The strong pounding on her door came so unexpectedly that ChiChi nearly jumped out of her skin. No one who came out to Mount Paozu bothered to knock. Anyone who would drop in unexpectedly to the Son abode would just let themselves in typically. Anyone else who knew where they lived would call before making the trip. ChiChi didn't know how to sense energy like her husband and sons but whomever was at the door was polite enough to knock and not barge in so she figured there was no reason to be on edge yet, though nothing could have prepared her for the sight of a little blue haired girl in a red polka dot dress smiling up at her and seemingly all alone.
"Hello Miss ChiChi!" the little half-Saiyan said brightly waving to the woman, "Where's Pan?" Bulla asked, and instead of waiting for a response, the little girl swerved her head to look behind ChiChi into the small house. When that didn't give her a good vantage point she slipped between ChiChi and the doorway and walked into the Son home. "Pan!" she called out.
What in the world!?, ChiChi thought. What was Bulma's four year old daughter doing here by herself and more importantly, how did she get here? It was five hours by plane from their house to Satan City and that was the same region! Bulla lived in West City! Most people would think ChiChi would completely fly off the handle at such a situation but ChiChi was more concerned than angry.
"Pan's not here, Bulla honey." ChiChi said trying to get the bouncy little four year old's attention. Bulla paused her search of their tiny abode and directed her big blue stare at ChiChi. "But how did you get here?" ChiChi asked.
"I flew!" Bulla said proudly, "When I make my hair yellow, I can go really, really fast!" Bulla then looked confused and swiveled her head taking in her surroundings once more, "But Pan lives here." she insisted remembering her objective. Of course Bulla would think that, ChiChi grumbled in her head. Whenever it was Trunks' turn to babysit his sister, he would bring her here and Goten would grab Pan and leave them for her to watch while they ran off and did whatever teenagers do. Better her, than Goku, she thought, he'd probably egg Bulla and Pan into a fight. The thought put a frown on ChiChi's face when she remembered Goku had flown off to live in a remote village to train a stranger, but she forced it away not wanting to scare Bulla away.
"No sweetie, Pan lives with her mommy and daddy at the other house." ChiChi informed Bulla.
"Okay!" Bulla said happily and tried to make her way out the door presumably to the bigger house located on Mount Paozu. Of course, ChiChi couldn't let a four year old wander off on her own so she quickly but gently grabbed Bulla's sweater adorned arm before the slippery little half-Saiyan could exit.
"You can sense energy can't you?" Bulla nodded, "You can tell Pan isn't home right now, can't you? She's at school." ChiChi told the little girl in her sweetest tone, "Does your mommy or daddy know where you are?" the child shrugged her shoulders, "Did you tell them you were coming here?" she shook her head, no. "Why don't you stay here for a little bit?" ChiChi suggested to the now skeptical looking Bulla. "I made a lot of cookies for after dinner today." she added, trying to sweeten the deal, and instantly Bulla perked up. "Would you like some?" ChiChi asked, but she already knew the answer. Bulla nodded, and ChiChi dropped her own hand from Bulla's arm to her little hand and led her to a seat at the Son family table, where seated, Bulla's head barely reached over the table. ChiChi knew how much Saiyans ate and she suspected that she may have to make another batch for Goten when he got home from school. ChiChi grabbed the platter of fresh baked cookies and placed them in front of Bulla on the table. Any normal parent would never do something so foolish as to leave a few dozens cookies in front of a small child but having raised two-half Saiyan sons herself, ChiChi knew what Bulla could and could not handle. Right now, how many cookies Bulla ate was the least of her worries.
"Bulla, go ahead and have as many cookies as you want." Bulla positively beamed at her, "Be a good girl and don't go anywhere though, okay? I need to make a phone call."
"Yes, Miss ChiChi. Thank you, Miss ChiChi." Bulla replied before digging into the cookies laid before her. Such a polite child, ChiChi thought, I wonder where she got that from considering who her parents are. Shaking her head, ChiChi went to the lone phone in her household and made a call to West City.
"Hi ChiChi," the other woman answered the phone, "What's up?" she asked seemingly unbothered. She didn't sound like a mother whose four year old was missing.
"Bulma, do you have any idea where your daughter is?" ChiChi cut to the chase, she was a little angry but tried to keep her tone even for the sake of the four year old seated in her kitchen at the moment.
"She's probably playing in her room, why?" Bulma asked mildly curious.
"You are perhaps the smartest woman in the world but sometimes you can be very dumb!" ChiChi nearly lost it, but she was positive Bulla heard her and resolved to keep her tone more even.
"Hey! How dare you!" Bulma shouted back at her. "Where do you get off calling me dumb, you backwoods mountain hick?"
Before Bulma could say anything else, ChiChi laid into her. "Well you deserve it, ya know! I can assure you, Bulla is not in her room, she's in my kitchen gorging herself on cookies."
"Oh okay, did Trunks bring her over?" Bulma asked. "I apologize. I'll talk to him, he can't keep foisting off his responsibilities on you." Bulma said much calmer than she had during her defensive outburst.
"She came here by herself! Trunks was nowhere in sight!" ChiChi quietly hissed.
"What do you mean?" Bulma sounded both confused and concerned.
"I mean I think no one was keeping an eye on your four year old daughter and she flew over here all by herself as a Super Saiyan, no less!"
"WHAT?!" Bulma screamed loudly enough that ChiChi had to hold the receiver away from her ear.
"You need to keep a better eye on your child." ChiChi scolded, and Bulma had no retort. "Don't worry I'll take care of her." ChiChi said, her tone softening.
"Thank you so much ChiChi!" Bulma gushed into the phone, "I can't sense energy and she's already so fast...I had no idea she was gone!" ChiChi could hear the apologetic tone in Bulma's voice. "She has a lethal combination of her father's power and my free spirit." Bulma sighed into the phone.
