Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Swarm Saga ❯ Of Princes and Paparazzi ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: Do I have to repeat myself?

Chapter 7: Of Princes and Paparazzi

Trunks slid into the booth across from his best friend. "Sorry I'm late. I got a little held up at work."

Goten looked up from his coffee. "What happened?"

Trunks sighed and ran a hand over his face then pushed away the lavender strands of his hair. "The project I was working on backfired. Nothing out of the ordinary except Father through a fit because he thought Mom was in the lab during the explosion. It took forever to calm him down. He's been acting real funny lately."

"You too? Dad's actually sending Uub home. I got to listen to Mom complain about it for over an hour last night."

The waitress approached the table and set down the multiple plates of food required to feed both men. He stared at it, confused, until Goten spoke up. "I took the liberty of ordering for you. I hope you don't mind."

"Thanks, but, um… dude, don't say things like that to me."

His friend shot him a toothy grin before biting into his first burger. Trunks finally took in his appearance. The other man wore a dress shirt; the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, the top button undone, and his tie loosened. He had even tried to tame the wild black spikes that framed his face into some semblance of order. "You look awfully dressed up today."

Goten paused, looked up at Trunks and then looked back down at his clothes. "Oh, thanks. I had a meeting this morning with one of those annoying corporate types. You know the type I'm talking about. Anyway, my boss said that it would `behoove me to dress well.' Personally, I hate suits. You don't look any worse for wear yourself for being in an explosion this morning."

"We're working on a new engine. Testing is done on the other side of ki resistant glass." Trunks took another bite of his own food and casually changed the subject. "So what would you have done if I didn't show?"

"Big lunch tomorrow?"

"I guess that means you aren't going to Marron's party?"

"Of course I'm going."

"Are you bringing a date?" The dark haired man's head popped up and he looked at his companion with something akin to both horror and confusion. "You should bring a date. You haven't dated someone in what, a year?"

"I wasn't really planning on it." The youngest Son dragged out the statement hoping to glean some clue from his friends face as to the cause of this line of questioning. "Besides, you're one to talk. You may have a different girl on your arm every week but your last serious relationship was over two years ago with that cute red head. What was her name?" Goten closed his eyes in concentration, pursed his lips, and began snapping his fingers.

"Adrienne."

"Yeah. That one. What ever happened to her?"

"She went to go study bones somewhere." Trunks did not like the turn in the conversation. In fact, the breakup still stung. He didn't understand why she left him. He had wanted her to stay but she had given him some excuse about following her dreams and left. "Who I dated before is not the point. You should still bring a date to Marron's party. It'll make your mom happy."

Goten actually dropped his food and stared wide eyed at his friend. "Which is exactly why it is not going to happen. Do you really want to see me or some poor innocent girl killed? You didn't see what happened with Gohan and Videl once Mom got her claws into that relationship. Maybe… if I was seeing someone at the moment, but, I'm not; and I don't consider our extended family reunion the best place for a first date."

`Damn, he's right.' He really wanted his friend to be occupied tomorrow. "It's kind of cool that it's a victory party. I didn't even realize Marron was that strong."

Goten stilled and looked at his friend. "She is Kuririn and Eighteen's daughter. What did you expect?"

"I don't know. She was always Marron, the brat that always followed us around hoping that we'd include her in something. I just never expected her to be that good, at anything."

Goten rubbed his hand over his jaw and mouth. "Trunks, she's that good at a lot of things." The purple haired demi leaned back against his bench and cocked his head to the side. "For starters, her boss loves her and the work that she's doing."

"She makes clothes. It's not exactly rocket science."

Goten leaned back in the booth and lay his hands over his full stomach. "Really? Who designed your tux?"

Goten watched as his best friend's face scrunched up. "What does that have to do with anything?" The darker haired man just smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Armani."

"And you know this why?"

"Because, when you spend that much money on a suit, you should get the best."

Goten laid his forearms on the edge of the table and leaned forward. "Marron works for the most prestigious design firm in South City. They only hire the most talented designers. I can't afford the clothes she designs. She is better at what she does than I am at what I do. And you have to admit, I'm really good at what I do."

"Is that so?"

"She's the one who overhauled Gohan's closet."

Trunks' forehead wrinkled and he blinked. "I thought you and Videl did that for his birthday."

"Yeah, but we brought in Marron for professional assistance. She actually made most of the decisions. In college, she interned under a style consultant so she knew what she was doing. To tell you the truth, we're lucky she didn't charge us. All she wanted was the right to burn that blue suit of his."

"I was wondering how you managed to make that thing disappear. Well, you seem to have done a great job. He's dressing like a normal person." The older man stopped and looked down into his teacup. "I guess you got to know her pretty well huh?"

"That's what happens when you work with someone everyday for a month and a half."

"Do you know if she's seeing anyone at the moment?"

Goten's mouth thinned as he seemed to mule over his answer. "I know she gets asked out a lot. But, no, she's not seeing anyone." He suddenly looked at his watch then ran his fingers through his hair, mussing it. "Look, I got to go. I have to check some things at the office then go out to the Murphy site. The contractor has some changes he wants to go over. I'll see you tomorrow?" Goten stood up and pulled out his wallet to pay his share.

"Hold up a sec. I'll walk out with you. I have to head back to the lab as well." Trunks paid his share and stood up.

As the pair walked out, Trunks looked at his companion. "Save me a spar for tomorrow?"

