35
KRILLIN should have known this was a bad idea from the start.
Embarrassing is what this was.
Hovering behind one of the marble columns of Kami's Lookout Tower, following one young woman that he had no business at all keeping tabs on.
The blonde android stared incredulously at the green, pointy-eared Guardian of the Earth while Kami gave Android 18 an update on Bulma's condition, stating that Bulma and Prince Tarble were resting, but that Vegeta was with them both and he would let them know as soon as they awoke.
18 was looking like she was trying her best not to appear bored as she shoved her hands in the pockets of her short denim skirt.
There were rips in her black leggings that looked like she'd done them herself on purpose to Krillin.
Her brown knee-high leather boots had such a heel on them that it was a wonder the woman could walk upright, much less stand on her own two feet and fight off a stocky, fully-grown alien and throw him clean through the wall of that stupid club.
His head still pounded and throbbed from where his skull had contacted with the back of the bricks.
But unlike every other part of Android 18, that screamed, "I don't give a flying fuck what you think about me,", her chin-length blonde hair was neat, not a stray strand out of place, her gold hoop earrings shining so brilliantly that the reflected sunlight was creating tiny pricks of a spot on the white wall behind her as she stood talking animatedly to Kami.
Her youthful appearance deserved a constant, never-ending smile, Krillin thought, but instead, 18 was looking pissed off as hell and frustrated as she prompted Kami to continue speaking and give her an update on Bulma's condition, and just where it was that Vegeta's son and Goku had gone off to, and why she had not been consulted at all.
Krillin strained his ears to listen for more sounds, hoping to catch a snippet of Android 18 and the Guardian's conversation, having to tell himself for the hundredth time that what he was doing to Android 18 was not stalking, right?
Right, he told himself and gave his head a curt shake to listen for more sounds as Android 18 was saying something.
"And…what exactly do they hope to accomplish by bringing that bitch of a club owner and those other two under Vegeta's command back to this place? Why not just have Goku deal with them back on Yardrat?" Android 18 scoffed, looking around the Lookout to the left and right, as though assessing the place.
It was no fortress, but at the very least, it would keep the earth safe in case the trio that Goku and Trunks brought back still harbored any…ill intentions towards the woman she had been assigned to protect and the rest of the group.
"And the kid? What about his stupid fucking tail?" Her steely blue eyes narrowed, and her lips pursed together in a thin line as 18 stomped her foot in frustration, never once taking her eyes off Kami. "Someone did cut off his tail, right?"
"Goku did, yes," Kami answered in a polite, courteous tone, though Krillin could sense the aging Namek was growing increasingly frustrated with Android 18's attitude. He offered the blonde android a brief incline of his head in acknowledgment. "And as for why Vegeta wishes for them to be brought here to the Lookout, my dear, I would have thought it would have been quite obvious," Kami chuckled, leaning heavily on his wooden walking stick for support.
Android 18 raised her eyebrows in alarm and surprise. "Which is?" she huffed, biting down on her bottom lip in ire.
Kami chuckled upon noticing the blonde's flustered expression, as she was growing increasingly incensed with the Guardian of the Earth's habit of taking a long way around to get to the point that he was trying to make as the pair strolled leisurely around the outside exterior of the Lookout, seemingly unaware that Krillin was not-stalking Android 18, careful to maintain a respectful distance, though if either of them were aware, the pair of them were quite good at hiding it.
"It was Bulma whose life was placed in danger by the reckless and heartless actions of this strange so-called Madame Destiny and those brutes who took it upon themselves to end that poor Prince's wife's life," Kami began speaking in a slow and guarded manner, as though speaking to a twelve-year-old child instead of a fully grown adult young woman of almost twenty-seven-years old. He sounded rather remorseful. "I believe that her husband sees it as Bulma's right to doll out a fitting punishment for her and the other Saiyans' actions."
Android 18 did not look at all reassured by his words. She folded her arms across her chest and crossed one leg over the other as she halted in her movements and looked at Kami.
