Easier to Run: The Desks

Easier to Run

Chapter 3 - The Desks

Author’s Note: Wow…Been a while since I’ve touched this story. But it’s 11 PM and I need something to do. I think I’m becoming an insomniac…Oh well! Just more good news for you, I guess. Hope you like, and sorry if this is a little rusty.

Trunks sat at their dingy wooden table that sat in the center of their already cramped kitchen. He lifted a glass mug that was chipped slightly to his lips and sipped down its hot contents, all the while staring at a newspaper. His attention was grabbed, however, by the sound of a door shutting, and footsteps going down the small hallway; the floor moaned deeply. Vegeta walked out of the shadows - one of the lights had broken then night before when they had both actually attempted to screw in a light bulb - and straightened his red tie that hung over his even deeper-red, button-up vest. Trunks stared at his father, mouth agape. It wasn’t the concept of his father bearing a tie that truly shocked him, but what really disturbed the purple-haired youth was that he was wearing glasses.

Vegeta looked up, feeling his son’s eyes upon him. He glared slightly, “What?! What is it?!”

Trunks shook his head and went back to reading the paper, but with a very determined stare, and a strange tenseness throughout his face as he were trying his best to stifle a grin and a laugh. Vegeta rolled his eyes and sat down at the table, looking back at his son to see his eyes upon him once more. The older one scowled for a moment then widened his eyes in realization. He lifted his hand and took off his glasses and pointed to them.

“What? These? Oh…Well, a while back, I forgot to wear some of the protective goggles that your mother kept insisting I wear during an experiment…And, you can guess what happened,” He wiped the lenses with his shirt sleeve and continued on, “She did some surgery that worked out fine, but required that I go in every few months and repeat the process to keep them fit and working. I’m overdue.”

Trunks nodded understandingly, wondering why he had never stumbled in on one of the sessions that his father spoke of and continued to read the paper. He looked back up at his father, “So…a desk job? Where?”

Vegeta looked up from pouring himself some coffee and walked over to the table then pulled out a chair for himself, “Some company called CTech. I now get to protect planet Earth by answering phone calls, writing memos, and typing on a computer all day.” He scowled, a bitter tone lasting throughout his description.

Trunks looked down, feeling a little bad for his father. From being with the man so long, he found out that his father was never one whom liked to sit down and be quiet like a “good boy.” It just wasn’t within his nature; and oddly enough, it wasn’t within Trunks’ either. There was more Saiya-jin blood in him then human, Vegeta would often tell him, but Trunks would ignore it.

Vegeta looked up at his son with a raised eyebrow, and mug to his lips, “Don’t you have to go to school? Kakarrot’s brat’s school, right?”

Trunks looked up from his contemplation and nodded, “Yeah, Goten’s school and Gohan’s old school.”

Vegeta rolled his eyes angrily and shrugged, “Goten, Gohan, Goku, Gobutt, Go-FUCK-myself! They’re all the same! Now get going before you’re late! No son of mine will turn out to be some drop-out!”

Trunks nodded quickly, hiding a smile, and grabbed his lunch. He jolted out the door, flying away at almost top speed.

The older man shook his head, smiling, then looked at his wristwatch which read 8:38 AM. His eyes widened, then he gulped down the last of his coffee and too flew out the door, only barely remembering to shut it behind him and lock it, then flew off again.

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Trunks arrived at the school grounds not five minutes after leaving. He ran to the front doors and slammed them open, leaving slight dents in the wall, and pulled out his wrinkled schedule.

“Let’s see…History…Room 625!” He ran up to the door that read “625” on the glass and knocked on it frantically. A snooty-looking old woman opened the door, her gray hair held up in a firm bun, motioned for him to come in. Trunks did so and stood at the front of the class.

The teacher looked at him, tapping her pointer on the desk behind her and glaring at Trunks. She pulled a sheet of paper off her desk and looked over the top of it at him, “Tardiness is NOT a good way to start the day, mister…” she looked back down onto the paper, “Trunks. Please have a seat, and don’t let it happen again. We were just discussing the Cell Games which occurred almost two decades back. Now…” She continued on and Trunks walked over to the seats; each row rising as they went back. On the second to the highest row, Trunks caught a glimpse of a hand waving madly about. He looked closer and Goten stood up, motioning him over.

