would suddenly be this, this freak he would make fun of, leaving me alone and forgetting all about me." He looked up to Marron, her face written with anguish.

 "Marron, I've been together with him everyday of my life. I don't know anything else. We knew everything about each other. EVERYTHING! But I had to lie to him - to his face - everyday I couldn't tell him, everyday I had to hide my feelings so I could keep him. I just... it just started getting too hard. I couldn't even look at him anymore without having my heart ripped out, knowing I could never have him. Ever! Knowing someday, he'd marry some random girl who could never love him the way I do... and I'd have to live the rest of my life without him." He closed his eyes. His voice changed from the ache of his words. "Without ever touching him, or falling asleep with him in my arms. Hoping that someday he'd look at me just once the way I look at him. To know what it feels like to be loved by the only person you could ever imagine loving yourself. It's just that...friends stopped being good enough for me a long time ago... I just taught myself how to get used to love without feeling it in return."

 Marron felt a deep hurt in her chest. She had no idea how deep this ran, how much he had given up and lost all at once. Sure, she had had been infatuated with Trunks for what seemed like forever, but compared to the loss Goten was feeling at that moment, she now realized that it was nothing more than a childhood crush. She had always felt special when Trunks paid attention to her, making her feel older and more grown-up around him ever since they were little kids, but never thought that things would have turned out into what they now were.

 Goten had always had an un-naturally strong relationship with the older boy, but it had always gone both ways. Trunks and Goten were closer with each other than any two other people she had ever met. He father told her it was most likely because they had the ability to fuse bodies, whatever that meant, or the fact that nobody would ever quite understand what it was like to be a growing Saiyan as they did with each other. Marron had been friends with the two of them for as long as she could remember, but always knew she could never share what they shared with each other.

 Perhaps everything really wasn't as black-and-whit as it was appearing to be?

 She laid down next to him on the bed, hugging close to his side. "Goten, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize."

 "It doesn't matter now. Trunks never wants to see me again, and... I don't think I ever want to see him either. He hurt me really bad... said so many things. He can't take that back now." He rolled over so that Marron held him from behind, wrapping her arm around his waist. "I've been in this room for... I don't even know how long, sitting here and feeling sorry for myself when I have no one to blame but me." She felt his body shiver as he exhaled. "It's just, I don't know where to go from here. I don't know what it's like to live my life without him."

 She rest her head on the back of his neck, feeling how cold his skin was to the touch. "I think you should see him, Goten. You need to get this out of your system." She held him tighter. "You don't have anything else to loose. Actually..." she contemplated saying it. "I think Trunks wants to see you, too."

 Goten flipped over, nearly throwing Marron off the bed. "What? Why do you say that? Did he say something to you?" His eyes flickered, a nearly anxious expression on his face.

 "Well, I just sort of got this feeling from him..." she bit her lip, hoping her little white lie would do more good than bad.

 Goten shot up off the bed. "I have to go!" he bolted, leaving without another word and ran out the door and into the rain, taking off into the gray sky outside. Marron sunk back into his bed, left mid-sentence and helpless to whatever fate had planned this time, despite having just manipulated it into a different road all together.

 "Oh God, please don't let this be a mistake..."

       Trunks sat down at the dinner table, exhausted from an earlier lack-luster training session with his father. He didn't look at anyone, his personality was almost completely gone.

 Vegeta watched his son struggle to keep a steady breath before he spoke up. "What has been bothering you, son? Why haven't you been hanging around Kakarott's boy like you usually do?"

 Trunks didn't answer. He wasn't even paying attention.

 "Trunks, I'm speaking to you! Are you listening?" His voice now more persistent.

 Bra stood on her chair and leaned over the table. "I know why Trunks is sad, daddy. He had a fight with Goten while we were at Grandma and Grandpa's house and now they're not friends anymore."

 Trunks heard that one, snapping his head around to her in shock. "How the fuck do you know that, Bra?" forgetting he was talking to his six-year-old sister, and forgetting she was best friends with Goten's nosey little niece.

