Early morning was accompanied by the brightness not the sun, but the humongous light that hung from the cavern ceiling. Bulma had programmed it so that it would slowly come on, building and building, just like the actual sun did when it rose. She wanted to make people feel at home and she knew that much like her, these people craved sunshine. She couldn’t give that to them, couldn’t snatch the sun out of the sky and place it here within the Underground City, so she had to do the next best thing. Most of the people were so accustomed to never seeing the sky that they rarely ever looked up anymore. It must have been disenchanting to look up and not find the sun shining down on them, but instead a gargantuan light fixture. It made her sad to think that the people of Earth had been reduced to such a thing, but there was nothing that she could do about. She would rather have them here in this cave, unable to see the sun, then to have them be out in the open where the jinzouningen could get to them.
As Capsule Corporation was flooded with light, she awoke. Bulma had been sleeping soundly in her soft bed, the result of staying up too late the past few weeks. The fatigue was finally catching up to her now, but she could not sleep in all day. There were so many things on her agenda today that she wasn't sure she'd be able to finish them all. First in line was finding out more about that girl that Trunks had rescued yesterday. She evoked such curiosity and Bulma found herself yearning to just grab the girl and hold her in her arms. She could tell that terrible things had happened to her, and the poor girl had been living out there all alone for years now. It broke Bulma’s heart to know what Tayhei had been through, because she was seemed so innocent and helpless. She hated to think of anything happening to her. She was overjoyed that the girl had decided to stay with them, though she was almost certain that Trunks had probably forced her to. Perhaps while the girl was here she could take care of her and pamper her a bit. For a girl that had barely known her parents and had never experienced with motherly love was like, it would do her good. Besides, Bulma had always longed for a daughter that she could pamper in such a way. She loved Trunks with all of her heart and he was the best son that she could ask for, but it made her sad that she couldn’t dress him up in cute outfits and fix his hair. Perhaps if Vejiita had been around a little longer, he could have given her a daughter as well. She yawned softly and stretched her arms up over her head. Morning was never her best time of day, but there was work to be done, and she wasn't about to slack off. She was a hard worker and didn’t like to sit around and be lazy all day long. There were far too many things to do in the city for her to be lazy.
After wrapping a light cotton robe around herself, Bulma padded into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of hot coffee --- her lifeblood on days like these. It always took her a few minutes before her mind kicked into gear in the morning. She simply could not function without that steaming cup of caffeine. She blinked a couple of times, taking a leisurely sip from the cup. Her eyes were still a bit blurry and needed a moment to adjust. Casually, she glanced out the window, then back down at her coffee. She froze, then slowly brought her eyes to the window again, blinking to make sure that she really in fact had seen it.
The Gravity Chamber was on.
She blinked again. No one had been in the gravity chamber for years. Not since Vejiita's death. Trunks avoided it like the plague, and it hadn't been available for Gohan to use. It had just sat out there own the lawn gathering dust. Once and awhile Bulma would go out and clean the place up, not wanting to dishonor Vejiita’s memory. But she had never used it. No one had ever used it.
"Who in the world could be in there?" Bulma wondered out loud. She stepped up to the glass and craned her neck so that she could see, glancing around the area. It was very early in the morning and not many people were up and about yet --- she couldn’t see any signs of who might be in there.
She ran to the front door and poked her head out cautiously. She may practically be the leader of the city, but it would still be absolutely scandalous for her to go running about the streets in nothing but her dressing robe. It wasn’t a robe that covered much --- not many of her clothes covered much. It came up to mid-thigh and was loose around the top. It was definitely not the kind of thing that she wanted to go running around the city in, but she was too curious not to go outside Capsule Corporation and have a look at the gravity chamber. Her deep blue eyes scanned the area critically, but she could not see anyone that was near the vicinity. As quickly as she could, she scampered out the door and across the fake lawn, holding her robe shut tightly over her as she ran. When she reached the door of the gravity chamber, she yanked it open, and practically ran inside. The door slammed behind her with a loud bang.
