Disclaimer: Same as always . . . don't own DBZ, don't sue, have fun and enjoy the story.
In just an hour, Krillin's family and the Son's met up in the CC living room. Everyone was talking animatedly and shooting questions at Mirai. He tried his best to answer all of them.
After a couple hours, Bra unterrupted them. "Hey, I bet Mirai-kun would like to hang out with us for a couple hours. You know, we can show him the world he never had."
Mirai considered for a moment. "Yes . . . that would be nice," he finally said.
Pan cheered. "YES!" She stood and grabbed his hand. "C'mon, Bra, Marron, Goten, and Uubu will come with us!"
"And Trunks can drive," Marron added.
They used the white van again.
"C'mon, Trunks, use a different car!" Bra whined.
"Would you rather walk, PRINCESS?" he shot back.
She stuck her tongue at him and took the seat in the back again.
"B-chan!" Goten protested, and they got into a childish arguement about the window seat again. Mirai sat in the middle of the van, and Uubu sat in the back next to Goten.
"Pan, wanna sit up here?" Trunks asked sweetly.
Goten snickered. "What, so she can slap you again?" Bra burst into laughter.
"GOTEN, SHUT UP!" Trunks yelled.
"No, Marron is sitting up front," Pan smirked, sitting next to Mirai.
Marron looked dissapointed. "But I wanna sit next to Mirai-kun!" she protested.
Trunks frowned. *Up until this Mirai person came along, Pan and Marron always wanted me. What the heck does Mirai Trunks have that I don't? We look the same, we both fight . . . I just don't freakin' get it . . .*
Trunks checked his watch. "Okay, we have about three hours left. What do you all want to do?" He was trying to be as polite as he possibly could. He thought Pan would like that and fall right into his arms. *Sometimes I wonder about my sanity . . .*
Goten was whispering something to Bra. It must have been funny, because she giggled often.
Pan looked thoughtful for a moment. Then she grinned. "Ice cream!" Everyone but Mirai gave her an odd look. Mirai Trunks just looked confused. "What? I'll bet you Mirai-kun never got to try ice cream."
Mirai shrugged. "I guess . . ."
Marron smiled. "That IS a good idea, isn't it, Uub-chan?" Uubu flashed her a smile. Here was the thing. Marron liked Trunks AND Mirai. Uubu liked Pan. Pan liked Mirai. Trunks and Mirai liked Pan. Marron and Uubu decided to pretend to go out to make them jealous and get what they wanted.
So far it didn't seem to be working well.
Ten minutes later, the group was sitting in an ice cream booth. Well, two booths, actually.
Mirai Trunks and Pan were sitting across from eachother, Marron was sitting next to Mirai, and Uubu was sitting next to Pan. Behind Pan at the other booth sat Trunks, and across from him, Goten and Bra were sitting togather, holding a whispered conversation.
Pan, Mirai, and Uubu were also holding a conversation, only it was about battles, fighting techniques and such. Soon Trunks joined in. Marron just sat quietly, although inside her head she was doing something very un-Marron-like; plotting.
"You use a SWORD?" Pan said exitedly.
Mirai nodded. "It was sort of a gift . . . from this guy, Tapion, in my time."
"I can't beleive you fight with a sword!" she said. "Mirai-kun, could you teach me?" Teach her? Of course he wanted to teach her! But he didn't want her to know he was that eager, so he replied cooly, "I'll think about it."
She smirked. "I know you'll say yes. And even if you don't, I always find a way to get what I want."
Trunks snorted. "Which sword are you going to show off your talent with, Mirai?"
Pan turned in her seat. Instead of the death glare he was expecting, she smiled sweetly. "Trunks, he doesn't go showing his off to every witch he comes across. He's not like YOU."
Trunks slammed his hand down on the table, startling everyone in the building. "Pan, I'm trying to be nice to you! Can't you understand that?"
The mock-sweet smile changed to a scowl. "You insulted Mirai-kun. Baka! Why can't you quit being mean to him? That's almost like insulting yourself!"
