Oi!

Within minutes I and Trunks managed to sneak out from the tournament arena, blending into the crowds outside where all the booths were selling food and souvenirs to the spectators. This was great. I could just imagine the look on Kain's face once he found out I snuck off. He would be so pissed.After Trunks' suggested it, the two of us headed to the nearest mall. We had to take the bus, since if we flew everyone would sense our ki and know that we had left and exactly where we were going. Also, I hated flying with anyone. It had taken me forever to learn, and I still couldn't just take off straight up. I had to do this stupid little running start to get going. It actually wasn't that bad, just one or two steps to build some speed and then I could jump and fly as fast as anyone. But it was still embarrassing.

I finally arrived at the mall about 2:00 in the afternoon. At first I amused myself by planting stuff in other girls' purses so they'd get busted for shoplifting, and succeeded in getting myself and Trunks run out of 3 separate stores for loudly describing their merchandise as overpriced crap and cussing at the store workers when they tried to reason with me.

"But this shirt is 100 cashmere!" one woman tried to explain, when I asked her very calmly who the hell she thought she was screwing over selling a shirt for $200.

I snorted. "Well, the price is 100 bull-shit."

And then she called mall security, and Trunks pulled me out of the store to escape to another part of the building. This area looked a lot more promising. Stuff I'd actually wear. Mostly.

I stood outside one shop, looking curiously through the glass at a long black tank top with tiny silver sparkles, resembling raindrops falling down in the night, when I suddenly heard Trunks' voice at my side.

"You want it?"

I gave him a strange look. "What do you mean? I don't have any cash."

He shrugged. "Don't worry, I got it."

I narrowed my eyes, instantly suspicious. Why was he being..nice to me? He was acting all laid-back about it, like it was nothing, but that's still what it was. Nice.

"Just to be clear, do you mean you'd buy the shirt, or let me run amok and spend all your money on a bunch of crap?"

He smirked and pulled out his wallet, fishing out a shiny credit card and holding it out between two fingers. My eyes lit up at the sight.

"Oh, I forgot. Your family's loaded. You don't care." I said, snatching the card away and admiring it and all its shining possibilities.

"Pretty much." He conceded.

"Cool. I have to warn you, though, you could be here for a while. And you are responsible for carrying any and all baggage."

"Don't worry, I'm used to it"" he scoffed.

I frowned, not quite liking the way he said that.""Don't think that means I waste money on a bunch of stupid crap and buy a shitload of stuff I don't need! I meant that..you know what, just let me show you. Come on."

He followed me into the store and watched as I surveyed a rack of different shirts all mixed together.

"Okay, this I hate, hate, wouldn't be caught dead in," I continued, flipping past each article and judging it separately, "hate, hate, double-hate, hmm…" I stopped and pulled out the black tank top, briefly confirmed that it was the same one I saw in the window, and lightly tossed it over Trunks' arm. "This I like."

He mumbled something under his breath, probably something vaguely like 'about damn time,' but I ignored him and continued on my scathing commentary. This time I kept my remarks quiet enough for the sales people not to hear and have us kicked out again. There were a few things I wanted to get in here.

"What about this one?" he asked.

There was something about his voice when he said that that made me turn and look at what he was talking about. I froze in my track, confronted with a short, pink-sequined dress hanging on the wall. I stood for a moment, horrified by the nightmare of wearing that, ever, and was brought back to reality by a quiet snickering behind me. I whipped around, death-glaring the Saiyan with all my might.

He stopped laughing, but couldn't keep a straight face.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" I asked accusingly. "The sight of that dress will haunt my dreams tonight! Did you even consider that?"

He grinned at me. "I'm so sorry." He said sarcastically.

"You know what? Screw you. Just pay for this crap and we'll get out of here."

"As you wish." He bowed his head at me for a moment, and solemnly proceeded to the register. I stood with my head cocked, staring after him for a moment. As much as I hated to admit it, he actually was kind of fun. Even being a sarcastic jackass.

Once I left the store, I was astounded with the number of people roaming the mall. It had to have doubled from when we first came. People must be out of work, or the tournament was over, or something like that. Whatever it was, it made me nervous. Being around this many people...it stressed me out. I always felt like they were always bumping into me, or getting too close to me, and I couldn't stand just not being able to see around me. I couldn't stand being surrounded like this. My shoulders tensed and I turned sharply and set off at a quick pace towards the nearest exit, trying my hardest not to bump into anyone. Trunks noticed my agitation and sped up a bit to catch up with me.

