Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Little Warriors All Grown up ❯ Chapter ( Chapter 17 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: DBZ and its characters belong to Akira Toriyama!

I hope you enjoy the next chapter :)

-~Z-~

The following week went pleasantly well on both Goten and Trunks' parts. Goten was finally getting into routine with having to travel the world and meeting customers. Even though he'd be exhausted once he headed back to Capsule Corp he knew a very serious Vegeta was waiting for him in the GR.

Goten had felt that flying to different parts of the world gave him time to escape and think about things. For the most part it was of Trunks. Even though he lacked a few things when it came to relationships, he was searching for a way for them to figure something out. They both had confessed that they like each other... But apparently it wasn't enough to act on it apart from getting it off. Goten sighed. –This is getting confusing- he thought. How would other couples progress? No, the better question was how did male couples work? He knew that dating was the biggest option, such as going to movies, random outings here and there but he was unsure if Trunks really was that type of person.

Every day when he arrived back into his apartment to get a quick snack before training he eyed Trunks. He would see Trunks chatting away to some Capsule Corp. person or typing some notes onto his laptop. Goten had hoped that perhaps being busy would give him a bit more time to think about things and how he was going to go about making this relationship work. –Maybe Trunks is doing the same thing?- he wondered.

"You're late," Vegeta growled later that week.

"Sorry, I got a carried away," Goten excused himself as he entered the room.

"No excuses, boy! 9000 push ups! Now!"

Goten just gulped and did what he was asked. Once the warm ups were done they started with their usual spar.

They threw punches at each other. Vegeta easily dodged as Goten made a quick change and aimed for his chest. Vegeta had just grunted and slammed his fist into Goten's stomach. He flew across the room, smacking against the wall.

"What is wrong with you? Focus Goten!" He heard Vegeta shout.

He couldn't focus. His mind kept drifting back to Trunks. –How are we going to work this out?-

"Get up and fight like a man! Focus on your opponent! Don't let outside matters become your weakness! Don't let it distract you!"

Goten had just shook his head, grabbing his gut as he felt Vegeta kick him once more.

"Vegeta!" Goten shouted.

Vegeta grabbed Goten by the collar and raised him against the wall.

"This whole week you have been nothing but a mess! Fight like you mean it or get out!"

Goten winced as he took another blow.

"Fucking fine!" he spat. Vegeta smirked. That was the exact reaction he wanted. He dropped Goten to the floor and walked back to the middle.

"Make your weaknesses your strengths, brat. You should know this by now!"

Goten had bitten his lip. "What if your weakness is already strong?"

Vegeta turned around and eyed him suspiciously.

"Then how is it a weakness? If it's strong then it shouldn't be a weakness in the first place,"

"What if it weakens me to the point that I'm not too sure if I want to continue?"

Vegeta scoffed. –What is this boy on about? He's making no sense!-

"Either get rid of it or learn how to master it."

Goten nodded. "But how did you stop Bulma and Trunks becoming your weakness?"

Vegeta's hands grew into fists at the side of his legs.

"I don't have time to talk about petty attachments and girls! Either we train or you get out of my house!"

Goten had just nodded. Perhaps he wasn't going to get any answers out of Vegeta.

-Z-

Friday rolled by quickly. Trunks had been busy all week doing a few jobs and things for Capsule Corp. Gohan had come over earlier that week to tutor him on some accounting business. He had to admit that is was boring with a capital B; but he had to at least try for his family.

"Wanna go out?" Trunks asked as Goten walked out of the bathroom.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Anything outside of Capsule Corp would do. I feel like I've got cabin fever from being in here all week," Trunks complained.

"Well let's get something for dinner. I think I'm sick of instant food," Goten snorted.

Even though he could cook (thanks to Chi-Chi teaching him), he was too lazy to ever make a proper meal and as far as he knew Trunks only knew how to make the basics. In the end they resulted in eating instant food, which were technically just frozen meals that needed to be warmed up. Only once in a while they'd have dinner downstairs with rest of the family. Goten sighed as he thought about his mother's cooking. He sure missed it. Luckily food was the only thing they had to deal with. Laundry and washing was done for them.

"Yeah dinner sounds good,"

"As long as you're paying," Goten winked. Trunks laughed.

