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PART 22 Desperately Seeking Trunks-kun
{ding dong! ding dong!}
"I'm comin'! I'm comin'!" Trunks said as he yawned and walked
towards the door. He opened the door.
"Ohayo!" Marron said. She opened her eyes to see Trunks standing
in front of her...in his underwear.
"Gah!" Trunks and Marron both yelled as they backed away.
"What are you doing here?!" Trunks asked.
"What are YOU doing opening the door in your underwear?!" Marron
asked.
Trunks looked down at what he was wearing and it was just until
then that he realized. He took a look at Marron and quickly scampered
away. Marron stared at the direction he went. Bra's head popped out.
"Who was it, Trunks?" she asked. Then she saw Marron at the door.
"Oh, hi, Marron-chan!" She smiled and went over to Marron. "Come in."
Marron came in. "What's wrong with your brother?"
"Oh, nothing."
"When did he come back home?"
"Three this morning." She examined Marron. "How come you don't look
as worried as you sounded like on the phone?"
"Oh that? Well, Blue finally convinced me not to worry. I knew
Trunks would come home sooner or later. After all, he DID survive
going into space looking for the Black Star Dragonballs, didn't he?"
"Yeah... Well, what brings you here?"
"I came here just to check up on stuff. This may sound a little
lame but I was just in the neighborhood and I wanted to stop by."
"Well, good for you! What ARE you doing in the neighborhood anyway?"
"I was buying some stuff that my dad asked me to get him. I'm
going there right now."
"Then don't let me stop you."
"Oh no. I don't mind."
"Good! So how's things going?"
"Fine."
"How was Tokyo?"
"It was nice."
"What about Aoi?"
"He's at a concert."
"You mean you didn't bring him with you?"
"Of course not. Why would I? He came here for a reason. I just wanted
to see him."
"Are you planning to see him again?"
"Sure. But it would be a bit hard considering that he has to go to
Malaysia on Monday to perform another concert."
"Really? Will you see him after that?"
"No, no. He's going to Singapore, then to Hong Kong, then to Taiwan,
then to Korea, then to Vietnam, then to India, then to Saudi Arabia,
then to Paris, England, Egypt, Canada, the United States, Mexico..."
"So basically, he's going on your typical World Tour?"
"Yeah."
"That's a lotta countries."
"I know."
"He's really THAT famous?"
"I don't know."
"Gee... I should try to go to one of his concerts."
"Um...that would be this week? He's in Tokyo, remember?"
"Oh yeah. Never mind."
Neither of them said a word for a while. Marron looked around.
"O-kay. Well, I have to go now." she said.
"Really? So soon?"
"Unless you have anything else to say."
"So...do you think that you and Aoi are...gonna have a future
together?"
"What kind?"
"Um...let's say...'then comes Aoi with a baby carriage'."
"Do I think we're ever going to get married? Oh no. No, no, no. I
love him a lot but that's all for the friendship."
"Then who do you think you're gonna marry?"
"How should I know?"
"Who do you want to marry?"
"I don't know."
"Not even...well...a certain person named after...um...men's under...
clothing...?"
"Trunks?"
"You wanna marry Trunks?"
"Now, I didn't say that!"
"I know. Well, do you?"
"Why would I?"
"Because he asked you."
"Wait a sec! He...he did not."
"Oh really?"
"Really."
Bra rested her chin on her hand and looked at Marron suspiciously.
"Well, I'd better be going, Bra."
Marron turned around and rushed to the door. "I'll let myself out,
okay? Bye!"
Bra looked at Marron walking quickly away from Capsule Corp. She
sighed.
[Aww man!] she thought. [It didn't work.]
Then Trunks came out. "Where's Marron?"
"She's leaving."
Trunks didn't say anything. Instead, he rushed outside.
"You didn't see anything!" he shouted. Marron looked behind her.
"It was a warm night, I swear!"
Marron looked at him and giggled. Then she went on her way and Trunks
went back inside.
