So, how are things going to go for Rinka? Will she get along fine with the others, or will there be trouble in paradise? You'll just have to read to find out!
"No way," Tien said, gawking at the bell in his hand.
"Wow, Rin, that was quick!" Krillin praised, sounding impressed. She cheesed at him.
"So, how long did it take her?" Yamcha wondered.
"It's been about six hours since she first started the climb, by my calculations," Kami announced, shuffling over to greet the newcomer, Mr. Popo right behind him.
Rinka looked up at Kami with a bit of surprise. Had he really been watching her? She supposed she shouldn't put it past the guardian of Earth to always be keeping a watchful eye on Korin tower.
"What?! It can't have been only six hours. That's impossible!" Tien protested.
"Why? We did it faster than that," Yamcha reminded him.
"Yeah, but – she's just a kid," he reasoned.
"And a girl," Chiaotzu muttered scornfully under his breath. It didn't escape Rinka's notice, however, and she flashed a glare at him.
"Yes, but we must not forget who's kid she is," Mr. Popo said, smiling down at her.
"It still took Goku a full three days to climb the tower and get the sacred water on his first try," Tien continued to argue.
"Goku wasn't out to try and prove something," Kami pointed out, smartly.
"Even so, there's just no way she did it that quickly. She must have cheated," Tien decided.
"She did not. I was watching her progress," Kami assured him.
There was a slight pause in the conversation now that Tien had run out of reasons to argue. Rinka saw this as a good time to step in.
"As enjoyable as it is, listening to you all talk about me like I'm not here, don't we have training to do?" she pointed out.
"You are quite right, but first we need to assess your skill level," Kami told her. He motioned her over. "Chiaotzu, would you be willing to help test Rinka?" he asked the little emperor.
"You want me to fight a girl?!" he demanded, sounding insulted.
"Great warriors can come in all forms," Kami lectured lightly.
"Oh, fine," he consented, not willing to say no to the great Kami. He stepped forward and faced Rinka with a fighting stance. "Try not to cry when you lose," he told her with a haughty air.
"I'll do my best," she assured him, sarcastically.
"Begin!" Kami announced.
Chiaotzu didn't waste any time. He came at Rinka like a little spring, stuck out both index fingers, and blasted her with two sharp bursts of Ki. It didn't seem like she even tried to dodge the attacks as they connected with full force. Chiaotzu let out a cheer at the successful strike, and was expecting to see Rinka buckle over in pain. However, his pleasure quickly died as he realized something was wrong. The beams, even though it looked like they'd hit, now appeared to be going straight through her. It was as if her body had gone transparent. It took but a moment, until he was able to figure out what was actually going on – The After Image Technique!
He quickly flipped around, frantically trying to figure out where she'd gone, but he was already too late. Rinka was standing right behind him. She lifted her fist up to his face, and he was expecting her knuckles to connect. However, she simply curled her fingers and cuffed him with just one.
What happened next was a bit unexpected, however. The subtleness of the move masked the amount of power that she'd placed behind it, as Chiaotzu suddenly blasted backwards with so much force that he flew past the edge of the Lookout and continued falling into the open air.
The rest of the guys watching could only stare in shock, feeling baffled at what had just happened. Even Tien didn't react for several long seconds.
"Chiaotzu!" he finally shouted, zooming off the Lookout after his little friend. He brought him back up to the platform and gingerly set him down. "Chiaotzu, are you alright?" he asked with concern.
He didn't really seem to be listening though, as he scowled up at the spot where he'd been struck, rubbing at it with a chubby hand. "A flick to the forehead?" he questioned irritability, glaring over at his attacker. Rinka met his gaze with a confident smirk.
"So, would that count as a ring-out?" she asked, turning to Kami. He smiled at her.
"Jeeze kid, this isn't the World Martial Arts Tournament, ya know?" Yamcha scolded.
"How'd you learn how to do that?" Krillin asked, still looking surprised.
"I told you my dad's been training me," she reminded him.
"And teaching you all his techniques?" Yamcha wondered.
"Well, not all of them. He told me I'm not ready for everything, but I have been working on developing some of my own though," she mentioned.
