Author's Note: Hello, everybody! I've decided that for this chapter, I'm going to skip ahead to after the time that Buu has already been defeated. I'm sure I would take forever recapping everything and I think it would be pointless and redundant. So I'm just going on with my story after all that happened.
So I hope you don't mind. I'm sure you know how Goku defeated Buu and all that stuff. So I'm just going to start off with a quick recap and then move on with my story. Enjoy!
Chapter 9:
Friendship
Within the next few weeks, the world was in turmoil and its future was uncertain. Goku had to teach Trunks and Goten a new fusion technique in only a few short hours before his departure to the other world once again. He left them in the hands of Piccolo, who nearly lost his sanity when it came to getting those two to listen and follow directions.
Majin Buu eventually became a good guy, after releasing an even more vile being from his body, a second Buu, and we destroyed at his hands. Gotenks, the product of Goten and Trunks' fusion, were almost successful in destroy Super Buu, but failed, thanks to their limited skill and maturity level.
But everything worked out in the end, and after Evil Buu was defeated by Goku and Vegeta, peace once again began to return to the earth.
Charisma and Trunks returned to school within a few months. This warm, sunny morning, their parents decided that it was all right for them to walk to school on their own. After all, they weren't normal humans, so there wasn't really anything to fear about them getting abducted or anything of that nature.
"I'm so excited about going back to school!" Charisma said cheerfully as the two friends rounded a corner. "I can't wait to see all my friends!"
Trunks scoffed and dug his hands into the pockets of his black trousers. "I don't see why you're so happy. We're going to get tons of homework, remember?"
"What are you complaining about?" Charisma asked. "You're like the smartest kid in class."
"That doesn't mean I like working." Trunks sighed and placed his arms behind his head. "I can't wait till summer vacation…"
"We haven't even set foot in school yet and you're already thinking of that, huh?" Charisma shook her head and looked up at the large building up ahead, Orange Star Elementary School. "You're no fun. I'll see you at school, okay?"
Charisma ran off jovially toward the school. Trunks stopped in his place and watched as Charisma waved at a group of her friends. Amongst them was Misa, whom Trunks couldn't stand very much.
Trunks's eyes soften as he watched Charisma hugging her friends and giggling among them. He shook his head and grumbled. "I wish Goten were here…"
----
"It feels great to be a third grader now, doesn't it?" Charisma's friend Lise said happily as she joined her friends at a table during lunch time. Charisma's other friends, Nia and April, as well as Misa, sat there as well.
"I don't feel any different," commented Nia.
"Guess what? My sister got a new boyfriend," April informed her friends.
"Really?" asked Misa. "She's got a lot of boyfriends…"
"Yeah," agreed Lise as she picked at the food on her tray with her fork. "She's so lucky. I want a boyfriend sometimes."
The girls giggled coyly at this. "Who do you want to be your boyfriend?" asked April.
"I don't know," Lise replied and shook her head. "I don't think my parents would let me have one, anyway. I think they would freak out."
"That's true," Charisma spoke up. "Anyway, aren't we too young to be talking about boyfriends and stuff? My dad says I'm not allowed to get a boyfriend until I graduate college."
"That's too long from now!" Nia protested. "Are you crazy?"
"No!" Charisma shook her head. "That's what my dad says…"
"What do you think?" asked Misa, pointing at Charisma. "Do you want a boyfriend?"
Charisma shrugged. "I don't care about boys…"
"That's a lie!" Lise giggled and leaned closer to the blonde girl. "…You know what we think?"
"What?"
Lise and the other girls exchanged glances with almost mischievous grins. The brown haired girl leaned over toward Charisma again. "…We think you already have a boyfriend…"
Charisma's blue eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Who…?"
The girls simultaneously pointed their fingers across the cafeteria to a boy in the corner. Charisma's eyes nearly bulged out of her head when she noticed who it was.
"WHAAAAT?!"
The entire cafeteria grew silent as the stares of everyone in the lunchroom penetrated Charisma's petite self. She looked around and blushed. She had stood up in shock from what her friends and told her, making her feel even more embarrassed. She slowly slumped into her seat.
"…So it's true?" Misa asked as she leaned over toward Charisma.
"NO!" Charisma said angrily, sitting up right. "You've got it all wrong. We're not boyfriend and girlfriend. He's just my friend and that's it."
"Then why are you two always together?" asked Lise.
