“Man, I’m worried,” Trunks said as they left the caf?.
 “Worried?  About what?” Marron asked as she stepped out, matching him pace for pace.
 “Oh, leaving Bra with a total stranger.  I mean, I didn’t even think about what I was doing!”
 “Trunks, that ‘total stranger’ is your best friend!  Why are you worried?”
 “Well, the thing is, he’s ‘Kakarott’s brat!’ ” Trunks explained, mimicking his father’s voice exactly.  He grinned when Marron burst out laughing.
 “You think Vegeta-Ojisan would be very angry if he found out that you left Bra with Goten?” she asked.
 “Oh, yeah.”
 “Nah, you worry too much, Trunks.  Goten’s really nice…he’ll take good care of Bra-chan.” Marron patted his shoulder and looked at her watch. “Oh, wow.  I really should be going.  Thanks for the?”
 “Hold up a second.  What do you mean, you better get going?”
 “Um, that I have to go home?” she suggested.
 “Okay, let me get this straight.  You don’t have a car, you live on an island in the middle of nowhere, and you have to go home?”
 “Trunks, remember?  I said that I moved here a few days ago!  And just so you know, I DO have a car, but it’s at home at the moment.” She paused. “Besides, it’s kinda cold out here and I want to go home.”
 “Oh, gomene, I think I drank too much coffee or something.” He grinned at her. “Sorry.”
 “No, it’s okay.” She smiled. “So…thanks again for the coffee, and…ja neh!” She waved and started home, leaving Trunks standing on the sidewalk alone.
 “Wait.”
 She turned around. “Did you say something?”
 “H?hai.  Um, can I?I mean, will you tell me where your apartment is?” he asked.
 “Sure.  Over there.” She pointed at some tall buildings. “Why do you want to know?”
 “How about I drive you home?  I mean, I really want to see your new room…house, that is.”
 Marron stared at him for a moment.  She hadn’t expected him to be this generous.  He was trying to be nice.  She had expected the Trunks that teased her and made her run away, crying.  Of course, to be fair, that was a long time ago.  When they were little kids.  When she was a noseless little girl and he was a jerk.  Now he had grown up into the handsome guy that was offering her a ride home!  She smiled at him. “Thank you, Trunks, that would be great.” She nodded.
 “Okay, great!  Um, my car’s right over there…I’ll go get it and you wait here, okay?” Trunks ran back to the restaurant and started the car.  He made his way back over to where Marron was waiting for him.  He stopped and jumped out.  He ran to the other side and opened her door for her.  Marron just stood there in surprise.  Then she stepped into the car, but touched his forehead suspiciously.
 “Um, Marron-chan…what are you doing?”
 “Checking to see if you don’t have a fever,” she told him. “Thanks.  That’s so sweet.” She sat down and buckled her seat belt.
 Trunks ran over to his side and started the car up again.  He looked over at Marron and smiled at her. “Hmm…I’m not quite sure why,” he said, “but something tells me that I should be extremely happy and I’m going to be a changed man after tonight,” he declared.
 Marron began blushing and looked back at him. “I believe it, Trunks,” she whispered. “I believe it.  Oh, you can turn up here to get to my place.  Okay, right here.”
 Trunks stopped and helped her out.  When they got in, he whistled. “Wow…this is your new apartment?”
 “Well…yeah.  Do you want to come in?” she took her key out of her purse and unlocked the door. “But consider yourself warned, it’s really REALLY messy.”
 “Yeah, I’m a guy, right?  My room has to be worse than anything you could do.  But are you sure you’re okay with this?” he joked. “I mean, a guy in a girl’s house…”
 “Don’t be ridiculous!  It’s not like you’re a stranger or anything!  As long as we don’t do anything stupid…” She looked at him.  Trunks stared back for a while.
 “What do you mean by ‘stupid’?” he finally asked.
 She began blushing again. “Um, forget it.  Please, come in.” She opened the door and held it open for him.
 Trunks walked in and looked around.  He privately thought that it was big, way too big for Marron to live in by herself.  She was right about one thing?the living room was a mess.  But he didn’t mind that.  He was used to messes already.
 He turned. “Um, how much is the re?” He stopped when he saw Marron?without her ponytails.  Her hair was long and straight and past her shoulder blades.  She was brushing it with her fingers.
 “What was that?” she asked.
 “Oh…er…nothing.” He shook his head. “Nothing at all.”
 “Can I get you something?” she asked over her shoulder as she headed for the kitchen.
 “Um, a cup of coffee?” he suggested, flustered.
 “Coffee?  Are you sure?  He just had coffee a few minutes ago.”
 “Oh, right.  Um, maybe…” He thought it over and suddenly the silence was broken by a loud, grumbling sound.’
 Marron turned around. “What was that?” she demanded, slightly panicked.  Trunks just looked down and flushed.
 “Um, sorry…I’m afraid my Saiyajin stomach is letting me know what it thinks of my recent neglect of it,” he apologized.
 Marron laughed. “I see!  Well, maybe I can help you make amends.” She smiled. “I don’t have much food, but…ah-ha!  One Marron’s Fried Mee Special, coming up.” She put on an apron and disappeared into the kitchen again.
 Trunks managed not to say anything, but he was very excited.  After more than twenty years of knowing Marron, he was going to finally taste her cooking.  He couldn’t wait to brag to Goten.