At this point, Tien and Chiaotzu had come back over to re-join the group. Rinka huffed at the little warrior.
"So what now, clown boy? Is that really the best you got?" she mocked.
"You just caught me off guard, cuz I never fought you before! You won't be so lucky next time!" he snapped, glowering at her.
"Right. . ." she trailed skeptically.
"Rinka!" Kami announced sternly, and all eyes turned to him. "There is nothing wrong with having confidence in your abilities. However, you must strive to avoid the danger of becoming over-confident. For over-confidence will inevitability lead to your downfall," he lectured.
"I –" Rinka paused, now feeling a bit sheepish. "Yes, Kami. I understand," she told him with a respectful bow.
Well, maybe she had gone a bit overboard, but it was partly due to Chiaotzu egging her on. Even so, she felt like she had adequately proven her point. Now that these guys knew she was serious, they would hopefully treat her more as an equal than as a little kid, especially a little girl. So besides training, she could focus on maybe trying to get to know them all a little better. She was looking forward to the idea of having friends and bonding, but unfortunately, she'd only ever learned one way of doing that through her experience online – and that was hazing. So this is what she attempted to implement throughout the next couple of days. . .
. . .
At one point she brought up the subject of Bulma to Yamcha, giving him a hard time about 'lady-troubles'. That didn't seem to go over very well, as he looked grumpy and told her to mind her own business. He seemed to get over it relatively quickly though, so that was something, she supposed?
Another time while sparring, Krillin got in a particularly powerful shot again Rinka, sending her flying into the nearest tree. He looked worried about her and immediately sprang to her side.
"Ohmygosh! Rin, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you that hard. Are you alright?" he asked.
To try and ease the tension, Rinka thought it would be a good idea to make a joke. "Ugh, did anyone get the license on that dwarf?" she asked teasingly.
However, it was instantly obvious that she had been wrong. As Krillin didn't appear amused at all, and instead seemed offended at her poking fun at him.
"Well, if you're making jokes, I guess that means you're alright," he said testily, getting up and walking away, leaving Rinka feeling confused.
She also quickly realized that any kind of mocking towards Tien was a big mistake, especially in regards to his third eye. Instead of making any kind of comeback, he simply glared at her so hard that she thought he was going to shoot lasers out of his eyes at her. He then turned away without uttering so much as a syllable in response.
Rinka didn't understand, everything she'd learned about guy's behavior from online gaming indicated that this was how they bonded. But instead of retaliating, like she expected, they all just seemed to be avoiding her now. They were doing their best to not give her any kind of opportunity to even talk to them. This wasn't going how she had planned at all!
Later that evening, Rinka was attempting to get some studying done, since she had nothing better to do, when she realized that she was missing one of her studying programs. She must have forgotten to pack it in all the excitement. So, she let Kami know that she was going to make a quick trip home, and would hopefully be back before nightfall.
. . .
She just barely made it back in time, the final rays of the sun slowly ducking down below the horizon as she hopped off the Nimbus, landing right in front of the Lookout mansion. Rinka hurried through the main entrance, turning a corner and heading towards the room that Kami had set aside for them to use as a sleeping area. All of the guys were in there already, and they seemed to be chatting before calling it a night. Rinka was about to shuffle inside, but suddenly stopped short when she heard her name.
"Where did that Rin girl go?" It was Yajirobe's voice.
"She told Kami that she forgot something at home and went back to get it," Krillin explained. "She should be back soon."
"Oh, I had hoped that she had gone for good," he grunted out. "She doesn't belong here."
"What? Why?" Krillin wondered.
"Don't know if you've noticed, but that girl is mean. Plus she's seriously gettin' on my nerves," Yajirobe complained.
"She is a bit, harsh – isn't she? You think she gets it from her mom?" Yamcha suggested.
"Wouldn't surprise me. Chi Chi can be pretty scary sometimes," Krillin concurred.
"I hate to say it, especially since she's Goku's kid, but I agreed with Yajirobe. She's only slowing us down, being here. If we are going to have any hope of defeating these Saiyans, then we have to give it our all. This is no place for a little girl," Tien pointed out.
