"Hey!  Isn't your brother that girly Minamino?"

Hatanaka Shuuichi winced at the shout that came from the other side of the street.  "He's not girly!" he yelled back at the gang of boys as they crossed the road, heading towards him.

"Oh yeah?  Then why does he have such long hair?  Why does he look so pretty-like?"

"And why's he always sucking up to the teachers and all?"

"You're just jealous," Shuuichi replied scornfully.  "Just 'cause he's a lot better than you at school and sports and everything!  You're just sore losers!"  He finally recognized them as belonging to the school that had been defeated by his brother's volleyball team just the day before - defeated almost single-handedly by Minamino Shuuichi.

<It was great to see Niisan in action the other day; but now...  What a bunch of jerks!  I'm glad that Niisan thrashed their team!>

"Jealous of that gay teacher's pet?!  No way!"  The leader of the group poked at Shuuichi's shoulder harshly.

"He's not gay!"  He batted away the offending finger.  "And so what if he was?  What difference would that make?  You would still have lost the game!"  The boys gathered close, circling around until he was crowded against the gutter, with his back to the road.

"Gay freaks shouldn't be competing with real men!"

A sudden shove sent him sprawling backwards into the street, his ankle twisting painfully as he collapsed to the ground.  <Damn.>  He landed flat on his back, his head thumping hard against the solid ground, darkening his vision momentarily.

A horrible screeching filled his ears, echoing through his pounding skull.  He blinked his eyes dazedly, trying to clear his vision, which was now clouded with dancing sparks.  As soon as they started to fade away, he almost wished that they hadn't.  A truck was headed straight for him, wheels skidding swiftly across the surface of the road, despite the driver's obvious attempts to break.

<Oh shit!>  He tried desperately to roll out of the way, but his dazed and bruised body was unresponsive. <This is going to hurt!>

He shut his eyes, bracing himself for the truck's impact, and waited.

Nothing.

No pain, no truck, nothing.  He opened his eyes.

"Are you alright?"  He found himself staring directly into a pair of concerned dark eyes, surrounded by a crown of spikey black hair, belonging to a boy who looked to be a few years older than himself.  The boy was kneeling beside his shoulders; he reached out to steady him as he tried to sit up.  The throbbing in his head worsened with the movement.

"Just take it easy a minute," the dark eyed boy suggested.

"Um, thanks."  Shuuichi took a deep breath, willing his head to stop hurting, deciding firmly against shaking it.  He blinked his eyes, peering past the boy.  The truck was stationary just a little way behind him; he could see the stunned expression of the driver through the windscreen.

"What happened?  I thought it would hit me for sure!"

The boy grinned at him.  "You must were lucky, I guess."

A groan arose from the nearby sidewalk.  The leader of the boys - the one who had pushed him - was down on the ground, one eye darkening with the start of a bruise.

"What happened to him?"  Shuuich asked the strange boy.

"Looks like he found out the meaning of that old saying: 'what goes around, comes around'!"  He chuckled.  The leader managed to sit up and glare at him.

"You - " He started towards the spikey haired boy.  "I'll get you for that!"

"Um, maybe later..."  The other boys were quick to drag their leader away, flashing strange looks between the boy and the truck as they practically ran back down the street.

Shuuichi followed the direction of their gazes and felt his mouth drop open in shock.  Two handprints were now embedded in the front of the truck.  The driver, who had recovered sufficiently from his shock to get out and survey the damages, was running his hands across the imprints in disbelief.

"I've got to get going, now,"  the dark eyed boy informed Shuuichi quietly.  Shuuichi turned back in time to see him eyeing  the driver.  "Will you be alright?"

Shuuichi nodded, getting to his feet - almost collapsing again as his ankle gave out under him.

"Easy, now."  The boy caught him by the shoulders, steadying him once more.  "Let me take a look at that."  He crouched down, probing at Shuuichi's ankle with deft fingers.  "I think you sprained it..."

"Hey!  You two!"  The truck driver was shouting at them, still looking somewhat shaky.

"Ooops - time to go!"  Shuuichi found himself being scooped up and carried down the street at a rate that made it seem as though they were flying.

"Hey!"  He protested mildly.  "You can put me down!"  Being carried around like a baby by a stranger was not doing his self-esteem any favours.

"Sorry," the boy apologized.  "I'll put you down in a minute."

