Note: This is the sequel to "Vanilla On Chocolate". You need to have read that one to understand where this picks up off.

Warnings/Tags: Rape/Non-Con, Alternate Reality Within Canon, Spoilers If You Haven't Read The Prequel, Incorporated Headcanons, Friends with Benefits, Love Triangles & Squares, Angst, Drama, Non-Graphic Sexual Content, Dubious Consent, Implied/Referenced Casual Sex, Implied/Referenced Polyamory, Falling In Love, Jealousy, Heartbreak, Unrequited Love, Emotional Wreck Trunks, Emo Goten With Big Brother Issues, Brainwashed Sell-Out Dense Gohan (Per Canon), Unbeta'd,トラ天, 飯Ｐ, 腐向け

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball/Z/GT/Xenoverse/Super/etc. belong to their respective owners. I own nothing except this derivative fanwork which I do not profit from.

Persistence and practicality. Those were two things he prided himself for as an ambitious person. If he wanted something, he worked for it until he got it. If after hard work he still couldn't have something? Then he accepted it. Part of being practical was knowing when to quit after all. In all sixteen years of his existence, he was able to obtain everything he ever aimed for. Well, all except… One thing—or rather, person—that he didn't even feel worthy of the chance to pine after. But, alas! he had accepted that too. Okay, so he was still working on getting to that stage a hundred percent, but he wasn't as hung up about it as he used to be and he knew it wouldn't be long before he would get over it for good.

Yes. Trunks Briefs was perfectly in control of his life.

…Until he wasn't.

Story #127:

"Love Carnival"

Trunks Briefs is straight.

At least, as far as he knew.

Females have always been his number one preference. He would fool around with the males sometimes, for the kicks and only for kicks – mostly for the ego trip. No matter how ramrod straight he was, however, there was one person that he had always been secretly and exclusively gay for, and that was his childhood best friend's older brother.

This "older brother" of his best friend was also straight as far as he knew. Until they discovered that he was also secretly and exclusively gay for one person, who happened to be the same one person his straight best friend was secretly and exclusively gay for…

Confused yet?

Don't be just yet. This is only the beginning of where things *really* start to get complicated…

He woke up one day—the day after he was coerced by his best friend to take an ice-cold melting confection up his ass during one of their sessions of "fooling around"—and he knew something was different. And no, it wasn't because it was his first time to be deflowered by an iced lolly (though he had ghost chills for weeks on end, every time the mortifying memory surfaced in his thoughts; it was enough for him to swear of iced lollies for life). That day had begun and proceeded normally, except for that feeling that something had changed; it lingered, and since then, only got stronger. He tried to keep it all together—it was only an iffy feeling, after all. He wasn't sure it really wasn't the iced lolly incident just yet.

It was only when he had met up with the said best friend at their favourite ice cream parlour, stocked up on munchies, then headed back to Capsule Corporation for their usual Friday gaming night that his new reality had started to unravel…

The first sign was when Goten won more rounds of his favourite game "Outer Space To Race 4" by a landslide. It was normally the other way around. He caught himself paying less attention to the video games and more attention to his playmate. And when he was wrestled to the bed and teased that he now needed to do whatever his best friend wanted as the consequence of losing so pathetically– instead of the usual playful banter that ensued, he found himself mesmerized by the boy on top of him, heart pounding like crazy in his ears and lungs alarmingly short of breath.

And it only got worse from there.

When Goten started to get down on him, instead of feeling excited and losing himself in the moment, he stared at the ceiling feeling nervous and uneasy—which needless to say, was totally unlike him at all. Before he knew what was happening, he had switched their positions and he was doing Goten the favour; and not long after, pounding into his best friend who would normally have whined at how he was cheating and unfair, but this time, he didn't—or couldn't. Because Trunks was fucking him so hard and so deep that neither of them could afford to breath, let alone think.

Hours later, as he lay there naked and wide awake with Goten hogging the blankets and lightly snoring beside him– that's when the inescapable reality of what had been bothering him all day bitch-slapped him hard in the face—so hard, in fact, that his whole being quite literally shook from the force of it.

Trunks Briefs wasn't as straight as he had always fancied himself after all. Because he just realized that he wasn't just exclusively gay for his childhood best friend's older brother…

It would appear that he was gayest of all…

For his childhood best friend.

