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CHAPTER 3:
Pan-chan

It was December 4th of Age 785, and Trunks had just turned eighteen a couple weeks prior, on November 21st.

Trunks at the time was still in the middle of his senior year of high school, which was preparing for its annual Holiday Student Performance Show. One of the acts was a ballet involving a figurine that came to life, and had a massive chimney prop that went all the way up to the rafters.

Knowing how the whole school was going to be watching the show, and feeling like he wanted to do a good senior prank, Trunks was on his bed that evening, on the phone with Goten, planning an awesome prank in which they planned to both fly down the chimney prop as Santana Klaus and an Elf, carrying large bags of candy. They were planning to toss candy to the audience, and then immediately fly back up the chimney to the rafters, and escape out the attic window before anyone could recognize them.

Trunks was in the middle of laughing in his conversation when there was a knock on his door, and his mom invited herself in.

He told her to buzz off, but then he saw that she had been crying, and it gave Trunks pause.

Her father, Trunks' Grandpa Brief, had been diagnosed with lung cancer.

Luckily, they had caught it early, and his Grandpa Brief responded to the treatments well. After a few scary months, his Grandpa Brief was feeling well enough to get back on his feet and get working again.

After his Grandpa Brief made his full recovery, he started talking about wanting to make good memories together. He kept mentioning to Trunks that he might not get a chance to make more memories after Trunks went off to start his college life at Orange Star University.

On Friday, May 21st of Age 786, Trunks walked his procession aisle and received his high school diploma. After the ceremony ended, Trunks, in all his graduation gear, posed with his Grandpa Brief and Grandma Panchy for a photograph.

After the camera had flashed, his Grandpa Brief turned to him as if to shake Trunks' hand, which Trunks was eager to do, as a formality. However, instead of a handshake, his Grandpa had slipped into his hand a set of old-school car keys.

At the time, Trunks was confused and thought he had simply been given a new car that awaited him at the Capsule Corporation garage. But then, when he later arrived at the garage to pick up his prize, he was shocked and moderately irked because his gift was hardly a gift.

It was work.

It was a puzzle that came in thousands of pieces.

Trunks, at the time, had groaned, when he realized he didn't get a car. He got a car project - to build his car from scratch.

But then, a lot changed in Trunks' life within one weekend.

On Friday night, May 21st, he was still with Mai, and by now, Monday morning, May 24th, he was single, and no longer a virgin.

His entire mindset shifted. The way Trunks saw it, he just got his new car and cool new jacket, he now knew what sex was, and he was feeling like he had grown.

Trunks felt like he leveled up in a video game.

Now, he felt his new level challenge was to build character before going to college. He now approached his car project with a new drive.

Trunks dove into the project head-first, and dedicated himself in a way he never felt attached to any project before. He poured all of his efforts and mental energy into building his new car.

Trunks immediately loved how it gave him something to do, to get his mind off Mai and to help manage the anger, frustration, and distrust that he harbored for his mother.

It was cathartic because it was meditative and took his mind off of anything that troubled him. It prevented him from having to think too much.

Working on the car also gave Trunks a chance to spend time bonding with his Grandpa Brief. And, through the lens of how his Grandpa saw the world, Trunks learned masterful mechanical engineering tips that inspired Trunks.

Working with his Grandpa made Trunks resonate with his work. It was as if building things were like making music, or some other form of art to express himself. He had simply not known he loved it so much because he had never truly known his Grandpa before that summer. He had never had an interest in sitting down and sharing stories and lessons with his Grandpa Brief… but that summer, he did.

After he learned a few basics from his Grandpa, such as how to follow the blueprint as a map, he got into a rhythm with the tools, and the map became three dimensional to him, and he was able to see all of the parts, and where they needed to go in order to make the daydream become complete. Then, time would fly, and he, in his meditative state, made incredible progress with the car build each day. Many times, Trunks didn't even know what parts he had even worked with, or why he had envisioned those in particular; he had simply gone into a dreamy flow state and a mental map, and emerged hours later with a completed part.

If he just stopped thinking about it, his mind and body knew exactly what to do. He couldn't explain it, other than to think of it as a corny term he'd imagine Goten would come up with - like, "ultra instinct."

His Grandpa Brief also had his own sort of instinct, but because of all of his years that he stayed in school to research and educate about machinery, he was able to explain his methods as an actual university professor. He also favored teaching Trunks through the Socratic Method, often posing a series of questions that led Trunks to reaching a conclusion on his own. Trunks was learning in ways he had never learned before, and he was now interested in new things, and exploring a new life.

