Thus the little minutes,
Humble though they be,
Make the mighty ages
Of eternity.
--Excerpt from Julia Fletcher's "Little Things"
Unsurprisingly, this entire mess was Vegeta's fault.
It wasn't a problem in the extra-terrestrial sense, either; the trouble he'd invoked had to do with a much more dangerous group of beings: the media. He'd always had enough sense to keep from using the word "Saiyan" in those rare conversations he had with- or around- somebody outside of their "circle", for lack of a better way to put it…but that usually ended up in some pretty wild (and, occasionally downright hilarious) substitutes. However, one of these, when mixed with his new "name" for the older of the Son boys, made things sound particularly awkward- which the aforementioned media had a field day turning into something that sounded scandalous.
"The boy? Of course, he's one of mine; don't be a fool."
Yep, it was nearly always "boy" (or, once in a while "kid) now, which, Bulma later reminded Gohan, wasn't all that bad, considering the saiyan prince's usual vocabulary. She, after all, was still "woman"… besides, Vegeta had obviously meant it as a compliment, direct or not… despite the fact that it left the eldest demi-saiyan stuck in the Capsule Corp building for the time being, as they tried to figure a way to explain this away without telling too much. When she'd heard the actual quote, Bulma had roared with laughter, and, eventually, gotten the mortified young hybrid to follow suit. Now, however, they were brainstorming ways to clean up the mess that Vegeta had made…
Ironic, really, that someone who held the very position the media were pondering over would provide a solution.
Slightly confused and just as curious as ever, Trunks wandered in, clearly baffled as to why his mother and friend were talking so seriously. Usually, that only happened when they were discussing something all "sciency", or the former was helping the latter study; he, himself, was just beginning to see the inconvenience of that last one. So, without a second thought, he asked what was going on, receiving one stunned look (as Bulma had been deep in an explanation, and hadn't heard him come in) and one resigned one—not that that was anything new. Upon receiving an explanation, he didn't say anything right away, though. It might have seemed like he hadn't understood the situation, but he just didn't see anything wrong with it.
"So what? Gohan's always been my brother…"
There was a brief silence, then…
"Trunks, hon, you are a genius! You should help in our discussions all of the time! Maybe you can sit in when your "big brother" is studying here, too…"
"…Bulma? No offence, but I think he may need to know some more…basic math before trying to understand statistics. You know, like being able to multiply by more than five?"
The blue haired scientist, having ignored the first part of the comment, frowned slightly, pausing to take this into account.
"Just you wait, Mr. Scholar," She finally said, with a teasing air about her, "My Trunks will be up to your level in no time flat!"
Gohan turned to look at Trunks, smiling slightly, as if to say "What do you think about that?"
The younger hybrid, of course, had to answer such an indirect query aloud. "Uh…maybe. I dunno if daddy wants stuff like that gettin' in the way of training, though."
"Studying…get in the way of training?" Bulma looked as if she'd been slapped, as Gohan tried valiantly to keep from chuckling at the comparison this inspired. Eventually, he lost in this endeavor, but was able to keep it quiet enough to escape the enraged woman's attention. "What has your father been teaching you? He thinks learning to fight is more important than having an education?"
Trunks blinked at his mother, unsure how to respond to that; luckily, he was saved by his would-be-sibling, who was still fighting laughter as he spoke.
"Bulma… you sounded like my mom, just now."
To her credit, the scientist didn't immediately look horrified. It wasn't that Chi-Chi was a bad mother- quite the opposite, actually, as Bulma had once expressed the desire for her son to grow up to be like the older hybrid- but she was rather…overzealous, most famously, when it came to her eldest boy's study habits. After a moment's consideration, Bulma simply sighed, resigned to the fact that Gohan's words were startlingly truthful. Perhaps it was appropriate, as, just moments ago, the half-saiyan boys had been compared to siblings, that their mothers find some common ground, as well.
This wasn't the first time any of the three had considered it, but it was the first time it had been vocalized: however strange, they were a family… Albeit a family with several… eccentric "uncles" (a green alien, an old pervert and, well, Krillen, among others) and a peculiar way of living, but a family nonetheless.
"Okay, guys, let's stop the small talk and get back to work—Chi-Chi's gonna kill me if we keep your big bro too long, Trunks."
"Woman! Where are the brat and the boy? They've wasted far too much time dawdling, today, those two slackers need to train!"
As Bulma yelled back at (notably, not "to") her husband, Gohan looked at Trunks, ruffling his lavender hair, smiling. Yeah- this was their family all right, and, in his own way, even Vegeta cared.