"Look, the important thing is that she's safe and when Goten gets home from school I'll have him fly her home."
"Right! Thank you for letting me know. I'll talk with her when she gets home. And if there's anything I can do to make this right will you let me know?"
"There's nothing to make right, Bulma." Wait, she had called ChiChi a mountain hick! "On second thought, apologize for the 'mountain hick' comment and all will be fine."
"Oh of course, ChiChi! I'm so sorry."
"I accept your apology. I'll send her and Goten on their way as soon as I can."
"I appreciate that so much. Bye ChiChi."
"Bye Bulma."
ChiChi hung up the phone feeling a little saddened. ChiChi didn't know whether or not Bulma would follow up on her discipline of Bulla but she reasoned it wasn't her place to parent other people's children, so she would keep her mouth shut...this time. Besides, Bulla didn't know any better, it didn't make sense to get angry with her when she had no idea she couldn't wander off to wherever she wanted. She began to feel for the little girl seated at her table munching on cookies. Was she not getting enough attention at home? ChiChi decided to remedy that if that was indeed the case and took a seat with Bulla at the table.
"How are you enjoying the cookies, Bulla?" ChiChi asked.
"Tasty!" the little girl enthused. At least she doesn't talk with her mouth full, she could teach some manners to my Goten, ChiChi thought.
"What do you want to do when you're finished with your cookies?" ChiChi asked her kindly, but inwardly she dreaded the answer. What if she wanted to play "showdown" with ChiChi?
Bulla looked contemplative for a second, "I know how to read! I can read you a book!" she said excitedly. ChiChi was relieved. She knew Vegeta and Bulma had no qualms about Bulla fighting and training but ChiChi hadn't kept up with her martial arts training and she wasn't sure if she could keep up with a rambunctious four year old who had more strength than she knew how to control.
"That would be wonderful!" ChiChi told the proud looking four year old. Bulla stopped eating and grabbed ChiChi's hand and asked her where her books were. ChiChi directed them to old Grandpa Gohan's hut which they had ended up using as storage space and found a few old children's books of Gohan's and Goten's, and Bulla happily read them to ChiChi, occasionally asking for help with some words. It was nice having a little one around the house, ChiChi thought. These days Goten was out of the house more often than he was inside. Just like his father, he only seemed to come home to eat, but he was a seventeen year old boy and she wouldn't begrudge him his fun. And Pan...Pan didn't seem interested in her old grandma, ChiChi thought sadly, not when fun Grandpa Goku could train her, and Grandpa Mark could buy her any toy she would ask for, ChiChi just kept coming up short.
Bulla interrupted her reading and brought ChiChi out of her inner thoughts when she told ChiChi excitedly, "Goten is here!" she started jumping up and down in anticipation, and sure enough a few seconds later Goten came through the door.
"I thought I sensed you here." Goten said as he threw his school bag on the nearest surface and approached the bubbling four year old who immediately threw herself at him. "I'm very happy to see you too." Goten laughed as she gave him a squeeze. Instead of putting her down Goten carried the little girl in his arms while he went over to his mother. "Did you make anything for me?" Goten asked her. ChiChi rolled her eyes, typical.
"You're only getting your after school snack after you drop Bulla off at her house, and that's only if you come right back, no hanging out with Trunks, you'll get behind on your homework." ChiChi told her youngest son firmly.
"But mom!" he whined and predictably offered no coherent argument. ChiChi fixed him with one of her most ferocious stares. Goten gulped and put Bulla down, but the child immediately put her hands back up wanting Goten to pick her up again. ChiChi gave her son another look. Getting the message he picked up the little half-Saiyan, and she comfortably settled herself in his arms, closing her eyes a bit. Maybe she was due for a nap?
"I think she's tired." ChiChi told Goten in a much softer tone than she usually used with her relations. "She did fly over here all by herself."
"What?" Goten looked dumbfounded. ChiChi just mouthed, "I'll tell you later." to her son, while she rubbed a sleepy Bulla's back.
"Goten's going to take you home now sweetie." ChiChi told her gently. Bulla nodded in turn.
"Put me down." Bulla commanded Goten.
"Yes ma'am." Goten did as he was told, no doubt amused by Bulla's temerity, as was ChiChi. Once on the floor Bulla walked over to ChiChi and hugged her legs.
"Oh, that won't do, that's not a proper hug." ChiChi said as she brought herself down to Bulla's level. Throwing her arms around ChiChi's neck in a hug, Bulla leaned in close and kissed ChiChi's cheek. The Son matriarch smiled at the little girl and bid her farewell. Goten placed her on his back and Bulla waved happily at ChiChi right before Goten took to the skies.
"And stay away from those city girls!" ChiChi shouted out to her son.
"What an adorable little girl." ChiChi said staring at that small speck on the horizon that was quickly disappearing.
"I told you not to send me this crap." Bulla relayed to Goten via their text conversation.
"But you were okay with the cat ones."
"That's just a family weakness." It was true, they all had a weakness for cats, even her dad, especially her dad. "But that is not a cat. It's an image from five years ago which is practically ancient."
"I just thought it was funny. :(" Goten's disappointed face couldn't affect her if she didn't see it. He could send her as many sad faces as he wanted but as long as none of them were actually his, she'd be fine. She opted not to reply as she felt his energy coming closer and closer, but oddly enough, no Pan. Bulla went back to her messages and made sure she just hadn't imagined Pan's confirmation. Bulla hadn't and sent off a quick message to her best friend asking where she was.