Trunks poured his passion into his work, and acknowledged this was probably going to be the best summer he'd ever have. Things were really looking up.

His Grandpa Brief exclaimed every day that he had never seen a car built by one inexperienced person so fast. The ease and speed at which Trunks was able to complete stages of his car build gave Trunks a certain kind of confidence that he had never felt before, and hard for him to put into words. He could only think of it as something akin to inspiration. Or perhaps, he could interpret it as guidance, vision, perhaps even destiny.

Trunks never realized how much he enjoyed mechanical work until that summer. Before that summer, math and physics and all of his high school classes held no meaning for him. But, once Trunks started putting the math and physics to use, it was like something clicked in his head… and his heart.

He felt himself changing in a way, having found his purpose - the thing he "wanted to do when he grew up." He didn't just want to do it because his mom studied it. He wanted to do it because he felt closer to his Grandpa with it.

He decided to choose his future. He decided he was not going to take the stupid-ass business major courses that his mother kept nagging him to do. And, there was nothing his mother could do to stop him.

Trunks would not become the Capsule Corporation CEO. Fuck that shit! He refused!

His mother could not force him to do it. He would do what he wanted to do.

Trunks wanted to study engineering.

The moment Trunks knew what he wanted to do when he grew up, it was like a light switch turned on in his brain.

He was ready to finally take school seriously.

He was finally looking forward to college, and focusing on learning so that he could follow in the footsteps of his Grandpa Brief.

And as Trunks crafted the outline of the future chapters of his life, none of his dreams included getting back together with Mai.

It even surprised Trunks how quickly he was able to move on from her. There wasn't a lot of meat to their relationship to begin with, so it felt a little more like losing a long-distance camp friend than losing any kind of lover.

Despite how Trunks had dated Mai for three years, it only took one night in Goten's arms to finally reset Trunks and get his head back into the game.

Now, Trunks didn't feel anything at all when he thought of Mai, and it felt freeing. His head instead was filled with thoughts of his family, and his Grandpa, and making great memories before college.

As Trunks spent every day with his Grandpa Brief building his car from scratch, and learning advice and often-repeated anecdotes from his Grandpa, he also heard stories regaled of his Grandpa's past.

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On Sunday, June 6th, Trunks was working hard in the garage when his Grandpa Brief invited Trunks to take a lunch break early.

He sat him down with a couple of his own homemade peanut butter and jelly sandwiches between the two of them.

As they sat on a bench and munched on their sandwiches, his Grandpa Brief told him the story of how he met his dear wife, Trunks' Grandma, Panchy.

Funnily enough, Grandpa Brief never called her Panchy. Everyone else sort of did.

His Grandpa would often call her "dear," or "anata" in his Grandpa's native language. It was the affectionate name he called her in front of close family.

But to those who got to know his Grandpa Brief on a deeper level would know he spoke of her as a different name - a name of endearment that Trunks rarely even heard him call her in front of other family.

When it was just the two of them, Grandpa Brief didn't call her Panchy, or even "anata."

He instead used Panchy's nickname… "Pan-chan."

… Or more specifically, when he spoke her name in their native language, the endearment came out as his "Pan-chan," as if a singular "Pan-chan" were more of a subjective or philosophical idea, contrary to a concrete name.

Of course Trunks immediately thought of Gohan's six-year-old daughter. And it was hilarious.

"Like Gohan's daughter, Pan-chan?" Trunks had snickered.

"Yes, exactly like Gohan's daughter Pan-chan! Have you not noticed how your dear Grandma has taken such a liking to her? She always makes sure to get her a birthday present, but she forgets the birthdays of our own dinosaurs!"

Trunks just laughed at the time.

The Son family was from the Mount Paozu region which also used the "-chan" diminutive suffix. Trunks heard Gohan and Chi Chi also call her "Pan-chan," in private sometimes, a carryover from their native tongue. However, since Pan's mother, Videl, only spoke Common, Pan mainly grew up just being called "Pan."

And since Trunks grew up mostly speaking Common, that's how he always knew Gohan's daughter's name to be. Not Pan-chan, but Pan.

That thought helped Trunks to differentiate the two at the time, and consequently, Trunks no longer associated his Grandpa's "Pan-chan" with Gohan's daughter, Pan. It was all just a coincidence.

Now he sorted through that thought, Trunks brought his attention back to his Grandpa, to focus on the story that his Grandpa Brief told him, while eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on their bench.

