Trunks stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

'Great,' she thought sarcastically. 'Now I'm going to get the third degree,'

"What's wrong?" he asked gently. She was surprised at the tone of his voice. Apparently not all Saiya-jins were just hard, cold beings. Unless he was acting. And yet, he didn't seem to be. "Nothing," she lied, looking down at the gem in her hands. "Why are you lying to me?" Areku's eyes widened and she stood up and walked to the large window, looking out so she wouldn't have to face him.

'How did he know??' she wondered. 'Not even otousan can tell the difference between when something is really wrong and when I'm fine!' A few tears escaped from her eyes and she tried to ignore them, focusing on regaining her composure as quickly as possible. She wouldn't cry. She couldn't.

"Please tell me what's wrong," he said, coming up behind her and slipping his arms around her waist.

Areku's eyes widened. 'What is he trying to do??' she wondered, tensing.

"I don't want you to get mixed up in this," she said, gaining control over her voice again. Unfortunately more tears began to cascade down the sides of her face. Trunks turned her around and kissed her tears, then her lips, then gently nipped the base of her neck. Her eyes widened again and she gasped at the unexpected gestures. At what he, a Saiya-jin, had done. He pulled her closer and hugged her.

'He knows I can kill him for that!' she realized. 'And yet. . . . .I can't. I won't.'

She buried her face in the soft material of his shirt, willing him to listen to what she had to say. "Please just let me leave," she whispered, hating herself for crying and even more for crying in front of him.

"I can't ask you to help me. This is something I can't ask anyone else to be a part of. H- he's already killed people I care about and I don't want anyone else to die. You have your own problems and I have mine,"

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Trunks immediately stiffened, then relaxed, cradling her in his arms. He needed her to tell him who was bothering her and she probably wouldn't if he wasn't careful. He'd already taken a chance a few moments ago, hoping to help and hoping she wouldn't kill him for it. Kami knew she would if she wanted to. But she hadn't. "Who is it?" he asked carefully, stroking her back. Areku pulled away, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Forget I said anything. Just please let me go," she pleaded, looking up at him with eyes that could have made even the most cold-hearted senshi pause. 'Why is she looking at me like that??' he wondered, realizing he was blushing. When he didn't respond, she turned away.

"Areku," he said softly. She had her back to him, but he could see her holding back a new wave of tears as she tried to breathe normally. Trunks was starting to get really worried. 'She's never looked like this before- not even when she was up against the jinzouningen yesterday,' he thought, unsure of what to do.

"I'm sorry to have caused you and your okaasan so much trouble," she almost-whispered. "I really have to leave before he gets here. If I'm around you or anyone else, he won't think anything of getting rid of you- just like he did my niichan and tomodachi. Please try to understand," She tried to turn and leave, but he caught her arm, flinching as her power rose a level.

"Who is this person you keep talking about?" he asked. A shudder went through Areku's body and she sank to the floor, closing her eyes.

"A few years ago a man named Kaido wanted to marry me. He wanted my fortune and power. Said we could 'rule the universe' together." She gave a half- laugh, but her expression darkened.

"I refused, but he kept bothering me. After a couple of months, it got a lot worse than that. Once I even hit him and he blew apart half my garden- almost a mile. When I found out what he was I became even more determined not to be with him. He was a half-Denimic that had the rotten luck to be half Saiya-jin as well."

"What does his being half- Saiya-jin have to do with it?" "That's the reason my parents wouldn't save Gohan-san and I almost couldn't save you. Ever since I turned that monster down, he has been after me and my Okaasan has tried to keep all Saiya-jins, especially ones that were only half- Saiya-jin, away from me. I've been trying to get strong enough to beat him, but it's a lot harder than I thought,"

'And I'm half-Saiya-jin,' Trunks thought miserably. "When will you know you're strong enough?" "When I can use the power of each of these signs at the same time," she replied, holding out the gem.

"The four Elements, Fire, Water, Wind, and Lightning, can be combined to create a massive attack called Elements of Rage," "How many people can use that?" Trunks asked, hoping she didn't have to use it when he remembered what had happened after she used Fire. One had been bad enough, but. . . .four??

"Um, just one." "Who's that?" "Someone about 150 years ago who died using it," "What about the other symbols?" he asked hopefully. "Life is something that keeps you alive if you're going to die, or it can turn evil people good- as long as they were good in the first place and were turned evil against their will." Trunks felt a cold chill spread through his body as he remembered the Life symbol glowing the previous day. ". . . .and Love is the one I want to find the key for the most," "Why?" "Because only two people can make it glow and they both have to have pure hearts. There's a legend saying as long as it glows the souls that made it glow can't die for a special reason. I thought it might be Gohan-san, but I was wrong. If he'd lived there would've been a different fate for him. And I also want to find the key for personal reasons,"

She sighed and opened her eyes. They were full of pain, memories. . . . . . And he wanted to help her. After what he'd heard, he wanted to help her even more. Even though he knew, or at least suspected, that 'personal reasons' didn't include him. He couldn't compete with the princes that could give her anything she wanted without the slightest hesitation. And he couldn't expect her to stay on Chikyuu forever.

"That's why I can't stay. If you try to fight him, he'll kill you." "He can try," Areku's eyes widened and she stared at him. Trunks felt himself blush. "But- you- You can't! This is my problem," "I want to help," he said calmly, leaning over and kissing her. She almost fell over in shock, but recovered quickly and hugged him. For about five minutes they stayed in that position, him just holding her, then she pulled away.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked, her eyes studying his expression carefully.

"Of course I am. Do you want to get something to eat?"

"Definitely. I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday," she replied, standing up.

"Neither have I," he admitted. "I thought Saiya-jins had huge appetites!" "They do. I just wasn't hungry,"

"Doushitano?"

"Hai."

"Then why didn't you eat anything last night??"

Trunks blushed. "I was worried about you," he admitted. "Just for that, I'm going to make breakfast," Areku said, heading for the kitchen.

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Ooh, starting to get really interesting, isn't it?? And now you know why she doesn't like Saiya-jins. . . . I wonder if Mommy's going to find out?! And the 'personal reasons' thing. . . . . He knows he's not included and he still wants to help. Sigh.
Is anyone too OOC?

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