A minute later they were quite a distance from the truck and the driver.  <How did he get so far so fast? While carrying me, too!>  The boy set him down carefully, supporting him with one arm so that he wouldn't have to put any weight on his abused ankle.

"You live far from here?"  he asked, concerned.

"Uhn,"  Shuuichi acknowledged, staring at the boy.  "How did you do that with the truck?"  he burst out, unable to contain his curiosity.

"Uh..." the boy stalled, a sheepish expression on his face.

"Never mind," Shuuichi told him, smiling, suppressing his desire to find out.  "Thanks a lot!  Those guys were real jerks."

"No kidding.  So how are you going to get home?"

"Uh... I was walking..."  He trailed off.  <It'll be more like 'limping', now...>

"I'll help you home,"  the boy told him.

"Thanks - but no carrying, got that?"

The boy laughed.  "Whatever you say.  I'm Son Goten, by the way."

"Hatanaka Shuuichi.  Yorishiku."

"Tadaima!"

"Nice place you have here,"  Goten commented as he helped Shuuichi into the house.  It had been quite a walk with Shuuichi having to lean on his arm most of the way, joking about how the young should have been supporting the elderly and not the other way around.  Goten had snorted at the light-hearted remark.  <He must be a couple of years younger than I am...>

They made it to the living room, where Shuuichi promptly collapsed onto the sofa.

"Finally," he groaned in exaggeration.  "I thought we'd never make it!"

"Not with you moaning and groaning every step of the way!" Goten replied, laughingly.

"Shuu-chan?"  A soft voice inquired.  Goten turned around to see a beautiful red-head enter the room, gentle green eyes widening in surprise at the presence of a stranger, an older, dark haired woman following her.  <Probably his mother and sister I guess...>  "What happened?"

"Uh, Kaasan, Niisan, I tripped on the way home and hurt my ankle," Shuuichi lied after a mere moment's hesitation.  "This is Goten; he helped me home."

<'Niisan'?!  That's a guy?!>  Goten blinked bemusedly, before realizing what Shuuichi had just said.  <So he doesn't want his mother and brother to know...  Must have been him they were arguing about.>  He watched as the red-head knelt beside his mother to inspect his little brother's twisted ankle.  <They were certainly right about one thing - he definitely is pretty!>

"It looks like you'll have to keep of your feet for a couple of days, Shuu-chan,"  his mother informed him, before turning to face Goten.  Shuuichi's brother seemed to pull bandages out of thin air, and started to expertly wrap his ankle.  "Thank you for bringing him home, Goten-kun."

"No problem,"  Goten replied with a smile.  "It was the least I could do."

"Would you care to stay for afternoon tea?  I have some freshly made cake, and the kettle's just boiled..."

"Uh,"  he hesitated.  <Something's not quite right here - something feels out of place...>  As his mind was dithering over wild speculation, his stomach decided to answer the question.  Loudly.  He coloured slightly, smiling sheepishly at Mrs Hatanaka.  "Actually, I have to go meet a friend."  <And I'm late as it is...  I hope that Trunks will forgive me.>  He frowned, reminded of why he had left Trunks at the alley, needing some time alone to think things through.

"Let me pack some of that cake for you to take with you - and some for your friend, too."  Mrs Hatanaka laughed gently.  "I know how much food you growing boys need!"  Goten nodded in appreciation, and she left the room to get the cake.  <If only she knew how much food a Saiyajin can go through!  Except for Trunks...>

It was hard to believe that this was only the second day since they had left their own dimension behind, and started their wanderings through the endless possibilities that time conspired to form.  <This world doesn't seem all that different from ours; the buildings look a bit strange, but there are still families, and homes - and bullies...>  He snorted at the memory.

"Goten?  Is something wrong?"  The soft voice pulled him back to the reality of the two brothers kneeling and sitting before him.

"No nothing's wrong."  He felt his eyes begin to moisten, and hastily blinked the excess liquid away before it could escape and give him away.  <I can remember Niisan bandaging my knees when I tripped and fell...>  "I've just had a busy couple of days."  <Yeah, busy.  I discovered that my best friend has a homicidal alternate ego, stopped my brother from killing him, and used an unfinished dimensional transporter to get us out of there - and now we have no way of going back home.  I'll never see Niisan again.>

"Hey, why don't you take your own advice," Shuuichi suggested with a grin.  "Take it easy!"

