Under Duress

Awesome Incarnate: I’m glad I was able to fix the pacing. And no, you weren’t being mean at all! I appreciate the criticism, to be honest. Actually, because of your and marc’s comments (because I hadn't planned on doing this), I’ve revised and updated Vegeta’s part of the first chapter. It’s nothing plot changing, but hopefully it slows it down. Now, as for Trunks and Goten…tee hee, tee hee…^-^

wickedeve: Thanks! I know, Trunks can be such a butt, but he has his reasons, haaa… I hope this chapter doesn’t disappoint! :D

Veronica: Holy crap on a cracker! Just when I thought you couldn’t be any more awesome after reading your review for “Burn,” you go and write stuff like that! XD Thanks, I definitely appreciate the kind words. And all wonderings will be answered in due time. I shall chuckle here because I have plans for these boys…plannnssss… I hope you like this chapter just as much!

marc: Like I mentioned to Awesome Incarnate, I’ve reposted the first chapter. It might move more fluidly this time around. Also, about the Trunks’ vs. Trunks’s thing: I was under the impression that both were accepted, but yes, the second one is definitely recommended. I’ve been omitting the extra s on purpose, though, because of the…clunky looking and sounding result (and I was just hoping no one would notice… *pushes fingers together* XD). But I do want to make my readers happy, since I know if one of my pet peeves just kept showing up in a story, there’s a chance I would stop reading it. So I’ll change it for ya (from here on, lol). ^_^ I hope I can keep you interested!


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Chapter Three: Shake It Up Baby, Now!
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It was well past ten o’clock when Mirai Trunks awoke the next day. His sleep had been more than restful; knowing that he didn’t have to get up to face yet another drawn-out meeting with domestic or international clientele relieved the weight of anxiety from his shoulders.

His blue eyes slid open to be greeted by the bright sun streaming through the window near his bed. Mirai stretched lazily, a strong leg peeking out from underneath the fluffy comforter that had been tossed about during the night. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he swung his feet over the side of the bed. He could sense that the others in the house were already awake, and his sensitive nose could smell the vestiges of breakfast. He sighed, realizing he may have slept through the meal.

After he had showered and dressed, he made his way down the stairs, and was pleased when he saw that there was still enough food left for him in the kitchen. He did stop, however, before entering, silently watching the family before him. Bulma was washing a few dishes at the sink—as if it were actually necessary, since she had many tiny machines to do this for her—and Vegeta was sitting at the table with the younger version of Trunks, quietly fighting over the last slices of bacon.

A smile touched Mirai’s lips, as he watched the family that he had always wanted. Vegeta looked up, having effectively threatened his son and victoriously eaten the last of the meat on the table, and nodded at him. Mirai returned the greeting, while Trunks stewed miserably in his chair. He felt a stern gaze on him, and he didn’t have to look in his direction to know that his counterpart was staring him down. Casually ignoring the boy, he walked towards his mother.

“Good morning,” he said, leaning against the counter.

“Oh, Trunks, you’re up! I wanted to let you sleep in, so we didn’t call you down for breakfast. I hope you don’t mind. I saved some for you.”

With a wink and a smile, she gestured towards the food on her opposite side. Smiling, Mirai eyed the food hungrily, his Saiya-jin side catching up with him.

“Thanks.”

Taking his seat at the table, he ate his food quietly, eventually growing used to the sporadic angry stares he would receive from his younger self. At one point Mirai had actually tried to start a conversation with him, but of course he received only short, one word answers and the occasional grunt. The older Trunks frowned in annoyance, if not just a little disappointment. He knew that he was a hard man to get close to, but this was nonsense. This kid was just being a dick. Could Vegeta’s presence in his upbringing really have had that much effect?

Bulma interrupted his musings, telling Trunks to be nice to his older self—which was met with a particularly disgusted look and a small ‘hmpf’ of acquiescence. She sat down next to Mirai, prodding him about any side effects he had ever felt from time travel. Bulma smiled inwardly as she noticed Vegeta’s ears perk at the question. And with that, the younger Trunks’s complex was seemingly forgotten, so he excused himself from the table and exited the kitchen area.


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The next several hours passed uneventfully, as both Trunkses managed to stay in their own separate corners of the house—not as though it was terribly difficult, given the size of the Capsule Corporation compound. Soon the guests that Bulma had invited the previous day began to arrive. Tables and chairs and party favors decorated the back lawn of the main house, and Bulma looked around the yard with a rather impressed look on her face.