How? When? Why? It was an endless barrage of questions from that point on. How could it have happened? When did it all start? And why the hell did it turn out this way?

It was the last thing he ever thought would happen—not even in his imaginings did he entertain the notion. They were best friends; you don't seriously fall for your childhood best friend—it's so cringely cliché. It made no sense, but he couldn't shrug it off.

Besides, he was pretty sure he had never swung that way—nor had he ever harboured any such feelings towards his friend at any point in their younger years, not even a little—not all those years growing up and always doing everything together. The whole thing was like a bad joke that just snuck up on him and turned his life upside down. No, how could it have turned out this way, when it had never been that way before…

Now, he felt lost. It was crippling for a control freak like him. His whole world had suddenly shifted and changed. All because of that one moment which had taken place only fairly recently; when he found out that his childhood best friend was, in fact, only ninety-nine percent straight, because he was also secretly and exclusively gay for this one "person". And then, when he learnt who his childhood best friend was secretly and exclusively gay for—that special someone whom he very heatedly fantasized about whenever he touched himself… That was it.

How he wished he could borrow his future self's time machine and undo that one erroneous moment of his life.

For the first time, Trunks Briefs found himself questioning everything. Seeing the one person he probably knew better than he did himself in a completely different light. It made him feel like an outsider in his own life.

Until some weeks ago, he was a hundred percent sure that his best friend was into ladies, just as he was; never mind that they liked to fool around every so often—those didn't count. They liked doing things differently every now and then to shake things up. That was all.

But then again, why was it even that big of a deal? It's not like he was averse to the idea of him or his best friend being gay. He honestly hadn't a clue why the revelation shook the very foundations of his world—why he couldn't get it together ever since… He and Goten had been friends since even before they learned to walk, shared toys during playtime, wrestled each over the same milk bottle, and has seen the other butt-naked more times than they would have wanted. They were the brothers that never were…

So, why was he so fucking scared?

There was no way he was jealous and wanted his best friend to think about him that way. Right?

He had already asked himself that question a million times in the past week, and each time, he didn't like the answer.

Yes, he didn't think about Goten that way. But his body apparently did.

No, he was definitely not jealous because they were just friends. But then why did he feel cheated of something, like he was the desperate, starved-for-affection boyfriend that he never was?

He was Trunks-fucking-Vegeta, for crying out loud! He had always been in control. He didn't know how to be desperate!

Still…

It didn't change the fact that he was.

At first, he didn't think to put any weight on the world-shattering discovery slowly but surely raring its head. He was a teenager, and teenagers had weird phases, most of which blew over eventually. They had casual sex whenever the need arose, that was all that mattered before. Goten never actively sought out any other partner, save for the occasional one night stand with girls he dated. That didn't bother him, nor did the presumption that the porn they sometimes consumed were what populated his best friend's sexual fantasies. He had never minded it that Goten had sex or fantasized about everyone else…

So why did it feel like the impending end-of-the-world when he found out that his best friend was fantasizing about him; and so sensually too, seduced out of his fucking mind in a way that he has never seen before.

They always fucked and he always saw his best friend horny as fuck.

But he had never seen Goten that way.

Like…

Goten was actually in love… for real.

It wasn't supposed to matter. He had never—not even once—imagined Goten whenever he needed to get off; not even when they were fooling around, heck no, they just used each other to get off while picturing curvaceous, pretty girls. It's a no-brainer. Your best friend that you've never had romantic feelings for isn't the first person that comes to mind when you want to get frisky with yourself.

Therefore, it shouldn't have come as such a shocker that his name wasn't in Goten's spank bank either. At least, according to how things have always been between them—and to risk losing that convenient set-up for what could very well be a temporary glitch in his malfunctioning brain was not an option just yet.

Or so he thought.

Because it was Goten's older brother whom he had always secretly crushed on ever since, no one else. And while there were traces of the man in Goten, the Son Brothers were still galaxies apart.

Gohan was deep and soulful and brilliant, while Goten was carefree to a fault, laid-back more often than not, too impulsive and monomaniacal all the other times, head always stuck in the clouds. So why did it matter who Goten imagined whenever he pleasured himself? It shouldn't. It didn't make any sense for him to give a literal fuck about it.

And that should have been the case if…

…His best friend was in love with someone—everyone and anyone else—but him.

Why him? Why did it have to be him? Of all the beings in the godsforsaken universe!

