"How did I do?"

Two pairs of eyes stared at the boy in shock. One watched with buried pride.

"Nicely done, Trunks. Good job."

Yamcha smiled in addition to Gohan's words.

"You were right, Gohan. The kid's on the level."

Krillin nodded.

"Yep. Definitely. Glad you were there."

A slight blush crept to Trunks's cheeks and he scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile, resembling Gohan much more than his father the moment before.

"Come on, I just did what I could."

Then Gohan's eyes widened slightly before he frowned.

"Where're Bulma and Marron?"

Krillin looked at Trunks with raised eyebrows.

"They're safe. Went back home."

"Good. Why did you come back?"

"Figured you might need some help. I figured right."

Yamcha's smile widened.

"So does that mean you'll join us?!"

Trunks's face darkened, causing the man to follow suit.

"I… I still have to think about it…"

"Trunks, you heard what happened! They were going to score us!"

The boy was silent. Yamcha was about to continue, when Gohan stopped him.

"We have to go. They'll get suspicious if we're not there soon. Come on, Trunks."

"Right."

The two flew off, and the two remaining exchanged looks again, smiling.

"well, maybe there's hope for us yet."

Trunks knew what it was to be yelled at. Or so he thought, as Marron demonstrated a new level of it. Damn that inhuman hearing of his.

"Flying out like that, and back to the fair, no doubt! What are you, insane?!"

Bulma didn't say anything, only cooked dinner. She did have a Saiyan for a son.

"Bulma, help me out here!"

The bluette's voice was calm.

"Trunks came back safely, Marron. No harm was done. And Gohan's back too. Be a doll and help me out here."

The blonde blinked, glared at Trunks, smiled and went to the kitchen. Trunks fell down on the couch next to his mentor.

"That was real good you did today, Trunks."

"Thanks."

There was a somewhat tensed silence for awhile.

"So what do you think?"

Gohan asked, knowing Trunks had a lot to think about. The boy shut his eyes, causing Gohan to smile understandingly.

"Boys, dinner!"

Both the warriors' stomachs grumbled, causing them to race to the kitchen. "Coming!"

The fair's events were all the talk in school the next day. Guesses were made about the mystery warrior's identity, and the origin of that last energy ball. Naturally, it was all the rebels' fault.

"Trunks! Marron! You were there, right?!"

Several kids asked excitedly. Being teenagers, they were going to go at night; but the fair was blasted beforehand.

"Yeah. It was real fun until it got blown to bits."

Marron happily said. Trunks's face was twisted in a light frown.

"Well, Trunks, did you get to see 17 in action?!"

The boys asked as they crowded around him.

"…not really. Wish I did, though."

He cursed himself for not forcing enough disappointment into his voice.

"I bet 18's fashion show was a blast."

Marron paled, causing Trunks to chuckle. He loved teasing her friend about anything girly. Hey, everyone needed a hobby.

"There was a fashion show?!"

"No. It got blown up before that."

The young warrior said, still smirking, though honestly trying to cheer his friend up.

"Oh. Darn."

Trunks began doing his homework while all those around him chattered about the day before. Most of the lessons were similar. It even went as far as analyzing from where that final blast came from during physics, by assumed speed, velocity and angle. Trunks almost burst out laughing; the one time it was right was dismissed by the teacher. The reason? The Androids would've seen him.

'Like hell. They didn't. Take that, mister Sir Newton.'

The only lesson that was slightly bearable was Gohan's. In contrast to the rest of the day, where the Androids were saints and the rebels, demons, Gohan brought a different point of view. His point of view.

He said no one could really know what happened. The class said the Androids don't lie.

He said that the Androids laid the first blow. The class said they weren't gonna wait to be hit.

He brought the threat on the man's life. The class said he deserved it.

Not being able to take it anymore, Trunks stood up and turned to face the class.

"So if it would've been your own father, he'd still have deserved it? If it was your brother?! Your friend even?! How about your dog, would he still have deserved it?!"

Everyone stared at him, and too late did Trunks realize his mistake. He sat down, burying his face in a book. Gohan felt content, even though it was a bad idea to burst out like this. The up side? He now knew beyond the shadow of a doubt where Trunks's loyalty lied. Even if it wasn't with the rebels, mind you. As long as it was against the Androids.

"That's true. Rebels can be anyone. I'm not saying they're right. Just that in every situation, there're two sides. Maybe if we understand both those sides, we'll be able to solve this problem."

"Here's a solution- kill 'em all!"

The average jock said; but Trunks's words struck home with many of the students present, for one reason or another.

"Kill your father, riiiiiiiiight!"

A girl whom Trunks has never been too fond of yelled back. The jock had to reply. It's a men's thing.

"My dad ain't no rebel, Cassie!"

The girl shook her head. There was no point talking to that jock. He was so close minded.

"Ok, calm down. You're right, that does bring a serious dilemma, doesn't it?"

The bell rang, and Gohan was quite pleased the lesson ended in such an atmosphere.

"Class dismissed!"

The jock walked up to Trunks, his face flushed.

"My dad isn't a traitor."

"I didn't say he was."

The boy's face twisted, and suddenly Trunks realized something. The jock's dad might not be a rebel, but he had one in his family. No other reason to be so protective.

"So you figured it out, eh?"

Gohan remarked casually when his student walked past him. The boy wisely chose not to respond.

On the way home, Trunks noticed the jock and a few of his friends. They were staring at him from across the street.

"Traitor!"

He didn't reply, merely walked on.

"What's the matter? Why not face it?!"

He still didn't look back.

"I'm talking to you, Briefs!"

Here, Trunks did stop and turned around.

"Yes, Dai?" (don't expect me to come up with meaningful names here!)

"I said 'traitor', traitor."

"So you did. Learned a new word?"

The jock gritted his teeth, and tried pasting a smirk for his friends.

"Do you deny it?"

Rule number 1: play clueless.

"Deny what?"

"Being a traitor, dummy!"

Rule number 2: stay cool.

"I do."

"I don't believe you."

The jock said, bringing himself up to Trunks so that their faces were an inch apart. Dai was about an inch taller than Trunks, but that didn't scare the young warrior at all. His instincts told him he needn't fear any of the teens around him.

"So what?"

Rule number 3: never let yourself be pushed without shoving back.

"What're you going to do, Dai, what, what're ya going ta do?!"

The mock fear in his voice made the boy in front of him enraged.

"Well, good day now, Dai."

Trunks then began walking away, his face showing no emotion.

"Why you… come back here, you!"

The first rule, Trunks learned as a baby. The second, life taught him. The third was Gohan's doing. And that lesson didn't end in words alone, as Dai was about to find out, the hard way.

The jock tried to punch Trunks from behind, but the boy jumped forward towards the ground, making Dai fall forwards as well. Trunks landed on his hands and used both legs to kick the older boy square in the chest. Dai completely had the wind knocked out of his sails upon contact, and was then thrown backwards as Trunks fully threw back his legs. The result? Jock hitting a lamp post 100 feet away, causing a minor sonic boom. It was a miracle he lived through it.

All the other jocks stared at his unconscious form while Trunks clapped his hands to dust them, then walked on, one hand in his pocket, the other securing his bag on his shoulder.

"See in your school, boys."

A smirking image watched from the side streets, proud of the way the boy handled himself.

"Well, he is my son… hehehe…"

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