DISCLAIMER: All characters from Dragonball Z belong to TOEI, FUNImation, Cartoon Network, and YTV. They're not mine, I'm just borrowing them. All other characters are figments of my imagination and kinda, sorta, belong to me. If you'd like to use them, let me know and we'll work something out.
Kinrat - The Lost Scout
Part Four
14 BF
"Kindra!" Martha yelled exasperatedly, "Kindra Trent, you open this door right now!"
"Sonna, iseijin!" Shrieked through the door.
Martha pounded on the door again, "Kindra, open this door right now or I'll break it down!"
"HA!" Kinrat scoffed, "Weakling iseijin!"
Martha counted up to ten in English and then back in Japanese, "Listen you! You're going to be late!"
"No late! Not going!" Kinrat yelled.
"You don't go, you don't get training room privileges for a month!" Martha threatened.
"BAKA ISEIJIN! Omae da!" Kinrat shrieked.
"Try me." Martha replied with a small triumphant smile.
The door was thrown open and Kinrat stood there glaring at her. Martha's smile turned in a delighted grin.
"You look wonderful, Kindra!" She exclaimed, happy to see the girl finally in something other than armor.
Kinrat just growled and stormed past her, "Baka iteki!" Martha heard her mutter.
Martha chuckled and followed, "Now remember, Kindra," Martha said, "You promised you would behave like a human."
"Hai!" Kinrat snarled, "Don't see why! Kinrat not human!"
Martha gave her a stern glare, "I know that, you know that, but they don't need to know that!" She reminded the girl.
When they got to the door, Martha handed her a blue backpack that was sitting by it. Kinrat snatched it out of her hand and gave her a dirty look. Martha sighed, it was going to be a long drive!
Albert and Karen were waiting for them outside by the car. Kinrat just growled at them and climbed into the car. They looked over at Martha, she shrugged.
"She's not in the best of moods." She sighed.
Karen smiled while Albert frowned. "Are you sure about this?" He asked her. "I still don't think it's a very good idea."
Martha glanced over at Kinrat who was sullenly staring out the front window and motioned her brother and sister over. "She's got to socialize with kids her own age!" She whispered when they got to her, "Until she does, she won't let go of her past!"
"Yeah, but!" Albert protested.
"ISEIJIN! Are going or not?!" Kinrat hollered out the car window.
Martha put on a bright smile, "Of course we're going, Kindra!" She called back, fishing the keys out of her pocket. "Say goodbye to Albert and Karen like a good girl."
"Sayonara, Albert, Karen!" Kinrat sneered, glaring at Albert evilly, "Be back later!"
Albert gulped convulsively, "Maybe her going isn't such a bad idea." He muttered nervously.
Martha got into the car and put the key into the ignition, "Put on your seatbelt, Kindra." She instructed.
Kinrat snorted but complied. "Seatbelts!" She muttered, "Baka iteki inventions!"
As soon as they were both safely belted in, Martha turned the key and gunned the ignition. A split second later they were moving. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kinrat grip her backpack and gulp nervously.
"There's no reason to be nervous, Kindra," Martha told her. "Everyone goes to"
"Baka! Keep eyes on road!" Kinrat snapped, gripping the car door. "Nervous about iseijin Martha driving, not that!"
Martha sighed and looked back at the road, "Get used to it, Kindra. You can't go flying everywhere, you know. It's just not normal."
Kinrat blinked and prayed to Kami that Martha saw the big truck coming towards them, "Hai! Kinrat know, but iseijin Martha sure like to try!" She yelped as Martha swerved around the truck back onto the right side of the road. "Let Kinrat out! Kinrat fly, iseijin Martha go home! Next time iseijin Karen drive Kinrat!"
Martha chuckled, "There's nothing wrong with my driving, Kinrat!" She reached over and adjusted the red ribbon in Kinrat's hair. The car started to drift over into the other lane again.
"MARTHA-SAN! Look out!" Kinrat shrieked when another large truck loomed down on them.
Martha jerked the wheel and brought them back into the lane. Kinrat sighed in relief. Yes, next time Karen-san can take me or I'll fly! She shot Martha a dirty look and gripped the handle of the door, ready to leap out in case of an emergency.
Martha raised an eyebrow, ignoring the look. "Did you just call me 'Martha-san'?" She asked teasingly.