And it was precisely because it was him, it felt personal. Like a low blow to his pride. Like history being fucking redundant. He had given up on his first and secret love even before he had a fighting chance due to him. And just when he thought that he was finally weaning himself off of his lifelong infatuation with Gohan, fate decided to drop another trollish bomb on him. Of all the eligible Earthling and alien ladies and gentlemen that Goten could fall for…

Why did it have to be the same one he had relinquished Gohan to?

Did he have to take everything away from him?

Did it really have to be him?

He was being petty. That's what he told himself every time the idea of romance between them broke through the surface of his consciousness. An idea so strange and freakish in his normal world, that he was confident it would subside as the weeks lengthened, and sooner or later, even snuff itself out.

But instead, what happened was the very opposite of what he was counting on… The kink only grew extra limbs and mutated into a gluttonous monster that began eating him up whole from the inside-out. Before he knew it, his happy little world with Goten was coming unhinged and falling apart.

For the first time during sex, his mind was in the same plane of existence as his body; for the first time, he no longer sought out images of his number one hard-on fuel Gohan to get by. It wasn't a game of pretend anymore where they mutually played out whatever fantasy the other needed to perpetuate their own sexual gratification. Instead, for the very first time, he actually saw and felt who he was really having sex with.

Goten.

And it just felt so wrong and yet so right at the same time. That's how Trunks knew…

Something had to be done about it.

He didn't know how or what just yet; he was still coming to terms with the implications of this new development in his social and overall life; still meticulously planning the most systematic way to divulge it; still pondering how to go about it and wading through the sordid details of it when…

Some nights ago at Capsule Corp after school, during more "casual" comfort sex…

He decided to just bide his time and enjoy the moment. He didn't have to rush into things, right? At least, that's what his pleasured mind and his dick were saying…

But his heart and mouth had other plans.

"Nngghhhffffuuuuuuuucckk, yes!

"Haa… Haaa!"

"Nggh… Haa… I'm… I'm close!"

"Hngh… Haa… G-Go… Goteehhhnnn…"

"Hah, nggh, whu— dude… Wait, did you… Did you just… haahh… say my name…?"

"Nggghh… Haah, haah… Why him!"

"Haaa… Nn? Whu—what?"

"Why… haa… him? Why…? Why…

"Why Piccolo-san?!"

"Whuut…?"

Goten winced as his climb to climax is painfully cut off by the very odd, off-topic outburst. To his mild dismay, there was no loss of momentum on his partner's side. He patiently waited it out as Trunks peaked on top of him, before he fixed his muddled coal-black orbs into those hazy sky blues.

The lavender-haired teen had the gall to glare back, doing his best to look defiant—as much as one could manage after an orgasm, that is. He knew the mopey—and rather childish—pout on his lips lessened the intended effect even more, but he couldn't help it.

Goten huffed and pushed his friend-with-benefits off of him, grabbed some tissues to clean himself with, and hastily pulled up his jeans. "That's the third time you asked me that! What kind of question is that? Why the fuck does it even matter?"

Trunks straightened his spine from his position on the bed and swallowed the lump expanding in his throat. He was dumbfounded, he honestly had no recollection of ever asking prior to that instance but maybe… *maybe* he did; he has been so out of it lately, he barely knew what he was doing anymore, if he was being honest with himself.

"I… I don't know, you tell me… Does it?"

"Really? Are you being a dick on purpose? What's that even supposed to mean? You make it sound like I've made the worst decision of my life to be crushing on him. Quit being such a creeper, dude! I never ask you to justify why you like my dense-as-bricks brother!"

"Well… I'm… I'm just curious, 'is all."

"Aw, fuck this! You're not the boss of me. If you don't drop this already, I'm dropping you!"

"'Dropping me'?" Trunks blinked. "You'll 'drop me', like literally drop me or—"

"Now I know you're being an ass on purpose. Good-bye, Trunks."

"Hey, wait, hold on!" Trunks frantically tried to get off the bed but his limbs chose to humiliate him further by being uncooperative and all the training, ass-kicking, and world-saving he had been through didn't save his face from planting itself on the carpeted floor.

