It took a while before Reiya finally opened her eyes.
'Look, she's with us again!' the happy voice of Krillin boomed in her ears and Reiya groaned softly, putting a hand against her pounding head.
'We were so worried about you, Reiya! Can you remember why you suddenly passed out?'
Videl was there as well, after they knew who and when they were fighting, she and Krillin made their way back to Reiya. The girl was happy to see her caring friends and she slowly sat up in her bed.
Seeing that Videl was getting used to all the weird stuff around them, Reiya let her tail fall loosely over the side of the bed, earning an astonished glare from Videl.
Watching with anticipation, Krillin and Videl noticed that Reiya still wasn't completely there yet and they were hoping that she would be able to meet the others.
'You sure you're okay? Maybe it's for the best if you lay down for a while.' he asked worried but Reiya shook her head.
'I'm fine, thanks guys.' She looked around the room for a second. 'Where are the others? Don't tell me they already started the matches?' Reiya cried out in despair and Videl soothingly waved her hand.
'They did, but you only missed Krillin's match so far. I think Piccolo is about to start his match.'
'Really? Who is his opponent?'
'That purple guy, his name is Shin.'
Reiya's eyes grew wider when she heard who Piccolo was up against, and she lowered her head while sighing. Swinging her foot over the edge of her bed Reiya stood up and tried to keep her balance.
Good thing she kept her tail; it kept her from toppling over!
She succeeded after some wobbling to stand up and with some help of Videl, they made their way to the waiting rooms.
'By the way, do I have to fight as well?' Reiya asked when they entered the room and Videl opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted.
'No, because of your inability to participate in a match, it was decided that you were disqualified for this Tournament.'
The loud and snappy reply came from Vegeta, he was leaning against the wall and came up to see them. His dark eyes had an angry glow in them, it made Videl shiver a little and everyone turned to silently greet Reiya.
Gohan smiled and put two fingers beside his head and Android 18 gave a soft, but upbeat smirk. Krillin winked at her happily before joining his wife and Videl glanced at Reiya, who simply gave a nod and took her arm off of Videl's shoulders.
'Thanks Videl, I think I'll be able to stand on my own now.' she said with a joking smile on her face and the other girl nodded before running to Gohan for an update of Piccolo's match.
Vegeta stood still in front of Reiya, who slowly looked up to look him in the eye.
Goku watched them carefully; he knew fully well how Vegeta could react when he was angered or irritated, but it was no excuse for him to let it all out on Reiya.
'I'm disappointed in you, Reiya. If I had known that you were so weak, I would've trained with you a lot harder!' he hissed and the girl averted her eyes, but kept her composure against her sensei.
He was right.
She didn't know what happened a few hours ago, but the purple man had caused her to faint. There was no other explanation to why she suddenly collapsed, because she felt like she could take on the world before the group had met the two strangers.
'I-I am sorry, Vegeta. You're right, it's my own fault that I was disqualified. I'll do my best to set this right, I promise.'
'Whatever. When we get back home, I'll make sure you will get stronger.' Vegeta had to clench his fists to keep his anger under control and he jerked his head away from her. 'Whether you like it or not, I will not let you become a sitting duck for any enemies.' he hissed before walking away.
Reiya trembled slightly, feeling a shiver running along her spine and she closed her eyes. She jumped a little when a hand was placed gently on her shoulder; it was Goku and she quickly cleared her throat.
'Y-you were watching that?'
Her voice cracked a little and Goku nodded.
'Don't be upset about this. You know how proud Vegeta is and he wants you to make him proud as well. You already do, he just didn't see it enough to acknowledge that.'
His words made Reiya smile and she looked at him in thanks.
'I will do my best to show him then.' was her answer and Goku flashed her his characteristic smile.
There was cheering outside; the match between Piccolo and Supreme Kai had begun.
'Let's watch Piccolo's match and after that, you must try to remember what happened out there, okay?' Goku said and the girl nodded in agreement.