"Plus we're supposed to be working together as a team, but she acts like she's better than us, and doesn't even try to get along. We don't need someone like that around," Chiaotzu added with a haughty air.
"Eh, maybe you're right. It's kinda hard to relax with her around. Besides, whoever heard of a girl fighter, anyway?" Yamcha said casually.
"So – who's gonna tell her?" Yajirobe wondered. There was no response from anyone.
Just outside the room, Rinka had her back against the wall facing away from the door. She had a clenched hand pressed up to her chest as she was listening to their conversation. She had figured that Chiaotzu didn't like her after what she'd done to him, and it was pretty obvious that Yajirobe was annoyed with her presence, but she hadn't realized that they all felt that way! Now she starting feeling really bad about the way she'd been acting. It had apparently been a terrible idea, and she never should have done it, but it seemed all too late to do anything about it now.
Rinka grit her teeth. Well, if that was the case, maybe she should just go home then, and forget this whole thing. If they really didn't want her here, she could make herself scarce. She would just – train on her own, she supposed.
As she was contemplating this, Rinka didn't hear that someone was coming out of the room, and Krillin suddenly appeared in the doorway and spotted her. Both of their faces lit up in surprise, until Rinka's expression quickly changed into a scowl, and she dashed off and out of the building.
"Wait – Rin–!" he called, raising a hand after her, but she didn't stop. Krillin turned to see all the awkward looks, as they all realized that she'd overheard them.
"So, guess we don't have to worry about telling her," Yamcha joked, trying to ease some of the discomfort.
Krillin, on the other hand, didn't think it was funny. "We can't just let her leave like that," he reasoned, and turned to go after her.
"Wait, Krillin. I wouldn't bother her right now if I were you," Yamcha warned.
"Why not?" he asked skeptically.
"Well, I don't have a whole lot of experience with women, but if she's anything like Bulma, she's gonna be impossible to talk to right now. Better give her a little time to calm down first," he suggested.
Krillin didn't really have any experience with women either. It didn't – feel like it was the right thing to do, especially since Rinka wasn't technically a woman, yet. But he figured since Yamcha had at least dated someone that he would know better, so he should probably trust his judgment. He sighed in resignation and rejoined the others, sitting back down on his sleeping mat.
At least an hour had passed, maybe more, before Krillin really started getting anxious. They hadn't heard anything from Rinka at all during that time, and his imagination was starting to betray him. He didn't like the idea of her being out there, all alone, in the middle of the night, probably feeling miserable after what she'd just heard. He was feeling miserable, anyway.
One by one, the others had all started to bed down for the night and go to sleep. Yajirobe passed out basically right after Rinka had left. He obviously wasn't concerned, but Krillin couldn't help but feel responsible for her. This was his best friend's daughter, after all, and he had promised Goku he'd look after her. Krillin didn't want to imagine how he would react if he let anything happen to her.
He couldn't take it anymore. He needed to find her, make sure she was okay. He got up and marched out of the room. Tien was the only other one still awake. He didn't say anything, or try to stop him, just watched him go.
Krillin stepped outside and peered around. The only problem now was, he didn't know where to even begin looking for her. He figured she was skilled enough, that if she didn't want to be found, she'd be hiding her power level.
What he didn't know was that she actually hadn't gone far. . .
. . .
Rinka sat on top of the roof of Kami's palace, her legs swinging loosely over the edge. After she'd run out here, she had seriously considered just booking it home. But, then she remembered that all of her stuff was still inside. She really didn't want to leave without it, so she decided that maybe she could just wait until everyone was asleep, then go collect it before leaving.
She sighed. She hadn't meant to make them all dislike her so much, but it didn't matter now. She'd had one chance to make a good impression, and apparently she'd completely ruined it! Rinka felt like an utter imbecile. She shouldn't have assumed that just because guys acted a certain way online, that meant that's how all guys were! She wished she could do it over again, have a chance to fix this, but again, it seemed like it was already too late.