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly.

"Nothing"" I said quickly. "Just..could we go somewhere with less people?"

In response to his unasked question, I snapped, "I don't like crowds, alright!"

He looked down at me for another second or so, then shrugged and headed for the exit. He had arranged for the store to have the clothes I bought delivered to Capsul Corp., and while it took some of the fun out of watching him carrying all the bags, it meant I could get out a lot faster.

Trunks and I escaped the crowds in the local park for a few hours. Once we arrived I started climbing all the trees I could, and practiced jumping from one branch to another. It had been a while since I was free to run around outside. Kain was always too busy, taking me everywhere for jobs and stuff, and he would never let me run off unsupervised for long. Of course, the stricter he was, the better I got at running away from him. It was a never-ending cycle.

Trunks stood under the tree, looking curiously up at me.

"You do this a lot?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yea. I always thought it was a good skill to have."

"Why?"

"Well, if someone's chasing you, and you have the choice between running and climbing a tree and running, I think the best option would be to get 10 feet above their head so they can't catch you as fast." I said simply.

"Hn. I would think if someone was chasing you, they'd probably get punched in the face."

"Probably, yea. But don't rag on my theory!"

"I'm just sayin-"

"Yea, you're just saying, you wanna try it?! Get up here and try to catch me!" I challenged, bending a supple branch around my arm and crouching down, waiting for him.

He considered me for a moment, then hopped up on the branch in front of me. "Alright. Shouldn't be too hard."

I cocked my head to the side. "Oh, really?" At his smirk, I let go of the branch around my arm, jumping back into a different tree. As he leapt up to follow me, the branch I had held whipped around, striking with a sharp slap on his cheek. I heard a muttered curse, grinned to myself, turned and jumped through three more trees, hardly making any noise as my feet pushed off the moss-covered branches. I heard small rustlings as he chased after me, but I was a lot faster than him. He might be the fighter, but I spent all my time exploring. I could find my way through a forest. After 10 minutes, he still hadn't been able to catch me, and I hopped down onto a thick, low branch growing almost as a second tree trunk and waited for him to catch up with me. I wondered how much longer he was going to put up with this and not just admit defeat.

I hummed to myself and lightly tapped my foot on the branch beneath me. Why was he taking so long? I frowned, body growing still as I listened intently for the rustle of his clothing against the leaves. Growing nervous at the silence, I crawled back against the trunk, and sat crouched on all fours against the bark. Now he couldn't get behind me, and I could see on all sides in front of me. There wasn't any branch under me, and if he touched the ground then he lost. I heard a small crack from above me, and froze as I realized the only direction I hadn't covered. Before I could move, a hand gently cupped my shoulder and pushed me off the branch. I fell roughly on the grass below, a small grunt forced out of my throat as Trunks fell heavily on top of me. His upper body effectively pinned me underneath him, his lower body on the ground beside me. I was annoyed that he had been able to sneak up on me, and for some reason very conscious of the hard muscles of his chest that pressed down on me. He was still for a moment, catching his breath from the chase and resting his head down beside mine. For some reason, I didn't feel nearly as uncomfortable as I did whenever anyone else touched me. Still, I growled softly at him to let him know not to push his luck.

He kept me down just long enough so I knew I had been caught, then calmly rolled off of me and propped himself up on one elbow, smirking at I.

"You were saying?"

I rolled my eyes and sat up, trying to shake off the comfortable feeling his weight had put on me and be properly annoyed with him. "Oh, shut up. Still took you forever."

He smirked again, and lay quietly for a moment before looking up at me. "Kestrel? Can I ask you something?"

"You just did. But yea, why not?"

"What's up with you and Kain?"

I felt my body stiffen. "What do you mean?" I asked cooly.

"Well, he's your brother, isn't he? You two seem to fight all the time."

I dug my nails into the grass beneath me, digging up a fistful of roots and soil and letting them sift out between my fingers. "We just don't get along."

"What about the rest of your family?"

I stood up suddenly and began walking to the park entrance, not looking back at him. "We should go back now." I said shortly.

I love these little lines!

Also, I have another Trunks story & a Gaara story on my Quizilla account, if anybody's interested. Same name, amazing results. ----(gay joke)