CHAPTER THREE REWRITE

I highly recommend this chapter to be (re)read for the majority of it is drastically different from the original.

Note: Please understand that this story will be following a few episodes from the anime because that is where IT TAKES PLACE. Obviously, things will be changed due to Mirai's presence and such, but EXPECT scenes from the anime/manga to follow. They will be participating in the upcoming tournament, the SAME one as the anime/manga, therefore a good number of events will be brought up that you are aware of. AFTER the tournament, where the main story will start to take place, things will obviously be completely original. So for now, please bear with me for the sake of plot development.

All disclaimers, notes, etc. apply. Please read Prologue for details.

- Chapter Three

Present Time- Grassy Field- 6:19 PM

Mirai calmly observed the near-identical features of the younger boy in front of him, noting with slight amusement how well groomed he kept himself. He was well aware that Bulma was expecting the two of them to exchange some sort of greeting, friendly or not, but he could almost taste the tension coming from the other boy, which made him wonder why nobody else noticed.

Then again, they were both essentially the same person, so perhaps he's able to feel the same as him in uncomfortable situations?

Trunks, on the other hand, was not only feeling discomforted, but also extremely distrusting of the man in front of him. Words from his childhood bedtime stories flashed through his mind as he created the now obvious connection. Despite the absurdity of the situation, Trunks understood who this person really was and the connection between them that ran deeper than physical. Aside from the introductions, of course.

The irony of his life.

With a clearing of his throat, Mirai held out a hand, smiling tentatively. "Pleased to meet you, Trunks."

Staring at the offered appendage, the younger boy felt his distress growing immensely. His mother couldn't possibly expect the two of them to immediately form some kind of friendship just because they were the 'same person.' The very thought of it was just unreasonable, because Trunks knew that this man grew up in a world so very different from his own. A world that was deemed living nearly insufferable.

At least according to his mother, who was rather known for being quite the dreamer.

Returning the gesture, despite the slight tremble, Trunks forced a small smile. "Yes, nice to meet you as well... Trunks." Blinking, he stared at the intertwined hands, realizing how much more rougher and calloused the older one's were, but all from what, he wasn't sure.

Bulma clapped her hands together gleefully, either not noticing or choosing to ignore the strain between the two. "Well, good to see that we're all getting along well. Now who's hungry for dinner?"

A thunderous growl erupted from behind, causing the Brief family to spin around quickly, only to see Goku rubbing the back of his head embarrassingly.

"Ha, I guess that would include me as well!" Ignoring the blatant stares, he bent down to lift up Pan, placing her on top of his broad shoulders. "Well, it was good seeing you again Trunks. We'll all have to get together sometime. Bye for now!" And with that, the two shot off into the sky.

"H-Hey dad!" Goten, stumbling forward in surprise. "Wait for me!" He positioned himself, then paused, turning his head slightly to give Mirai an inquisitive glance. Then he turned his attention towards Bulma and Trunks, crossing his arms nonchalantly. "Actually... I don't feel like going home.

Mother and son both sweat dropped, as the latter sighed with annoyance, although with the small smile he was expressing made him appeared as amused.

"So..." A brief pause, then he immediately appeared in front of the two, hands clasped together pleadingly with a pout on his lips to match. "Could I come home with you guys? Pretty please?!"

With a slap against his forehead, followed by an upside smack onto his black-haired friend, Trunks growled lightly. "You are really ridiculous, you know that?!"

Bulma laughed loudly, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes. "Of course you can join us Goten, the more the merrier! Just make sure to call your mother when we get home, okay?"

"Yes ma'am!" He saluted her, flashing the famous Son grin.

Brief's Household/Capsule Corporation- 7:10 PM

Snippets of chitchat and loud, rambunctious of chewing filtered the air, along with the mouth-watering aromas of the endless amount of food being brought to the tables by the assisting maids, as Mirai took in the scene with apprehension. It wasn't that he was not hungry, but simply the fact that he was not used to such a... lighthearted atmosphere and especially the amount of food being set before him. He felt tense, though he tried to hide it, discomfort surely sifting through his body.

The purple-haired man tried to keep back the guilty feeling he felt, remembering his own mother he had to leave behind, once again, with barely anything as he sat here with just about anything he wanted within his grasp. It was a sickening feeling and he hated himself for it, but he couldn't let the others know that. Taking a deep breath, he picked up the rice bowl, forcing himself to dig in eagerly like the others.