Goten grinned back at him, and winked, pushing aside his somber reflections.  "Sure thing!"

"Here you go,"  Mrs Hatanaka returned, and handed him a small package.  "I hope you like it!"

"I'm sure I will!"  <I could eat a horse and enjoy it right now - but I'm not going to tell her that!>  "Thanks a lot!"

"No, thank you for taking care of my brother," the red-head said as he opened the door for Goten.

Their bodies brushed against each other momentarily as Goten walked past; they both froze, black and emerald eyes locked in a myriad of questions - and no answers.

"Goodbye, Goten," Mrs Hatanaka appeared behind her son, bidding farewell to him.

"Uh, bye!"  He managed to wrench his eyes away from the emerald green pools that threatened to drown him in mystery, and walk away, leaving them behind.

<What the hell kind of a ki was that!?!>

<That ki...>  Kurama stared after the departing boy, his wide green eyes showing his surprise.  <So strange...>

"Shuuichi-chan?"  His mother questioned, concerned with her son's distraction.  "Is something wrong?"

"Gomen, Kaasan," Kurama apologized, giving her a warm smile.  "I was just a little concerned for Shuu-chan..."

"Oh, yes, of course!"  Shiori nodded gently, before returning  the living room and her injured stepson.

Kurama glanced out the door once more, but Goten was nowhere in sight.  Repressing a sigh, he closed the door, and went to fetch some afternoon tea for his step-brother.  <Poor Shuu-chan, he'll have to miss his soccer match this weekend... I wonder if he's realized that yet?>  He gather the cups of tea and plates of cake onto a tray, carrying them into the living room.

An anguished cry almost made him drop the tray in startlement.

"No soccer?!  How could this happen to me?!"

Kurama smiled sympathetically.  "There will be other soccer matches."

"I know," Shuuichi moaned.  "But I was looking forward to this game...  If it wasn't for those stupid jerks..."

"What jerks?" Kurama asked, eyes narrowing.

"Uh..."  Shuuichi stalled, his expression apprehensive.  "The jerks we were supposed to be playing against... I had a bet on with one of them..."

"Oh, Shuu-chan!" His mother scolded in reproof as she collected up the spare bandages.

<I think he's hiding something...>  Kurama was about to ask another question when he sensed a brief glimmer of ki coming from nearby.  He placed the tray on the table and excused himself, going upstairs to his room.

Sure enough, a slight figure was perched on his windowsill, waiting for him, his red eyes unblinking.

"Hiei,"  Kurama greeted the fire demon with a warm smile as he crossed the room.  "What brings you here?"

Wordlessly Hiei held up a small object.  A cassette tape.  He tossed it towards Kurama, and was gone by the time he caught it.  Kurama stared at the empty window sadly.  <Couldn't you have stayed a little?  Hiei?  You could have said something, at least!>  He sighed wistfully, shrugging off the ache in his heart, before playing the tape.

"We have a problem," Koenma's voice informed him.  The son of Enma Daiou sounded even more harried than usual; Kurama could almost hear him tearing his hair out in frustration.  <Must be something important...>  "Basically, we've had an escape from one of the Reikai holding cells.  Meeting at the ramen house; Botan will give you more information.  And be careful!"

The tape clicked itself off, leaving Kurama to wonder about just who it was that had escaped from the Reikai's justice system.  <Why couldn't he tell us more on the tape?>  He shook his head, collecting his thoughts.

Moments later he was out the door and on the way to Keiko's family's restaurant, having informed his mother that he was visiting a friend.  <I just wish that that was the only reason I was going...  It's been so quiet these past few weeks; I guess we were almost due a problem of some kind.>

Kuwabara Kazuma and Urameshi Yuusuke were already there, sitting at a table when he arrived.

"Hey, Kurama!"  Yuusuke greeted him.  "You know what's up?  That tape didn't exactly say much..."  He scowled a little.

"Yeah, and where's the shrimp?"  Kuwabara chimed in.

"Hiei's coming," Kurama told him, sliding into a seat.  "He's the one who gave me the tape - and I don't know any more than you do."

"Sorry I'm late!"  Botan's entrance was like a burst of sunlight, her bubbly nature lightening the atmosphere in the restaurant as soon as she walked in the door.  Yet, her eyes showed  a little anxiety, her smile a trifle forced...