"Okay, let's go then."

-Z-

They walked along a busy street looking for a good restaurant. Goten was chewing his lip as his mind kept wondering. –Goten... just do it. If you don't make the first move then he isn't going to do anything either. You need to sort out your self-conscious issues and just make a bloody move! - He encouraged. He sighed and took a big breath.

His right hand inched slightly towards Trunks' left hand as they walked. Slowly and carefully Goten took hold of it. Trunks gasped, stepping nearly a metre from his younger friend as he jerked his hand away.

"What?" Goten blinked.

"Don't do that! You scared me!" Trunks hissed.

"I just wanted to hold your hand," Goten confessed.

Trunks looked away for a few minutes and mumbled a reply, "not in public."

-Not in public? Why the fuck not! I thought he was the one that was eager to get to me, not the other way around! - Goten had thought. He wanted to press the issue but he didn't want to end up arguing with his friend.

Not long they found an ordinary restaurant that wasn't too jam-packed. They ordered their meals, even though the waitress gave them strange looks at the amounts of orders. Awkward silence lingered in the air as they sat there without saying much.

"I don't get why you didn't want to hold my hand," Goten was the first to speak.

"You wouldn't understand,"

"Try me," he challenged.

"You don't have an image to keep up," Trunks snorted.

"An image to keep up? So you're saying I'm not part of this image?" Goten raised his eyebrows.

Trunks kicked himself inwardly as he realised he said the wrong thing. –I wasn't supposed to let that slip out. It came out wrong. Goten, please don't take it to heart. I love you, don't back down because I was stupid enough to say something like that.-

"I don't know how the public will see it, okay!" he quickly replied, ignoring his thoughts.

"So in the end it comes to this stupid taboo of gays, isn't it?"

"I didn't know you knew such a word," Trunks laughed, trying to bring lightness to the air.

"What are you so afraid of Trunks? Who the fuck cares! You know for a fact that there will always be people disagreeing,"

"But you're not the one who is to become the next heir to Capsule Corp,"

"Is this why we're not moving forward? Is this why we just keep fucking around?" Goten questioned. He tried to calm himself. He shouldn't be getting worked up over such a little problem. –No! To the hell of it! I need to stand up for myself. I need to be mature for my age for this one time and sort through this problem. If I don't, I can easily end up losing not only my best friend but potential boyfriend.-

"Trunks, we need to sort this out! Everyday it's the same old thing. When are we going to move forward and be something?" Goten asked.

"When we fix our problems," Trunks had answered.

"What problems? The only problem I see here is you worrying about thoughts of others, and your pathetic image."

"See Goten, that's where you and I are different. You're happy-go-lucky; you don't care what others think of you, while I do. I over think sometimes... My mind is rational. I'm a guy with genius genes in my body thanks to my family. I have a stupid ego thanks to my father, while you just-"

"I don't care what others think of me?" Goten interrupted. "You don't know anything! Especially about stupid rumours that spread about me back in high school!" he nearly shouted.

"You've never spoken about rumours," Trunks' eyes widened.

"Because it didn't matter! Abbey was one of my last ex girlfriends Trunks. She thought I was either fucking frigid or gay! So she did what every other gossip does, spread rumours,"

"So I wasn't the only reason why you came to college here?" Trunks pondered.

"No shit, dipstick,"

Trunks laughed at the reply. Their meals came a little while later. They ate their masses of plates with quick speed. A few eyes lingered on them with disgust.

"But you're not frigid at all and neither are you fully gay," Trunks spoke once their meal was done.

"Same goes with you,"

"Yeah, the girls seemed to love me," Trunks winked a reply.

"Don't blame them, I can see why,"

"So, we both agree that we find each other attractive?"

"I guess so," Goten smiled.

"But are we doing this because of just simple attraction or is it more?"

"I thought it was something more," Goten sighed. He was certain it was something more. The love he had for Trunks was a bit of a mixture of things. But he couldn't doubt that he had all his trust in Trunks. They'd been together for so long, he couldn't remember being anything else other than Goten and Trunks.

"I don't see ourselves ever not being Goten and Trunks," he quickly added.

"Yeah, even though we did drift during high school, we were always still Trunks and Goten," his older friend agreed.

"So then it isn't just physical attraction?"