"Thank you very much, sir." Marron said, bowing to the store clerk.
She took the bag of items her parents asked her to get and left the
store. She walked to the car and drove back home. The light changed
and she stopped.
[Hmm...Trunks in trunks.] Marron thought, recalling that strange
encounter with Trunks that morning. She let out a laugh as she thought
of it.
{BEEP! BEEP!}
"HEY! Get moving already!"
Marron looked behind her and saw a man in his car waving his fist.
She looked at the light and saw that it changed. She stepped on the
gas pedal and continued driving.
[Trunks in trunks.] she thought again. She let out another series
of laughs and giggles.
{whoo-oo!! whoo-oo!}
Marron looked behind her to see a police car chasing after her. She
immediately stepped on the brakes and the police car caught up to
her. She opened the window.
"What is it, officer?" she asked.
"You passed a light." he replied.
"I did?"
"Of course. Plain as day. It changed to stop approximately 12.8
seconds after you passed it."
"I didn't know that..."
The policeman took out a book and wrote something in it. He ripped
out a page and handed it to Marron.
"A ticket." he said. "Try not to do it again."
"Honestly, I didn't notice the light change."
"You must've had your head in the clouds."
"I guess."
"Try to keep your eye on the road next time. And try not to think
about boys until AFTER you're out of the driver's seat."
He winked at her and went back to his car. Marron blushed. The
police officer waved to her and drove away.
"A boy." she said to herself. "In his underwear, too."
She smacked herself on the forehead. [What WAS I thinking?]
[It's no big deal that she saw me in my underwear, right?] Trunks
thought to himself. [I have seen her in HER underwear, too, haven't I?]
He clutched his head and shook his head.
[Quit thinking about her! Who cares about her underwear? WHAT'S WRONG
WITH ME?!?!?!]
"Hey Trunks!" Goten greeted, coming into his office. Trunks looked
up.
"Hello, Goten." Trunks said. "What are you doing here?"
"Can't I just stop by to see my best friend?"
"I dunno."
Goten sighed and sat down on a chair. "Are ya busy?"
"Not really."
"I heard from a very reliable source that you plan to marry Marron."
"No way!"
"How come you didn't tell me?! Am I not your best friend anymore?!"
"I did not tell you because that is not true at all."
"Oh please. You KNOW you wanna marry her!"
"Why can't you all just leave me alone?!"
"Fine! Then I'll marry her if you don't wanna!"
"Say what?!"
"You don't wanna marry Marron so it means that I can!"
"I never said that!"
"Okay, then... Do you want to marry Marron?"
"Eh...none of your business."
"Then I'll marry her."
"No way!"
"I'm marrying her unless you want to."
Trunks didn't know what to say next. He blushed furiously and turned
away.
"I don't know why it should be any of anyone's business except
my mom's." Trunks said. "If I'm gonna marry anybody, it's a big chance
that she wouldn't be blonde with two ponytails, blue eyes, loves
pink and name's Marron."
"Why not?"
"I don't know. That's life and I'm gonna live with it."
"Fine."
"I don't even know why I care that you wanna ask her to marry you.
You're just saying that because you want me to say that I love her
and I'm marrying her."
"You feel that way?"
"Heck no!"
Goten looked at his friend and could tell that he wasn't ready to
open up. Not now. He stood up and began to leave.
"Just so you know, going all the way to Tokyo just to see a girl
means that you really care about her. You should give Marron-chan
a chance. You belong together." he said and he left.
[I wish that were true, Goten.]
"... Mmm...HA! HA! HA!"
Marron immediately covered her mouth and blushed.
"What's wrong with you, Marron-chan? You keep on laughing. What's
so funny?" Aoi asked. "Is there anything wrong with me?"
"No, no, no, Aoi-kun." Marron said. "I just can't help thinking
about...about...HA! HA! HA!"
"What is it?!"
"Forget it, forget it!"
