Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ

Chapter 7: But Life is Hard

Somehow Bulma was able to pull herself out of the lusty haze that Vegeta had placed her in and tore her lips away from him. "No!" She almost yelled as she stumbled back from him, breathing heavily. "You can't do this to me. It's not fair to either one of us or Trunks. I told you before that I would not be your whore, and I meant it."

Vegeta eyed her warily. "You are a fool Bulma."

Bulma blinked at him in shock. "Excuse me?" She asked highly offended.

Vegeta crossed his arms and stared her down. "With one command I could change everything for you. I could give you whatever you want and you are denying it because of why? All because Saiyans call you a silly name? I could even issue a decree that if anyone calls you that they will be executed immediately. I am ruler of the greatest empire in the universe!"

"So you would banish Chaya and put me her in place?"

"If that is what you want then yes."

"And how long do you think it would take for Able to hate me for getting rid of his mother?"

"He'll get over it."

"Like you got over your mother's death?"

Vegeta flinched at her words then narrowed his eyes. "That's not the same-"

"Close enough! This is what I'm talking about. We have children Vegeta. We can't make decisions solely based upon what we want."

Vegeta cocked up an eyebrow and stepped closer to her. "So you admit that you do want me."

Bulma's cheeks burned with passion and anger at the same time. "It's obvious that part of me still does. But it's not going to happen. It's not fair to Able and it's not fair to Trunks. If he saw us like this and knew that his parents would never be together, how do you think that would make him feel?

"I told you I could change things."

"But that wouldn't change the respect that Trunks and I wouldn't receive. You don't know how it is for us. So don't act like you can solve the problem by snapping your fingers."

"You are the most stubborn ridiculous female I have ever encountered in my life."

"And you are the most inconsiderate jerk I've ever known. The deacons I make now are for Trunks. And I'm not going to budge on this."

He could see in her eyes that she was determined, but he could also see a slight pleading look in them as well. He sighed stubbornly as he realized...

'She's not ready.'

"Fine Woman. You can have it your way...for now." He then lifted off in the air without looking back to her.

Bulma watched him until she couldn't see him anymore. She wanted to make sure that he wasn't going to turn around and try to seduce her again...perhaps part of her wanted that to happen but she decided not to address that. She walked strongly into her apartment and then collapsed on her couch. That argument took so much out of her emotionally. She hated having to come to terms with the fact that she still wanted Vegeta even after everything that had happened. But she had to put Trunks first. She knew that once he started his training with the Saiyans, he was going to see what she had been talking about.

"Mom!"

'Speak of the Devil...'

"The Coronation was so cool. Dad looked awesome when they announced him as King! Then afterwards Kakarot took me over his mom's house and we ate until we couldn't eat anymore." He ended by rubbing his tummy.

Bulma smiled at his excitement and then motioned him to sit next to her. He practically bounced over to her. She hugged him close and he returned the hug. "Trunks, your father just stopped by."

"Wow? Really?" He said looking up at her even more excited.

"Yes, he wants you to start your training tomorrow."

Trunks jumped and looked at his mother with wide eyes. "Finally! Wow. It's going to be so amazing."

"Trunks, we need to talk."

"What about? Did father say something else too?"

'Boy did he...' Bulma cleared her throat. "Trunks I had told you before that Saiyans aren't going to accept you fully..." She could see Trunks frown..."And I know you think things would be better if you had a tail..."

"A lot better." Trunks murmured.

Bulma decided to ignore that and continued. "But...it's not going to be easy for you."

"I know. Grandpa said I would have to work really hard to keep up. It would have been easier if I could have trained with Kakarot too." He said crossing his arms.

Bulma wasn't going to let that go. "Trunks don't get smart." She could see that he was biting back some choice words and was glad that he was smart enough to keep them to himself. "Now, your strength was only part of what the King was talking about."

"I know he was talking about respect, because I don't look like a Saiyan and I'm a half breed."

Bulma hesitated. She didn't want to tell her son what they called her, but it was best that he hear it from her instead of some rude Saiyan children. "...and because of me as well."

