Disclaimer: DBZ and whatever shows up (especially some of Opal's attacks in chapters to come) do NOT belong to me! So don't sue meeeee…. *wails* Opal is mine, so in the words of my older sis Juuhachi-gou: "Rip us off and DIE!"

Opal: Exacticly. Besides, I recently got swearing lessons after falling into the South Park universe. Getting your ears, eyebrows, and any other body hair burned off by profanity is painful.

Author's note: A biiiiiiiig thank you to my friends: Opal, Ikaria (AKA the REAL Seikimatsu), Myuusa, Lugia-kun, Runi-chan, Andreas (go little sis, the Queen of dis! BWAHAHA!), Kasey, Jerono, Kudo, Cyan, and Jeremy.

And of course...

Uji-gami no Trunks! Daisuki, ashke! Hehehe…

And speaking of the devil: Has anyone noticed how ruthless Trunks acts at first in most of the Juuhachi/Trunks fics (take Walk This World as an example)? He acts more like Vegeta (or the Jinzouningen, ; p) than himself. So, in this fic, I display the lesser-known, gentler (and certainly more rational!) side of Mirai no Trunks: Teddy Bear Trunks (as I call him)!

Opal: O.O

Me: You try thinking of a good name. *pouts*

And now, on with the show!

There is never just black or white; there are only all the…

Shades of Gray

Chapter Three: Gray

***O***

She stared at the purple haired man, daring him to kill her. Wanting it with all her soul.

I just want to see my parents again… Ikaria, Meri, Kasey… all my friends are gone.

Kami, please let me go to be with them!

***T***

He sighed, and made the judgment that this girl's life depended on.

Before anyone could move, one fist shot out and connected with the back of the girls neck, in the same move that a certain person had used on him years ago.

The girl crumpled like an empty sack. Trunks barely managed to catch her before she hit the floor.

Videl and Bulma looked at him with surprised eyes.

"I don't know who this girl is… but I do know she is not Seikimatsu. Seikimatsu would never have let herself become so vulnerable… even if it meant killing herself before anyone found her in that state."

Beside, he added to himself, she wouldn't need to act helpless if she wanted to kill us all. She is stronger than I am; the only reason I killed her last time was because she wasn't expecting an electric attack…

Much to his dismay, he could think of at least 10 reasons why the girl he was now holding in his arms was NOT Seikimatsu.

Huh. So much for the 'run in and kill the evil jinzouningen' plan. My father would be disgusted beyond belief. Gohan wouldn't be disgusted, but… I just can't kill her, at least not until she acts offensively again. There is no honor in killing an innocent girl.

***O***

Opal woke up, much, much, later. She blinked.

He didn't kill me…

A single tear trickled down one cheek.

She sighed.

Ai sheva. Ikaria would probably be real angry with me for stealing her job of being the angsty person. I have to move on. Besides, they're not really dead, are they? Just back where they should be…

She sat up… and froze.

Lying next to her (AN: not in the bed with her, you hentai!) was Trunks. He was half in a chair, but had quite obviously fallen asleep (and face first) onto the bed she was in.

Probably wanted to make sure I didn't want to wake up alone… Yeah right.

Wishful thinking.

She blinked as she recognized that last thought.

Nicole. Thank God you had to go to Oregon with your choir… you'll be fine.

She sighed, and lay back down, inspecting her guard. And trying not to laugh; he was drooling a bit.

Muwahaha. I can blackmail him if I ever get an urge for caramel… Well, at least he's not drooling as much as Lugia did; I'd have to buy a boat! 'super_drooley@hotmail.com' indeed.

He stirred and woke up.

Opal grinned as cheerfully as she could manage with her heart torn in two.

"You're drooling, you know that?"

The purple-haired youth promptly went pink (oooh, alliteration) and wiped his mouth, then looked at her.

"You're finally awake, huh? Feel like doing something suicidal anytime soon?" he said, with sarcasm heavy in his voice.

She winced. "No… I sorta got over that… I still feel like some sort of life form that exists lower than pond scum, tho. Its not that you almost become a murderer and then get amnesia that leaves you as a different person everyday..."

Another tear found its way down her cheek.

He sighed. "I'm sorry. Its not that you find yourself trying to be nice to the person that you should hate everyday either. " He looked out the window. "Damn, my father has got to be rolling in his grave… presumably to try to get out here and knock some Saiya-jin style 'sense' into me."

Opal blinked. "You're being nicer than they portrayed you…" she muttered under her breath, remembering many hours of reading fanfics happily.

He gave her a confused look. "What did you say?"

"Uhm… that you're being nicer than I expected you to be to an ex-murderer," she hastily covered up.

"You're really hung up on the murderer thing, aren't you?"

"What sane human, artificial or not wouldn't be? Besides, I hate violence." (AN: Fine talk for one who throws at least ten paper fans at me a day!)

He cracked up.

"What?"

"S-sorry… its just that… haha… you being a jinzouningen and saying… heh… I hate violence---" by now he had stopped laughing—"its sort of an oxymoron."

She made a face at him. "Well, you are both an ox, a moron, AND an oxymoron. Whoever heard of a Saiya-jin that had a rational thought process?"

He began laughing again. So did she.