Mirai Bulma sat with a distant expression on her face, idly stirring her tea. She had been stirring it so long now that she had been thrown into a trance by the clinking of the spoon against the mug. She knew that she should be busy right now; she should be hard at work doing research on the jinzouningen. After all, she only had a small amount of time before she had to meet with the doctor that was going to be performing the surgery. But she just couldn’t get last night off of her mind --- couldn’t stop herself from thinking about Vejiita. She didn’t know whether to be furious with him or to just be depressed. Normally, fury would have taken over, but at the moment, she was feeling to tired and worn out to snap into an angry fit.

They had almost kissed last night. She was certain that they were going to --- certain that it would just be like the rainy night when they had first kissed so many, many years ago. But instead of leaning in and taking her in his arms, he had backed off and flown away. He had just left her there. She wasn’t sure what any of that meant. She wasn’t even sure how they had gotten themselves in such a situation in the first place. She would like to think that Vejiita had somehow fallen for her during her time here, but she realized that it was rather unrealistic. She wanted him to like her because she was the woman that she was, but she a strong feeling that the only thing in saw in her was the fact that she looked just like his dead wife.

She was still thinking about it when Tayhei entered the kitchen, looking fresh in young in white jacket and skirt. There was a point in time when Mirai Tayhei’s presence was enough to brighten Bulma’s entire day, and although they were really two different people, it had a bit of the same effect on her now. There was just so much life in the young girl’s eyes that it was hard not to feel brighter. Even though Tayhei looked a little stressed and angry, it still helped Bulma to feel as though there was actually some sign of life in this world. She stopped clinking her spoon around in the mug and looked up at the girl with a smile.

“Are you going to be using the lab this morning?” Tayhei asked her, leaning up against the doorframe and brushing her long ponytail back behind her shoulder. “I’d like to do a few quick experiments if you don’t need it.”

Now that she heard the girl’s voice, she was even more aware that there was probably something bothering her. She had known the Tayhei of her timeline very, very well, and the girl had never been able to hide anything from her. This Tayhei was a bit more difficult to read, but she could still catch that hint of anger and frustration in the girl’s voice. It was barely noticeable, of course, and very well hidden, but Bulma could see right through the masquerade. Something was definitely bothering the girl. And judging by the intensity of the toast argument last night at dinner, it was probably something that was involving Trunks --- perhaps both versions of Trunks. The same odd tension had been displayed in all three of them.

In a moment of nostalgia, she wished that this Tayhei would be able to share her feelings with her --- just as the other Tayhei had been. But she knew that that just wasn’t possible. They were two very different people, and this Tayhei did not appear to be eager to share her feelings and frustrations. Instead, she would just have to do what she could. And if she judged the look on Tayhei’s face right, what the girl really needed was just a nice hard day of work in the lab. Luckily, that was definitely something that Mirai Bulma could give to her today.

She shook her head as she replied, and took the spoon out of her mug, lifting it up to her mouth to take a sip. “No, I’ll be conducting the majority of my research upstairs today. I just have to go over a few more files and enter some notes into the computer. I won’t need to actually work on the jinzouningen until later today. The laboratory is all yours. Just be cautious, okay? Even though the jinzouningen are restrained, they’re still dangerous.”

Vejiita sank down into another push up, sweat dripping off the end of his nose. He had been in the gravity chamber all night, pushing himself harder than he had pushed himself in months. He never did anything halfway, but it was rare that he pushed himself to the point where he found it difficult to breathe. It took a lot to tire him out, but he was certain that he was approaching that limit very quickly. He didn’t mind the workout at all. It felt good to break past the physical barriers that were usually placed up around him; he knew that he would feel very energized and refreshed after he had taken a shower and gotten something to eat. And besides that, he considered the harsh workout that he was putting himself through as something of a punishment for his behavior last night. He deserved to sweat and gasp for air. Actually, he probably deserved to be shot, but he wasn’t too excited about the idea of suicide.

