Rinka had found a secluded corner to spend the night. She felt kind of lonely after sleeping with the guys before, but she knew that if she was ever going to have a hope of making Krillin's plan work, that she needed to take a big step back and really start from scratch. And that meant giving them their space. So, she put her headphones on and tried listening to some music to help her feel better.
The next morning, she woke early and quickly cleaned up her things to get them out of the way for the day. She hadn't been able to sleep very well, anyway, feeling nervous about what the next morning would bring.
She wandered into the dining room and set up her computer at the banquet-style table. Might as well get some studying done while she waited for everyone else to wake up. She hadn't been there long when some movement in the doorway caught her attention. She glanced over to find Krillin watching her. She felt herself relax a bit, glad she didn't have to deal with the others quite yet. He wandered over to stand next to her.
"Whatcha doing?" he wondered.
"Just getting some studying done before we start training for the day. That is – if the others don't kick me out before then," she added under her breath.
"Hey, I told you not to worry about that, didn't I? It's gonna be fine," he reassured her, but she still felt skeptical. She went back to work without commenting. Krillin also refocused on her computer screen.
"So, what is all that?" he asked, indicating the strange text she was typing onto the keyboard.
"Programming language," she stated flatly.
"It's – a language?" he asked, sliding into the bench next to her.
"Yep, that's what they call it. I mean, can you understand anything you see here?" she wondered, pausing in her typing and turning to him.
"Uh, well," he studied it for a moment. "I mean, the words are readable, but I don't understand what any of it means," he concluded.
"Exactly, so it's like a whole other language that computers use to operate and communicate," she explained.
"Wow, so – you really do want to learn computer science," he seemed to realize.
"Yes, I was telling the truth before," she confirmed with a touch of humor to her tone.
It was at that moment that the rest of the guys filed into the room. They must have all woken up around the same time, and were probably looking forward to breakfast. However, they stopped short when they spotted Rinka at the table. They must have thought she'd left when they woke up and saw that her things were gone.
Krillin looked a bit worried for a moment.
"Hey – so guys –" he started, but then stopped short as soon as he saw Rinka rise from her seat.
She climbed over the bench and marched up to them all. This was it, it was now or never. She took a deep sigh and fixed the group with a stern expression, but then her face softened into one of remorse as she began to speak.
"Before anyone says anything, I just wanted to take a second to – apologize," she told them all. Yamcha was the only one who looked surprised and interested. The others all just glared at her. "I'm – really sorry, for the way that I've been acting, and the way I've treated you all. It was really stupid, and undeserving – and I'm just really, really sorry!" she exclaimed, giving them all a deep bow.
"I understand that you all want me to leave, but – I would really like to stay if possible, and I thought you might reconsider if I promised to be on my best behavior from now on," she assured them.
When no one spoke, Rinka chanced a glance up to see how they were reacting. All of their faces remained unchanged. Yamcha was the only one who moved. He kept glancing around at everyone, seeming at a loss for how to respond.
"Well, I'll give you a chance to think it over, I suppose," Rinka said sadly, clinging to a small hope that the silence meant they just weren't sure, versus the alternative. "Whatever you choose, I will accept your decision," she then stood and quietly left the room, not having the nerve to look back at them.
After she was gone, Krillin got up and faced the others.
"Jeeze you guys. Someone could have said something!" he scolded them.
"Well, I didn't know what to say! I've never had a girl apologize to me before. I mean, if she really is sorry, then I guess I don't mind if she stays," Yamcha explained hurriedly.
"Sorry Krillin. I guess I still have doubts about her sincerity," Tien told him.
"She really is sorry, Tien. She explained everything to me last night. That was just her warped way of trying to make friends," he clarified to them all.
"What? Who on earth would think that insulting people is any way to make friends?" Yamcha asked, sounding dumbfounded.
"Yeah, I asked her the same thing." Krillin then went onto explain everything that they'd talked about from the night before. "So, I guess if you were raised in the middle of a forest, completely secluded from all other people, you'd have trouble with your social skills too," he concluded.
"I guess that makes since," Yamcha decided.
"That still doesn't excuse the lack of decent common courtesy. You think Goku would have taught her that much," Tien pointed out.
"She was pretty courteous when she apologized to you all, just now," Krillin defended, but Tien didn't respond.
"Well, I'm with Tien either way," Chiaotzu decided.
Yajirobe just humphed.
"Oh, come on you guys. Would it really be that hard to try giving her a second chance? After all, we weren't exactly saints when Goku first met us, either," he reminded them all.
They all flinched at that and adverted their gazes, each of them flashing back to a unique memory of when they'd first encountered Goku as a kid. No one could argue with that logic.
"Like I said – I don't mind if she stays," Yamcha spoke up first.
