Disclaimer: First fic, going to be long, contains whatever pairings I feel like, rating may go up, and I don't own any rights to Dragonball Z. Does that cover everything?

Also, I apologize for the noncanon present; I mostly want to tell a story and am using the familiar characters of this series to aid in the visualization process.

Finally, I'd like to apologize for any grammatical/spelling/punctuation errors present. I proofread twice (once after posting) and think by this point I've caught them all, but if you notice something wrong, please tell me! Thank you.

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Wow, college. I've waited so long, and now... just a few more days. It's pretty much all I can think about now.

I lean back in the big, soft reclining chair in the quiet living room, with my eyes closed and let my thoughts run free. A warm darkness surrounds me as the pleasant scent of summer hangs in the room and I sink further into the recliner.

A door slams loudly to my left, waking me from my daydream. I open my eyes, and as they come into focus, I see the faint outline of a dark-haired high school aged girl and a similarly built girl with green hair. "Pan? Is that you?"

"Yup! Hi, Uncle Goten."

"Uncle Goten. You make me feel old! I'm only a couple of years older than you."

"Three, Gramps."

"Now, it's like two and some change," I respond with a soft smile. "Anyway, who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Bra. She's uh... Trunks's younger sister."

"Trunks? Who's that?"

"Your memory going, Gramps?" Pan chuckles. "I only dated him for like two years."

"Well, how often do I get to see you?"

"Yeah, I guess. Anyway, Mom, Dad, and me just came to give you some money and wish you luck at college."

Gohan and Videl pop their heads in the door. "Hey Goten," says Gohan.

"Hey!" I excitedly respond, finally getting up from my chair. I haven't seen Gohan for about a year. And Pan for longer. "Come in, come in!" I say. "Mom and Dad aren't home, sorry."

Gohan and Videl enter, Pan and Bra having already taken their seats on the couch opposite my chair. They remain standing, as do I.

Gohan starts, "Ah, that's all right. You're the guy I came to see. So, are you ready for college?" Videl smiles similarly at his side.

"Man, am I! High school sucked. College is going to be so much better. None of that drama."

Gohan and Videl then laugh to themselves. "Oh, boy, Goten, you don't know what you're in for. You thought high school was bad? Imagine all of that, with harder classes, and bigger people. Not to start you off with a bad attitude or anything. There's lots of good stuff, too. But man, don't think it's smooth sailing from here."

"Okay, okay," I laugh. But I don't believe it for a second. I am done with high school and this is where things start to work out. Right?

"All right, then. Are you all signed up for classes?"

"Yeah, but I'm not taking anything fun, just a bunch of core classes."

"Ah, yeah, well you have to get rid of those first. Where are you living?"

"Oh, in the dorms, actually."

"The dorms? You don't want to live in the dorms, Goten."

"Nah, I want to. I want to meet lots of new people and make lots of friends at college."

"You think living in the dorms is the way to do that? Join a club or something."

"Oh, don't worry, I've got that covered, too. I'm already signed up to be in the swimming club."

An unfamiliar voice says, "Oh, really?" I look over to see it came from Pan's friend, Bra.

"Yeah..."

"My brother's president of the swimming club at his college," she says.

"That's cool. Where does he go to school?"

"University of South City."

Gohan looks up. "Hey, Goten, isn't that where you're going?"

"Yeah...," I respond, looking at Pan's new worried expression, and then looking up at Gohan.

"Well, that's a funny coincidence! Funny how this all intertwines, isn't it?"

I brush off Pan's look and respond with a laugh, "Heh, yeah."

"Well, Goten, sorry, but we really gotta get going. But it was sure nice to see you, we oughta hang out some time, all right?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"Hey, listen," he extends his hand out in a shake-my-hand fashion, and as I take it, I feel paper rustling in the palm of my hand. "Have a good time at college." I flash him a smile as he, Videl, Pan, and Bra get up to leave, the girls lingering a little longer. I hear Pan whisper, "Go ahead, I'll be there in a second." Gohan, Videl, and Bra exit, Gohan giving a last look and flashing me the peace/victory sign. The door is left open and Pan closes it with her on the inside.