 "TRUNKS BRIEFS!! WHAT DID I JUST HEAR YOU SAY?!?" Bulma screamed from behind him, whacking him across the back of the head as hard as she could. The little aqua-haired girl sat back slowly with wide eyes. "Don't you EVER use that kind of language in my house, and *especially* not at your sister! Do you understand me?!" Bulma turned to Vegeta, expecting the same response out of her husband. "Vegeta, did you hear what your son just said to her?"

 Vegeta's mind was on other matters. "Is this true, Trunks? What happened between you and the boy? Are you fighting?"

 Before he could defend himself, the doorbell rang, giving him the perfect opportunity to excuse himself from his father's barrage of questions that he did not want to answer. He pushed himself away from the table. "Please, let me get it," he sarcastically offered, attitude all over his voice.

 Trunks opened the front door and found himself staring right at the person who was the cause of all his problems, soaking wet and out of breath. Desperation on his face.

 "What are you doing here, Goten?" Trunks asked, sounding more demanding than concerned. "I don't want to talk to you."

 "I don't care, *I* want to talk to you! You can't do this," Goten pleaded, the warm rain dripping into his eyes.

 "ME? I CAN'T DO THIS? YOU'RE THE ONE THAT FUCKED EVERYTHING UP!" he screamed with rising anger, suddenly getting the attention of his family sitting back at the dinner table within earshot.

 Bulma dropped the plate she was holding, letting it shatter on the floor. "Trunks! What did I JUST tell you, get over here right now! I will not have you use that language in this house!"

 Goten glanced over Trunks' shoulder to Bulma. There was no time to deal with this right now, and grabbed him by the front of his shirt to yank him outside into the rain, slamming the door closed to block them out.

 Bulma was shocked to see her son act so out of character. She began marching for the door to let him have it before Vegeta put out his arm to stop her.

 "This is between the boys, woman! Let them be!"

     Thunder and heat lightening crackled through the sky, hard rain fell and drenched them as they stared each other down in the middle of the street. Trunks felt every muscle in his body start to tighten, clenching his hands into tight fists. Goten did the same. Neither said a word until the silence became overwhelming.

 "I can't be friends with you anymore, Goten. I won't sit around and pretend that you didn't do what you did," Trunks shouted over the storm above them.

 "What about you!?!" Goten started to lose it. "You didn't give a shit how you made me feel! If you were really my fucking friend you wouldn't have said all those things to me. I opened my heart up to you! I thought you'd understand."

 "UNDERSTAND? ...That what? My best friend wants to fuck me?!?"

 Goten felt a snap. A huge energy filled the empty street and engulfed his body as he completely submitted to the power. His hair immediately shot to gold, his eyes green, fully transforming him into a Super Sayian right out in the open.

 Feeling the tremendous surge of energy, Vegeta ran out to see what was happening, stopping right outside the door just in time to see Trunks also change into Super Saiyan. He looked on with confused in complete surprise, feeling a different energy from his son that he had never used before, or even thought that he had.

 Screaming on the top of his lungs, Goten started to feel another hard push of energy coming on, but stopped just short of letting everything go. All of the hurt and anger that Trunks made him feel continued to fuel the strength of his ki. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S FUCKING LIKE? TO LIE TO YOU EVERYDAY? NO BEING ABLE TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH? I COULDN'T KEEP IT IN ANYMORE, TRUNKS! IT WASN'T FAIR!"

 Trunks squeezed his eyes shut, hearing what *he* had scarred his own heart with all along, echoing back in his face with Goten's voice - unable to suppress the power wanting to come out of him any longer. After a lifetime of being afraid to expose his feeling and having his heart broken so many other times before, this was the real breaking point that Trunks had never been past. Goten had been the single most important factor that had kept him going during all of the horrible years of his life, and to have him reveal that so much of that pain was for nothing was too much to stand.

 Trunks screamed up to the sky as he arched his body, feeling that final push over the edge he couldn't control. A sweep of hot energy rushed over him as his hair turned white gold, spiking almost straight up on end. All at once, in a bright flash of hot light, Trunks felt himself transform into that next stage he was never able to achieve, as blue lightening sparked around his now dynamically powerful frame.

 Goten felt his heart race, his breathing quicken, seeing Trunks transform into a Super Sayian 2 for the first time right in front of him.