"No way! What is it? Tell me!"
"Forget it!"
"Oh c'mon! Please?"
"No! Forget it!"
Aoi frowned. Marron was still giggling about that something. He
held her by the waist and tickled her.
"Hey! Hey!" Marron said. The tickling and the thought made her
laugh so hard. "HA! HA! HA! Stop! Stop!"
"Not until you tell me what it is!"
"It's Trunks! It's Trunks, okay?!"
Aoi stopped tickling Marron and then looked away. Marron was still
giggling but when she saw Aoi's face, she stopped.
"Aoi, is anything the matter?" she asked with concern. Aoi turned
to face her and had on a warm smile.
"Everything's perfectly fine, Marron-chan." he replied. Marron
felt that he wasn't telling her the whole truth and she looked down.
"It's about Trunks, isn't it?" she asked.
"I'm fine, Marron! It's just I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't
get to you first."
Marron looked at him. "You still have your chance."
"No. I wouldn't wanna get in the way of true love."
"What makes you think that it's true love?"
"We're just friends."
"Oh c'mon, you don't expect me to believe THAT now, do you?"
"I expect you to know it."
"You two have a real thing going on. You still have YOUR chance."
"I had a lot of other chances, too."
"That makes you two so meant to be. You use up so many chances but
you still love each other. If at first you don't succeed, try and try
again, as the saying goes. You'll be together eventually."
"That's pretty much what he tried to tell me."
"That makes it better. He knows you belong together and he will try
hard to be with you even if you don't lift a finger."
"We can only be friends."
"Really? How many people have told you that?"
"Me."
"If you tell yourself that you and Trunks will get together somehow,
if you believe, then you can. You can be together if you really want
to."
"But I don't."
"That's what you think. You know that you will."
"Please don't use that on me, Aoi-kun. I don't want to love Trunks
anymore. Only as a friend."
"Why?"
"Because...because he'll break my heart. I just know it."
"Then who will you love if it isn't Trunks."
Marron paused. "You're the only one who can fix my broken heart..."
"Marron... Marron, I can't."
"I know, Aoi. I know."
"Then if it's not me or Trunks...who is it?"
"I try to love Goten more than a friend but I can't. I can't no
matter how much he loves me."
"I always thought you wanted to be married and have children. Have
a life with someone so dear to you. You told me that."
"I know. I still do but if Trunks is the only one who can fulfill
that dream then...then I don't want it."
"You know that he cares for you a lot."
"I...I...I don't know..."
"It's so obvious he does."
"We can't always put our beliefs on the obvious."
"Well, then. If you think it's so obvious that you won't be together,
I suggest you should change that belief."
"Why do you have to be so profound, Aoi?"
"I guess I was born that way." He chuckled. A small smile showed
on Marron's face.
"Anyways," Aoi said. "All I'm trying to tell you is that you should
think about it. Trunks cares about you a lot. It's always possible
that friendship could turn into love, is it not?"
"It can."
"You're meant to be. You just don't know it yet. Maybe it's because
it doesn't show so much. But as they say, good things come in small
packages."
"Maybe you're right, Aoi. Maybe...maybe I can try."
Marron timidly rang the doorbell of Capsule Corporation.
[Don't open the door, Trunks...] Marron thought hopefully. She
sighed and looked up at the blue sky. [Why in the world am I here?
I shouldn't be here. What's the point of coming here when I know
that I wouldn't have the guts to...]
"Hey, Marron." Bra greeted. Marron faced Bra and smiled.
"Hi!" she replied.
"What brings you here?" Bra asked.
"Me? Oh... What brings me here is..." She sighed. "I don't know
what brings me here. Just thought I'd stop by."
"Perfect timing. You can help me with the tree."
Bra went in and Marron followed her.
"Tree? What tree?" Marron asked.
"The Christmas tree, of course!"
"Why?"
"'Coz Christmas is coming up! Duh!"