"No offense, um, Kami, or whatever your name is, but this doesn't sound like something Briefs needs to be dealing with right now, in her current condition. Is Vegeta out of his mind?" she growled, her blue eyes flashing indignantly as she huffed in frustration, not once reverting her gaze from Kami. "The last person she needs to see right now is that bitch of a club owner who tried to poison her and kill her baby, sir! If she sees her, it's sure to only set her off, and when that happens, you know her husband is going to get so protective of Briefs that he's going to light up like a goddamn firecracker, and you can kiss this place here at the top of the world goodbye!" Android 18 huffed in annoyance.
"Is that so, Miss 18?" Much to Android 18's surprise, Kami merely folded his arms across his chest and returned her tirade with a rather blank and neutral expression. "Forgive my candor, my lady, but is that a note of affection in your tone, miss? Perhaps during your employment as Miss Brief's bodyguard, there is a small part of you, however minuscule, that has grown to care for the young woman inside and maybe even think of her as a friend to you?" he chuckled, seeming to enjoy 18's flabbergasted expression as her lips parted open in her growing anger and shock.
The edges of Kami's lips crinkled upwards in a slight smile as he began to shuffle his way further down the walkway.
"I believe if you will search within yourself, my dear young lady, you will find that not all humans on this planet are bad and harbor ill intentions towards you or your brother, my dear. If there's but one thing I've learned during my time as Guardian for this planet, it's that humans are quite resilient and braver than they appear to be. Like her," Kami emphasized.
Android 18 stiffened as she looked at the ground nervously, wondering why, for some reason, she still felt the need to explain herself to this tall green man in front of her.
Though she could not quite shake the feeling that this Namek already knew everything for himself. He had an intense way of boring straight through her eyes, those windows to her soul, what little soul she had left after Dr. Gero's experiments and seeming to see straight to her heart.
Almost as if he could read her thoughts or something. It was more than a little unnerving, to say the least, she thought.
"I—I didn't mean to," she mumbled, a light pink blush speckling along her cheeks as she kicked at a pebble with the edge of her boot. "The—the Saiyan King, er, our new King Vegeta's father, the other Vegeta," Android 18 stammered, "cornered me on Lord Frieza's ship and I stupidly told that bastard everything. I told the man that Bulma was pregnant. I did not mean for any of that to happen. If I'd known the king was a pervert and a creep, I'd never have said a goddamn word," she grumbled, waving a hand back towards the corridor that the pair had walked down. "Had I known his first move would have been to…to try to…well…that…" She swallowed past a lump in her throat, not wanting to continue that pleasant thought. "I should have stayed by her side more. I—it's just that I have a hard time, ah, well, trusting people after what Dr. Gero did to my brother and me. I'm certain you can at least understand and respect that much…?"
Kami held up his withered hand that was beginning to curl forward with arthritis in his old age, in a further attempt to quiet any efforts made by Android 18 to explain herself.
"I can respect and understand your reasonings, my dear, but the plain fact of the matter is, it is not me with whom you should be having this conversation, Miss 18. I think you owe it to the young lady inside once she wakens and has something to eat to tell her truth and ask her for your forgiveness. And…" he paused, his beady eyes taking on a faraway look, as though Kami were seeing something else in a different time and place as his eyes momentarily glossed over before the Guardian of the Earth snapped himself out of it.
He shook his head to rid his mind of whatever vision he was seeing and turned his attention back towards 18, who was eyeing him curiously with furrowed eyebrows.
"My apologies, my dear. I just saw something I did not expect, but it is nothing you need to trouble yourself over. I think you should talk to the young miss when she wakes. Perhaps you might find yourself surprised at her answer. It cannot hurt to try, can it, child?"
Kami offered her a morose little chuckle. "It's not like you've much left to lose, my dear. You had your life stripped away from you at such a young age, held in captivity, and turned into what you are now as a result of that monster's experimentations on you. What is there left to work with?"
"I…" Android 18 felt like her brain was spinning as she fought to summon up an answer and found herself short.
Kami chuckled. "You should use this opportunity now that you are back on Earth and away from the man who once controlled you as a fresh start. A second chance. An opportunity to settle down perhaps somewhere quiet, forget about things you aren't too proud of. I know what that's like, believe me, I can understand it better than most," he sighed somberly, before turning to look at 18 again. "There is no need to be alarmed, miss, nor is there any cause for distress. You have done nothing that I would have not done for my own dear friends, my own brothers."