"Hn!"  Hiei snorted, leaning against a nearby wall, his sudden appearance almost causing Kuwabara to fall off his chair.

"Argh! Damnit!"  His hands reached out as if on their own accord, preparing to strangle the little fire demon.  Imperious red eyes looked down on him in disdain.

"Please Kuwabara, not now!"  Kurama placated the angry red head.  Kuwabara settled back into his seat, still glaring at the impervious jaganshi.

"Eh, so what's he big problem, Botan?"  Yuusuke asked.  "Who broke out of hell that's so important Koenma didn't want to tell us on the tape?"

"Uh... Well..."  Botan's faltering smile collapsed, revealing her concern.  "The truth is - we don't really know."

"Nani?!"

"What do you mean you don't know?"  Kurama watched through narrowed eyes as Yuusuke and Kuwabara leaned across the table with their demands.

"Botan, what happened to the Reikai's records for that cell?"  Normally, the Reikai managed to keep track of everything that went on...

"Ano..."  Botan hung her head, one hand playing with the end of her blue ponytail.  "They're gone.  We don't know what happened to them, or even when they went missing!"

"So how do you know that someone was in there?"  Yuusuke wanted to know.  "Maybe it was just empty to start with!"

"Yuusuke,"  Botan's tone was serious.  "The documents we do have show that that level was closed off because all the cells were full!  And all of those cells held youkai who were under sentences for as long as their souls endured!"

Yuusuke whistled.  "That's a pretty tough sentence..."

"Now do you understand how important this is?"  Botan pleaded.

"Hey, don't worry!" Yuusuke grinned at her.  "The Urameshi Team can handle it, no problem!"

"I, the Great Kuwabara Kazuma, will single-handedly apprehend this villain, and prove my valour to my sweet Yukina!"

Hiei glowered, obviously unhappy about Kuwabara's attachment to his sister, but unwilling to risk Yukina's happiness by doing something about it.

<Hiei has to admit she cares for Kuwabara.  If only he could see what I...>

"Just be careful, all of you!"

"Any idea of where this escapee could have gone?"

"We think he headed here, to the Ningenkai,"  Botan informed him, "but we can't be sure.  Oh, and there might be more than one."

Yuusuke groaned.  "Any other good news?"

"Un," Botan shook her head.  "I think that's all for the moment.  I'll be back if we find out anything else!"  She pulled her oar out of its dimensional pocket, and flew off back to the Reikai.

<This is going to be a hard mission - to find an unknown youkai, with unspecified powers, who might be in the Ningenkai...>

"Oh, she's gone already?" Keiko asked as she walked past, carrying a couple of bowls of ramen.  "What was it about?"

"Ah, another mission!"  Yuusuke informed her.  "An important one!  So I can't stay around here to help out! Sorry, Keiko!  Duty calls!"  He was out the door in a flash, followed swiftly by the tray Keiko had been carrying the bowls on.

"Yuusuke, you lazy jerk!"  Keiko scowled after her boyfriend, scowl turning to smile as the tray hit his head.

"ITE!"

"Serves you right!"

Kurama smiled, and excused himself quietly, leaving the others to their lighthearted (if heavyhanded) bickering.  A dark shadowy figure joined him as he walked out the door.  Kurama suppressed a smile of delight, that the fire demon was walking by his side, so close...

"Who was he?"  Hiei asked abruptly.

Kurama blinked startled emerald eyes at the question.  <Who was who?>  He looked down at Hiei inquiringly.

Blood red eyes stared directly ahead, not looking at him.  "At your house, this afternoon," he elaborated almost grudgingly.

"Goten?  He brought my brother home..."  Kurama frowned, remembering.  "His ki - it was strange, powerful...  Do you think...?"  He turned to his friend, wide-eyed.

"Hn."  Hiei shrugged briefly, before flitting off.

Kurama sighed, smothering the urge he felt to chase after the swift little youkai.  He had other concerns - <Like whether that Goten is the one we're looking for...>  He considered the matter as he continued through the park, past the couples and playing children.  <I don't think he is - he didn't seem hostile in any way; but appearances can be deceiving...>

He paused in the middle of the bridge crossing the duck pond, leaning over the railings to stare at his reflection.  The red hair and green eyes of Minamino Shuuichi gazed back at him, unblinking; yet superimposed over that, it seemed to him that he could see the silver-haired, golden-eyed face of his youko self, his youkai form that he had so recently regained, after being forced to abandon it, dying, in the Makai...