Tien sighed. "I suppose you're right, Krillin. If she really claims to be sorry, and she's going to change her attitude, then I guess it would be wrong not to give her a second chance," he finally consented, although he didn't look real pleased about it.
Chiaotzu already said he was going to go along with whatever Tien decided, so Krillin then shifted his gaze to Yajirobe.
"Yajirobe?" he asked expectantly.
"Whatever! I don't care anymore. I'm starving, so let's eat!" he exclaimed, leaving the group to try and find out what was keeping breakfast. Krillin just grinned after him.
"So, you've all decided to forgive the girl, have you?" They all heard as Kami entered the room. "I believe that is a wise choice," he said with a smile. They all looked a bit sheepish at his comments. "Well, now that that's settled. I believe breakfast is just about ready," he added.
"Great! I'll go let Rinka know," Krillin announced, and headed out to find her.
Rinka was sitting out in the entry way, leaning against one of the pillars. She had a somber expression on her face, like she was waiting for a jury to pass judgment.
"Rinka," Krillin called to her. She turned to face him, and he motioned her over.
"You can relax. Everyone's decided that it's okay if you stay," he let her know with an encouraging smile.
"Really?" she asked, smiling back.
"Yes, really. Now let's go, breakfast is ready," he told her, ushering her back inside.
The others, weren't exactly acting friendly when she joined them at the table, but they weren't glaring at her anymore either, at least. Krillin happened to be sitting on the end. So, she slid in next to him, eating her meal as far away from the main group as possible without actually leaving the room.
In fact, after that, training seemed to go in a similar fashion as well. Luckily, they were tasked with doing individual workout exercises that day, so Rinka was able to discreetly keep her distance. That way she felt like she wouldn't be bothering anyone. Krillin seemed to be the only one who took note of this, as he kept casting glances in her direction. She wasn't sure what he could want. She figured if he really needed something, that he'd just come over and ask her.
Before she knew it, another day on Kami's Lookout had ended. Kami announced that they could call it a night, and so all the guys began to head inside. However, Krillin stopped and turned when he noticed that Rinka wasn't following. She had pulled out her pair of headphones and put them over her ears. She then took a strange kind of stance and began moving with whatever she was listening to. Krillin walked back and stood right in front of her to get her attention.
"Hey! You're going to wear yourself out if you keep going like this. Rest is important too, ya know?" he reminded her. She stopped what she was doing and pulled the headphones down around her neck.
"Yes, I know. I just wanted to do a little of my own version of training before I went to bed," she assured him.
"Really, and what's your version of training?" he wondered with amusement.
"I like to dance while I listen to music as a way to build up endurance, besides just, ya know, punching and kicking," she explained.
"You think that's better than what we do?" he asked.
Rinka shook her head. "No, I just think it's more fun. Beats hand delivering milk everyday wearing turtle shell weights," she told him slyly.
Krillin appeared stymied for a moment at the comment, clearly not expecting that sudden blast from the past!
"Goku told you about that, huh?" he asked. Rinka nodded with a grin. "It wasn't so bad, ya know. It seemed pretty silly at first, but it actually worked really well. Your dad and I got pretty strong in what seemed like no time at all. It made a big difference when we went to our first World Martial Arts Tournament," he told her.
"Really? How so?" she wondered.
"He didn't tell you about the tournament?" Krillin asked in surprise.
"Well, I mean, he told me you went to one. My dad's way of telling stories is kind of like, 'so we went to a place and did a thing.' He was never very good about elaborating on the details," she explained.
"Yeah, that sounds like Goku," he agreed.
"Actually, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to hear more of your guy's adventures. I'll bet you're a better story teller than he is," she requested enthusiastically, taking a seat on the cool tile.
"Uh – but –" Krillin looked over at Kami's palace, and then back down at the eager-looking girl. "What exactly did you wanna know?" he wondered, sitting down next to her.
"Everything! Start at the beginning, when you first met my dad," she told him.
Krillin sort of let out a mock scoff at the idea. "Really? You sure you wanna hear a bunch of old stories about me and your dad?" he asked a bit skeptically.
"Yes, please," she nodded exuberantly. "I mean, this is a better way to get to know someone, right? Plus, I think it'll be interesting hearing it from a different perspective, and with more details," she reasoned. He didn't quite look convinced.
"Please?" she asked again more earnestly, scooting closer to him until they were touching. She gazed up at him with big, pleading eyes.
He let out a single chuckle at her enthusiasm. "Alright, if you really wanna know," he consented with a half smile.
"So, dad told me you didn't really get along when you first met," she started him off.
"That's true. In fact, I hated him," he admitted, a little shamefully.
"Really, why?" Rinka wondered.