Kinrat shook her head vigorously, "No!" She denied.
"Yes you did! You just called me by my name!" Martha jibed. "Maybe you like me more than you'll admit to, huh?"
"Did not!"
"Yes you did!"
"Kinrat not!"
This went on until they pulled up in front of a large gray building. Kinrat looked out of the window and felt butterflies buzz nervously around her stomach, she didn't like this feeling at all!
"Here we are!" Martha announced cheerily. "Come on, Kinrat! Let's go to school!"
Kinrat shot Martha another one of her patented dirty looks and got reluctantly out of the car. I don't want to be here! I don't want to do this! She thought angrily. School! Even though Martha and Karen had explained it to her, she still didn't understand why parents would jam the kids into a building and force them to learn things? And Martha said Saiya-jin were barbaric!
Kinrat sighed as she followed Martha up the stone steps to the doors. She'd promised, she would be good, she wouldn't kill anyone, and she would be polite and act like a normal human girl. Baka iteki!
She followed Martha down a long corridor, her eyes glued to the woman's back, not daring to look around. Her sensitive ears could hear the murmur of human voices all around her and she was beginning to become scared. No! I will not be scared! If humans can do this then a Saiya-jin can too! She told herself sternly. She lifted her head a bit more arrogantly and followed Martha into a room.
"Ah, Ms. Trent!" A woman with blue hair greeted them. "We've been expecting you!"
Kinrat looked to her left and didn't let her surprise show in her eyes. Sitting in rows, and all staring at her, were Earth children. Lots of Earth children. Kinrat just gave them a cold glare and looked back up at Martha.
"And you must be Kindra!" The woman exclaimed, kneeling down in front of her. "My, aren't you a cute one! Such a beautiful dress you're wearing!"
Cute?! Kinrat thought startled. "Watashi wa kawai ku nai ya!" She replied arrogantly. "Watashi wa Saiya"
"Kindra!" Martha interrupted with a hard glare. "In English!"
"Hai, Obasan." Kinrat replied softly, lowering her eyes.
The woman smiled, "Yes, you told me that she was raised in Japan. It's alright, Japanese is such a musical language." She gushed.
Kinrat gave Martha a smug look and then looked back at the teacher.
"Why don't you introduce yourself to the class, Kindra?" The teacher suggested. "You can do it in Japanese and then in English, okay?"
Kinrat blinked in surprise, "Hai, senpei!" She nodded and turned to the class. "Ohayoo gozaimasu! Watakushi wa Trent Kindra. Watakushi wa roku sai. Dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu." She bowed. She looked over at Martha and grinned slightly as the woman let out her breath. "Good morning! I am Kindra Trent. I'm six years old and I'm very pleased to meet you." She said in her sweetest voice.
Martha looked down at Kinrat in suspiciously. The kids up to something! I can smell it! But she was relieved too, Kinrat had made it through five minutes without being a Saiya-jin.
"Good morning Kindra!" The entire class said back to her.
Kinrat had to restrain herself from going into a fighting stance and plastered a stupid grin on her face as she bowed to the humans again. I watched the television, I know how this works! She thought triumphantly. Stupid aliens! So easily fooled!
"Kindra," The teacher said. "Why don't you take a seat beside Daniel there, okay?"
A boy with chestnut brown hair and dark brown eyes looked startled for a moment and then pointed to the empty seat beside him.
"Hai, senpei!" Kinrat bobbed another bow and made her way through the aisles to the seat. She sat down and ignored the curious looks from the other children. Baka iteki!
Martha stared at the brightly smiling face of the alien girl for a moment and then sighed. As long as she doesn't forget herself, I think she'll be okay. Then she had another thought and looked sternly at Kinrat. Just don't forget to hide your tail, young lady!
Kinrat blinked innocently but she knew what that look meant. Martha had given it to her a few times before when she'd forgotten to hide her tail. She tightened it around her waist and readjusted her dress over it so it didn't rub. "Obasan, you can go! I'll be fine now." Kinrat called brightly to her.
Martha smiled and nodded, but there was a warning look in her eyes. Kinrat made shooing motions with her hands and Martha left. Kinrat sighed in relief and started looking around the room for a means of escape. If they think they can keep me here!
"Now class! Where were we?" The blue haired teacher said, turning back to the chalkboard.