Marron paused for a few seconds. "I never realized that."
Bra and Marron went into the room where the tree was.
"Eh... It's huge!" Marron remarked.
"We're having a big Christmas party here." Bra explained. Then she
turned to Marron. "Oh yeah. And you're invited."
"Um...thanks."
"We didn't make any formal invitations or anything like that. They're
coming soon enough. I'm just telling you before you ask questions
and stuff like that."
"Thanks...I guess..."
"Well, are ya gonna help me?"
"I didn't come here for nothing. Fine."
"Cool!"
Marron sighed. "Where do I start?"
"Help me put up these ornaments." Bra took out a box of assorted
decorations. "Here."
Marron sighed. "Fine, but you're doing the top part."
"'Kay."
"So...who will be invited?"
"Well, you know my mom. She just has this thing for big parties
so I guess it's your family, the Sons and...a buncha people I have
never seen before in my life."
"I know what you mean. She does have the strangest reasons for
throwing parties, ne?"
"Yeah. It's like an obsession. She's just probably bored. I get
really bored here, too. My mom is inventing all day, my dad is
training and Trunks...well, he works and when he doesn't, he's
REALLY boring."
"I am NOT boring!" Trunks voice said from behind. The two girls
looked back to see a very annoyed Trunks.
"Yes you are." Bra said.
"Am not!"
"Oh please. You're the one thing on every sane woman's mind, you're
filthy rich and look at you. Working all the time like some robot.
How boring is that?"
"Hey! I never asked for this job. Besides, I can be fun if I
wanted to."
"Then I guess you want to be boring since that's all you wanna do."
"You brat!"
"Shut up, old man!"
"I'm not an old man! I'm thirty years old, ya hear?!"
"You certainly look like an old man."
"You certainly need to learn how to control yourself! You flirt
with almost every guy you see!"
"I do not! If I was so uncontrollable then I wouldn't have made
it to college, now would I? A very good one, too! Besides, it's
YOU that's the uncontrollable one! Shouting in front of your
girlfr-- er...never mind!"
Trunks cooled down and finally noticed that Marron was there and
she heard everything. He flushed with embarrassment and bowed.
"Er...sorry, Marron." he said. "I-I didn't realize that you were
here."
Marron smiled. "That's all right, Trunks-kun. It was quite
entertaining."
Trunks got even redder. "Hehe..."
"Well, I'm going to continue on with my work." She turned around
and began putting ornaments on the tree. Trunks went over to her.
"He-he-hey! I really didn't mean yelling while you were there." he
said.
"I told you that it's perfectly all right. Besides, it's not like
you've punctured my eardrum or anything like that."
Trunks sighed. "Well, I'd better be getting back to my work. I'll
see ya!"
"Bye!"
Trunks left. Marron was about to resume hanging decorations on the
tree but then spotted Bra looking down at her with an odd smile on
her lips.
"What is it?" Marron asked.
"You still like him, don't you?" Bra asked. Marron blushed and
quickly turned away.
"N-no! I was just being friendly, of course."
"Well, it seemed like he still liked you."
"Y-y-y-you think so?"
"I know so."
"H-how are you certain?"
"The blushing and the being really nice part. What do you think?"
"We're practically best friends so it's natural that we'd be
really nice to each other."
"Do you still like him?"
"In a friendly way I do."
"I mean romantically."
"Well...maybe..."
"Maybe? So you like him?"
"I said 'maybe'!"
"Maybe yes or maybe no?"
"B-both."
"Fine then."
"..."
"..."
"Well...maybe yes..."
"Oh really?!"
"I mean, he IS the most eligible bachelor in the known world so
why not? I admit that he IS...kinda...cute..."
"Oh REALLY?"
"Of course. I mean, his lavender hair is really unique and he has
really nice blue eyes and his body certainly isn't that bad..."
"Well, I'm glad you do."
"But don't jump to conclusions, Bra-chan! I said maybe. Just...
maybe..."