"Well it could either be a very fucked up version of brotherly love, best friends – but mind you, we'd have to friend zone each other then – or it's actually love that couples seem to have," Trunks explained.

"I can't see you not being in my life Trunks, but maybe you're right. We do have problems," Goten had given in. Perhaps this was running a lot deeper than he had thought. But what problems were they exactly facing? He knew Trunks was struggling with the fact of his public image and perhaps Vegeta. But that didn't explain what his problems were. He wasn't afraid of what the public would think of him. He was use to strange looks and rumours thanks to his ex..

"Same here Chibi," Trunks winked for the first part of Goten's reply.

Goten laughed as Trunks used his old nickname.

"No more of that please!" Goten excused.

"That's not fair, you're younger than me, don't I get at least some dominance?"

"You can be dominant by sorting out our problems 'cause I have no idea what is going on," Goten shrugged.

"I can't help you with your problems Goten, you know that's something you got to do by yourself... but I will sort mine out. Deal?" Trunks had extended his arm. –Maybe it's time to start moving forward. No more avoiding the truth. – He encouraged himself.

"Deal," Goten shook his hand.

-Z-

"Is there anything to eat? Has your grandma dropped off the new food?" Goten asked on Sunday afternoon after their training.

"Shit! I forgot to ask her for some more!" Trunks groaned.

"Oh hey, no big deal! I'll go downstairs and get some ingredients." Goten left the apartment before Trunks could say otherwise.

"My Goten, what are you doing with all that food?" Mrs. Briefs asked as she saw Goten ravaged her kitchen for vegetables, meat and whatever else he could find.

"I'm going to make some dinner," he explained.

"Oh! That's lovely! Do you need a spare capsule for all that food?"

"Please," Goten beamed a smile.

"Grandma! Can I have a cookie?" Bulla asked as Mrs. Briefs opened her box of spare capsules.

"Not now sweetie-pie! I'm just about to get dinner ready now!"

"Awh but grandma! I'm hungry!" Bulla's eyes became teary.

"No sweetie! You know you're mother won't be happy if you don't eat all your food,"

Bulla sobbed as she walked out of the kitchen.

After placing all the food in the capsule, Goten quickly grabbed a few biscuits for Bulla.

"Hey Bulla!" Goten called as he walked past the living room that she was in.

"Uncle Goten!" Bulla called.

"Here's some cookies, eat them quickly! I don't want you to get caught!" He sneakily passed her some with a wink. Bulla beamed an extra cheesy smile,

"Thank you Goten!" She nearly screamed, ramming all of them into her small mouth.

He chuckled as he left the room, completely not noticing Vegeta sitting on the couch with his brows furrowed. He snorted, turning his attention back to the TV. –Stupid brat.-

Trunks smelled the air as he came out of the shower. He eyed their kitchen as he saw Goten working furiously over a wok. –Never thought I'd see this - he thought.

"You can cook Goten?" Trunks asked, resting his arms against the counter top.

"Chi-Chi had the honour of teaching me,"

"So not only she taught you how to train but she taught you how to cook. Good grief, no wonder you were upset to leave her behind,"

Goten just laughed, adding the last few sauces to the stir-fry he was making. The rice cooker dinged as the rice finished cooking. Trunks closed his eyes and took in the smell. Beef, celery, carrots, onions, garlic, soy-sauce, barbeque, it all filled his nose making his stomach growl.

"Could you take out the rice and place it on some plates?' Goten asked as he tossed the stir-fry mixture once more.

Trunks did as he was asked. He grabbed a capsule out of the small box against the wall. After the smoke cleared a small table and chairs appeared.

"Kami! It smells so good," Trunks nearly drooled. It's been over a week since he's had a good home-cooked meal. Actually, it was his first time having a Goten-cooked meal. Whatever Goten has put into the food was sparking his senses like crazy.

"I hope it tastes good, I'm a little rusty," Goten laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head.

"Hey, if you made it, it should be good,"

They tried the stir-fry and were pleasantly surprised at the taste.

"It's good," Goten nodded, devouring the whole meal as fast as he could. Trunks took his time instead. He smiled inwardly as he ate the first meal Goten has cooked for him. –I hope he doesn't mind doing this more often. - He felt a little string dug inside of him as he ate. –And he cooked this just for us - he added.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" Goten asked as they sipped their fizzy drinks.