 "LISTEN, GOTEN! YOU'RE THE ONE THAT DOESN'T FUCKING GET IT! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'VE DONE TO KEEP OUR FRIENDSHIP, ALL THE SACRIFICES I'VE MADE, AND THINGS I WANTED THAT I GAVE UP FOR YOU! WHAT? YOU HAVE FEELINGS YOU NEED TO GET OUT? WELL WHAT ABOUT ME! WHAT ABOUT MY FUCKING FEELINGS? DID YOU EVER STOP TO THINK ABOUT THAT?!?"

 Goten felt his ki rising, angry that he was on the end of this, that he was the one being blamed. He stopped holding back and also made the jump to the next transformation, matching up their ki levels perfectly as if they were ready to fuse. The two boys stared at each other's new form with the unfamiliar sensation of anger looking back at them.

 Goten heard the rage in his own voice, something he had never used towards Trunks before. "YOU WANT TO DO THIS? FINE THEN! LET'S GO!" He flew at him with a barrage of punches, slamming his fists against the hard blocks against him. Trunks swept his feet out from under him and hit him across the face before he even hit the ground, sending Goten flying into a line of parked cars.

 Both boys came at each other again with different attacks - devastating kicks landing all over their bodies, fighting with blinding emotions and unmeasurable hurt. Trunks went in to double punch him in the chest, only to have both his hands caught in Goten's, rendering him defenseless to getting flipped over his shoulder onto his back. He wasn't down for long.

 Not giving the younger demi-Sayian a chance to turn around, he nailed him in the small of his spine and again along the break of his neck. Without flinching or turning to face him, Goten kicked out straight behind him and cracked Trunks in the jaw and wound up and spun around to slam a dead-on blow to the side of his wet face.

 Blood spit from his mouth as he crouched over for a moment, trying to focus out the pain, listening to his fighting instincts and holding on for just the right opportunity to retaliate. Goten walked over to him with a pure fury in his eyes, but Trunks held on until he was close enough before jumping to his feet and connecting his fist as powerfully as he could into Goten's rock hard stomach, collapsing to the ground in pain. He punched him again across side of the head, even as the younger boy remained down on his knees, and kicked him up in the face, the force snapping his head back and sliding him across the wet pavement.

 Goten barely opened his eyes before Trunks was already looking over him without a second having gone by. He picked him up by the neck of his now blood stained shirt, his body and head hanging defeated from his hands, and got right in his face. The sound of the rain falling on them was deafening.

 Trunks felt his voice shaking under his breath, his power dropping out of his transformation to almost nothing, "We...we were supposed to be friends forever, Goten. Don't you remember? Y-you... you promised. Why did you have to change everything?" He let go, letting Goten fall to his knees to catch himself on his hands. He couldn't fight him anymore. Goten looked back up at him with devastated eyes as Trunks spoke painfully quiet.

 "It hurts so much to not have you in my life, Goten... But I know you won't ever feel the same way I feel about you. I... I'd rather never see you again then let you hurt me someday with more promises that you can't keep. I won't let you do it... not again."

 Trunks felt a huge weight in his chest, barely able to breathe. Aching through his heart as he realized that if he left him now, he would never see him again. The rain couldn't wash the pain off his face, stepping back away from where Goten was defeated and bleeding on the ground.

 "...Good bye, Goten."

     Trunks turned and walked back into the house, leaving Goten destroyed and breaking in the pouring rain behind him. He pushed past Vegeta and Bulma in the doorway, stunned at what had just happened and what their son had done to Goten. They didn't say a word, and just let him walk soaking wet back into the house, seemingly emotionless and frozen on the outside. Bulma wanted to step forward to reach out to him, but felt her husband hold on to her, keeping her at a safe distance. This was no time for questions.

 "Daddy, is Trunks ok?" Vegeta felt a little hand tug at his. "He has blood on his face! I'm scared!" The Saiyan Prince bent down to pick up his little princess, holding her in his arms as Bra latched on tight.

 "I think we need to leave your brother alone for a while, understand?" He reassured her with an unusually gentle voice, knowing there would be no chance at getting an explanation from his son tonight, whatever it might be that would warrant such extreme behavior.

