Chapter 2

    Lita woke up as the morning sun shone through her window. She got of bed sleepily and stretched as she walked over to the window, letting her thoughts drift back to the previous night. I can’t believe what happened she thought. I barely know the guy and yet I told him about my parents.

        She shook her head, and went to take a shower in the bathroom next door to her room. As she showered her thoughts, once again, returned to the night before. He didn’t have to stay up there and listen to me. In fact, he didn’t have to come up at all she thought. I should do something to thank him. I know, I’ll make him breakfast she said to herself.

        Lita finished her shower quickly and hurried back to her room. She got dressed and walked quietly down the stairs so she wouldn’t disturb Trunks.

        She tiptoed over toward the couch to check on him. He was, of course, still asleep. After making sure Trunks was ok, Lita headed for the kitchen to start breakfast, hoping she would be able to get it done before he woke up.

        Trunks was dreaming about food, more specifically eating it. This dream is so real I can smell the food he thought. Then he woke up, but the smell didn’t go away. Smells like someone’s making breakfast he thought. He stood up and headed toward the origin of the scent.

        He stood in the doorway of the kitchen and saw Lita in her sweatshirt and jeans. “Do you always fix your own breakfast in the mornings?”

        Lita almost dropped the egg she was holding, but recovered in time to catch it.

        “Sorry,” Trunks said apologetically.

        “It’s ok. I just wasn’t expecting you to be awake yet. To answer your question, I normally do fix my own breakfast, except on the days I oversleep for school,” she said, slightly embarrassed. “I hope you don’t mind me doing this, but I like cooking and I wanted to thank you for your help.”

        “No, I don’t mind,” he said, running his hand through his sleep tousled hair.

        “Go ahead and sit down at the table,” Lita said. “I’ll be done in a few minutes.”

        Trunks sat down at the table and looked around the kitchen. He was thinking to himself what a nice looking kitchen Lita had when her voice interrupted his thoughts.

        “Are you feeling better this morning?”

        “Yeah, I am. I guess I was just more tired than anything.”

        “That’s good,” she said, relieved. “So are you here visiting someone?”

        Trunks’ eyes narrowed a bit as he stared at her back. “Why?”

        His blunt question took Lita by surprise. She turned around and looked at him. “I just thought that you might be traveling here to meet somebody and they might be worried about you,” she said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound nosey, I just thought….” Her voice trailed off and she turned back to the meal she was making.

        Trunks instinctively recognized that he had inadvertently hurt Lita. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean for it to sound that way. You didn’t sound nosey, I was just over reacting. As a matter of fact, I was on my way to meet somebody. I guess it’s kind of obvious that I didn’t get there.”

        Lita had to laugh at the last line. “You’re right about that,” she said.

        Trunks felt relieved to hear her laugh. “I guess it’s also a bit obvious that I’m not from around here.”

        “True,” Lita said. She brought the food over to the table, placing one plate in front of Trunks and setting the other one down across from him. She sat down and said “You know, you’re welcome to stay here as long as you want to. It isn’t any trouble, really.”

        “Thanks,” Trunks said as he started eating.

        “You’re welcome.”

        After a few moments, Trunks looked up at Lita and said, “This is really good.”

        Lita blushed a little. “Thanks.”

        Trunks went back to eating his breakfast. A few minutes later he looked up at Lita, who appeared to be trying to gather her courage to speak. I think she wants to ask me something he thought to himself. “What is that you want to ask me?”

        Lita looked straight at him in shock. How did he know that? She blinked a couple of times and managed to say, “You said your computer circuit was broken. I was wondering if I might suggest someone to fix it for you.”

        Trunks’ first impulse was to become defensive about it, but remembering what had happened earlier, he decided it was better not to. Still, he couldn’t keep a hint of suspicion out of his voice when he asked, “Who?”

        “Ami’s really smart and she knows a lot about computers. I’m sure she could help you.” Lita knew this was a sensitive area of conversation, so she was very careful in trying to convince him to let Ami look at the circuit. “Ami won’t ask any personal questions and she isn’t nosey. She might have to have certain information to fix the circuit, but she’ll understand if you’d rather not answer.”