PART 22 Desperately Seeking Trunks-kun
{ding dong! ding dong!}
"I'm comin'! I'm comin'!" Trunks said as he yawned and walked
towards the door. He opened the door.
"Ohayo!" Marron said. She opened her eyes to see Trunks standing
in front of her...in his underwear.
"Gah!" Trunks and Marron both yelled as they backed away.
"What are you doing here?!" Trunks asked.
"What are YOU doing opening the door in your underwear?!" Marron
asked.
Trunks looked down at what he was wearing and it was just until
then that he realized. He took a look at Marron and quickly scampered
away. Marron stared at the direction he went. Bra's head popped out.
"Who was it, Trunks?" she asked. Then she saw Marron at the door.
"Oh, hi, Marron-chan!" She smiled and went over to Marron. "Come in."
Marron came in. "What's wrong with your brother?"
"Oh, nothing."
"When did he come back home?"
"Three this morning." She examined Marron. "How come you don't look
as worried as you sounded like on the phone?"
"Oh that? Well, Blue finally convinced me not to worry. I knew
Trunks would come home sooner or later. After all, he DID survive
going into space looking for the Black Star Dragonballs, didn't he?"
"Yeah... Well, what brings you here?"
"I came here just to check up on stuff. This may sound a little
lame but I was just in the neighborhood and I wanted to stop by."
"Well, good for you! What ARE you doing in the neighborhood anyway?"
"I was buying some stuff that my dad asked me to get him. I'm
going there right now."
"Then don't let me stop you."
"Oh no. I don't mind."
"Good! So how's things going?"
"Fine."
"How was Tokyo?"
"It was nice."
"What about Aoi?"
"He's at a concert."
"You mean you didn't bring him with you?"
"Of course not. Why would I? He came here for a reason. I just wanted
to see him."
"Are you planning to see him again?"
"Sure. But it would be a bit hard considering that he has to go to
Malaysia on Monday to perform another concert."
"Really? Will you see him after that?"
"No, no. He's going to Singapore, then to Hong Kong, then to Taiwan,
then to Korea, then to Vietnam, then to India, then to Saudi Arabia,
then to Paris, England, Egypt, Canada, the United States, Mexico..."
"So basically, he's going on your typical World Tour?"
"Yeah."
"That's a lotta countries."
"I know."
"He's really THAT famous?"
"I don't know."
"Gee... I should try to go to one of his concerts."
"Um...that would be this week? He's in Tokyo, remember?"
"Oh yeah. Never mind."
Neither of them said a word for a while. Marron looked around.
"O-kay. Well, I have to go now." she said.
"Really? So soon?"
"Unless you have anything else to say."
"So...do you think that you and Aoi are...gonna have a future
together?"
"What kind?"
"Um...let's say...'then comes Aoi with a baby carriage'."
"Do I think we're ever going to get married? Oh no. No, no, no. I
love him a lot but that's all for the friendship."
"Then who do you think you're gonna marry?"
"How should I know?"
"Who do you want to marry?"
"I don't know."
"Not even...well...a certain person named after...um...men's under...
clothing...?"
"Trunks?"
"You wanna marry Trunks?"
"Now, I didn't say that!"
"I know. Well, do you?"
"Why would I?"
"Because he asked you."
"Wait a sec! He...he did not."
"Oh really?"
"Really."
Bra rested her chin on her hand and looked at Marron suspiciously.
"Well, I'd better be going, Bra."
Marron turned around and rushed to the door. "I'll let myself out,
okay? Bye!"
Bra looked at Marron walking quickly away from Capsule Corp. She
sighed.
[Aww man!] she thought. [It didn't work.]
Then Trunks came out. "Where's Marron?"
"She's leaving."
Trunks didn't say anything. Instead, he rushed outside.
"You didn't see anything!" he shouted. Marron looked behind her.
"It was a warm night, I swear!"
Marron looked at him and giggled. Then she went on her way and Trunks
went back inside.
