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CHAPTER 20:
Out of Bounds

Bulma always hated the Friday before Holiday Break for the company. In preparation for a long vacation, Bulma ended up being bogged down with endless meetings all day, along with conducting all of her end-of-year performance reviews for bonuses.

In the mid-late afternoon, Bulma got an alert from her assistant who patched her into an incoming call from one of her informant security guards in Trunks' dormitory.

He told her about a "skirmish" inside the apartment, between Trunks and Goten. He seemed vague, as if he himself did not quite understand what had happened.

Bulma asked if Trunks had been harmed, and the security guard said, "Not a scratch."

That's all she really cared about. Her son was fine, and she knew that a little drama between the boys was normal, and would act to solidify their bond more in the end. It was natural for college roommates, so Bulma didn't ask any more questions.

She knew if the news was really bad, she'd find out in other ways.

Then, right before she went into her next meeting, she received an urgent follow-up call. Security said that a "mystery girl suddenly appeared in the dormitory," and came from "Trunks and Goten's" place. The guard said Goten identified her as "his girlfriend."

He said it was some "island-looking girl."

Bulma knew that Goten had been seeing that Anglish blonde from the northern islands. She was busy, so she just asked, "Big blonde hair, right?"

The guard stammered, clearly intimidated by her, "Uh, y-yuh she had big hai-"

"Great," Bulma just needed to hear the affirmative. She didn't want to keep anybody waiting in the meeting, since it was the last big-whammy of the day, "Just call me if anything blows up. I'm busy."

"U-uh, okay."

"Buh-bye!" Bulma clicked her thumb and hung up mid-valediction, and got back to work.

Twelve executives in suits were on the other side of the conference room glass, and all of them bent to her.

––––––––

Goten wasn't the only one who was an expert at sneaking out.

Trunks went through his mental checklist of how to prepare to travel off-grid.

Standing in the middle of the room, Trunks prepared a diversion - a distraction, in case anyone was monitoring his activity. He sent an email to himself, with a grocery list reminder. It was a long list that he had The CHEAT generate, and it also included some furniture items. If anyone was looking for him, they'd assume he put himself on a long personal quest for the evening.

He clicked "Send" for the email right above his bed. He wanted to make sure the ping happened in the center of his room.

Then, Trunks turned off its WiFi connectivity and disabled its GPS tracking.

He checked his pocket to make sure his capsules were there.

Everything was in place.

Trunks made his way to the window, and silently unlocked it. With a nimble push, he raised the panel up, and slipped out to hover into the open air outside his window, unnoticed.

He flew above the line of camera sight, and touched his feet down outside of the campus perimeter, along the edge of a quiet graveyard.

Trunks finger-combed the tangles out his wind-blown hair, and then after a long, emotionally withdrawn breath, he took out his favorite capsule, labeled "249," in traditional numbering methods since Trunks viewed it as a co-project with his Grandpa Brief.

And then he popped out his red convertible, "Van."

Trunks shook his head at the cruel irony that he could love something so much and cringe so badly at the name. But Goten named it, and maybe one day it'd be funny.

Until then, Van was his beautiful red, perfect car, from a time of his life when he was happy, and before everything blew up out of control.

For some reason, it all felt so long ago. It had only been a year and a half or so.

He got into the driver's side on the right side of the vehicle, and pressed a few buttons on the middle monitor. The car's GPS said that without traffic, the drive would take about fifty minutes.

He turned off his car's GPS tracking. He didn't need a map to track, anyway. He knew the way.

He buckled his seat belt for what lay ahead.

––––––––

Goten wasn't sure if Trunks was really Trunks anymore.

It was a weird thought. Goten knew how strange it sounded.

But… the thought kept coming up - and up - and up again.

No matter how many times he tried to re-think it, he just kept thinking about it.

He could reset his game as many times as he wanted, but the difference was still clear.

Trunks had changed.

But… it didn't make sense why.

As far as Goten knew, Trunks had always been Trunks. He was happy and full of smiles and ideas. He loved pulling pranks and teasing, and going on adventures and getting into trouble.

But nowadays, Trunks was putting up so many walls around himself that they were cracking under their own pressure and everything was tumbling around him. Trunks was literally having mental breakdowns now.

