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CHAPTER 15:
Strings

For Bulma, the world was a big marionette show - a sea of puppets with strings attached to dreams, love, health, religion, and money, all dancing to a show called Economics.

Everything in the world boiled down to those five strings, and they would move as a puppet dance for show, and for gain.

And from the point of the view of the richest, most successful CEO in the world, Bulma knew that the money string, when plucked hard enough, usually held the most influence.

The money string resonated its connection with governments; corporations…and schools.

Over the summer, in preparation for Goten's arrival at Orange Star, Bulma pulled her strings to convert Trunks' formerly one-bedroom penthouse dorm suite into a three-bedroom penthouse apartment. It was a complicated process, and it involved months of pre-planning. But, she did it. She knew it was coming, and she was always prepared.

She had already set in motion a set of strings to manipulate the school board.

Leading up to Trunks' admission to the university, Bulma had set up regular donations to the school. After all, Bulma had gone there for college, and she wanted to remind the school on an annual basis how Trunks was a legacy child.

It worked. Bulma was glad she set those wheels in motion as a fall-back, because upon a subtle boost in her annual donations to the school during Trunks' application year, she also sent a message that there would be much more money coming if Trunks were admitted.

And of course, Trunks got admitted into Orange Star, despite his sub-par grades and resistance to joining a school club.

Bulma made it possible, but she didn't tell her son that. He just needed a little help behind the scenes.

During Trunks' first year, Bulma had Capsule Corporation donate over $1 million zeni's worth of advanced laboratory research equipment to the school, knowing that Goten would eventually be coming into the picture, and she needed another bargaining chip to gain more power.

Bulma had told the school board that in addition to the $1 million zeni of equipment, there would be another $20 million zeni's worth potentially coming in the second year.

Bulma offered the donation boost because of a well-made executive decision. At the time, Capsule Corporation had just upgraded its equipment, and the older equipment, only a year old yet defunct to her standards, could have either been sold to the military, or she'd need to find another bidder, which she did not trust with her technology. She also refused to let the old equipment just sit in storage and accrue dust and expensive inventory costs.

So, Bulma offered it as a bargaining chip to the school. In the end, it was a win-win to shuttle her older gear to the school, save on inventory storage costs, and save on $20 million zeni taxes as an "educational donation."

People called her a genius, and nobody really understood how deep that genius went.

After Bulma learned about Goten's acceptance into Orange Star, Bulma decided to use it in exchange for a favor within Trunks' dormitory.

After pulling a few strings, Bulma finally convinced the university to knock out the wall between Trunks' suite and the adjacent corner double-bedroom suite, so the new, renovated suite would now double the size of the living room, and now encompass the entire south side of the dormitory penthouse, spanning from its eastern to western windows.

The contractors even renovated the ceiling and attic above the space, to elevate the ceilings and install dimmable overhead lightning.

The new space even came with an extra bedroom which had a system of Pixel-tiles installed as its flooring. They were also a very complicated feature to install.

The Pixel-tile floor was made up of small, round tile-textured pieces that adjusted and rotated to keep someone in one place, regardless of walking direction.

It was the most expensive part of the renovation, and it honestly irked Bulma that Trunks wanted it, not understanding that his penchant for gaming cost them upward of $15 million zeni alone. It meant that Bulma had to jump through hoops for the sake of "taxes," about it, since it involved purchasing a license for a patent developed by The W. Deeny Imengineering Group.

But… it was the only request that Trunks had made. He never requested anything from her, even though he knew that Bulma could make anything happen for him.

So, when he did make a request, she almost always gave it.

She loved him, and, in her way, wanted Trunks to know that she always had his back and best interests at heart. Always.

So she gave him what he wanted, whenever he ever wanted to ask her for it.

Capsule Corporation footed the whole bill as a tax write-off, accounting for its expenditure as another "educational donation" in which it "renovated and upgraded its student housing."

Thanks to tax write-offs, all of it was free to Capsule Corporation. The government in the end footed the bill.

That's just how the real world worked, and Bulma knew how to pull all the strings to show her son how much she loved him.

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When September came around, the sun shone brightly as winds changed directions. A bountiful harvest was ready to be sown. A wealth of joy and opportunity and a rising outlook enveloped Trunks.

Trunks felt the same rush that he had when Goten joined him in high school, as he felt like he could be a new man.

Now that he was entering his second year, and this time, it felt just like old time's sake, but even better. Now, they could stay up all night playing games. Now, they could embark on a new adventure through college life together.

It meant new beginnings, new chapters, and a whole new cabin to showboat.

The whole place looked different. Trunks got a miracle - a reset; a Select-Start to do things over again, and better this time around.

The new setup had a lot of light, was spacious, and was packed with every amenity that Trunks and Goten could ever want in their shared space.

During the planning stage, Trunks was given the opportunity to talk with the architect, and he convinced them to equip the new space with all latest technology, ranging from smart lightning that could change colors, to wireless surround-sound speakers.

It all looked and felt different, and so Trunks' outlook felt different. He allowed himself to feel happy and hopeful, and it was easy to feel it, from the first day, as Trunks erupted in laughter as he wrestled Goten on the Pixel-tiles in the VR Room, and then they got trapped in the center. They had run out of breath from belly-laughing as they kept trying to climb over each other to get out from the center of the room. The Pixel-tiles kept sucking them back to the center through their programmed Pixel-tile movement.

It was easy, in his laughter and joy being with Goten, for Trunks to completely compartmentalize his past.

When with Goten, Trunks was able to shove his entire failed-first year in a mental box and put it aside. By doing that, it was like it never happened.