Goten bumped his friend causing him to stumble sideways some. "Only if you help me gang up on my dad later."

"Done." Trunks bumped back causing Goten to grab his arm to avoid stumbling.

"Thank you your highnesses!" Both men looked up in time to see the vulture across the street salute them with his camera then tear off.

"Son of a bitch!" Trunks felt the grip on his arm restraining him from hunting the jerk down.

"Let him go Trunks. The last thing you need is an assault charge. That's what he wants. Otherwise, he wouldn't have said anything. It's the only way he is going to sell that picture."

"Damn it. I thought they were finally leaving us alone. Go to work. I promise not to hunt him down. See you tomorrow."

Goten looked at him carefully before smiling, unencapsulating his car and waving as he left. Trunks slammed his fist into a nearby light pole, denting it. After checking for more photographers, he slid behind the building and took to the sky. He let the feel of his own ki wash over him and allowed the wind to strip away the frustrations.

After his junior division win all those years ago it did not take the media long to figure out that he was the son of Bulma Briefs and her rather enigmatic common law husband. One or the other was bad enough, but both combined just assured that he spent his life in the spotlight. Every aspect of his life was looked into. Somehow the media had learned out that Vegeta was a prince; although they could never figure out from where and it was assumed that he was a member of one of the many deposed royal families of the East Sea archipelago. Fortunately, his father's disposition kept the media away from the house and away from him personally.

In almost the same amount of time, it was realized that Goten was the son of the Ox King's only daughter. As a result, the Son's also became a target. When Gohan and Videl's relationship was rooted out, they became the darlings of the paparazzi until their wedding thirteen years ago. It really wasn't until high school though that the photographers centered on him and Goten. His looks and Goten's easy charm assured both of them success with women and they often double dated. At that time, however, the press had labeled them the "Playboy Princes," a moniker they had yet to divest themselves of. Words could not express how he hated that name.

Eventually he had learned to minimize the impact of the vultures and use the press to his, and the company's, advantage. All of his photos were carefully prepared for. His constant availability and legitimate press coverage had reduced the vulture attacks. Still, he had to admit to himself, one or two always managed to slip through.

He landed back at the Capsule Corp. labs and heard his mother yelling at one of his lead engineers about the engine modifications. Forgetting about everything that happened during lunch, he headed towards the labs. He would have to smooth things over before another engineer quit this week.

---

Goten looked at the general contractor standing next to him. They were pouring over the blueprints that were spread over the capsule table. "So we are agreed that you guys can live with these changes." After an affirmative response, he began rolling up the blueprints and handed them over. "Good. I'm leaving these with you and I'll be back out Monday morning."

He had thought about just going home but decided, instead, to walk down the street to the Pizza Parlor. On the way, he passed a newsstand which had all of the latest rags. He wondered which one, if any, would have the picture taken today. He really did not want to think about the story which would be run with it. He was about to turn away when the picture of Marron splashed over the front of one caught his eye. He picked it up and flipped through it. When he finally came across the story he stared. Marron stood outside of her office building smiling uncomfortably as she tried to avoid the cameras. Her clothing was top notch and her makeup perfect. With her mother's height and her long hair free she looked more like one of the models she was constantly dressing. Next to the first picture was another from the tournament in her gi. Her hair was up, her skin had a slight sheen of perspiration, and her eyes and smile lit up her face as nothing else could. She looked natural and confident and stunning, absolutely stunning. Scanning the other magazines, the dark haired man bought a copy of every one that had an article about the tournament.

Goten read the articles between trips to the pizza buffet. Sometime after the seventh trip he turned the page and there she was. "What the fuck?" What caught him off guard the most was that it was not a tournament picture. She was wearing pants that were at least a size too large and what had to be the ugliest floral shirt he had ever seen. Behind her, the buildings rose and towered. She was not looking at the camera. She probably did not even know it was there (that's what the vultures were best at.) Black eyes glared daggers at anyone who approached and her lip curled up into a snarl. Her hands were fisted and her tail was wrapped snugly around her waist and in plain sight. Goten scanned the caption to discover that the picture was taken in Blue Bush City. He quickly began scanning the other rags for pictures of the elusive Saiyan. There were none, but, there was other media he could check.

Everyone had had their ki sensors on high alert but only managed to receive brief, ten second flashes of power. They were just enough to remind everyone that she was alive but never long enough to pinpoint her location. Part of him berated himself for not thinking of the media sooner. He knew that Marron was being hounded for interviews and product sponsorship; not to mention the press. Every winner had been since Hercule retired. His mind on overdrive, he packed up the papers, paid his bill, and head back home.

TBC

A/N: Thank you for reading. Please don't forget to review. Pretty please with a cherry on top.

ilex9 - Thank you! You'll learn that everybody has their own little tics.

thePrincesJewel - I'm glad your reading. Everything will be revealed in time. I don't plan on making Seloli a major character though. She is more of a catalyst. The action happens because of her but it is not necessarily about her. Does that make sense?

Rini - Thank you for the advice. Now if only I can convince the rest of the one chapter readers of that.

Card - You made it!!!! *does the happy dance* I'm glad you like the name. There was this whole debate between my beta and I about which form to use. Serori is the Japanese word for celery. And, in keeping with the whole letter change thing, I changed all the R's to L's. It's kind of fun; I've been going through my recipe books trying to find names for Saiyans.