Short note: I plan to finish this series of short stores at chapter twenty-one, and then start a new series of stories under a different name.

As always, thanks for the reviews/favorites/follows.

Chapter Nineteen, in which there is some mention of BoG, the Garlic Junior Saga, and the tenth Dragonball Z movie.

I can't meet someone I can't meet someone

Where and where are the cute girls?

I want it to be springtime

But there are so many guys

Just once I'd like to get married and mambo mambo

Everyone has someone they like

Everyone has someone they love

I'll try a little harder too

Everyone wants to be liked

Everyone wants to be happy

I'll become happy too

I want it to be springtime

But it's filled with fighting

Just once I'd like to get married and mambo mambo

I want a family, too

But I'm always far away

Just once I'd like to get married and mambo mambo

- Ichido Wa Kekkon-Shitai Mambo, Krilin's Image Song

451. Messed Around With Gender Roles, Dye my Eyes and Call my Pretty

(A/N: This is what happens when you watch the Garlic Junior Saga too many times.)

Juuhachigou's screaming awoke him from his peaceful slumber, full of dreams of a nice, pleasant and calm blonde woman that understood that he was a nice normal guy. She was sweet, this girl, and never once insulted his taste in clothes. When they touched, he and this normal girl, there was no threatening to rip off limbs and that woman had never kicked him through a screen door during a sparring match that was supposed to be friendly.

But the woman in his shower, and in reality, continued to scream mindlessly. Finally, laying there prostrate on his bed, Krillin could make out the words, "Did Gero do this? What is this? What the hell, what the hell, what the hell?" Then more shrieking. It was oddly quivering falsetto, then soprano, then a baritone as the curses began.

When he sat up, it was his own turn to scream.

There were no parts to his body that shouldn't have been, and others missing that definitely belonged. At first, when he glanced down, he thought that his shirt had just been greatly wrinkled and bunched. Then, as he tried to straighten his clothing, he wondered when he'd gained so much weight. Really, maybe he should take up sparring again, since without it, he looked not unlike Yajirobe. Then, shoving and yanking at the fabric, he realized that it was only in his chest instead of his stomach as well, and finally he pulled his shirt off.

That was when his gibbering screams began.

As his brain realized there was something further wrong further below, his shrieks increased in volume. A small, sane portion of his brain registered that his voice was much higher as well.

Finally, someone knocked on his door. "Boy, what is the matter with you? What is wrong with you and that android?"

"She's a cyborg and no, no don't come in!" He pulled his shirt to hide his chest, shaking, and breathless. His voice was definitely not so deep now. Eventually, he summoned the courage to stand up, put his shirt on, and walk with quivering legs to the door.

Downstairs, there was a sudden squeal, and another shocked yell, this time from someone much older than the rest of the household.

When he and Juuhachigou saw each other, they practically ran into each other's arms. People often called Juuhachigou cold and emotionless, but she was so often anything but. Whether yelling at him for protecting her, or thinking she was involved with her brother, or insulting Vegeta, she definitely experienced emotions. Krillin thought of her as maybe not the nicest person, but one possessing as large a range of feelings as anyone else. There was a difference between being apathetic, and passionless.

Now though, she practically hugged him. "What's going on, what's going on?"

She and her brother were twins, and though he could see the resemblance when he learned they were related rather than lovers, never before had they looked so similar. Her jaw was firmer, the cheekbones a little stronger, the brows heavier. The blonde hair was dark with water, and he could still see soap on her skin from her shower.

"You look just like a blonde pale Juunanagou."

"Shut up! You, you just look bizarre." She brandished a hand wildly at his face.

"What could have caused this?"

"I bet it was something the pig did." Her voice was grim, and those blue eyes that hadn't changed at all were humorless.

Oolong ran into the room, still squealing. "What happened? What happened?"

Both of them shuddered, trying to rid their mind of the shape-shifting pig with a disturbing quality and amount of breasts. "We don't know. Now go back downstairs. Now."

His Master was complimenting his reflection. Juuhachigou rolled her eyes, the rubbed her forehead.