They watched by the window and Reiya hoped to get some answers to why she got such a weird feeling, when looking at this Shin.
It seemed that Piccolo too felt the same thing, because after minutes of staring at Shin, he gave up.
Out of nowhere, he quit the match.
'What? Does Piccolo quit?' Gohan asked in surprise and Goku was just as taken aback as his son.
It even shocked Shin himself, glancing at the green man in confusion when he turned around and walked away.
'D-Does this mean you quit the match?' the announcer asked in confusion when he watched Piccolo, as the Namekian left the ring.
'Yes, it does.' he replied solemnly and he met up with the group in the waiting room.
'Well you heard him! That makes Shin the winner by default!' the announcer quickly announced and the audience cheered a little, not sure if they should be excited or confused.
Reiya wasn't very surprised about Piccolo's sudden withdrawal and she looked at the purple man, who seemed to have felt her stare, for he looked back at her.
Gasping slightly, she didn't took her eyes off of him and neither did he. It was until Piccolo called her that Reiya was able to look away from his piercing eyes.
'Reiya!'
'Y-Yes, Piccolo?'
'How are you doing? You should take all the time you need to rest up, while you still can.'
'I'm just fine, there has to be a lot more coming at me to take me out forever.' she said, her voice was again soft as if she was afraid to speak.
It had intrigued Piccolo from the moment he met her; she was a silent, introvert girl who did not seemed worthy of carrying the Saiyan genes, but when angered, she transformed into a completely different person.
Even Vegeta had nothing to say about her when she was in an infuriated state.
In a way, she was just as Gohan and like he had grown fond of the young boy as a good friend, it was the same as with Reiya.
'What did you feel when you saw him for the first time?'
Reiya lowered her head and didn't hear Vegeta entering the room; he had calmed down and was just in time to hear some news about Shin and his friend.
'When Goku shook his hand, I could feel his real power level. It was incredible, I've never felt a power level that strong before.' She looked up to look at Goku, with a mixed expression of sadness and fear on her face. 'Not even Goku could match it.'
The group was shocked and at a loss for words.
'That strong? Impossible; nobody can defeat our Goku!' Krillin yelled after a long silence.
'Wish that was true, Krillin. Remember Cell? Because of a stupid disease, my dad was almost a goner! I believe her when she says that this Shin is very strong, and that he could match my dad.' Gohan explained to a hysterical Krillin, but that didn't calm his nerves at all.
'What else did you feel, Reiya?' Piccolo pressed on, his tone of voice calm and soothing to her in a way.
She swallowed as she suddenly noticed Vegeta in the corner, immediately failing to find the right words.
'I-I'm sorry. I don't know, he's just too powerful.' she exclaimed and the Namekian growled underneath his breath.
He walked away without saying a word and the others let him go; it wasn't easy to quit a match. Like Vegeta, Piccolo had his pride and that was hammered at the moment. Reiya sighed as Shin walked passed her to leave the arena.
He stopped next to her, turning his head to face her with a smile.
'I see you are awake. I am sorry that you couldn't participate in the Tournament because of your current state.' he said in a smooth voice, the voice that she hated already and she inhaled sharply.
'She does not need your pity.' the low growl of Vegeta came from behind her and Reiya felt her nerves calm down again.
Shin glanced at the man behind her, not intimidated at all by him and he walked away, with his friend close behind him.
Vegeta scowled in irritation and they all watched as Videl was next; against a muscle machine called Spopovitch.
The girl put up an amazing fight, kicking and punching him wherever she could. Gohan cheered Videl on, hoping that she would at least survive the match against the big freak she was fighting.
When Videl managed to kick the man to the ground, he lay still and everyone was cheering for her. Slightly out of breath, Videl could not enjoy her short victory, for Spopovitch rose to his feet.
With little effort, he pushed himself back up and the look in his eyes was mad; he would kill Videl on the spot!