She froze again and her mouth dropped in horror.
Both Trunks and Tayhei were there, fighting in mid air. Trunks was throwing heavy, serious punches in her direction, and she was doing her best to block all of them. He was attacking her ferociously, just as he might have been attacking one of the jinzouningen, his face drawn into a tight scowl. The girl’s long blond hair was trailing behind her gracefully as she ducked and dodged, and her green eyes were lit up with the first hint of excitement she had seen on her so far. The fighting was brutal, but most of it was coming from Trunks’s end, as he chased after the girl relentlessly through the air. They continued fighting for a long while as Bulma stood petrified in the doorway. Finally, Trunks noticed her standing there and held up a hand, ceasing the fight.
"Good morning Okaasan!" He called down to her, before dropping to the ground.
Tayhei followed him to the floor of the gravity chamber and nodded as a greeting. She looked flushed and excited and a little out of breath. Bulma noticed the girl was cut above the eyebrow; the gruesome cut was fresh and bleeding down the side of her temple. There were other cuts on her as well, many of them on her pretty face. Her long hair had been tangled, and was hanging down behind her in a mess of curls and mats. She could make out the faint coloring of bruises all of her slim arms. Bulma looked at Trunks in shock.
"What have you done?!" She howled, grabbing the girl and fussing over her injuries.
Tayhei protested, trying to pull away. "Bulma-san, I am fine. Trunks and I were just sparring. I’m not hurt, really. Trunks was not trying to hurt me --- we were just sparring."
Bulma still just stared with a horrified look on her face.
Trunks took a step forward and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Okaasan, we are fine. Honest. Like Tayhei said, we were just sparring."
"But....But why?" Bulma stuttered.
Tayhei looked back at her. "I wanted Trunks-kun to train me. I asked him to do this. He mentioned that he had been trained by one of the greatest warriors in history and I wanted to learn some of his techniques. He was just teaching me how to block."
Relief spread across Bulma's face and she gave a little chuckle, feeling rather stupid and embarrassed for making such a big deal out of the situation. She didn’t know quite what to think when she came in there and found her son beating up on an innocent girl, though. Trunks was normally so calm and kind that she couldn’t imagine him doing such a thing, so it came as a terrible surprise to her. Plus, she had not seen her son fight very often. The look that had been on his face scared her. She knew that when he fought, it was serious, but she couldn’t imagine why he had that look during a harmless little sparring session. Perhaps his mind had been on the jinzouningen and not the girl that was right in front of him. Now that she thought about it, Tayhei hadn’t looked scared. She just looked excited and happy to be fighting. She should have been more rational when she walked in through that door and took in all the clues before she jumped to such a silly conclusion.
"I thought that Trunks was just hurting you for no reason." She chuckled. "How long have you two been in here?" She gestured to the walls of the Gravity Chamber.
"Since last night. We've already gone up to 50 times normal gravity." Trunks informed her. "Tomorrow we will go outside the city and practice ki attacks. Just to let you know. I’ll be sure to watch over her carefully. I won’t let anything happen to her out there, I promise. We just can’t do ki attacks in the Underground City. Too much potential for danger."
She smiled at her son. For the first time in a long while, he seemed genuinely happy. Ever since he came back from the past to warn Gokuu in the others, he had been extremely quiet. She knew that seeing his father would have a definite effect on him, but she didn’t know that it was going to be quite this bad. It must have been hard for him; he had been in a world that was perfect and free of all danger, but had to return to the hell of the future world. She knew that she probably wouldn’t have been able to handle it. Plus, there were other things that Trunks had missed out on in his life. He was so young, but the boy had grown up incredibly fast on the inside. He had to grow up. It was almost impossible for children to stay children in this future world. There were simply too many bad things out there: too much fear and doubt and loss. She had never really thought about what her son must be feeling as he went through all of this. If things were normal and he was a normal boy his age, he would have been going to high school, dating girls and having fun with friends. Instead, he went out into the outside world and faced the greatest danger ever known to man --- again and again. He felt defeat and helplessness every day. There was nothing normal or simple about his life. She knew that he kept all inside of him, though. He was not the type of person to talk about his problems. She hated to see that her little boy was hurting, though. Maybe this girl would be good for him and bring him out of his shell a little.
