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CHAPTER 17:
Turnover

For the whole week that followed Hallow Night, Trunks was a mess.

Every night, Trunks found it hard to sleep. He felt nervous, exposed, unsafe, and insecure.

Trunks knew that Goten had assumed his growing anxiety was because of the party and his reaction to his mom witnessing and exploding on Trunks about his unintentional one-night stand.

The truth was that Trunks' thoughts continued to be haunted by the image of Havana suddenly showing up at the doorway. He felt insecure and afraid of the thought that she could stop by anytime she wanted.

Trunks knew she could bypass the front doors anytime she wanted. All she had to do was smile at any student walking in or out of the building, and they'd just let her in.

Trunks viewed Havana as a direct threat, whether or not those were her intentions. Her presence alone pervaded his mind with fear and uncertainty that lingered like a miasma and plagued his emotions for days.

Trunks didn't know how to communicate his fears to Goten. But he was desperate; he couldn't hold it in. So, throughout the week, he did his best to try to convince Goten to not talk to Havana anymore, and each time, Goten got upset.

Trunks came at Goten from many angles in his desperation. He had done his homework by running all his arguments through The CHEAT code he made, and developed a Seven-Angle approach, which helped put his thoughts into easy words he could try to use to sway Goten:

Angle 1 - Past Actions and Reputation: Trunks reminded Goten about how the families had a rift in the past because of her, and she could create potential disruptions and conflicts between them. Goten scoffed at that, as if what Trunks said was ironic.

Angle 2 - Questionable Morality: Trunks raised questions about Havana's moral compass and the values she upholds, since she had a past as a pirate, and she still took pride in her stories. Goten also scoffed at that, saying it sounded like Trunks was trying to play Kinto'un.

Angle 3 - Trust Issues: Trunks brought up her past with Goten, and reminded him again of the night of their breakup and how some suspicious things happened that Goten should be wary of when with Havana, and Trunks also said that there may be a lot of secrets that Havana keeps from Goten, and Trunks can't trust that she'll always be open with him. Goten replied that there's no need for Van to keep any secrets from him.

Angle 4 - Potential Legal Issues: Trunks reminded Goten that pirates are often associated with criminal activities, and might even put her as a target for other pirates. He was fairly sure that pirates had enemies too, and Goten was going to be mixing himself up with the wrong people. Goten scoffed, and responded that he was born for that role - that he would protect Havana from any enemies.

Angle 5 - Shared Values: Trunks pushed Goten about how important it was to have someone with shared values and goals. Trunks reminded Goten that he was a good guy, and he might be putting himself in the company of a "bad guy." Goten had brushed it off, and with his innocent, pure heart, said "even bad guys might be misunderstood."

Angle 6 - Future Stability: Trunks reminded Goten that he shouldn't be investing so much time in someone he couldn't have a stable future with. If the families were against it, he might never find balance emotionally, or just generally in his life. It would always be in some kind of stress or upset, and strong feelings of guilt or betrayal. Goten responded that it would only be unstable if he stayed home and had to deal with them. But he was now an adult and he could make his own decisions, and he didn't want his mom to hold him back.

Angle 7 - Emotional Toll: Trunks pleaded with Goten that all of this infighting was taking an emotional toll on him, and he didn't want to risk "losing or damaging" his friendship with Goten. Goten seemed especially taken aback by that, wondering why Trunks could ever even consider anything breaking their friendship. Then, Goten got upset because he thought Trunks wouldn't even be bringing up the issue unless Trunks were projecting his own thoughts and doubts about their friendship, and blaming Goten for his "mental drama."

Despite all of Trunks' efforts and arguments, nothing seemed to be getting through to Goten. If anything, it seemed to be pushing Goten away.

Throughout that first week, after Hallow Night Trunks' anxiety caused a strain between them.

But Trunks couldn't let it go. He felt like his life depended on it.

Trunks needed to not only protect himself, but he also needed to protect Goten. Goten kept making himself vulnerable, and Trunks knew Havana could not be trusted.

––––––––

By the end of the first week, his relationship with Goten was solidly rocky. Goten couldn't even look at his face without becoming irritated, and he was bad at managing his extra stress. As a result, Goten tended to storm away from Trunks upon the slightest trigger, and would SLAM his bedroom door in childish tantrums.

Whenever Goten got a text message, Trunks felt he was personally on high alert, and would always be wondering if a text came in from Havana. It led Trunks to question who was texting him, every time. Or he'd sneakily try to get a better angle to view, and Goten would sense it, and his stress would flare.

Then, after Goten would stomp off in his temper, he'd slam his door and lock it. Then, he'd vanish for hours playing video games.

Trunks always knew that Goten did this - that it was a personality flaw of his. He had heard all the stories growing up, about how Goten did this… but it was another thing entirely to live through it. Trunks was beginning to also see why Chi Chi tended to yell at Goten over it. It was frustrating for him, too.