The phone ringing was a mixed distraction.

"You too?" Yamcha sounded not unlike Bulma when she was being charged at by something intent on killing her.

Krillin needed no other explanation. "Yes, my god, yes! All of us!"

There was a whistle. "Master Roshi as a woman. That is frightening."

"Is everyone like this?"

"I think so."

There was a unexplained, freakish noise coming from what seemed like the air itself. Was it the VCR, finally giving out from the daily abuse the turtle hermit put it through? But no; this noise had a more plaintive, furious quality to it.

"Did you hear that?"

"Did you?"

"Was it the phone?"

"No, it was something worse."

"Earthquake? Tsunami?"

"Oh, Kami." Krillin sent a prayer to Dende, as well as wherever Piccolo was. "Vegeta."

There was a low gasp on the other end of the telephone. Besides him, Juuhachigou had started to laugh. "Of course this happened to him. And of course he freaked out unnecessarily."

As though she had handled this with aplomb rather than actually hugging him.

"There's the silver lining." Male or not, she looked charming when she laughed.

He could nearly ignore the Adam's apple. Oh, no, please, don't ignore that.

There was beeping from the phone. "I'm getting another call here, Yamcha."

Chi-Chi was in hysterics. "I have two kids to take care of, and this is my reward?! My poor babies don't understand what's going on! Goten's only a year old, this can't be good for his development."

"I know, I know. No one knows what's going on."

"It better be fixed! This is insane!" Amazingly, Krillin was struck by how much she sounded like the Saiyan prince when she was upset. Even her eastern touched accent was not dissimilar from Vegeta's. impossible to imagine her not as a woman, that person who had shown up to propose to Goku and never flinched from any challenge (as seen from her marriage to Goku) and had always done her humble best to give her children as normal a life as could be expected.

"I can't live like this, Krillin. I can't!"

"I know!"

"How dare you complain about being a woman?!"

"Chi-Chi, I have someone else on the line. I should get to them."

Before she could respond, Krillin switched back to a patiently waiting Yamcha. "Yeah, Chi-Chi and the boys are like this too."

Suddenly, Juuhachigou's face lit up with information. She ran to the TV, making him aware of the jeans that were tighter than normal, and the looser shirt. Once, it might have made his day to see so much skin revealed as she searched frantically for the remote among the forest of magazines, fallen pillows and books and spilled cereal. Now, he felt like weeping since it only confirmed her state. Weep, and still ogle.

The news reporter, oddly dignified in his suit that filled things that hadn't needed to be filled, was straightening papers. His mustache was moderately less full. "And today's top story is of course the sudden change in everyone's gender."

"It's everywhere!" Juuhachigou sounded appalled. Then she gasped again. "My brother."

They both stopped to consider the implications of that. Juunanagou, with his rages, and odd innocence as he had never hurt anyone besides Gero, and seemed to resent the fighters more than they did him. Who had wanted to retreat into solitude, to heal in his own way, and really did not need to wake up to such random bullshit as this. "Uh-oh."

Together, they came together at Capsule Corporations. Something about the sterile environment full of science and the Dragonball detector spoke of sanity and stability. It spoke of surgery, and therapy and comfy chairs to sit in and talk about how horrible this all was. They all goggled at each other.

Everyone looked mildly short, or taller than normal. Their clothes, never exactly something out of the cover of a magazine, looked even more out of place. Some rubbed at their newly scabbed and halfway shaved faces gingerly, while others ran their hands down their sides, avoiding parts that discomforted them. All of them shifted in their seats, yanking at their clothing and crossing, uncrossing their legs. Then flinching.

"Oh, this is so fun! Like Halloween!" Bulma's squinty mother exclaimed, handing out lemonade and ginger snaps. Male or not, she was dressed in her usual shoulder revealing tank top and skirt.