"Thank you very much, sir." Marron said, bowing to the store clerk.
She took the bag of items her parents asked her to get and left the
store. She walked to the car and drove back home. The light changed
and she stopped.
[Hmm...Trunks in trunks.] Marron thought, recalling that strange
encounter with Trunks that morning. She let out a laugh as she thought
of it.
{BEEP! BEEP!}
"HEY! Get moving already!"
Marron looked behind her and saw a man in his car waving his fist.
She looked at the light and saw that it changed. She stepped on the
gas pedal and continued driving.
[Trunks in trunks.] she thought again. She let out another series
of laughs and giggles.
{whoo-oo!! whoo-oo!}
Marron looked behind her to see a police car chasing after her. She
immediately stepped on the brakes and the police car caught up to
her. She opened the window.
"What is it, officer?" she asked.
"You passed a light." he replied.
"I did?"
"Of course. Plain as day. It changed to stop approximately 12.8
seconds after you passed it."
"I didn't know that..."
The policeman took out a book and wrote something in it. He ripped
out a page and handed it to Marron.
"A ticket." he said. "Try not to do it again."
"Honestly, I didn't notice the light change."
"You must've had your head in the clouds."
"I guess."
"Try to keep your eye on the road next time. And try not to think
about boys until AFTER you're out of the driver's seat."
He winked at her and went back to his car. Marron blushed. The
police officer waved to her and drove away.
"A boy." she said to herself. "In his underwear, too."
She smacked herself on the forehead. [What WAS I thinking?]
[It's no big deal that she saw me in my underwear, right?] Trunks
thought to himself. [I have seen her in HER underwear, too, haven't I?]
He clutched his head and shook his head.
[Quit thinking about her! Who cares about her underwear? WHAT'S WRONG
WITH ME?!?!?!]
"Hey Trunks!" Goten greeted, coming into his office. Trunks looked
up.
"Hello, Goten." Trunks said. "What are you doing here?"
"Can't I just stop by to see my best friend?"
"I dunno."
Goten sighed and sat down on a chair. "Are ya busy?"
"Not really."
"I heard from a very reliable source that you plan to marry Marron."
"No way!"
"How come you didn't tell me?! Am I not your best friend anymore?!"
"I did not tell you because that is not true at all."
"Oh please. You KNOW you wanna marry her!"
"Why can't you all just leave me alone?!"
"Fine! Then I'll marry her if you don't wanna!"
"Say what?!"
"You don't wanna marry Marron so it means that I can!"
"I never said that!"
"Okay, then... Do you want to marry Marron?"
"Eh...none of your business."
"Then I'll marry her."
"No way!"
"I'm marrying her unless you want to."
Trunks didn't know what to say next. He blushed furiously and turned
away.
"I don't know why it should be any of anyone's business except
my mom's." Trunks said. "If I'm gonna marry anybody, it's a big chance
that she wouldn't be blonde with two ponytails, blue eyes, loves
pink and name's Marron."
"Why not?"
"I don't know. That's life and I'm gonna live with it."
"Fine."
"I don't even know why I care that you wanna ask her to marry you.
You're just saying that because you want me to say that I love her
and I'm marrying her."
"You feel that way?"
"Heck no!"
Goten looked at his friend and could tell that he wasn't ready to
open up. Not now. He stood up and began to leave.
"Just so you know, going all the way to Tokyo just to see a girl
means that you really care about her. You should give Marron-chan
a chance. You belong together." he said and he left.
[I wish that were true, Goten.]
"... Mmm...HA! HA! HA!"
Marron immediately covered her mouth and blushed.
"What's wrong with you, Marron-chan? You keep on laughing. What's
so funny?" Aoi asked. "Is there anything wrong with me?"
"No, no, no, Aoi-kun." Marron said. "I just can't help thinking
about...about...HA! HA! HA!"
"What is it?!"
"Forget it, forget it!"