"Well, I know you'll probably have a hard time believing this, but I used to be kind of a jerk," he confessed. Rinka just gave him a confused look. "Your dad helped change me though. He helped change us all, actually," he paused with a far off look in his eye, thinking back. He snapped back to attention when he remembered that Rinka was still waiting.
"So, I had come to Master Roshi's Island to do some serious training with the famed Turtle Hermit. And here was this weird kid, who just seemed so laid back and clueless. I couldn't believe that Master Roshi had agreed to take someone like him on as a student. Plus it didn't help that right off the bat, your dad was better than me at everything," Krillin lamented.
"Roshi actually didn't want to train me at first, so I had to do some – persuasion – in order to convince him," he explained, sort of.
"Persuasion?" Rinka asked dubiously.
"Uh, yeah. That's not really important though," he brushed it off with a slight blush. "Anyway, the first thing he made us do wasn't even training. He wanted us to prove ourselves worthy to be his students by finding him a pretty girl," Krillin said, shaking his head. "That's actually how we met Launch."
"The girl with the sneezing issue?" Rinka guessed.
"That's right. Boy were we in for a surprise the first time she sneezed," he chuckled. "Anyway, after that Master Roshi finally agreed to start training us. So, he packed up and we moved to a bigger island. That's when he gave us that stupid rock hunting test," he muttered. "Did Goku tell you about that?" he wondered.
"He said you cheated," Rinka affirmed flatly.
Krillin laughed. "Yep, I sure did, and then regretted it almost instantly when Launch poisoned us with her puffer fish dinner!" Rinka giggled at his tone. Guess it really didn't pay to cheat.
Krillin then went on to tell her all about the training regiment that Roshi had them following, and how surprised they were when they first tested their strength without the weighted shells. Then the story lead into them going to their first tournament. He seemed to pause a bit when he started telling her about the preliminaries. Rinka could sense his hesitation.
"So, in my very first preliminary match, it was against a guy who I trained with at my old martial arts school. I used to be a monk at Orin Temple," he explained.
So, that explains his choice in hairstyle, and the forehead dots, Rinka realized.
"But I was sorta – bullied – by the other guys there," he admitted, looking embarrassed.
"Really? Why?" Rinka wondered.
"Well, you seem to have already noticed that I'm – a little on the shorter side," he reminded her, his tone sounding a bit cold.
"Oh, yeah. I'm really sorry about that," she said, looking shamefaced.
"It's okay, Rin. I've already forgiven you," he assured her with a smile.
"So, when did you first start training at Orin Temple?" she ventured.
"Oh, I think I was about four," he told her casually.
"Four?! You were only four years old!" she exclaimed. "What – about your parents?"
"Well, that's the thing. I never knew my parents," he confessed to her.
Rinka looked a bit shocked at him at first, but then her expression softened into a sympathetic gaze. She thought about how hard that must have been for him, growing up without a family!
"Oh, Krillin. I'm so sorry," she apologized again, not really knowing what else to say.
"Don't worry about it, kiddo. After all, you can't miss someone you never knew, right?" he reasoned. "Anyway, I was pretty nervous going up against him, at first. Turns out I didn't need to be," he grinned at the memory.
"Why not?" Rinka encouraged.
"I ended up being way stronger than him. The fight only lasted like, a second, before I kicked him so hard that he went straight through the opposite wall," he chuckled. Rinka resumed smiling at him.
"Bet that was satisfying," she commented.
"Kid, you have no idea," he said, but then thought about it a little more. He glanced back down at her, and she cocked her head at him. "Actually, maybe you do," he realized.
"Then you made it to the finals, right?" she remembered from her father's version.
"Yep. Me, your dad, and Yamcha all made it," he confirmed. "I ended up in the first match, fighting against this hulking ogre named Bacterian. Now this guy wasn't just huge, but he was disgusting! He'd apparently never taken a bath in his entire life, and said that his horrible smell was one of his weapons."
"You're kidding," Rinka said, making a face.
"Nope, and it was really effective too! I couldn't stand it at first. Man, I thought for sure I was gonna pass out!" he lamented.
"So, what did you do?" Rinka wondered.
"Well, it actually wasn't so much what I did, but what Goku did," he confessed. Rinka stared at him expectantly. "He reminded me that I don't have a nose, so Bacterian's smell shouldn't affect me."
"And – that worked?" she asked, albeit a bit dubiously.
"Yeah, surprisingly it did." Krillin went on to explain all the details of the fight, up until the point where he admitted to using Bacterian's tactics against him – by letting out a gas attack of his own right in the hulking, monster's face!
As soon as she heard that, Rinka broke into a fit of giggles at the idea. It was very juvenile humor, but she couldn't help it. Krillin smiled at her reaction.
"You like that, huh?" he questioned.