Goten and Trunks continuously teased each other about silly stuff, humoring Bulla and Bulma at the same time. As for Vegeta, seated at the front end of the table as the rightful 'man of the house', acted coolly, yet if one observed closely, it could be seem that he was listening in to the seemingly juvenile chattering. Mirai could see that Vegeta has changed in some ways, his features a little less sharp and his actions a little less severe. As he desperately tried to ignore it, he couldn't help but listen as a snotty voice in the back of his head commented how he had nothing to do with his father's changes, being that this father was of a different time. This was not the time to be brooding over things he can and never will have.

A small, childlike hand touched him on the arm, as he jolted slightly, mentally reprimanding himself for daydreaming, and looked at his side to see his once-potential sister standing there, with a bowl in her hand, smiling pleasantly. Lifting the bowl towards him, she blush slightly, still a little shy around newcomers, even if they looked like her older brother. "Ice cream for you, Big Trunks."

Mirai gently took the bowl from her grasp, using his other hand to pat her on the head softly. "Thank you Bulla." He had to smile at her nickname, while the circumstances containing his origins was kept from her, being too young to possibly understand it all. It was simply stated that he was a distant relative coming for a short visit, who just so happened to have similar looks and name as her brother Trunks. So, in short, she accepted the white lie merrily, immediately dubbing the time traveler as 'Big Trunks' to differentiate between the two for her.

She beamed, placing her hands on his armrests, leaning forward. "I helped scoop that. The maids told me how to do it properly with an ice cream scooper." While she spoke casually, it was pretty evident she had a bit of pride concerning her scooping abilities and usefulness in the kitchen despite her young age of four.

"That's great." Mirai took a small bite of the cool sweetness, enjoying a taste he rarely had felt during his own time. "You will probably become a master chef in no time."

"Hey Bulla, where's my ice cream?" Trunks commented from his spot next to Goten, as he watched, with slight annoyance, the whole conversation. "Goten and me want some too."

Bulla pursed her lips, lifting her head up arrogantly, a trait no doubt inherited from her superiority-obsessed father. "The maids will give you yours. I only delivered daddy's, mommy's and Big Trunks'."

"You brat!" He complained loudly, though he couldn't help sniggering at her attempts to act haughty. "Now that's just mean."

She stuck out her tongue childishly. "You're the one who's mean."

"Oh really?" He stood up with a mockingly menacing glare. He raised his hands slowly. "Is that..." Then wiggled his fingers. "A challenge?"

With a squeal, she removed herself from Mirai's side, quickly running out of the room as Trunks chased after her, keeping his pace in check to give her some space to run. Once they reached the living room, the purple-haired teen dived, slightly levitating in the air and grabbed his sister around the waist, fingers dancing lightly along her sides. Shrieking uncontrollably, her giggles were rowdy and contagious as she struggled playfully against her brother's firm grasp. Loosening his grip, Trunks allowed Bulla room to attack back, chuckling just as loudly.

Bulma sniggered from her seat, mouth over her lips as Goten laughed openly. Vegeta, as usual, made no signs of amusement though there could quite possibly be a ghost of a smile gracing his lips, if Mirai wasn't seeing things. As for himself, the time traveler smiled, amused by the noises, bits of chuckles falling from his lips.

"This is nice." He commented, catching the remainder of the people present's attention, in which he flushed. "Ah... I, uh..." Sighing, he smiled again. "It's nice to be able to laugh so easily like this."

"Well, yeah! You can't feel bad after laughing... unless you're laughing at someone else, then you feel guilty... or you laugh when it's not funny then feel embarrassed... uhh..." Goten stopped, rubbing his brow, "wait a minute, now I'm confused."

"That's because there isn't much going on up there." Trunks stated, suddenly popping up from behind, with Bulla thrown over his shoulder. Lightly tapping the top of his friend's head, the purple-haired boy winked. "Nothing but girls, right?"

Goten grinned like a mad man, sniggering. "Yep!" Then he halted, letting it sink in. "Hey, wait! I think about other things besides girls!" He protested, shaking his fists. "You're the one who only has girls on his mind!"

Trunks laughed, dodging Goten's attempts to hit him. Ducking under one shot, he retaliated with a casual act, Goten and himself often getting into mock fistfights, though he seemed to have momentarily forgotten about his sister, whom was falling off his shoulder.

She squeaked, covering her face, waiting for the floor to meet up with her. Instead, muscular arms quickly embraced her, lifting her petite body gracefully as she opened her eyes. "Ah, Big Trunks!" With a blush, she reached up speedily, arms immediately wrapping around his neck to hug him, in which caught him off guard as he tried to keep a steady hold on her.

"Trunks!" Bulma called out sternly, with a frown gracing her features. "You need to be more careful with your sister!"

"Oh, come off!" He retorted, exasperation clearly evident in his tone. "Like I couldn't have caught her before Mr. Superman here did."