At least, the uncharacteristic spill was anomalous enough to stop Goten in his tracks before he could reach the door. Feeling his shame burn a hole through his cheeks, the half-blooded Saiyajin prince scrambled to get to his feet but only managed to crawl on to all fours. "Look, I don't know why I said that, alright? I don't know why it's eating me up, I'm not messing with you there. But I'll level with you, I might have an idea why."

Goten eyed him with what Trunks perceived as razor-sharp disdain, but he bravely stared back with as much sincerity as he could muster.

"Okaaay… Well, I'm out of patience, Trunks, so you'd better start 'levelling' before my hand reaches this doorknob."

Why did Goten love pressuring him with weird time limits this way?

(And more importantly, why was it working?)

In a few storming paces, the younger halfbreed was at the door. But his hand never reached the doorknob… Because it was replaced by Trunks' body. And completely unprepared for it, the brunet ran right smack into his best friend's chest. He pushed himself off, only to be grabbed fiercely.

"Don't you even think of me, even just once?"

Goten's mouth went agape. Trunks' tanned cheeks burned. Brighter.

Neither of them said anything for a considerable amount of time.

"What the hell? You're serious? Are you for real?! That's… kinda gro—"

"Aaahhh! Stop right there! Hear me out first before you lambaste my sex appeal along with the rest of me, okay?"

Goten rolled his narrowed eyes.

"I really think… And, contrary to what it looks like, I have been giving this some long and hard cogitating for a while now… I know this is gonna sound completely bonkers but—pffft. Aww, fuck it! I just… I just want us to try and be more than friends-with-benefits! Arggh. There I said it. Go ahead and laugh." It was demeaning in itself, how anti-climactic and unromantic it sounded – not at all how he imagined his "love" confession would play out. But what's said is said. He wanted a resolution or at least a course of action, and he wanted it now. Trunks' posture wilted and he hung his head; the humility that came with defeat was something he never wore well.

"Uhh…" Goten finally began after a long pause, his eyeballs darting left and then right, "I'm… not sure I understand the punchline."

"Punchline…? Whu—no. That's… Uggh! Kami's shrivelled old staff, you're dense!"

"And I keep telling you, I'm no mind-reader. If you won't be direct about it, then you're just wasting my time!"

"Well, I'm sorry! I thought I was being direct!"

"If you can't spit it out, I ain't filling in the blanks for you with assumptions, Trunks! I'm outta here."

Goten made a move to sidestep his companion, only to be blocked again. The angry retort he was ready to expectorate is pushed down by forceful lips over his. The connection lasted for only a few seconds but neither of them could move afterwards.

Sex was something they did all the time, but kiss…?

No. They never kissed.

Not lips on lips, not the way lovers did.

Because they weren't lovers, right?

But, damn.

That kiss felt better than Trunks ever expected.

"Is that… uhm, a clear enough punchline for you?" he asked stupidly, hoping against hope that—please—let this not be the end of their friendship.

It took a while before Goten actually spoke. His fingers moved up to his mouth, his cheeks glowing light pink. When he had patted his lips a few careful times as if making sure they were still there, without looking at Trunks, he said, "You kissed me…"

"Well…" Trunks spluttered, red-faced, "you wanted me to be 'direct'!"

"T'wasn't bad at all," Goten admitted, cheeks now aflame. "I didn't know you were a great kisser…"

"I'm insulted! But… I'll take that as a compliment."

"We don't kiss." Goten finally looked his companion in the eye.

"No… That'd be…"

"…Awkward. And…" Goten didn't know why he never noticed how blue his best friend's eyes were before, or how sexy that mouth was when Trunks anxiously clenched his jaw. It was— "…Weird."

"Or…" Trunks took a big gulp of air, "…Amazing?" He, in turn, was captivated by how plump and red Goten's lips were. Something he only fairly recently noticed… when he caught his best friend in the shower more than three weeks ago, lips pressed roughly against the shower stall's glass panels, and steaming it up with his hot breath as he moaned someone else's name.

Trunks' cheeks flared up even more as recent memories of him pressing his own lips against the same spot on the glass of that same shower stall in the guest room Goten used whenever he stayed over at Capsule Corporation.

So, this wasn't exactly the romantic first kiss he imagined, but it was hard to complain when he was still trying to get over how nice those lips felt lining up snugly with his…

"Wait, let me get this straight…" The shaggy-haired halfbreed's brows knotted. "You're saying you want to have sex with me-me, and not me-pretending-to-be-my-(stupid)-brother now?"