"I can't – believe that worked. That's – hilarious!" she confirmed through her chuckles.
"Well, too bad the next round wasn't quite as comical," he told her in a more serious tone. Rinka stopped laughing and studied him. "I lost in the semi-finals," he explained.
"Oh yeah, dad had said you guys didn't get to fight in your first tournament," she realized.
"Yep, lost to Jackie Chun. He was the current champion at the time. We both did actually, Goku in the final match. That was a real shame too, because he had been so close to winning. Even after. . ." Krillin trailed off at this point.
"After what?" Rinka asked when it seemed as if Krillin wasn't going to continue.
"Uh – never mind. Forget I said anything," he sputtered out hastily, in an attempted to cover up his comment.
Rinka frowned at him. Why did it suddenly seem like he was trying to hide something from her? She thought hard on what her father had told her about that first tournament. He said that something unusual had happened, hadn't he? That he'd blacked out part way through the fight – and then didn't he say something about waking up naked, of all things? Throughout all these ponderings, it didn't take long for her to eventually put two and two together.
"Wait a second. Dad said something about passing out mid-way through the fight, and then waking up to find that the arena looked like a monster had attacked it." She peered back up at Krillin with a knowing gaze. "He looked at the full moon and transformed during that fight, didn't he?" she realized.
Krillin just stared down at her with a shocked expression. "How – how do you know about that?" he asked in surprise.
Rinka shrugged. "I asked Raditz about it, since you guys had been making such a big deal about our tails," she confessed, waving it around behind her. "He told me."
Krillin began glancing around at the night sky, just now realizing the possible repercussions.
"Don't worry, there isn't a full moon tonight. I already checked," she assured him. "I've been trying to keep track of that since I found out."
"Well, that's good to know, but – wait – you mean you actually talked to that Raditz guy?" Krillin wondered.
"Yeah, I mean, not very much – but a little. . ." she trailed. He fixed her with a skeptical eye. "There really wasn't much else to do while waiting for my dad," she explained further.
"Uh, huh. So, what did he tell you?" he wondered.
"Just that a Saiyan's tail gives them the power to turn into giant apes when they look at the full moon, and it makes them stronger," she said.
Krillin hummed and stared up into the sky, as if pondering the implications. The silence stretched on for several moments.
"So," Rinka finally said, getting his attention again. "What happened after the tournament?" she asked.
"Well, after the tournament I went back to train some more with Master Roshi. That is until Goku showed back up again to get my help tracking down the Dragon Balls. That was when we got tangled up with the Red Ribbon Army."
Krillin then explained about his confrontations with General Blue, and their near brushes with death. Also about how they eventually were going to help Goku finish off the army for good, but then admitted that they didn't really get to do much, as her father had already single handedly destroyed their whole headquarters by the time they arrived.
"So, he really did defeat an entire army all by himself?" Rinka asked with wonder. "I had always thought he was exaggerating," she added under her breath.
"Nope, it's no exaggeration. We were just as surprised when we first got there and saw the whole place in ruins! We had always known that Goku was strong, but man! That was something else," he mused.
"But, why was he trying to collect the Dragon Balls again?" she inquired.
"Well, during all that business with the Red Ribbon Army, an assassin they had hired ended up killing Upa's father. Did Goku ever tell you about them?" he asked.
"Uh, yeah. I also got to meet them when you all sent me back down to the base, you know, to climb the tower the 'right way'," she reminded him, with exaggerated air quotes.
"But, I didn't –" he attempted to protest, but Rinka stopped him.
"I'm just joking!" she assured him. "I'm sure Tien was right, and that it was a good experience for me, and all that," she admitted wearily with a grin. He smiled back at her. "Anyway, so I'm guessing that you guys were successful, since Bora is clearly alive and well?"
"Yeah, but it wasn't easy. We were able to collect all of them but one. We didn't know why at the time, but Bulma's dragon radar wasn't able to detect the seventh dragon ball. So, Master Roshi suggested that we talk to his sister, Baba," he explained.
"That's, that witch lady, right?" Rinka guessed.
"Yeah, although she prefers to go by the term 'Fortuneteller'," he corrected.
"Then, why does she dress like a witch?" Rinka wondered. Krillin just shrugged.
"Anyway, we found out when we got there that she wasn't about to just give us the location of the last ball for free, but there was no way we could ever afford her ridiculous fee! So, she offered us an alternative – we could fight in her tournament, and if we won, then she'd tell us where it was."
"Dad did mention something about her fighters being a bit – weird. . ." she trailed.
"Boy, you can say that again! The first guy I fought was a vampire named Fangs," he told her.
"Wait, so he was an actual vampire?" she asked incredulously.
