TUSOKI

11; Closer.

A/N; I know I said the next one would be a Highschool AU, and that one is almost finished as well but when plot-bunnies hit, they hit HARD.

This one is partly inspired by the song with the same title by The Chainsmokers. Not really an AU but can be viewed as such. Be advised, this story has a small Citrus flavoured scene! This one is dedicated to DeadlyBeauty, because she is awesome and I'm glad we got to get back to talking again!

Onwards.


He didn't even know why he was here, sitting at this bar which was part of one of the most extravagant hotels Satan City had to offer. With its golden swirls decorating marble walls and fancy bottle holders that held some of the best and most expensive liquors that could be found from around the world. Krillin swirled his small glass, having enjoyed quite a few of the overpriced drinks during the evening, free of charge.

Being friends with Yamcha, who had become one of the top baseball players in the world, definitely had its perks. It was also the reason he was at the lavish establishment this evening. Yamcha had quite literally dragged him up here, saying he needed to get off Kame Island for once instead of just sitting around doing nothing.

Krillin let out a sigh, draining his glass and signaling for another. He usually didn't drink much but for some reason he just felt like letting go, if only just for tonight.

He was surrounded by people and noise yet he still felt utterly lonesome as he turned on his stool and let his gaze drift around the room. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, laughing and talking all the while the drinks just kept flowing.

Krillin took a sip from his own refilled glass as he hopped off the stool and slowly made his way through the crowd to the other side of the room. He cringed when someone roughly took a hold of him. His first reaction was to lash out but he quickly controlled himself when he came face to face with Yamcha who was grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey man, ya having a good time? Is this place out of this world or what?"

"It's...nice yea." Krillin replied with a smile. Yamcha gave him frown at that.

"You need to loosen up some more man! I thought bringing you here would do something about that mopey attitude you've adapted ever since she left, guess I was wrong." The taller man rubbed his chin.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten to have fun! It's been what? Three? Four years? Get over it!" Yamcha grabbed two glasses from a passing waitress. He thrust one of them in Krillin's other hand with a smile.

"I don't need.."

But Yamcha waved his hand.

"The drinks are free, gotta take advantage of it! Now go and mingle a little. There are some really cute girls here. I'm sure you could woo a few!" He said with a wink before uncharacteristically twirling around and walking away when he heard his name called. Krillin sweat-dropped, partially wondering if he should go after him and drag him up to his hotel room to call it a night. Yamcha was clearly more than a little tipsy but then he shrugged it off, continuing his way to his destination.

Krillin breathed in the fresh air, closing the doors behind him. Instantly, he was surrounded by nothing but the sound of the large water fountain that adorned the Hotel's Gardens. He set the drink Yamcha gave him aside and started walking around.

His mind repeated the words his friend had just said to him.

Krillin let out a sigh as he sat down on one of the many benches that adorned the grassy fields. Yamcha's words had stung, if only just a little. It wasn't as if he hadn't tried to move on. It was just hard on him and why wouldn't it be?

A small smile grazed his face as he thought back. He had been so happy and content. Felt so secure and validated knowing that he had at last found what he had been looking for ever since he was a teenager.

His time with Eighteen had been nothing short of amazing, They had grown so close. In fact he had seriously considered to ask her to be his wife, because he had been certain she felt just as happy as he had been.

At least, that's what he liked to believe, even now till this day.

But one morning she suddenly had disappeared from his life. Vanished without a trace.

Krillin shook his head, no that wasn't entirely true. She did leave something.

He reached into the inner pocket of his suit jacket, taking out his wallet and carefully took out the now yellowed piece of paper.

'I'm sorry.'

Those were the only words written in her elegant handwriting. He bit his lip, just seeing it made his stomach turn to knots. He didn't understand what exactly she was sorry for.

For leaving him? For seemingly leading him on and making him think that everything would work out smoothly? That they would be together for a lifetime? For breaking his heart in a million pieces? Pieces he found so hard to glue back together despite him trying so hard?

His friends had been livid after they discovered what had happened. Bulma had even offered him the Dragon Radar so he could find her with the help of Shenron and give her a piece of his mind. He had declined though, thinking Eighteen must have had a very good reason to do what she did. He had stayed in that state of denial for a while before it had switched to anger and then hurt.

So much hurt.

Krillin swallowed thickly, remembering all the nights he had cried himself to sleep, unable to understand just why his life always seemed to get screwed over. He cried until he had no more tears left it seemed. After that he had bottled up his emotions and feelings while gradually getting used to her not being a part of his life anymore.

