Disclaimer: I do not own DragonBall Z or any of its characters.

"Crush"

By: Nova Starlight

3rd Period: I Don't Just Want To Be A Footnote In Someone Else's Happiness

Goten could not shake the feeling of unease he had as he opened his locker and gathered his books for his first classes. Ever since the note incident with Trunks the day before he had no idea how to approach him or what to say, and this time running in to Ryoki would be no help at all. He sighed and allowed his head to lightly crash into the metal of his locker door. What had happened between him and Ryoki? He had joined the soccer team to get some distance from Trunks but there was something about Ryoki that made him nervous. For someone who had little to no interaction with Goten over the last three years, he had seemed to know everything he wished to keep secret. Within an hour of watching him play on the field he was assured that Goten had some hidden power, and after speaking to him for only a few moments he seemed to know Goten's feelings for Trunks. What was he going to do? If Ryoki already had all of this figured out there was no way he could attend another soccer practice.

The alternative, making up with Trunks, did not exactly sit well with him at that moment either. That little note that he had passed him the afternoon had infuriated him. To think that Trunks thought it was over some stupid girl that he was tied up in knots. He wanted to scream at him and tell him the truth, but he knew that the moment he did, he would lose his best friend completely. He guessed had a point with the whole jealousy thing, he was jealous, just not the way Trunks believed. He could not remember the last time, he had actually gotten angry with Trunks. Was this because he was getting the distance he needed? Or was he just unreasonable? He would kill for someone to talk to about it, but the only friend he had that he would trust with something like this was Trunks.

He looked up quickly when he felt Trunks's chi, but was surprised to see Trunks and Ryoki walking towards him. If one had not known better they may have sworn that the pair had been walking together like friends, but Goten could see that though they walked side by side, it was like two strangers who just happened to have the same target in mind; Goten. His mind was swimming as he tried to quickly decide what he should do. He did not really feel prepared to talk to either of them, but now he had to choose the lesser of two evils. As he stood there trying to decide, he watched them approaching and felt his dread increase. It flashed in his brain in an instant that he needed to deal with Ryoki, convince him that there was nothing between himself and Trunks. If he did not manage to convince Ryoki, he hated to think of the possible consequences. Without really knowing Ryoki, one could only guess at his motivations. If he knew that Goten was in love with Trunks he could tell the entire school, including Trunks himself. He could deal with Trunks later, when they were alone. Besides, he needed some time to think. So when both of them stopped walking just a few feet from him, he tried to smile and act natural.

"Hey Chibi, I-"

"Goten, I-" Trunks and Ryoki had both started to talk at once, then looked at each other as if they had just realized they had approached Goten together.

After staring each other down for a moment, Trunks looked back at Goten and repeated, "Chibi, can we talk?"

Goten found that could not meet his eyes, he just found his gaze directed at Ryoki. He panicked and before he could stop the words from coming he said, "Oh Sorry Trunks. I promised Ryoki I would work with him this morning on some stuff for the team." He hoped that his lie was credible. His eyes remained fixed on Ryoki's, silently begging for him to back him up. What was he thinking, asking Ryoki to bail him out? He could simply deny it all and walk away, leaving Goten there to deal with Trunks alone.

Trunks seemed to look to Ryoki for confirmation as well. Finally, after a torturous moment of silence, he responded. "Oh yeah, Goten and I were going to work on some plays for practice this afternoon." Trunks looked angry, but did not respond. He walked away towards their classroom without sparing one glance back in their direction. Once he was out of sight Ryoki asked, "So, why did you want to ditch Cassanova?"

Goten could feel his spine stiffen at the question. "And what did you want?" he demanded, hoping to deflect the attention.

Ryoki actually seemed a little hurt by Goten's angry response. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry…" he trailed off. "There is just something about that guy that gets my blood boiling, and that is not your fault." He moved closer to Goten to the point where he was leaning against the wall beside Goten's locker and looking straight into his eyes. "I also wanted to apologize to your for yesterday," he continued. "As I said, there is something about that guy that aggravates me, but I should not have confronted you like that about him." When Goten remained silent, he reached out his hand and placed it on his arm. "Listen, I know you are probably still mad at me for what I said, but please come to practice today."

He should have been indignant, gone through his vehement denials of what Ryoki was implying but he just looked down at the floor. "What's the point?" he dejected.