Kami's face saddened at the very thought.
"If I could have," he finished, his voice falling slightly. "Lord Frieza's reign over the universe has finally come to an end, after all this time, and good riddance to such a monster with no regard at all for other lifeforms," he sighed, looking to the skies as though hardly daring to believe it. He looked wistful for a moment before seeming to come back to himself and turned to 18. "Anyways. I did not seek you out to discuss Lord Frieza. It is not him of whom I wish to speak. We were discussing the young miss inside, were we not? I think your first step towards making amends and perhaps even your first friend on this planet is to speak to her when she wakes, though I would give her the space for now, as her husband was in quite a right foul mood and seems…distraught," he answered dryly, a flicker of annoyance darting through his beady black eyes, darkening his green skin.
Android 18 harumphed in response, not soon to forget the distrustful way that the newly appointed Saiyan King looked at her, or anyone else really, who got too close to his mate in such a way that King Vegeta wasn't comfortable with.
"Ah, I'll see her in a little while," she stammered, not sure what else to say to the alien, this Guardian of the Earth.
Kami nodded, dipping his head in acknowledgment of the android's words, and leaning heavily on his walking stick.
"Good. See to it that you talk with the young miss at your first opportunity. I would recommend trying to have that talk with her before she speaks with this strange Madame Destiny character and those other Saiyans I know only a little, but enough to know that I don't like them at all," Kami growled, a shadow of anger darting across his lined face.
It almost—almost—made Android 18 shiver in anticipation.
"Well," the Guardian of the Earth sighed, sensing that Android 18 needed a moment alone with her thoughts, as he turned away, the hems of his white robes billowing behind him as he walked. "Think over my words and don't take them in," he sighed. "I'll leave you to your thoughts then. I must get back to the kitchens anyways, I promised Mr. Popo I would taste test whatever he's making for the others as a supper when those two inside wake up. They're bound to be hungry, and so are those four Saiyans. What in my own name are we going to do with four Saiyans here? Just having Goku here as a boy was bad enough, he nearly cleared out our entire rations' worth of food in his first week. Mr. Popo is sure to have quite a time on his hands, indeed," he sighed, inwardly flinching upon the remembrance of how much Goku as a young boy had eaten during his training here at the Lookout, wondering how their food rations would get by now that they had not one Saiyan but four to worry of.
With another dip of his head and a 'God bless you,' Kami shuffled off down the corridor towards the kitchens, leaving Android 18 alone on the platform.
Or so she thought. Krillin breathed a barely audible sigh of relief as Android 18 grumbled something darkly under her breath, keeping her hands shoved in her pockets, and began to walk down a hallway. Good. She hadn't noticed him as yet. He'd done it.
She began to quicken her strides, and before Krillin could fathom it, his legs were moving of their own accord, no longer taking directions from his own mind, which was more or less screaming at him that this was a horrible, bad idea, really, but he was nevertheless careful to keep a safe distance.
This was beginning to become something of a horrible obsession for him, he knew, and Krillin knew what he was doing to himself wasn't healthy at all, but his mind was no longer listening to sound logic and reason around this girl.
He had no business following Android 18 around like a lost little puppy dog, and yet, that's exactly what he was doing.
Is it really out of concern for her safety? A voice that sounded suggestively and entirely too much like Master Roshi's sounded off in the recesses of his mind as he followed her. With everything that had happened just over the last day with Frieza, flinging that asshole in the club so hard that he flew through the wall the moment that creep dared to lay a hand on her, and then all the stuff going on with Bulma and Vegeta, Krillin was hit with the uncontrollable urge to protect.
He'd never felt such a strong urge before in his entire life, not even when he'd been dating Maron way back when.
A pang of unease rested in his heart at his ex-girlfriend's name even just thinking it, but Krillin forced himself to shove all thoughts of the blue-haired beauty aside for right now. He'd dumped her for a reason, and he had to trust his instinct.
Krillin didn't particularly like the poisonous thoughts that ran through his mind, thinking that Android 18 couldn't take care of herself. She was an android, for Kami's sake, and had nearly wiped the floor with that boy with the purple hair.