     Trunks ran up to his room and slammed the door behind him, sinking down to the floor with his back against it. The moment he dreaded the most played over and over in his head - hearing his best friend of his entire life - the other half of his very being - cry out in pain from behind him as he coldly walked away, crushing his own heart with him, harder than he could stand.

 Trunks let go and completely broke down, crying like he never cried in his life.

 Now, it was truly over. ~

 CHAPTER TWELVE~

   TWO MONTHS LATER -

   Trunks laid out on his bed and had been staring up at the ceiling for most of the day already. He knew he had to start getting ready, but going to some huge gala put on by Capsule Corporation's hand over was not something he particularly wanted to do. Nothing sounded fun or appealing anymore. Life just seemed... empty.

 "Trunks, are you ready yet? We're leaving in fifteen minutes!" Bulma called out as she knocked from the other side of his door, already ajar before she pushed it open. His room was a complete wreck. So was he. "Trunks! You're not even dressed yet! Do you know how important this night is to me?! Please don't be like this." She scrambled around his room and tore apart his closet, frantically searching for something suitable he could wear.

 He just sat there, vacantly listening to her ramble on about something that was totally meaningless to him. "Um, I don't really feel like going tonight, mom," he said, his gaze still stuck to the ceiling.

 She stopped digging and flashed an unacceptable glare, the one usually reserved for only his father. "Trunks, you are twenty-one years old and are going to be the future President for one of the most powerful companies in the world, which just happens to be getting handed over to *me* tonight by your grandfather. So now PLEASE act like an adult about this and get dressed!!!"

 Bulma looked over to her emotional wreck of a son and could clearly see that her speech wasn't going to help matters. She decided on a different approach and sighed, trying hard to understand how or what he was feeling.

 "Look, I know you're still upset about whatever happened between the two of you. But life goes on, Trunks. You know, if things are meant to work out, they will. You're just going to have to give it time." Her hand brushed away the couple of strands of soft lavender hair that seemed to perpetually hang in his eyes. "I love you, Trunks. You know that, right?"

 "Yea, I know. I love you too, mom." He said forcing himself up, gathering the energy to actually do this for her. "I'll be ready in a minute."

 "Well, you'd better hurry up. Your father and Bra are already waiting in the car and you know how antsy they can get," she quipped, giving a laugh and hoping for one in return. She tenderly reached out to touch his cheek. "Cheer up, son. Everyone will be there tonight, you'll have a great time. Maybe this is what you need." She handed him a suit to wear from his closet and left the room.

 "...Well, not everyone, mom."

     After a short car ride, they arrived at the location Bulma arranged to have the banquet at a beautiful clearing on the property of an old mansion just on the edge of town. She had gone ahead to hire an architect to design a canopy for over all the dinner tables for the 900 guests, and a stage for the jazz orchestra to play on, creating this incredibly classy feel. Decorated with all types of exotic flowers, majestic ice sculptures and twinkling lights in the trees, Trunks had to admit - his mother certainly out did herself this time! He looked around in awe as the valet helped him out of the car. Most of the people, primarily business associates and close family friends, were already there.

 "Mom, this is... really amazing! How much did all of this cost?" he wondered.

 Bulma laughed, as she too was amazed at how beautiful it all turned out, "Well, let's just say it was a pretty penny."

 "A million zeni! You're mother spent almost a million zeni on a party!" Vegeta butted in. "I will never understand how a party can be *that* important to your species!" he huffed, crossing his arms and refusing to look at the scene in front of them.

 "Hey, it's my party and I'll spend whatever I want on it," she teased, pulling Vegeta by his arm towards the crowds. Trunks could still hear her complaining to his father as they walked off. "...besides, what do you ever do with money anyway?"

 Listening to the flurry of people and long line of cars as they pulled up to the estate, Trunks started feeling more out of place than ever. He dug his hands deep into the pockets of the black designer suit his mother picked out for him, happy that at least he didn't have to wear a tie. Instead, he turned out the lapels of his bright blue dress shirt and pulled out his cuffs.

 "Trunks, can we find Pan now?" Bra pleaded as she pulled on the bottom of his sleeve. "I'm bored!"

 Trunks softened his face into a smile, remembering what it was like when he was a little kid and was dragged off to these corporate things - remembering how he always had Goten to hang around and raise all hell with.