"Hey!" The boy Daniel leaned slightly over and whispered to her. "What part of Japan are you from?"
Kinrat gave him a cold glare, "None of your business!" She hissed softly. "Leave me alone!"
Daniel pouted, "Aw. Come on! You can tell me! My sensei is from Okinawa"
"Sensei?" Kinrat's eyes narrowed, she suddenly wished she had her scouter with her. "You know how fight?"
Daniel nodded, "Hai! I've only been training for a year but my sensei said that I might be good enough to enter the Junior Tournament this year." He replied slowly in Japanese.
Kinrat raised an eyebrow slightly. Perhaps being in school had advantages she hadn't even considered. "Then I challenge you!" She whispered to him.
The boys eyes widened slightly, "You what?" He squeaked in English.
"Kindra challenge iseijin Daniel!" She said arrogantly.
"Kindra! Daniel! Is there something you'd like to share with the class?" The teacher interrupted.
"No, senpei!" Kinrat replied sweetly.
"No." Daniel said softly, still staring at Kinrat with amazement.
The teacher tapped her foot impatiently. "Then would you kindly keep your eyes on the blackboard please?" She instructed.
"Hai senpei!" Kinrat nodded. She grinned and watched the boy out of the corner of her eye.
She didn't get a chance to talk to him more about her challenge until the bell rang for recess. By then, Kinrat was ready for a fight.
"Baka alien teacher!" She snarled in Standard, stomping her way out to the playground. "Does she think I'm an idiot or something?! Even a third class Saiya-jin babe could understand her questions!"
She opened the door to the schoolyard and blinked in amazement, "Earthlings must breed like rats!" She hissed in surprise as she looked around the crowd of students.
"Kindra!" Several girls called to her. "Kindra, over here!"
Kindra blinked again, this time in surprise as a pretty blonde haired human girl waved her arms to get her attention. Kinrat sighed and pasted back on the stupid smile she had adopted for the school.
"Hai!" She called back, making her way down the steps and over to the small crowd of girls.
The blond haired girl grinned as Kinrat approached and Kinrat sized the group up. There were about seven of them and, from what she could tell, they were from age six to age eight. All were very pretty and each had a very arrogant look on their faces.
"Kindra," The blonde haired girl said, Kinrat finally realized that the girl was in her class. "Kindra this is Stacy, Amanda, Cheryl, Tammy, Lorelei, and Gail." She pointed to each of them in turn.
Kinrat bowed slightly, "Dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu." She said to them.
"See?! Didn't I tell you she was cool?" The blonde haired girl exclaimed to the others.
The tallest, a girl with short red hair cut in a bob around her face, a denim jean jacket and skirt, whom the blonde had called Lorelei, looked Kinrat over with a disdainful sniff. "I don't know, she has the looks but does she have the attitude?"
Nani? What the hell is this? "Gomen?" Kinrat asked, "I don't understand."
Gail, a girl with chestnut brown hair gave an exasperated sigh. "Geez! Don't they have cliques were you come from, girl?" She asked.
Kinrat blinked, Cliques? Do they mean class?
"Obviously not!" Gail giggled. "I mean come on! That outfit! That was like, so yesterday!"
The rest of the girls started to laugh. Kinrat clenched her hands at her sides and counted slowly to ten in English under her breath. "Don't. Laugh. At. Me!" She snarled. "No one, laughs at Kindra!"
"Oooo! I think we hurt the little things feelings!" Cheryl, a girl with brown skin, teased. "Are you gonna cry, little girl?"
The rest of the girls broke out into a louder fit of laughter while Cheryl made exaggerated crying noises at Kinrat. Kinrat looked from one girl to another, Saiya-jin rage and pride began to well up from inside of her. A growl started low in Kinrat's throat and turned into a shriek as she grabbed Cheryl by the front of her pink tee-shirt and dragged her towards her until her nose was millimeters away from Kinrat's.
"Listen closely, iseijin!" She hissed to the girl. "Kindra talk slowly so a low class trash can understand! Reason you an' your iseijin friends still breathe because would be waste of Kindra's energy. But, laugh more at Kindra and then might consider waste worth it!"
She tossed the girl back to her friends and crossed her arms in front of her. Cheryl stumbled and whimpered as she dove for the safety of her friends. Lorelei frowned at Kinrat but Kinrat just sneered at her and tilted her head arrogantly.