Goten didn't understand why. Trunks denied the sexuality part, but Goten still didn't really believe him. There was nothing else that could explain why Trunks could go from being so happy, to being so paranoid and miserable.

Goten was sure that if he hadn't burst into Trunks' room during his best friend's panic attack, Trunks might have done something awful to himself. He kept thinking back to that radiant smile that Trunks had given him, like he was pouring every last bit of whatever joy was left in his life force to make Goten happy… before sinking into an endless abyss.

Trunks kept making more knots inside him, and Goten wasn't able to fully fix him anymore. Goten was sure he knew what Trunks needed, but Goten wasn't enough. And he didn't know how else to help. And now that Trunks was rejecting help with Van, there was nobody else to go to.

Goten felt himself faltering, doubting, and feeling sick. He didn't know how to process feelings like this.

Games didn't help. Games made it all feel worse for some reason, like Goten was somehow abandoning Trunks to some kind of dark well that he was sinking into, sheltered by a huge block in his head, and locked behind giant iron doors.

Trunks kept retreating deeper and deeper. It was like Trunks had an immense fear of something scary and big that could hurt him, even though he should know that Goten was there to protect him.

But now that the living room was destroyed, Goten wasn't sure how to protect him so well anymore.

Goten knew that it was time to raise a flag.

––––––––

Bulma had just finished the last phone meeting of her day when there was a bit of a commotion outside of her office.

She heard one of her female executive assistants speak up in an urgent muffled tone through her thick frosted glass wall.

Another assistant spoke up, and there were voices that raised in intensity. Bulma could roughly hear it was about someone trying to meet with her outside of standard appointment protocol.

It piqued her interest, and so she pressed her intercom and said, "Let them in."

The voices died down, and then Goten walked through her door…

Bulma was genuinely surprised.

Goten was truly the last person Bulma ever thought would show up unannounced at her office. She felt a pit in the bottom of her stomach, but wanted to give Goten the benefit of the doubt. He might be planning some kind of surprise Holiday party, for all she knew.

But the look on his face was stoic. This wasn't going to be good news. She braced herself, knowing this must be about Trunks.

"Hi Bulma," Goten was shy and averted his eyes with a slight blush, "Sorry to just bust in. I didn't know if I'd catch you before you left, and, uh," he hesitated and shifted his feet, "I wanted to speak with you in person, ya know?"

Bulma could sense how intimidated Goten was. He could put up a front on the battlefield, but Bulma knew he was an innocent child at heart, tremendously like his father, Goku. It warmed her heart despite how uncomfortable he looked, because she knew that Goten was in good hands; he might feel fear, but he was currently protected with hundreds of security measures on premises.

Despite how safe Goten was, he looked insecure and pained. Goten spoke in a hesitating voice, looking like he was wincing at each word he spoke, "I think… something's wrong with… Trunks."

She had been expecting this from his body language. She knew this must be something rocky, for Goten to come to her.

She remembered the security guard's call earlier that day, and started to put the pieces together. She remembered she'd readdress it if something had blown up.

"What's up?" Bulma's grin became plastic as her eyes began to ignite.

She realized that this must be big, for Goten to come to her. He never came to her about anything before. This was a serious matter, and a call for help.

Goten hesitated, "I don't know. He won't tell me."

Bulma needed to clarify, "So something's wrong, but you don't know what?"

"Yeah," Goten shifted.

Bulma realized that Goten was stiff, and she knew that when he got awkward, he tended to only speak in a few words at a time. It was always charming about him, but right now, it was beginning to feel frustrating for Bulma.

Bulma needed to get to the heart of the matter. She would need to pick her questions carefully to draw out information. "Has anything changed lately?"

Goten paused, and looked down, and then to the side. There was hesitation in his response, as if he intended to say something, and then chose not to. When he did speak, he said, "Not really. I don't know. I just… I don't know what it is."

Bulma could see that Goten was going to be a donkey dragging against her pulling leash.

"What about Trunks made you want to come to me?" Bulma inquired.

Goten looked like he regretted being there. "I can't… explain it." He shifted his eyes to the side.