Youko Kurama had been a cunning thief, treacherous as any other of his kind.  Minamino Shuuichi was just as good a thief - <I proved that when I stole the Mirror of UtterDark> - but he was far more gentle and compassionate in this life than his youkai self had ever been in all his centuries of experience.  <I can't call that 'life'.  I never appreciated life until Kaasan taught me how...  I owe her so much, yet I can never show her my true self...>

He closed his eyes against the pain that the thought brought with it.  Shiori had done so much for him, yet he could only repay her with lies...  <No - I could tell her - but would she be able to accept me still?  I'm not at all what she perceives me to be; or rather, I am far more...>

A faint trace of ki caused him to start upright, spinning around to face the direction he had sensed it.  <There!>  He moved swiftly, stealthily, to the other side of the park.  The sense of the ki grew ever stronger and clearer as he neared its source - the dark-haired boy, Goten.

Kurama halted, leaning one arm against a tree, peering around it at the other boy.  He was standing still, gazing at the sky, a slight grin on his face.  He turned unerringly to gaze directly at Kurama.

"You were looking for me?"  he suggested, black eyes gleaming.

Kurama bit his lip, then cautiously walked towards him, stopping a few paces away.  "I was just thinking about you,"  he acknowledged.

"Really?"  The grin broadened, the eyes laughed.  "Fancy that - I was thinking of you, too."

Kurama blinked.  <What's he up to?>

Suddenly Goten was right before him, one hand cupping his cheek, the other his neck.

"Want to know what I thought?"  he breathed into Kurama's ear, kissing his cheek lightly, fingers flexing.

Kurama's emerald eyes glazed over as he collapsed into the boy's arms.

<Stupid fox!>  Hiei snorted as he looked down on Kurama from the rooftop of a building overlooking the park.  <He never even thought to check him out before letting him into his own house!  With that ki - it's obvious he doesn't belong here.  Perhaps he isn't the youkai we're looking for - but he's most definitely hiding something!>

He scowled once more at the oblivious redhead before tearing the white bandage away from his forehead, releasing his third eye from its concealment.  Two red eyes closed in concentration while a purple one opened, scanning the city from his  high vantage point, searching for that particular ki...

He had not noticed it in his approach to Kurama's ningen home; the sight of Kurama seeing a stranger off at the door had come as a surprise to him.  Even ordinary humans had a distinct feel that he could detect - but this one seemed to be hidden from him, and that was more than enough to arouse his suspicions, even without the strange look on Kurama's face...

It was almost like a humans - but not quite.  From the brief taste his senses had been permitted as he had watched him from a short distance, following the strange ningen boy after he had left Kurama's house, it hadn't seemed to be anything to worry about too much.  Then, however, the child had looked around, as though he knew that someone was following him, then disappeared from sight almost before Hiei could blink.  By the time Hiei had collected himself enough to follow, he had been gone, completely.

Hiei frowned, discomforted by the thought that he had lost a potential suspect so easily, and resumed his survey of the city.  He hadn't found any trace of the stranger in his previous attempt, either, after he had given the tape to the fox...  He was not pleased at the thought that there was someone in this city who was not only at least as fast as he, but also capable of hiding their presence.  <If he's powerful, too...>

<There!>

It was faint, but definitely there - very similar to what he had sensed from that strange almost-ningen, but slightly different...  <Whatever - I want answers, now!>

He started towards the source of that ki, leaping across the gaps between the city's rooftops, almost seeming to fly...

...when he sensed the stranger's ki behind him.  At the park.  Right next to Kurama, whose own ki was rapidly dying away...

<Shit!  What's going on?!>

He raced back to the park, just in time to see his fox collapse into the stranger's arms, the sight of Minamino Shuuichi's slender body hanging limp within the stranger's clutches being enough to enrage the little youkai.  The sight of his mouth on Kurama's throat prompted him to recall half-remembered conversations about youkai drinking blood... but Kurama's flesh was unbroken.  It was only his youki level that was fading - while the stranger's was rapidly increasing.

<He must be the one we're looking for, draining Kurama like that!>

"Kisama!"  He slid the blade of his katana free of its sheath in mid-flight, poised and ready to strike out at the fox's assailant.