"What's personal? You know there's nothing to hide?"

"I've just been thinking back to the first time we went further than a kiss..." Goten blushed. "How many girls did you exactly sleep with?"

Trunks' eyes bulged. He coughed as the drink went down the wrong hole.

"Why do you want to know? It doesn't matter now," he excused.

"Well you said I have to sort out my problems... So here I am, trying to sort them out,"

"But I don't see how this is a problem? Are you worried that I caught something or whatever?"

"No... I'm just curious," Goten laughed nervously. Trunks eyed him suspiciously.

"I went through different stages, but I always made sure they were virgins. Sure, most of called me a jerk when I ended up just being their first one-night stand. But hell, Saiyan hormones are crazy,"

"That's so rude,"

"But... actual intercourse? Sometimes... But not all the time... I just don't see why it matters? I'm healthy if you're worried about that? But it's all in the past. I was just a very... hormonal teenager. I barely shared any feelings for them..." Trunks drifted.

"I feel sorry for the girls then," Goten sighed.

"I highly doubt that. I bet mentally you're jumping around going 'yay! I was probably the only one he truly had feelings for!'" Trunks laughed.

"Ha! Maybe... What about Marron?"

"What about Marron? Nothing happened. My mum tried and I said no. We went on one date but that was it. She told me there was another guy in the picture and so we left it at that,"

"The same guy as who she's engaged to now?"

"Yeah... Kami... It makes me worry when we're a few years older than her and she's already engaged!"

"Yeah, I sometimes feel that way too," Goten chuckled. Marron had gotten engaged pretty early on. He remembered Krillin objecting the subject, but 18 didn't seem to mind. Once Krillin saw that he was actually a martial artist his defensiveness for his daughter dropped. He thought maybe he could give the poor guy a chance.

"Marron and I wouldn't have worked out," Trunks broke Goten's thoughts.

"How come?"

"We're not alike... She's into fashion and shopping. She's quiet and likes to keep to herself, while I'm the total opposite,"

"Yeah, my mother always said that Saiyans tend to pick wives who fight back,"

"And I can see her point," Trunks agreed.

"Could it be why we're not moving forward?"

"You mean we're supposed to be arguing like they all do?" Trunks snorted.

"Gohan and Videl don't argue. Sure, she's the boss of him but Gohan never disobeys her,"

"I don't blame him!"

"Maybe one of us needs to be more dominant? Like call all the shots and stuff..."

"Maybe..." Trunks drifted.

"I remember a while ago when we were still kids, we had to fight Broly. You said at the end of the day 'let this be a lesson to ya, never grow up,' while Videl was chasing Gohan. For a while I didn't understand what you were saying. Heck, I never understood when you told me about how girls were always so annoying... But as I got older I started to see what you meant... Maybe I decided to follow your advice a bit too close to heart," Goten laughed.

"That makes me question as to why you never went that far with any girl,"

"Well... I was a nervous wreck. You know me! But I'm sure I've told you before that I always felt guilty for going further. I felt even guiltier for having to lead them on. For some strange reason I struggled to fine deep feelings for them. You were always at the back of my mind and I guess it just always got in the way,"

"And you don't feel like that when with me?"

"No way... When I'm with you I seem to go out of control. Like somehow my Saiyan instincts kick in and it takes everything I have to see clearly,"

"That's what I meant about Saiyan hormones," Trunks winked. "But I think this relationship we're going through could be a lot easier to solve if you did at least once went through with a girl and experienced everything that you should in a 'normal' relationship,"

"Yeah maybe... But I don't regret it," Goten beamed his classic smile. "But what makes our relationship any different between a male and a female?" he added.

"The fact that we're guys?" Trunks questioned. "Wait no, that can't be it. Love has no gender." He quickly added before Goten spoke.

"Well, since I'm lacking in the relationship area, maybe you could show me how a real relationship should work?" Goten asked.

Trunks blushed lightly as he agreed with a nod. He left out the fact that he hasn't exactly had his ways with relationships either. None of them ever lasted for more than 4 or so months. But he wanted to give Goten hope that they could make this work. –We can make this work... I just first need to sort out my problems.-

-~Z-~