To Live a Normal Life

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Bulma, in all her mechanical engineer glory, grinned widely at the noises of protest coming from her son. It was his birthday, and so she had blindfolded him (and assured a promise his eyes were closed under the blindfold) and was in the process of leading him around the house so he'd get lost and the present she got him would be a surprise. Unfortunately, surprising a saiya-jin was a hard thing to do, but she tried her best. She grinned at his displeasure as she dragged him down carious corridors in the re-built Capsule Corps.

"Mom, do you really have to drag me along with my eyes closed like this? At least I could walk to the room whatever it is you're hiding is in and then close my eyes. I'm twenty, mom, not ten!"

Bulma's smile widened as she tossed her long, prematurely graying hair over one shoulder with one hand, and tightened the grip on her son's hand with the other.

"Nope, Trunks, we're doing this the old-fashioned way, and you are only eighteen. Those two years in the other timeline in the Space and Time chamber don't count." If Trunks had his blue eyes open, they would have rolled.

"Still counts!" he replied.

"Not so long as I say they don't!" The genius of 48, but looking a bit younger than it, dragged her only son by the hand and pulled him further around the house, trying to disorient him unsuccessfully. Having had the CC headquarters as his only play space when he was younger, Trunks knew every corner and wasn't fazed by the walking around in circles, but chose not to tell his mother since she seemed to be enjoying herself. He felt her pick up her drag/shuffle a little and knew they were getting close to their destination. As soon as he felt his feet move down the stairs he knew they were headed to the labs. Bulma noticed the small smile on his face but didn't seem to mind. She dragged him though the doorway, pulled off the blindfold and-

"Surprise! Happy eighteenth birthday, Trunks!" He opened his eyes and saw the time machine his mother had built a year ago, shiny, repainted and clean, the word 'Hope' still emblazoned on its side.

"Mom?" She grinned, looking much less like the middle-aged woman with so many burdens, and more like the girl he had heard of from the Dragonball hunting days.

"Trunks, because you've been absolutely wonderful in helping me put the world back together this year, I'm giving you a break- a vacation. One year of normal life- or as normal as it can get in the other timeline. I've already told the other me. She's expecting you, although I think you'll be a surprise for your father-" a slight voice crack "-and the chibi-you." Trunks blinked in amazement and opened his mouth to protest, but his mother cut him off. "AND, to make the normal experience complete, you're going to high school with Gohan." All protests died on his lips immediately.

"Chichi tutored him that much?!" Bulma smiled.

"No, I'm sending you to a time period seven years after you left the timeline last- on the other you's birthday, actually. So you'll get to see eight year old you and eighteen year old Gohan. Won't that be interesting? And don't worry about me having control of things here. You have the time machine, remember, so I'll expect you back by high noon tomorrow." She reached into her pocket and handed him a box of capsules. "Here. I took the liberty of packing your things already because you KNOW you want to go, and I'm your mother, and I know what's best for you." An almost goofy smile came to Trunks' lips. Oh yeah, this WOULD be fun.

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Newly eight year-old Trunks grinned broadly as he opened his third present- besides a real-life chemistry set and a new gi- to reveal a set of Hercule Satan action figures. With an almost evil delight he smiled and said, "Thanks mom! Now I really CAN get away with blowing up Mr. Satan!" Vegeta smirked and a thirty-eight year old Bulma- who looked a over a decade younger than she was- gave a snort and rolled her eyes, trying to suppress a smile on her perfectly un-wrinkled face.

"You can thank your father for that one." The boy's blue eyes lit up with happiness and admiration.

"Really Papa?!" The older man with the upswept hair gave a small "hmp" of acknowledgement and a look as close to a smile as he could get. The lavender-topped eight year old brightened up even more at the sign from his father, and gave a nod of respect and a shout of "Thank you, Papa!!"

Bulma sighed with pleasure at the scene. She had been a late starter, but looking at her family now, she knew it was worth the wait. She glanced at her watch, "Come on, you two, I've got another surprise for both of you." Bulma continued with a flip of her short hair. "As I was saying, Trunks, you're getting an older brother." Both of her men looked confused. "Mirai Trunks is coming to live with us for a year!"

A moment passed until she heard her desired response:

"WHAT?!"

"REALLY?! COOL!" Trunks looked estatic; Vegeta looked abashed. "THAT'S SO NEAT!" Trunks yelled. Bulma gave a self-satisfied smile.

"I thought you'd like it." At Vegeta's 'why on earth?' look, she shrugged and gave a brief explanation. "He needed a vacation." With that, the welcome wagon went downstairs to the lab to greet the newcomer.