Trunks rolled his eyes. "Mom, I think me not having a tail is a bigger issue."

"Trunks...do you know what Saiyans call me?"

Trunks blinked at her. He could see tears building up in her eyes. He quickly became concerned and sat down next to her. "Mom?"

"You have to understand that I loved your father. We wanted to be together. Saiyans all across the universe respected me. But after I was banished that respect was lost. Everyone knew about me and your father. And instead of becoming a Saiyan princess, I became a joke; A laughing stock. Till this day they call me..." Bulma's lip began to tremble. She didn't want to look weak in front of her son, but she had always ignored the names. It was tough dealing with the issue head on and with your child watching you. "They call me 'The Blue Whore'."

Trunks concern quickly turned to anger. He didn't really know about sex, but he understood name calling, and by TV alone he knew that calling a woman a whore or slut was a bad thing. 'No one talks about my mother!' He stood up once more and balled his fists. "They can't do that!"

Bulma took comfort in the thought of Trunks wanting to defend her. "They do Trunks. There's nothing we can do about it."

Trunks was quiet for a moment as he analyzed his mother's words. "Yes there is. All I have to do is get stronger, and all you have to do is make more inventions. We'll make the people respect us just like King Grandpa said. It'll be like Earth."

Bulma shook her head. "Trunks you make it sound so easy. Life isn't that simple. Saiyans respect strength."

"Well then leave it up to me Mom. I'll get the people to change their opinions of us."

"Trunks, it'll be a long time before you'll be able to do that. And-"

It hit Trunks like a ton of bricks as he hung his head low. "You don't believe in me."

"What? Trunks no. I didn't say-"

"But you don't. Even after hearing what Grandpa said you still wanted to leave."

"I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm stronger than what you think. I'm going to prove you wrong. I'm going to prove all of you guys wrong." He said as he stormed off to his room.

Bulma thought of going after him but then decided against it. "Kid is just like his father."

...

The next morning Vegeta was eating his breakfast in the dining room when Chaya and Able walked in. He glanced up at them and nodded his head towards his son.

Able sat down next to him and started chowing down, trying his best to mimic his father by eating the same things he was. Vegeta raised an eyebrow to him. Able always seemed to try and gain approval of him in everything that he did. He found it a bit awkward. He wanted approval from his father as well, but he was very independent even as a child. Bulma and Trunks were the same way.

'He must get it from Chaya. The God of the universe knows she's always trying to gain his approval. She's probably thinking of something right now.' He thought glancing at her. She caught his glance and blushed a little. 'Ah yes. And in 5, 4, 3, 2...'

"Vegeta?"

"Of course."

"I'm sorry?" Chaya asked confused.

Vegeta took a nearby cloth and wiped his mouth and looked at her again. "What is it that you want now?"

Able looked up at his parents and slowed down his chewing so he could hear the conversation.

Chaya ignored his agitated tone and opened her mouth. "I was thinking that we could put on an event to excite the people."

Vegeta gave her look that said, 'I'm bored already.' "What kind of event?"

"A tournament."

Vegeta actually perked up at the idea. He and his father had spoken of it before but they never ended up doing it. "I'm listening."

Chaya smirked. "I think it would be a good way to unite the people under your rule. Not that you need it, but still, it would be good for moral."

"Yes, I do like the idea. You may go forward in this." Vegeta said as he picked up a utensil and continued his eating.

Chaya couldn't help but smile. She looked at her son and he in returned smirk. 'This is going to be good.'

Bulma's Apartment

"Trunks you barely ate anything?" Bulma said as she waved her hands to all the food that was still on the table.

Trunks was lacing his shoes to leave for his training by the front door. "Mom, I have to go."

"Ok, ok. But be careful and don't let them get to you." Bulma said walking up to him and giving him a hug and kissing him on his forehead.

"Alright, fine." Trunks said as he squirmed away from her. 'Mom is so paranoid." He thought as he left out the door.

Trunks took off down the halls on his way to the outside training facility that Kakarot had shown him the day before. "This is going to be so much fun!"