Bulla felt Goten land but made no move to get up from where she was. She was just so damn comfortable in her big bed surrounded by pillows. She didn't even bother to get up when she heard Goten ringing the communication system. It didn't matter, he would just let himself in anyway. Instead of plunking himself down in the kitchen like she expected, she tracked his energy right to her door where he just let himself in without even knocking!
"Oh my god, you Sons and your lack of boundaries!" she screamed sitting up as she threw pillow after pillow at Goten. Bulla mentally shuddered remembering back to that one time Goku instant transmitted into Bulla's room when Pan had asked him to return something of Bulla's she borrowed. It was best forgotten for both their sakes.
Bulla's throwing accuracy was deadly, too bad the most convenient projectiles at hand were pillows, she wished she had something heavier laying on her bed. "What if I hadn't been dressed?!" she screeched and threw another pillow. "Is that what you were counting on?" she accused.
"What? No…" Goten stammered, throwing his arms in front of his face probably just in case Bulla found more things within arms reach to throw at him, but she was done throwing things and wanted answers.
"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" Bulla demanded standing up and putting her hands on her hips.
"Sorry Bulla," he said apologetically, "but before I made my way here you sent me a message that you were already ready. I thought that meant you were okay with receiving people. I do it to Trunks all the time." he finished lamely.
"I can see how you might get confused but Trunks is not a girl!" Bulla said still angry. What if it had been like another Goku situation? Bulla turned red, and Goten recoiled probably thinking it was due to her fury. No one must ever know, Bulla thought solely thinking of the Goku moment, and pushed it out of her head just as quickly as she recalled the memory.
"I'm really sorry." he said weakly. He looked like a sad puppy with his big black eyes looking at her innocently. She wasn't going to...no dammit...
"Whatever!" she screamed out frustrated, more frustrated at herself since she couldn't seem to stay mad at Go-teen. "Just go downstairs!" she commanded. "I'll meet you down there-" she paused, "No! Wait!" Bulla stopped him, "Pick up my pillows first." she ordered. Quickly, Goten scrambled to pick up all the pillows she had thrown and deposited them on her bed before he hastily made his exit.
Bulla flopped on her bed trying to center herself. Was she overreacting again? After all, these past few weeks were a rollercoaster of moods for Bulla. She had seen Goten a few times since the weekend she had been grounded and it had been an endless cycle of unease followed by easy familiarity, and on top of that, she was forgetting her objective whenever she hung out with him. It was almost driving her crazy, so why did she continue to put herself through it? Never mind. She gathered herself and made her way down to where Goten was in the family room.
"Now what was so important that you had to barge into my room unannounced?" Bulla said making herself known to the jumpy teenager sitting quietly on her family's couch.
"Again, I'm really-" Goten started but Bulla held her hand up.
"Consider it forgotten." Bulla said as cooly as possible. She sighed at the guilty look on Go-teen's face. "Stop it, stop it right now." she warned.
"What am I doing?" Goten asked innocently, still giving her that kicked puppy look.
"It's nothing." Bulla said dismissively, she decided to go back to her original line of questioning "When you asked to come over, I thought you had some sort of…" Bulla paused trying to find the words, "...agenda..." she trailed off with a wave of her hand.
Goten wordlessly held up a pair of keys.
Bulla's breath caught in her throat. She tried not to show her enthusiasm, "Are those-?"
"Yup, my apartment keys." he said proudly before Bulla could finish her question. "My mom finally gave me the keys after confiscating them immediately when she found out I was wished down."
"How did you convince your mom to let us sneak around your apartment?" Bulla reached out to touch the keys. Finally! She'd been waiting for the opportunity to see what Goten and Trunks got up to. "She probably thinks it's a lair of debauchery." Goten gave her a befuddled look.
"Where's Pan, by the way?" Bulla asked still staring at the keys, "She and I made plans today. Did you see her before you left Mount Paozu?"
Goten started to look a bit uncomfortable and shifted his gaze away from Bulla, "She's not, uh, coming."
"That's weird," Bulla commented looking at her phone, Pan still had not replied to Bulla's earlier message asking where she was "I was messaging her the same time I was texting you, and she said she was about to leave."
Goten just shrugged like he had no idea but he was doing it rather unconvincingly, he looked a little guilty, and something told her it had nothing to do with his surprise appearance in her bedroom, but at the same time she couldn't quite believe that Goten had an inclination towards deception. Who knows what goes on in that simple mind?
"I guess I'll just message her to cancel anyway." Bulla told a relieved looking Goten as she pulled out her phone. "I can't turn down the opportunity to check out your apartment." And find out some dirt on Trunks. After messaging Pan, Bulla left Goten in the living room while she went to her room to get a few things. Bulla wasted no time in dragging Goten out to the streets of West City. Unfortunately, Bulla realized something.
"Do you know where your apartment is?" Bulla asked Goten. "I honestly have no idea, I've never been there before."
"How come you've never been to my apartment before?" Goten asked her curiously as they ambled around the streets of West City.
Bulla gave Goten a look, "Are you serious?" she scrunched her face at him. "Do you really think it would have been appropriate for a guy in his late twenties have an unrelated teenage girl over to his home?"
"But we're friends." he said simply and rather sure of that fact.
"We WERE NOT friends Goten." It's kind of dubious if we are now.
"Oh." he paused, "Why not?" Bulla was ready to let out a sigh of frustration, she was supposed to be the one with the questions.
"Maybe because you're thirteen years older than me?" Bulla said sarcastically.
"Gohan was our friend when Trunks and I were little and he's ten years older than me." Goten pointed out.
"Gohan's best friend is a seven foot tall green alien who kidnapped him and forced him to survive a year in the wilderness alone when he was four. Suffice to say, that guy is an anomaly." she paused, "I wouldn't put it past him to have a case of arrested development." Bulla quietly mumbled to herself. "And besides, you, Trunks, and Gohan are all guys, and Gohan is your brother, he's supposed to hang out with you." she added.