"Because we're friends!" Charisma answered with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "Since when is it a crime to hang out with a friend who just happens to be a boy? I don't see what the big deal is!"
"But…"
"Enough!" Charisma stood up. "Trunks and I have known each other since we were babies. That's why we're so close…and even so…" Charisma looked over at Trunks who sat alone at the other end of the hall. "…Trunks doesn't act like a boyfriend, and sometimes he doesn't act like much of a friend, either. But he is my friend and that's all there is to it."
The bell suddenly rang and the children in the cafeteria pretty much stampeded their way out of the room and out to the playground. When they all left, Trunks trudged along and went outside, too. The girl friends remained and watched as he made his way through the door.
Charisma grabbed her tray and dumped it into a nearby trash can and left, too. Her friends exchanged glances and followed along.
----
"We're sorry if we upset you, Charisma," Misa apologized with the girls.
"Yeah," agreed Nia. "You seem sad now."
Charisma shook her head and smiled. "I'm not sad. I guess I just never really thought of Trunks that way…and it's kind of weird. It scares me…"
"He's too much of a friend to consider him a boyfriend, huh?" said April. "I always hear my sister saying things like that to her friends."
Charisma was about to say something but she heard commotion coming from a few feet away on the other end of the school yard. She looked over and saw Trunks surrounded by a few fourth graders and two third graders from their class.
"So you have a girlfriend now, do you?" one of the fourth graders taunted.
Trunks looked up at him. "What are you talking about?"
"We know about it already," another fourth grader interjected. "You and that girl are in love." The other boys laughed about it.
"Who the hell are you talking about?" Trunks demanded.
"We're talking about that little blonde girl, pipsqueak," said another boy.
"Yeah, Charisma," said a third grader. "From our class…"
Trunks's eyes widened to the size of two sky lights. "WHAT THE HELL?!"
Charisma stopped in her tracks right behind the crowd of boys. They snickered and turned around to look down at her.
"Here she is," said one of the boys.
"What?" she asked.
"Charisma," Trunks growled walking over to her angrily. "What have you been telling people?"
"What are you talking about?" Charisma asked, not really sure what he was talking about.
"About us!" Trunks snarled and grabbed her hand. "We need to go talk in private!"
The two of them immediately silenced when they heard the crowd of kids swooning and whistling. Trunks and Charisma looked to each other and noticed that they were holding hands. Gasping, the immediately let go and blushed furiously. The crowd continued cheering and the two friends had enough.
"SHUT UP OR I'LL BLAST YOU ALL!" they both screamed madly at the same time, startling the children and causing everyone to immediately shut up as they were told.
----
After school, both Trunks and Charisma walked alone instead of walking with each other. Charisma walked about twenty feet ahead of Trunks. Things within the next few days didn't go any better. The feeling between them went from familiar to awkward and uncomfortable.
They couldn't stand to be together anymore and so they went on with their school lives as far from each other as possible. Charisma didn't go over to Trunks's house as much as she used to, even with the thought that Trunks's grandmother had offered her tea and an assortment of cakes and other desserts.
Trunks hardly went over to Charisma's house to begin with, but he did have to get used to not having her around to pester him about things that happened in school, those of which he had no interest in.
Misa and the other girls began to notice that Charisma seemed unhappier than usual as well. She didn't speak as much anymore and was starting prefer being alone at times.
About a week after the lunchroom incident, Charisma and Trunks were forced together during a weekend when Charisma's parents were going to be out of town. She was left under the care of Bulma, of course, and she wasn't too happy about having to see Trunks.
Either way, they didn't speak to each other much, but they did exchange empty glances every now and then.
On one of those days, Goten came over with his family to visit and sat with them outside. He immediately noticed the uneasy atmosphere and the fact that Trunks and Charisma sat on opposite ends of the yard was a dead give away that something wasn't right between the two.
"Trunks," Goten asked his friend curiously. Trunks was sitting on the grass and Goten took a seat beside him. "Why aren't you and Charisma talking to each other?"
Trunks growled. "I don't really feel like talking about it," he said. "But I guess I'll let you know since you're my only friend now…"
"Only friend?" repeated Goten. "What about Charisma?"
"She spread a rumor about me," Trunks explained.
"A rumor? What's that?"
Trunks looked at him with an annoyed look. "You don't know much, do you?"
Goten chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "I guess not!"