18 could absolutely take care of herself and didn't need any help from an average guy like him who had nothing to offer. It was not stalking, the former student of Roshi's told himself. He just…needed to make sure that she was safe.
He'd followed her almost all hour, watching from a distance as she explored the Lookout while Kami and Mr. Popo had been inside with the others tending to Bulma.
Android 18 was good at her job as she more or less secured the perimeter without needing to be asked, not that anything would find them all the way up here at the Lookout. 18 was brusque at times, and she had little patience for bullshit and attitude, but Krillin liked that about the blonde.
Krillin followed 18 past the gardens that Mr. Popo worked so hard to tend the flowers with his eyes planted firmly on the ground until the sound of her footsteps stopped.
"Are you following me?" Android 18 bluntly asked.
She was talking to him. To him! She—she wasn't still mad about that little incident in the club, then…was she?! Flustered, Krillin froze in his tracks and desperately wracked his brain trying to remember how words worked.
"What? Me? I, um…walking, I—I was just…uh…" Krillin swallowed past a lump, his eyes wide as they stared into 18's. Such a brilliant crystalline blue. So cold and dangerous.
Deadly but beautiful. His breaths caught in his throat in a panic. Not sure what else he could say to this android who he couldn't seem to stop thinking about, Krillin decided that fleeing would be the best course of option here, so he quickly turned on his heels and ran…face first, into the side of a pillar.
A moment later, he found himself staring up at the blue sky and the clouds, the prettiest woman in the world hovering over him with raised eyebrows and a look of amusement on her face, looking like she wasn't sure whether or not to laugh.
"Your head must be made of steel if you keep running into solid objects like this," she snorted, patting the pillar affectionately as she knelt down beside Krillin, who flinched away from her. "Don't worry. Happens to all of us. When I was first learning how to fly, I hit my head against the brick wall of a building when I was only eleven. Was so excited that I thought I could escape that hellish cave when Dr. Gero took me out for the first time to test the flight capabilities that I wasn't watching where I was going and cracked my head clean open. Woke up back at his laboratory about three hours later."
Krillin winced at the very thought, prompting him to speak out loud before he could stop himself, "Are you alright?"
"What, more than ten years later?" Android breathed out with a light snort. "Yeah, I think I'll be okay."
Krillin smiled at the sound of 18's light laughter, thinking it was the prettiest sound in the entire universe.
"So, you gonna tell me why you were following me?" she asked Krillin again, point-blank, blue eyes darkening.
His eyes widened in shock, his smile instantly slid off his face as he felt all the blood drain from his face at that moment. Krillin knew he'd liked her almost from the minute he set eyes on her, had always seen her from a distance, but up until that moment in the club when he'd lost his cool and thrown that asshole through the wall for manhandling her, he'd never really talked to her at this length before. And now that he'd spoken more than eleven words to Android 18, almost none of them had made a damn lick of sense to him.
"I was just…um…because of Frieza and his goons? And you're an Android?" he stammered, his cheeks reddening.
Android 18 rolled her eyes at Krillin, looking suddenly perturbed. "C'mon. don't just sit there, Krillin. Get up, man." She held out her hand to help him up. Krillin stared at it, a dumbfounded expression plastered across his features. "Go on then." 18 shoved her palm even closer to him. "I'm not gonna bite you. If I wanted to hurt you already, I would have," she murmured in a somber tone, eyes hardened.
Krillin laughed loudly, much louder than he had intended to, if he had even intended on laughing at 18 in the first place. He covered his mouth and blushed apologetically.
"I—I'm sorry, 18, I wasn't laughing at you, I just, uh…" he choked over his words, embarrassed, and stood on his own, refusing the offer of Android 18's outstretched hand.
The blonde appeared to take no offense, dusting off her hands before turning away and shoving her hands in the pockets of her short denim skirt. "Care to tell me why you were following me like a stalker, Krillin?" Android 18 asked.
Krillin hesitated, biting at the inside wall of his cheek. He wanted to lie to 18 and make up a plausible story here on the spot, but something about lying to Bulma's bodyguard felt wrong. "I just, uh…wanted to make sure you were…safe…"
He cringed as the words left his mouth as he rubbed at the back of his neck gingerly, the front of his head throbbing.