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"Pencil Sharpener!" the elderly teacher called out as he read attendance.

"Here!"

"Pink Erasa!"

"Here!"

"Satan Videl!"

"Here!"

"Son Gohan!"

"Present!"  The whole class turned and stared at him. He sweatdropped and smiled nervously. "Uh, here?"

"Three-ring Binda!"

"Here!"

Gohan sank back into his seat. It was only his second day of school and he had already made himself seem out of place. From his late entrance the first day, to eating a lot at lunch, to accidentally jumping too high to catch the baseball, and not getting hurt when hit by the fast-ball…and now he stood out just by saying "present" instead of "here"…he could tell that being normal in high school would be a difficult task all year. He sighed and sat up again. I shouldn't slouch! He looked at his classmates, who were all slouching or leaning onto their desks, and thought again. Well, maybe not. He slumped forward in his chair, idly twirling his pencil, before resorting to drawing Piccolo-sensei out of boredom. The old balding mustached homeroom teacher slowly rapped a ruler on his podium to call attention. 

"Now class," he rapped the ruler a couple more times, slowly, "It seems we have another new student now." He rapped the ruler again, although it was hardly necessary. All the people in class were looking at him with some degree of interest. "Vegeta, come on in…" Gohan nearly fell out of his chair onto the floor in shock.

"Gohan?!" Erasa exclaimed, hands to her mouth in a gasp, "Are you alright?!"

 "Oh, yeah, fine," He quickly collected himself, blushing slightly before paling again, setting his chair right again. If the whole "present" situation hadn't labeled him as an idiot, that certainly did. "Just klutzing…ha…ha…" He gave a nervous version of the Son smile to see if they believed him. Videl gave him a penetrating stare, "some klutz," while Sharpner passed it off as another "dork" thing.  Gohan laughed nervously, and the teacher glared.

"If you're all quite done up there, Vegeta?"

"Oh?" A voice much different- younger and softer- than the one Gohan expected came back. "Yes? Oh! Sorry." A very abashed looking young man stepped in with a blush, but quickly corrected it. He put a small smile on his face, not minding the long lock of lavender hair that fell down on it. The girls almost all brightened up at the new entry, while the guys grumbled about another possible dork- or a pretty-boy threat. He was wearing a puffy gray Capsule Corp jacket, a black tank top underneath with jeans and a belt. His long lavender hair was back in a ponytail with grown out bangs on the sides. His blue eyes smiled jovially as he introduced himself. "Hi, I'm-"

"Trunks," Gohan murmured, jaw slack.

"- Briefs Vegeta, nice to meet you all." Gohan stared completely shell-shocked as the teacher went on.

"Mr. Briefs here got full credit on his entry exams, just like Mr. Son up there." Gohan came out of his shock.

"Huh?"

Sharpner smirked and crossed his arms, "Looks like you've got yourself competition in the geek department, Gohan." Trunks, who had heard the comment, of course, looked up at Gohan and gave an honest smile, raising an eyebrow in Sharpner's direction. Gohan gave a little wave.

"So, sonny, why don't you tell us a little about yourself?" the teacher continued.

"Well, I've been in boarding school for the last few years," here he gave a small Vegeta-esque smirk, "kind of, and I'm interested in martial arts." Some kid in the back row snickered and whispered,

"Bet pretty boy couldn't lift a twenty-pound weight." General snickering ensued. "Vegeta" casually crossed his arms and gave a decidedly wicked smirk which showed Gohan that two years in the hyperbolic time chamber with Vegeta no Ouji had been way, way, too much.

"I've also been told that I have exceptionally good hearing," he drawled, with a pointed glance in the boy's direction. His mood lightened just as swiftly as it had fallen, "But I really am glad to meet you all, and look forward to further convo." Another pleasant expression. Gohan felt rather wigged out by all the Vegeta-ouji channeling, but managed to stay calm.

Erasa sighed about how dreamy he was, and he turned in his seat, asking, "Is there a seat near here for him?" She looked around.

"Sure, right behind me…Oooh!" she stood up, "Oh teach! There's a free seat right back here!" The old man nodded, a small smile at the girl who had managed to snag two new students seats in two days.

"Thank you, Erasa. You may have a seat up there, Vegeta." Trunks nodded and gave a dip of the chin to Gohan when he passed, who responded with a "hello" nod in kind. Erasa leaned over, eager to gossip.

"You KNOW that guy?" Gohan nodded. I wonder what he's doing here. Then the teacher commanded them to take out their notes, and there was no more opportunity for conversation until lunch.

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