Chi-Chi was dressed in some of Goku and Gohan's old clothes. They hung ridiculously off her still thin frame. In them, she no longer resembled the boys' mother, but their older brother though of course she did not find that the compliment as pleasant as Yamcha had meant. Oddly, though Gohan wore his usual clothes of a loose white shirt and black pants, Goten was in a pink, delicate dress made of silk and lace. At their inquisitive stares, she shrugged. "I had some outfits for girls given to me when we didn't know whether Goten was going to be a boy or not. I might as well get some use out of them."

Doubtless she had taken numerous pictures already that would be sure to confuse the boy once he grew older, "When did we have a sister?" and embarrass him once he learned the truth.

Yamcha looked rather sporty in a bright yellow suit. He was blushing, and avoiding eye contact, even when Krillin nudged him, and complimented him on his taste. Wherever did he find such a nice pantsuit?

Piccolo looked exactly the same. A tiny smirk touched at his mouth, but otherwise he was the usual.

"Vegeta won't come out of his room." Bulma scowled, holding Trunks who seemed more interested in playing with his tail than any gender changes. Her face, heavier and stronger than before, would have made her look more like Trunks when he was still a boy. Now, you could take one look at them and just assume that the infant took after her mother.

"I guess he'll come out when he wants to.

"Oh, I'll just wait until he gets hungry enough to crawl out. I already have the cameras set up."

Krillin played with his hair, wondering what he looked like now. He hadn't dared glance at a mirror. Just from the expression on Juuhachigou's still pretty face, he must have looked ridiculous. Normally he wasn't much of a looker, but was it possible, could he look even worse as a girl? His features were after all masculine, right? So he just stared at Juuhachigou, noticing that unlike the others there wasn't a single hair on the upper lip, not even a tiny pale one, and that her features were still delicate and lovely. Unfair.

How Juunanagou must have looked was up to the imagination, as neither dared visit him.

"I just hope he doesn't murder anyone," was all Juuhachigou said when Krillin asked whether or not they should check up on him. "This would be the thing to finally make him flip."

Tien and Choatzu were nowhere to be found. Perhaps that was a blessing.

"Any plans, guys? Woman? People."

"Who did you piss off this time?" Juuhachigou demanded. Bulma's mother giggled and blushed, even as the cyborg put her hands on her (his?) hips and glared at everyone.

They all glanced downward. "Well, it could really be a lot of people."

"Someone crazy."

"I wonder if they were affected as well?"

"Can we get the dragonballs and reverse this?"

Bulma held up the radar. "Of course. But we really should find out what caused this."

"Yeah…after we get turned back to normal."

"But shouldn't we defeat who did this?"

"After." They all agreed. "Then we can send whoever did this horrible thing to hell."

Again, they could all agree to this. "Okay, so should we split up? Or just go in a group to find it?"

The group glanced at each other from the corner of their eyes. "No, I—Let's just split up."

"Well, then I don't know what to tell you." She clicked the top of the radar like a stopwatch. "I guess some of you go north, and the rest west. This is so stupid. So what if we're different genders? Is that such a weird thing. My son can turn into a giant ape, and you're a cyborg, and half of us are either related or friends with aliens. Or are aliens."

Chi-Chi spoke for them all. "Bulma. No. No."

Best to leave now, while the mocking was ebbing. "Come on, Juuhachigou."

No one glanced at them, which seemed to annoy Juuhachigou.

"Why do I have to go with him?" She asked coolly, brushing a strand of hair from her eyes.

No one answered.

"Okay, you two go north for…I guess awhile. I can't even contact any of you."

Then, without a signal to warn them, Vegeta came out of hiding. They all looked at him, at the bulging hideous veins on his forehead that jutted out further than his new breasts. It was a beautiful moment where they all shared the same pain in this moment of perfect empathy.

This time, Bulma had no complaints. "Let's split up."

So they went west halfway with Oolong, Master Roshi and Yamcha.

Yamcha cornered him in the back. "Okay, we'll split up in a little while. I'll take the perverts."

"Really? You will?"

"Sure, sure. You and Juuhachigou could use the alone time."

"Thanks, buddy. I owe you one."

"Yeah. You do."

"…We can hear you."

"I don't want to travel with you anyway."