He couldn’t believe how weak he had been last night. It made him absolutely disgusted with himself to think that he had almost kissed Mirai Bulma. He had let the memory of the rainy night years ago interfere with his logic, and he had come far too close to letting go of his carefully placed walls. So close in fact, that it had taken every ounce of his willpower to back away from her and fly off into the night. He was furious with himself for letting something like that come so close to happening, and simply appalled at the lack of strength that it represented. It made him seem like a lonely, needy widower --- not the proud Saiya-jin warrior that he really was. And he was even more angry that he had to show that weak side of himself to Mirai Bulma.

He cursed and sank down into another pushup, giving it so much power that he could almost feel the floor of the gravity chamber cracking beneath his fingertips. Then all of the sudden, the lights in the chamber changed and the pressure of gravity was lifted as the door opened. Unused to the immediate change in gravity, Vejiita was hurtled up from his push up position towards the ceiling, but managed to catch himself and turn it into a back flip, landing solidly on his feet. He looked up in fury, expecting it to be the woman, demanding that he stop training or worse --- that they pick up where they had left off on the roof. Instead of the future woman though, he found his future son.

Mirai Trunks stood up straight in the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest in a manner that seemed more conversational than defensive. He stepped through the doorway of the gravity chamber and took his jacket off, tossing it into a far corner and straightening out his tank top. “Spar?”

Vejiita shrugged his shoulders. “You’re weak. I can tell.”

Mirai Trunks didn’t smile or smirk, just merely stared back at him with an expressionless face. “I haven’t had anyone to spar with in a long while.”

They flew at each other without any kind of signal, both fiercely swinging fists and twisting their bodies around to kick. As Vejiita fought more and more aggressively against his future son, the anger that had been in his heart slowly disappeared. It was strange how sparring could release so much tension and make things seem so much brighter than they were before. He fought Mirai Trunks just as they had fought each other years ago: showing no mercy. He knew that the future warrior had not been able to fight anyone sense the jinzouningen, but the boy was still very strong and was definitely holding his own against him. And somehow, Vejiita sensed that he wasn’t alone in releasing aggression. His future son seemed to be trying to get rid of some kind of anger as well. Although nothing was said between them, he could see it flashing in those sky blue eyes.

He ducked down and skidded across the floor of the gravity chamber, and used the wall to push off and barrel straight at his opponent. Mirai Trunks momentarily phased and then appeared to the left side of him, jabbing an elbow straight into his solar plexus. As much as it hurt, Vejiita didn’t even flinch. Instead, he reached down and quickly grabbed the boy’s arm, wrenching it around backwards and flinging him towards the ground. He followed immediately, and when Mirai Trunks hit the ground, Vejiita was right there to grind a foot between his shoulder blades, pressing him into the floor.

“Like I said,” Vejiita began with a smirk. “You’re weak.

Instead of surrendering though, the boy suddenly flipped over and spread his arm around to catch Vejiita’s leg and send him tumbling. Before Vejiita could hit the ground, he caught himself and flew up to meet his future son in the air, with a powerful uppercut, and smile on his face that hadn’t been there in a very long while.

Trunks had been following his future counterpart around all morning, just waiting for the bastard to try and sneak into Tayhei’s room. Now that he knew that Mirai Trunks planned to take Tayhei back with him, it made the guy seem nothing short of the devil in his mind. He thought back to all of the stories that his mother had told him about the future warrior and grimaced to remember how entranced he used to be with those tales. As a child, he had viewed Mirai Trunks just as a comic book action hero. There was hardly anyone that he looked up to more. But now that he knew who the real Mirai Trunks was, he was extremely disenchanted. The real Mirai Trunks wasn’t a hero --- he was a thief. A thief who came to this timeline in order to take away something that just plain didn’t belong to him.

He had followed the guy outside and to the gravity chamber, where he knew that his father was already hard at work training. This made him a little angry too, because he knew that his father and the future warrior had formed some kind of a bond years ago. They seemed to be comfortable with each other, and his father seemed to yell a lot less at Mirai Trunks. He didn’t know why, but that made him even more intensely jealous. After all of the things that had happened with his father during the months after his mother’s death, it was just a final insult to have him favor Mirai Trunks. He had always yearned for his father’s approval, and whenever he couldn’t get it, it made him feel sick and uneasy inside. And knowing that someone else was getting that approval, without any kind of work at all, made it even more insulting.

