Chapter 3:
Rin was quite firm in her belief that nothing in the world would ever be cooler than meeting a giant talking bug. While many of the dinosaurs in the area could make charming conversation, they were also ill-intentioned predators that tried to make a meal of her whenever she dropped her guard.
Cell was different. She had never met anyone like him. He knew so many things and she had a quiet suspicion that he was smarter than she would ever be. He claimed that he wasn't much older than her in years, but Rin understood that animals matured differently to humans.
With all the innocent tactlessness of a child, she had even asked him how long he was supposed to live for. She had been saddened by the thought that he might grow old and die before she got to know him.
But she needn't have worried. Cell said that he would live forever.
Sitting beside him in a small clearing, surrounded by ferns and trees, she watched with fervent interest as he devoured the latest treat she had brought for him – sweet melons. She had noted that Cell would eat anything she provided to him, but she still wanted to find something like a favorite of his. Something that she could have on hand to make him like her better.
Her eyes lit up when Cell began gorging on the next melon enthusiastically. He usually took his time, chewing slowly with a lazy look in his eyes. Now, however, he seemed to be genuinely enjoying his meal. He had taken his time with the carrots, the baked potatoes, the fried chicken, the noodles and the various other left over that she had been able to take back to him after her meals at home. The fried chicken had been a frightening meal to watch – his beak had crunched right through the bones as if they were nothing, causing her to promptly choke on her own bone in surprise.
"So I guess you like sweet melons then?" She chuckled, playing with a bit of grass she had pulled up. She watched Cell shyly from beneath her lashes and felt one again a small thrill when his eyes glanced at her for a brief moment before returning to his meal. The way he would look at her when she spoke made her feel giddy. And every time he allowed her to pat his thick shell, or ate the food she placed in front of him, she couldn't help but swell with pride. It was like the thrill of taming a feral cat, only times a thousand.
There was just something about him. Something mysterious. She had never before seen anything like him, and careful inquiries had revealed that he had no family. He seemed to be all alone in the world, something that she felt was incredibly sad. The fact that Cell seemed to have no-one only hardened her resolve to take care of him. He wasn't pretty, but he was smart and he needed someone to look out for him.
She just wished she could know what he was thinking. Sometimes she caught him watching her, with an odd, almost hungry look in his eyes.
Cell was flatteringly interested in her martial arts training. Rin was sure she might have given up on practicing with her grandpa completely if it weren't for Cell's insistence that she continue to grow stronger. She still remembered the first time she had heard him laugh – a raspy and somewhat chilling sound...
She had stripped herself completely of all her clothes, as if modesty was a concept that had not even occurred to her. Cell was surprised - he would have expected a young girl to be extremely reluctant to run around in the buff, but that was exactly what she was doing. Had her parents taught her no decency?
The stream came up to her chest, and wasn't particularly strong. The water was crystal clear, revealing smooth pebbles underneath it. They sparkled brightly in the morning sun, hurting his sensitive eyes. He glared accusingly at the discarded training gear and pair of glasses that she had left under his care, treating him as if he were some concerned companion.
She danced around, diving under the water and resurfacing with dramatic gasps. She behaved as if she had no care in the world, something which satisfied him immensely. He had effortlessly integrated himself into the girl's life and had already heard more about teenage drama and a boy named Aidan than he had ever cared too. She had become completely comfortable in his presence, and made an effort to seek him out every day.
He watched her for the rest of the morning, even going so far as to place a restraining foot on her knickers when a breeze threatened to blow them away. Immediately repulsed, he nudged a rock onto the offending article, reasoning that while he had no desire to touch her undergarments, he also had no desire to see her run around without them. He preferred humans clothed. Her tiny, scrawny little body seemed so pathetic without them. How she could possibly hold any energy in that inadequate container of a shell was beyond him.
As for Rin, it honestly hadn't occurred to her to be ashamed of her nakedness. She had often wandered her home nude as a toddler. Her father had asserted that back in his day, children hardly ever wore clothes and they came out tougher for it.
Cell's large form hovered protectively over her clothes, though he was nothing but a large green blur without her glasses. Her mom had given her a fat picnic basket to take with her, to eat with her 'mystery forest friend', and she had given Cell his share already. As the morning wore on, she could feel herself developing a killer appetite, and she emerged from the stream with a happily flushed face and wrinkled skin. Retrieving her glasses, she shook herself like a dog before sneezing softly.