"Uhh… Hang on. That's not fair. I never said I never wanted to have sex with you-you—" Which was mostly true, except that he really didn't know it was true before.

Goten's brows slowly hiked up. "What…?"

"—But fine! I'll take it for now. Yeah, something like that! That's about the size of it. For now."

Trunks knew that Goten was right. He never dared think of his childhood friend that way before, because yeah. It was awkward. And weird. Do childhood best friends think of each other sexually? He thinks not.

So, fair enough. It's true, he was being kind of a creeper. But it's not like he was doing it on purpose! He just needed to know what he was feeling! If this was just stupid adolescent curiosity, he was eager to deal with it and put it past him—even forget it, if possible and necessary. And as much as he hated dragging Goten into it even if the guy had everything to do with it– one way or the another, he specifically needed Goten and no other, to help him figure this out.

"Wait a minute… Does this mean… Waaaaahh!" Goten fell back a step. "You're not falling for me, are you?"

Trunks cringed. Leave it to Goten to broadcast his extremely fragile emotions so insensitively, as though he were coming down with something appalling and contagious. Tact was never his best friend's strong suit.

"It feels even weirder when you say it out loud like that," he sighed, grateful that no one was around to hear the outburst.

"No way! You're fucking with me! …Right?"

Exasperatedly, Trunks ran his fingers through his overgrown fringe and took another deep breath. He found himself staring at the floor, speechless.

"C'mon! This is a joke, right? Gimme the real punchline!"

"Huh?"

"I don't believe you at all!"

"Why? What, you think I'm just making an utter fool of myself because… I'm bored or something?"

"No, what I meant was…" It was Goten's turn to sigh dramatically. "I can't believe you. At least, not until you prove it. Because, c'mon, Trunks! You've been in love with my dorky brother since like– forever!"

"Yeeaaah… That's what I thought too…"

"So… What happened? Why are you doing this? Am I the fall-back guy or what? Be honest with me!"

"You make it sound like I wanted for this to happen."

"Did you?"

"What? No! It doesn't work like that!"

"Maybe for the rest of us, no… But for Mr Trunks 'Control Freak' Vegeta? I'm not so sure…"

Trunks sighed again. Deeper and heavier. He wished he had all the answers, but if he did, then he wouldn't have needed to resort to whatever this was that he was doing. He was never the type to rush into things but then…

Only a few days ago, he thought he wasn't the type to develop feelings for his childhood best friend. He honestly didn't know what was happening to him and why he was subjecting Goten to what was most likely just a vagary of freaky Saiyajin pubescence. But maybe, he wasn't being completely honest with himself—and maybe Goten's scepticism was well-founded.

Because there was that one possibility that he refused to entertain… That ugly possibility that he couldn't even bring himself to admit.

That maybe he was afraid. Afraid of losing his best friend to the same guy he had already lost his first dire lifelong infatuation to.

Which didn't really make perfect sense because… He never felt possessive about Goten—he never needed to. So maybe… Maybe it was his ego talking after all. That would certainly be more logical to anyone who knew him than suddenly falling in love with his best friend—no, that would be preposterous.

…Right?

"I really wish it were that simple…"

"Well, that's convenient. Because you're the one who always told me that everything is. That there was no room for dumb excuses and that there isn't anything in this world that couldn't be simplified to a basic concept or decision when needed. So I don't really know what's gotten into you or why you won't quit pushing this ego tripping prank of yours!"

"Well, if that's so easy, then do it! Why don't you quit first?"

"What?"

"Why Piccolo-san!"

Goten's eyes flared up as shoved the slightly taller boy against the door. "Really, Trunks?"

"It's a simple enough question!"

"It's bullshit!" The raven-haired teen walked to the other end of the room, pacing the length of the couch. "What do you mean 'Why Piccolo-san?'? What's wrong with Piccolo-san? Why can't it be Piccolo-san? And so what if I'm in love with him? Because, no, Trunks! There's nothing simple about falling in love! You just said so yourself: it doesn't work that way! This is just about you being territorial! That's what this is all about, admit it!"

Trunks flinched inwardly. Sometimes Goten read him so well, it was annoying as fuck. He knew that angle made him look bad, but it wasn't fair that he was the only one being put in a spot.