Goten pulled out a chair for him and sat back down, jittering in his seat. Trunks sat down and grinned at him. Goten leaned close to Trunks, “Hey! Why were you late?!”

Trunks rolled his eyes and slapped Goten on the back playfully, “I was up almost all night unpacking shit! I slept in.”

Goten cocked his head curiously, “So, my dad told me everything…but we all know how he tends to forget some important points. Fill me in!”

Trunks grimaced, trying not to remember himself, “Well, my mom got drunk, almost killed my dad with a beer bottle when he came home, and blamed the entire thing on him! Then she went on about how useless he was and forced us both out!”

“Why you too? You’re…sort of useful!”

Trunks slapped Goten upside the head playfully, grinning, the leaned back in his chair, “She was in a fit when she told us both to go, mentioning something about all men being alike…and all Saiya-jins alike.” He laughed, putting his arms behind his head.

“BOYS!!!” A slap was heard throughout the entire classroom. The teacher stood at the front, tapping her foot, and the ruler she held broken in half; the other half across the room, “THERE WILL BE UTTER SILENCE WHEN I SPEAK!! Now TELL me how the monster Cell was defeated or I will fail you both!!”

Goten groaned and stood up very slowly, the class giggling. He put his arms behind his head and yawned, “Well, a group of good men and…other things,” he put this in, remembering Piccolo, “beat Cell, and some loaf of nothing took all the credit!” He gave a goofy grin and spoke in a quiet, girly voice, “The end!” The class laughed, squirming in their seats.

“ENOUGH!!!” The class became silent and Goten sat down in Trunks‘ lap, his face filled with mock fear and intense shaking, “HERCULE defeated Cell!!! He and a few other people present reported that there were a group of LOSERS watching the fight, who claimed could defeat Cell with their light trickery!!” She turned around, continuing the lesson.

Goten got out of Trunks’ lap, snickering. Trunks shook his head, sighing, “Nothing we haven’t heard before, right?”

Meanwhile,

Vegeta sat at his desk, head resting on his desk, watching the his box screensaver morph and bounce around the screen. A hand slapped his desk and he jumped up out of his seat. A bald, portly man with an enormous mustache stood there, tapping his foot and snarling at him.

The fat man leaned close to Vegeta and his face turned purple with rage, “YOU LAZY PIECE!!! I TOLD YOU TO GET THAT MEMO DONE BEFORE THE HOUR!!!”

Vegeta closed his eyes, trying his best to contain his rage. ‘Remember Trunks and your P.O.S. apartment to maintain! Keep your temper!’

His boss stood there with his arms crossed, tapping his foot faster, “I’m WAITING, Briefs!!”

Vegeta clasped his hands together, giving a strained smile, “I DID it, sir. It was sent about forty-five minutes ago.”

The chubby man narrowed his eyes and reached out with his hand. Vegeta took a piece of paper of his mess of a desk and handed it to him. He jerked it and read it, eyes moving quickly. He looked back up, eyes only thin slits now, and huffed, tossing it back into Vegeta’s face, then waddled off, hands behind his back and muttering curses.

Vegeta sat back down, veins crawling up his forehead and hands. He breathed in deeply and attempted to open a drawer on his right; the handle came off and the drawer remained shut. His eyes popped open, staring at the handle grasped in his hand. He shook a little, then dropped it reluctantly. The Saiya-jin prince bent down and put his fingers within the small openings on either side of the drawer and tried to pry it open gently. It didn’t open. He glared and put a little more strength into it, jerking. His fingers slipped off of it, cutting them.

Vegeta hissed, “Shit!!” He shook his hands and shook his head, smiling insanely at the drawer. This time, he jumped onto his desk, bent down, and began jerking. People passing by stopped for a moment to stare, then kept walking, giving him looks. Finally, the put more force into it, jerking very hard. The drawer flew out of its containment and he fell off his desk. The drawer missed a few heads by mere centimeters and smashed through a window. Vegeta looked up at the window, lying on the carpet, trying his best to ignore the glares and stares he was still receiving. He stood, brushing himself off, and groaned, putting a hand to his head.

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