"But Trunks is your brother, and you're not really friends." Goten gently argued. "So Gohan didn't have to be our friend."
"Yeah well, Gohan has always been nice, like I said he's an anomaly." Bulla gumbled. All Bulla could remember from her childhood was Trunks promising to take her somewhere and then either foisting her off on the nearest trustworthy adult at best or at worst just flaking out on her all together to hang out with Goten or his flavor of the week.
Bulla was saved by further questions from Goten when she felt two familiar energies approaching the two teenagers. Goten must have felt them too because he stiffened and looked towards the direction they were coming from.
"Hey Marron!" Bulla waved excitedly to the older girl who was accompanied by Trunks. She was a welcome sight to see, Trunks not so much, Goten seemed to think so too based on his expression. Marron went in for a hug and Bulla decided to sneer at her big brother from over Marron's shoulder, "What are you doing here?" She was still mad about the ice cream incident.
Trunks ignored her and instead clapped Goten on the shoulder, "You didn't think your mom would let you roam around your old bachelor pad unsupervised when there could be city women roaming around, did you?"
"Actually, she asked me," Marron, cut in. "For some reason she thought I would be more trustworthy than the guy who probably was responsible for setting you up with all those 'city women'." Marron joked.
"Yeah and you've never got up to anything that ChiChi would disapprove of, I'm sure." Trunks teased back.
"Well, I never-" Marron began but she took a look at Bulla and stopped herself. Ooh, she was about to spill something on Trunks, wasn't she? Maybe I can corner her later… "Anyway," Marron turned her attention to Goten, "Your mom said you were an impressionable young boy so she asked me to supervise in case an old flame of yours came by your apartment."
"Yeah," Bulla interjected, "But why is Trunks here?" she glared at her brother and he glared back playfully.
"Why are you here, Bulla?" Trunks asked coyly, giving her a knowing look. "Why do you have such a vested interest in Goten's personal life?" Oh no he wouldn't! Bulla thought with horror. She had repressed those memories and was trying extra hard to repress them now. Bulla felt her face heating up to an extreme degree and if she looked in a mirror right now, she was confident her face would be a bright red beacon.
"C'mon, leave her alone, man." Goten, who had been fairly silent since running into Trunks and Marron, said. Bulla was surprised, of all the people to come to her defense! Go-teen was making it a habit of choosing Bulla's side over Trunks. Maybe I can call him a friend, after all. Trunks gave Goten a look she couldn't identify and was about to say something but closed his mouth instead when Marron shot him a warning look.
"Trunks is here," Marron, ever the peacemaker, began to explain, "because he's bored." she finished. Trunks only gave a smug grin in turn. "So shall we?" Marron asked the group. Bulla and Goten nodded but made no moves in any direction, after all they still didn't know where the apartment was located.
"You have no idea where to go, do you?" Trunks asked the two teens. He started laughing then, "What was your plan then, go to every apartment building in town trying the key in every door?"
"Well I thought he would know!" Bulla said defensively gesturing toward Goten. Trunks just shook his head.
"C'mon then," Trunks said patiently, gesturing for Bulla and Goten to follow, "You guys were at least in the right part of town." Trunks said over his shoulder as he led the way.
Bulla faintly touched Goten's hand to get his attention, and they fell back behind, following their two chaperones. "Thanks…" Bulla started, "for back there with Trunks." she mumbled quietly, but she was sure he heard it because he gave her a beatific smile in return and Bulla felt some squirming in her stomach. In order to ignore that, Bulla quickly decided to pick up the pace and catch up with her old friend Marron, leaving Goten behind. Bulla pulled up next to Marron and cleared her throat to make her presence known to the two adults who were in conversation together.
"Yes, Bulla?" her brother asked.
"Let me talk to Marron." Bulla whined childishly as she looped her arm with the older girl. "Go to your best friend." she suggested brattily.
Trunks put his hands up in surrender and did what Bulla asked-how could he not? Everyone did what Bulla said-and fell back to chat with Goten.
"You're a bad detective Bulla." Marron wasted no time telling her, "You jump to conclusions without waiting and show your hand." What the hell? Where had that come from?
"Are you the world's greatest detective or something?" Bulla asked incredulously but kept her voice at a normal volume lest she give herself away to Trunks and Goten who were engrossed in their own conversation. How did Marron even know about her botched interrogation of Goten a few weeks ago? To top that off, she still hadn't even figured out what Goten was so freaked out about a few weeks ago. Not that she was giving it much thought, there were more interesting aspects to her life than Son Goten, like...well, she couldn't think of anything right now but she was a hot young thing in the greatest metropolis in the world, of course there were more exciting things than a family friend who was aged down thirteen years by a magical dragon. Oh, who was she kidding? Of course there wasn't.
"Maybe, you should use this opportunity not to talk to me but perhaps eavesdrop on the conversation your target is having with the person who knows him best?" Marron said quirking an eyebrow, and pulling Bulla out of her thoughts. "Just a tip." Marron winked at her.
"Maybe you're onto something." Bulla conceded to Marron's expertise. Luckily for Bulla, Trunks and Goten had been too enamoured of each other to pay attention to what Marron and Bulla had been talking about. The sounds of the city muffled together to form a hum of background noise that Bulla hoped would serve as a good cover so Goten and Trunks wouldn't notice that she and Marron weren't speaking.
Still huddled with Marron, Bulla focused her attention on the conversation happening behind her, but the sounds of the hustle and bustle of the city also made it hard for her to hear their conversation.