The dark head lifted, black eyes gazing up at him in annoyance, which faded to resignation as a portal opened up directly behind him.

"NO!"  He yelled in frustration, causing the black eyes to glitter as though amused, as the youkai took a single step backwards, Kurama still wrapped in his embrace.

Hiei's katana slid fruitlessly through the empty air which had contained the youkai's neck just moments before, as he himself landed in a crouch, head bowed.  His hands clenched on the hilt, as he slowly rose, his expression murderous.

Someone was going to pay.

Trunks sighed once more, staring at his feet trailing across the ground as the swing rocked slowly beneath him.  According to the clock on the building opposite the playground he had been sitting here for the better part of three hours, during two of which he had been forced to endure the repetitive chiming of the ice-cream van pulled up at the side of the road.

<Of course, I could be in the library where it's quiet, reading up on this world...>  In fact, he had been, for a couple of hours, only giving up when every page he had looked at had seemed to contain something that made him think of Goten...

<Goten...>  He sighed again, then snorted at himself for being such an idiot.  <I'm obsessed, that's what I am.  But then, so is he.  He's the only friend I've ever really had, the only friend I ever really needed...>  He rested his head against one of the chains supporting the swing.  <I doubt that the same can be said for him.  He makes friends as easily as breathing.  So why do I matter so much to him?  Why does he care so much if I live or die?  Why was he willing to sacrifice so much for me?>

Goten had in effect sacrificed his entire life in order to let Trunks live, making use of a dimensional transporter which he had known to be defective to take them both away from his brother, Gohan.  Who had been trying to kill Trunks.  <Not that that was a bad thing.  It would have been better for everyone if I had died then, or even before then, before - >

A young child with bright, eager eyes ran in front of him, pouncing on a gaily colored ball that had escaped from a game of catch...  A smiling man, most likely the child's father, scooped up both child and ball, making the child laugh delightedly.

Trunks closed his eyes, turning away from the happy sight, letting his long, pale hair veil his face, and the tears gathering in the corners of his eyes.

<Otousan, couldn't you have smiled for me?>

He bit his lip, squashing his tumultuous emotions back down from his throat, locking them back into his heart as best he could.  Dwelling on regrets would not solve them, it  would only bring more pain.

<But pain is all I deserve.  If it wasn't for Goten, I wouldn't care at all what happens to me now; but somehow, some way, I have to get him home.  He doesn't deserve this kind of a vagrant's life...>

"Trunks?"  Goten was kneeling before him in the sand, one hand on his knee.  "I'm sorry I took so long..." he said hesitantly.

"It's all right," Trunks told him, raising his head and smiling a little.

"I -" Goten started, then stared.  "You're bleeding!"

Trunks stared back at him blankly, until Goten ran a finger just under his lower lip.  When he lifted it for Trunks to see, it was covered in red.  Trunks continued to stare, bemused, as he ran his tongue against the inside of his lip, only now tasting the metallic tang of his own blood.  <Must have bitten harder than I thought...>

Goten pulled a napkin out of a small parcel he had been carrying, and pressed it against Trunks' lip, staining it red.  "Come on!  You need to get some ice or something on that!"  He glanced around, his eye immediately lighting on the van still playing it's hypnotic melody.  "Ice cream!"  Goten pried his hands off  the chains and hauled him to his feet, dragging him in the direction of the ice-cream van.

He stopped short, frowning, as he realized he didn't have any money.  At least, none suitable to this world.

"Here."  Trunks pulled several notes out of his pocket, and shoved them into Goten's hands.  Goten stared at the unfamiliar notes, noting the numbers on them.

"Where'd you get these?"  He inquired curiously.

"Stole them."

Goten blinked, then turned around and bought them both two huge ice cream cones.  They sat down on one of the playground's benches, Goten practically swallowing his own ice-creams, as well as one of Trunks', while Trunks licked away at his slowly, letting the cool, sticky liquid dribble down his chin, numbing his wounded lip.

"So, where did you steal them from?"  Goten asked, after several minutes silence.

"Saw people getting money out of a teller machine," Trunks answered between licks.  "I persuaded it to be more generous."

Goten chuckled.  "I guess that solves that problem."

"For this world, at least."

"No need to sound so gloomy," Goten told him, leaning back against the bench, tilting his head back to look at the sky.  "Trunks, I'm sorry."