And then, just to add to Trunks' frustration, after hours passed, Goten would come back out and be totally fine again, like nothing ever happened.

Goten didn't hold a grudge, and didn't even seem to understand why Trunks did.

Goten was never interested in continuing any old, "expired" conversations.

It was as if Goten could just brush off any bad things that happened, and bounce back like everything was still normal, and move forward with a chipper, positive attitude, every single time, no matter what.

Trunks couldn't understand it. He didn't know where Goten got that from.

It was a horrible personality flaw. It put Goten in a cycle, in which he relived old emotions as if they were new and fresh.

When it came to emotional cycles, both Trunks and Goten similarly had them. The difference, however, was how they tended to layer with each cycle.

For Trunks, his emotions layered like a baumkuchen cake, in many layers that built as it baked with each rotisserie rotation.

Goten, in contrast, tended to restart and refresh his feelings during each rotation. He never held grudges. But it also led to another personal weakness.

Goten couldn't understand the gravity of some of his decisions because he was unable to understand accountability. He never had to, before. Everyone else kind of pulled Goten's strings around him, or pulled his string to lead him.

The way Trunks saw it, Goten was being insensitive and selfish about Havana. He should have seen that Trunks was slowly being driven mad by that woman. Havana was static interference. Havana was coming between them. And Havana was bad news.

Trunks wanted Havana gone from his life forever. Yet Goten… Goten was the weak link in his chain of defense.

But, Trunks was a fighter. He wasn't going to float around like a sitting duck waiting to get caught in Havana's net again.

Instead, he started thinking about different kinds of nets - the kind of nets that maybe Trunks could fight back with.

Trunks knew that things would never get better unless he changed his tactics entirely.

He tried to picture the situation as a net-based game, with rules, and looked into how he could bend the rules, or even break them in order to achieve a win.

His mind settled on comparing it to a basketball exercise that involved passing and shooting a ball. There were three starting players: T, G, and H.

The goal of the game was to "shoot for a point, but prevent the basketball from ever reaching H." The rules were as followed:

T had a starting ball.

T could only pass to G.

G would first pass to H. If H would shoot; Game Over.

If H was unavailable, then G would shoot; Victory.

When Trunks compared it to a basketball exercise, it helped him work out his thoughts a lot.

It even gave Trunks a good idea.

He knew what he had to do to stop G from passing the ball to H.

Trunks realized the solution to his problem. He knew what he needed to do, in order to bypass Goten and keep Havana away.

Just like in basketball, he needed a blocker.

He knew exactly where to go, but he needed to be smart about it, so he could get his way without raising any flags as to his true motivations.

Taking his time to put together his thoughts, Trunks formulated a plan. He ran his plan through The CHEAT to generate an even better plan, and then ran the program again to help his formulate arguments so that he could ensure a winning phone call.

And then Trunks picked up his phone… and called his mom.

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It took a lot of string-maneuvering for Bulma to get the university to drop its charges against Trunks for his wild party on Hallow Night, but in the end, it not only all worked out, but she came out of all with glory in ways she never could have anticipated.

After Trunks' phone call to Bulma in which he specifically requested "enough security to protect a prince," Bulma knew the best defense would be an offense when it came to the school board.

She knew the string she had to pluck was the gaping issue about school security.

And she knew that the biggest, most influential string to pluck with the university, would be its "Super League" reputational pride.

The Hallow Night fiasco opened up an opportunity for Bulma, and she could target a weakness in the school's defense through their defunct security system, or more specifically - the lack of security in Trunks' and Goten's dormitory.

Trunks and Goten's dormitory was known as "The South House," on a hill that overlooked the bay and river delta to the south. Despite the modern furnishings of Trunks and Goten's apartment dorm, the rest of the building was known as being a vintage relic, and as the "first, oldest," and "most prestigious" of the dormitories because of its view of both water and mountains.

As part of the campus charm, the university kept the building historic. Students even had old-school skeleton keys and locks, to preserve centuries of school tradition. So, with their preservatory mindset, the university never outfitted the dorm with advanced security systems.

Bulma used that to her advantage against the case brought against Trunks.

Bulma threatened that if the school didn't drop its charges, then she would sue the school for their accusation that "drugs" were present. She kept her focus on how the school never installed a system to prevent outside drugs from entering the building.

Bulma threw words like daggers at the school board, blaming them for the party getting too big, and for their lack of identification of people who entered their dorms.

She reminded them that "strangers entered her son's room" without proper school security measures.

She also stabbed them with the fact that her "son had been raped by a stranger" when he was "drugged and drunk."

To Bulma, it didn't matter that Trunks didn't see his one-night stand as a rape; Bulma, his mother, saw it that way. She had invested millions to protect him, and some little minx got a ride on him when he could not give consent.