"Well, let me know when you're hungry." She offered.
Both of them nodded, and she closed the door on them once more. As she walked back across the lawn and back to the house, a strange feeling began to creep into her heart. She knew that life was hard now and that they still had a long way to go before anything ever returned to normal. But as she stared at her son with that girl, she felt more hope than she had felt in a long, long while. Things were going to start changing soon; she just knew it.
I met a boy today, a friend of Trunks. His name is Engin, and he is 18 years old and a resident of the Underground City here. He seemed to be particularly enamored with me and I’m not quite sure how I feel about that. Trunks had taken me into the city for the first time to get some clothes that actually fit me. He and his mother were generous enough to pay for them, since I don’t have any money at all. We ran into Engin downtown while we were shopping. Although the two of them claimed to be good friends, Trunks did not seem very happy to see him.
Tayhei’s Journal; Vol 2: page 5
Trunks and Tayhei stepped out of the clothing store, each holding a few bags of clothing. He had been so patient while she was trying on clothes and did not even blanch when the clerk told him the amount that he had to pay. Because she was conscious of the fact that they were paying for the clothes, she tried to pick simple, inexpensive things. Trunks kept trying to push other clothing items on her, but she stuck to simple jeans and tee shirts. She didn’t want them to have to spend any more on her than they already were. But because Trunks was every bit as stubborn as she was, he had bought her a sweater that she had admired when she was walking into the store. It was soft and lavender --- the exact same color as his hair. He had slipped it into her pile of purchases and refused to let her take it back, saying that it was a gift. He was so certain about it and so forceful that Tayhei couldn’t help but smile. For some reason, he desperately wanted her to have that sweater. She could tell that he was kind of upset about the fact that she was trying not to pick out anything expensive, but she wasn’t about to make Capsule Corporation pay for a load of designer clothes. Especially since Trunks and his mother had already been feeding her and provided her with a room.
They talked quietly as they walked down the street. Trunks was explaining the details about the beginning construction of the Underground City. She found it fascinating that this entire city had literally just been built up from the ground. It was absolutely amazing how hard Bulma had worked to make the city into what it was. Trunks had helped out as well, but he had been just a child when his mother first started construction on the Underground City. She liked the fact that it was completely safe here and that the inhabitants could live their lives peacefully without having to worry about the impending danger of the jinzouningen. Today, as usual, the city was teaming with people and brightly lit under the humongous ‘sun’. She had only been here just a few days, but Tayhei was already beginning to love it, this new way of life. The people in the shop had been so kind to her and Trunks both, and she left feeling very good about herself. She was beginning to like the idea of being around people more and more each day.
“Hey, would you like some ice cream?” Trunks asked her, breaking off in mid conversation, as he sighted the ice cream shop across the main street. Even though the temperature in the Underground City seemed to remain the same all year long, the idea of ice cream on a nice day like this was very tempting. And it seemed like it had been forever since she had last had an ice cream cone.
“I would love some ice cream.”
He nodded and told her he would be right back, dashing through the street and dodging other people. He didn’t even ask her to come with him, but that was fine with her. After so much excitement that day, she was ready to sit down. She found a nearby bench that was smooth and clean and sat down, stretching out her legs. Her green eyes filled with wonder as she watched everyone walk around her on the sidewalk, laughing and talking and going into the shops that lined the streets. It was incredible to see so many human beings in one time like this. Of course, without Trunks there, the city was nothing but strangers instead of nice, helpful people. He had only been gone for just a few minutes, but she already missed him. She felt more at home when he was walking through these streets with her, explaining things and introducing her to people. He was a wonderful host --- even if he did smile too much.
