A/N: I'm back from holidays, and with a new chapter! Hope you enjoy it!

(o)

I awoke sometime in the late afternoon. I was impressed with myself for sleeping in for so long, because I hadn't been able to get a decent night's rest after I found out what happened with Elijah and the constant exhaustion I had been feeling was incredibly strong. Coupled with my ability to sleep in so much inherited from my father had resulted in my extra long nap.

Feeling refreshed and somewhat healthy, I decided to take a shower since I still had a few hours left before Bulma had informed me of dinner. I unzipped my bags and dumped the contents onto the bed, rummaging through the heap for bathroom supplies and clean clothes. I took the rest and tossed it messily into the closet. As suspected, my things only took up one small corner of the closet, and the room left over was equal to the size of my own bedroom. I actually even considered sleeping in there. It was the only space in my entire room that wasn't pink.

After tossing the empty bags in the closet as well, I slammed the door shut and marched into the bathroom, not bothering to shut the door since it was connected to my room and the possibility of anyone walking in was very low. The bathroom was, like everything else in Capsule corp., huge. The shower was twice the size of the one I had at home, and the bubble bath was a large marble square that could have easily held ten people.

I put my things on the corner counter between the two sinks and packed my bathroom supplies into a small corner of the bathroom cabinet. I stripped off and turned on the shower, relaxing as the warm water drizzled over my bare skin. My thick black strands of raven hair felt heavy against my back as I rubbed shampoo through it and washed it off again. I must have stayed in the shower for an eternity, because the sky was a dusty shade of fading sunset outside the tiny bathroom window by the time I stepped out of the shower and dried myself, wrapping a towel around my body and taking my clothes in my hands.

How could I have known that the room wouldn't be empty? There was no way I could have heard another person approaching with the sound of water pounding in my ears. So none could blame me from screaming with shock when I noticed the figure standing in the doorframe. The figure screamed too, partly from shock, and backed out into the hall hurriedly. His voice was low and deep, informing me that it was a man.

"YOU BASTARD!" I shouted, searching for something to chuck at the newcomer. There was a bowl of assorted plastic fruits sitting beside my table, which would have to do. In an instant, I had them in my hands and was pelting the man with plastic apples. "You little pervert! Get the hell out of here! What the hell are you doing here, anyway!?"

"I live here!" The man retorted, just as a plastic grapevine bounced off his body without any effect. I stopped throwing the plastic fruits and dropped the bowl in alarm as I caught sight of the man in the hall properly.

He was a young man, somewhere in his twenties, I supposed. He was tall, muscular and strong in appearance, with an air of softness and self pride. His skin was lightly and evenly tanned, his hair soft and disheveled cut in a unique style with two pieces falling into his face. It was a pale shade of lavender (which couldn't be a natural colour) but seemed to fit him perfectly and match his purest blue eyes masked by thick lavender eyebrows and hidden behind thick glasses similar to my father's. He sat on the floor, his legs spread apart and his arms behind him to support his body as he stared into my eyes with shock shining in his own. The moment I directly met eyes with the man, I knew exactly who he was.

"Oh God!" I cried, bending to pick up the fruits and still clutching the towel around my body. "I'm so sorry...I mean, I-I didn't know who you were!"

The one thing I remembered most clearly about Trunks Briefs was that everything about him was soft, in some way from his manner and tone to the surface of his sky blue eyes. They say that when you leave your eyes unguarded, they can be the mirror of your soul. If this was so, and if Trunks' eyes were unguarded at this moment, it meant that even his soul was soft. He stood in a single, low movement, shaking invisible dust off his unfitting brown suit and white collared shirt. The top button of the shirt was undone and the tie was hanging loosely around his neck.

"Err...hello." He mumbled in a voice warm and deep. "It has definitely been a while, hasn't it, Pan-Chan?"

Pan-Chan? What was with the formalities? I dropped the plastic fruits back into their bowl and sat on the bed, making sure that my legs were still together. Almost immediately, I realized just how disgusting this must have seemed given my current lack of clothing and jumped to my feet instantly.

"Yeah." I answered him awkwardly. "N-Nice to see you, Trunks-Kun."

I figured that it was only polite to address him like this, because he showed me the same courtesy. Trunks beamed, moving back into the doorframe and folding his arms across his chest as he leaned to the side.

"Nice to see you too."

There was an uncomfortable silence, as Trunks stared lamely at the floor and I shivered from the cold, becoming conscious of the fact that I was half naked in front of an old childhood friend.

"Um...could you just wait outside for a minute, please?" I asked meekly, seeing no other way to rephrase this. "I-I kind of need to get some clothes on."

Trunks' cheeks burned a light shade of pink, and he scratched his head, ruffling his hair even more than it already had been. "Oh, sorry about that. I-I just came to tell you that it's time for dinner."

"Oh." I said. "Ok."