All of the Z fighters noticed the change in his eyes and tried to warn Videl, but the stubborn girl didn't give in.
'I will not give up this fight!' she yelled and with renewed energy, she began to attack Spopovitch again and she managed to knock him down on the ground for three times.
Every time he went down, Spopovitch came back up and didn't seemed tired or hurt at all by her attacks. Suddenly, after a harsh kick against his neck, something terrible happened and the audience was shocked.
'W-What did she just do?' Krillin stuttered when he saw the twisted neck of Spopovitch.
With a loud thud he fell to the ground and it seemed that Videl would've win the match, but also could be disqualified because of the critical state Spopovitch was in.
However, the muscle machine rose again, to everyone's surprise and Reiya clasped her hands in front of her mouth, to shocked to speak.
Goku, Gohan, Vegeta and Piccolo stared in awe as the man began to attack Videl with so much anger, that the tables were turned in a second. He began to smash the girl up and down, even keeping her from falling out of the ring so that he could "play" around with her some more.
She was getting pretty beat up, and especially Gohan couldn't stand to see her in so much pain.
'We have to stop him; now!' the youngster growled while he flared up his power level, but Goku send him a warning glare.
'No Gohan, you are not going out there! You can't go up there to help her! Don't do it, son.'
Vegeta exchanged looks with Goku and they both knew that if Videl did not step out of the match herself, Spopovitch would surely ignore the rules and kill her. He already kept his real power at bay when he fired a purple energy blast earlier, but Vegeta was sure that it would've killed Videl if he wanted to.
The girl was beaten numb by Spopovitch and he didn't seem to stop, enjoying the pained expression on her face and hearing her scream in agony.
With a loud scream, Gohan couldn't take it anymore as he rushed forward towards the arena. Before he could step in though, a smaller man appeared and commanded Spopovitch to finish it.
Slightly disappointed, Spopovitch threw the girl out of the ring and Gohan scooped her up in his arms.
'Spopovitch!' he snapped and the duo stopped while looking over their shoulder.
'I swear that we will settle this! I will meet you in a match and I will win!' Gohan growled infuriated and with a final sarcastic laugh, Spopovitch and Yamu jumped over the wall of the arena.
'Good that it's over. Krillin, do you have any Senzu beans?' Goku asked but his friend shook his head.
'No, I don't. Sorry Goku, I didn't expected to really need them today.' he apologized and Goku put two fingers against his forehead.
'Alright, then I'll go and meet Korin. We need those Senzu beans, I'll be back in a sec!'
Disappearing into thin air, Reiya hadn't seen Goku done that before and she had to stop herself from gawking like an idiot. Vegeta walked away and Reiya turned around.
'Wait!' Her sensei did wait, but he did not turn around. 'Are you still mad at me? I promise to train very hard, I will not let you down again!'
It took a while before he reacted, but he turned around and looked at her intensely.
'Next time something like this happens again, don't let me be there to see it. Don't you understand that whatever happens to you, has consequences to me as well? The great Vegeta, teaching a weakling all the ins and outs of being a true Saiyan?'
Reiya listened to him and accepted his words and his emotions.
'I do not want you to be like that, even though you're only half Saiyan like Kakarot's kid.' he grumbled a little before he continued. 'And mine.'
He walked towards her and stood still when he was in front of her, she could hear him breath faster than normal and she knew he could lash at her for punishment.
She gasped softly when she felt his hand on top of her head, as a sign that he wasn't angry at her anymore and his breathing went back to normal.
'Maybe that's why I am so strict on you and my own son; because I don't want to see you fail and follow the consequences of it.' he said, his voice had changed and Reiya dared to slowly lift her head to face him.
'How could I fail, when I have an amazing mentor who teaches me everything I need to know?' she said and after a short silence, Vegeta smirked and ruffled her hair a little before he walked away.
Smiling for the first time, Reiya watched him and she suddenly remembered Videl; now that she had made up with Vegeta, she needed to check on her friend!