Suddenly, a bright red flower appeared in her field of vision. Surprised, her eyes followed up the stem until they met a pair of dark brown eyes, and the boy who had held the flower out to her. He had a handsome face and a long lean body, dressed all in black. He bent down and leaned his arms on the back of the bench, his trench coat flowing to the ground behind him. Tayhei didn’t quite know what to think about this. She had been so surprised that she didn’t even know what to say. No one had ever given her flowers before. The boy appeared to be a little older than her; he didn’t have the slightly innocent and naïve look that most of the boys her age did. He looked mature and sophisticated and he stared at her, his mouth turned into a handsome smirk. Delicately, she took the flower from him, and stared at him in puzzlement.
“For you.” He said with a charming, sideways smile. “Any girl as beautiful as you deserves a flower as beautiful as this.”
Tayhei blushed furiously and tried to stop herself from getting flustered. No one had ever said anything like that to her before. Truthfully, Trunks was the first boy her age that she had really been around, so this was all very new to her. She assumed that this must happen on a regular basis in the Underground City --- after all, dating and flirting was something that normal teenagers did. She supposed she should take it all as a compliment. After all, the boy was very good looking, and the fact that he thought she was beautiful was flattering. “Thank you.”
He moved quickly and sat down next to her, much closer than she expected or wanted. He ran a confident hand through the light blond spikes on his head and gave her another handsome smirk. “And why are you all alone? Someone as beautiful as you must have been accompanied by someone.”
She opened her mouth to reply, to tell him that Trunks had just left to get some ice cream for them, but he waved a hand in dismissal at the idea.
“Whoever he is, I am eternally grateful.” He smiled at her again, his brown eyes looking deep into hers. “My name is Engin. I assume you are new here?”
“Tayhei.” She said quietly, still feeling rather embarrassed. The way that he kept staring at her was making her very nervous. He didn’t so much look at her, but attempt to look through her, it seemed. He had a very intense gaze, and for someone that wasn’t used to human contact or looking into someone’s eyes, it was absolutely unnerving. She tore her eyes away from him and studied the bright red flower in her hand instead. It wasn’t a kind of flower that she had seen before. It looked as though it were very delicate and rare. She held it gently in her hand. “And yes, I just arrived here a while ago.”
He reached out and shook her available hand, holding onto it for far longer than was necessary, and gave her another smile. His hands were warm and strong. Tayhei did not return the smile, but only blushed deeper, and looked away. This was all rather embarrassing. She had no idea what she was supposed to do or say, and the boy kept staring at her like he was trying to devour her with his eyes. As she grew more and more nervous, her heart started beating fast and she began to feel dizzy and light-headed. It wasn’t that the boy was rude or anything, she just wasn’t used to something like this and it was making her nervous. Despite the fact that he had been very kind to her, she suddenly wished that he would leave.
Then, much to her relief, she saw Trunks approaching them with a wretched scowl on his face. He was holding their ice cream in both hands and walking at a very quick and angry pace towards them. Tayhei was certain that she had never seen such an ugly, awful frown her friend’s face. He looked like he wanted to kill someone. As if just now noticing that her attention had been drawn away, Engin followed her gaze and raised his eyebrows at Trunks as a greeting.
“Here, Tayhei.” Trunks offered, holding the ice cream out to her. His arm was stiff and nearly shaking with tension. She awkwardly accepted it, trying to hold on to both the flower and the ice cream at the same time. Trunks stood across from them and crossed his arms tightly, lifting his head up to meet Engin’s gaze. He didn’t look very happy to see the other boy, and Tayhei guessed that there must have been a rivalry between the two of them. Trunks was usually so friendly to everyone else that it seemed odd for him to be scowling at Engin in such a manner.
As if oblivious to Trunks’s anger, Engin folded his arms across his chest and looked up at him. “Trunks. So good to see you. How have you and your lovely mother been doing these days?”