        Trunks sat and looked at Lita. I don’t know her. She could be making all of this up he thought. But, I do need that circuit fixed. I can’t finish my mission without it. He sat and stared at Lita the whole time he was thinking. He didn’t understand it, but something told him to trust this girl.

        “Alright,” Trunks finally agreed.

        “Good. I’ll call Ami.” Lita headed to the living room and dialed Ami’s number on the phone. It rang a couple times. “Hello, Ami? This is Lita. I was wondering if you could do me a favor.”

        A few minutes later, Lita walked back to the kitchen. “I just called Ami. She said it would be fine if we came over today. If you want to that is.”

        Trunks nodded and stood up. “Do you have someplace around here I can clean up?”

        “Sure. There’s a bathroom just on the other side of the kitchen that has a shower.”        “Thanks.” Trunks headed in that direction.

        “If you leave your clothes outside the door I’ll wash them for you while you take your shower,” Lita said.

        “Ok.”

        Trunks went into the bathroom and a couple minutes later threw his clothes outside the door.

        Lita cleared the table and put the dirty dishes in the sink along with the pots and pans. A few minutes later the sound of the shower could be heard in the kitchen. She checked outside the bathroom door and saw the pile of clothes, gathering them up and heading to the next room where the washing machine was. She put the clothes in and headed back to the kitchen to start washing the dishes.

        Lita hummed to herself as she washed, thinking about nothing in particular. About 10 minutes later she heard the washing machine stop, so she dried her hands off and headed back to the laundry room. She switched the clothes into the dryer and headed back to the kitchen. On her way back, Lita noticed that the shower had stopped. He must be done she thought.

        As if to confirm her thoughts, she heard Trunks’ voice yell through the door, “How long is it gonna take to get my clothes back?”

        “I just put them in the dryer, so it will be about 20 minutes,” Lita answered. She heard Trunks make an aggravated sound. “Sorry.”

        She headed back into the kitchen and quickly finished the dishes and put them away. Then she ran upstairs, quickly redid her hair, and did all the other little things she needed to get ready for the day.

        She ran back downstairs to the laundry room. The dryer had stopped, so Lita took the clothes out. She folded them up and put them down next to the door. “Your clothes are dry now,” she said.

        “Finally,” Trunks grumbled.

        Lita went into the living room. A few minutes later Trunks came in and grabbed his jacket off the couch.

        “Are you ready to go?”

        Trunks nodded and pulled on his jacket as he walked out of the house.

         Lita followed him out, and pulled the door shut behind her.

        About 15 minutes later, the two arrived at Ami’s house. Lita rang the doorbell and the door opened, showing Ami on the other side.

        “Hi Lita, Trunks,” she said. “Come in.”

        They stepped inside and Ami closed the door behind them. “Lita told me that you had something to show me.”

        Trunks nodded. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the circuit. “This computer circuit is broken. Lita told me you might be able to fix it.”

        Ami took the circuit and asked, “Do you mind if we go down to the basement? That’s where I keep most of my equipment.”

        Trunks and Lita both said that was fine.

        “Watch out for Luna. I’m watching her while Serena’s at the mall.”

        “Who’s Luna?” asked Trunks.

        “Luna is Serena’s cat,” answered Ami as she led her visitors down to the basement. “She headed down here a few minutes ago so I just thought I should warn you.”

        Ami walked over to what appeared to be a workbench and flipped on a light. “May I see the circuit?”

        Trunks nodded, and reaching into his pocket drew out the requested item. He handed it to Ami.

        She looked it over carefully, turning it around in her hands. “I’d like to run some tests on it. Do you mind?”

        “I guess not,” said Trunks.

        “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Ami then disappeared around the corner.

        She ran the circuit through a series of tests and examinations and found the problem. She turned to Artemis and whispered softly a list of parts she would need. He nodded and began typing them into the computer.

        Meanwhile, Trunks was beginning to get impatient. “What’s taking so long? It seems like we’ve been here all day”

        Lita was holding Luna curled up in her arms. “Ami’s doing her best. Quit being so impatient. I’m sure she’ll be back any minute,” she said.

        Just then, Ami came around the corner. “Sorry about the wait. This is an unusual circuit and I had some trouble running the tests,” she apologized. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

        Trunks appeared a bit nervous, but only said, “My mom’s an inventor. The circuit is one of her inventions.” It was the truth after all, just not the whole truth.

