As always, C&C, MSTs and all other comments are welcome to
"thark@swipnet.se", and find previous episodes at
"http://nabiki.newberry.edu/thark/fanfic/index.html#notevenyou".
No actual fight-scenes in this episode!
------dragonball-----
| |
| NOT EVEN YOU |
| |
| Trunks depressed; |
| Marron on a date. |
| |
----------6----------
^_^
"Did you see that new guy in the class below?" a short-haired blonde
girl whispered to her desk-mate.
The other girl, equally blonde but with her hair cut somewhat
longer, nodded. "You mean the one with the long, black hair?"
The first girl smiled as she pictured the boy in her mind. "Yeah. He
sure is cute."
The dreamy look overtook the second girl as well. "I wonder what his
name is?"
From the desk behind theirs, a third girl joined the discussion,
slightly taller than the others and with thick black hair descending
down her shoulders. A wide red headband covered most of her forehead.
She leaned towards them as she tried to speak loud enough for her
friends to hear and still avoid the attention of the teacher as much
as possible. "I heard it's Son Goten."
"Son?" the girl sitting next to the third one said. Her brown hair
had been tied into a short pony-tail. "Do you think he's the brother
of the guy married to Mr. Satan's daughter?"
The long-haired girl looked thoughtful. "I'm pretty sure he is."
"Oh, you've even been checking out his background, Dinaa?" her
friend teased playfully.
"What a catch!" the first blonde girl exclaimed, and they all
exploded into a fit of giggles.
None of them realized that in front of them, the entire conversation
was being overheard by a half-alien boy with page-cut blond hair, nor
would they have cared much if they knew.
Trunks fumed. A few weeks ago, those girls would have been talking
of him, the best catch in all of Satan High. After Goten's return,
though, that had all changed. Nobody was interested in anyone other
than his old friend, and as if that was not enough, the boy already
had two fiancees, one of them being Trunks' own sister.
He just couldn't figure it out. He was good looking, there was no
denying that. Sure, Goten might have a certain ruggish charm, but
Trunks himself was, appearance-wise, every girl's dream, no-one could
deny that. He was charming; almost too much at times, he thought,
unlike the arrogant new boy with who suffered from an utter lack of
social skills. He had money, which while not necessarily important
certainly didn't detract from his good impression. All in all, the
perfect guy. He was even humble, something Goten could never even
dream of being.
No, there was no point in trying to understand girls.
^_^
Trunks flashed his most winning smile as he scored yet another
touchdown. Of course, football was pretty easy when you were a super-
powered martial artist, but he did what he could to hide his more
extreme powers, content with being a great player that outclassed all
others at his level.
"TRUNKS! TRUNKS! TRUNKS!" the cheerleaders shouted excitedly,
jumping up and down and waving about as cheerleaders usually do. On
the football field, he was king, and his old friend sure as hell
wasn't going to take *that* away. Luckily, Goten had never shown any
interest in sport, unless you counted fighting; perhaps it was simply
the lack of challenge. Trunks, however, loved being looked upon as
better than everyone else, and took every opportunity to show off.
With a confident grin, he leapt forward, deftly avoiding a massive
boy that came flying in from his right, and landed once again in the
endzone, stopping briefly to wave towards the crowd before he put the
ball down, the referee's whistle announcing yet another point for the
home team.
^_^
As the ending signal sounded, Trunks effortlessly tossed off the
mountain of opponents he'd been buried beneath, and proceeded towards
the team's cheerleading squad.
"Trunks!" one of the girls called as he smiled towards them. "You
were great!"
"Yeah!" another added. "We would be nothing without you!"
He grinned. "I try." It felt great to be number one again, and he
turned to the leader of the squad. "Hey, Chigari, if you're not too
busy, maybe we could go out this Friday?" He knew full well that no
matter how occupied, the girl couldn't turn down a great guy like him
when *he* actually descended to ask *her*.