Bulma pushed, losing patience, "Then how do you know something's wrong?"

"Um… He's just…" Goten tried to figure out how to bottle it into a sentence, in some kind of easy statement that somehow could encompass everything, at all once.

He knew what it was. He knew what he was missing. The thing he loved most… it was gone.

"He isn't smiling anymore," Goten looked dejected, to the side, remembering that fake smile that Trunks had given him earlier, that shone brighter than the sun after a storm. And then he remembered losing it again, and it made it even clearer how dark everything had gotten.

Bulma frowned, believing something was odd now, "When did he stop smiling?"

"I don't know…"

Bulma thought of inviting Goten to the chair in front of her desk, but felt it'd be too formal. She instead got up, smoothed her red dress, and gestured to her green couch which she kept in her office, as an old hand-me-down relic from her father and his college days.

Bulma sat down on the left side of the couch, and patted her right side as an invitation to Goten.

Goten paused for a moment and had a look on his face like he regretted being there, but then he pushed through it and sat down next to her, looking down at his palms.

"Tell me what you know," Bulma placed her hand gently against Goten's middle back, "Please. I want to help Trunks, too."

"Um," Goten's leg jittered with an energy he was unable to release. "I saw him smile when I moved in, but then it was gone, so I don't know. But he isn't telling me what's wrong. And there's gotta be something wrong, right? He doesn't just stop smiling like that, right?"

"Nobody just stops smiling, Goten. Especially not around you." Bulma gave Goten an encouraging smile and patted his back.

Goten seemed unsure, "Do you think it's something I did, though? Did he tell you anything that upset him?"

Bulma barked a laugh. "Hah!" She brought her right hand back and flicked it out, "He doesn't talk to me." She tilted her hand and looked into his eyes, "But maybe you can help me understand."

Goten was frowning, and looking away from her, "I feel bad talking about him without him knowing. I feel like I'm betraying him somehow…"

And then Goten went silent, and it was clear that Bulma hit another wall.

Bulma realized, in that moment, that she had underestimated Goten's clandestine nature. She had thought she understood his character, but she now realized just how secretive Goten was…

Up until that point, Bulma just mostly assumed that Goten was like his father, Goku. He had similar traits all-around, and Bulma had assumed that most information bounced off Goten with a trampoline-line innocence and a failure to notice small nuances, just like Goku.

But it turned out Goten did notice things. And he was a good enough friend to Trunks to even go to Bulma about this, likely understanding it would upset Trunks if it got back to him.

This was a big deal, and Bulma could sense it. She also liked there was a little blackmail-potential behind this, too.

She could control this conversation, whatever it was. But she knew she'd have to wrangle Goten like a bull's horns.

She could see Goten was uncomfortable about potentially hurting Trunks by talking about him to Bulma.

"You're not betraying him," Bulma soothed.

Goten just looked forward with a daze and a confused look, as if trying to remember why he wanted to be there.

Bulma tried to think of another angle to fish for information. "When did you first notice he didn't smile anymore?"

"Um," Goten's eyes came alive with a memory as he swallowed, and some confidence came back to his stance as it was clear he knew the answer, "I guess maybe Hallow Night. Before people started coming over."

Bulma felt like Goten was finally opening up. He was giving her information she could work with.

Bulma remembered how big and devastating that party became. "Did he stop smiling before the friends came over? Or after?"

Goten just nodded, "Yeah."

Bulma just frowned. His answer answered nothing and made no sense. She hated when people answered like that.

Bulma decided to rephrase her question, "So, after they came over, he wasn't smiling anymore?"

Goten's look was haunted, "It was after a girl came over, and before they…" He trailed off.

Bulma felt like she pinned the tail on the donkey. "Was it the redhead?"

Goten suddenly snapped out of his stupor, "Uh… uh… no… It was um…"

Goten hesitated, and Bulma leaned forward with baited breath.

Goten's eyes widened as he looked in Bulma's eager eyes.

Goten's voice was hitched and nervous, "Um..."

It looked like he was about to back out of whatever he was going to say, and Bulma pressed, "Yes?!"

Goten looked to the side, "Um..."

"What girl?" Bulma smiled as sweetly and non-threateningly as she could.