"Goten, listen. I know it's weird for me to take you aside and tell you this, but let me tell you, you don't want to deal with Trunks. He's an arrogant jerk, and not at all a good person on the inside. I'm not saying don't join the swimming club or anything, but I would recommend doing what you can to avoid contact with him."

"Umm, what?"

"I dated him for a long time, and... well, I don't want you to go through the same stuff I did."

"Well, I'm not planning on dating him, so I don't think I'll have anything to worry about, heh."

Pan gives me a playful punch on the arm. "This is serious," she says with a mild laugh and big smile. "He's bad news."

"Well, I'll make that judgment for myself, but if he's as bad as you say, I'm sure that I'll say the same."

"Well--" Pan begins, before being cut off by "Pan! Come on!"

"Coming!" she shouts back. Turning back to me, she simply says, "It's your life," and walks out.

As soon as she's out of the door, I chuckle to myself softly. I move the fingers of my right hand slightly and notice that I kept the paper that Gohan handed me in my tightly clenched fist. I open it and see a crumpled 50,000 Zenie bill. I smile to myself. Oh, Gohan, always looking out for me. I stuff the bill into my pocket and drop myself into the recliner.

Three days till I move into the dorms.

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Well, that wasn't so hard. I don't have that much stuff that I feel that I'm going to use at the dorms, so I made it all in one trip. And even if I think of something,it's not much of a hassle to go back. How exciting! And I'm about to meet my new roommate for the first time! Wouldn't it be funny if it were that guy? Pan's ex? Heh, no, that won't happen. This is a first-year dorm, and he's a second-year student. Plus, isn't his name here somewhere? I have it on a piece of paper somewhere... ah, here we are. "Fujii Yamato." Hmm. I knew a Yamato in high school. He was pretty all right. That's a good sign, I guess.

A tall, well-built but certainly not muscular guy carrying a stack of cardboard boxes obscuring his face enters the room. He places the stack of boxes on the opposite side of the small room, and I notice he has a slick, black ponytail trailing down a quarter of his back. As he turns around his pale, slender face and brilliant green eyes come into view. I catch myself staring.

"H-hi, I'm Goten."

"Yamato."

"Yeah, I ... uh, yeah." I begin to tremble. I didn't think meeting new people would be so hard. Yamato turns back. "Hey," I begin.

"Yeah?"

"Umm... do you want any help with your boxes?"

He turns back, his ponytail completing the motion. "No, I'm good."

"A-All right," I say, smiling awkwardly and pushing myself up onto the bed, still staring at Yamato from behind. He turns and notices I'm still staring. I can't help it, though.

"Um...," I begin.

"What?"

"Do you want to, uh, bunk our beds? You know, so we have room for our stuff? Like to make more room."

"No, thanks," he responds again, rolling his green eyes and turning back to the boxes.

"Yeah, I don't have that much stuff either," I laugh, scratching the back of my head nonchalantly. I play with the new maroon sheets I bought for the hard dorm mattress between my thumb and index finger, and bounce up and down slightly, looking around the room for something else to occupy my eyesight besides Yamato, who I think is getting irritated with me already. I lay my head back slowly and look at the blank wall above my bed. I'm going to need a poster or something. Definitely. But of what? I guess it doesn't matter. But I can't just leave it blank. But what if I move out of this room? That would be one more thing to move, and its only function is to look pretty anyway. I'll think about it later.