"Sorry," Chigari said, brushing a hand through her long, blond hair
as she looked at the crowd somewhat absent-mindedly. "I have homework
do to on Friday. Maybe some other time."
Saying that Trunks was shocked would not do his feelings justice. He
knew he'd lost some of his popularity, but to be rejected like that
... unbelievable. He followed Chigari's gaze, wondering what had her
distracted so, but soon wished he wouldn't have when his eyes fell on
a certain black-haired boy. Goten, noting that his old friend looked
at him, smiled and waved, flashing a V-sign as he silently mouthed
Trunks' name.
^_^
Trunks left the dressing room with a gloomy look in his eyes, his
hands firmly stuck into the pockets of his Capsule Corp jacket. For as
long as he could remember, he'd been Satan High's finest; the one the
guys looked up to and the girls wanted to date. The change had hurt
him more than his considerable ego would allow him to admit.
At least there was one girl who wouldn't turn him down, he thought,
smiling wistfully, and he set off with determined steps.
^_^
"Hey, sister!" Trunks called as Bra's class left their classroom for
the last time that day, standing to the side of the door. He'd been
here before and knew all too intimately the horde that came rushing at
his side. Of course, not too long ago, part of that horde would have
stopped to acknowledge his existence, but that time was over now.
Perhaps permanently, he thought, as a dark cloud briefly crossed his
face.
His sister walked up to him, smiling. "Hello, Trunks!" she said,
with a smile on her lips to happy to be caused only by the end of the
day.
"I thought I'd go to the amusement park today," he told her. "Want
to come along?"
A slightly downcast look came to Bra's eyes as she turned her head
up to answer her brother. "Sorry, I'm going to visit Goten-sama. Maybe
some other day?"
"Yeah," Trunks nodded, his mind already floating off. "Sure. Some
other day."
All the other girls, all the other attention, sure, he could forgive
his old friend for that. But his own sister, who had always taken
every opportunity to spend time with her brother ... no. He just
couldn't let it pass. Rage took a stronger and stronger grip on his
mind as he rose from the ground, and soon he was well on his way
towards Kuririn's residence, where he would give Goten the beating he
deserved.
^_^
"KYAA!" Marron shouted, the children-like features on her small face
firmly set into a determined look, as her fist descended on the stone
block. A small crack appeared, then a larger one, then without warning
the entire block collapsed, little more than dust remaining. The
partial success made her smile slightly but the determined look soon
returned as she turned to the second block her father had set up. She
was going to learn this perfectly, and that was all there was to it.
Seeing the girl in the front yard, sweat slowly running down her
brow as she adjusted her Gi in preparation for the next blow, made
Trunks pause, and he descended to the ground again, standing just
outside the fence that separated Kuririn's house from the street as he
watched the young girl intently.
Marron. His previous visits had all been related to his sister, and
he'd been too wrapped up in shouting at Goten to notice her, but now
that he finally did look at the girl, she was actually pretty cute,
the determination offsetting her almost too innocent features. Yeah,
she was pretty good looking.
Did he find her attractive just because of her engagement to Goten?
No, couldn't be, and if so, then at least it was not solely that, or
at least so he told himself. The more he thought about it, the more
convinced did he become that the girl he gazed upon was highly cute.
When her fist came crashing down again, after several seconds of
concentration, and the second block turned to dust without any prior
cracking, he couldn't help but applaud. The sound made her turn
around, noticing him for the first time, and Marron wiped some of the
sweat from her forehead as she approached the boy.
"That's pretty good," he told her, his face quickly assuming his
most charming smile.
"Thanks," Marron said, flashing a slight curtly smiled, but
inwardly, she frowned. She knew he was half-Sayajin, and had both
skill and power enough to repeat her feat even while asleep.
Ingratiating flattery like that she could without.
The boy appeared lost in thought for a few moments, but the
supposedly charming smile soon returned. "How about going to the
movies with me this evening?"
