That night.
Everyone had gone home. Mirai had taken his few belongings and moved into his new room at Capsule Corporation. Now he was lying back on his bed, staring at the ceiling, pondering what he would do now.
He was interrupted in his musings by loud shouts and the sounds of fighting outside his door. He craned his neck to look.
A moment later, his door burst open as Trunks and Goten rolled through, wrestling. They looked up and stopped.
"Sorry, Mirai-san," they chanted in unison.
He laughed. "It's OK. It's been too long since I've seen *happy* people."
"Mom says your life was pretty sucky," said his younger counterpart, using the subtlety for which he was famed.
"It certainly wasn't a walk in the park," Mirai agreed. "You don't know how good you've got it."
"Oh, I dunno. I think I do know how good this is. I remember what it was like when Mom and Dad were both dead, I remember how I felt. What about you, Goten?"
Goten nodded. "Mm-hmm. There was a point when Dad was gone and Mom had been killed and everyone thought big brother Gohan was dead too. I don't wanna feel like that ever again. So yeah, I know we got it pretty good. Of course, you've always had it bad, I guess it isn't quite the same."
Mirai blinked. For two kids who weren't even teenagers, they had amazing insight.
"One of the things I most envy about you--"and here he pointed to Trunks--"is that you know that your father cares about you. I didn't know mine at all."
"Oh, I dunno about that. You should watch some of the training exercises he puts me through, then you might change your mind."
Mirai chuckled. "I see that he hasn't changed that much."
"Hey, now that's cool!"
Goten had just spotted Mirai's sword hanging on the wall, still chipped where he had unsuccessfully tried to carve up the Androids. Now he had taken it off the wall and was tossing it up and down.
"Hey! Don't do that, that thing's sharp! Give me that!" Mirai tried to grab the sword, but Goten ducked out of reach and threw the sword over to Mirai's head to Trunks.
"Ack! If you cut yourself and Father finds out--!"
What ensued was a frantic game of "keepaway." Mirai started off angry with the two boys, but it wasn't long before the sheer ridiculousness of the situation got through to him and he began to laugh. Goten and Trunks joined in soon after.
Once they regained their composure, Mirai glanced at the clock. It read 1:30 AM.
"Ok guys, bedtime. Run along."
Trunks was shaking his head nervously. "Uh-uh. No way in hell am I going to my room now."
"And why not?"
"Because...it's after midnight. To get to my room I have to go by Mom and Dad's room. And after midnight, Mom and Dad are busy."
Mirai blushed a deep scarlet. And this was *him* casually talking about that? He supposed it must be his father's influence.
"Erk. Yeah, I can see how that could be a problem. Well then, I guess you'll just have to sleep in here. But first...put the sword back up."
***
The next morning, Bulma dropped by to make sure everything was OK with Mirai. She knocked, and after no one answered, she opened the door and went on in.
She discovered that apparently both Trunks's had at least one thing in common--it was impossible for either of them to sleep normally. The both of them and Goten were sprawled all over the bed.
Bulma ran back, grabbed a camera, and took a picture. It was too cute to pass up.
Plus it would provide good blackmail material in the future, if need be.
***
That day, Bulma sat Mirai down and explained all the legal hassles they would have to go through regarding him.
"Ok," said Bulma. "What do you want your name to be? We can't have two Trunks Briefs that look the same, that'd be a bit suspicious. So--what do you want your legal name to be?"
He shrugged.
"Mirai Briefs, I guess. I don't really care."
She nodded. "Hmm...you'll need a middle name."
"Like I said, I don't really care. We didn't have much use for formalities back where I come from. Just make something up. Use the first name that comes to mind."
"Ok...now you're Mirai Marty Briefs." She scribbled the name down on a form.
"Marty? Where did that come from?"
"I dunno. It just seems right."
"Well...what's my cover story going to be? Who will I 'be?'"
Bulma waved a hand dismissively.
"I'll just make sure this form goes through no questions asked. And three million zeni can buy a lot of no questions."
"Three million zeni?"
"Yeah. That's how much the chief of police wants from the government to upgrade the force. I'm willing to bet that a donation from Capsule Corp. would persuade him to turn a blind eye."