Bulma threatened to sue the school for that alone, for enabling her son to be vulnerable in the first place.

On top of it all, she threatened to have the story get out to the press - that Orange Star had "such a huge party" that it "had to involve the fire department" because " the school was responsible" for "their lack of student management and campus security."

And then, before the school board could rile up against her arguments, Bulma came back to them with a disarming smile.

Bulma had a "solution" to the "problem " that "they" caused.

Her solution was a negotiated business exchange. If the university dropped its case, then Capsule Corp would provide the school with an upgraded security system that would add value to the school in all the parents' parents of all the students.

Bulma stressed that it would be a win-win for everyone. The "press would never need to hear about the story," and the school could instead "spin the new camera installations as an upgrade to their school security system, and boost their marketability" as a top "Super School."

The school board immediately gave in.

Orange Star University dropped the case against Trunks, and then crawled over themselves to sign the Capsule Corporation contract to start getting advanced security systems on campus right away.

And practically overnight in late November, outdoor cameras were installed throughout the entire campus, including Trunks' dormitory.

And then, within one day of the cameras' installation, the school saw a return on its investment.

Within just twenty-four hours, the campus security system had already flagged five sex offenders walking by the dormitories, and a rape suspect that the school was able to track and apprehend after a three-month manhunt.

The school board was overwhelmed at the success of its new security system, and immediately put it in its marketing materials, as Bulma had predicted.

By the end of November, the entire campus had facial tracking cameras, and the revenue to Capsule Corporation was staggering.

After word got out that Orange Star University was now the "safest school on Earth," other universities immediately reached out to Capsule Corporation, and started a waiting list to install similar security systems.

The security systems were a smash hit globally, and also enabled Capsule Corporation to enter a new business-to-business market that had been previously untapped.

Capsule Corporation made so much money from the security camera deals, that Bulma even called Trunks to thank him personally for "his idea" that made the company billions of additional revenue for a record financial boost within " one business quarter alone."

And then, for Trunks' twentieth birthday, Bulma sent him a gift basket of fancy champagnes, a box of condoms, and a whole bunch of mini stuffed security camera plushies, as a joke.

––––––––

Two months went by since the events of Hallow Night.

Before Trunks knew it, it was already Friday, December 18th.

This was a special day - the last day of school until after the New Year, and Trunks was feeling quite good. He had just finished his last student group presentation, and his final exams were over.

Trunks walked along the sidewalk, and enjoyed the damp afternoon as he headed back to his dormitory.

The air was crisp and the sky was gray. The sidewalk was wet after a mid-afternoon rain shower.

Trunks was wearing his favorite orange and green letterman jacket with his hands in his pockets as he walked alone, listening to his EarPods. His brown heeled boots clacked on the cement as he walked to the beat of his music.

Trunks could see his breath as he walked. It was normal for the college town of Orange to get cold this time of year, but today seemed especially frigid. With similar weather to West City, which was only an hour's drive north, its rainy season was starting, just in time for school to let out.

Trunks wiped his cold nose before bringing his hand back to his blue backpack strap.

As Trunks walked, security cameras followed his movement, stationed every fifty feet, either in poles or installed along sides of buildings. The cameras were new, or at least, had been active since the end of November, and their purpose was to track positions and perform facial recognition and background checks for everyone on campus. The cameras were part of a campus-wide initiative to boost its on-campus security, and similar cameras were stationed along all campus walking routes, and the bases of each school building, including all of its seven dormitories.

As Trunks strolled down the sidewalk, Trunks relished in how accomplished he felt after this semester.

Thanks to The CHEAT code that Trunks had developed, Trunks was able to bring his grades up to stellar A+s across the board.

The CHEAT wasn't a perfect solution for Trunks throughout the semester. Trunks was constantly updating it with new coding to improve and diversify its functionality. It even helped him with his few student projects.

One of the best features was The CHEAT's ability to build presentations. Trunks could bullshit his way through any top-grade Pow-Point presentations that The CHEAT had assembled for him or his team to present.

Three professors even called him a "super student."

He even aced Calculus, which he had secretly re-taken.

And now, Friday afternoon on December 18th, Trunks could let loose and smile a little bit. After all, Holiday Break was finally here - so school was out. And, he had finally paid off the last of the medical bill - so he had mental load taken off his shoulders.

Everything felt quite good. At least, on all those fronts.

Holiday Break was an interesting time of year. Most students went home during the two week break.

Since Trunks Briefs had always been a bit of an exception for the school, he was offered the option to stay in his dormitory room over the break. Goten was invited to stay in the room as well.

Trunks' family pressured him to come home, but Trunks liked the idea of staying in a quiet dormitory while all the other students were gone. He looked forward to some rest and relaxation, and hopefully some bonding time to get back on track with Goten.