"For what?" Trunks asked, confused, turning away from his ice-cream to look at Goten, disturbed by the sudden seriousness of his tone.

"For judging what I had no right to judge."  His black eyes stayed fixed on the sky above him.  "You were right - everything we do in these alternate dimensions holds consequences, and not all of them are good.  We have to be careful, so that we don't make mistakes that cause irreparable harm, and so that we don't judge the people of one dimension on the basis of what they did in another..."  At last he turned to face Trunks.  "I'm sorry that I didn't listen to you before.  I promise I won't act so stupidly again."

"You weren't all wrong,"  Trunks replied, lowering his eyes.  "I promise, too."

Goten laughed lightly, his eyes no longer so serious.  "You going to eat that, or just let it drip?"

Trunks took one look at his ice-cream, which had by now melted into an unsightly goo trickling down the side of the cone, and handed it over to Goten.  He accepted it with a sigh, and proceeded to drink the contents of the cone as though it was wine in a glass.  Trunks smothered his laughter with the napkin, as he wiped his hands and face, careful not to reopen his cut lip.  "Baka!"

Goten grinned back at him, eyes sparkling.  Trunks felt the corners of his mouth twitch in response, starting to smile -

- when he caught sight of a black shadow descending rapidly towards them, towards Goten.  Who was completely unaware of the danger...

Trunks' eyes widened, his mouth opening to give a warning - then froze, as the shadow assumed a frighteningly familiar form.  Short, fast-moving, hair that formed a spiky peak...

<Otousan?>

"Don't kill him!"

The distant shout was enough for Goten to start to turn, for the shadowy figure to alter his posture slightly...

The hilt of a katana connected solidly with the back of Goten's head, causing him to slide off the bench, and into unconsciousness as the sound of the blow echoed around the playground.  It was enough to send the other occupants running for their lives, collecting up children as they ran.

Trunks stared at the figure holding onto the katana.  Short, fast, with peaked hair, yes - but three eyed, katana-wielding, delicate-looking, with a white starburst of hair at his forehead.  <Not Otousan,> Trunks thought numbly.  His eyes narrowed.  <He hurt Goten!>  "Kisama!"  He leaped between Goten and his attacker, ready to defend his friend.

Two red eyes glared at him, darkly.  "Stay out of my way!"

"Like hell!"

"Then die!"  The katana glinted, as the stranger leapt to attack once more, slicing through the air, towards Trunks.

<He's fast!  I wonder if he's really human...>  Trunks dodged several strikes, before taking to the air.  <Probably not, with that third eye...  Nani?!>

The tip of the blade slashed across his stomach, leaving a thin line of red behind it as a marker...  It's red-eyed wielder smirked fiercely at him.

<I'll get you for that, and for Goten!>

A swift punch numbed his opponent's wrist, the katana dropping from his hand as his fingers loosened.  Trunks spun around intending to deliver a kick to that spiky black head...  It missed, the figure blurring back down to the ground, glaring up at him.

<Goten?>  He looked back to the bench, only to see his best friend being carried off, slung over the shoulder of a tall boy with carrot coloured hair, accompanied by a girl with pale blue hair, while another dark haired boy stood facing him, aggressively...

"No!"  Unbidden, he felt his hair start to lift, as though stirred by a breeze - a breeze created by the sudden upsurge of his ki...

The eyes of the boy in front of him widened in disbelief.

"Jaoh Enstatsu Kokuryuuha!"

The cry made him spin around to face the red-eyed attacker - who was standing steady, with his arm outstretched, and a black ki-dragon emerging from him.  The dragon seemed to burn, as though made of black fire.

Trunks blinked incredulously.  <Nani!?!  Why do I get the feeling that he isn't as friendly as Shenlon?>

The dragon headed straight for him.

<Shit!>  He ducked and dived frantically, weaving an intricate dance with the black dragon.  <I don't know what that will do to me, and I don't care to find out, either!  Not while they've got Goten unconscious!>

He tried ki-blasting the child-like figure controlling the dragon, but the dragon simply absorbed each blast, protecting him.

<Can't keep this up much longer...>  He was tiring fast, too fast...

"Rei Gun!"

A blast kit him from the side, back into the path of the dragon, its gaping mouth snapping at him...

<Damn...  Too tired...>

He was swallowed up by the darkness.

Darkness which was surprisingly cold.
 

End Part 1    Go to Part 2