"Maybe—maybe not. But I could say the same about you. What if you're just choosing to fall for Piccolo-san because you want to get back at Gohan-san? You've been jealous of him—envious of how everyone always paid more attention to him, how he's stronger and smarter and everything else. You even used to gripe about how he was gifted with more height and good looks!"

If there was any more space for Trunks to back away from Goten then, he would have; instead he shrunk inwardly at the weight of the hatred in his younger friend's eyes. "Wow, Trunks-kun. Is this what our friendship has come down to? Is that what you think? That I'm not allowed to be in love with someone—oh, no! I have to be using them to get even with my 'Mr Perfect' brother? It always has to be about my fucking brother!"

"Hey, those aren't my words, they're yours!"

"You are such a fucking hypocrite too! Because as far as I distinctly recall, it's you that has always found him infinitely more irresistible. That's why you prefer to think I'm him when we have sex! Why I have to pretend to be him just to get you turned on! Do you ever hear me complaining about that? No, Trunks! Because I never guilt trip you for who you fall in love with or fantasize about!"

"Goten…"

"So why can't I think of Piccolo-san, huh? Why is it even any of your business? You think I'm not good enough for him either, is that it?"

"N-no!" Trunks stammered, raising his palms in a mollifying manner. "Of course not, that's not—"

"You just want to get back at Piccolo-san! This is all about your ego!"

"No! It's not that! Look, I didn't mean it like that, I'm sorry… Will you calm down just for a minute? And…" Trunks begged, "Can you please just… step down from there…? Alright?"

Goten started and stared at where he had not even realized he had hopped on to… On top of the couch, trying to loom over his companion while pointing fingers and screaming at the top of his lungs like they were seven and eight all over again. Luckily Capsule Corporation was a palace and noise was hardly ever carried over to the next room because it was simply too far away and spacious and the ceilings were too high…

"I admit," Trunks said, walking over when Goten had jumped down and sat cross-legged and cross-armed on the sofa. "I don't know what I'm feeling, okay? I don't understand any of it! You could be right, and I could be wrong; I really don't know yet! I've been trying to deal with it on my own for the past weeks but… no dice. I didn't plan on coming clean about it so suddenly, but I guess it happened anyway because I'm at the end of my rope and I don't know what to do about it. I need your help in figuring this out. I didn't mean to come off as insensitive or insincere… I'm sorry."

After almost a full minute of silence: "Fine!" The brunet puffed. "I'm sorry for… coming at you like that, as well. I didn't know how else to take it, it's just really… weird as fuck."

Trunks smiled weakly. "It is. But I'm thinking… I dunno… Maybe we could just give it a shot? And if it doesn't work, then we can forget about it and go back to normal. Sounds simple enough… Right?"

"So, you're suggesting that you have sex with me-me and me with you, thinking about you and only you?"

"That's…" It made him sound so selfish, but he couldn't deny that that was exactly what he wanted. It just sounded so crass and so much less romantic to how he always pictured it in his mind. Trunks deflated, "Yeah, something like that."

Goten made a face, "I'm didn't know it mattered so much to you who I thunk about whenever we had sex… I've always thought you were an egotistical spoiled brat who only thought of himself."

"Gee, I had no idea that you thought so highly of me," Trunks sneered. "I hope you appreciate how much of my 'spoiled brat' pride I had to swallow just to embarrass myself like this. So, if you would please care to stop being an arse now and just tell me if you're willing to help me out here or not?"

Goten remained strangely pensive and unresponsive for the next minutes, far longer than Trunks could find reassuring. Every minute that passed only made him feel more nervous and unsure about everything. When he couldn't bear the dead air for much longer, he decided to make sure that his best friend hadn't fallen asleep with his eyes open (as he often notoriously did).

"Uhm… just checking… Do you plan to tell me in this lifetime, or do you intend to keep up your impression of a great wall of no comment for the remainder of our mortal lives?"

Goten stayed silent for a minute more before he finally got up, walked over to the far side of the room with a full-length window facing the forested area of the Briefs mansion grounds and sunk into his favourite lounge chair situated there.

"I'm sorry, Trunks… The truth is, I can't think about that right now."

The uncharacteristic segue only increased the anxiety Trunks was feeling.

"…Not while my own stupid brother's miserably retarded love life is haunting me. Don't ask me why, because like you, I don't know the answers either. But, I guess you were right about that all along. All I know is how much everything about Gohan-niichan has been bugging me ever since he started high school up until now many years later, and no matter how hard I try, I can't shake it off."