"Come out when you've finished getting dressed and I'll show you how to get to the kitchen." He stumbled, shuffling out the door and shutting the double doors carefully. I could hear him laughing softly to himself out in the corridor.

What a jerk! I thought to myself bitterly, taking my clothes into the closet to change. After that little façade, I was very reluctant to change out in the openness of my giant room ever again. I knew that Trunks couldn't have known I was in the shower, and like me, he was completely innocent for the crime he'd just committed. But even so, when your old babysitter bursts into your room and finds you standing there with a towel wrapped around your body, you are very reluctant to forgive them.

I dressed hurriedly and scrubbed my hair dry with a towel, not bothering to brush it but tying my orange bandanna around my head quickly while pondering Trunks' reaction to me when we first talked. So I'm Pan-Chan, huh? It was hard to believe that this was the same guy who had once called me 'Panny'.

Trunks was waiting patiently in the hall, leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest yet again. He jerked his head down the corridor before me moved down it, gesturing for me to follow. I scurried after him, having to jog to keep up with his long, firm strides. He was so much taller than me.

"Sorry about my appearance." He apologized, though I didn't see why he should. I was just as poorly dressed as he was. "I just got off work, you see, and I didn't bother to change."

"So you go into work dressed like that?" I questioned rudely, eyeing his untucked shirt, wrinkled brown pants and the tie undone and thrown carelessly across his shoulders with his top button unbuttoned and his belt unbuckled. Me must have pocketed his glasses while he was standing out in the hall, because they were no where to be seen. "I don't think your boss would be too happy with you if you turned up to work like that."

I only realized just how rude my comment sounded and was about to apologize when Trunks burst out in sunny laughter. Unlike the rest of him, his laugh was anything but soft. It was a wild, sunny laugh that seemed to brighten up the dimly lit corridor we were following at the time. As soon as his laugh had died away, I felt somewhat empty and everything resumed its usual dull and colorless effect. I wanted to make him laugh again, just to hear the sound once more. I searched for something I could say that would sound funny, but I couldn't think of anything, so allowed silence to consume us for the rest of the trip.

(o)

"Have a good rest, Pan?" Asked Bulma as she served me a large serving of potatoes. I had never been too fond of potatoes, and what I really craved was a huge platter of fish. The steak and kidney pie, vegetables and mashed potatoes on the plate in front of me didn't look too appetizing. But food was food. I nodded before digging in, letting my Sayian side taking over as I made a pig of myself.

None looked on in disgust. Trunks had even more Sayian blood in him than I did, and was just as hungry. His father, the short and dark full blooded Sayian prince, was the worst of all, spraying food everywhere as he ate.

"Vegeta!" Bulma cried. "Could you make some effort to be civilized, please? We have company."

Vegeta merely grunted, turning back to his food, but perhaps taking more care to be neat than before.

"How was work, Trunks?" Bulma asked, attempting to make pleasant conversation. Although making pleasant conversation with Sayians during mealtime was usually a very hard thing to accomplish.

"Horrible." Trunks managed to say through a mouthful of food. "Really boring, too."

"I thought you liked working at Capsule corp.!" Bulma exclaimed. "The Chinese say that if you pick a job you like, you never work a day in your life."

"Well we're not Chinese, Mum." Trunks replied softly.

I snorted into my plate, hiding it by taking a long swig of water. Bulma chose to ignore this.

"So Pan, how's school?" Bulma turned to me instead. I swallowed the lump of pie in my throat before I spoke.

"Horrible." I smiled, and Trunks grinned at me from across the table. "Really boring too."

"Urgh, I can't take this!" Vegeta complained, dishing up more food onto his plate. "If you want to engage in senseless talk, fine! But don't expect me to stick around."

With that, he took his plate and marched away. Trunks and Bulma exchanged a sage smile, but I sat in confusion.

"What's his problem?" I asked curiously.

"Vegeta has a...unique personality." Bulma smirked. "He's prone to do things like that often for no reason. You'll get used to it with time, don't worry."

"Oh." I stuttered, then decided I may as well tell Bulma about my plans for tomorrow now. "Well, is it alright with you if I meet up with a friend tomorrow?"

"Of course!" Bulma said delightedly. "As long as you tell me when you're going and when you're going to be back. Your friend can even come back here later if she wants. What's her name anyway?"

"Zara." I said. "Zara Black."

"Never heard of a Black family." Bulma said thoughtfully. "Wait, do you know the Carter family? They're our neighbors. Have a son your age I think, who goes to Orange Star High as well. I think his name is....Mason."

Mason!? Mason was my neighbor! Could life get any worse right now?

"Well, I think I'll go to bed." I mumbled, getting to my feet. "Thanks for dinner, Bulma."

"Goodnight, Pan!" Bulma beamed brightly.

"Goodnight." I replied, nodding to both mother and son before (by some miracle) I found my way back to my room.