"I think it would be good for you," Ryoki insisted. After a moment he continued, "I promise that I will stay away from you, if that makes you feel better." If he was expecting a rebuttal from Goten there would not be one forthcoming. Ryoki had peeled back the surface and discovered everything that he tried to hide. The result left him feeling vulnerable and scared. If Ryoki could see through him so easily in one day's time, what would he discover given enough time? And to what end did he want to know all of this anyway? Goten watched as he sighed and gave a sad smile. "I was hoping that it would not come to that." Ryoki's gaze seemed to scan the hallway and Goten found himself following suit. The bell rang and as all of the other students made their way to their classrooms they were left alone in the hallway.

Goten could not explain why he was still standing there. He sensed that there was something more that Ryoki wanted to say, but it should not matter. The silence lingered between them until they were completely alone. Then Ryoki asked, "You feel nervous around me because I guessed your secret right?" Goten could feel a lump forming in his throat, choking off his denials. All he could muster was a nod in response to his question. He laughed lightly to himself and moved to stand in front of Goten. "Would you feel better if I told you a secret? Would that make us even?"

He could not deny that his curiosity was piqued. What could Ryoki reveal that was anywhere near as juicy as what he had discovered. He leaned his body away from Ryoki and began to turn and walk to class. He did not have time to play these games. In a flash, Ryoki had grabbed onto his arm and pulled him back. He could have easily resisted, just kept walking, but he stopped. Goten turned back and saw that for the first time since he met him, he genuinely looked upset. "I'm serious," he continued, with an almost pleading tone. "Tell me what I need to do."

He faced Ryoki once again, he could not help being sucked in by that look on his face. "Okay, what's your secret?" he asked impatiently.

"I'm in love with you," Ryoki revealed. The words were spoken with a soft tone of voice, and with seemingly no more difficulty than he would have in telling a complete stranger that the sky is blue. Unlike Ryoki, who seemed unaffected by his own confession, Goten was shocked. His eyes remained fixed on Ryoki's and the silence continued to hang heavy between them. Goten would have given anything for a distraction at this moment, something to pull him from the awkward exchange. As his brain scrambled for words, forming sentences and rejecting them before he uttered a sound, he wondered what Ryoki must be thinking.

When his ability to speak finally returned to him, he exclaimed, "You Love Me? You don't even know me!"

"I know you better than you think," Ryoki insisted. "I have been watching you from afar for nearly three years now." Goten did not understand what he was saying. This did not make any sense to him. At the continued look of confusion, Ryoki continued, "It is true that the first time I saw you, it was our freshman year, and you were playing soccer in gym class. It is also true that I thought you were talented and wanted you to join the team, but I also thought you were beautiful." Ryoki was blushing and he looked down at the floor in front of him. "You probably don't remember when I approached you later and asked you to join the soccer team. I was actually going to ask you out, but Trunks came over and I might as well have been invisible."

Goten stepped closer to Ryoki and reached out his hand. In this moment, seeing him so open and helpless, he felt a kinship with him. When his hand touched Ryoki's face, he felt him shiver and he raised his head to look into Goten's eyes. "I'm sorry," Goten apologized. He knew better than anyone that his apology meant little, he was still rejecting him. Ryoki gave a crooked smile and pushed Goten's hand away.

"So, I guess I was right," he mused aloud. "Casanova is the one you really want."

Goten found himself blushing at the comment. "It's nothing personal," he contended. "Trunks and I have been friends since we were babies, and I think I have always loved him." It felt strange to say the words out loud to anyone. These were thoughts that had been running through his head for years, but he had never dared to express them aloud, not even when he was alone. "I'm still very flattered, that you are interested in me."

"Well, if that's all I can get, I guess I'll take it," Ryoki interjected. He turned and began to walk away. After a few steps, he turned back and requested, "I hope that you will still come to practice. The other guys seemed to like you a lot and I meant what I said. I'll stay away if you want." Then he kept walking and Goten was left standing there alone in the hallway, feeling even more confused.

…

In the classroom, Trunks was seething and trying to hide it. He sat at his desk with his hands clenched into fists in his lap and staring at the door. Where the hell was Goten? Class had started nearly twenty minutes ago and he had not shown up. What could he be discussing with that damn Ryoki guy anyway? As the image of that Ryoki's face popped into his head, he could feel his anger increasing. He took a deep breath and tried to get himself under control. He could not understand what was happening recently. Goten had always avoided Ryoki and his attempts to get him to join the soccer team until yesterday. Now, he could not train because he had practice, and when he had tried to speak to him this morning, he needed to speak with Ryoki. Goten had never needed other friends before, why did he need them now?