Trunks was rendered speechless. He suddenly felt ashamed, even more ashamed than he thought possible. Guilt and self-loathing also came into play.

Some best friend he was!

He hadn't even caught on that Goten had been having problems of his own bogging him down, and all this time, he had been keeping it all to himself.

Though he had known it all along that Goten and Gohan had been falling apart for some years now, he had never been able to put two and two together that perhaps it was—and maybe always had been—about Piccolo all along. He had always mistaken Goten's growing resentment for his brother as masked concern or even sibling rivalry… But if he took into consideration how smitten Goten looked then, even long before all this—how happy he was when they were both under the Namekian's tutelage… It would all make quite perfect sense…

Ever since they were little kids, Goten has always had a soft spot for the green giant. He would always wonder how he was; always asking Trunks to come with to visit him at the Kami no Shinden to see how "Piccolo-san" was doing, and if he was doing okay, and if he needed someone to talk to that wasn't Dende or Mr Popo… Goten wasn't concerned for his big brother…

He was concerned for Piccolo. And he always has been. And as shocking and eye-opening as it was turning out to be, Trunks realized just in those very moments that…

Goten may have always been in love with Piccolo—even before he knew it himself. Even before he found out about his elder brother's long-standing secret feelings of deep adoration for their beloved mentor…

He didn't know if Piccolo loved Gohan back or even thought of him as anything more than a friend, but Gohan has and still remains the one most important person to Piccolo to this day – that much everybody knew. Goten, on the other hand, always did everything he could to get close to Piccolo. But, as far as Trunks can ascertain, never came quite as close to what Gohan had with the Namek…

And that was what really bothered Goten, he supposed, as much as what he was feeling now bothered him. Gohan was more than an unreachable ideal to Goten, he was a wall—a mirror that reflected his every insecurity and everything that he truly wanted but could never match up to. And this has been bothering the boy for so long that even his idiotic and ill-timed love confession wasn't worthy even as a distraction from it.

Goten has been hurting for far longer than him—and perhaps longer than even Gohan, and yet… That cheerful smile on his face never waned. It sure as hell fooled everyone including him. But Goten's maturity and determination to bear his hidden heartache all by himself hit him like a tonne of bricks. Now, thanks to his idiocy, he had inadvertently forced his best friend to vomit out the woes he had working hard to hide all along; now, he had put Goten in a funk and made him so dispirited that couldn't even be bothered to keep it in anymore… All because he couldn't help being so selfish.

Trunks gritted his teeth, moisture stinging the corners of his eyes.

How could he have been so dense?

Goten respected his elder brother, Trunks knew as much, but he also thought Gohan was an idiot. It was no secret to both of them how the older Son had been in love with his best friend and mentor for decades now, but never had the balls to confess—worst yet, he had even allowed their mother to conspire with Mr Satan in setting up Gohan and Videl to be engaged to be married in a several weeks, and Trunks had failed to remember that. If he were in Goten's shoes, he would be so distracted in all sorts of messed up ways that wouldn't be able to hold it together.

Truth be told, Trunks did think about how Gohan's engagement would affect Goten, albeit fleetingly. But he actually expected his best friend to rejoice at the arrangement, since it meant that his chances with Piccolo would exponentially increase; but clearly, that wasn't the case—not even close. Now that he was able to momentarily snap out of his own selfish turmoil, he could see that Goten was even more miserable than before. It "froze up his life", is what he would call it—frustrated him to no end because as much as he wanted to do something about it, it wasn't really up to him. Whom Gohan chose and whom Piccolo loved was beyond his control.

It was enough that Goten really idolized Gohan for being everything that everybody wanted him to be. But he couldn't stand that the person he admired the most acted the worst in the most crucial of times. It could be said that Goten was more of a romanticist than Gohan would ever allow himself to be, but only when it came to Piccolo, apparently (sure, he could respect that, but it didn't mean that he didn't wish he got the same treatment as well). And Trunks felt like a monumental dork for not seeing it right away…

That despite all the jealousy and envy that Goten felt, there was no doubt that at the end of it all, the caring outweighed all that. He cared, not only for Piccolo's happiness, but for his older brother's as well…

"*Niichan is such a loser," Goten finally spoke up, so quietly, that Trunks would not have heard it if he hadn't padded up to his side then. "Secretly in love with his best friend while dating that girl Mother set him up with, who wasn't even his type! It's like a weight hanging over my head that just keeps bringing me down… I don't know what to do about it: Do I make a move on Piccolo-san and help my stupid brother move on; or do I help my stupid brother make a move on Piccolo-san and help myself move on?" The shaggy-haired half-Saiyajin turned his face away from Trunks and furiously rubbed his eyes, sniffling once before shouting, "Ahhhh, I hate it that I'm forced to think about him so much!"