She stared up into the brilliant night sky. She just couldn't get over how amazing it looked way up here, away from all of the light pollution of the world below. Her mind began to wander to thoughts of her brother. She wondered how his training was going. And if maybe there was a chance that he was staring up at that same magnificent sky, thinking about her too. This was the longest that they'd ever been apart. Feeling sentimental, Rinka began to hum the tune to Somewhere Out There.
Krillin was just about to stretch out his mind on the off chance that he might be able to sense her, when he suddenly heard something. It sounded kind of like singing. He turned around and realized that it was coming from the roof of the palace.
He flew up to investigate, and was surprised to find Rinka sitting up there humming and staring at the sky. She was facing away from him, and so didn't notice that he was there. She didn't seem like she was upset, so maybe it would be okay to talk to her? Krillin landed on the roof and tip-toed closer.
"Uh, Rin?" he questioned carefully.
You would have thought he set off a firecracker behind her, the way she suddenly jumped out of her skin and whirled around to face him. She signed and visibly relaxed when she realized who it was.
"Jeeze, Krillin. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!" she demanded.
"No! I, uh, just wanted to make sure you were okay," he offered, looking taken aback.
Rinka rolled her eyes and plopped back down, facing away from him again. "Oh, yeah. I'm just peachy," she told him, sarcastically.
When he was sure she wasn't going to attack him, Krillin padded over and joined her, sitting on the edge of the roof, but not too close. There was a long moment of awkward silence.
"So, um, about what you heard, back there. . ." he trailed.
"Don't worry about it," she cut him off before he could continue, shaking her head. "I understand."
"You – do?" he asked, feeling a bit skeptical.
"Yeah. I'm really sorry, for everything. I don't blame you all for wanting me to leave, after the way I've been acting," she explained. Sure, it had hurt her feelings at first, but she'd had a long time to think it over at this point, and she couldn't deny the fact that they were completely justified.
"So then, why–?" he couldn't help but wonder at her motivation. He'd been confused by her behavior ever since she'd first got here, as well. She'd been acting completely different compared to how she was when he'd first met her.
"I guess I'm just – not very good at this," she admitted sheepishly.
"Not good – at what?" he pressed.
"Making friends," she sighed, sadly staring up at the sky.
"What? That was you trying to be friendly? And you thought the best way to do that was to be mean and insult everyone?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, well. I didn't know, okay? Clearly I have been going about this completely wrong! I was only doing what I thought I was supposed to," she rambled. Krillin just looked at her like she was crazy. She wasn't explaining herself very well. She rotated to face him.
"Look, you gotta understand that before now, I've only know four other people in my entire life! My dad, my mom, Gohan, and my grandpa. That's it! All of my other experiences with talking to people have all been online, and that's how guys are online. They're mean to each other and give each other a hard time. I asked someone about it once, and they told me that's just how guys bond. So I thought that's what I should. . ." she trailed when she saw Krillin looking at her with curious expression.
"But I get it now! I know that I was being stupid, and that you shouldn't believe everything you learn on the internet. And that I have no idea what I'm doing! And I've royally screwed up this whole thing, and ruined my chances of ever making a good impression. And now everyone hates me and can't stand the sight of me! Gawd, I'm such an idiot!" she ranted, flopping down on her back and covering her face with her hands in shame.
Krillin wasn't really sure how to react at first to that sudden outburst. He hadn't been expecting her to be so remorseful.
"Hey, common kiddo. Nobody hates you," he tried to tell her.
"Yeah, right. You don't have to try to be nice to me, Krillin. I know I don't deserve it," she muttered.
"Don't you think you're being a little hard on yourself?" Krillin offered.
"No!" Rinka barked out through her hands, causing him to flinch.
"Why do you care so much about trying to be friends with us, anyway?" he wondered. Rinka moved her hands out of her face and sighed.
"Because you're my dad's friends, and I grew up hearing stories about you. And it's not like I know anyone else, so I had just thought. . ." she trailed off for a moment. "Never mind, it doesn't matter what I thought. It's too late now. I've completely ruined everything!" she moaned. "I should have known something was wrong when no one tried to get back at me," she mumbled to herself.
"Wait, you expected us to try and get back at you?" Krillin clarified.