Trunks smiled tensely at him.
“We’re fine. Okaasan is working hard on a new invention or two and we have just received a new guest.” He gestured toward Tayhei, and she stared back at him wordlessly, wondering what was wrong with him. She had never seen him act this way around anyone. It was puzzling and almost scary to watch his eyes draw into a glare like that. She never thought she would a look like that on Trunks’s handsome face. Whatever happened between him and Engin must have been quite a battle. She just hoped that Trunks wouldn’t be mad at her for talking to him. She had no idea who the boy was or what he had done….he had just started talking to her. She couldn’t very well be rude and ignore him.
“That’s good to hear.” Engin replied absently. He turned to face Tayhei again. “And you are living with them now, eh? I’ve seen you come and go from Capsule Corporation.”
Hesitantly, she nodded.
Engin stood up and stretched, still staring into her green eyes. “Well, if you ever get tired of them, my door is always open.”
He didn’t give Trunks a second glance, just kept his eyes on Tayhei as he stood up from the bench. Then he turned and walked down the street, casually whistling as he went, his hands resting casually in his pockets. Trunks and Tayhei both stared after him until he had disappeared from sight. She was completely curious now. Trunks had definitely had a reaction to Engin’s presence, but Engin didn’t seem to care about Trunks being there at all. The two of them must have a very odd relationship. She was practically dying of curiosity as she looked back at her companion. Unfortunately, judging by the way that Trunks took a furious bite out of his ice cream, he was still angry. She didn’t know if she should ask him anything about it or not, but decided to give it a try anyway. And then
“Who was that?” Tayhei asked tentatively, and started to eat her own ice cream. It was strawberry --- the kind that she had always gotten when she was a child.
“Engin. He’s a good friend of mine.” He replied simply.
She looked at him skeptically. “A good friend? You looked like you wanted to snap him in half.”
Trunks couldn’t believe that he had just referred to Engin as a good friend. Really, the boy was anything but. Of course, he didn’t want to complain in front of Tayhei about silly matters such as rivalry and hate. He wanted to tell her the truth, but he also didn’t want to sound petty and immature. He would just have keep whatever angry feelings he had for Engin at bay for now. He stared down at his ice cream for a moment, and then looked back up at her with a crooked smile. “Engin just gets on my nerves sometimes. It’s nothing serious. He just always seems to know just what to say to make me want to rip his head off.”
A large group of young people sat gathered around the city movie theatre, a new building installed that year by the Capsule Corporation construction crew. It was a small theatre and only showed a few movies, but it was clean and had all of the necessary elements such as popcorn and soda. The group of young people sat about on benches and on the sidewalk, talking to one another as they waited for the movie to begin. The movies now had to be very low budget, and couldn’t afford to be spectacular, like the movies had been out in the real world, but the idea of seeing a movie on a Saturday night was still popular. Most of the young people of the Underground City were there; because it was such an enclosed, small space, they all knew each other pretty well. Trunks watched them sadly from down the street; they always invited him of course, but he tended to shy away from things like that. And unfortunately, because Trunks had no one to go to the movie with besides his mother, he opted not to attend the group viewing of the movie. He was casually walking back from the grocery store, carrying the milk and eggs that his mother had asked him to buy.
Engin sat in the center of the group, as he usually did, and all eyes were on him as he told a story that everyone seemed to find amusing. He was dressed all in black as usual, and most of the females in the group were sitting close to him and fawning over him. He had always been able to charm the girls into doing whatever he wanted. That was the way that Engin was: cool and smooth and inexplicably charming. Trunks didn’t like him at all and never had. People like Engin were pure evil, through and through, and he didn’t want anything to do with him. Engin, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy rattling Trunks’s nerves. As the boy noticed Trunks walking by the cinema, he raised his head up and yelled out a greeting. Though he didn’t want to, Trunks walked over to him cautiously. Now all eyes were on him and Engin, and the fight that everyone know was about to take place. He bent down and placed the grocery bag on the ground, then rose up and faced him, his expression calm.