Meanwhile...

A group of 19 elite children were all stretching and warming up for their combat training. The top fighters in their division were three boys; Yarrow, Pak, and Kuka. Yarrow was a little bit stronger than the other two, and he had no problem letting them and everyone else know in the class that he was the strongest. He led and everyone else followed. Point blank.

Yarrow went down into a split as he stretched out his long legs, slightly reminding everyone that he was the tallest in the class as well. "I still can't believe the King's bastard is going to train with us."

Pak who was average height, but a tad overweight nodded in agreement. "He probably should be a third level but the new King probably wanted to give him special treatment."

Kuka who was middle height and the skinniest, but self-proclaimed the fastest, did a few squats and joined in on the discussion. "I heard that his power level was actually impressive."

Yarrow snorted then stood up. "Yea, impressive for a half breed you mean. It was probably a rumor started by his mother."

Pak smirked at that. "The Blue Whore. She is pretty."

Kuka chuckled. "Well she would have to be in order to seduce the King. My parents told me she had the King and his father ensnared."

"Mines too." Yarrow said. "My mother hates her. She said she would flaunt her body like a prostitute. Said she would go out to the waters almost naked to try and tease Saiyan men. It was only a matter of time before she got one of them; turned out to be the Prince."

"Lucky for her." Pak said.

Kuka shook his head. "Not really. The King got mad and banished her. He must have realized her plans. My mom said she was trying to seduce the Prince to get on the throne."

Yarrow frowned at that. "An alien? As our Queen? That's stupid."

Kuka continued. "Yea but she had the Prince hooked. That's why they are here now. And probably why the half breed is in our class."

Pak agreed. "Yea my mom told me they already made her the top scientist. Bardock can only assist her now."

Yarrow narrowed his eyes at that. "That's crazy. Since when is an alien smarter than a Saiyan?"

Kuka crossed his arms. "It's true. My mom told me the same thing. She's even making money off of Saiyan woman. My mom said that all the alien clothing you see Saiyans wear come from her."

Pak nodded. "My mom said the same thing. She refuses to wear it. She said it's only funding The Blue Whore's pockets."

Yarrow thought about it. "I guess that makes sense. If she can't have the kingdom, going after our money would be the next smart thing. But if this kid thinks he's going to come in here and take over he has another thing coming. The King might let the Blue Whore have control over the science division, but this is our territory. And we're not going to let some half breed come in and control it no matter who his daddy is. Right boys?"

"Right." Pak and Kuka said nodding in agreement.

Yarrow looked around to the other boys around them. "Go spread the word." Pak and Kuka went off to the other elite children, telling them in short that the son of the Blue Whore was coming in to try and take over and that they had to show him that they weren't going to take any orders from a half breed. Especially from the son of a whore that seduced their King.

Just when Pak and Kuka proudly finished their job and stood next to Yarrow, Trunks arrived. He landed quietly and looked around. He immediately felt a bit nervous. It seemed like everyone was glaring at him. He brushed it off and went up to the first cluster of boys he saw. He stretched out his hands and smiled at them. "Hi, I'm Trunks."

The boys looked at his smile and hand and busted into a fit of laughter. Trunks immediately frowned and then laughed along with them. "Sorry, I forgot Saiyans don't shake hands."

The boys stopped laughing and then turned their back on him. Trunks frowned again. He never had anyone ignore him before. On Earth he was treated like a prince and other kids loved to be around him. He brushed it off and went over to where Pak, Kuka, and Yarrow were standing.

"Tough crowed." He said trying to break the ice.

Yarrow snorted. "Yea, too tough for you."

Trunks frowned at the boy that was about a foot taller than him and glared as the other two boys laughed along with him. "You don't know how strong I am." He said defensively.

Yarrow smirked. "Yea strong enough to have your daddy put you in our class."

Kuka chimed in before Trunks could speak up. "I guess there are benefits for being the King's bastard."

Trunks angrily placed his fists at his side. "I'm here because I deserve to be here."