His Grandpa Brief, on that day, told Trunks the story of how he met his wife.

The story went that his Grandpa, as young Brief Briefs, a fourth-year college student at West Capital Tech, was originally studying pharmacology, to become a pharmacist.

Engineering was originally just a hobby of his Grandpa's, and he pursued the basics as a minor, just to keep his head working, since he tended to work through his thoughts by piecing together mechanical puzzles.

Originally, his Grandpa Brief was pursuing a future in pharmaceutical compounding - or preparing and mixing medicine for capsulation.

During his undergraduate research into more effective pill designs, Brief had unexpectedly come across a method of vibrating molecules in a way that they compressed and collapsed in on themselves. That was the day when Brief discovered that molecules could be stored within energy waves that existed between space. It was a special form of energy similar to light; the conversion of mass into energy and a low-spectrum light enabled more mass to fit into each capsule.

In short, his new invention enabled pharmaceutical medicine to be dispensed in easily-swallowed capsules with higher doses that were more easily regulated.

It was so mundane of reason to be invented, that it was laughable. But Capsule Corporation's early company roots were built on humility and gratitude for the planet.

His way of saving the planet with Capsule Corporation was to create a dispensary solution for pill storage. By dispensing pills more efficiently, Brief could reduce single-use plastic waste associated with prescription bottles.

It was a humble dream compared to the titanic empire that Capsule Corporation would eventually grow to become. But… in the beginning, that was how humble, young, bachelor Brief Briefs had intended to save the world… at least, in his own way.

He knew he had more that he could offer to the world, but he just didn't know how to think outside his box - his own mind. He felt he needed direction, but he didn't know from where it would come.

As an awkward savant with a beautiful mind, Brief was generally quite shy about meeting new people. He didn't know what to talk about. Growing up, Brief didn't have many close friends, and after four years of college devoted to his research, he still hardly had any names in his contact book.

It wasn't because he didn't want to make friends. The problem was that he lacked confidence, and he had been bullied as a kid.

Back then, it was not as acceptable to be a "nerd" in society. So, he grew to be bashful about introducing himself to people.

As a result, he became a bit of a shut-in, focusing on his work instead of trying to go out on dates.

Brief never expected to meet his wife. The odds were almost zero - an almost infinite improbability of chance.

In one of his classes, in his final semester, Brief had been assigned a lab partner who wore a t-shirt that said "Save the World Society."

Brief wanted to save the world, and was intrigued by the shirt. So, he gathered his courage, and asked about it.

It turned out that his lab partner was the president of the school's Save The World Society, a group of students who had high dreams of becoming influential politicians and bureaucrats. It was the club that the rich kids joined in school, and it was well funded and organized.

After his partner learned a little about Brief's capsule invention to help reduce plastic waste, he invited Brief to the next society dinner, as a guest speaker. As the guest speaker, he would present for up to ten minutes to inspire and lead creative conversation about alternative ways to make the world a greener place for both people and animals.

It was there, at his presentation to the society, that Brief met his blonde beauty, Panchy, or his "Pan-chan."

Trunks' Grandpa said that he knew, from the moment he saw his "Pan-chan's" face, it felt like "his whole life capsulized" into his heart.

He said it might be considered love at first sight.

Brief had committed to her in that moment - that very singular instance - and his life changed overnight. He said that the day after he met his "Pan-chan," he was a changed man, and he continued to become better, and greater. And he couldn't have done it all without her.

That was usually where the story ended, but there was another side to the story which his Grandpa Brief also told Trunks - the story of his Grandma, and what led her to even be at the society meeting that day.

When his Grandma Panchy met his Grandpa Brief, she was not a student, and she did not actually belong in the society.

In truth, she had not made the grades to enter any major university. She had actually dropped out of high school. It wasn't anything she did; she just… couldn't really read words well, so she didn't test well; the characters on a page would get all jumbled and even appear upside-down.

Back then, there weren't any programs for dyslexic students, so she made do and instead took classes at the local community art center, painting and doing homecrafts such as knitting.

His Grandma Panchy attended an evening figure drawing class once per week, on Friday nights. One of those nights, by chance, she was asked out to dinner by one of her classmates. His brother was working at a societal dinner close by, which had free food and an open bar.

Not wanting to give up an opportunity to make a friend, she had taken the guy up on the offer, not even realizing that the club, by chance, happened to be the exact kind of society that she would have loved to join.