Engin gave him an icy look. “Tell me Trunks, have you managed to even scratch the jinzouningen yet? Because it doesn’t seem like you are making any progress.”
Trunks glared. “I am making as much progress as I can, Engin.”
“Well maybe we should have picked a real man to do the job.” Engin sneered at him and he crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s because of you that we are forced to live in this underground hell and never see the sun. If you weren’t so weak and so stupid, the jinzouningen would have been dead a long time ago.”
He felt contempt growing inside him rapidly as he stared at Engin’s perfectly spiked blond hair and his expressionless dark eyes. This was a very sensitive issue with him. He already felt bad enough that he wasn’t able to protect the people from the jinzouningen; he didn’t appreciate Engin rubbing it in his face. “I am doing the best that I can.”
“Right. You and your idiot mother have locked us all down here like lab rats.” He replied. “How is that ‘doing your best’?”
Trunks could no longer hold it in. He reached back and placed a hand on the handle of his sword, his eyes cloudy and threatening. It was one thing for Engin to pick on him, but when he started saying this about his mother, it really pissed him off. “Listen, Engin. I’ve had enough of this! If you weren’t here, protected in this city, you would be dead. The jinzouningen would have killed you and everyone here a long time ago. You should be thankful for what little you have, you unappreciative bastard.”
Engin took a threatening step towards him, his dark brown eyes full of rage. “You want to say that again, Trunks?”
Quick and proficiently, Trunks pulled out his sword and gripped it tightly in his hands. The metal glinted in the glow of the street lamps and he could see the reflection of his own face there --- furious and scowling. A few of the other kids in the group gasped and they all had horrified looks on their faces. Everyone knew that he fought well with the sword; besides, Engin was perfectly defenseless against a steel blade like this. To everyone there, it probably looked as through Trunks meant to kill the boy. He really wasn’t planning on producing any carnage tonight, though. He just wanted to try and scare him. He thought maybe if the sword scared Engin enough, he’d just back off and leave him alone. But instead, the boy looked at the sword condescendingly.
“You always hide behind your sword, Trunks. When are you going to stand up for yourself and be a real man? If I had a big sword I could probably do whatever the hell I wanted too.”
The sword fell with a clatter to the ground and Trunks stepped menacingly towards him. His fists curled tightly and his body dropping into a fighting position. Maybe he would produce a little carnage tonight, after all. Engin took off his black trench coat and threw it to one of his friends harshly, his eyes never leaving Trunks’s. They circled around each other, hatred in both of their eyes. Trunks knew that he would win the fight; he had no doubts about that. But if he did win and he did humiliate Engin in front of all of these people, he knew that he would suffer dire consequences. Engin may not be strong, but he was manipulative and Trunks knew that he would find some way to extract revenge.
“What is going on here?!” A loud voice suddenly called. Trunks froze and turned to follow the voice. The whole crowed turned to see Son ChiChi, carrying her latest bundle of orchids, looking extremely angry. She didn’t even bother glancing at Trunks, just turned her dark eyes straight to Engin, who was smirking at her.
“You’re looking lovely tonight, ChiChi. And those flowers are every bit as lovely.” He informed her with a charming grin.
“Be quiet, Engin. I’m not interested in your flattery.” She snapped. “Do you think you are the only one with problems in this city? We are all suffering, but Trunks and his family are helping us everyday, all the time. They have spent their lives protecting us. You are trying to prove that you are a man by doing this, but by neglecting to listen to reason, you are even more of a child.”
She turned and continued to walk on, with Engin staring daggers at her back. He muttered something under his breath and ripped his coat out of his friend’s arms, turning back to glare at Trunks.
“Just be lucky you had your mommy’s little friend here to save you. Next time you won’t be as lucky.”
Trunks shook his head sharply, his lavender hair falling into his eyes and he looked down at Tayhei’s innocent face. “Engin will bring us nothing but trouble.”
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