Yarrow looked him up and down. "We'll see Half Breed." He then turned his back on him and walked away while Pak and Kuka followed.

Trunks wanted to ram into him and pound him into the ground. But he stood there and calmed down as he tried to remember his grandfather's words. 'Alright. This is ok; Grandpa said it would be like this. I can do this. I'm strong and I know it. I just have to prove it to them. '

As the boys finished their stretching, a tall and bulky Saiyan landed in the training area. He was bald and had a scar over his right eye, which only made him look more menacing than the average Saiyan. He looked around at all the boys and sneered once he saw Trunks. He was not pleased to have the son of the Blue Whore in his class. He was on the planet when the King and the Prince showed their favor to the Blue Haired scientist. The Prince even killed a guard over her and tried to take the crown just to appease her. He knew that having the bastard in his class was not going to end well for him.

'Perhaps if I scare him off he'll go crying to his mommy and won't come back.' He saw that the other boys were obviously keeping their distance from him and giving him a hard time. 'Yes, this should be easy.'

"Alright boys! Line up!"

All the boys instantly got into a line. Trunks was at the end and quickly looked at the other boys to make sure that he was standing exactly how they were before he turned his attention back to the scary looking instructor.

The big Saiyan crossed his arms and glared at each and every kid. "For those of you that don't know and those of you that do, I will inform and remind you that I am Spro. Here on this training ground, I am ruler, I am King, and I am in charge. I will not tolerate disrespect, slacking, or laziness. And if I break you and hear you whine...you're dead. You are all elites. The strongest kids on the planet. The only problem you face is that you are kids and you don't know anything. That's where I come in. I will teach you how to fight like a Saiyan should. I don't care who trained you before..." He paused as he looked at Trunks. He knew that he had to be somewhat trained, even possibly by Kakarot. But even so, the boy was still over his head. "...whatever you learned before you came to me is minimal. You might know how to fight, but I will teach you how to kill. You might know how to defend yourself, but I will teach you how to survive. This is elite training for kids. This is the beginning stages of your life as a warrior. Now let's begin. Everyone pair up. One on one sparing now!"

The boys paired up so fast that by the time Trunks turned his head, there was only him and the boy that was friends with rude tall one.

Spro growled at the two boys that weren't fighting. "Trunks and Kuka fight now! No slacking!"

Trunks nodded and got into a fighting stance. Kuka sneered at him and cracked his neck. He didn't want to fight with the Half Breed but Yarrow said he had a plan. Kuka phased behind Trunks and kicked him in his back...hard.

Trunks stumbled forward a bit and before he caught his bearings, Kuka came in front of him and kicked him in his face. Trunks almost fell backward but caught himself before he hit the ground and was able to block Kuka's next attack.

'Ok so it's been a while since I last fought with someone like this, but I have to pull myself together.' Trunks pushed back Kuka's incoming foot and did a side scissor kick back at him. Then he phased behind him, grabbed his arms and slammed him into the ground.

Trunks jumped back into a fighting stance and noticed that everything was really quiet. Everyone was staring at him. He smirked at that. 'Guess I'm not as weak as they thought I was.'

Kuka was ticked off. He blasted off towards Trunks so fast that they both had to take to the air. They were trading blows, neither getting the upper hand. Trunks knew he was stronger than him, but his grandpa's words were ringing in his ears.

'Never let them know how strong you really are. You have to be 10 steps ahead of everyone.'

Yarrow frowned as he watched the fight. He didn't like that Kuka hadn't taken out the Half Breed yet. So he decided to help his comrade out. He formed a small energy blast and shot Trunks in his back. Trunks reared forward and fell right into and upper cut from Kuka that almost knocked him out. He recovered quickly and looked behind him. He saw Yarrow smirk and that was enough for him.

Kuka tried to roundhouse kick him, thinking that he wasn't paying attention, but Trunks caught his foot with one hand then fired an energy blast Yarrow with the other. Then he took Kuka's leg and swung him right into Yarrow and Pak.

"If you guys want to fight me then we can fight." Trunks said glaring at them all. The three boys looked like they were ready to pounce.