Juuhachigou just looked at him. Looked down at him. "I don't want to travel with any of you."

But it was too late. No matter how she would repeat that in every annoyed gesture or irritated look at him; they were already here.

And Kami's Lookout was suspiciously quiet. Krillin didn't need Baba's crystal ball to know there was trouble, somewhere. For now, he tried not to think about what he looked like, standing here. Bittersweet, this place was. All the old times spend training with his friends when Kami hadn't fused with Piccolo, when Juuhachigou had admitted to not entirely hating him that day Goku had died, and leaving him without a backwards glance as she took off. To say nothing of the earlier fighting he'd done here, and hearing his best friend's voice announce that he wasn't coming back to Earth. But Juuhachigou had picked him in the end, rather than Yamcha and the perverts.

Within two minutes, she was already regretting it as Krillin began to complain about how weird this all was, how heavy these were, god, it felt weird to fly around with these and how a tighter shirt would have been a better idea. Humiliating, to wish for a bra maybe, but it really would have been nice, especially if a fight—when- a fight broke out. "You're lucky, Juuhachigou, that you don't…"

"What?"

That you have a smaller chest, but no, could never say that, thank Dende he hadn't said that. "Oh, nothing."

Disturbing to compare his cup size to hers…that no longer existed.

"I should have gone alone."

"We'll get through this. Whatever this is."

"I don't even get while we're here. It's not like Namek change gender and so your little green friend is traumatized."

"No, it's just…this is sort of similar to what happened before."

"What? Really? What happened before?"

But then the wall behind her was breaking apart, and he had a split second to think what before the blonde cyborg was flying towards him.

He had such mixed feeling when Juuhachigou crashed into him. That hurt, in a new area that he hadn't realized would hurt so much when punched. Not as much as a knee to the groin, when he'd been a guy, but not a stroll through the park either. At least now if someone did knee him, it might not make him cry and vomit so much.

Juuhachigou actually waited and watching him while he clutched his chest. "Okay?"

"I wish I had borrowed one of your bras." Or something from Oolong's collection, no matter how long the shower would be afterward. "Even if it would be too small."

Which made her punch him in the back so he fell on his bruised chest.

Even so, I would like to kiss you. Even now? Maybe.

I must never tell her that.

Then he noticed who had even tossed Juuhachigou into him.

At the same time, "You! Again!"

"This time—"

"I won't let you hurt anyone!"

Juuhachigou had to make her little comments. "You two know each other?"

"…We are acquainted."

It only raised more questions really. And it felt like someone was really just having a laugh. Which made since. They all overpowered Garlic Junior by now, and thus, this was the only way he could approach getting revenge. Pathetic, really. Unless it was a permanent change, in which case, well, at least people weren't murdering each other.

There were the usual assortment of lackeys behind him. Absurdly muscled and still appearing to be male. It might have been a nice change of pace if they'd been women, even if he would inevitably begin getting a crush on one. Still, for all the muscles and scowls, Krillin could have beaten them up, this strange collection of monsters and demons that Garlic had at his disposal.

But before he could take a swing at the smirking bastards, Juuhachigou was moving forward and leaving him time to barely blink.

Juuhachigou didn't wait for them to react and fight back. She didn't brag or thankfully hate-flirt with anyone. Twisting, and that kick had to hurt. How she spun and sent one falling with holes in him, how had that even happened-there was only simple grace, regardless of gender. She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear when she was done, and actually bowed when Krillin somehow found himself literally applauding her.

In less than half a minute, she had dealt mortal blows to all of Garlic's henchmen that had sprouted from who-knows-where. Krillin remember how frightening she'd been, that face revealed as the dust cleared, and tried to be brave. Tried not to flinch as she threw one of the goons possibly out of the atmosphere. Tried to duck as one of them came flying at him.

Gohan really should have been here for this.

Not that he was even needed at this state (as there was no one left between them and Garlic Junior) but still.

Juuhachigou dusted off her clothes, annoyed when she brushed off her shirt and remembered that something was missing. Really, Krillin wished he could give her these things, because they felt so awkward when he crossed his arms.