 "...Goten." He felt that twinge again, forgetting about his sister plea.

 "Hey, I see them! Can we go by Pan?" pointing over to her little friend sitting with Gohan and Videl.

 He cleared his head, trying not to think too much. "Yea. Fine. I'll go tell mom where you are. But stay with them, okay? I don't need you getting lost... again," he told her firmly as she skipped over to them, reminded of how easily she seemed to disappear and get into trouble when the two of them were together.

 Just like he and Goten used to do.

 "Ah, I have to stop this!"

   Trunks scanned over the party and found just the place he needed to be, making a fast track through the sea of people until he stopped right in front of it. "Scotch on the rocks, make it a double."

 "Oh, yes sir, Mr. Briefs! Right away," the bartender quickly responded, pulling out the finest bottle of single malt Scotch in the house from under the counter. Trunks rolled his eyes at the sample of phony respect he would have to put up with all night. As he turned away to lean up against the bar while his drink was being poured, a soft hand reached out for his shoulder and playfully whispered in his ear.

 "So... do you come here often."

 He snapped around, the spilt second of anticipation already gone in his voice. "Hey, Marron. I'm glad you could come. You look great," he said blankly, touching the straps of her little slinky cocktail dress, trying to hide his total lack of enthusiasm for being there at all. "Are you here with your parents?" He looked over her towards the tables.

 Now given any other circumstance, Marron knew she would have probably been reduced to a pile of mush by his presence alone, especially that he looked so amazing now that it was one of the few times he actually dressed up. But things were different now. "Yea, we're sitting with the Son's. You should come and say hello-" she held her breath, knowing exactly what Trunks was thinking by the [pathetic look in his eyes. She paused. "He didn't come tonight. I-...I thought I should tell you that."

 "...Oh." His focus cast down, lost in a million thoughts, mostly of what he would even do if he was there. It would make a difference or change anything that happened.

 Genuine concern for him drove her ask. "So how have you been? Are you okay... about things?" She tried not to fear the response she might get, hoping he had at least been doing better than Goten was.

 Trunks just turned away from her, unable to look her in the face as he spoke. "I don't think I can do it, Marron." He swirled the ice in his drink. "I feel like everyday is this huge fucking obstacle to get through... trying to keep myself busy - my mind off it. But I... I can't." Marron watched him as he spoke, praying he would finally open up about it and tell her why it *really* bothered him so much.

 "I need your help to forget about him."

 "What? But... why do you want to forget? I thought..." she tripped over her words, caught off guard by not hearing the realization she thought she would. Trunks took a long gulp of his drink, wincing at the taste.

 "Listen, I have to greet people now, or some bullshit. Can we talk someplace later? Just the two of us?"

 She could hardly reply. "Y-yes, of course. I'll be around..." She watched him edge his way through all the people, hiding behind a forced smile for the sake of the image he had to create, shaking hands and acting interested.

 "I know you're lying, Trunks. I'm NOT going to let you forget. You don't just forget about your best friend like this. Especially not when it's the two of you."

     A couple of hours had gone by in a blink. All the speeches had been made, and an incredible five course dinner had come and gone. The band had just started playing more upbeat music and people started making their way to the dance floor, enjoying the extravagant night Bulma had planned for her guests.

 Despite the lively mood about, Trunks was less than interested as he searched through the crowds trying to find Marron, or at least someone who knew where she was. Spending half the night looking for someone with such a low ki level among almost a thousand people would prove to be more than frustrating if he couldn't get a lead. Finally, he spotted her parents at their table.

 "Krillin, have you seen where Marron went, I've been looking for her everywhere," Trunks asked, very much in a hurry to talk.

 "Hey, Trunks! I think I saw her over there," pointing to a little garden near the back of the house. "Is everything okay? You look like something's on your mind."

 Trunks didn't even hear the question. "Thanks Krillin."

 There *was* something on his mind and he needed to talk to someone - Marron now being the only friend he had that he could trust and confide in. He ran up the hill of stone stairs leading to the area he was directed. A shallow pool with a fountain reflected the lights from the house and sparkled in the middle of the garden. He found Marron sitting on a marble bench near a tiny forest of rose bushes, obviously lost in thought as she gazed endlessly into the water.

