TADA!!!! It's chapter IV! (applause)
I haven't much to say, so enjoy!
Chapter IV - Welcome to LA-LA Land ~ Pop: 7 billion and counting...
"Good morning, everyone, and thanks for coming out!" Marron shouted over the crowd as she stood in front of the studio. It was finally opening day. The spirits had nagged her all weekend about how she was a metathesiophobic, so she was relieved that they could finally begin the plan. She was rather excited about forgetting Trunks, and still unsure of exactly what the spirits planned to do to make that possible. The crowd finally quieted, and she continued, "I would also like to personally like to thank my parents, and everyone else, for their unyielding support." She waved around to everyone. "So, without further delay, I declare the Millennia Dance and Music Studio open for business." The double doors were pulled open, and after she was safely out of the way, the crowd rushed in, leaving her with a thrill of victory.
Bura and Goten came over to her.
"How are you?" the blue haired wonder asked. (It's just so much fun calling her that.)
"Okay. He's not coming, is he?"
"I don't think so."
"Good. I'm not sure if I could go through with everything if I saw him already."
"Don't worry, Marron. Soon, you'll be on 'vacation,' and all your problems will seem miles away," Goten put in, playing up to the plan.
Marron sighed. 'If only that were true,' she thought. Leaving seemed like a much better option than what she was about to put herself through: Complete and utter rejection from the one man that she loved. Needless to say, she was beginning to regret ever agreeing to go along with the whole thing.
"Why?"
Marron glanced up from the counter to see Epica standing in front of her. "What are you doing here?"
"Just making sure that you don't do anything rash, Dear, like tell anyone else about us."
"I haven't."
"No, but you aren't in your most sound state of mind right now. So, I'm keeping an eye on you."
"Where's your sister?" she asked, searching the room for the familiar silver-haired woman, dressed in white.
"Out and about." Marron raised an eyebrow. "She went to visit with Dende."
"You guys don't have too much faith in me, do you?"
"I didn't say that. The fact is, our future rides on you. I'm simply securing my future."
"You didn't have too many friends when you lived on Earth, did you?"
"What makes you say that?"
Marron shook her head. "Nevermind."
"Who are you talking to?" a familiar voice inquired.
She turned to see Trunks standing behind her. "E--ehh, Trunks. Hi!" She waved nervously, after barely being able to stop the word Epica from leaving her mouth.
"Nice to see you in a not so bitchy mood for once, but it seems you rubbed off on my sister."
She ignored the former, "Oh?"
"Yeah, nearly bruised my cheek the other night, and has had a generally bad attitude ever since...at least around me."
'With good reason,' she thought. 'She has an arrogant asshole for a brother.'
"You got that right," Epica agreed.
Marron continued her musings, 'But what a *fine* asshole he is.' She sighed again.
"Snap out of it, girl. If you can't handle him like this, then it sure as home for eternal losers isn't going to be easy to handle him later."
Marron blushed as her mind wondered what *handling* Trunks would be like.
Trunks raised an eyebrow, "What?"
She glanced over to Epica for help.
"You're on your own." She poofed away.
"Well that was rude."
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh nothing. Some guy almost knocked a girl over."
"Oh. Everything start up okay?"
"Fine." 'Please go away.' "How're things at Capsule Corp.?"
"Couldn't be better."
'Why you little...' She clutched the sides of her shirt to keep her hands from reaching out to choke him to death. "That good, huh?" She managed to bite out.
"Yep," he said smoothly, flashing her a dazzling smile.
"Well, I regretfully do have business to attend to, so feel free to take a look around."
"I'll be sure to do that."
She stomped over to one of the counters, fuming the whole way.
"Nicely done."
"I'm not talking to you right now."
"Oh?" Epica questioned.
"Yes. You deserted me when I actually needed you."
"And what would you have had me do?"
"I don't know. You could have jumped into me and smacked that smug smile right off his...his..." she faltered.
"Fine-ass Saiyan face?"
"Fine-ass Saiyan face! NO!!!! Don't do that!"
"What'd I do?"
"RRRAAAHHHH!!!!" Marron threw her arms into the air.
"She does need a vacation," Krillen observed.
"Big time," his wife agreed.
Marron yawned for the fifth time. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night, and the grand opening party was still in full swing. She couldn't exactly leave, and she didn't want to be rude.
Elese sat beside her on the cushy couch. "I heard you had a little run in with Trunks earlier."
"Yes."
"Wanna talk about it?"
"No."
Elese chuckled. "Can't kill a spirit for trying...well, actually, you can't kill a spirit."
"Unfortunately."
"What did Epica do?"
"Nothing, and that's what's wrong. When I actually needed one of you, she left me alone."
"Not true. We never completely leave you alone."
"Oh that's so comforting to know. I don't understand the two of you. One second, you're hell-bound on completing your mission, and the next, you're making a fool of me."
"Gomen nasai, Marron, but life is meant to be lived. You've got to loosen up and have some fun, or we're never going to pull this off."
"What if I don't want to?"
"What would make you feel better?"
"For one thing, seeing Trunks get the shit beat out of him would relieve some frustration."
"Done."
"Huh?"
"Watch." She pointed to where Trunks stood, flirting with a brunette.
A little girl walked up to Trunks. She pulled on his shirt, getting his attention.
"Well hello there, Chibi-Nyanko (little kitten), are you lost?"
The girl shook her head.
"Well what can I do for you?"
The child pulled a steel, black baseball bat (hehhehheh) from behind her and motioned towards him.
"Oh you want me to see your bat?"
She nodded eagerly.
"Well then, why don't you let me have it?"