He sighed and gave up looking at the door, it was obvious that Goten was not coming to class. His eyes traveled around the classroom and he noticed that Miki was looking at him and waving. He gave a little wave back but his heart was not in it. He put his head down on the desk and gave up even pretending to listen to whatever it was the teacher had been prattling on about. He could not stop thinking about Goten, wondering where he was. Every time he thought about him, especially if he thought about him and Ryoki, he could feel his temperature rising. This was ludicrous so Goten had made a new friend, it was nothing to lose his cool over. But what had happened to the days when all they had needed was each other's companionship?

After class, he went to his locker and switches out his books. He keeps his eyes open, waiting for Goten, but instead sees Miki. "Hey Trunks," she calls out as she comes running over. Damn, he really wanted to see Goten. He is politely listening to her talk but his eyes are still searching for any sign of Goten in the hallway. Finally, she says "I guess we should be getting back to class," Then she stood on her tiptoes and kissed Trunks' cheek. As she walked away, Trunks found himself watching. Miki was definitely attractive and she was practically throwing herself at him. While his eyes were on Miki he did not see that Goten had turned the corner and was now watching him.

When Trunks made it to the next class, he was surprised to see Goten already in his seat. He smiled at him but received no response. He took out a piece of paper and wrote a few lines and folded it up. He shot it across the room and was surprised when Goten did not even open it. In fact, he sat there still as a statue, facing the front of the classroom. Wow, Goten was still mad at him. He sighed and took out another piece of paper and began to write. Once again, he launched his little folded note across the room, landing on Goten's desk. Yet again, it remained unopened. He could feel his frustration increasing. He did not give up, throughout the rest of the class he wrote little notes and pitched them across the room. Each and every one of them remained on Goten's desk untouched. When the bell rang, Trunks was surprised and watched in disbelief as Goten scooped up all of the notes on his desk and dumped them in the trash as he walked out the door. What the Hell was going on here?

Trunks gave up, he did not write any more notes. Unfortunately, he could not get his eyes to give up watching Goten throughout the entire class. If the teacher had bothered to look in his direction she would have easily seen that he was not paying any attention to her or to his class work. He wondered if Goten could feel his gaze or if he even cared. He was once againt a stoic figure, still and quiet, in the class room. If Trunks could have torn his own gaze away, he would have seen that Miki was also preoccupied with staring at him.

When lunch time came around, Trunks took a seat at his usual table and looked for Goten. He hoped that he would at least come sit with him and he could apologize, but he never showed up. In the end, he was left sitting alone. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Is this what it felt like to be alone? Throughout his life he could never really recall a time that he felt lonely. For the most part he would have characterized himself as a bit of a loner but that did not refer to Goten. As far back as he could remember, Goten had always been a part of his life. Even when he would tell his parents he wanted to be alone that was not really the truth; he wanted Goten. They had always been close, he had assumed it would remain that way for the rest of their lives. Was he just being naïve?

During the lunch period, Goten sat on the bleachers in the gym with his stomach growling. He should have just gone into the cafeteria, sitting here was not getting him anywhere. He was just hungry and lonely. He sighed and put his head into his hands. This whole situation had blown up in his face faster than he had ever thought possible. In the span of twenty four hours his plan to transition and get a little distance from Trunks had resulted in the two of them having a fight and a love confession from the captain of the soccer team. He had fully intended to make up with Trunks but when he had seen him staring at the Miki girl, the motivation to apologize left him. He heard footsteps and his head snapped up. Ryoki was standing at the bottom of the bleachers and looking up at him with a smile on his face. "Are you skipping lunch?" he asked.

Without waiting for an answer he bounded up the steps with a large bag in his hands. "I brought my own lunch, we can share if you want." Goten smiled and held out his hand.

"You brought a lot of food," Goten commented.

"Well, I have a high metabolism," Ryoki stated. "I assume you do too."

"What makes you say that?" Goten asked.

"I have seen the way you eat at lunch time," Ryoki replied with a chuckle.

Goten could feel himself blushing again. It seems that Ryoki was not kidding when he said he had been watching him for the past three years. He knew that being a half saiyan his appetite was not normal and he had always tried to hide it at school. Ryoki handed him a sandwich and he made no attempts to hide how hungry he was as he took large bites. They sat there on the bleachers, eating lunch in silence and Goten was surprised at how comfortable he felt. He should feel awkward, knowing that Ryoki had feelings for him, but instead, he could feel himself relaxing in a way that he could normally only do when he was with Trunks. What did all of this mean? He did not want to give up Trunks, but was he fighting a losing battle? He had always thought about his own happiness at being able to confess, but how would Trunks respond to his feelings. Would Trunks simply move on, or would it bother him that Goten loved him? Their friendship would never be the same once the truth was revealed. He found himself debating inside what he should do.

To Be Continued…

Author's Notes: Thanks to all who review, I love getting the positive feedback.