"Juuhachigou. Did you even know those guys were bad?"

"What—they were, weren't they?" At least she looked a little taken aback.

"Yeah, but still…"

Still, the blonde woman was shrugging, and then turning back to Garlic Junior, who had gone pale at the sight. Krillin cracked his knuckles, finding a smile. At least here was someone that he could take his anger out on without feeling guilty.

Until Juuhachigou was already there.

Krillin could only watch, and shake his fist. Ridiculous, how fast she was. She was doing this on purpose, had to be. "Come on!"

There was surprise on that perfect somewhat androgynous face when she blew a hole through that stomach with one flick of her wrist. Then she was launching a kick at his head, as though she were playing another zombie game with her brother, cheating by trying to distract Juunanagou. Even if, unfortunately, the head wasn't a weak spot. As Krillin could have told her, if she ever bothered to wait and talk to him like he was too an adult. Older than her, even.

She killed him three times over—four at the sudden cracking sound of his neck going again. All to only momentarily slow the demon down.

Nor could Garlic Junior lay a hand on her.

They simply look at each other, all three of them. The unstoppable force had met the unmovable object.

A feint at Juuhachigou, and then a left hook at Krillin, that hardly even was capable of hurting him. Still, Garlic Junior seemed to wise up, a little. Or wanted to find whatever victory he could.

The first punch nearly caved in the demon's head. The second buried itself into that chest, and the gurgling, the squish of blood as Krillin struggled to remove his hand. Shock on that green face, as he mouthed that this was impossible. It was so nice, to meet an enemy that he could finally beat up. To give into that rage that had been there for—maybe it had always been there, just hidden and locked up through his own weakness and now was spewing out like a burst sore. Until he was here, with a sex he hadn't been born with, and the ability to take it all out on someone that could take it.

Juuhachigou had pulled him off what was left of Garlic Junior. Ignoring his flailing at her, and getting a punch to her face. Her face. A split lit sent blood dripping down the perfect chin, and no one was more surprised than her by it. She touched it, looking at the stain on her hand.

"Oh, Juuhachigou. I'm so sorry." Every bit of rage slid down to his feet, and his knees nearly buckled. She would twist his head around and then break both his arms, and Krillin would deserve it.

"You're stronger than the database suggested."

How could he have every touched her?

"Oh get up." How could she smile that that, with a gleam in her eyes? "I guess we know now that you can spar with me?"

Oh, Dende, no.

"…where's Dende?"

They looked around together. Mister Popo's flowers were a disaster, as where the fallen trees and broken tile that Krillin bet he and Juuhachigou were probably responsible for as this place hadn't looked so bad when they'd first arrived.

"Fighting Garlic Junior again…only this time I'm fully clothed. And I haven't been thrown into any pillars again."

Juuhachigou looked at him, her lip still bleeding. "A psychiatrist would have a field day with you all."

Garlic Junior was, meanwhile, regrowing his jaw. There was something poetic about that. It looked painful. Above them, the sky remained that cheerful blue rather than rending itself open in a flood of red and black, swirling and malevolent.

He and Juuhachigou waited.

"The brat ran off when I first showed up."

"Smart kid."

"He is."

They all but shuffled their feet.

"Are you going to reopen the Dead Zone?"

"If I do, will you let me leave?"

"Depends. How do we get back to normal?"

"The throne room has the Clearwater Mist that will undo the damage."

"Terrible name for that." Juuhachigou had less blood on her than he did. "I have to ask, what was the point of this? You came back from some swirling Hell, just to change people's gender?"

"…I picked the wrong jar."

Before Garlic Junior could betray them or attempt to suck them into that mass above their heads, Juuhachigou flicked a ball of yellow energy to send him on his way. Maybe there was something to relentless brutal violence to solve their problems. A terrible lesson to learn, much worse than his brief time in the bathroom. For the first time, Krillin felt almost sorry for the shriveling monster. He wanted to wave goodbye at him, until he saw the dark green, almost black blood caking his hands as it dried.