"TRUNKS!" All the boys looked down at an angry Spro. "I did not tell you that you could take over my class!"

Trunks got out of the fighting stance. "I'm sorry Sir, but-"

"No! If you want to prove yourself and take on the entire class then fine. You will get what you want." He said smirking evilly.

Trunks blinked at him confused. "That's not what-"

"Everyone!" Spro said as he crossed his arms. "Attack Trunks."

Trunks eyes widened, and before he could blink, He was being attacked from all sides. He tried powering up but he couldn't concentrate enough to do so. He was trying to use every ounce of strength he had to fight them off but he had never fought 19 people before. He was getting punched and kicked all over. All he could do was try to block, but even that wasn't really working. Every now and then he would hit someone really good, and their groan of pain would encourage him to fight on. But he didn't know how much longer he could last.

'I should have powered up and got them all one good time! Now I've wasted too much energy trying to keep them off of me. I don't know how much longer I can take this.'

Trunks was outnumbered, rusty, not as trained as the others, and running low on energy. He was getting tired fast and wanted it all to end.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Everyone stopped at the new voice. All the kids were slightly afraid and Spro was annoyed as Kakarot appeared in the midst of all of them. Trunks emerged from the kids and landed on the ground breathing and bleeding heavily. Kakarot looked at him with concern. "Are you alright?"

Trunks nodded weakly. "I'm...fine." He said right before he passed out. Kakarot walked over to him and placed him over his shoulder then looked at Spro. "That was unnecessary. We'll talk later." Then he placed two fingers on his head and disappeared.

In an instant he was in the recovery room and quickly placed Trunks inside of a tank. He looked around and saw two people in lab coats. "Don't tell anyone about this, and don't let anyone in the room." He said as he transported once again. This time he was in a gravity room and had to quickly turn Super Saiyan as he was standing under 500x gravity.

"Kakarot what are you doing here?" Vegeta asked as he stood up from his pushups and went to the control panel to stop the gravity.

"Trunks is hurt."

Vegeta tensed all over at that and looked away from the panel back to Kakarot as he powered down. "Explain."

Kakarot powered down as well. "Spro went nuts and let the whole class attack him. It was 19 on one. He's in a tank."

"Blast." Vegeta said as he assessed the situation. "Bulma can't find out."

Kakarot nodded. "I thought the same. If she did-"

"She'd leave. Talk to Spro and tell him to treat him like everyone else or he will find himself in a similar situation."

Kakarot nodded then teleported out the chamber. Vegeta sighed after he left. 'This is just fantastic.'

He showered, put on some new clothes and went to the recovery room that Trunks was in. There were two attendees in there that bowed to him once he entered. He nodded to them and went to Trunk's tank. He would be in there for another hour. There wasn't life threatening damage, but only enough to make Bulma freak out.

'That woman is already impossible. This would definitely send her over the edge.' He had realized that she was not going to give in as easily as he thought she would. He had to take things slowly. As soon as he left her last night he got rid of the whore chambers and sent the women away very wealthy, to whatever planet they wanted to go to. The only downside was that Chaya was now happy as well.

Vegeta took his thoughts and went to a nearby table and decided to go over some reports until Trunks was done.

When an hour past and Trunks woke up he immediately freaked out a bit. He didn't know where he was or how he got there. He saw his father looking at him then took in his surroundings more fully. He looked down and saw that the water he was floating in was draining away. 'Oh...I'm in a tank.' He looked back up to his father and quickly felt ashamed. He didn't know if he would have felt worse having his mother there, because she would definitely be freaking out. But he had never spent any time with his dad and the last thing he wanted was to see him as weak.

When the water drained completely and the tank opened up Vegeta pointed to a towel and some clothing that was next to it. Vegeta turned his back as Trunks dried and quickly got dressed. He hung his head low once he was finished and said, "I'm sorry Father."

Vegeta winced at that and turned to him. "You have nothing to be sorry about. Spro is an idiot. He's a good fighter but an idiot."