After a year in Satan High, Marron knew Trunks' reputation well
enough. Sure, most girls considered him both handsome and charming,
but to her, that did not outweigh the fact that he was a womanizing,
sexist jerk. Still, why not? "Sure," she replied, once again flashing
a brief smile that sent the boy's mind soaring.
"Great! Meet you here at seven," he said, starting to regain faith
in his gentlemanly skills again.
^_^
Trunks smiled to himself. Marron did not appear too interested in
the movie yet, but it had barely begun; if there was anything he'd
learned about taking girls to movies, it was to go for the romantic
stuff. Pretty soon, she'd probably be crying on his shoulder, and if
not, then at least she was sure to be very happy with his choice.
Marron yawned, quietly wondering when the damn movie was going to
end. Had the jerk asked her, she would've chosen the latest Namu
action flick without doubt (she was a great fan of the aged indian
master, even if she knew she herself probably had a lot more power
than him), but of course, he didn't, going instead for the
"gentlemanly" approach. Bleach.
^_^
"I hope you had a good time," Trunks said, smiling at his date as he
dropped her off outside her house. He raised her hand towards his
mouth to kiss it.
"Sure, whatever," Marron said disinterestedly, glad that the boring
evening was finally coming to an end. She shook her hand loose and
went in, leaving a confused boy outside.
^_^
On the way home, Trunks wondered just where he had gone wrong. He'd
done everything just the way he should, acted like the perfect
gentleman, yet the girl appeared anything but satisfied. Another
victory for the inexplicability of women.
He didn't have much time to think about it, however, as a shape
suddenly caming flying towards him through the darkness, and he barely
had time to recognize an immense Ki before a fist impacted his gut,
pushing his breath out.
"You leave Marron-sama alone!" Uub announced determinedly as he
gazed intently at his new enemy, glad to have someone to defend his
angel from again.
"That," Trunks snarled, "was your last mistake, brat." With an
opportunity to relieve his frustrations in sight, he didn't realize
that the boy's Ki-level was equal to or higher than his own - in Super-
Sayajin mode.
Despite his father's strict training, Trunks didn't have nearly the
skill of Goten, and the fight ended the only way it could, a surprised
and overconfident older boy left unconscious on the street, an almost
unhurt Uub returning home again.
^_^
The middle-aged man brushed a hand through his greying hair.
"Goten," he said, adressing his son-in-law-to-be with an irritated
edge obvious in his voice, "do you know that your fiancee has just
been on a date with Vegita's son?"
The half-Sayajin shrugged, not looking up from the television; after
being deprived of them for ten years, nothing in the world could keep
him away from reruns of cheap comedy series.
"Don't you care?" The edge of irritation grow stronger, taking on a
desperate quality as the father had been certain that the boy would
have at least some sense of responsibility.
"Nah." He shrugged again. "Why should I care what that stupid little
girl does? "
The ex-monk grabbed his head in his hands to keep it from exploding,
wishing that he had never lain off his strict regimen of mental
exercise. "And what do you think my daughter thinks of your
ignorance?" he fumed.
The boy didn't have to answer that, as the sound of metal hitting
flesh announced Marron's return and her father once again got a closer
study of the floor than he really wanted. "I have a will of my own,
you know!" she shouted furiously.
^_^
"Goten!" a voice rang out as the boy crossed the distance between
dining hall and main school building the next day, and he paused,
turning to look who had been shouting.
"I went out with your fiancee," Trunks said, grinning smugly. "I've
seen Ranma; I know you care, no matter what you say."
His old friend shrugged. "If you say so," he said, nothing but total
honesty in his voice, and turned away again, resuming his walk.
A surprised Trunks was left staring at his retreating back. "Aren't
you going to get mad?" he asked weakly, too quiet for anyone to hear.
Only a few yards away, Marron had not been able to avoid overhearing
the exchange, and she wondered why it irritated her so. Was it because
Goten actually was rather cute? Did she have feelings for him? Did she
actually care about the engagement? Naah; couldn't be.
Noticing her walking by, Trunks turned to approach her. "Marron,
would you like to go out again on Friday?"