        Ami nodded. “Anyway, I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that I located the source of the problem. It seems the programming center of the circuit has been destroyed, making some of the other parts malfunction as well. I can fix it, but it’s going to take a couple of weeks. I need to get the parts, repair the damage, and reprogram the brain of the circuit.”

        Trunks sighed. He hadn’t planned on having to wait for repairs, but it couldn’t be helped. “Alright. I guess I’ll leave the circuit here with you so you can work on it.”

        “That would be fine,” Ami replied. “I’ll be careful with it, and I promise to have it done as soon as I can. In the meantime, I would recommend enrolling in school.”

        Trunks stared at her. “Why should I?" he asked shortly. He had never liked studying.

         “Well, it would at least give you something to do until my repairs are finished. Besides, you would attract less attention if you were in school where people our age belong.”

        Lita rolled her eyes. That last bit was to just too much. She turned to Trunks. “I agree with Ami, all except for the part about us belonging in school. I don’t think you’d get as much attention if you were in school.”

        “All he needs is a uniform,” said Ami.

        “A what?” Trunks asked.

        “A uniform,” Lita answered. “Everyone has to wear them to school. We can go to the mall tomorrow and get it. It can be a group shopping trip.”

        “Good idea Lita.”

        “It looks like I’m going to school,” Trunks groaned.

        “Well, look on the bright side. Maybe you’ll be in class with one of us,” Ami said.

        “That’ll be the only up side.”

        “Well Ami, I guess we should be heading back,” said Lita.

        “I’ll keep you updated on my progress.”

        “Thanks for your help Ami.”

        “No problem Trunks. I’m glad I could be of assistance.”

        Ami escorted her two visitors back upstairs to the door. “I guess I’ll be seeing you guys tomorrow. Bye!”

        “Bye Ami,” Lita and Trunks said as they left for Lita’s house.

        “Ami was a lot of help. Thanks for the suggestion,” he said.

        “It was nothing. I was just trying to help,” Lita said, shrugging her shoulders.

        They continued walking and made it back to Lita’s. She happened to glance down at her watch.

        “Oh no! Rei’s gonna kill me for being late.” Lita reached into her pocket and took out the key. “Here,” she said, shoving the key in Trunks’ hand. She turned around and started jogging back in the direction they had just come from.

        “Where are you going?”

        “I promised to help Rei tonight at the temple,” she called back over her shoulder.

        Trunks scratched his head. I wonder what that was all about he thought. He shrugged his shoulders, and unlocked the door. Once inside, he realized he was a bit sleepy, so he took off his jacket and threw it on the nearest chair. Then he went over to the couch and fell asleep.

        Meanwhile, Lita had finally reached the temple. As she entered, she heard Luna talking about printouts and diagrams she wanted everyone to see.

“Lita, where have you been?” demanded an angry Rei, standing up from amidst the group of girls and two cats sitting on the floor. There was papers and readouts spread all over the floor.

        “Well, uh,” Lita looked a little nervous.

        Ami spoke up. “Lita brought Trunks over this afternoon and I took a look at a broken circuit he had. I ran some tests on it and I’m going to fix it for him.”

        “I had to walk him back to my house. That’s why I’m late,” Lita apologized.

        “It’s ok. I guess I got a little carried away,” Rei said.

        However, before she could continue, Mina burst out with a question of her own. “So Lita, what’s it like having Trunks stay at your house?”

        Rei looked at Mina and rolled her eyes. “Is that all you ever think about? You think about guys the way Serena thinks about food.”

        “Hey Rei, you’re always picking on me,” Serena whined.

        “Like Lita’s any better,” Mina pouted.

        Lita blushed. “Honestly Mina. I don’t even know the guy.”

        “Are you going to let this perfect opportunity go by?”

        Mina continued to press Lita for questions about Trunks. “Come on!”

        Lita saw that Rei wanted to talk, so she silenced Mina and motioned for Rei to go ahead.

“Thanks Lita. Did you find out anything about him Ami?”

        She shook her head. “Not much. His mother is an inventor. She made the circuit that he brought to me. The circuit is very strange though. It isn’t like anything I’m familiar with.”