“Not bad for such short notice,” she said to herself with a satisfied smirk.

Goku, Chichi, and Goten were the first to arrive, the dark-haired Sons already ogling the substantial buffet set out on one of the larger tables. Chichi sighed dramatically, shaking her head.

“I swear,” Chichi started, “the Earth could be shattering under our feet and they’d sleep right through it, but just whisper ‘free food’ anywhere in the vicinity and they don’t even have to ask you where it is. They’re already eating it.”

Bulma chuckled as her friend shook her head again. She had known the woman for years, and even though she constantly chastised her husband and sons for their behaviors, she knew that Chichi secretly preferred it that way.

One by one, the rest of the warriors appeared, filling the backyard with the gentle murmur of friendly chatter. It wasn’t often that they were all in the same place for anything other than a severe threat to either the planet or the universe; some allies they had not seen in years. Tenshinhan and Chaotzu, the ever elusive pair, had only last been seen at the Cell Games.

When Mirai stepped through the doorway, the others hushed momentarily. The lavender-haired man smiled nervously and gave a small wave. As if on cue, everyone burst into a friendly hello’s, greeting the time traveler with excited questioning.

“Wow, Trunks, it’s been so long!” Goku said, a mouth full of food.

“No kidding, what have you been up to?” Krillin asked.

“Yeah, is everyone living peacefully now that you’ve defeated Cell and the androids in your time?”

“Hopefully, nothing has come up in your time since we’ve seen you!”

“Yeah, hopefully, there aren’t any more threats to our planet that you’ve come to warn us about, you know?”

Yamucha laughed heartily, a contagious laugh that infected those around him. However, it was soon followed by an expectant and quietly concerned hush. Mirai rubbed the back of his neck, a trait he must have picked up from Gohan, and laughed.

“No, not this time. Sorry to disappoint, guys,” he said easily, hoping to dispel the sudden tension that had permeated the group.

At his words, everyone visibly relaxed and the breezy smiles returned. They continued to query him about the status of his timeline, and Mirai described a similar story that he had told his mother the day before.

From across the yard, Goten watched the older Trunks entertain his audience with his updates of the future. Through his steady munching, his lips continued to twitch upward with every word the man spoke.

“It’s okay to blink, you know,” Trunks said with a frown. “He won’t disappear. Unfortunately.”

Goten swallowed the last of his fish and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. Trunks rolled his eyes. The younger demi focused wide black eyes on his best friend.

“You know, Trunks, asshole doesn’t become you.”

And with a triumphant look on his face—he hardly ever thought of anything witty to say on the spot—Goten loaded his plate with another helping of various foods and continued watching the other Trunks from afar. Trunks pushed down a pout and sat down next to Goten with his own serving from the buffet table. They ate in silence for a while, both watching the others flock around the visitor, each with radically different expressions on their faces.

“I don’t see why everyone’s so ga-ga about him,” Trunks muttered bitterly. “I mean, this guy just shows up out of nowhere, does nothing, and suddenly he’s a freakin’ god. You know, I graduated Valedictorian in high school, but no one cares about that.”

“Well, it’s not like it was a surprise or anything. Everyone knows how smart you are. You’re Bulma’s son.”

“You’re Bulma’s son,” Trunks mocked.

Goten giggled, knowing that Trunks knew he was being immature. He nudged his friend with a playful jab to the arm and smiled.

“Come on, give him a chance. You might actually like him. You know, since he is you and all.”

“No, Goten, that’s where you’re wrong. He’s nothing like me, and I’m nothing like him.”

There was another moment of silence between them, only the sounds of their eating breaking the reticence. Trunks continued to brood and Goten watched intently as the older Trunks laughed politely at one of Master Roshi’s perverted jokes.

“Where’s your brother?” Trunks asked suddenly.

“Gohan? Oh, I dunno. He’s…somewhere with Videl probably. He said he was coming, though. But you know how they are.”

“Hm, yeah, they’re probably—”

“Sshshshshsh!!!” Goten hushed the prince violently. “He’s coming!”

Trunks fixed a strange look on Goten, then with a sidelong glance realized why his friend was acting like he was about to wet himself. He gave an exasperated sigh through his nose and stood.