"Yep. Shocked me at first too. He managed to latch onto my head and practically drained me dry! Did not see that one coming," he mused. Rinka just stared at him with a look of horror at the implications. "D-don't worry! I was alright! They bandaged me up after I passed out, and then Upa and Puar took over after that and managed to beat him," he assured her.
"Seriously? Yamcha's kitty friend? And wasn't Upa just a little kid at the time?" Rinka wondered in surprise.
"Yeah, but since they knew he was a vampire, it was easy for them to use things like garlic and crosses to beat him. I just wish I could have done more fighting," he lamented. "Although, I did help Yamcha when he went up against an invisible guy."
"So, the fighter was literally invisible?" Rinka wondered, cocking her head. Krillin nodded.
"Yamcha was having a heck of a time with him, until I came up with an idea to make him, not so invisible. See, I told Bulma that I needed her help and had her stand just outside the ring, like this," Krillin then began making tracing motions on his open palm, giving Rinka a mental image of the position of the ring in relation to where they had been. They both leaned over his hand as he continued.
"And then I put Master Roshi, right in front of her, facing towards the ring, and –" he stopped suddenly and glanced up at the girl. She looked up as well, meeting his gaze, wondering why he'd paused. He blinked at her for a moment.
"And, now I'm realizing that this is actually very inappropriate, and I shouldn't be telling you this," he decided, sitting back up and crossing his arms.
"Oh, come on! You've come this far!" she protested, but he seemed unmoved. "What? Did you use Bulma to flash Master Roshi, or something?" she guessed. Krillin looked shocked and turned back to her.
"How did you. . .?" he trailed.
"Deductive reasoning," she told him flatly. Krillin eyed her skeptically.
"What are you, Sherlock Holmes?" he asked with a pout.
"No, but mom made us read some of his books. Plus I've probably spent more time on the internet than I should have," she confessed.
"Yeah, okay, fine. I yanked down Bulma's shirt at the right time, and Master Roshi's nose fountained blood all over the invisible guy," he admitted in a mutter.
Rinka immediately burst out laughing, and Krillin couldn't help but smirk at her. "Glad you find it so funny."
"Bet Bulma wasn't real happy with you after that!" she said through her chuckles.
"No, she'd tried beating me up."
"But it worked though, right? Although, wouldn't it have been a lot cooler if Yamcha had done something like, cut his hand and fling his own blood at the guy?" Rinka offered, mimicking the motions. Krillin thought about that for a moment.
"Sure, I guess that would have been 'cooler', but not nearly as funny," he reasoned.
"True," Rinka had to agree.
Krillin then went on to talk about the other fighters. How Yamcha lost to a mummy man that her father was then able to beat, before he fought against a demon guy. This guy apparently had a deadly technique that would amplifying a person's 'inner evil' to a fatal level, but it didn't work on her dad since he was, apparently, completely pure of heart. Rinka had to fight the urge to scoff at this, and instead just allowed Krillin to continue without comment.
The real kicker was the identity of the final fighter of the tournament. Turns out, it was grandpa Gohan in disguise, her little brother's namesake. Rinka, of course, had heard about this part of the story, but what she didn't realize was how he was even there in the first place. Krillin explained that one of Baba's powers was the ability to bring someone back from Other World, but only for one day.
"Wow, that's so cool. I wish I could have met grandpa Gohan," she mused.
"Yeah, he was a pretty cool guy. When Upa felt bad about wanting to use the wish for his dad, instead of on Gohan, he told him he was happy with his afterlife and wanted to stay that way," he said. Rinka nodded.
"So, then you guys won the tournament, right?" she urged.
"Well, technically yes, because Gohan forfeited the match. Either way, Baba finally told us where the final Dragon Ball was. Turns out, Pilaf had been hoarding it the whole time in a radar-proof box. That's why the radar wasn't able to find it," he told her.
"That's the little, blue imp guy?" Rinka clarified. "What was his deal, anyway?" she asked.
"Same as all the others. Wanted to rule the world, or whatever. Only, he wasn't very good at being bad," Krillin joked.
"I kinda got that impression from my dad, so, I'm guessing that means he didn't have any trouble getting the last ball?"
"Nope, no trouble at all, apparently. Once he had it, they were finally able to wish Upa's father back to life," he concluded.
"It's nice to know that it all worked out," she decided. "So, what next?" she pressed with a grin. Krillin sighed.
"Boy, you sure are insistent! You really want me to keep going? You sure you're not getting bored?" he asked, wanting to clarify.
"Ya! You haven't even talked about Tien and Chiaotzu yet!" she pointed out.
"I suppose that is what comes next," he realized. "Your dad went out to train on his own in the world, while Yamcha and I stayed and trained with Master Roshi. I didn't see Goku again – for several years after that, actually. It wasn't until we all got together for the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament. That's where we met Tien and Chiaotzu. At the time, they were students of a rival master of the – I think it was the, Crane school?" He scrunched up his face in thought.