But even now, despite everything, he could not bring himself to hate her. No matter how much she hurt him and left him in the dark. He only wished she had explained to him just why she felt the need to leave, or that she had at least properly broken up with him. Yes that still would have been painful but it wouldn't have left him with such an emotional scar. And that way he wouldn't have had to spend the last four years doubting himself in everything he did.

Krillin tucked the note back in his wallet before standing up and stretching. A glance at his watch told him it was well past midnight and he was tempted to just call it a day.

He slowly made his way back inside. The bar was still as noisy and lively as it had been before he went to get some air. He discarded his both his empty glass and the one Yamcha had given him.

Krillin decided to go and try find the aforementioned person to tell him he would go up to his room. He weaved his way through the people, keeping an eye out for his tall dark haired friend who seemed to be impossible to find.

He turned to his left and walked back towards the front where the bar was. Something in the corner of his eyes caught his attention. He turned to investigate, thinking he had finally had found who he was looking for. But instead he stared right at a tall, blonde woman whom had a familiar air about her. She was talking to one of the waitresses.

Krillin was frozen in his spot when she glanced in his general direction before turning away and walking towards the elevators. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind.

"It wasn't her, your mind is playing tricks on you. She's gone, has been gone. She won't be back. There is no way she would be here tonight, what would she even do here in the first place?" He scolded himself.

But something was pulling him in that direction, he couldn't stop himself as he started to walk faster, zigzagging through the crowd, keeping his eyes focused on the blonde hair little ways in front of him.

"Krillin! There you are!"

He suddenly found himself crashing into Yamcha. He tried to look past his friend but it was too late, the woman had disappeared.

"What are you looking at?" Yamcha slurred suspiciously, also turning to face the direction his friend was staring.

Krillin let out a sigh.

"Nothing, it's nothing." He said softly.

"I was looking for you actually. I think I'm going to call it a night. I'm tired and I can feel a headache coming up. Alcohol never agrees with me very well." He joked.

Yamcha raised his brows at that but nodded.

"Okay, sleep well. See you in the morning! Though," He bent down with a grin. "I'll probably won't see you at breakfast!"

Krillin snorted at that.

"That's okay, go enjoy yourself. I'll wait for you until it's time to check out in the afternoon, after that you're on your own." He said also grinning.

"It's all good, I do hope you enjoyed yourself at least a little?"

Krillin nodded with a smile.

"I actually did, walked around the gardens a little bit to clear my head. Now I just wanna go and catch some sleep."

Yamcha nodded at him before disappearing. Krillin closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before calmly making his way towards the elevators. He could not stop the hopeful feeling as he looked around to no avail.

"It's late, you're tired and buzzed. You're just seeing things, besides she didn't really look like Eighteen anyway..." He reassured himself once more as he pressed the button on one of the elevators.

But he could not shake the dejected feelings that stirred within him as he rode it up to his floor. For a moment, the shock of seeing that particular shade of blond hair and those piercing blue eyes had filled him with hope. He had always wanted to see her again, if only just to know that she was alright. That was also the reason he still hung around most malls a little longer than necessary whenever he had to run an errand, knowing how much she'd always loved to shop and spent the day there. He always hoped to see a glimpse of her, but was disappointing every time.

Krillin stepped out of the elevator, making his way down the long well lit hallway, checking door numbers as he went. He rounded a corner, raising a brow when he came upon a glass door that led to a stair case. There were numbers on the door.

"Huh?"

He grabbed the key-card from his back pocket, almost slapping himself in the forehead as he realized his mistake. He had been so distracted in the elevator that he had gotten off on the wrong floor. With a sigh, he opened the door. He might as well take the stairs back down. He shivered as he descended the many steps. The stairwell was pretty poorly lit compared to the rest of the place. It actually gave him the chills, if only just a little. Especially since he seemed to be hearing all kinds of strange noises coming from around him including footsteps yet every time he turned around, he didn't see anyone.

Krillin decided to make a dash for the door that became visible when he rounded a corner. He couldn't stop the sigh of relief when he opened it and stepped into another well lit and spacious hallway again. He leaned against the door, clutching his shirt over his heart for a moment.

He snorted to himself, if Gohan would see him now, scared of a few noises in a stairwell, the teen would have a good laugh.

"Pathetic." He chuckled to himself.

He slowly made his way through the hall, counting down the numbers on the seemingly endless row of doors. The hall was deserted safe for a maid who was softly singing to tunes only she could hear through her earphones, She gave him a slight nod when he passed her. Krillin returned the sentiment. He rounded a corner, finally spotting his door number.

"It's about time!" He said with a yawn. He quickly walked over, ready to swipe his card through the special slot. But before he could, he was stopped by a soft voice.

A voice he hadn't heard in a very long time yet would recognize instantly no matter what.