"Well, yeah. That was the idea. I didn't want everyone to think of me as some little kid. I wanted to prove that I can take it," she explained.
"We're not the kind of guys who go around ganging up on little girls, ya know?" Krillin told her, crossing his arms. "No matter how bratty they act," he smirked.
"Oh. . . Well, when you put it like that. . ." Rinka realized that she should probably be grateful that they weren't actually like that. If she had just demonstrated her confidence and abilities in a polite way, maybe she would have gotten the respect she'd been looking for, instead of the hate.
Another uncomfortable stretch of time passed. Rinka wasn't really sure what else she could say. She sat up and glanced over at Krillin to see that he was staring up at the stars as well. She couldn't help but wonder about him.
"So, um, what brought you out here?" she ventured slowly.
"Looking for you, of course. Goku would, probably never forgive me if I let anything happen to you," he explained.
"Oh, right." Of course that was the reason. It should have been obvious, now that she thought about it.
"What about you? Have you just been – staring up at the sky all this time?" he wondered.
"Yeah. It's just incredible, isn't it? I just wanted to get one last look before – well – I should probably get my things and go. Plus, I'm sure you need to get to sleep if you're going to be expected to train in the morning with the others," and with that, Rinka rose to leave.
She didn't get far, before suddenly feeling a strong hand close around her left wrist, stopping her in her tracks. She turned to see Krillin staring at her with an intense gaze.
"Hang on a second. You're, really leaving?" he asked, sounding almost worried.
"Well, yeah. You guys made it pretty obvious that you don't want me around. So, I'll just – get out of your way," she said, but that didn't seem to ease his concern. "You don't have to worry. I promise I'll head straight home," she assured him.
"That's not it," he said, shaking his head. "I just – I think you should stay," he told her.
"What?! Why? How could you possibly want me to stay after the way I've been treating everyone?" she asked in disbelief. He smiled at her.
"If your dad taught me one thing: It's that everybody deserves a second chance. Plus, I kinda feel like I owe you one, after you were willing to talk to your mom for me about what happened with Goku and Gohan," he explained, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.
Truth be told though, he actually felt bad for her after everything that had happened. She'd just lost her father, and then her little brother got taken away. And she'd come here, apparently hoping to try and make some friends. . . It wasn't too hard to figure out – she was lonely.
He'd been there. He remembered what that was like – not having any friends, but then he met Goku and the others, and they all became like a sort of family. So, in a way, she was like family too. So how would he ever be able to concentrate on training if she left, knowing that they'd basically kicked her out? Just the idea made him feel guilty.
"Okay, but – what about the others?" she wondered quietly. They probably were still hoping she would leave.
"Don't worry about it. I'll talk to them. Besides, it's not like you're going to keep acting like you have been, right?" he reasoned. She nodded. "So then, they should warm up to you, eventually. Just apologize and it'll be fine," he reassured her.
"I guess – if you say so," she said. Although Rinka had her doubts about whether or not that would be enough. She looked down to see Krillin's hand still wrapped around her wrist. He noticed her staring and quickly released her, looking a little embarrassed.
"Sorry about that," he said with a sheepish grin. Rinka hadn't really minded, though. "Well, we better head inside and get some sleep. Like you said, we have a long day of training tomorrow," he reminded her.
"Yeah okay," she consented, following him inside.
Back in the room, it appeared as though everyone was asleep, except for Tien. He seemed to be repositioning to lie down when he saw them come in. He cast a glare at Rinka before turning to Krillin, and raised a quizzical brow.
He looked like he was going to try to explain, but Rinka stopped him before he could. She placed a hand on his arm to get his attention. Then shook her head and put a finger to her lips, indicating that she didn't want to wake anyone up.
Without a word, Rinka gathered up her bags and bedroll. She gave Krillin a small smile before exiting the room. Krillin stared after her, looking apprehensive. He considered trying to stop her, but then thought better of it. It was late, and they were all tired, probably better to just let her go. He just hoped that she would be okay on her own.
So, what do you guys think? Does she deserve to get kicked out for how she behaved, or do you think they are being too hard on her? Does she deserve a second chance? Let me know! ;)