It made Trunks’s blood boil with hatred for the future warrior. So much hatred that it made it difficult for him to walk.

He burst in through the gravity chamber door, surprising both his father and Mirai Trunks. They both turned to him in question and dropped out of their fighting positions, sliding to the floor. Vejiita just looked annoyed that someone had interrupted the sparring match, but Trunks could tell that the future warrior was definitely not happy to see him. In fact, the look on his face was so deadly that it probably could have killed a normal man right on the spot. A ripple of white hot tension passed between them as they glared at each other, narrowing identical sky blue eyes.

“So, now you’re trying to steal my father as well?” Trunks accused harshly, and he stepped into the gravity chamber and slammed the door behind him. He turned and crossed his arms over his chest, glowering at him from under slanted brows, his mouth drawing back into a snarl. “You don’t even belong in this world, asshole. Quit trying to mess with everything here and go back to your own damn timeline.”

Mirai Trunks crossed his arms as well and met his gaze with an even glare. “I’ll leave when I want to leave.”

He didn’t know why, but that one simple statement sent him to levels of anger that he didn’t even know were possible. He was just sick and tired of Mirai Trunks messing everything up for him. Ever since the guy had shown up here, everything had started to go wrong. The jinzouningen had freaked out, Bra was upset, his dad was completely distant, and to make things even worse --- it appeared that Tayhei had some sort of a relationship with him. And it was all his fault --- all because he wanted to come back to this timeline to have a visit. Because of Mirai Trunks’s selfishness, his whole world was falling apart. All of the anger from the past few days burst out of him as stared at the arrogant future warrior, gritting his teeth together.

“Then maybe I should make you leave.” He threatened, and dropped down into a fighting position.

Mirai Trunks gave him a smirk. “I’d really like to see you try.”

“Fine. Right here.” Trunks agreed quickly, and tossed off the light jacket that he had been wearing, letting it fall to the ground with an angry smack. He pointed at his father and titled his head in challenge, keeping his eyes on his future counterpart the entire time. “We have a judge. Let’s just see who wins this fight. And the loser has to get the hell back in his time machine and fly back to his own damn world, without any kind of cargo. And that includes Tayhei.”

It felt like it had been practically an entire lifetime since she had last been able to work in the laboratory. Truthfully, the lab was the only place that she felt comfortable these days. It was the only place where she could be sure about things --- the only place where nothing else mattered. When she was there working on her experiments and inventions, the rest of the world always just seemed to slip away. There was no one to tell her what to do here, and definitely no one to confuse her or hurt her. It was simply good, challenging work. And it had been far too long since she had been able to concentrate on something like that. After last night’s fight with Trunks, she definitely needed to get her mind on something else.

She was not at all pleased to see that Mirai Bulma had rearranged the laboratory in her absence. All of the files on her experimentations had been into the back of one of the cabinets on the wall, and her neatly organized workspace was now nothing but a jumble of computer printouts, cigarette stubs, and dirty coffee mugs. She was even more annoyed to find that the woman had put all of her equipment away, including the test tubes that she had painstakingly labeled and placed in order on one of the countertops. And since they were no where to be seen out in that lab, that meant that Mirai Bulma must have put them in the storage room.

“Damn.”

She hated going in the storage room anyway. It was always damp and hot in there and smelled too strongly of the chemicals that she used. Besides, there never seemed to be enough light in that room, even though there was an entire fleet of fluorescent lights. There were all kinds of creepy crawly things living in the dark corners of that room, and normally Tayhei avoided it at all costs. But now that the jinzouningen were being kept in there, it made it even worse. She knew that Bulma had properly restrained them with electrical sensors, but she still wasn’t very excited about going back there. It was scary enough in the storage room without having those cool, ice blue eyes glare at her.