"...sister...adult fun?" Bulla caught a snippet of Trunks' statement. Bulla hoped against hope that Trunks wasn't about to spill what he teased at earlier. Or was it possible that Trunks was suggesting Goten have "adult fun" with Bulla? One horrified her more than the other and she felt her hackles rise. Bulla felt Marron squeeze her arm, possibly in an attempt to calm her or to give a warning.
"Remember what I said earlier?" Marron whispered to the young girl. Bulla took a deep breath and centered herself. "Learn all you can." Marron said assuredly but quietly.
"...my mom….I can't…" she heard Goten say, but she missed most of his utterance.
"...old Goten….afraid…."
"...don't remember…"
"...that's why..."
"...ice cream...guy…" Wait, did Trunks tell Goten about the one-sided ice cream fight? She said she was sorry...eventually.
"...what...who cares?"
Bulla was only able to make out scraps of their conversation before the group made it to Goten's apartment building. From where Bulla was standing it looked like one of the many run of the mill high rise apartment buildings peppered throughout West City, a glass rectangular building with at least ten floors, very generic and no character at all, but it was in the heart of the city, perfect for the single man about town.
Once inside, Bulla saw neutrals, cream colored walls and beige tiles, as if management didn't want to offend anyone with a pop of color. Trunks and Marron led Goten and Bulla to the elevators where Goten immediately asked what floor he was on so he could press the button. Bulla rolled her eyes at his childishness but secretly fumed that he got to press the button. She'd get it on the way down, she resolved.
Goten excitedly exited the elevator and turned to Trunks, "Which one is mine?"
"7C." Trunks pointed out a door to Goten that wasn't far from the elevator. Bulla grabbed Goten's arm excitedly and dragged him to his front door, leaving the two adults behind.
"Open it! Open it!" Bulla said enthusiastically.
"Calm down, Bulla." Trunks said playfully, "I know it's your first time here but I think you're going to be very disappointed when you get in there."
Bulla only stuck her tongue out in response. A thought then occurred to Bulla.
"Hey, who's paying your bills? With ChiChi making you go to school, it's not like you can work to make your rent money." Bulla asked Goten.
"After we found out immediately going to Namek was a no-go your mom was nice enough to cover my expenses, she didn't even ask, she just did it." Goten said gratefully, opening the door and moving out of the way to let Bulla in first, where she took in the sight.
First, she noticed the place was tiny. The entrance opened up immediately to a living room and kitchen, and presumably past that was the lone bedroom, bathroom, and a small balcony. Secondly, she noticed the apartment was decorated just as non-offensively as the lobby. There weren't many personal effects around, nothing stood out that made this place scream, "Son Goten." It was the same bland color scheme as the lobby, not much furniture, just a couch and a coffee table in the living room with a tv on the wall. The kitchen was immaculate-maybe Goten didn't do much cooking there?-with a counter island with only two bar stools, and a small dining table off to the side with a few chairs. Probably doesn't do much entertaining.
While Bulla was taking in the apartment, Trunks navigated the place with expert familiarity as if he were showing off his own abode. "Hello, old friend." he said lovingly to the crappy couch and plopped himself down on it and turned on the television. "Go do whatever it is you wanted to do here children." Trunks told the two teens dismissively.
Bulla scoffed, "You could have watched tv at home."
"Shh...shut up, my stories are on." Trunks said engrossed by whatever was on television. Bulla looked over to the television, it was a daytime soap opera. Figures.
Marron's phone started to buzz, turning everyone's attention on her. "It's one of my contacts." she said looking at her caller id. "I'm going to step out to take this." she said as she walked to the sliding door that led to Goten's balcony.
Now if I were Trunks, where would I hide my incriminating evidence?
"Well?" Bulla turned to Goten, "Where should we start?"
Goten looked around disinterested. "I don't know. You're more interested in this than I am."
"Are you serious?" Bulla asked deadpanned. "This is your chance to see into your future, you're not in the least bit interested to find out what you'll become?"
"It won't mean a thing once I get back to my old age." Goten said bitterly. Bulla felt a little bit of panic starting to rise in her. She was like her dad in some ways, not really comfortable conversing on deeper stuff, especially with people she didn't consider herself close to, was Goten trying to have a heart-to-heart with her? Thankfully, he didn't say anything else, and Bulla decided not to pursue it.
"Let's check out your bedroom." Bulla suggested to a now scandalized looking Goten. "Relax, I'm not propositioning you." she assured him.
"I didn't think anything!" Goten said innocently defending himself.
Bulla laughed. "Maybe you have a diary in there or something."
Goten's bedroom was even plainer than the rest of the apartment. It only had room for a double bed with a plain solid dark blue bedspread and a nightstand. Ooh hey, what's that charging on the nightstand? "Hey, Goten, I think that's your phone." Bulla went and picked it up excitedly, No passcode, I see! "Lots of missed calls and texts." she told Goten. Now, Bulla was a nosy person, hence why she was even here in the first place, but like other teenagers, she did have a personal code. Your phone was your most private and intimate possession. One did not just go through one's phone if they weren't your enemy. Nevertheless, Bulla sat herself down on Goten's surprisingly soft bed, and patted the space next door so Goten would join her. "Do you mind?" she asked Goten before she went through his phone. Goten shrugged and Bulla took it as the green light.
"Lots of girls names here," she said as she looked through who was responsible for the missed calls and texts, "Falyse...Lacy...Gabardine...Georgette...Velvet...Plissé...Sateen…"-each with their own photos to correspond with the names, all gorgeous of course-she rattled off names while looking at Goten to gauge his reaction. Goten merely looked mildly curious and not very interested. "I bet pictures would be more helpful." Bulla suggested as she opened up his photos. She took a deep breath wondering if there would be no going back after this, what if Goten was one of those guys that sent unsolicited naughty photos? She'd be scarred for life, but her prying nature took over her common sense and she opened the photo app anyway.