Goten was caught up in his disfluency, "Um... uh..." He scratched the back of his head, looking down and desolate, "Do you promise not to tell my mom?"

The way he said it made it obvious who he was talking about.

Bulma's eyes widened, immediately knowing who, but she still asked through stiff and tensely smiling lips, out of courtesy, "Who?"

Goten swallowed, "Van."

Bulma immediately sprang up as a snarling mother bear, "VAN?!"

The tides had turned, and a high pressure front blew all of Goten's plans over.

Goten sprang up from the couch with her,"Please don't tell my mom." He waved his hands in front of him in a pleading gesture, "Please promise, Bulma, please. Please!"

Bulma spat, angry, "How long have you been seeing HAVANA?!"

"Oh no, Bulma please!" Goten was still in his panic, "Don't tell mom that she was over! It was just once that time - and then just a little… and then more … and then now… and- and-" Goten choked on his words, unable to finish his statement.

Bulma did not give a fuck about whatever else Goten had to say.

Bulma was beside herself with fury and a feeling of immense threat imposed upon her son. "I thought you broke up with Van?!"

"I did, and then we got back in touch after a year and we're- we're…" Goten trailed off, obviously trying to hold back some information that was destined to piss her off. "She's nice, Bulma! Really, honest! Please don't tell my mom!"

Bulma seethed, looking hard at Goten. Call it a mother's intuition, but she knew her son. And she had known how ill he had been on Goten's birthday during the family fight. Nobody paid attention to his outbursts, thinking they were just tempers, but Bulma knew that they were always triggered by something. And this time, she had a strong sense of what it was.

Bulma stated her assumption in a cool, derogatory and and assuming tone, "I'm sure Trunks hasn't smiled because he's been worried about you being with Van."

Goten suddenly grew angry at Bulma's remark, thinking all of this was none of her business. "That's not fair!" He scowled at her and also bared his teeth, "There's no reason for Trunks to not like her! I know it's something else! There's- there's... something ELSE… "

And then Goten froze, and his eyes went wide, obviously not wanting to continue his statement.

Bulma didn't give a shit about whatever Goten was about to say. She saw the black pirate flag flying, and the only way to fix anything would be to eradicate the threat.

Bulma was not as tall as Goten, but somehow in her heels, she seemed to tower over him as she spoke with a menacing tone, "I don't want you to ever hang out with that woman again! I want you to block her number!"

Goten rolled his eyes and pleaded with a shoulder shrug, leaning into her, "Come on, Bulma, she's not that bad. My mom got her wrong before."

Bulma bared her teeth, "I want you... to BLOCK HER NUMBER."

"Come on," Goten pleaded, "I can't do that."

Bulma spoke slowly, understanding the kind of danger Havana presented.

"YOU…" Bulma pointed rudely to Goten's face, "will BLOCK IT silently."

Then, she put her finger to her lips and then brought it down, "You will not let her know that you blocked it. Understand me?"

"Uh…" Goten was clearly hesitant and unwilling.

Bulma spoke even more slowly, and calculatingly, to drive home the point.

"I want a promise, Goten! You will block her," Bulma stated, "or," she stressed threateningly, "I'm going to HAVE to tell your mom about Havana!"

Goten gasped incredulously, and all the blood drained from his face as he realized the ultimatum.

"No..." Goten hitched and grimaced in betrayal.

"I'm sorry Goten," Bulma crossed her arms, "I wouldn't threaten you if it wasn't important."

"But… but…" Goten's eyes were wide and he began to tremor in desperation, "I… I really like her!"

Bulma grabbed Goten's shirt collar and looked him straight in the eyes, "Goten, do you trust me?"

Goten swallowed with hesitation, with his eyes darting between each of hers.

"Y…Yes…" Goten swallowed, with his eyes turning wet and teary. "Of course I… I…" He cried, "I trust you. But what does trust have anyth-"

Bulma raised her voice and stomped her foot, officially out of patience. She bared her fangs with malicious intent, and shouted from her core, "Block her number right now!"

Goten looked intimidated, and cowered away.

"Ah- uh- Okay... Uh..." Goten wiped his left eye and just stared at Bulma, not doing anything.

