Welcome to Boxer & Rice

Mirai no Trunks lay on his bed in his and Gohan’s dark room. He hadn’t really left it in the last four or five days. He lost count some time ago. All he knew was he just wanted to hide in there forever and ignore the world as it passed him by… fade away.

The first two or so days had been spent shedding tears but now he just felt empty like he had no more tears left to shed for anything.

Near his bed sat a stack of half picked at plates that Bulma constantly brought in. Three times a day she would come in with fake cheerfulness and a plate full of one of his favorite dishes. He could tell she was growing increasingly worried for him. It was kind of embarrassing when he thought about it so he tried his best not to. He wished she would just go away and let him take care of himself or at least stop walking on FUCKING eggshells.

Trunks shoved his face deeper into Gohan’s navy blue pillow, willing the embarrassing thoughts to go away as he felt like his throat was closing in on itself.

“Why did Gohan have to die? Why? Why?”

Trunks heard the words as his mouth muttered them into the pillow. He thought about how strange it felt to hear his own voice. It sounded so… empty…

Gohan had been not only his teacher but his best friend, his *only* friend. Not that there were really that many people left around to be friends with but Trunks doubted he would have any friends even if the world was vastly overpopulated. He had always been so shy and quiet. It was different with Gohan. He had felt he could tell him almost anything. They would joke and play around. He always thought Gohan had treated him like the little brother he had never had but had always wanted. Trunks loved him very much although he was never quite sure how.

Trunks’s mind wandered to when he was little, and he used to have nightmares about the androids almost every night. He would get up, blanket in hand, and walk down the hall to Gohan’s room, climbing in bed with him to cuddle, telling the older boy about his nightmare. Gohan had always welcomed him but soon this lead to the decision by Bulma that perhaps the boys should share a room, hoping this would lead to Trunks waking in his *own* bed more often. She figured he was just scared to be alone, which he was, but still, several times he woke up cuddled with Gohan.

After that, as he got older, the habit of sharing a room just kind of stuck, although Trunks now mostly woke up in his own bed. Very seldom did he end up curling up with Gohan anymore but there was one night…

It had actually been Gohan having the nightmare that time. Trunks was unsure of what, but the Gohan kept calling for his o’tousan and whimpering. Trunks had sighed, getting out of his bed and crawling into Gohan’s to hold him and try to comfort him. It was a strange feeling being on the opposite end. He had looked down at Gohan’s scrunched up face and trembling lips and before he knew what he was doing he placed a small kiss on them.

The kiss had been brief and Gohan hadn’t even waken up. Trunks tried to forget about it and had never mentioned it to Gohan. All had gone onward like it always did.

Trunks swallowed hard, gasping back sobs and reaching his hand over the side of the bed to grab one of the forsaken plates of salad. He stuffed a few pieces of lettuce in his mouth with his hands, just listening to the sounds of his chewing. The sound seemed somewhat alien to him. He reached over his hand to hit the ‘play’ button on their cd player. The loud sounds of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” seemed to drown out the silence in the room as Trunks hopped to his feet, lifting his bed and throwing it full force at the door, knocking the door off its hinges and into the hallway.

Bulma came running down the hall, worried that the androids were attacking. Trunks blushed and looked sheepish, sitting down quietly on Gohan’s bed and looking down shamefully, his semi-long hair hiding part of his face. He couldn’t believe he had just done that. It was like he was standing outside himself watching himself do it.

As Bulma saw the mess and her son sitting on the bed it occurred to her what must have happened. She stepped over the bed and the door in the hallway and walked over to Trunks, putting her hand on his shoulder and looking at him with what he diagnosed as pity. The feeling of utter humiliation began to fill his stomach causing it to knot up. She suddenly leaned forward, embracing him, he didn’t move or acknowledge that she was there even.

“I know you miss Gohan, honey, but he wouldn’t want you to feel bad.”

Gohan… She had to mention Gohan didn’t she?! Trunks felt like he was being strangled, his throat was so tight. He wanted to free himself of her grasp and drink some water or something to wash away the taste of bile in his mouth, but he just sat there, letting her hold him and not saying anything. He wished she would just leave or that maybe he could just crawl into a hole and hide forever. Suddenly, the sound of his own swallowing sounded so loud in the room. He silently cursed his mom for having killed the music before finally deciding that he would have to say something if he ever wanted her to leave him alone.

“Um… Kaa’san… *swallow* C-could I just get s-some rest?”

Bulma looked into her only son’s pale face. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his cheeks were slightly hollowed from missing too many meals. She frowned slightly, slipping a small object resembling a watch into his hands.

“Trunks-chan, I love you.”

Her eyes sparkled and she leaned over to place a kiss on his forehead.

“This is a gift for you. I want you to grow up happy and safe, honey. Put it on and push the red button on the side.”

“Wh-what does it do, Kaa’san?”

“Just do as I say, honey. My security alerts tell me the androids are coming.”

Fear sank into Trunks, and he put on the watch, pressing the red button, just as the wall before him crumbled, and Android 18 stepped inside, crushing Bulma right before his very eyes.

Blue light swirled all around him before he could do anything, his SSJ form wracking through his body. All he could see was the bright light and then…