When she looked through the photos, it hadn't been what she had expected at all. There were a few recent photos of Goten and his friends but it looked like the majority of photos he had saved were family photos throughout the years. There were lots of Pan in cute costumes or with her Uncle Goten, some of young Goten and his dad before Bulla was even born, there was even a cute one of herself and ChiChi when she was little, and Bulla's heart swelled with affection for the guy seated next to her. Maybe she was all wrong about him. She left Goten to look through his messages and e-mails while she tried to find anything else that would give her insight into older Goten's life, but the room was spartan. All there was to see that indicated that anyone occupied the room was that the closet was filled with a wardrobe, mostly button down shirts and dress pants with some casual wear mixed in, but nothing spoke to anything particular in Goten's life, and it didn't look like there was anything to incriminate Trunks in here either.
"Well this room is a bust." Bulla said, "Your older self was totally uninteresting." she asserted getting ready to leave the room. "What were all those text messages about?" she asked Goten about the only interesting aspect of his life so far.
Goten blushed faintly, but replied happily, "Women who want a second date." Well I wasn't wrong about him being a ladies' man.
"Maybe you should take some time to reply to them and say you'll be out of West Metro for a while. It's not nice to leave someone hanging." Bulla suggested to Goten. Goten agreed and got to work texting his admirers.
Once they exited the bedroom they were met with a smirking Trunks staring at them from where he was seated on the couch. "What were you two doing in there? Making out?" Trunks teased them, presumably taking advantage of Marron not being there to keep him in line.
"Ew!" Bulla screeched, before Goten could say anything, "That is Pan's uncle!" she practically cried out pointing at an offended looking Goten. "And a grown up!" she protested.
"Seems I hit a nerve." Trunks said smugly, "I was just teasing." he said placatingly.
"Well don't be gross." Bulla muttered. Her and Goten? That would be so creepy and weird. Yeah he was cute but he'd be back to normal quite soon and she couldn't fathom how awkward that would be when he reverted to an adult.
"Hey kiddos," Marron said stepping back into the apartment from the balcony, interrupting Bulla from a train of thought she'd rather not be on. "Did you think to check the filing cabinet in the corner?" Marron pointed out to them. How had we missed that? Bulla wondered.
There wasn't of much importance in the filing cabinet to Bulla's eyes, just Goten's tax forms throughout the years along with some children's art projects, Bulla began to giggle at the thought of the art projects being Goten's hobby, but they were more likely Pan's.
"Well according to your taxes you make about seven million zeni a year as a bank teller at West City Bank. You've worked there for eight years at the same position with a small cost of living increase each year." Bulla deduced from going through the papers.
"That's what I've been up to the last ten years?" Goten asked somberly. "I work at a bank and have never even gotten a promotion?"
"Seems you didn't even attend university either." Bulla stated while Marron glared at her, Okay, this probably wasn't the best time to bring that up. Bulla conceded.
"Okay," Goten started, "I think we're done here." he didn't wait for anyone else as he walked out the door into the hallway. Oh no, he doesn't! Bulla thought as she sped up to beat him to the elevator so she could press the buttons. Trunks and Marron quickly caught up with them and Trunks assured them he had the keys and locked up the apartment. The group was silent as they waited for the elevator to reach their floor.
Once the elevator doors opened, they were greeted with the sight of an ethereal beauty. The dusky unfamiliar woman was tall and willowy with straight long dark hair. She fixed her penetrating dark gaze on Trunks. "Oh hi," the mystery woman greeted Bulla's brother with a friendly smile. Trunks seemed unfazed by her beauty but when Bulla looked to Goten, he was practically drooling.
"Hello Chiffon." Trunks spoke casually, "Going down?" he asked as he smoothly walked into the elevator. How was Trunks so cool about this? Goten was practically immobile and even Bulla was having a hard time not gaping at her. Marron had to nudge the two teens into the elevator. Snap out of it Bulla!
"I don't see Goten around." Chiffon said to Trunks ignoring the other occupants in the elevator. "Where has he been? I haven't seen him in weeks." she pouted prettily. She looked at the rest of them but stopped to stare at Go-teen for a moment. "You look awfully familiar."
Goten turned bright red and sputtered, probably due to the fact that the real life goddess in their presence was asking about him. Trunks looked amused by flustered Goten, Marron just looked upon him pityingly but made no move to help him out. You just didn't do that to friends. Was Goten a friend though? Eh, not really but she didn't hate him either, and he did save her from Trunks earlier. Better step in and do some damage control. That should makeup for this disaster of a field trip.
Bulla managed to find her voice and addressed Chiffon, "This is Gomen, the elusive third Son son."
"Son son?" Chiffon asked puzzled, then asked Bulla, not unkindly, "Who might you be?"
"I'm Bulla, Trunks' younger sister." she muttered, "Gomen is Goten's little brother. We were just getting some things from Goten's apartment on account of him being in 439 East District because of a family emergency." Bulla thought of a lie quickly, and mentally patted herself on the back. "You probably haven't heard from him since it's so remote out there. No reception!" she giggled nervously.
Instead of questioning why their group didn't seem to have any items on them, Chiffon just broke out into a glorious smile and exclaimed, "Oh that is sooo cute, Trunks!" Uh, what? "Your little sister and Goten's little brother, an item! That's adorable." she cooed at the two teens.
What!? Where did she get that idea!? The nerve! Bulla's first reaction was to angrily protest but Goten's hand on her shoulder stopped her from saying anything. Right, let's not dig ourselves in deeper. Luckily, the doors opened to the lobby and Chiffon bid goodbye to their little gang, "Tell Goten to call me when he has a chance." she said as she made her way to the streets.