"Why are you all preffering him over me?" Trunks growled. "What makes him so SPECIAL that even Tousan and Kaasan like him better than me?!"
Pan smirked. "You want to know? Fine. Bra? Would you care to explain why you like Mirai Trunks better than Trunks?"
A hand gripped her shoulder gently. "Don't bother," Mirai Trunks's calm, quiet voice said. He was standing at the tableside now, leaning over Uubu to touch Pan. Crystal blue eyes gazed into he deep blue ones, and it almost looked like communication.
Pan slowly nodded, and slipped out past Uubu. She whispered something into Mirai's ear. He smirked and nodded.
"Hey, don't you two wanna hang out for the last two hours?" Bra called as they headed out.
Her best friend shook her head. "Nah. T-chan and I are gonna spar awhile. Later." she waved.
"So, you gonna teach me to use a sword?" Pan asked.
He grinned. "Do you have one?"
"Tousan used to use his . . . maybe he still has it somewhere. I could borrow it, probably," she said, poking his side.
"Okay, then."
Trunks and Uubu exchanged glances. "Did you hear what I heard?" Trunks said slowly.
"Yeah . . . she called him T-chan!" Uubu frowned.
"She did? I didn't notice . . ." Trunks muttered. "I was talking about the sparring part."
"So?" Uubu blinked. "What about it?"
"Don't you GET it? If they're sparring, they'll be hitting eachother. Hitting means touching. Touching means building a relationship!" he hissed, making sure Bra, Marron, and Goten couldn't hear.
Uubu shook his head. "Trunks, you have a sick, twisted mind."
"Look," Trunks started, leaning over the back of his seat. "You know you like Pan. You know I like Pan. We know Pan likes Mirai, and it's possible Mirai likes Pan. So I'm willing to work with you at this point to get rid of Mirai. Deal?"
Mirai Trunks entered the gravity room after Pan had opened the door. He left his sword inside and took off his jacket. Glancing over at her, he observed what she had changed in to.
Pan was wearing a sleeveless Saiya-jin-like spandex suit, no shoes or gloves or anything else. Right now she was in her warm-up exercise process.
*This is definetly going to be interesting.* Mirai thought. Aloud, he asked, "Ready?"
She looked up and smirked. When she dropped down to her stance, he took it as a challenge.
"Bring it on, T-chan."
"Hold up," Mirai said, raising his hand. "What's up with the 'T-chan'?" He shot her a questioning look.
Her eyes twinkled. "You aren't getting anything out of me, hotshot."
He cracked his knuckles. "How about if I defeat you in a little battle, you can tell me what's up with calling me T-chan."
A fine black eyebrow raised. "What if I win?"
Mirai Trunks chuckled. "What do you want from me?"
Pan considered for a minute, then grinned. "I want you to call me Pan-chan from then on."
He laughed to himself. *Pan has no idea that I already want to call her that." he thought. "Deal."
"I have a better idea," Uubu said slowly.
Trunks hitched an eyebrow. "Oh, really? And just what might that be?"
"The Tenkaichi Budokai is coming up soon. All Pan has to do is defeat on of us, then one of us . . ."
Trunks smirked. "That's good . . . that's very good . . ."
Vegeta interrupted Mirai and Pan's sparring. "Mirai brat. Out." he ordered.
Mirai Trunks sensed he needed to talk to Pan about something. *It's probably urgent,* he thought. "Hai, Tousan." Snatching his jacket, he darted into the house.
"Konnichi wa, Vegeta-sama," Pan greeted. "But couldn't this have waited? Mirai-kun said that if I won our little match-"
"If you want something more out of him, like being your mate, then shut up and listen, brat." Vegeta snapped. Pan shut up. "As I thought. Now, listen. The Tenkaichi Budokai is coming up in two months. If you want to place a bond in Mirai, you have to beat him in the tournament. Got that, brat?"
Pan smirked. "Hai, Vegeta-sama. Arigotou."
"Then use your fists and not your mouth, brat."
She crouched down into her postion, accepting the challenge . . . and his silent offer to train her. "Hai."
Umm... comments? Hehehe... -Deidre