"No way! What is it? Tell me!"
"Forget it!"
"Oh c'mon! Please?"
"No! Forget it!"
Aoi frowned. Marron was still giggling about that something. He
held her by the waist and tickled her.
"Hey! Hey!" Marron said. The tickling and the thought made her
laugh so hard. "HA! HA! HA! Stop! Stop!"
"Not until you tell me what it is!"
"It's Trunks! It's Trunks, okay?!"
Aoi stopped tickling Marron and then looked away. Marron was still
giggling but when she saw Aoi's face, she stopped.
"Aoi, is anything the matter?" she asked with concern. Aoi turned
to face her and had on a warm smile.
"Everything's perfectly fine, Marron-chan." he replied. Marron
felt that he wasn't telling her the whole truth and she looked down.
"It's about Trunks, isn't it?" she asked.
"I'm fine, Marron! It's just I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't
get to you first."
Marron looked at him. "You still have your chance."
"No. I wouldn't wanna get in the way of true love."
"What makes you think that it's true love?"
"We're just friends."
"Oh c'mon, you don't expect me to believe THAT now, do you?"
"I expect you to know it."
"You two have a real thing going on. You still have YOUR chance."
"I had a lot of other chances, too."
"That makes you two so meant to be. You use up so many chances but
you still love each other. If at first you don't succeed, try and try
again, as the saying goes. You'll be together eventually."
"That's pretty much what he tried to tell me."
"That makes it better. He knows you belong together and he will try
hard to be with you even if you don't lift a finger."
"We can only be friends."
"Really? How many people have told you that?"
"Me."
"If you tell yourself that you and Trunks will get together somehow,
if you believe, then you can. You can be together if you really want
to."
"But I don't."
"That's what you think. You know that you will."
"Please don't use that on me, Aoi-kun. I don't want to love Trunks
anymore. Only as a friend."
"Why?"
"Because...because he'll break my heart. I just know it."
"Then who will you love if it isn't Trunks."
Marron paused. "You're the only one who can fix my broken heart..."
"Marron... Marron, I can't."
"I know, Aoi. I know."
"Then if it's not me or Trunks...who is it?"
"I try to love Goten more than a friend but I can't. I can't no
matter how much he loves me."
"I always thought you wanted to be married and have children. Have
a life with someone so dear to you. You told me that."
"I know. I still do but if Trunks is the only one who can fulfill
that dream then...then I don't want it."
"You know that he cares for you a lot."
"I...I...I don't know..."
"It's so obvious he does."
"We can't always put our beliefs on the obvious."
"Well, then. If you think it's so obvious that you won't be together,
I suggest you should change that belief."
"Why do you have to be so profound, Aoi?"
"I guess I was born that way." He chuckled. A small smile showed
on Marron's face.
"Anyways," Aoi said. "All I'm trying to tell you is that you should
think about it. Trunks cares about you a lot. It's always possible
that friendship could turn into love, is it not?"
"It can."
"You're meant to be. You just don't know it yet. Maybe it's because
it doesn't show so much. But as they say, good things come in small
packages."
"Maybe you're right, Aoi. Maybe...maybe I can try."
Marron timidly rang the doorbell of Capsule Corporation.
[Don't open the door, Trunks...] Marron thought hopefully. She
sighed and looked up at the blue sky. [Why in the world am I here?
I shouldn't be here. What's the point of coming here when I know
that I wouldn't have the guts to...]
"Hey, Marron." Bra greeted. Marron faced Bra and smiled.
"Hi!" she replied.
"What brings you here?" Bra asked.
"Me? Oh... What brings me here is..." She sighed. "I don't know
what brings me here. Just thought I'd stop by."
"Perfect timing. You can help me with the tree."
Bra went in and Marron followed her.
"Tree? What tree?" Marron asked.
"The Christmas tree, of course!"
"Why?"
"'Coz Christmas is coming up! Duh!"