Once Chiffon was out of earshot, Marron and Trunks broke into fits of laughter at Bulla and Goten's expense. "Aww, she thought you were a couple. How sweet." Trunks said cloying. He was having way too much, at least Marron looked slightly apologetic.
"As much fun as this hasn't been," Marron began changing the subject, "I need to get back to work, some lab results got in and I want this case to move fast." she excused herself from the group.
Before Bulla could make her exit, Trunks spoke up, "The last thing I want to do is be a third wheel. Wait up Mare!" he called out to Marron as he quickly dashed out of Goten's apartment's lobby leaving her with Go-teen.
Bulla tensed up as she felt Goten's arm come down on her shoulders. Bulla could never remember an instance of either young or old Goten being that familiar with her. "Well Bulla," Goten began, "It's just you and me and we have all day," he began, "and my mom happened to give me enough zeni to treat both of us to lunch." Bulla's stomach grumbled in response giving her away. Now I can't say I'm not hungry.
One moment Go-teen was short circuiting like a malfunctioning robot and now he was acting rather confident that she would say yes to spending another Saturday with him. She gave up on trying to figure him out, "I know just the place then." Bulla said agreeing to his invitation, "We need to fly for this one." she said as she pulled Goten to a deserted alleyway so they wouldn't be seen taking off. Bulla didn't even give Goten time to voice his opinion on where they would eat lunch, she just took off and expected him to follow her. He quickly caught up with her but they didn't say much to each other as they were both flying pretty fast. Bulla touched down on the roof of a tall building in South City and Goten followed. "It's pretty easy to touch down inconspicuously if we just land on a public building and take the stairs down. Gohan taught me and Pan that." Bulla explained to Goten.
"So this isn't the restaurant?" he looked around puzzled.
"Don't be ridiculous." Bulla giggled. "It's a few blocks away. Just follow me." Instead of taking the elevator, it's better we don't fight over who gets to press the buttons, the two half-Saiyans took the stairs as quickly as they could, first making sure there were no humans lingering about the stairwells.
"Okay now this way!" Bulla pulled Goten excitedly towards their destination. It was a corny looking restaurant with a country western motif and Bulla could tell Goten was unimpressed. "Cheer up Go-teen," Bulla commanded, "This place serves the biggest steaks in the world." Goten's stomach growled in response.
"Well I guess I'll give it a chance." Goten said enthusiastically.
"You already have." Bulla said mysteriously, as she got ahead of Goten and opened the door to the The Big Southern Steakhouse. They were quickly greeted by the hostess, who of course recognized Bulla.
"Usual table by the hall of fame, Bulla?" the hostess, clad in cowgirl apparel, asked.
"You know it, Filette." Bulla replied as Filette guided them to their table and handed only Goten a menu. Bulla directed Goten toward a corkboard with polaroid pictures pinned to it. "Look there! See, it's your picture!" Bulla told him gleefully. Goten burst out laughing taking in the other pictures in the dubious "Hall of Fame," first there was Bulla's father, he was even smirking in the photo, then a wide-smiling Goku, even a sheepish looking Gohan, and of course Pan, Bulla, and Trunks, all of them had completed the four kilogram steak eating challenge.
"Welcome to the Big Southern Steakhouse, I'm Kobe, I'll be taking care of your table this afternoon." the waiter who was wearing a gaudy button down shirt and ten gallon hat began to say cheerily enough. He was holding his pen and ordering pad ready to take an order. "Oh, it's you, Bulla." Kobe said his smile disappearing, his arms falling to his sides, and his demeanor changing immediately to that of the surly waiter with whom she was familiar. "You know you're not eligible for the steak eating challenge anymore, Bulla." their exasperated waiter said with his hands on his hips once he realized who was at his table.
"Pssh, I know that." Bulla said mildly vexed, he said that every time she came into the restaurant, "But what about my friend here? He's not on your hall of fame, Kobe."
Kobe looked to the "Hall of Fame" and looked to Goten and narrowed his eyes, "He looks too much like the other four," he pointed to the members of the Son family, "No deal."
"Whatever, you know we're good for it."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. So the usual bloody as hell four kilo steak with all the sides?"
"Yup, make it two!"
"Does he need a pitcher of lemonade too?" Kobe pointed to Goten with his pen.
"Can I have a beer?" Goten asked brightly with his most winning smile.
Kobe just gave Goten a dead stare. "Another pitcher of lemonade, it is." he said roughly grabbing the menu from a sheepish Goten.
Bulla could make out Kobe muttering about damn kids, competitive eaters, and freaks of nature as he shuffled away from their table to place their order. Goten looked like he had cheered up a bit since looking through his apartment. They briefly chatted about school and friends and kept it light. They even found out that they had even shared some common interests but while Bulla ate enthusiastically and was ready for seconds, Goten was only halfway done with his own meal. To a regular person, he'd be eating voraciously but to Saiyans, it was the equivalent of pushing your food around your plate and not eating.
"What's with you?" Bulla asked Goten after she placed her order for another steak with all the sides. "You don't even want seconds?" she was slightly offended.
Goten let out a breath, "I don't know if you're the best person to talk about this with." he admitted. Okay, Bulla could concede she wasn't the most sensitive person but she was capable of being somewhat comforting to those she cared about. Did Goten count? Sigh, I guess so.
"Try me." Bulla said as nicely as she could muster, she even put a small sincere smile behind it.
Goten sighed, but her smile must have done the trick because he spoke on something deeper than the shallow conversations about school or pop culture, "That trip to my apartment didn't go as I expected." Right, Bulla nodded. She remembered how somber he had been when they left. "I thought I would be doing more with my life, but all I do is work at a bank, and it seems like I don't even like it! I think you were right when you said I meant that wish." he confessed. Wow, wait until Marron hears this! Straight from the horse's mouth and I didn't even have to do anything! She thought gleefully. Bulla knew it wouldn't be appropriate to gloat, and instead she searched for something comforting to say but was coming up with nothing.