"Oh yeah! Dad mentioned they were all huge jerks at first!" Rinka added.
"Kinda seems to be a trend, doesn't it?" Rinka nodded in agreement. "So, we all made it to the finals pretty easily that year. Things didn't start to heat up until they were selecting our numbers. Tien and Chiaotzu kept trying to pick fights with us during all this, until they finally forced it for the tournament," he said, sort of cryptically.
"What do you mean?" Rinka wondered.
"Well, later they confessed that Tien had Chiaotzu mess with the lots, so that they could fight us first. Tien wanted to get back at Yamcha, and I guess Chiaotzu decided he wanted to face off against me, cuz I looked like an easy target," Krillin explained.
"Well, that seems, eerily familiar," Rinka mumbled. "I hope you proved him wrong," she added. Krillin smiled at her.
"You better believe I did!" Krillin told her with a smirk, causing Rinka to grin up at him in turn. But then his expression soured a bit. "It's too bad Yamcha wasn't so lucky. . ." he trailed.
"Dad had said something about Tien hurting him pretty bad," Rinka remembered.
"That's putting it lightly." Krillin paused, glaring at the ground for a long moment.
Rinka glanced back and forth between him and the hall resting just a few feet away where the parties in question were currently residing. It was kind of amazing that they all managed to be such good friends now, when she thought about it. It seemed like Tien had really put them through a lot of pain!
"Krillin – I. . . I didn't mean to –" but he cut her off before she could finish.
"It's okay. I mean, it's all in the past now," he pointed out, and smiled at her. "Boy, we all really have changed a lot compared to those days, and it's all thanks to your dad," he admitted. Rinka smiled at the ground for a moment before going back to the current topic.
"So, how did your fight with Chiaotzu go?"
"He was surprisingly strong at first. I didn't know how to fly or really use energy attacks at the time. It didn't help that the Crane master found out that Goku had killed his brother during this time, and so ordered Chiaotzu to try and kill me!" Rinka's eyes went wide at this new bit of information. "He kept firing Dodon Rays at me from the air, so I figured my only hope was to try and fire back," he paused, giving her a knowing smile.
"I basically taught myself how to use the Kamehameha right in the middle of that fight!" he told her.
"Wow, Krillin! That's – that's incredible!" she praised with a big grin.
"I – I mean – you really think so?" he wondered, suddenly looking sheepish.
"Well, yeah! To be able to figure out how to use a new technique during an intense fight like that? That's amazing!" she cheered.
"But – not really though. My Kamehameha wasn't super strong back then, since I'd just figured it out. It wasn't enough to win the fight," he admitted.
"So? It still takes a lot of energy and concentration to pull it off at all, right?" she reasoned. However, instead of agreeing, Krillin stopped and studied her for a moment.
"Wait a second! Do – do you know how to do it?" he suddenly asked with surprise. Now it was Rinka's turn to look sheepish.
"I. . ." she trailed for a second. "Kinda. . ." she eventually confessed.
Krillin just stared at her in shock. "How?" he finally managed to ask.
"Dad, tried teaching me?" she explained with an unsure tone. "It, didn't really work at first. All that came out was like this 'poof'. I've been practicing though."
"Just how old are you, again?" he demanded. Rinka realized that he probably wasn't actually looking for an answer, just trying to make a point.
"It's not that big a' deal. Gohan can use energy attacks too!" she told him. "He just – doesn't remember using them afterwards," she added. Krillin just shook his head.
"You're the incredible one, Rin," he said after a pause. Rinka blushed and kept her gaze fixed on her lap.
"Thanks," she replied. "Still not enough to protect my family though," she muttered.
Krillin felt as though he should say something, but he wasn't sure what. It was true, after all. None of them had been strong enough, hence the training.
"So? How did you beat Chiaotzu?" she wondered.
"With math," he told her with a grin.
"What?" she asked in confusion.
"I had been watching him throughout our fight. Chiaotzu had been using a lot of telekinesis, including using it to paralyze me, but he had to use his hands in order to keep it up. So, I thought of a way to get him to use his hands for something else. I asked him what three plus four was," he explained.
"And, he couldn't add it in his head?" she asked skeptically.
"Apparently not. He had to use his fingers to count, which meant that he stopped holding me down, so I could attack, and I was able to beat him with a ring-out."
"But, why did he feel like he had to answer in the first place?" she wondered. Krillin shrugged.
"Trying to prove that he was smarter than me?" he guessed. Rinka shifted her gaze back and forth.
"Didn't that just end up proving the opposite?" she reasoned, and he grinned at her.