"Hey."

Krillin could practically feel the colour drain from his face. His eyes widened as he stood there rooted to the spot. His hand was still half way up, clutching his key-card. He didn't even have it in him to turn around to face the person speaking to him. His body simply wouldn't move.

"You look well."

Krillin could hear a slight tremor in the otherwise confidently spoken sentence. He licked his lips, willing himself to calm down and turn around.

When he finally was able too, his breath caught in his throat.

Before him stood the one person who he had been longing to see for all those years. He almost pinched himself to make sure this wasn't a dream.

"E..eighteen." He whispered softly.

"Is it really you?" He couldn't stop his voice from cracking slightly. The blonde in front of him nodded. She folded her arms in front of her chest, averting her eyes.

"I..." But no other words would come from Krillin's mouth. He could only imagine how awkward this moment must look if someone were to walk into the hallway right now. He wasn't sure what to do, he was overcome with emotion yet tried so very hard to not show any hints of his inner turmoil on the outside.

He wanted to yell at her, be angry with her and make sure she knew just how much she hurt him, and yet...he didn't.

He couldn't.

He could only stare as she stood before him, take in her appearance and marvel over the fact that she looked just as good as she had done the last day he'd seen her. She didn't seem to have changed much. The only difference he noticed was her hair, which was a little shorter than he remembered.

Krillin could feel his heart literally skip several beats when she locked her eyes on his. Those piercing eyes in a shade of blue he hadn't seen on any other person. Her gaze drew him in. He couldn't look away and apparently, neither could she as they both tentatively took a step forward.

He wasn't sure what had happened at first when suddenly he found himself against the door of his hotel room, nor why he so eagerly responded to her. His mind was screaming at him to stop, to push her away. To not be pulled into this spell she still seemed to have over him even after all the time that had passed without her in his life. It was familiar yet unsettling how easy he could succumb to her.

He didn't know why his arms reached up to wrap around her shoulders nor why his hands buried themselves in her hair. His feet were off the floor, she had wedged him firmly between herself and the door. He whimpered when she pressed herself even closer to him and with it, all coherent thoughts flew out of the window.

He needed this, needed her.

It had been so long since he had felt her this close and no matter how much his mind kept screaming at him that this was the wrong thing to do, that he would regret giving in to this passion that quickly overtook them both, he just couldn't let go.

Later, he would not be able to recall just how they had managed to open his hotel room door, or how they had ended up slowly but certainly losing articles of clothing as they frantically stumbled around the dark room before collapsing on the bed in an heap of tangled limbs.

All he knew was her, she was all around him and he drank her in as he let his hands roam over every inch of her skin. He had missed her so much and from what he could gather from her desperate kisses, at least that feeling was mutual.

Their movements were rushed and uncoordinated but neither cared.

Krillin moaned softly, Eighteen felt so good against him. There was something so satisfyingly familiar about the way she arched her body into him that it almost overwhelmed him. The soft sound of her shaky voice sent shivers down his spine as he watched her through heavy lidded eyes. Her head arched backwards a little and her face flushed red with colour when she cried out softly.

He couldn't take his eyes off her, could not bring himself to look away for even a second. For all he knew, this moment right here was just a one time thing.

A passionate reunion between past lovers, but nothing more.

The reality of that thought struck him like a ton of bricks. He bit his lip, desperately trying to hold on but failing as his own body gave into release. He gently rolled off to the side, sweating and almost breathless. Next to him he could hear Eighteen's own ragged breaths. She was watching him with an almost saddened frown on her face as she reached out to him.

Krillin hadn't even realized his eyes had misted over with tears until he felt her gentle touch on his face.

Eighteen was wiping his tears away with her thumb.

"Don't cry, please." She whispered softly.

But Krillin couldn't help himself when she pulled him close. He buried his face into the crook of her neck as he broke down. He could feel her wrap her arms around him. In that instant he wanted nothing more than for her to hold on to him and never let go.

"I missed you so much." He cried softly. "Why did you have to l...leave me? Was it something I did? If it was, why didn't you talk to me about it? A...all the time you were gone, I did nothing but blame myself."

Krillin took a deep breath and wiped his eyes to no avail as he untangled himself from Eighteen's embrace to sit up. For a moment the room became eerily quiet. Hugging his legs to his chest and wrapping his arms around them, he buried his face into his knees. His shoulders were shaking violently once again.

Krillin couldn't stop the sudden onslaught of pent up anger and frustration that enveloped him as he locked his eyes on the woman sitting against the headboard of the bed before him.

"D...do you have any idea how much you h...hurt me?"

All the feelings he had so carefully locked up within himself finally found a way to the surface as he lashed out at her.