Trunks rolled his eyes. "Well, people were talking about us being girlfriend and boyfriend and they won't shut up about it…"
"WHAT?! YOU'RE BOYFRIEND AND GIRLFRIEND?!" Now Goten's eyes were the ones about to roll out of his sockets.
"No!" Trunks said firmly. "We're not. But that's what everyone thinks because of Charisma. I can't be seen with her anymore. And she doesn't want to be seen with me, either."
"But that's not right," Goten said. "The both of you are supposed to be friends forever. We're all supposed to be friends forever. How can we do that if you two hate each other?"
Trunks remained silent and Goten stood up. He went over to the other end of the yard where Charisma sat on the grass over there.
"Charisma," Goten said as he went over to her and sat. "Is it true that you want to be Trunks's girlfriend?"
Charisma gasped and turned around to look at him. "Of course not! Did Trunks say that? Is that what he thinks?"
"I think so."
Charisma stood up and growled as she stomped her way over to where Trunks sat. "Hey you!" she angrily called to him.
Trunks stood up and looked at her. "What do you want?"
"I don't want anything from you! I wasn't the one who started those rumors! My friends were just joking and I guess someone overheard. And I especially don't want to be your girlfriend, so don't get so excited!"
Trunks gasped. He was thrown back for a minute but growled and retorted. "What?! Well, I don't want to be your boyfriend either! Even if I were interested in having a girlfriend, I wouldn't want a girlfriend as stupid as you!"
Charisma gasped as well but shook her head. "I don't care!" she angrily cried and ran off to her house. She sat on the small swing in her yard and cried.
----
Goten sat alone now on the grass at Trunks's house. Trunks sat on the other end of the yard, all alone again.
"This is terrible," he said to himself. "They're not supposed to be fighting. How am I supposed to be friends with both of them like this?"
He noticed a shadow dwelling above him and turned around. A girl with dark purple hair stood above him.
"Do you know where I can find Charisma?" she asked.
Goten stood up. "Hi, Misa. Charisma's at her house."
"Really?" Misa asked. "But I thought her parents went on a trip somewhere…"
"They did," Goten said. "But Trunks and Charisma got into fight and so she got upset and left."
"Oh my gosh," said Misa as she turned and saw Trunks sitting on the grass. "So they're not friends anymore, huh?"
"Nope," Goten confirmed sadly. "I can't stand it like this."
"Me either," Misa agreed. "Charisma seems so sad lately. She's not herself. And Trunks is always quiet in school, but he's just…even worse somehow."
"That's terrible…" Goten said and shook his head. "I wish there was something we could do…"
Misa nodded and was about to speak, but a light bulb suddenly flickered above her head. She turned toward Goten. "I have an idea!"
"Huh?!"
"I think I have a plan to get those two to be friends again!"
Goten smiled and nodded. "That's great! What is it?!"
Misa put her arm around her shoulder. "We're gonna need some blindfolds and some good acting…are you up for it?"
"Yeah!"
Within a few minutes, Misa and Goten decided to put their plan in motion. Misa went off to go get Charisma while Goten spoke with Trunks.
Somehow, Misa was able to convince Charisma to play tag with just her. Goten did the same, persuading Trunks to play tag with just him, as well.
"You're going to be it, though," Misa told Charisma as they entered Trunks's yard once again. Charisma agreed to do it. "You have to wear this blindfold, though."
"What?" she protested. "But why?"
"It'll be more fun!"
Charisma didn't feel so good about this, but agreed to do it.
Goten, on the other side of the yard, was telling Trunks to do the same thing. Trunks put up more of a fight, but was eventually convinced into getting blindfolded.
"Now, I'm going to take you somewhere in the yard," Misa said as she adjusted the blindfold on Charisma. "You can't see, can you?"
"I only see blackness…"
"Good! Now here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to take you somewhere and then you count to ten in your head, okay?"
"Why in my head?"
"Because, those are the rules!"
"…Okay?"
"Okay, so that's what I'm going to do. Are you ready?"
"I guess…"
"All right…" Misa looked over to the other side of the yard and Goten looked back at her with a thumb up. She nodded and led Charisma to a bush as Goten proceeded to lead Trunks to the same bush as well.
Misa and Goten sat down their friends silently about a foot away from each other. They silently ran off to watch what would happen from afar. Charisma and Trunks sat there like idiots, waiting to be told to start counting.
"Goten?"
"Misa?"
