Krillin placed his feet in a way so familiar that it could have been without thought, but it was thoughtful.
"Ka—"
For what could easily have been the thousandth time since learning the technique, he squared his feet just so, feeling the tide rush over them, and the sand beneath them. All the while, he breathed in.
"Me—"
He brought his hands within inches of each other, focusing on the muscle and sinew of his arms making it happen, how they winded in opposing arches until they arrived at the same destination, and the tide on his feet, and the sand beneath them. All the while, he breathed in.
"Ha—"
He kept his hands parallel, gathering his latent energy between them, feeling it flow through his body, through his arms and fingers, and the sweat forming on his brow, and the tide rushing back and forth over his feet, and the sand beneath them. All the while, he breathed in.
"Me—"
Energy coalesced between his palms, threatening to push them apart, and he focused on keeping them together, and the sweat gathered on his brow, and the tide on his feet, and the sand beneath them.
All the while, he breathed in.
"Haaa!"
He brought his hands forward suddenly, and the energy along with them, propelling it into the horizon in a continuous wave, parting the sea, feeling every bit of the resulting spray on his head, washing away the sweat, noticing as he kept the wave steady that the tide had left his feet, but he still felt the sand beneath them.
The energy was spent. Before long he was no longer breathing manually, and his mind began to wander.
What if Piccolo had been in front of him just now? Would his blast have even done any damage? Would he have a chance at all? How much stronger could the demon be than on that day when Goku had not only defeated him, but also spared his life? How much stronger could any of them be?
Krillin felt sure of one thing: Neither Goku nor Piccolo was training any less—or any less seriously—than he had been in that time. He couldn't afford to slow down.
He fell to the sand and started doing push-ups as what Goku had said about a year ago, when Piccolo was on the verge of death and he had healed the demon with a senzu bean, was running through Krillin's mind again. "I might get a little lonely, if my archenemy kicked the bucket."
That had stung. Not because Krillin was afraid of Piccolo, or because he wanted the demon dead, though both of those things were true. It just seemed like, between a new wife and old friends to spar with, no matter how much a man liked to fight, he shouldn't need someone like Piccolo around to keep things interesting.
An act of mercy would have been one thing, but that just seemed downright irresponsible. Of course if Piccolo died, Kami would as well, and Shenron with him. And to his credit, Goku had noted that, but it was clear from his tone that he cared more about having a new rival than anything so practical.
Krillin's arms felt like pudding. His face hit the sand. "Maybe I should give him a visit." He got up and brushed off his gi, sighing. "What's the point? So I go over and shoot the breeze for a while, have dinner maybe. If we did spar, he'd have to hold back. I'd just be wasting his time…"
"You don't give yourself enough credit."
"Master Roshi?"
"I was trying to watch my show when you started talkin' to yourself. I thought I had a visitor and I didn't want to be rude. Not until I knew who they were, at least!" The turtle hermit let out a deep laugh, slapping Krillin on the back.
"You think I could still give him a run for his money?"
"How should I know? I haven't seen him any more recently than you have. For all I know, by now he could take us both on without breaking a sweat."
"That doesn't realy help, ya know?"
"On the other hand, maybe he's been slacking off. I know I'd be distracted in his shoes, livin' with a girl like that!" Roshi erupted with laughter. "Then again, this is Goku we're talking about. He's never seemed particularly… swayed by such temptation."
"So you doubt he's slowed down at all?"
"Only for breakfast and supper. Well, that and a lot of snacking in between, I'm sure, but that's beside the point." His hand clasped Krillin's shoulder firmly. "If I know one thing for certain, it's that Goku is your friend, and he'd be thrilled to see you again either way."
Krillin mulled that over for a moment.
"Thanks, I—"
He looked up to see that his master was already walking away.
"Or maybe I just want you out of my house for a while, fillin' your belly with something besides my food," he continued, more to himself than to his pupil, it seemed. He entered the house and the front door closed behind him. "I mean would it kill ya to buy your own groceries now and again? You might not eat as much as Goku but that's not saying much, now is it?"
Krillin was within a hair's breadth of flying away when Roshi turned his head and made eye contact through the window.
The hermit called out, "Excellent form on my technique, by the way. You do an old man proud."
Krillin smiled and expressed his gratitude, but he still had a lot of thinking to do. He knew what Master Roshi had said was true, but something was still bothering him.
It makes sense that Goku is stronger than me right now. I was dead for a while and he kept training, and since he had to get stronger to bring me back, I'd be a jerk to call that unfair.But that explanation left him wanting. Even after he'd come back to life, the gap seemed to grow exponentially. There had to be some difference between them, and he wasn't going to see Goku again until he figured it out.