"You've got 'tude, girl." Lorelei said after a moment. "But I don't like it."
"Baka!" Kinrat spat back. "Like Kindra care!"
"What did you just call me, squirt?!" Lorelei asked angrily, her green eyes flashing.
Kinrat pretended to look shocked, "Oh, did just call iseijin, baka? Gomen nasai! Kindra meant bakayaro!" She said sarcastically.
"What the hell is a 'bakayaro'?!" Lorelei demanded.
"It's means extreme idiot." A boys voice said, Daniel stepped out of the crowd around them. "It's an insult, Lorie."
"What?!" Lorelei shrieked. "Why you little bitch!"
Kinrat laughed, "Better a bitch than fool!" She told the girl.
Lorelei let out a howl and lunged towards Kinrat. Kinrat just smiled and stepped out of the girls way. Lorelei crashed into a few students and spun around with a snarl.
"Baka!" Kinrat jibed. "Want live, better stop!"
Lorelei let out a loud shriek and made another lunge at the sneering girl. Kinrat shook her head and avoided the swing the older girl took at her.
"That all you got?" Kinrat asked. "Pathetic!"
Lorelei picked herself up out of the arms of her friends and took a deep breath. She slowly crouched into a fighting stance, "Alright, bitch!" She snarled, "Let's dance!"
Kinrat grinned, "Yoshi! Better! Not let anger get in way of fight!" She exclaimed, dropping into her own fighting stance. "Come, iseijin, dance with Kindra!"
"Oh boy! Lorie's gonna cream her!" The girl Stacy with short brown hair exclaimed.
Kinrat spared a glance at Daniel and grinned at his frown. Lorelei took advantage of her momentary distraction and attacked. Kinrat blocked her easily and sighed.
"Baka! Clumsy!" She said with disappointment to the girl as she held the girls hand in her own. "Weak!"
Lorelei's foot shot up and Kinrat swatted it away with her other hand. "Predictable!" She sneered.
Lorelei dropped to her back and flipped Kinrat over her head. Kinrat twisted in mid-air and landed on her feet. She crossed her arms against and looked at the girl skeptically. Maybe I was wrong. She's not much of a challenge. Don't they teach them how to fight properly on this planet?
"Baka iseijin done wasting Kindra's time?" She asked her.
Lorelei just growled and rushed at her again. Kinrat blocked her punches and kicks with a bored look. Finally, she had enough of the weak girls attacks and swatted the girl across the face. Lorelei fell to the ground, momentarily stunned. Kinrat made an exaggerated yawn and looked down at the girl at her feet.
"Pathetic!" She sniffed, turned and walked away. "Baka aliens!" She muttered.
--
Daniel looked back and forth from the girl on the ground to Kindra's retreating back. Oh wow! I've never seen moves like that! He thought amazed. And Lorie's a brown belt too! He suddenly made up his mind, and took off after his classmate.
"Hey! Kindra!" He called to her, pushing his way through the crowd.
Kindra stopped and turned slightly towards his voice, "What want, iseijin Daniel?" She asked him, a note of exasperation in her voice. "If want fight Kindra, no need now. Iseijin no challenge."
Daniel caught up with her, "No, it's not that. I just wanted to tell you how awesome I thought your moves were!" He told her.
"Awe-some?" She asked, puzzled. Her left hand drifted up to the side of her face and then she snatched it back down again. "Nan da awesome?"
Daniel smiled, "Awesome, you know spectacular, amazing, incredible!"
"Then why not say spectacular or amazing or incredible?" She sighed. "Baka iteki! Naze na"
"It's just slang, 'colloquial'" He said in Japanese.
Kindra nodded, "Wakatta" She turned to leave again.
"Wait!" Daniel said, grabbing her arm. He was surprised to find that she was so muscular.
Kindra turned back and gave him a deadly glare. Daniel hastily let go of her arm, "I I just wanted to know uh if you wanted to come over to my sensei's place after school." He said in a rush. "I'm sure he'd love to talk to someone from Japan and a martial artist too!"
Kindra blinked and stared at him. "Hai, I come to see sensei." She replied slowly. "Perhaps sensei be challenge to Kindra."
Daniel sighed in relief, "Great!"