Sitting at a table, while eating her meal from the buffet, young Panchy watched Brief give his short presentation to the society, about his hope for reducing plastics in the world through his capsule technology.

There was something about his gentle demeanor and quirky intelligence and dream-filled eyes that made him attractive to her. She had never expected her heart to quicken like it did.

Trunks' Grandma Panchy allegedly told Grandpa that the moment she saw Brief, the classmate guy who had brought Panchy to the society event was long gone from her mind, and she only had eyes for Brief moving forward.

Brief had never talked to any girl as pretty as Panchy before, and Panchy was a little star-struck by Brief and his invention, so when they first talked, it was awkward and they were both blushing and twisting as they shuffled a little in their stances.

According to Trunks' Grandpa, Panchy wasn't sure what to say, so she started to rattle on about some small pet dinosaur that she adopted when she was little, but was forced to let go of when it got too big. Brief responded that he found it unfair that dinosaurs didn't have any shelters out there, and that he wished he could make a home for injured and tame dinosaurs that needed a place to go.

And when Panchy laughed, her little "hoohoohoo" made his heart sing.

From that conversation alone, Brief could tell that Panchy's heart was pure, and he never wanted to ever stop talking to her.

Brief immediately was inspired to think bigger than just saving plastic - he wanted to put his money into making an impact on all the world and all of the creatures on it, ranging from cats and dinosaurs, to all of the people. He wanted to do good for everyone. And he knew, from the moment he met her, that he wanted to do it with his "Pan-chan" by his side.

Trunks' Grandma Panchy had always been a homemaker, and all she wanted with Brief was a simple life in which she could love and be loved. She showed her love by cooking and cleaning and saying supportive words to Brief. And through her support, Brief gained the courage to step out of his comfort zone, and to do the thing that his heart really told him he wanted to do - engineering.

Using the engineering skills he had honed throughout his life as a hobbyist, he dedicated himself to building his business and saving the world by developing the first prototypes of capsules that could store vehicles and housing, to provide transportable shelter, and to solve the housing crisis of the world.

The first prototype that Brief developed, that started everything, was capsule number "001" - the Capsule Motorcycle. It was the model that started it all, and raised its first round of tremendous capital from a slew of angel investors that all scrambled to throw their money at him to invent and patent more types of capsules.

And the money kept coming in. And the capsules kept selling out.

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Brief and Panchy were married within six weeks of meeting; they both didn't want to wait, since they both knew right away that they wanted each other. There was never any doubt.

Within five months, Brief and Panchy had already created a smash success of their capsules, and found out that they were pregnant with their first daughter, Tights. And for a long time, Tights was their only daughter.

They tried for many years to have another child, but they were faced with a number of miscarriages that made them almost give up hope. They wished upon every star, that if they could have one more wish, they just wanted one more child, simply because they loved each other so much.

And then came their second daughter, Bulma, born thirteen years after Tights.

And then the rest was history. And all of that history and all of his future was all the more meaningful because Brief had his "Pan-chan" in his life.

As Trunks sat on the bench, he looked down to his empty hands, processing the story that his Grandpa Brief had said.

"One day, Trunks, you might get a Pan-chan of your own," his Grandpa Brief joked as he gently jabbed Trunks in the side with his elbow.

"How will I know she's my 'Pan-chan'?" Trunks looked straight ahead to a tree in the courtyard, with unfocused thought.

His Grandpa told him that Trunks would know she was "the one" by how supportive and loved she'd make him feel, no matter how bad the day, no matter how much he failed.

Trunks' future "Pan-chan" would always be forgiving and patient and believe in his strengths. And one day she would inspire him to grow and break through his own personal barriers to be bigger, better, and more successful than he ever dreamed he'd become. His Pan-chan would open up an entire universe to him.

From his talk with his Grandpa, Trunks gained even more resolve about his dismissal of Mai from his life. Mai was none of those things to him. He thought that maybe if he had just spent more time with his Grandpa growing up, he might have learned some of this kind of advice, to know what went into a good marriage.

Trunks had it all wrong with Mai. And now, he had a much better idea of who to look for, a few qualities he could look for as he sought his version of a "Pan-chan."

And then, on Monday, June 7th, the next day, Trunks met "Van."

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–Published on AO3: 1/5/24–

–Published on FFnet: 1/9/24–

A/N: I don't see too many fics about the origin story of Brief and Panchy. I hope I did them justice. And the Pan-chan name thing - well, I can only address the coincidence and elephant in the room. The rest is for us to grin and wonder about.