Who was the shriveled monster here, anyway?

At least some things would go back to normal. Still, the fighter couldn't say that things in his life were on an upward trajectory.

"When's the next time the Makyo Star is coming around?"

"Hopefully not for a long time. Now, let's spread this around and get the hell of here."

Everything was basically back to normal after Dende crawled out from beneath rubble and helped them spread the mist. He thanked them, all courtesies, but Krillin had to notice how his eyes lingered on the stains and how the small guardian saw how much damage had been done to this sanctuary.

The other all but patted Juuhachigou on the back and congratulated and thanked her. Ignoring Krillin and whatever contributions he'd made, they didn't even know how much he'd helped and how it had been his idea to get rid of Garlic Junior.

Chi-Chi was pulling at her sagging pants. "Finally, we can get back to our normal lives."

Maybe because of the ease, the relief and goodwill in the air, Juuhachigou even let that remark go.

Bulma and Vegeta were unavailable for comment, and no one pushed the subject. One of the many reasons Krillin was suddenly glad that Future Trunks was back in his timeline right now; at least he'd been spared this humiliation. God, that guy was so lucky.

As for Krillin himself, he couldn't say that things were all too much different. Aside from wanting to hug himself, glad for being a guy again. So happy he could skip around or spend another hour in the shower or simply lay there on the floor of the living room and remember to be grateful after seeing himself in the mirror again. Right, this was an improvement.

"Oh, hell, Krillin, you didn't even look that bad." Then she corrected herself, this idol. As though she could ever understand. "Hardly more ridiculous than you do now."

"Thanks. At least we learned something new about anatomy."

"Speak for yourself. But, Krillin, really. This never happened."

"What happened? I have no idea what you're talking about…but you know, it was completely unfair how pretty you still were, even as a guy."

452. should we be tempted by thief or saint

it seems I leave and you stay

It took long enough for him to worry that she might still be there when he returned.

She did have a tendency to leave when he didn't focus all his energy and attention onto her. Like a ghost or something that he'd somehow created out of his imagination, summoned.

But her familiar shadow was still there, in the flickering fire. Krillin clutched the fallen pieces of wood, hoping to not let them spill out. How many times on a beach, together, laughing and perhaps with a basket nearby? How many times in the city, shopping and watching his reflection smile and nod at himself for actually having such a woman at his side?

Hoping that he was the same, that he was different enough.

As she wouldn't have done before maybe, she didn't even ask him to feed the fire but instead did it herself, shivering a little. He'd never seen her with a dirty face before. He'd never seen her look so beautiful.

Strange, how all this death and disaster could bring so many people together. Even exes.

453. I Can't Grow A Mustache

It starts off a few stray hairs, and they all make jokes about his shaving rituals. It looks like something a teenage boy would grow. Pathetic enough that Juuhachigou does not pluck them while he sleeps. Perhaps it might be considered cute, the fluffiness of it as another week passes and Krillin dodges any attempt to explain fully why it existed.

Then it begins to grow in thicker.

Darker than the hair on his head.

She begins to worry.

Especially as he pets it like he did the first growth of hair that had sprouted on that strange head of his. "You know, it's what I always wanted."

It signified something. Maybe it is because of the grey weaving itself into the temples of his black hair. Or that their daughter is getting taller than him. The slight, soft wrinkles in the corners of his eyes and across his forehead. Little things that Juuhachigou has noticed, but never cataloged or cared about with any substation other than this flutter below her ribs. Was this some acceptance of his middle-age that she is also too aware of?

And then she sees something similar growing on Vegeta's face one long trip to Capsule Corp, and that ends whatever grudging acceptance.

Juuhachigou finds herself standing above her husband's head, the head of the man that had fathered their child, holding a safety razor in one hand, a can of shaving cream in the other. It is for his own good. He doesn't need this ridiculous thing that he'd grown for whatever reason. She will remove it, and then call Bulma to complain about their spouses ridiculous facial hair and tell her to do the same. Just like before, when the Briefs woman had removed Vegeta's tail and Juuhachigou had found the stash of magazines under the crock pot, so many years ago. It is for their own good, and it is still a mystery to both of them that their partners refuse to understand this.