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The rest of the afternoon I look around campus, having only visited once before. In a few minutes, it's the swimming team's first meeting. This is where I'm supposed to meet all the people. I'm so excited. Now where is the gym... it's held at the pool in the gym. Oh, there it is. I enter the pool room and see a room with about twenty people in it, most of them fully clothed, but one guy in swimming trunks, two girls in one-piece swimsuits, and two guys in speedos. I also see my friend, Haku, who I know from high school. I go over to talk to him, but he seems pretty busy talking to others, and so I refrain. I brought my swimsuit (a speedo) but considering the first meeting doesn't seem to be swimming-based, I don't think I'll change. Plus, I'm feeling less confident about appearing in nothing but a speedo in front of a bunch of strangers.

Two guys and one girl (all fully-clothed) introduce themselves to me before I notice Haku is talking to one of the guys in a speedo (the one with the navy blue speedo), who then comes my way. He is tan and well-built, and his lavender hair seems a bit long for a swimmer's, but perfectly frame his oval-shaped face. He's smiling as he approaches, and he grabs my hand. "How's it going, there? I'm the president of the swimming club, my name is..."

... This? This is... "... Trunks?"

"... Yeah? Have we met?"

"Uh, no... I just saw that someone named Trunks was president."

"Oh, all right. Yep, that's me."

"Oh, well, nice to meet you," I smile, remembering Pan's advice, and begin to turn away.

"So, did you come to swim?"

Haku interrupts, "Goten's an awesome swimmer."

"Is that right?" Trunks retorts.

"Aw, no, I'm not that good."

"Well, we'll see. You got your swimsuit?"

I should just lie and leave now.

"... Yeah, I do."

"Well, then shall we?" Trunks smiles excitedly.

"... Sure, why not."

"All right, then," Trunks says, slapping me on the back. "Changing room's around there," he points to a door and goes on to talk to someone else.

"All right."

I change into my crimson speedo, which suddenly feels smaller than I remember. I look at myself in the mirror. I can do this. There are other guys out there like this. I take a deep breath and exhale slowly, before pushing the changing room door open and walking back into the swimming area.

Trunks is making conversation with the a guy and the girl I met earlier. I approach from behind and wait for a minute, for him to notice. He continues to talk, until I tap him on the shoulder. He turns around and looks at me from toe-to head. "Oh, hey, you want to race?"

The nerve! Asking me if I want to race! It was his idea! Whatever, let's just do this, and I'll kick his ass and show up the president of the swimming club. Ha, that'll be fun.

"Yes," I respond politely.

"Heh, all right."

We both approach the edge of the pool. Haku comes over and says "First to make it to the other side and back wins. On go, all right?"

I nod, and Trunks says, "All right."

"3... 2... 1... GO!"

Trunks and I dive in, and both begin front crawling toward the other side. I make it to the other side about half a second before he does. On the way back, I continue to front crawl. Trunks, however, suddenly begins messing around, turns and splashes water on the girl that I met earlier and laughing. I finish the race while Trunks is still around the middle of the pool.

"All right, good job, Goten," Haku said.

"Well, that wasn't much of a race... he just started messing around."

"Yeah, well, you won. That's what's important."

"I don't really feel like I won."

"Eh, it doesn't matter."

I showed up in nothing but my speedo for this? Not even a full race? Dammit. I think I'm going to go change back now.

I dry off, change, and when I come back Trunks looks up from his new conversation and says, "Oh, you changed back?"

Of course I changed back, Trunks. The half-race was over. Why should I continue standing around in my speedo for nothing? I should probably get back to the dorm anyway.

"Are you going?" asks Haku.

"Yeah, I should be getting back."

"Well, I hope to see you again. You're a pretty good swimmer," Trunks says.

Pretty good? Why not amazing? I beat you. You have no room to be saying...

"Thanks," I respond, leaving.

Back in the dorm, I lie down. Yamato is lying on his bed with his eyes closed and tiny headphones in his ears, attached to an iPod playing music inaudible to me. I follow suit and begin to stare at the ceiling. Trunks. What an asshole. Pan was right. I hope I don't have to deal with him too much more.

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So, what did you think? Please leave a review and tell me; I want to know whether this is worth continuing!