Sure, there were still a few kinks to work out. Trunks still had some business to wrap up with Havana…

Trunks hadn't been able to work over the summer and Havana was pressing him for his payments. He had given her smaller payments based on his trust fund allowance; but now that the school year was starting back up, it would all end soon, by December.

She said there was a late payment charge, and he just said add it to the bill.

For Trunks, at this point, it was just a set of recurring payments. He was able to set that aside in his mind. He was used to it by now, and he didn't want to think much about it. There were better things he was transitioning to.

Now, with Goten in their renovated dorm room, it all felt like a new life.

Goten was here. He made their dorm apartment warm and welcoming. They had views of both the sunrise and sunset, and because of the southern view, they both had views of the river delta that their college town was built around, and they each had a view of the mountains in the distance.

Trunks was all smiles.

––––––––

For the first two weeks, everything was amazing; they were having fun; Trunks felt like he was getting his old life back. After the first week, they had felt properly moved in, with Clean God Movie posters and memorabilia plastered all over their bedroom walls.

They stayed up late and played games, and reminisced about old times.

They "snuck out" in the middle of the night together just to fly and be naughty by chasing owls, or going skinny dipping at the beach.

Trunk sfelt a sense of confidence and acceptance around Goten. He was proud of himself again, and regained some of his self-love.

He knew he kept a secret from Goten, but he also knew all of that was behind them. It shouldn't matter now, and it was best to let it be in the past. Trunks was better. And he'd be good to Goten.

With that mindset, Trunks decided to never tell Goten the truth about his backstabbing. He treated it like a wound he could cover in mental scar tissue, and set it aside. It was better for everyone that way.

And then, even though Trunks was feeling better about things, and allowing himself to feel more normal again with Goten, he started to also notice that something felt off.

Goten's smiles began to look more and more strained.

––––––––

By late October, it was clear to Trunks that Goten was in some kind of distress. He was terrible at holding in feelings - he wore his heart on his sleeve, so his wild eyes, distracted demeanor, and propensity to stutter were clear giveaways that something was weighing on his mind.

"Hey Trunks," Goten shifted his feet, "Do you think it'd be okay if I could have a girl over… to talk?"

His countenance was awkward as he asked.

Trunks never asked Goten much about his dating life. Goten usually volunteered information on his own. Sensing Goten's tension, Trunks decided not to pry. The truth usually bubbled up with him fairly quickly. It was strange that he even held back this long.

Trunks remembered that he had told Goten that he didn't want to talk about London. He figured perhaps Goten had interpreted that as a general rejection of having a girlfriend come over.

"Is it London?" Trunks had asked, to clarify.

"Actually," Goten looked to the side, "Well, it's… kind of about her."

"Okay," Trunks didn't want to pry, but sensed that Goten was still feeling awkward. "Is there anything I can do to, uh, host better?"

"Maybe…" Goten thought, "Maybe we can have a bunch of people over right afterward. Like, a party. It could make things less tense, right?"

"Want to host a Hallow Night party?!" Trunks grinned widely, feeling invigorated, and empowered, because he could throw the coolest, most awesome, raddest, diabolically great monster mash. All he needed was a greenlight from Goten, and he could probably get away with using his trust fund money for it.

Goten thought it sounded like a good idea.

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Hallow Night fell on Friday, October 31st of that year, and Trunks busted out the big bills. He themed it as a ghost pirate ship.

An entire event team came in to decorate the interior with spiderweb-shaped ropes, bats, pirate mice, and mummy-wrapped trinkets. and treasure chests, and mist along the entire floor from the fog machines. They had moved their usual living room furniture out into temporary storage, and instead placed rented tables with catered food by the windows of the living room, and installed a dance floor that would have a volunteer-student DJ and laser lights.

It was going to be so much fun.

Trunks looked forward to the party so much that he forgot that Goten had arranged for his "girl" friend to come over shortly beforehand "to talk."

And then, about forty minutes before the catering team was supposed to arrive to set up for the event. Goten told Trunks "She's on her way over."

Goten looked nervous.

It was dusk outside, just after sunset, and Goten and Trunks had just gotten dressed and ready. This year, they dressed as two Sailors which said "Mate 1" and "Mate 2"on their backs.

Trunks remembered about the girl, and felt he was ready to meet London. He knew Goten was nervous because he was just shy. He hadn't had anyone over to visit besides his family when he moved in, and tonight was also going to be Goten's first dorm party. But Trunks had this; he was experienced and he was ready to show Goten a good time.

Despite how Goten seemed anxious, Trunks had a positive outlook on the night.

Trunks put his hand on Goten's shoulder reassuringly, "No worries, you've got a superhero looking out for you. You just call out to me, and I'll be there for you."

Trunks' words seemed to ease Goten's worries a bit.

Goten opened his mouth as if he was going to say something to Trunks, and hesitated.

And then, there was a sound at the door - a rustle.

There were four short knocks, almost like Morse Code: • • • •

"Knock Knock," came a familiar, sultry voice on the other side of the door.

Trunks' stomach dropped like lead, and standing amid the grotesque decor of his apartment, he felt true horror.

Both turned their eyes to the door upon the sound.

Trunks' ears rang as his blood went cold.

Everything felt it was flooding around him.

Goten, in his sailor outfit, walked to the door in a slow-motion bog.

He slowly opened the door among the murk.

He saw her big hair first as her hips leaned by the door.

He saw her green scaly skirt hug her sinuous curves like a serpent's skin. He saw her demonic goat horns that twisted from her beastly, dark mane.

He watched her red lips sneer into a chimera's smile as she locked her eyes on Trunks like a harpoon to a whale.

And then in... walked the villain.

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