--
Kinrat spent the rest of the day wondering why she had accepted the boys invitation to go see his sensei. It was true, that she thought his sensei might provide the right type of challenge for Kindra but she had to admit that she'd felt something else when he asked her.
It was loneliness.
She'd tried hard to push it into the deepest depths of her soul and concentrate on training, but it was always there. Always nibbling away at her and making her feel hollow inside. She missed her home. She missed her parents. She missed her brother. She even dared to admit that she missed Vegeta. Martha, Albert, and Karen had been trying to make her feel like she fit in but they always seemed to be trying to make her into someone she wasn't. But lately, when she got angry at them and called them insulting names, she felt bad about doing it.
Kinrat didn't like what this planet was doing to her. It was making her forget herself.
At lunch time, Kinrat discovered something odd about Earthling children. When she walked into the cafeteria, which is alive with loud chatter a moment before, everyone stopped talking and watched her get her lunch. By the time she paid for it with the money that Martha had given her, the silence was starting to become unnerving. As she made her way to one of the empty tables, Lorelei stepped out in front of her, blocking her way. Kinrat had just stared coolly at the human girl and then smirked when she saw the bruise on the girls cheek.
"Kindra" Lorelei began hesitantly.
"Hai, baka?" Kinrat sneered.
Lorelei sighed and looked over at her friends sitting at the table. They all nodded.
"We wanted to know if you wanted to sit with us." Lorelei said quickly, not looking into Kinrat's eyes.
Kinrat frowned and looked at the girls at the table. They were all smiling at her and encouraging her to sit down. There was something about their fashionable clothes, lipglossed lips, earringed ears, and vapid eyes that gave Kinrat a serious case of the willies.
"No." Kinrat shook her head and stepped around the girl.
"Why not?!" Lorelei snarled, grabbing Kinrats arm.
Kinrat gave the girl a dangerous look. Lorelei paled and snatched her hand back.
"Baka! Think Kindra be friends with low class trash like iseijin Lorelei?" Kinrat chuckled darkly. "Gomen! Kindra better than baka iseijin girls! Kindra no need for 'clique' because Kindra have blood of Elite Class in veins. Never lower to weakling pathetic class iseijin!"
Lorelei gaped and Kinrat continued on to another table. Everyone in the cafeteria starting talking at once as Kinrat sat down. Several kids came over to her table and joined her, trying to ask her questions about her background. Kinrat mostly ignored them but did confirm what she thought of Lorelei and her group. She soon learned what it meant to be 'popular' and those who thought she was cool soon learned she didn't tolerate stupidity.
By the end of the day, she was ready to kill someone.
"Daniel! Going now?" She tugged gently on his arm, impatient.
Daniel smiled, tying the last knot in his shoe. "Yeah, we're going." He stood up and shouldered his backpack. "Come on."
Kinrat nodded, "Good!" She said, following him out of the school grounds.
They walked in silence for about a mile and then Daniel spoke up, "Why do you talk like that?" He asked her.
"Like what?" She looked at him sideways with a small smile.
"Like you don't know all the words. You speak well in class but outside you omit words." He told her.
"Kindra talk way want. Not like iseijin English!" She replied, "Speak in class because expected and Obasan say if Kindra not get good grades, Kindra can't use training room."
Daniel looked at her oddly, "Iseijin English? What's an iseijin?"
Kinrat only smiled secretively and didn't reply.
Daniel sighed, Stranger and stranger she gets! "So, you live with your aunt at the Trent Corp. compound?" He asked her.
"Hai." Kinrat nodded.
"Where are your parents?"
Kinrat almost stopped walking, startled at the question. "Otousan, Okaasan, away. Far away." She told him, fighting back the sharp pang in her heart.
Daniel didn't notice the pained look on her face, "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
"Hai, Oniisan and imouto with parents." She said softly, looking up into the sky. Oniisan! Will I ever see any of you again?
"Oniisan big brother?" Daniel asked for her confirmation.
Kinrat nodded, "Hai, imouto little sister. Just baby when Kindra leave." She must just be turning two now. Starting to learn to control her ki and her abilities. She sighed.
"That's rough," Daniel said sympathetically. "Did they send you to the States to go to school?"
Kinrat was unsure of how to answer that and said nothing.
"It's okay, if you don't want to talk about it." Daniel said, finally noticing the sad look on her face.
"Hai, no want to talk about family." Kinrat told him.