Everyone had gone home. Mirai had taken his few belongings and moved into his new room at Capsule Corporation. Now he was lying back on his bed, staring at the ceiling, pondering what he would do now.
He was interrupted in his musings by loud shouts and the sounds of fighting outside his door. He craned his neck to look.
A moment later, his door burst open as Trunks and Goten rolled through, wrestling. They looked up and stopped.
"Sorry, Mirai-san," they chanted in unison.
He laughed. "It's OK. It's been too long since I've seen *happy* people."
"Mom says your life was pretty sucky," said his younger counterpart, using the subtlety for which he was famed.
"It certainly wasn't a walk in the park," Mirai agreed. "You don't know how good you've got it."
"Oh, I dunno. I think I do know how good this is. I remember what it was like when Mom and Dad were both dead, I remember how I felt. What about you, Goten?"
Goten nodded. "Mm-hmm. There was a point when Dad was gone and Mom had been killed and everyone thought big brother Gohan was dead too. I don't wanna feel like that ever again. So yeah, I know we got it pretty good. Of course, you've always had it bad, I guess it isn't quite the same."
Mirai blinked. For two kids who weren't even teenagers, they had amazing insight.
"One of the things I most envy about you--"and here he pointed to Trunks--"is that you know that your father cares about you. I didn't know mine at all."
"Oh, I dunno about that. You should watch some of the training exercises he puts me through, then you might change your mind."
Mirai chuckled. "I see that he hasn't changed that much."
"Hey, now that's cool!"
Goten had just spotted Mirai's sword hanging on the wall, still chipped where he had unsuccessfully tried to carve up the Androids. Now he had taken it off the wall and was tossing it up and down.
"Hey! Don't do that, that thing's sharp! Give me that!" Mirai tried to grab the sword, but Goten ducked out of reach and threw the sword over to Mirai's head to Trunks.
"Ack! If you cut yourself and Father finds out--!"
What ensued was a frantic game of "keepaway." Mirai started off angry with the two boys, but it wasn't long before the sheer ridiculousness of the situation got through to him and he began to laugh. Goten and Trunks joined in soon after.
Once they regained their composure, Mirai glanced at the clock. It read 1:30 AM.
"Ok guys, bedtime. Run along."
Trunks was shaking his head nervously. "Uh-uh. No way in hell am I going to my room now."
"And why not?"
"Because...it's after midnight. To get to my room I have to go by Mom and Dad's room. And after midnight, Mom and Dad are busy."
Mirai blushed a deep scarlet. And this was *him* casually talking about that? He supposed it must be his father's influence.
"Erk. Yeah, I can see how that could be a problem. Well then, I guess you'll just have to sleep in here. But first...put the sword back up."
***
The next morning, Bulma dropped by to make sure everything was OK with Mirai. She knocked, and after no one answered, she opened the door and went on in.
She discovered that apparently both Trunks's had at least one thing in common--it was impossible for either of them to sleep normally. The both of them and Goten were sprawled all over the bed.
Bulma ran back, grabbed a camera, and took a picture. It was too cute to pass up.
Plus it would provide good blackmail material in the future, if need be.
***
That day, Bulma sat Mirai down and explained all the legal hassles they would have to go through regarding him.
"Ok," said Bulma. "What do you want your name to be? We can't have two Trunks Briefs that look the same, that'd be a bit suspicious. So--what do you want your legal name to be?"
He shrugged.
"Mirai Briefs, I guess. I don't really care."
She nodded. "Hmm...you'll need a middle name."
"Like I said, I don't really care. We didn't have much use for formalities back where I come from. Just make something up. Use the first name that comes to mind."
"Ok...now you're Mirai Marty Briefs." She scribbled the name down on a form.
"Marty? Where did that come from?"
"I dunno. It just seems right."
"Well...what's my cover story going to be? Who will I 'be?'"
Bulma waved a hand dismissively.
"I'll just make sure this form goes through no questions asked. And three million zeni can buy a lot of no questions."
"Three million zeni?"
"Yeah. That's how much the chief of police wants from the government to upgrade the force. I'm willing to bet that a donation from Capsule Corp. would persuade him to turn a blind eye."