"Okay," she proceeded to pummel him with the instrument until her mother pulled her off of the shrieking demi-Saiyan. Epica jumped out of the little girl's body, and looked over at Marron, who had a satisfied grin on her face.
The mother recognized the head of Capsule Corp. "Oh my, Mr. Briefs, I don't know what got into her. (I do!) Please, please forgive her."
He stood and straightened himself, and cleared his throat. "No harm done." He began to dust off his pants.
Marron watched from her side of the room. 'He sure has one tight ass.'
Elese thumped her. "Better?"
"Yes." They were quiet for a while, watching Trunks being pestered by the mother, who had to make sure he was okay. "So what do we do now?"
"Send Marron off on her vacation. Bring in Rayne. Nothing complicated. Epica and I are going to coach you and get you ready."
"Ready for what?"
"To start forgetting."
Marron gazed up at the subject of their discussion. He had put the little girl onto his shoulders, and they were clowning around. It made him look so damn sexy. Marron slouched lower into the sofa. "Utterly impossible," she sighed.
"Alright, kids, who's ready to learn?"
There were a few groans, and the sleepy-eyed students watched Miss Rayne go to the antique grand piano.
"Why so many long faces? Aren't you excited about music?"
A young boy stood. "We liked having Miss Marron teach us, at the other studio." Marron had held a part-time job there for a short while.
"Oh?" A tear threatened to fall. "Well, I'm told we have very similar teaching styles." 'More like exactly the same,' she thought to herself. She sat on the short bench and asked, "Okay, who here knows solfege?"
They all raised their hands.
"Great!" She touched an ivory key, which was dubbed middle C, made a fist, and sang, "Do." (No, not do DOE.)
The children followed suit, and soon, they were doing a chord progression.
"Ugh," Epica said as she listened to the kids, at least a quarter of them being tone-deaf. (Think that's mean? Have you ever heard a tone-deaf person sing? *Shutters.*) "Horrible."
"They're just children, Epica."
"Yes, I suppose you're right."
"Well, kiddies, that's it for this lesson. Remember, if you were too bored, have your parents get you a more advanced class."
The children started leaving with their designated parental units.
"See you all next week." She closed the door after the last person, and turned the OPEN sign around. It had been a very busy week, and she was so tired, yet restless.
"You know," Epica began, "you never did finish that one routine that you wanted to have ready by next week."
"You're right." She walked over to the stereo, put in the cd of her choice, and started up the song. (If you're curious, Rhythm Emotion, from Gundam Wing.) She waited for the intro, then jumped up. "1, 2, 3, & BAM!" More dancing. "BAM BAM!"
She never noticed the door open, then close quietly.
"BAM! 1, 2. So far away!...1, 2, 3, 4. I, 2, 3! BAM!" She put her arm in the air.
There was applause. "Well done, well done."
She knew who it was in an instant. Marron closed her eyes. 'I can't do this.'
"Yes, you can, just be Rayne," Elese reminded her.
She slowly turned around, and walked to the cd player, cutting it off. "We're closed, Sir."
"So I saw. I received a call from the owner, Marron. Where might I find her?"
"She's on a vacation." 'A call?' She looked over at the spirits, who winked wickedly. 'Baka.'
"We can still hear you."
'I know.'
"Vacation? She said there was an emergency."
"Maybe someone prank called."
"Why would someone do that?"
"No idea. Maybe there were a couple of spirits who had nothing better to do than bother you at work."
"Umm, okay."
Marron smiled sweetly. "Well, if there's nothing more I can do for you, I do need to be goi-"
He cut her off. "So what's your name?"
"Rayne."
He walked over to her.
"Well, Rayne, I'm Trunks Briefs, President of Capsule Corporation."
She gave him a 'and I should be impressed because...?' looked, and took the hand he offered. "Well, that's nice. Now I really must be-"
He grabbed her waist as she tried to move by him, towards the door. "What's the rush?"
Marron was frozen like a deer in headlights.
"Shall you do the honors, or shall I?"
"Oh no you don't," Elese informed her sister. "You got to last time. This one's all mine." She cracked her knuckles, and hopped into Marron's body-in-disguise.
"I suggest you remove your arm from me within the next two seconds. One-"
"Or what?"
"Two." She balled up her fist, and aimed right for his left eye--POW! "Whoops," she commented innocently. "I guess my temper got the best of me."
"I'll say," Trunks said, though it was muffled by the hand which covered the slowly blackening eye.
"Well, Mr. Briefs, I do hate to be parting so soon, but as I've said twice before, I really must be on my way." She tossed him a set of keys. "Don't forget to lock up on your way out! You can just return the keys to your sister. She'll get them to me." Marron, minus Elese, ran out of the studio, and all the way home.
The spirits high-fived as she entered the small apartment.
"What are you two so happy about? We just succeeded in pissing him off."
"No, we just succeeded in presenting him with a challenge. And, by the looks of things, I'm pretty sure he'll take the bait."
"What kind of challenge? 'Hmm, let's see if we can get Trunks to have Marron arrested for something,'" she mocked, "He does have quite a few strings to pull, ladies."
"Exactly."
Well, there you have it. The week is coming around again, so it might be a couple of days before I get the next chapter out. Gomen! Hmm, gomen..very close to Goten.
TO THE REVIEWERS:
Lily: Really?? Well, if I do say so myself, you have exceptionally good taste. (Teehee.)
Burned Vamp: *holds bat out, and touches each shoulder* I dub thee (Unforgiveeeeen Wohhh wohhh!) Lady Burned. *Gives you a sleek, silver bat of your own* Arise, and enlighten me about these snuggles...
Later, everyone, and keep reading.