 Trunks walked up and sat next to her, leaning over on his knees, clasping his hands together as he racked his mind of what to say or how to say it. Marron finally broke the silence.

 "Is it worth it?" she asked interrupting his thoughts and catching him off guard with the first question. He thought *he* was the one that came there to talk to her.

 "What? What do you mean?"

 "I mean, is it worth losing your friendship? Just because what he did? I don't understand why you can get over this?" Marron shook her head, truly looking for answers as to why her two closest friends couldn't get past their differences. "I hate having to see you two separately, not being able to hang out together like we used to. I feel like this is all my fault..."

 Trunks interjected. "Marron, I already told you it isn't your fault. To be honest with you... I don't really give a shit that you had sex in my house. I care that... that..." Words became harder to think, harder to say. "...I only care that he was with someone else."

 "Why? I don't under..." She trailed off, Trunks looking back at her with a crushing sadness in his crystal blue eyes, admitting everything to her with just a single look. "...Trunks, what do you mean *someone else*?"

 He swallowed the heat building up in the back of his throat, and covered his face in shame. "I can't think of him with anyone else, Marron. It just always been me and him, you know? Yea, we've both dated around, whatever. But in the end, it was still just me and him. Nobody could take that away. I...I needed that - that assurance that he would always be there, that he'd always be mine... even if I couldn't..." He didn't have the strength to say it, not even to Marron. He bit down hard on his lower lip.

 "Couldn't what, Trunks? Tell me. Please." Her voice seemed so comforting and soothing, like a truth serum he was forced to swallow. She held his hand and could feel him shaking. "Trunks...?"

 "...He would always be mine, even if... even if I could never be his." The emotions that had been repressed for so long started to tear open his heart, letting all of the torment, rejection, and heartache come spilling out to her.

 "I've loved him so much, Marron, ever since we were little kids. Before I even knew what it was. For a while, I thought I just had some stupid crush on him, but I hid everything from him anyway, knowing he'd hate me for just looking at him in the way I did. But I couldn't help it. There was just something about him that made me feel that way. Maybe it was the fusion or... I don't know. I mean, how can you just one day fall in love with your best friend?" He clenched his fists as his voice started to crack.

 "It hurt so bad... not being able to tell him all this. Just knowing, for so long, that it would never happen. I was stupid - I let my feelings get too strong. I became so protective of him, jealous of anyone who even looked at him." Trunks felt tears building up in his eyes, trying to force them back. "It's impossible to be with someone you love everyday of you life and never get that feeling back. It starts turning into this awful pain inside. I just... couldn't live like that. I didn't want to love him anymore - always crying myself to sleep, getting my insides torn out everytime I wanted to kiss him and couldn't."

 He started to fully break down in his hands. "...You don't know what it's like! You don't! And then, then after you spend your whole life trying to convince yourself that your friendship is more important and sacrifice your own happiness for him - that you'd rather at least have him in your life and be alone, than to try something and fuck it all up - he goes and does it anyway! Oh God, why did he do that?" Trunks cried to her, to himself. Hearing his own words out loud started being worse than keeping them closed up.

 "I... just, I-... I want to see him again. I do. I want to tell him I'm sorry. That I take back everything I did to hurt him and push him away. That I do love him. I always have."

 Marron was breathless and couldn't believe what she was hearing. This most definitely wasn't what she thought Trunks was going to tell her. Not in a million years! But there she sat, watching as Trunks completely lost it in front of her for the one person nobody would ever imagine he wanted.

 People walking around nearby starting to whisper and stare, hearing the someday-future President of Capsule Corporation sobbing in front of a girl. She had to get him out of there. "Trunks, why don't you come with me. Let's go someplace else." She put her arm around him to guide him away from the small crowd gathering at the other side of the reflecting pool. "We should really take this inside."

 He inhaled deeply and followed Marron into the house to a library-type room on the second floor. It was filled with couches and books, floor to ceiling as beautiful piano music echoed through the room from outside. She sat him down and pulled up a chair in front of him, not sure where to begin or go from where they left off.

 She only knew how it had to end.