Marron paused for a few seconds. "I never realized that."
Bra and Marron went into the room where the tree was.
"Eh... It's huge!" Marron remarked.
"We're having a big Christmas party here." Bra explained. Then she
turned to Marron. "Oh yeah. And you're invited."
"Um...thanks."
"We didn't make any formal invitations or anything like that. They're
coming soon enough. I'm just telling you before you ask questions
and stuff like that."
"Thanks...I guess..."
"Well, are ya gonna help me?"
"I didn't come here for nothing. Fine."
"Cool!"
Marron sighed. "Where do I start?"
"Help me put up these ornaments." Bra took out a box of assorted
decorations. "Here."
Marron sighed. "Fine, but you're doing the top part."
"'Kay."
"So...who will be invited?"
"Well, you know my mom. She just has this thing for big parties
so I guess it's your family, the Sons and...a buncha people I have
never seen before in my life."
"I know what you mean. She does have the strangest reasons for
throwing parties, ne?"
"Yeah. It's like an obsession. She's just probably bored. I get
really bored here, too. My mom is inventing all day, my dad is
training and Trunks...well, he works and when he doesn't, he's
REALLY boring."
"I am NOT boring!" Trunks voice said from behind. The two girls
looked back to see a very annoyed Trunks.
"Yes you are." Bra said.
"Am not!"
"Oh please. You're the one thing on every sane woman's mind, you're
filthy rich and look at you. Working all the time like some robot.
How boring is that?"
"Hey! I never asked for this job. Besides, I can be fun if I
wanted to."
"Then I guess you want to be boring since that's all you wanna do."
"You brat!"
"Shut up, old man!"
"I'm not an old man! I'm thirty years old, ya hear?!"
"You certainly look like an old man."
"You certainly need to learn how to control yourself! You flirt
with almost every guy you see!"
"I do not! If I was so uncontrollable then I wouldn't have made
it to college, now would I? A very good one, too! Besides, it's
YOU that's the uncontrollable one! Shouting in front of your
girlfr-- er...never mind!"
Trunks cooled down and finally noticed that Marron was there and
she heard everything. He flushed with embarrassment and bowed.
"Er...sorry, Marron." he said. "I-I didn't realize that you were
here."
Marron smiled. "That's all right, Trunks-kun. It was quite
entertaining."
Trunks got even redder. "Hehe..."
"Well, I'm going to continue on with my work." She turned around
and began putting ornaments on the tree. Trunks went over to her.
"He-he-hey! I really didn't mean yelling while you were there." he
said.
"I told you that it's perfectly all right. Besides, it's not like
you've punctured my eardrum or anything like that."
Trunks sighed. "Well, I'd better be getting back to my work. I'll
see ya!"
"Bye!"
Trunks left. Marron was about to resume hanging decorations on the
tree but then spotted Bra looking down at her with an odd smile on
her lips.
"What is it?" Marron asked.
"You still like him, don't you?" Bra asked. Marron blushed and
quickly turned away.
"N-no! I was just being friendly, of course."
"Well, it seemed like he still liked you."
"Y-y-y-you think so?"
"I know so."
"H-how are you certain?"
"The blushing and the being really nice part. What do you think?"
"We're practically best friends so it's natural that we'd be
really nice to each other."
"Do you still like him?"
"In a friendly way I do."
"I mean romantically."
"Well...maybe..."
"Maybe? So you like him?"
"I said 'maybe'!"
"Maybe yes or maybe no?"
"B-both."
"Fine then."
"..."
"..."
"Well...maybe yes..."
"Oh really?!"
"I mean, he IS the most eligible bachelor in the known world so
why not? I admit that he IS...kinda...cute..."
"Oh REALLY?"
"Of course. I mean, his lavender hair is really unique and he has
really nice blue eyes and his body certainly isn't that bad..."
"Well, I'm glad you do."
"But don't jump to conclusions, Bra-chan! I said maybe. Just...
maybe..."