“Do me a favor, Goten, and make sure you wipe your mouth after you finish swallowing his divine essence, ‘kay?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Trunks frowned, annoyed that he had even wasted his brilliance on the younger man. He glanced at Mirai, who was now a few paces away, filling a large plate with goodies. Goten, his own plate long-since forgotten, saddled up to the newcomer and flashed his brightest smile.

“Oh, hey Goten,” Mirai said, briefly nodding to him.

“Hey, there.” He paused momentarily. “The barbeque is especially good. You should try that first.”

“Ah. Thanks.”

Goten bit his lip, trying to appear neither flustered nor sexually frustrated. He watched Trunks choose from the variety of foods in front of them, racking his brain for something useful to say. The silence that stretched on was more than agonizing for Goten. Eventually, Mirai stopped what he was doing and turned to the younger man.

“Do you…need something?”

“Uh…” Your hot, sexy body. “I was um, you know, just… Oh hey, look, it’s Gohan!”

Unnoticed by Goten, Mirai almost dropped his plate. The blue-eyed man stared unseeingly in front of him, his head dipped so that his long hair obscured his profile. He tapped the table rapidly with his index finger.

“Gohan!” Goten called to his brother. “Over here!”

Mirai placed his food down quietly on the table and told himself that it was just Gohan, that he had no reason to act like a young schoolgirl. He could feel the man’s energy coming towards them, strong and pulsating like it always had been. He inhaled deeply and quietly, but still flinched when he heard his former master’s voice. Now that Gohan was older in this timeline, it sounded exactly the same as it did when Mirai was a teenager.

“Hey Goten,” Gohan said with a smile. He tilted his head. “Trunks? Is that really you?”

Mirai allowed a small smile to touch his lips. It had been a long time since he had heard Gohan call his name. He looked up, suppressing any nostalgic thoughts, and stared at the man who was now almost a head taller than him.

“Hey, Gohan. It’s been a while.”

“Wow, yeah, it sure has! How have you been? How’s your mom doing? Is there a new threat to the planet or anything?”

Mirai laughed. “Why does everyone ask me that? No, I’m just here for a visit.” His laugh settled into a smile. “But yeah, I’m fine and so is my mother. We’ve rebuilt a lot in the past few years, so everyone is starting to enjoy life a little bit now.”

“That’s so great to hear! You really deserve the peace.”

“Thanks,” he replied, albeit a bit awkwardly. He glanced at the shorter woman next to Gohan, realizing that for all his attention to Gohan he had not even noticed her. “Uh, hello. I don’t think we’ve met…?”

“Oh!” Gohan said with a nervous chuckle. “Sorry, I forgot you don’t know her. This is Videl.”

Videl and Mirai shook hands and exchanged courteous greetings. Mirai looked at her then at Gohan.

“Is she a friend of yours or something?”

“Uh…well, sort of. She’s my wife.”

“…Oh.”

There was an uncomfortable silence after that. Mirai quickly glanced to the side and lightly bit his tongue to keep words, more than inappropriate for the setting, inside his head.

“Right. Congratulations.”

He forced a smile and Gohan, seemingly unaware of Mirai’s plight, grinned with polite embarrassment. Videl smiled, brushing hair behind her ear, coincidentally with her left hand. A perfectly cut diamond sparkled prettily on her ring finger.

Trunks, still in the area but slightly away from the quartet, stared at his future counterpart. Watching the group from the outside, it appeared as if he was the only one who noticed the flash of disappointment in Mirai’s eyes when Gohan delivered the news of his marriage. Trunks narrowed his eyes at his older self, already beginning to speculate.

“So, how did you two meet?” Mirai asked, making conversation.

“We met in high school,” Gohan responded. “Mom sent me to the city since I had been home-schooled for so long, and she was in my class. She asked me to teach her how to fly, and…it sort of just went on from there.”

Mirai quickly raised one eyebrow and let it settle. “She asked you to teach her how to fly,” he repeated with disbelief.

“Yeah,” he said, and Videl giggled. “And then somehow we ended up fighting crime together.”

“Uh…huh…”

Videl's giggles bubbled into giddy laughter. “I know it sounds crazy, but really, it makes sense. I was a bit pushy, which sort of sped things up a little.”

“Right.”

Mirai was sure there were pieces to the story that he was missing, but he did not pry, and to be honest, he really didn’t care. However, he managed to remain as casual as possible, using tactics that he had learned from years of fighting the androids to hide his emotions.