"Thanks for watching my stuff." Cell grunted and she grinned, pulling on her underwear and plopping down with a wet splat beside him on one of the large rocks by the stream, waiting for the warm sun to dry her before she put the rest of her clothes back on. Dragging the pink picnic basket towards her, she withdrew a bacon and egg sandwich.
"You sure you don't wanna have a quick dip, Cell?" she inquired around a mouthful of bread. Cell spared her a bland look.
"Does this body look like it's built for aquatics?"
She chewed thoughtfully for a second before swallowing and shaking her head. "Not really, no."
"Hn." Cell stared off over the water. "I've been meaning to ask," he began slowly, "You're quite powerful for a human..." he trailed off, eyeing her contemplatively.
She beamed down at Cell from her perch on a large white boulder. "Thanks!"
"You are human, yes?"
"Duh. What else would I be?"
"You could be many things, little girl. The universe is more vast and populated than you could ever imagine."
She laughed. Sometimes Cell said things with so much authority she was tempted to believe him. "Now how do you know that? Are you an alien?"
"No. I was born on this planet."
She shrugged. That might have explained a few things though. "Well anyway. I'm definitely human. My grandpa's just a good teacher. Our family is really into martial arts. We've been doing it for," she tossed a hand carelessly, "like, hundreds of years...My dad is in charge of the dojo and everything." She leaned down conspiratorially and held her hand out in front of his face. "Check this out."
She held out her hand palm up and stared down at it intently. She screwed up her nose until eventually a tiny ball of energy formed over her hand. She smiled in triumph, looking up at Cell expectantly.
Cell stared at the little ball of energy, about the size of a golf ball, and for a moment Rin thought he looked a bit underwhelmed. Then he met her eyes, and she awaited his reaction bashfully. "Very impressive," he praised, and if he sounded slightly sarcastic, she chose to ignore it. Rin grinned. The energy collapsed and dissipated and she exhaled loudly, looking slightly worn out.
"To be honest, I'm still not that good at working with my energy. It took me forever just to learn how to do that much." She shrugged. "But grandpa still says I'm the best pupil for generations, so..." She wiped her nose, looking decidedly pleased with herself.
"This school must be very prestigious to be teaching energy techniques," Cell commented, his large pink eyes narrowing in a feline manner. "Those teachings are significantly advanced – too advanced for most fighters, even the relatively skilled ones.
"Oh it is," Rin declared proudly, "The Crane School of Martial Arts is the best!"
His eyes widened, and for the first time since entering his larval form, Cell began to laugh.
"So you carry the two and divide by four, then that would have to make X...fourteen?" Rin slumped over, forehead smacking into the grass, "I don't know..." she groaned, voice muffled.
Cell watched with a smirk as she attempted to understand her petty equations. Apparently the human stereotype of bad vision equaling intelligence had eluded her. She lay on her stomach, her legs swinging in the air behind her, sunlight causing her papers to shine blindingly white. They spent a lot of time in this particular meadow, where grazing creatures kept the grass short and the light was plentiful. Rin was also exceptionally fond of the flowers that grew there, often taking the liberty of decorating his body with the offensive plants.
Cell placed his front foot over her math book, eyes narrowing over the equation, instantly feeling the urge to correct her mistakes. Mathematics was a beautiful thing, and she seemed to be going out of her way to butcher it. She peeked up at him through a curtain of hair, brow furrowed in frustration.
"The answer is thirty-six," He told her. She blinked up at him, frozen for a moment, before scrambling up and leaning over the book with him, frantically scanning the page.
"Wha...Oh, I get it! You multiply, not divide! I forgot to change it when I crossed over the equals sign." Big eyes, alight with admiration now focused on him. "Oh my gosh, Cell. I didn't know you could do math!" She swatted him playfully. "And to think I've been struggling needlessly all this time!"
He resolutely squashed down the warm feeling of gratification that washed over him at the sight of her awed smile. He didn't care about her opinion of him, and she was in any case far too easily impressed.
After discovering the girl's familial origins, Cell watched her with far more interest, feeling undeniable satisfaction at the irony. Among other things, his creator had installed in him the entire history of the Red Ribbon Army, including detailed information on its allies and enemies. To think that he had in his grasp the grandniece of Mercenary Tao, and a student of the same man who had trained Tien, one of his genetic brothers...Well, it was a small world.
Although, it did make sense that Hermit Shen would choose to live his life as far away from the Son residence and Kame house as possible - the Fukurou forest fulfilled that purpose well. How nice that he had been able to settle down and start a family.
He had plans for the girl, plans that made him shiver with delight. She would grow powerful in the next few years - particularly if she was training underneath Master Shen. That made her both dangerous and delectable. He would have to befriend her, seduce her completely. He knew how fickle children could be - for her to not grow bored and find company elsewhere he would have to center himself in her life.