"Oh but what about Chiffon?" Bulla remembered the gorgeous woman they had encountered in the building, "And from what it looked like you had an active social life." Bulla reminded him in an effort to boost up his impression of his old life.
Goten only hmphed in response, "You didn't read a lot of those messages. I did." I guess that wasn't the right thing to say. "None of them actually seemed to like me as a person." he hinted. Oh! I see… Bulla figured Goten didn't need her to respond.
"When you become an adult again, maybe you can change things?" Bulla started unsure, "Maybe this youthful sabbatical is what your older self needed, maybe it's about rediscovering your passions or even discovering your passion!" Bulla threw her arms wide open in enthusiasm. Bulla thought she was doing a really good job of cheering Goten up. "You're never too old to start your life in a new direction!" she declared. To her dismay Goten still looked as melancholic as before. "I guess I wasn't the right person to talk to, huh?" Bulla said slightly disappointed.
"No, that's not it at all." Goten said reassuringly. "I know you're right, that's just what I needed to hear." he finished with a smile. "Now why don't you order me seconds." Goten suggested as he dug in to his plate and finished his first helping.
The rest of their lunch was followed by easy conversation. Bulla was suggesting game plans so Goten could trap Chiffon once he was old enough, and Goten was laughing at her more ridiculous ideas. Goten insisted on paying this time and flying back with her to West City. Bulla wasn't going to argue with him this time. Despite not finding any dirt on Trunks, Bulla had to admit, it was a pretty good day and there was no need to get herself riled up for no reason. When they landed at Capsule Corp it was only the late afternoon and she still hadn't heard from Pan.
"Do you have any other plans?" Bulla asked Goten. "I bet you do." Bulla asserted. "A young handsome gentleman such as yourself probably charms all the high school girls just like you do with city women." Bulla teased—though it took her some effort to smile at her own joke—but she was pretty sure he didn't have much luck with girls, after all, she had seen his lack of charisma first hand.
Instead of becoming flustered like she expected him to, he smiled sweetly at her, "No, no plans at all." Bulla felt relieved.
"Want to have a friendly spar where I kick your ass again?" Bulla asked but instead of answering her, Goten looked to the sky. Bulla could feel Pan's energy coming in hot. So she decided to show her face here after all.
"I-um-I gotta go!" Goten said hastily and took off into the sky only a moment before an irate Pan landed.
"What's up Pan?" Bulla asked her dirty and disheveled friend. She was caked in dirt and her t-shirt and shorts ensemble had little tears and there were shallow cuts up and down her arms and legs. When she walked towards Bulla her shoes squeaked with moisture, "What happened to you? You look like you crawled through a swamp, and you smell like you took a swim in the sewer. I swear I could smell you once you reached West City." Bulla was completely unconcerned by Pan's appearance. They had been through worse.
Pan could only glare at Bulla's indifference. "Where did my Uncle Goten go?" she looked around wildly, "He's probably keeping his energy low so I can't find him, the coward." Pan said menacingly pounding her fist into her palm.
"Oh so he's responsible for all this?" Bulla asked gesturing to the walking disaster that was Pan. "He's pretty much been with me the whole day, and you were a no-show I might add." Bulla said bristling.
"It's totally his fault!" Pan claimed. "I can't figure him out. I don't think he's deliberately mean but he has some really weird ideas about what jokes are." Bulla raised an eyebrow giving Pan the cue to continue.
"Right after I told you I would be on my way, he asked me where I was going and I said that you and I had plans today. Then he grabbed my phone from my hands and chucked it as far as he could into the forest and before I could ask him why he did that, he turned Super Saiyan and knocked me out!" Pan threw up her hands. "After I came to, I spent the whole morning and afternoon trekking through whatever-I don't want to know what-trying to find my phone. I finally found it after looking through places I'd rather not say."
"Yet you came straight here instead of cleaning yourself up at your house." Bulla said dryly, and Pan looked at her sheepishly, "Your family's rich, anyway, why not just get a new phone?"
"My mom said if I lost or broke another phone she wasn't going to get me a new one. She's trying to teach me values or something." Pan muttered, probably not very impressed with her mother's reasoning.
"But it was Goten's fault." Bulla pointed out.
"Yeah, but he's got that grandpa Goku smile down to pat, she'd believe him over me."
Suddenly Pan was knocked over by a large jet of water. Bulla looked in the direction of where the water had come from and standing there was her father holding something akin to a firefighter's hose.
"You reek." Vegeta said bluntly still turning the hose on Pan as she struggled to get back on her feet. "I could smell you from my training room."
Thank you for making it to the end of chapter four! It is a beast of a chapter and I second guessed myself with a lot of it, but I hope you enjoyed reading it more than I enjoyed writing it.
Questions? Comments? Concerns?
Feel free to drop me a line!
A few notes:
In case you didn't know, Grandpa Mark-whom ChiChi refers to-is Mr. Satan. His real name is Mark according to Akira Toriyama. I figured he probably wouldn't have his family members refer to him by his stage name.
Keeping with the West City residents apparel name theme, all of Goten's girlfriends are named after fabrics. Falyse is pronounced like fleece and Lacy is obviously taken from lace, the rest are literal.
Also, according to Akira Toriyama, zeni is roughly equivocal to yen, so seven million zeni is almost $61,500 USD. Adult Goten isn't rolling it in by a long shot, especially since-in my mind, at least-West City has a high cost of living.
I decided to go with a steak naming theme for the steak house workers. Filette is from filet, and Kobe is, of course, from kobe beef.