And Eighteen let his words wash over her. Every verbal hit, she took it.

Because it was only the right thing to do. She deserved everything he threw at her. Krillin had every right to be angry and upset.

Suddenly he fell silent. Looking down on his hands, he shook his head.

"You know, I've kept asking myself what it was I did wrong." He looked up at her. His face and eyes were red and swollen.

"And for a long while I've even tried to hate you for what you did, but I never could. Even after all this time I still can't. Because i still care so much about you."

Krillin averted his gaze once more. Eighteen softly reached out to him but he swatted her hand away.

"I'm so stupid, I should've known from the start our relationship was doomed. I mean, why would I deserve happiness? I've always had hard times, they made me tougher. They made me the person I am today. What's another hurdle in my path, right? I mean, I've been hurt before, no big deal."

He looked back at her.

"But with you...with you it was different. I just wish you hadn't made me believe in us for so long. Did it ever even mean anything to you? What we had, it was nothing but a facade, an illusion. Even right now," He gestured around the room with his hands, sneering. "It's all just a game to you right? It always has been, I was just too stupid and love struck to see it"

Eighteen's breath caught in her throat. Those words had stung, stung unlike anything she had ever felt before. It rendered her completely speechless and unable to think straight for a good while.

Krillin turned his back to her as he stared off in front of him without really seeing anything. The silence around them was abruptly ended when Eighteen spoke.

"You're wrong."

Krillin frowned at the softness of her voice, she sounded so fragile in that moment that he couldn't help but turn around.

His eyes widened considerable as he took in her appearance. She was staring straight at him with eyes full of tears, some of which had already flowed over and made their way down her delicate skin. It took him aback, he had never seen her cry like that before.

"You're so...so wrong." She repeated. Her voice broke down into a whisper. She sniveled, wiping at her eyes.

"Our relationship was never "just a game" to me! To hear you say that...and believe it, hurts. You have no idea how much I regretted my decision every day, how much I missed you and how badly I wanted to come back to you, but.."

Eighteen averted her eyes as the words kept spilling from her mouth. Krillin had to lean in a little because she was speaking so softly. With every word she spoke, he could feel his anger subside. Finally after all this time, he got the explanation he'd so desperately wanted. It didn't lessen the hurt inside much but at least now he could start to feel better and heal.

And despite the moment at hand, Krillin could not help but feel a little guilty as he gazed at her tear stained face. When she took a little breather from talking, he scooted closer towards her, holding his arms open in invitation and she took it, crawling into his lap and hiding her face into his shoulder. He gently rubbed her back in soothing circles, hoping it would comfort her just a little.

Eighteen couldn't handle it. Here she was, being comforted by the man who had every right to just kick her out of this room. To not even care about her feelings and apologies which still paled in comparison to what he had been through. It's what she had always loved and admired about him.

His compassionate and caring attitude was one of the things that had pulled her in so long ago. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally broke their embrace. Eighteen focused on the short man in front of her.

"But out of all the things I regret, spending this night with you is not one of them." She said softly. Krillin didn't need to ask what she meant. Eighteen glanced towards the windows. The morning sky was already streaking with the colours of dawn from what she could see through the small gap in the curtains.

"It's morning, I should go." She said. She made to get up from the bed but Krillin grabbed a hold of her before she could. He was holding her extremely close to him, it was a little hard to breath in his tight embrace.

"Krillin?"

"Don't leave."

He let go of her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'm not sure how long it will take for me to be able to completely forgive you. But please, for now, stay here with me."

Krillin carefully pulled her with him as he laid back down against the soft mattress, turning to his side. Eighteen mimicked his movements, facing him with a hint of confusion on her face.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. For now, I just want to be with you, I had to miss you for so long. Please stay."

Eighteen was taken aback by the intensity of his stare, she felt her heartbeat speed up just a little bit when he gently touched her.

"Okay." She said in a hushed tone. She gently took a hold of his face, leaning in close.

"Can I kiss you?" She asked softly.

Krillin was confused for a moment as to why she would ask him such a question considering they had done far more than kissing just a little while ago. But when he nodded and felt her press her mouth against his, he understood.

The intimacy they had shared earlier had been amazing, even if it was just an accumulation of pent-up feelings and passion looking for a way out.

This time it was a little different.

And while they were far from resolving everything between them, Krillin gladly gave in. One more time he let himself be swept away by her.

They would work things out eventually.


End.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, but I wont know unless you tell me! Remember, feedback is a writer's paycheck!

I hope the characters weren't too ooc for you, it was hard to write them emotional like this but like I said before, this idea just wouldn't leave me alone! And I am happy with the way it came out.

See you next time!