***
 
Marron hummed to herself as she flipped the noodles in her frying pan.  She really liked cooking, although she only knew how to make simple meals.  She suddenly realized that Trunks had come into the kitchen and was leaning against the wall with his arms folded.  Marron wondered if he realized how much he was acting like his father. “Don’t look at me like that, Trunks, it makes me nervous.” She laughed lightly.  Trunks didn’t reply.  He just smiled.
 “Is it wrong for me to stand here?” he asked.
 “W…well, no…but…it really does make me uncomfortable,” she said.
 He smiled. “You know, you’ve changed a lot, Marron,” he said.
 “What do you mean?” She dumped the noodles onto a plate.
 “Well, I remembered a cry-baby, noseless little girl who always blamed me and Goten for everything and who would always tattletale.  On everything.  And you never let your dad go?I thought you were a skin graft or something!” He began laughing.
 Marron laughed with him, remembering her childhood.
 “But now…” He walked over to her and bent so she could feel his breath on her ear. “You’re just a beautiful young lady…who’s changed me…”
 Marron turned in surprise and found that his face was only an inch from hers.  She felt heat rush to her face.  What was Trunks trying to tell her?  She had changed him?  How? “Er…um…excuse me, I need to get some cups from the cabinet.” She stepped away from him and opened the cabinet.  She could see she was trembling and hoped he didn’t notice.

 Then she saw the spider.

 It jumped on her head and crawled onto her face.  She was so terrified, she couldn’t even scream.  Tears rolled down her cheeks and she squeezed her eyes shut as the spider started to crawl downward.  Biting her lip, she gathered all her courage and screamed. “TRUUUNKS!”

***********

At first, there was only silence.  Then, the next thing Marron knew was that Trunks had his arms around her and that he was holding her tight against him, reassuring her. “It’s okay, Marron, okay, don’t worry,” he murmured. She threw her arms around him and tried to stop trembling.  Her breathing steadied and she looked up at him.
 “Cry-baby,” Trunks whispered and chuckled.
 Marron didn’t move.  The truth was, she didn’t want to.  She never thought she would feel so safe and comfortable when she was being held so close by Trunks.  But she was under his arms and felt more secure than ever before.  She rested her head on Trunks’ chest and felt like she didn’t want to move until forever ended.  “I hate spiders,” she whispered back and pulled him closer.  Trunks barely contained his surprise at that, but he still felt a grin spread across his face.  He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him.  He could feel her breathing steady and could smell her hair.  He absently began wishing he could kiss her forehead, or more, but to do that, Marron would have had to take her face off his chest.  So it was a worthy compromise.  Still, he couldn’t resist resting his cheek against the top of her head and closing his eyes.  He decided that if she wanted, they could stay like this all night. Tonight really did change me, he reflected. And the biggest change is how I feel about her right now...