The two called out the names at the same time. They gasped when they heard the other's voice. Their hands moved across the grass and Charisma's hand ended up on top of Trunks's hand.
They took off their blindfolds, almost on cue, and looked at each other. A loud scream emitted from the both of them scared the birds and squirrels right out of a nearby tree.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" Trunks demanded to know.
"I'm playing tag with Misa! What are you doing here?!"
"I'm playing tag with Goten!"
"We were set up!" Charisma angrily said standing up. "This is horrible! I don't wanna see you!"
"I don't want to see you either!"
Misa and Goten ran over to the two stood between them. "You two need to stop fighting already," Misa said to them. "We're all tired of this, especially Goten."
"Yeah, especially me!" he said. Charisma and Trunks looked at him blankly. "You're best friends," Goten said. "You're supposed to be best friends. We've all known each other since the beginning of forever. Can't you two just make up? This is stupid!"
"Yeah," Misa interjected. "It is stupid. Why would you let what someone else say break up your friendship? If you're not actually boyfriend and girlfriend, then why do you get so mad when people ask, anyway?"
Charisma rolled her eyes. Trunks crossed him arms.
Misa went up closer to Charisma. "I can't believe you're acting this way, Strawberry. This isn't like you at all. Charisma would never turn her back on a friend, and yet that's exactly what you're doing here."
Goten, likewise, went up to Trunks. "And you, you're supposed to be the older one. You're supposed to be bigger than both me and Charisma, but you're acting like a big baby!"
Charisma's eyes fell to the ground. Trunks's eyes did, too, as the words began to dwell in between the both of them. Misa sighed after a moment of silence and grabbed Charisma's wrist. They all looked at the shimmering silver bracelet that adorned it. Numerous small charms glistened in the sun.
"Don't you remember, Charisma? Each one of these charms was given to you by a friend. If you really don't care about Trunks's friendship, and if it really doesn't mean anything to you anymore, then grab his charm and throw it away."
"His charm?" repeated Charisma, looking up at Trunks.
"Yeah, you remember, don't you?" Misa said. "He gave it to you for your birthday last year. Does it ring a bell?"
Charisma gently pulled her wrist out of Misa's grasp. She stared down at the charms and her fingers grabbed on to the strawberry charm. The four children remained silent.
Charisma finally shook her head and looked up at Trunks. "I could never do that. I love having you as a friend, Trunks. I really do, and your charm is very precious to me."
Trunks understood this, but he said nothing and just continued staring at her.
"I'm sorry, Trunks…" she apologized.
Misa and Goten looked over at Trunks. Obviously, Trunks had inherited his father's unwavering pride and didn't want to say anything. Actually, he really did want to apologize, but something just held him back.
Charisma smiled up at him anyway and lunged at him, grabbing on to him and hugging onto him tightly. He gasped and blushed, immediately to be hugged by Misa and Goten, too.
----
Later that night, Charisma walked through the halls of the Capsule Corp. house. She crept up to a familiar door and knocked.
"Who is it?"
"It's me…"
There was silence. Charisma frowned and was about to turn around, but a voice finally spoke up. "You can come in."
Charisma smiled and opened the door. Trunks was sitting on his bed with his arms crossed. Charisma approached him.
"I'm glad I got to apologize to you," she said to him. "I just…wanted to make sure that you're not still mad at me." Trunks stared at her and shook his head with a blank look in his eyes. Charisma smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Trunks."
She was about to turn around when she felt him grab onto her wrist. She looked back at him and watched as he placed something into her hand. Confused, she slowly drew her hand up to her face and opened it. Within her palm, Charisma found a star charm for her bracelet.
"Where did you get this?" she asked.
"…My mom…" he explained. "I asked her to buy it for you a few months ago…I was going to give it to you, but I didn't know if you'd want it or not."
Charisma blushed but brought up her hands around her mouth as she giggled. "You're silly. You know that I'd want it." She jumped on the bed beside him and sat. She attached the charm to her bracelet and held out her hand. The charms gently clanked together like a wind chime.
Trunks knew that Charisma would love it. For some reason, however, he could never bring himself to give it to her. Shyness, perhaps, but he wasn't the type of boy to admit that.
"Thank you," she said and got off the bed. "Good night, Trunks."
Charisma happily skipped out of the room and shut the door. She leaned against it and sighed, holding the charms close to her heart. "I'll never forget this," she hummed with a smile as she skipped back to her room.