Bulma tapped her foot, with her arms still crossed, "I want to see it. Block her NOW."

"What," Goten realized she was serious.

She snarled and pointed downward, "DO IT."

Something about her demeanor weakened Goten and made him feel terrified of her.

Goten felt overwhelmed and swallowed again, "Uh… okay." He looked down, and brought his cell phone out from his pocket. He repeated again, "Okay…." and then reluctantly opened up his Contact List.

Bulma stood over Goten, watching him, and making sure he did exactly as she said.

"I… I can't even say goodbye…?!" Goten seemed to choke on his breath, as he was realizing the finality of the moment. "It's… But…"

"Now, Goten." Bulma looked at him hard. "One day you'll thank me."

Goten let out a cry, feeling small and overwhelmed.

"NOW." Bulma stomped her foot.

Goten let out a breath in defeat, and clicked "Block user."

It meant Havana was blocked, but Bulma wasn't satisfied yet. She didn't really believe that Goten blocked that girl yet.

Bulma pointed to his phone and swirled her finger, as she ordered didactically, "Now change her name on your phone, and then delete it all. Bury it away. Do it."

It was clear that Goten was still doubtful about Bulma's words, but he still said "Okay…" as he reluctantly changed her name into a random telephone number instead, and then, with Bulma as his witness, deleted Havana's number from his phone.

Goten felt another tear fall, unable to even procure any words for how disillusioned and disappointed and despaired he felt at the moment.

He knew he could probably get her number again from Trunks, but he didn't know how he could ask for it. Goten didn't know what to do.

Bulma looked at him confidently and put her hands to her hips, "You're a good kid, Goten." She brought her right hand up to his shoulder, "You know I love you like a nephew."

Goten looked to the side, unable to meet her gaze, "I…" He paused and frowned, "Thanks… I guess…"

"You have no idea what I'd do to help you, whenever you need it." Bulma nodded her head in reassurance to Goten, "You're always safe coming to me."

Goten kept his eyes to the side with a frown, "Right."

Goten remembered her threat to expose him to his mother, and could see through Bulma's guile.

Goten felt betrayed, like he had been used.

He didn't want to break up with Havana, and certainly not in that way - to just ghost her, and never be able to talk to her again.

He felt like Bulma took his choice away from him.

It wasn't supposed to turn out this way. Goten had gone to Bulma to try to get help for Trunks, but all that happened was Goten got punished and threatened for it, and forced to break up with Havana.

He never understood what it meant to "weaponize information," until now - when Bulma held his confession against him, in order to get what she wanted.

Goten finally understood Trunks' frustrations with Bulma. He now fully understood why Trunks didn't trust his own mom.

And now Goten had spilled the beans and gotten Bulma all worked up about it. All he did was hurt Trunks and himself, and now Havana too.

He deeply regretted going to Bulma.

He was so sorry he had been such a bad friend.

––––––––

The moment Goten left her office, Bulma messaged her assistants and told them they could all go home early. Any extra meetings, Bulma would just handle after the break.

She then pulled up the GPS tracker on Trunks' phone and saw it was offline. She opened up her email hacker app that Bra helped her develop, to search Trunks' email inbox. She saw the outbound list of groceries and took pause.

And then she noticed another dot - his car. It only pinged once, and it was off campus.

And then his watch pinged - it was still active, and it was on the highway outside of West City. She thought it funny that Trunks still always forgot about the GPS in his watch.

On any average day, his movement would look almost like he was coming home, but all his other moves made his movement suspicious.

Something was up. Trunks was being secretive.

She couldn't make any assumptions, but she knew a spy who could help her figure all this shit out.

She picked up her phone to call the best spy in the business.

The phone answered.

"Mai," Bulma crooned her name in a sickeningly-sweet tone, "Hoohoohoo! Yes, it's so nice to hear your voice! I know it's been so long! Ooooh! Happy Holiday to you too! Hoohoohoo!"

Bulma knew that the friendlier she sounded, the more likely Mai would charge less for her services. Mai was fucking expensive now, and Bulma liked to save wherever she could.

Bulma asked, in her nicest tone which quickly became dark and serious, "You still freelance, right?"

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