 Trunks leaned his head in his hand on the arm of the chair while Marron reached out and took his other in hers, rubbing it softly. Now her hands were shaking with his, revealing how nervous she was around him, all though it was now for a different reason.

 "...Do you still love him?"

 "Oh God, I love him so much," he choked out on his words and tears. "There isn't a second that goes by that I don't think about him. What I would say to him if he still wanted me... but I pushed him too far away. I did some horrible things to him. I know he doesn't feel that way about me anymore. I just... I hurt him so much..." Marron brought him into her arms, holding on for dear life as she felt her own tears now falling from her eyes.

 "Trunks... what if I told you that he did?" She barely got it out, hugging him close before he pulled away to look her in the face. He searched her eyes for an understanding.

 "W-What? What do you mean?" he sniffed, "How do you know?"

 "Because..." She hesitated before saying the words she knew would change everything. "...Because he told me all the exact same things you're telling me." Marron let a smile of joy break throughout her body, placing her hands on his face. "He still loves you Trunks, he really does. You need to tell him. You can't let him go again. The two of you are meant for each other, I can see that now. But you need to see it too."

 He couldn't cry. Tears spilled freely from his eyes, but he couldn't cry.

 Marron could see him melt, tearing down the cold steel wall he had built around his heart and finally letting himself remember how to openly love again after so many years of hiding it and pushing it away. Everything started coming back to him - everything he once tried to hold back to save their friendship began to swallow him whole, crushing him with emotions. His breathing almost broke into a panic.

 "C'mon, I think you need some fresh air," she smiled as she held his hand and led him to the open glass doors leading to the balcony that overlooked the party below.

 Trunks only took two steps outside. His heart stopped beating.

   And there he was.

   Leaning over the corner of the stone railing, far on the edge of the balcony, facing out to the open sky. His face in his hands. Alone. Waiting.

 Trunks could barely breath.

 "Tell him, Trunks. You love each other... don't be afraid of this," Marron whispered in his ear, knowing that Goten was out there all along, even if he wasn't aware of the new revelation that happened since he arrived - still thinking he'd have to struggle to save their broken friendship. Still thinking Trunks hated everything about him and what he did to ruin it all.

 Trunks stood frozen, not a muscle in his body able to move forward. He looked back to Marron but she was already gone, leaving him out there alone with the biggest moment of his life. It took everything he had, every ounce of strength, to walk one foot in front of the other towards the edge where he stood, stopping right behind him before Goten finally spoke.

 "I know it's you Trunks," Goten said as he slowly turned around, looking back with wet eyes. "I can feel you too, you know." A tiny smile forced across his lips - his beautifully soft lips.

 "G-Goten, I..." Trunks wanted to tell him, but felt his throat close up from a hard lump preventing him from speaking any words at all. He had dreamed about this moment for so long, but now that it was finally here, he was never so scared in his life.

 "No Trunks, let me go first," Goten interrupted, not giving him the chance. "I know I shouldn't have come tonight, but... I couldn't live with myself if I let this happen to us. You're too important to me. And... I'm sorry that I feel the way I do about you, but please don't think there isn't anything in this world I wouldn't do to change that!" Goten fought back his tears as he continued.

 "You were right, about everything. I was so selfish to expect you to feel the same way. I didn't think of what it would do to us, that it would all turn out like... like this," he faded his voice, gripping the railings tight beside him. "But I can't go through my life without you. I can't. I'd rather just be your friend than nothing... even if it means we can't be close anymore like we used to. It's just-... to not be able to see you everyday and grow up with you... You're everything to me, Trunks, and I promise I'll change if... if you just give me a chance."

 Trunks just stared back at him, forgetting everything he had originally wanted to say, rendered motionless from what he was hearing - knowing it was killing Goten to not hear a response. Trunks felt his chest starting to pound, aching for what he wanted - what he had to do. For the turn his life was about to take.

 He reached forward and took Goten's face in his hands, scaring both of them as he held on, looking back at him with frightened eyes for the longest moment of their lives. His thumb carelessly smoothed over his bottom lip, parting them ever so slightly and knew he couldn't hold on any longer. Trunks brought his face to his and pressed his lips fully against Goten's, kissing him with all the passion and love that had been growing inside of him for so long that he never let himself experience. A real kiss. Not an accident. Not a trick. Not a dream.