Because, gods, he really needed this time with Goten.

Things were going downhill with Goten these days.

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Goten was at odds with Trunks about the security system since its first conception. He thought it was unnecessary, and that everything would be fine even without the extra security.

Goten kept telling Trunks that it felt like all the extra security outside of their room, in their hall, was "spawn camping" him as a giant "lag party," and the whole thing felt like a "server overload."

Goten complained that it felt so "embarrassing" to have anyone over, that he "couldn't even have a raid party."

Goten whined that Trunks was "overreacting," to the whole party, and he was being "trigger-happy" and making a whole "overhyped battle" out of it.

Goten was stuck on the idea that Trunks was just "acting out" about his "insecurities," and now it got way overblown.

Of course, Trunks fought back with his own words. But the words didn't even matter. It was Goten's attitude that was irking him.

Trunks didn't understand why Goten was getting so upset about the additional security. Everything was keeping them both safe, yet Goten saw little value in that.

Trunks kept reminding him that he was installing this to protect Goten too, and after a few times of that, Goten started saying words that incited Trunks even more. Goten started accusing Trunks being "controlling" and "manipulative."

Goten's words pissed Trunks off, mainly because Trunks knew the words rang true. But Trunks knew that if Goten just fucking stopped talking to Havana, then Trunks wouldn't have to do all this shit to protect them.

Goten had no idea, though. Trunks was beyond his ability to confess the truth to Goten, now. He simply had to play pieces in order to win the cold war against Havana through alternate means.

Despite how much additional security had been placed outside of their apartment, Trunks believed Goten was making a huge deal about nothing, because none of the extra security was actually installed inside their apartment.

Trunks had explained numerous times to Goten that the cameras were only installed in public spaces. It wasn't like the cameras were invading Goten's private life.

For all Trunks saw, Goten still had his own privacy. So, his outbursts against Trunks felt unfounded.

Goten and Trunks viewed the extra security completely differently. While Goten viewed the security as invasive intrusion, Trunks viewed it like a protective barrier.

And Trunks knew that he was right.

The barrier was working. All of the extra security gave Trunks the extra peace of mind that he needed in order to fix his educational life. Trunks was able to excel, and the security was good for his mental health.

Goten simply had no idea the true reason why Trunks needed this security. He needed the balance to enable him to succeed, in whatever way it was.

And Trunks was succeeding. He got a whole semester of A+s, including in stupid-ass Calculus.

Trunks attributed it to his security. Trunks knew he made the right choice in getting his mom involved with that issue.

And despite the fact that Goten was at odds with him lately, Trunks knew that he was making his decisions with love for Goten in his heart.

This wasn't just about Trunks protecting himself. This was also about Trunks protecting Goten from all angles, despite the fact that Goten resisted it, or had no idea.

He would protect their friendship, no matter what it took.

Goten was first. Even if he disliked Trunks these days.

Nobody needed to know Trunks' real motive behind everything was to shield them from Havana. He knew Havana wouldn't approach with all the security, and if she did come close, Trunks would be the first to know.

The camera system and the whole system of security guards outside their door was the greatest thing that could ever happen to them.

And best of all, it protected Trunks from any more surprise visits, from anyone.

… Or at least, it should have.

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Trunks should have remembered the flaw in Goten's personality.

It was always so convenient to see Goten in the past, that he thought of it as a strength, for some reason, and so it never crossed Trunks' mind.

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Trunks practiced his whistles as he strolled through double-walls of security scanners by the building entrance.

He hardly minded the backpack and identity check at the lobby.

He absentmindedly held up his hand for a finger-scanning check on his elevator, and he waved to the familiar security guard stationed by his elevator on the top floor of his dormitory.

He nodded to the two security guards who were stationed outside of his front door.

Out of habit, he glanced up to the four security cameras that were stationed at different angles by his front door.

Trunks used two different keycards to unlock both bolts of his front door, and then he opened the door, which had been renovated to be as thick and secure as a vault safe.

After he got inside, he closed the door, typed in the security code to engage its multi-lock system, and sighed with a smile and relief now that he was back in the apartment.

But then… he smelled it - the lingering scent of Havana's perfume.

There was laughter from Goten's room. He heard Goten's voice.

And then -

Her voice… sultry, sweet, wickedly breathy.

Suddenly, an unexpected merciless tornado touched down.

The winds blasted through his sails like a shot through his head.

He tumbled and capsized before he even knew he was going down.

Trunks blew down like a house of cards.

He descended into chaos.

He lost his sense of the surface.

He was drowning.

. . . He couldn't do it anymore.

He couldn't breathe.

He couldn't

He c..

.

Trunks broke.

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–1/26/24–

A/N: I retitled this story to Dancing with Strings. It captures much more of the overall vibe, and I oh-so-love metaphors. :)