Krillin then continued on to talk about the other matches until it was finally his turn to face off against Goku! He decided to go into detail about all the different techniques and strategies that they attempted to use to best each other. He confessed at one point that he knew there was no way he was going to beat Goku in a straight up fight, and so tried using every dirty trick in the book to attempted to gain the advantage. Including grabbing his tail.
"Dad still had his tail at that point?" Rinka asked, interrupting the story.
"Yeah, even though it'd been cut off several times, it kept on growing back," Krillin explained. "Although, what I didn't know is that he'd been training it up, so that grabbing it didn't affect him like it used to. Without that advantage, he eventually overpowered me and won," he finished with a sigh.
"I guess it makes more sense now why he was always so freakishly strong, being an alien and all," he glanced at Rinka. "It actually helps explain a lot of things," he determined. "Seems like there's no way any of us could ever hope to beat him now!"
"But – didn't Tien win that tournament?" Rinka reminded him.
"Barely," Krillin emphasized. "By like, a second! Since Tien decided to destroy the arena, it all kinda came down to luck at the end. Goku just happened to hit the ground first," he explained.
"He was probably pretty disappointed, huh?" she guessed. Krillin shrugged.
"You know your dad. He's a pretty good sport about everything. What was really surprising was Tien's change of heart throughout all of that. Between Roshi's lectures and fighting Goku, he and Chiaotzu decided to turn over a new leaf. Even offered to split the prize money."
"Really?" Rinka asked.
"Yeah. Seemed like everything was finally settled. Until. . ." Krillin trailed off. His visage had taken on a very serious tone, and he had his gaze fixed on the ground in a glare.
"Until. . .?" she questioned.
"Well, I can't really tell you much more about what happened after that," he offered mysteriously.
Rinka didn't understand at first. Why did he suddenly seem so upset? If she remembered correctly about what her father had said, hadn't Tien treated them all to dinner afterwards? But then, something else he'd said rang a bell in her mind. He'd mentioned something about leaving his things behind. . .
That's when it suddenly hit her! She remembered what her father had said! Right after the 22nd World Tournament, Krillin had – Krillin had – died!
Rinka let out an involuntary gasp and clamped a hand over her mouth!
"Krillin I – I forgot about – I'm so sorry! You – you don't have to tell me anymore," she rushed to assure him, then just stared shamefaced down at the ground as well. She didn't know what else she was supposed to say at that point.
"Hey. Don't worry about it, kiddo! You just gotta remember, this story does have a happy ending," he pointed out. Rinka nodded that she understood, but didn't say anything more for a long while.
Krillin cocked his head to get a better look at her before finally speaking. "You really wanna be done?" he asked.
Out of respect for him and his feelings, Rinka was fine with being done. However, Krillin hadn't made a move to leave, or change the subject. So maybe. . . Rinka realized that she did have a question.
"Did it – I mean – were you – scared?" she asked, quietly and carefully. He seemed to ponder this for a moment before answering.
"Honestly? It had happened so fast that I never had the chance to really feel anything," he confessed. "It was just like, one minute I was confronting that horrible monster, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up on the beach at Kame House. The others filled me in later, letting me know that Goku fought against and defeated the evil King Piccolo, so that he could resurrect everyone he'd killed."
Rinka finally looked back up at him after that.
"This part always kind of confused me," she confessed. "So, is the Piccolo we know now, not the same Piccolo that my dad originally fought? But, he's like, basically the same, or something? Dad was never able to explain it all that well."
"Well, from what I understand, the Piccolo that we know now is technically the reincarnation of the first King Piccolo. They said that he's like a son, but apparently also inherited all of his father's powers and memories," Krillin tried to explain.
"But, just because you have someone's memories, that doesn't automatically make you the exact same person, does it?" she asked, trying to find hope that the green man who currently had her brother was not actually the same horrible monster that her father had described.
"I'm – not really sure, Rin. I think that's a question only Piccolo himself can answer," he told her. Rinka wasn't super satisfied with that response, but she supposed that it was the best she was going to get for the moment.
"And then, you guys didn't see each other again until dad fought Piccolo in the next tournament. Is that right?" Rinka asked.
Krillin nodded. "That's right," he confirmed.
"I know a little bit more about this part, because mom was there too. Is it true that dad promised to marry mom when they were kids, only because he thought a bride, or wife, or marriage, or something – was some kind of food?" she questioned incredulously.
"Yeah, we were all surprised when we found that out! I tried to warn him not to go through with it, but he wouldn't listen," Krillin said, shaking his head. Rinka just fixed him with dubious look before responding.
"So, while I can see where you're coming from – I, for one, am glad they decided to 'go through with it'," she stated flatly.