 This time it was for real.

 Goten couldn't move, completely in shock and unable to comprehend what was happening, even as Trunks slid his hand around the back of his neck to tilt his head to kiss him more deeply. Goten's eyes slipped closed and felt his heart swelling, his lips now slowly started to respond to the initial shock. He wrapped his arms tight around Trunks' back, bringing their bodies closer together, feeling a tremendous surge of energy run through them as he choked back his muffled sobs on his mouth - scared that if he were to let go, he would lose him again forever.

 Nothing else existed. No thoughts. No barriers. Out on that balcony under the clear October night sky, the two boys truly kissed each other for the first time, opening their hearts to all of the love they felt for each other for so many years that they were too afraid to show. Feeling something they could never have imagined back in return.

 Trunks tenderly broke their kiss, catching his breath, holding Goten's face inches from his as he spoke carefully with the most tortured parts of his soul. "Chibi, are you sure you want this? There's no turning back after tonight."

 Goten felt a tiny laugh leave his voice, warming his lips to a beautiful smile at what he realized he could now openly tell the older boy he had loved for so long. "Trunks... I love you more than I... I ever thought I could possibly love anyone. I don't know how it happened, but I need you and I don't think I can live a life without you now."

 Trunks squeezed him tight, pressing the side of his face to Goten's, painfully whispering in his ear. "I love you too, Chibi. I love you so much, and I never want to hurt you again. Please forgive me."

 Goten buried his head in the crook of Trunks' shoulder, looking up for a moment to see Marron, standing by the door, tears rolling down her face as she watched them hold each other with this whole new lifetime ahead of them. He smiled at her, for what she had done, for the chances she took, knowing that this is how it would turn out if only she could get them to here. She smiled back before quietly slipping out the door and back down to the party, leaving them alone to begin the first moments of their new lives together.

 Moving to face him, Goten brought his hand to Trunks' face, tracing his fingertips over his perfect features, touching the soft, warm lips that he dreamed of kissing so many times before. Everything about him felt so different and new. Even though Trunks was the one person in the world he knew everything about - whom he had spent his entire life with - it somehow felt as if they were starting from the beginning, and had so much to learn about each other now.

 Goten ever so lightly brushed his lips to his, crushing them together into a beautifully passionate kiss, the music from below building around them as they lost themselves in the embrace. They could feel their hearts starting to melt together - becoming one - stronger than they could have ever imagined. Knowing that *this* was their destiny and the new bond they were now creating between them couldn't ever be broken.

   "I love you, Trunks"

  "I love you too, Goten" ~

     ~ fin ~

     ________________________________________________________________

 ________________________________________________________________

 ~AUTHOR'S NOTES ~

 So that was the first fanfiction I ever wrote! I hope you liked it. I've been busy learning and writing with Mia Skywalker and Kichi, along with writing more Goten/Trunks fics myself for my own little collection (including a very intense and different kind of lemon with *hopefully* a little help by my lemon mentor, Kinomi. And the long awaited Fusion Trilogy I have been pestered about) so keep your eyes peeled. If your interested, there IS a prequel to this fic ("My Second Time Around") that was completely written on demand as to dig deeper into the relationship between Trunks and Vegeta. Check my bio for details.

 Now I only have one thing to ask of you - PLEASE REVIEW! You've come this far, please tell me what you honestly think! I'm just looking for some real feedback to help me out with future stories, and any suggestions or comments would be a world of help to me! If you have anything to say or have any questions about this story, good or bad (even a flame) please drop a review or e-mail and tell me! *Just bring it on* I PROMISE I'll get right back to you with an answer!

   Thanks again for taking the time to read my little fic! Special thanks to my beta, Ane S. Thesia, for all of her great work and input on the first four chapters, and a special thank you to Selenity Jade, Mia and all of the writers and readers at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DBZFanficGems who recomended this fic to be one of their links even thought I'm still learning ^_^! For me to think that writers who inspired ME to finally write have read MY fic... well, that's the biggest compliment I could ever get!

 Thanks a million!!!!!

   ~ djFusion

#Goten #Trunks #Yaoi #DBZ #Lost Fanfiction