She chuckled, quirking a thin blonde brow Krillin's way. "Huh. That's an odd thing for a stranger to do, Krillin."
Krillin grimaced and pulled a face at the word stranger.
"Care to explain why you're worried about my safety?"
"Not really," Krillin answered in a flat and distant tone.
"Well, you can chill out and relax. You don't need to worry your handsome face about me," Android 18 vehemently insisted, unaware of the way Krillin's eyes widened or the way his breaths caught in his throat the moment she had called him handsome, unaware of the effect it had on the warrior. "People take one look at me and think just because I'm a girl means I'm some weak little sap," she growled, her blue eyes flashing with a look of daring that was reminiscent of the way Bulma would get pissed at him sometimes, that brought back memories of their adventures together, the three of them, Bulma, Krillin, and Goku, as kids. "I'm not some dumb daft blonde bimbo to be trifled with. Though I don't think I need to tell you that, Krillin, do I?"
She fixed Krillin with a pointed stare that made him feel increasingly uneasy with the turn their conversation had taken.
Krillin flushed and immediately began stammering, trying to correct himself. "I—no, I—I don't think you're weak, 18, I was just…worried about you. That guy in the club was being a total pervert, but I overstepped and should have let you handle it in whatever way you saw fit. I over-reacted. I'm sorry…" he rested his head in his hands and took a step backward. "S—sorry," he stammered, his blush on his cheeks intensifying. "I know that's weird and really inappropriate," he murmured.
Android 18 shrugged her shoulders by way of response. "Eh, it is a little weird, I guess," the blonde acknowledged, a tone of amusement and something else seeping its way into her tone, something that Krillin could not identify for the life of him. "But…I'd be willing to give you a second shot. If you want to start by being friends, it'd make this a lot less weird."
Krillin quirked a thick dark brow and opened one of his eyes as he turned to look at the young woman across from him, regarding him curiously as she cocked her head to the side. "B—but you don't even know me, 18," he said, flustered, feeling caught off-guard at her offer of friendship.
"Well, what I've seen of you so far, I like," Android 18 grinned and leaned back against the column of the same pillar Krillin had more or less just cracked his head wide open against, a light breeze wafting her blonde hair off her face. "You're a strong man. You might not be a Saiyan like those other three, but you're strong in your own right. Enough to throw that asshole through the wall of that stupid club," she chuckled, tossing a lock of her blonde hair out of her eyes. "You've got a long-term loyalty to your friends, which means you care. You run into pillars at the first sight of a pretty girl," she chuckled, enjoying seeing the light pink blush that speckled along Krillin's cheeks as she heard him sigh in frustration before he looked away, needing a moment to compose himself.
She snorted and continued saying her piece.
"You didn't step in with that purple-haired kid on Yardrat, though you could have, which means to me that despite you being worried for my safety, you trust me enough to handle my own and know when the back the fuck off and let me deal with my own problems. And you followed the group to Yardrat even though there was a high probability of Frieza or someone else on that stupid planet vaporizing your ass into dust, which suggests that you're either clueless, resilient, or you came to Yardrat for a different reason besides just Bulma."
At this, Krillin's face turned beet red, and Android 18 smirked as though she'd just received confirmation for a silent theory of hers that she did not bother to give it a voice.
"I've created friendships in my life knowing way less," Android 18 sighed as she rested her chin in her palm, having to lean down slightly to look Krillin in the eyes. The way she smiled in his direction warmed Krillin several more times. There was a devious glint in her blue eyes that Krillin wasn't at all sure what to make of. He swallowed down hard.
"What on earth will I ever do with you, Krillin?" she teased, straightening her gait, and fixing him with a piercing stare, keeping her arms folded across her chest while she waited for Krillin to summon enough strength to answer her.
Love me. Marry me. Go on a date with me, 18? Krillin stared into those blue eyes that had ensnared him and were currently holding him captive. She didn't look away. Krillin took that as a good sign and summoned up every ounce of courage, though, for an inappropriate moment, he wished Yamcha were here, as the ladies' man and womanizer had way more experience in asking women out on dates than he did.
But it was too late to take it back, and more to the point besides, Krillin decided he didn't want to take it back. The words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself.