Daniel smiled, "Okay, 'cause we're almost there!" He pointed to the top of a hill a few miles away. "See there? That's my sensei's dojo and home."
Kinrat squinted slightly and shrugged when she brought the building into focus. "Hai, I see." She told him.
Daniel looked at her surprised, "That wasn't exactly the reaction I was hoping for but" He grinned. "Come on! I'll race ya!"
"Nani?!" Kinrat yelped as Daniel took off at a sprint. "HEY!!"
Daniel just laughed at her over his shoulder and kept on running. Kinrat chuckled and took off after him. She quickly caught up with him and giggled as she passed him by. Daniel looked startled for a moment and then found some extra speed to catch up with her. Kinrat gave him an approving look and started to push herself to keep ahead of him. They raced down the street, weaving in and out of pedestrians, around lightpoles and anything else that got in their way. They were about even but Kinrat jumped and made it before him to the steps of the dojo. She lay panting on the ground and Daniel flopped down beside her.
"Wow!" Daniel wheezed in amazement. "I haven't run like that in a long time!"
"Me neither!" Kinrat panted, feeling exhilarated by the tingling in her body from the adrenaline. "Should, race more often. Good training!"
"Hai! Good training for Daniel-san too!" A male voice said from the top of the steps.
Kinrat was on her feet and in her battlestance in an instant. Then she blinked in surprise, "You Daniel sensei?" She asked, straightening.
The wizened old man, in a white and blue flower shirt, and khaki shorts and sandals, standing at the top of the steps nodded. "Hai, I Muten Masagi, Daniel-san's sensei and guardian." He said to her, eyeing her warily.
"I am Kindra Trent." Kinrat said in Japanese as she bowed slightly.
Masagi's eyebrows raised slightly, "You speak Japanese?"
"Hai, Muten Masagi!" Kinrat replied, a little disappointed by the old man.
"Then perhaps you could tell Masagi why you have such a high power level for one so young?" He asked her, coming down a few steps.
Kinrat had to think about it for a moment, "I was trained by my father from age two, perhaps that is the reason?" She replied, then she looked at him skeptically. "How does Muten Masagi know that I have a high power level?"
Masagi chuckled, "Ah child, why should I tell you that when you not tell Masagi whole truth about your power level?"
Kinrat felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth, I think I'm going to like this man! He thinks like a Saiya-jin!
Daniel looked from his new friend to his sensei and back again. There was more going on here than met the eye, he knew that much. Just what was it?
"Uh, sensei, I brought Kindra here to meet you. She is very skilled in martial arts and she comes from Japan." He said, just to be included in the conversation.
Masagi came down the rest of the steps and peered into Kinrat's eyes, "Hai, you did right Daniel-san. Yoroshiku, Kindra-san, welcome to the Masagi-do Dojo." He said after a moment. "Come inside, Masagi just put kettle on for tea!"
Kinrat followed the man up the stairs and stopped at the top, stunned. Trees, flowers and vines adorned the yard. The ground was paved with a mosaic of gray tiles that drew the eye to the front doors of the dojo. It was unlike any other building that Kinrat had ever seen. Is this Japanese? She wondered, her eyes roaming across the structure. It's beautiful!
"Ah ha! Finally, the reaction!" Daniel crowed jubilantly.
Kindra gave him a puzzled look and shrugged, "Reaction? No, surprised at waste of space." She said, covering her delight.
Daniel frowned slightly but saw a twinkle in the girls eyes, he smiled. "Hai, if you say so Kindra."
Kindra just sniffed, lifted her head arrogantly, and followed Masagi across the courtyard and up the steps of the dojo. Daniel chuckled as he followed her.
"Daniel-san have homework?" Masagi asked as he led them around the side of the building.
"Hai sensei, a little." Daniel replied, making a face.
"Then Daniel-san do homework after have tea, while Masagi talk with Kindra-san." Masagi told him and then looked over his shoulder at Kindra. "Unless Kindra-san have homework too?"
Kindra shook her head, "Kindra no have homework. Kindra finish all baka teacher work in school." The tone of her voice spoke volumes of what she thought about that.
"Good, then Kindra-san and Masagi-san can have a nice chat." Masagi said, pulling back the door of the eating room. "Come, sit! Masagi will make tea!"