        “He said his mom made it,” Mina said. “That doesn’t help much.”

        “He could be lying,” Rei pointed out.

        “No,” Lita said coldly. “He isn’t lying.”

        Everyone looked at Lita in surprise. She was obviously upset by Rei’s comment, but nobody understood why.

        Luna spoke up. “How do you know Lita?”

        She turned to Luna. “I just have this feeling. I can’t explain it. Granted, it may not be the whole truth, but it isn’t a lie.”

        “Maybe you should do a fire reading Rei. We might learn something about him,” Luna suggested.

        Serena opened her mouth to congratulate Luna on another brilliant idea, but was cut off by Lita.

        “No,” she said firmly, glaring intently at the cat. “A fire reading might tell us things about him that he doesn’t want us to know. He hasn’t done anything wrong, so I don’t see any reason to go prying for answers. He’ll tell us when he’s ready.”

        Everyone looked around at each other. There was a tension in the air.

“We didn’t mean to upset you Lita, it’s just we’re curious.”

Lita nodded. “I know. Apology accepted.” She smiled. “Tomorrow we’re going to the mall to get a school uniform for Trunks if you guys want to come.”

Serena and Mina shouted together “Shopping!” With the utterance of that word, the meeting lost all hope of being productive as the two blondes became preoccupied with making a list of things they just couldn’t live with out.

“Oh,” groaned Artemis as he covered his ears with his paws. “Here they go again.”

        Luna sighed. “We might as well go home now. We won’t accomplish anything this way.”

        Rei nodded. “I think you’re right.”

        Lita stood up. “Sorry guys, but I’m going to head back now. I want to be sure everything is ok at home.” She turned and shot a cold glance at Luna.

        “I should be heading back home too,” spoke up Serena. “My parents will probably think I got lost again if I don’t get back soon. Come on Luna, let’s go home.”

        Serena headed out the door, followed by Lita and Luna. The trio headed toward the park. When they were out of sight of the temple, Lita silently grabbed the black cat by the scruff of her neck and stealthy ran off toward the park, going a different way then Serena to avoid detection.

        When she made it to the park, Lita held Luna up to her face. “What were you doing prying into his business?” she yelled. “If he wants to tell us he will. I don’t see what the big deal is any way. You’re just nosey. This doesn’t concern you.” She continued to berate Luna. The tirade went on for what seemed an eternity to the cat in the clutches of the brown haired girl.

        Meanwhile, on her way home, Serena turned around to check on Luna and noticed that she wasn’t there. Frightened, she froze where she was. “Luna where are you?” There was no answer or sign of her advisor anywhere. Serena became angry. “What a fine time to wander off, and she calls me irresponsible. I guess I’ll have to go find her now.” She sighed and began wandering around looking.

        After a few minutes had passed with out any sign of her pet, Serena became worried. It usually doesn’t take me this long to find her she thought. Just then she heard a voice that sounded familiar. She followed it and spotted Lita holding a black object that looked a lot like her cat.

        “Lita, you found Luna!” Serena squealed excitedly. She was so happy to see the cat, she didn’t even comment on the yelling or the way Lita was handling her. “Thanks so much. I was really worried about her. Goodnight!” She turned and headed home, reprimanding Luna for setting a bad example.

        Lita glared one last time at the retreating girl holding the cat and made her way back home. When she reached her house, she put a hand in her pocket for the key. Then she remembered she had given it to Trunks before she left. A quick check of the knob proved it to be locked, so she knocked on the door.

        A few seconds later the door opened revealing a rather sleepy looking Trunks. He stepped aside, and Lita all but barged in, giving off an aura of anger. He closed and locked the door behind her. “Here’s your key,” he said, handing it back to her.

        “Thanks,” she said abruptly. “I guess tomorrow at the mall I’ll get another key made so this doesn’t happen again.”

        He started to say something, but it came out as a yawn. “If you don’t mind, I’d think I’ll say my goodnight and go back to sleep.”

        “Fine, do whatever.” She turned and stormed up the stairs. Trunks could almost see the little storm cloud over her head.

        I wonder what’s eating her he thought. He scratched his head and headed over to the couch. I hope whatever it is, she feels better tomorrow