"Well, uh, to make up for making me hit my head twice, you could let me take you to dinner back down on Earth. I know some really good restaurants in West City…" Krillin stammered, hardly daring to believe the words that had just tumbled out of his own mouth. This was it. The point of no return, from which there was no going back.
Android 18 blinked, startled, and clearly taken aback by his question. "Like a date?" she asked with raised eyebrows.
Krillin cringed, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck as a fiery heat crept to his cheeks, thinking for sure he'd overstepped at least a huge boundary just now by asking her out. "Um, yeah. There's a good steakhouse if you like steak."
Android 18's expression molded from one of surprise and alarm to a look of almost impassive indifference as she looked at the short man standing in front of her, nervously shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
He was definitely shorter than the average type she usually went for, not that she'd been given ample opportunities to date when she and 17 had been under Dr. Gero's thumb and lock and key. He wasn't the most handsome stud on Earth she'd ever seen, but something about the man's genuine warmth was almost contagious, and he had a nice smile.
There was something so bright and pure that came from him that made it all the more special, that made 18 forget who and what she was for a moment. It was a feeling Android 18 decided that she liked and wanted more of. Krillin didn't look at her and see another heartless bitch, with one thing on her mind: killing.
No. Krillin saw something different, some untapped potential that she was curious to find out what that was.
Perhaps it was this that compelled Android 18 to say yes. "Sure," she answered, looking as kindly as she could into Krillin's nervous face with a shrug of her shoulders. "Steak sounds good to me," she chuckled lightly at the dumbfounded expression on Krillin's face as his jaw hung slack open in awe.
"W—wait, y—yes? D—do you really mean it?" he stumbled out, almost sounding ashamed of himself for asking.
Perturbed, Android 18 turned away from Krillin and began to walk towards the entryway upon seeing Vegeta skulk in the shadows, no doubt having to come to tell them that Bulma was awake. Though before she could make her way to the disgruntled-looking Saiyan King, she peered over her shoulder.
"You're really asking questions, Krillin?" 18 snorted.
His eyes widened slightly, and a grin began to grow on his face as he nervously fidgeted with his fingers, awkwardly weaving his fingers in between his knuckles as he practically rocked back and forth on his heels in excitement at the idea.
"W—well, I—I can't help but wondering," he confessed, suddenly looking sheepish as 18 glowered at him.
"Humph," she huffed, though she again heard the colorful orchestra of Krillin's surprisingly soothing voice, and paired with his glowing hopeful smile there was no way that 18 could possibly refuse.
He was the first man on this whole damn planet that didn't treat her like just some other object.
"Let's just say you're not the only one on this planet who's lonely. And it's not like my options are really vast here. I said yes. Steak works for me if it does for you. I'm looking forward to it. So, stop talking, Krillin, or I might change my mind…" Android 18 let her voice trail off as she looked at Krillin.
Sensing he wasn't totally convinced of the sincerity of her answer before her resolve could fail her, and perhaps before she could change her mind, Android 18 pivoted back around on the heels of her boots and stalked towards Krillin, a dangerous glint forming in her glacier-cold blue eyes that immediately had Krillin violently shaking where he stood.
Android 18 had to stoop down slightly to place a gentle kiss upon his cheek, letting herself have a moment to feel his warmth at her lips before turning away. The man hadn't even realized she'd taken a second to slip something into one of the pockets of his orange Kame House uniform.
As she pulled away, Krillin's breaths caught in his throat and he seemed shocked, at a total loss for words, and his face a bright crimson.
"In your pocket," Android 18 said in a teasing lilt as she turned away, swaying her hips as she walked towards Vegeta, who was looking curious at the interaction that had just happened between them. "You'll need my number to take me on that date on Saturday, won't you, Krillin?" she called out, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder, not bothering to look back behind her, leaving Krillin alone to ponder his good fortune and in his mind, a sheer stroke of dumb fucking luck.
Android 18 insured her face remained impassively indifferent as she cautiously approached Vegeta, who stated that the Guardian of the Earth's work was finished and both Bulma and Prince Tarble had regained consciousness, and Bulma was calling for Android 18, wanting to speak with her.