"Perhaps… the answer is both."

Trunks had no idea why he was even investing himself in this. It was a classic catch-22. He wanted to help his best friend, of course. But he wasn't so confident that anything could be done to begin with. There were just too many factors beyond their control.

If he tells Goten to make a move, he loses them both; if he tells Goten to forget about it, it'll definitely come back to bite him in the face later on. But, Trunks was smart enough to know that he had nothing to lose either way, so what the heck. Besides, best friends didn't screw each other over… Metaphorically, at least…

"In situations like these, you'll never really know which one is the right choice unless you try it out and see. Whichever one works first could be the answer, and," Trunks shrugged, "you just have to deal with it from there on…"

Goten perked up ever so slightly from where he had slumped dejectedly against the window. "I'm listening."

Trunks walked over to the armrest opposite where Goten was leaning and half sat-half leaned on it. "Is your brother the jealous type? I'd say he is. And if that's anything to go by, all you need to do is make your move. Ask Piccolo-san out on a date and Gohan-san will… 'feel the heat', so to speak, the urgency to take action. He's probably not worried at all because he's pretty complacent that Piccolo-san will love no one else but him, and therefore, most assuredly remain single and alone for the rest of his life…"

Goten bit his lip, hard. Trunks could tell the very idea burned him. He regretted it the next moment when he glimpsed a single tear mar his friend's otherwise sunny countenance. But just like quite the few that he had already shed earlier, it was quickly wiped away as surreptitiously as possible.

"It seems counter-intuitive, but… I can see how much they both mean to you. You could have just made a move on Piccolo-san without giving a shit about anything else, but you didn't…" Trunks didn't want to keep talking under the circumstances, knowing that he was just making his best friend sad—well, sadder. But he also wanted to be over with what he needed to say so that he could leave Goten to his thoughts. "But you've put off your own happiness long enough. This way, you'd be intervening for both their sakes, forcing them both to act on their own happiness and make a choice… So you can finally make yours."

Goten sniffed as more wetness cascaded down his rosy cheeks; he didn't make a move to remove them this time, eyes still absently fixed on something beyond the window.

"If Gohan-san does nothing, then you can finally have your chance with Piccolo."

"Oniichan'll hate me."

"Will it matter? You already hate him anyway." Ironically, the more Trunks thought about this insane plan and all the possible ways it could go wrong, the more he was convinced that he was more afraid to lose Goten than Gohan. Which only heightened his apprehension.

What if Goten and Piccolo worked out and he'd be left with nothing?

Somehow, he knew that he had no choice but to leave that part to fate…

"We'll make it seem like a friendly date; you know, just boys hanging out. I doubt Gohan-san would ever agree to a date with me unless it was a friendly one—plus, Videl-san wouldn't stand for it. She and your mother would probably throw a 'hissy fit à deux'."

"And…" Goten lifted his eyes to meet his friend's. The timidness and insecurity in the gesture made him look like he was seven years old all over again. "You're okay with helping me like this? I mean, with Piccolo-san?"

Trunks laughed a hollow laugh. "It's not like I have a choice, right? Besides, right now, anything is better than watching you mope like this…" he joked, playfully poking his friend square in the forehead. "If things work out between you and Piccolo-san, I'd feel bummed, yeah… But I'm sure I'd also feel happy for you. We'd still be friends, right?"

A small, shy ghost of a smile played on the brunet's lips, but his eyes were a mist of conflicting emotions. "You know… Crazy thing is, if and when I do get to steal Piccolo-san from 'Niichan…

"…I'm not sure I'd feel happy for myself."

End of the first half.
To be concluded in the second half.

End Notes:

* 'Niichan/Oniichan/-niichan - Japanese informal suffix for one's own elder brother.

(2017/09/26–2021/04/09)