Kindra followed Daniel's example and knelt down beside the low table. She instantly felt her legs fall asleep. How can they sit like this? She wondered. She let her eyes flicker around the room, taking in every picture, statue, and piece of furniture that adorned the room. Daniel watched her out of the corner of his eye, there was something about her that didn't seem quite right for a girl who grew up in Japan.
A few minutes later, Masagi emerged from the kitchen with a tray laden with tea and snacks. Kinrats stomach rumbled and she realized that it had been a long time since she'd had her snack at recess. Her mouth started to water as he placed the tray on the table. Then she frowned.
"Is this all?" She asked a little plaintively.
Masagi chuckled, "Kindra-san eat, if still hungry Masagi can make more."
Still Kindra hesitated, not only was she wary about being poisoned, but Martha had told her many times to use her table manners when she was in public. Kindra was having a hard time not diving into the food. She watched carefully as Daniel took one of the sandwiches, took a bite, and swallowed before snatching her own from the tray. She ate it quickly and went back for more.
Masagi watched Kindra devour the pile of sandwiches he had put on the tray. He chuckled softly at her rapacious appetite. I was right, she's just like Son Gohan's grandson. He thought to himself. His eyes flickered to her waist and he could just make out a small bulge around her mid-section. Hai, I was right!
Kindra suddenly discovered that there were no more sandwiches on the tray and looked over at Masagi, her stomach rumbled loudly for more food sparing her from asking for more.
"Wow! I've never seen anyone eat that much before!" Daniel exclaimed, amazed. "Where do you put it?"
Kinrat shrugged and watched the door to the kitchen expectantly. She was hungry!
"Kindra-san?" Masagi called from the kitchen as he piled more sandwiches onto the tray.
"Hai?"
"Masagi-san think Kindra-san should call home so parents don't worry." He told her with a small smile.
"Hai, Kindra should call so Obasan not worry and shriek at Kindra when get home." Kindra replied with a small smile.
Obasan, huh? Masagi thought amused as he brought the tray back into the eating area. "Obasan? Is that what you call your guardian?" He asked in Japanese.
Kinrat froze as she reached for another sandwich. "Gomen?" She stammered.
Masagi smiled gently, "Hai, the person who keeps your secret, you call her Obasan?"
Kinrat pulled her hand back and stared at the old man, "Secret? What do you mean?" Her eyes narrowed and her voice deadly.
"That you're an uchuujin." He said softly.
Kinrat paled, "How do you know that, old man?" She hissed.
"You're not the only tailed one to come to this planet, Kindra-san." He told her.
"Other Saiya-jin? Here?!" She squeaked in surprise and leaned towards Masagi, "Where?!" She demanded.
Masagi's eyes flickered over to Daniel who was engrossed in his homework. "A long time ago, many Saiya-jin is what you're called?" Kinrat nodded. "Came to this planet. They stayed for a few days and I and another managed to observe them while they were here."
"Hai, survey scouts." Kinrat filled in.
"Hai." Masagi nodded. "Although they spoke Japanese, their dialect was like yours. Japanese but not truly Japanese."
"So, there isn't any other Saiya-jin on this planet now?"
Masagi shook his head, deciding to omit telling her about Son Gohan's grandson. "No, you are the only Saiya-jin on the planet now." He told her. It was true enough since Gohan's grandson didn't remember anything about his past.
Kinrat sighed in disappointment and felt another pang of loneliness go through her, she slowly got to her feet. "Arigato gozaimasu, for the food Masagi-san." She said sadly, bowing slightly to the old man.
"Where are you going Kindra?" Daniel asked, looking up at her.
"Kinra.. Kindra go home now, Daniel. Obasan be worried about Kindra." She told him, going over to the door and slipping her shoes back on and putting her backpack on her shoulder.
Masagi followed her to the door and outside. "Kindra-san," He said tentatively.
"Hai, iseijin Masagi?" She asked, staring up at the sky.
Masagi smiled at her calling him the alien. "You will always be welcome here. If you want to talk or train, feel free to come here." He told her.
Kinrat just kept staring at the sky. "Ja, mata ne, Masagi." She replied softly.
She stepped down the steps. She paused, then her aura blazed slightly and she took to the sky.
Masagi followed her with his eyes as long as he could with a sad smile on his face. Kami, I will do what I can for her.