“So you’re a martial artist?” he asked Videl, more pleasantly than he felt.

“Well, more so when I was younger, but I’ll still spar occasionally.”

“Yeah,” Goten suddenly chimed in, “her dad is the Martial Arts World Champion.”

“Oh? An who’s that?”

“Do you remember Mr. Satan?” Gohan asked.

Mirai paused, looking down and to the side, while he skimmed his brain for everyone he had met the last time he was in this timeline.

“The strange man who challenged Cell at the tournament?” he guessed.

“Yeah,” Gohan nodded towards his wife. “That’s her father.”

“Ah. That’s…good.”

Videl smiled. “I appreciate the sentiment, but it’s okay. I know how much more powerful you guys are than him. He knows it, too.”

“I see.”

Mirai glanced at Gohan and Videl followed his gaze. He was no longer paying attention to the conversation, his eyes having wandered towards the food. Actually, he had already quietly grabbed a plate and selected a few items from the table. Videl chuckled at her husband, lovingly stroking his arm. So occupied with his growling stomach, though, he never noticed her affection. With their attention now elsewhere, Mirai allowed himself a small frown at the couple.

“What’s the matter?” Goten asked, noticing the change in his demeanor.

“Oh…nothing.”

He smiled for Goten, but the youngest Son was not convinced. He tilted his head, peering intensely at Mirai, so much that the older man leaned back a little. After a moment, he nodded and pulled Mirai to the side, out of Gohan’s immediate earshot.

“It must be hard for you to see Gohan, right? Because he looks like your Gohan.” Mirai raised his eyebrows at Goten’s observation. “I heard that everyone in your timeline was killed by the androids.”

When Mirai narrowed his eyes slightly, Goten raised his hands with his palms outward.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to just say it like that…”

“No, it’s fine. Go ahead.”

Goten shrugged sheepishly. ‘“Well, it’s just that I can only imagine what it’s like to be around people who are usually…you know…dead and stuff.”

Goten fidgeted. The conversation was not happening the way he had planned it out in his head. When he looked into Mirai’s eyes, he saw more sadness than he had expected, but he figured he could at least try to provide some comfort for the man. Typically, he was pretty good at that sort of thing; however, when it came to Mirai, he just seemed to put his foot further into his mouth every time he spoke.

Mirai watched him with curious eyes. It was clear that Goten was trying to better understand him and where he came from, but Mirai was suddenly not in the mood for the prodding. Still, he did not want to discourage him. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant to interact with him; he had the same reassuring energy that all of the male Sons seemed to possess.

“Yes, well, it’s not so bad.” Mirai shrugged and offered a small smile. “It’s nice to see everyone again. I’m just glad that you are all living the lives that you weren’t able to in my time.”

Goten watched as Mirai glanced quickly to Gohan and Videl. A series of emotions flashed in his cerulean-colored eyes, but they were gone before Goten could analyze them.

“Did Gohan never marry in your time?”

A pause. “No. He, uh, died before he got a chance to.”

“So he never met Videl at all?” Goten asked, his interest in the alternate timeline apparent.

“Well, I can’t say for sure. I never personally saw him with her and he never talked about her, but it’s possible that they may have met at some point.”

Mirai looked off to the side, and Goten got the distinct impression that he was not interested in the subject at hand. He chewed his lip for a moment. If he was to make a lasting impression on this man, he really needed to step up his game.

“So, what do you do for a living?”

God…dammit, Goten. Really?

Even though the question seemed out of the blue, Mirai was not fazed. He responded breezily, with almost a hint of boredom, as if this were not the first time he had answered the question.

“Currently, I’m President of Capsule Corporation, but for a while I was mostly organizing several reconstruction projects throughout the city and the surrounding areas.”

“Wow, is it hard?”

“No.”

Goten smiled. “Yeah, that’s what Trunks would probably say. It’s like nothing is too hard for him.”

“Is that right?”

Mirai’s absent response made Goten look down at his feet. It seemed as though Mirai was completely uninterested in him and it was more than disappointing. Goten briefly thought about forgoing all small talk and just kissing him straight on the mouth. Surely, that would get his attention.

…

“Mmphf!”

Goten smiled surreptitiously into the very sudden and very involved kiss he had just initiated.


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Okay, so sorry it took so long to update, but…I’ve been busy? :D The next chapter…will probably take a while, too…so…yeah. Please, tell me what you think!