Oh yes - he would play with the girl, listen to her worries and her troubles, make her depend on him even while she mistakenly believed it to be the other way around, and then he would emerge in his Imperfect form and absorb her, drinking in her bio-essence as well as the delicious expression of betrayal and horror he could imagine being on her face.
Her odd desire to help him was ever so convenient, and though he found it irritating at times, it allowed him to keep an eye on her development. An uninvited consequence, however, was that he was slowly getting to know the girl. Through their mostly one-sided conversations he sometimes thought he had heard more from her than he had from Dr. Gero's recordings.
She prattled on about her training, and her family and television shows that she liked to watch. He sensed that she felt lonely and a byproduct of this seemed to be her urge to care for him, fueled by her desire to feel needed.
Her entire personality, it seemed, was made of flaws, and it was this that annoyed him the most. She was also underdeveloped physically, with a naturally small stature and eyes that were practically blind without her external glass optics.
How such a borderline useless person was allowed to come into being was beyond him.
She only served to harden his resolve - he had been created to wipe out flawed creatures such as her, until only perfection remained.
He snickered. It would be entertaining to see just how far he could cast her under his spell. It gave him something to do for the next four years, at least.
After her parents had finally managed to convince her that she needed to attend a real school, and meet some friends her 'own age', Rin found her peaceful co-existence with Cell disrupted. She started high school about a year after meeting him and, no longer able to see him during the day, she would visit him in the evening.
The change in her was obvious. She had made a fast group of female friends who enthusiastically helped her develop an interest in normal teenage behavior. She cut and styled her hair and was taken shopping in the big city for the first time. One humiliating afternoon, while lazing on her stomach in her favorite meadow and coaxing Cell into helping her with her homework, he gave her a long, hard look and then declared with no small amount of disgust that she had grown weaker.
She frowned up at him, shoving her glasses high on her nose with a huff. "What are you talking about? Didn't I tell you about how I blew up that practice target last week?"
Cell didn't look impressed. "So you said."
She spluttered, pushing herself up and leaning towards him. "I blew it up, Cell!" She flailed her arms as if nothing but the random undulation of her limbs could adequately express the sheer remarkability of this feat.
He made a sound like a scoff. "Such a paltry achievement doesn't deserve so much pride. These past few months you have grown lazy."
Her mouth fell open and she stared at him in affront. "How can you say that? I've got school and homework and friends now, none of whom can blow up so much as a pin-cushion, by the way. It's not like I can spend all my time in the dojo – how would I find any time to visit you?" She batted her eyelashes at him sweetly.
"You'd better serve me by growing stronger."
Rin wasn't sure what he meant by that, considering that she was plenty strong enough to protect him as it was. She pouted teasingly at him, wanting to diffuse his weird mood. "Then how would you help me with my homework?"
Cell glared.
Despite her flippant response to his chastisement, Rin did reapply herself to her training, much to her grandfather's delight. Cell was quiet on the issue but for one indolent comment after she had displayed for him just exactly who had not grown 'lazy'.
Her Dodon-Ray felled three trees in one go, and if she weren't so excited she might have felt bad. "There! See! And I'm getting good grades, and I'm hanging out with my friends, and I'm finding time to hang out with you! What do you have to say to that?"
Cell looked up at her with a haughty smirk. "I believe the former has quite a bit to do with the latter, so you aren't entirely selfless when you insist on pestering me."
Rin flushed. "I could get good grades without your help and you know it. Would you be able to survive without me if I didn't keep pushing dinosaurs and wild cats out of this area?"
Cell actually chuckled, and Rin felt the hairs on her arm lift. Cell did that to her sometimes. "No, you're quite correct, Rin," he admitted in a tone that was just a bit too smug to be sincere, "I am entirely dependent on your mercy. I only hope that your delicious power continues to grow."
Delicious, huh? Rin smirked. "Oh don't you worry. It will. I'll make sure of it."
A/N:Yo! It's been a while. So, one of the major changes here is that Rin is Shen's granddaughter. I realized I wanted to have a more solid reason for giving her what little power she has, without making her related to any of the main cast. If you never watched Dragon Ball, you might not even know who that is. Shen was trained alongside Master Roshi until he turned evil and started his own school of martial arts. He's also Mercenary Tao's brother.
Sorry it's taken so long to continue rewriting this. My folks got divorced and life just turned topsy turvy after that. S'all good now though. Find it in your hearts to review? xD