That made Trunks feel a little bit better but he still felt like a loser. "I could have defeated them."

"I know you could. That's why you are being trained. You have the power but you need to work on your skill."

Trunks nodded his head and finally looked up at his father. 'He's not here to scold me then he must have been concerned.' Trunks couldn't describe how that made him feel. He wanted to run to his father and cry but he wasn't going to freak him out with emotions. But the realization of his father caring for him made him feel 100 times stronger than what he already was.

"Trunks, your mother must not know about this."

Trunks looked surprised at that. He was really expecting his mother at any moment to burst through the door and go crazy. "Why?"

"Because the truth is, when a Saiyan trains the way he should, then a tank will be used a lot. This was your first time and I probably should have told you sooner. But if your mother finds out about your trips to a tank then she would..."

"Freak out."

"Exactly. You can let her see a few scrapes, but any serious injuries must be hidden from her. Is that understood?"

Trunks nodded but he felt kind of bad about hiding something from his mother. "Yes but won't she be really mad if she finds out?"

"You let me deal with her. In the meantime, I am your King and you have been given a direct order. Is that clear?"

Trunks smiled at him. "Yes Sir."

Vegeta nodded at him and turned to leave.

"Hey Dad?"

Vegeta stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Would...would it be possible, and it's cool if it's not-"

"Spit it out boy." Vegeta impatiently said.

"Would it be possible for me to train with you?" He asked rushed and hopeful.

Vegeta wanted to sigh. Able asked him that every time he got stronger. "I train in 500x gravity. That is a man's workout and you are clearly still a child. When you become powerful enough, perhaps."

Trunks crossed his arms smugly. "That'll be sooner than you think Dad. You can bet on it." He ended with a smirk that mirrored his fathers.

Vegeta couldn't help but laugh a little at the boy's confidence. Able didn't have as near as much as Trunks did. Able only expected things to happen to him because he was the heir. While Trunks expected things to happen because he believed he would prove himself worthy enough for them to happen. "We shall see. Now go on to your mother. I'm sure she's losing her mind wondering about your training." He said as he walked out the room.

Trunks rolled his eyes. His mother was so crazy sometimes. He took the towel that he had used earlier and dried his hair as best as he could then used some of energy to dry off some more. Once he decided he was good to go. He left out to go find his mother. On the way there he saw his half-brother leaning against a wall like he waiting for someone.

Trunks bowed to him nervously. "Hello."

"Hello Trunks." Able said as he pushed off the wall.

Trunks looked at him a bit confused. "Were you looking for me?"

Able nodded. "I was. I heard about your training."

Trunks was embarrassed once again. "You did?"

"Yes. One of the boys in the class is the son of my body guard."

"Which one?"

"Yarrow."

Trunks wanted to bang his head against the wall. "Of course."

"Yes well you shouldn't let them get to you. Don't forget that you have the blood of a royal running through your veins."

Trunks was taken aback by that. He thought for sure his brother hated him. "Thank you. That means a lot."

"Yes well, keep it up Trunks. I believe that you will be able to prove yourself in no time."

"Thanks. Well I got to go see my mom, but maybe we could hang out or something."

Able hesitated. "Perhaps."

"Bye!" Trunks waved as he left down the hall.

Able rolled his eyes and quickly left to go find his mother. She was in her room brushing her hair in front of her vanity when he came in.

She looked at him through the mirror and asked, "Did you do it?"

Able leaned against the wall and tried to mimic his father's stance as best as he could. It bothered him that the half breed looked more like their father than he did, so he tried to mimic his father's motions as much as possible. "The idiot already thinks we're friends."

"Good. Now, all we have to do is instruct the boys in his class to continue to push him and then you will encourage him to fight back and eventually get him in the tournament."

Able pulled his face into his best 'Vegeta like smirk' as possible. "And then he will die."

Chaya smiled at her son admirably. "Exactly."

Author's Note: Aw Poor Trunks...wonder what Bulma will do if she was to find out that everyone was keeping secrets from her about her child...drama, drama, drama. Please Review!