Marron snorted. "Get lost, jerk."
The charming smile disappeared from Trunks' lips, replaced by a look
of utter shock.
"Trunks!"
Bra's call surprised him, and he turned to look down at the little
girl. "Sister?"
She smiled up at him. "I'll help you catch her!" _And get rid of a
rival..._
^_^
"Sister?"
Bra coughed. "What did I tell you?"
"Oh, yeah." Trunks scratched the back of his head. "Sis?"
She beamed at him. "That's better! Now, what did you want?"
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
She shook her head in a vaguely condescending manner. "Of course it
is."
He looked himself in the mirror again, not particularly liking what
he saw. His hair, now dyed black, was a mess, and the oversized jeans
and worn T-shirt were a far cry from his usual neat clothing. Well, if
it would help him catch Marron, it was worth the sacrifice. "If you
say so."
"Trust me," Bra told him, "this is what girls want. Now just
remember the attitude."
In actuality, she wasn't all that certain, not having all that much
experience with boys, but she knew which one *she* wanted, and this
was him, or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof.
^_^
"Hey, Marron-chan!" Trunks called. "Ya wanna go out or what?"
Several milli-seconds actually passed, enough for just a faint hope
to begin emerging in his mind, before she had the mallet out and the
boy was quite firmly embedded in the pavement. "Hmph!" she snorted,
walking off without a second look.
"I tell you, leave her alone!" Uub shouted, as always trailing close
behind his angel, and gave the heap barely identifiable as Trunks a
bash for good measure.
^_^
With a tired sigh, Bulma applied the bandages to her badly battered
son. "Do you know what do to now?"
"Of course," he said, managing to bring a determined edge to his
weak voice. "I'll try harder!"
_I really need to have a firm talk with their father soon,_ the
exasperated mother thought when she recovered from her close contact
with the floor.
^_^
"Father?"
"Yeah?" Vegita said, slightly irritated at having his endless
physical training interrupted.
"What am I doing wrong?"
"Well..." The Sayajin prince sat down, furrowing his brow in
thought. "Were you arrogant?"
"Yeah."
"Ego-centered?"
"Yeah."
"Presumed to know precisely what she wanted?" Despair was gradually
growing evident in Vegita's voice.
"Yeah."
"I give up. You should be doing just fine."
^_^
AUTHOR'S NOTES
--------------
Keeping everything correct with continuity is not easy; I only have
access to about half of the Dragonball volumes, and even if I had all
42, having everything under control would be impossible. If you spot
any glaring errors, make sure to tell me, OK?
Of course, Toriyama-sensei himself was far from perfect, and Dinaa
represent one unresolved plot hole. You'll see a lot more of her in
the future. If think you've guessed already who her parents are, tell
me (but don't reveal your suspicions to the entire list, OK?); you'll
meet them in the next episode, where their daughter takes a more
active role.
There are two mayor story arcs (the Budokai and the Shiruy-jin
invasion) which should be coming up soon; unfortunately, I don't
really want to write either.
Trunks' personality: It changed with Goten's bad influence removed.
FIC STATUS
----------
Summer's here, and also I soon won't have to compete with my brothers
for computer time, so speed/volume should be increasing dramatically...
Shadows on the Wall (lovecraft/Ranma) is in writing and going pretty
quickly (all planned out), but might take a while yet. An alternaverse
with a more antagonistic Ukyou is being written more slowly and in
chunks; I've no idea when and how I'll post. I'll finally write *my*
sequal to A Trail of Blood, it's in brainstorming stage, but will be
episodic, Ranma-and-Akane-travels-the-world-style. Finally, the next
installment in *this* series should be coming pretty soon; I have plenty
of ideas for the next few episodes and I'm really looking forward to
writing them; I'll probably release #7 on June 3rd, for reasons I'll
tell you then.
---
Ronny Hedin, thark@swipnet.se, http://nabiki.newberry.edu/thark/
...12 000 miles from T�ky�...