"Oh, right. I, uh, guess you wouldn't exist otherwise," he realized.
"Uh, yeah!" she snapped back. "It does make me wonder why either of them felt like they had to hold him to that promise, when he clearly didn't understand what he was agreeing to. But, I suppose I should be grateful things worked out the way they did. Especially with how crazy that last tournament sounds whenever my parents talk about it!"
"Oh, man! It was intense! There was so much going on during that thing. Besides Chi Chi showing up to fight Goku, Mercenary Tao had somehow not died after his last encounter with Goku, and was back for revenge. He beat poor Chiaotzu pretty badly in the first elimination round, but Tien was able to take care of him no problem in the next round. I actually took on Piccolo first before he got to Goku," Krillin was saying.
"Really? How did that go?" Rinka asked in surprise.
"Eh, better than you'd think, actually. I was able to hold him off for a little while until he eventually got the upper hand. I was hurt pretty bad, and since I knew I couldn't win, I decided to just throw in the towel. But, even though I lost, I was pretty proud of the way I fought," he admitted. Rinka smiled at him.
"Things really started to come to a head when we all discovered that Kami had joined the fight in disguise," he started.
Krillin went on to talk about Yamcha's humiliating match against Kami. Then how Goku and Tien fought again, and while it looked like Tien had the upper hand, that all changed as soon as Goku took off the weighted clothing he'd been wearing. This lead into the next match where Kami attempted to take care of Piccolo himself, which was the whole reason why he'd joined the tournament in the first place, using the Evil Containment Wave. However, Piccolo had been able to reverse it on him, trapping Kami in the bottle instead.
"And then, he swallowed it!"
"He what?!" Rinka demanded. "Piccolo ate Kami?!" she asked again with horror.
"Yeah – your dad didn't tell you that?"
"No, he failed to mention that little detail," Rinka admitted. "Jeeze! Things were more nuts than even he remembers, apparently! Now we're getting into some serious Orochimaru levels of weirdness," she mumbled.
"Some serious what?" Krillin asked, but Rinka just shook her head.
"Never mind," she told him.
"Anyway, lucky for us that during the fight, Piccolo decided to use one of his weird powers to grow super huge. It made it so that Goku was able to actually go inside of him and get the bottle, and Kami, back. Too bad he didn't stay that way when he realized it wasn't working. It made him an easier target," Krillin lamented.
"Either way, dad still beat him though," Rinka already knew that much.
"Yeah, but it was a really close call. I mean, why do you think we were all so nervous around Piccolo before?" he pointed out. "We all thought you were crazy! Trying to volunteer to go with him!"
"I suppose I see your point, but, the only thing I actually know about him from my own experience is that he tried helping my father against Raditz, and wants to help defend the Earth from the Saiyans," she reasoned.
"Only so he can conquer it himself later!" Krillin reminded her.
"I guess. . ." she trailed. "Even so, it sounds like you guys had some really crazy adventures together! Kinda wish I could've been there too," she lamented under her breath. Although, Krillin heard what she said, despite her whispering.
"Well, I mean, you didn't exactly exist back then," he tried to argue.
"Yeah, I know it doesn't make sense!" she huffed.
"But, hey! Look where we're at now?" he gestured around them. "Seems like you're already off to a pretty good start," he told her, only half joking.
"This is a good start?" Rinka wondered doubtfully. Krillin just shrugged.
"Most of our adventures started out with a crisis," he said with a grin.
"Seems to be a trend," she added in jest, returning his smile.
A second later, a sudden shout interrupted their conversation. They both glanced over to see Yamcha wandering out of the pavilion.
"Hey! What are you guys doing out here? You planning on ever turning in?" he asked, sounding a bit miffed, although Rinka couldn't understand why. She rose to meet him, stretching her now stiff legs.
"We were just talking," Rinka told him in a subdued tone.
"For this long?! About what?" he wondered.
Rinka turned back to Krillin, but he just motioned for her to continue.
"I just – had some questions about some things, is all," she offered, not admitting to anything. She decided that Krillin could elaborate if he really wanted to. "Anyway, thanks for everything, Krillin," she told him sincerely. "I hope you both have a good night." And with that, she hurried back inside before he could ask anything else.
"Sure, no problem, kiddo," Krillin called after her, rising up from the floor himself to head inside.
This just left Yamcha scratching his head in confusion. "What was that about?" But Krillin just smiled as they joined the other guys inside.
So, I realize this chapter ended up going really long, but I just didn't see a good place to split it. And I figured, longer chapters means more content, right? I didn't actually intend for it to be this lengthy, but I was really enjoying putting all the recap stuff together. So, hopefully some one out there finds it, at least partially interesting. I'm also hoping to get the next part of the actual story up soon! Feel free to let me know what you think!