Mirai looked at his younger counterpart embarrassingly, as he was so used to relying on instinct that he fleetingly forgotten that Trunks was just as capable of pulling off reactions like himself and mentally kicked himself for responding in that sort of way. He didn't need to be so tense here, not needing to worry about everything and everyone. This time period...

"Well then, obviously, Trunks here," Vegeta nodded to Mirai, "Simply has more responsive reflexes than you do. Perhaps it's a sign, boy." He criticized rather harshly, though his irritation with Trunks' lack of interest in training has been grating on his nerves for quite some time.

Trunks, ever so impulsive, flushed angrily as his father not only clearly took the other Trunks' side, who doesn't even belong here, but even embarrassed him in front of everyone. "Fine, whatever! I know whom everyone fucking favors around here!" Turning around, he stalked out of the room hurriedly, ignoring Goten's protests as the younger teenager quickly followed.

"Oh dear." Bulma sighed, standing from her seat. She wanted to send a glare towards the flame-haired man, but knew it would just be ignored. "Trunks, honey, please don't take it personally." She spoke soothingly, walking around to approach the time traveler. "Our Trunks is just... you know, a teenager. He has an attitude and likes to be difficult."

"Is my presence a bother?"

Bulla, arms still wrapped around the man's neck, looked up at him worriedly, fearing that he would suddenly leave. In an unspoken response, she tightened her grip, laying her head against his broad shoulder. Mirai, though surprised, smiled softly, keeping a firm grip around the small body.

Bulma beamed, looking at the touching image, then placed a hand on Mirai's arm. "No, your presence is not a bother. Trunks is just feeling... well, if we were to go by primitive Saiyan standards..." She trailed off, looking at Vegeta teasingly, who, in turn, just rolled his eyes and snorted. "Threatened by you because he fears that you will take over his territory of sorts."

The long-haired man raised an eyebrow. "What are we, dogs?"

Bulma just laughed loudly at his question as the prince stood up from his seat, clearly annoyed by the conversation. "You people are ridiculous." With that said, he walked out of the room.

Wiping a few tears from her cerulean eyes, Bulma stifled a couple more giggles, her grin as wide as ever though. "Don't mind him. Anyways, in human standards..." She couldn't help but laugh again as Mirai sighed, though the corners of his lips were lifting. "Simply put, Trunks is very competitive and arrogant, no thanks to his father." Mirai wanted to comment that she was the same but willingly kept his mouth shut. "By being put next to you, he is put in a bad light, purely because you appear as a stronger person than he is." She reached up with her hands, placing it against his cheeks, finding the skin taut and firm. "The two of you are essentially the same person, but really, because of your environment, you appear older, more mature. You should understand especially that Trunks doesn't like to be looked down on."

The purple-haired man nodded solemnly, her words making sense now that he thought it over. It was a matter of pride, which anyone related to Vegeta or Bulma evidently had. Trunks, of course, was full of it. Mirai, naturally retained his, though it was not as strong, simply because there was no one in his time to compare himself to. It is already assumed that he is the strongest fighter left in his world, along with the idea that Mirai didn't really have time to think about it, considering most of his time was spent either fighting the androids or training himself to become stronger to fight the androids. Even with them gone, he still never gave it much thought because there just was no reason to anymore.

At least, not until now.

Bending down, he placed Bulla on her feet, despite her protests amidst the yawns. Bulma took her hand as to the little girl leaned against her mother's leg for support out of sleepiness. "Just be yourself, Trunks."

He frowned confusingly, wondering how that was going to solve anything.

She kept smiling. "Really. If you continue to act as you are, Trunks will see that the two of you, despite biological reasoning, are clearly two different people. He's brash, so he reacts quickly without thinking about things sometimes, but he'll realize it soon enough. Just give it some time and please, I beg you, dear, don't ever think that you are a burden here, because just seeing that you are well makes me happier than you can imagine. As I said before, no matter what time period you're from, you're my son and I have every right to worry about you, so deal with it."

"Mother..." Mirai spoken softly, for once, not referring her as Bulma. "Thank you." He resisted the urge to just step up and hug her, to express his gratitude, but couldn't. It was still too awkward for him and he hoped that she understood that, which it seems she did, since she didn't make any moves either.

She beamed, picking up little Bulla. "Yes! All right, I'm putting this little brat to bed, so good night, honey."

"Good night." He stroked the sleepy girl's head, who giggled lightly in response, then walked down the hall, as his thoughts tumbled around, sorting themselves out.

Phew, that was rewrite. Many, many changes have been changed, so hopefully everyone is rereading these rewrites. Only two more and then back to continuing the story! Hope you enjoyed!