"Juu? Juuhachigou?"

His own intuition and sense and years of marriage tell him what she was going to do with that razor.

"Juuhachigou?

"...Do you hate it? Would you prefer me to shave it off?"

"I just don't understand why you grew that thing!"

He raised one eyebrow. "You know what they call these, right?"

"Krillin!" Like there are other people to hear this. As if they aren't married and so well acquainted with each other. But still. God. "Is that necessary?"

"Hmmm. Don't know." All half-lidded eyes. "Want to find out?"

"Juh-just keep it then…how can you still be so very perverted?"

"Your influence, dear. Besides, I, you know, I always pictured myself growing one of these when I finally got married and had a kid. I'm not sure why. I happen to like it. Maybe you'll learn to live with it. Like the rest of my face."

454. You Know I Love You Too Much To Be Crushed Like That

It's almost funny that he knew where the blast that swept him off his feet had come from without a second thought. Almost intuitively. Gero had probably installed it as another way of keeping the androids in line, or as a backup in case they were truly overpowered, a way to make sure no one had a happy ending no matter what. Hadn't the mad man had so many surprised hidden in his sleeve?

The air and his lungs burned. His eyes filled with tears, and Krillin could barely bring himself to roll over and wonder if he'd been burned.

And she'd been so noble, so afraid, so good, despite everything. How could she not be redeemable, that brave woman that had tried to only defend herself. Trying to help her friend, though it would have been easier to leave him behind. Telling Krillin that he should have used that remote, and maybe he should have. Rather than to stand there and see death rushing, she would have hopefully fallen into a sleep.

He'd been so worried about Cell hurting Juuhachigou, that he never even thought of how easy it would be for his allies to hurt her. Allies, hell, perhaps a friend. The child of one of his best and oldest friends. Who was noble and surprisingly responsible. Who'd hated the androids, no matter what timeline.

Trunks hadn't been able to defeat Cell perhaps, but the half-Saiyan had definitely made sure that he couldn't become perfect.

455. "Look just suppose I asked you really nicely to forget this game and walk away. Would you?"

Krillin hadn't thought he could get more confused, more disturbed, more thrown off until he saw the android, the brunette leader shrugging. "Well. I guess we could."

"Wait. Really?"

"I'm not really sure if I want to actually do something that would make Gero happy, after all."

The blonde female one, Juuhachigou, was shrugging herself in agreement. For someone that had so recently beaten two of the strongest fighters on the planet, she moved with ease. Grace, even. As easily as a dancer, and it was still disorienting to remind himself that yes, she was a fighter, a powerful warrior just like his friends, except even stronger. "I doubt you could have even gotten there anyway, given your sense of direction."

"Hey." But Juunanagou was smiling, a little.

"Doctor Gero is dead." The huge, unnerving android was nodding. And there was a certain sense of something behind those pale eyes that made Krillin realize that for all his size and unsettling smiles, this one did have a brain, thoughts that ticked behind the rough-hewn face. "What he wanted does not matter now. Why hurt another without reason?"

They still looked prepared to leave, and Krillin didn't know whether that were reassuring or not. "Speaking of which, you should go get your friends those senzu beans. Tell them when we wake up, we'd be interested in a rematch."

"I still need new clothes, Juunanagou."

"Fine, fine."

Just going to leave Krillin here to gape, and never be able to explain any of this. He wanted to squeak, to run around like a mouse, to go help his friends get up and pop champagne and to tell himself that he knew better. "You're just leaving. Seriously?"

Trunks had no mentioned anything about this.

The ringleader continued to talk, even as the blonde girl-android looked ready to drag him away. "Why would we stick around?"

"To murder us! Really, you're just moving on, and not killing any of us? Not even Vegeta?"

"Isn't that what you want? Not that I blame you wanting us to finish off Vegeta…"

As though now they would just disappear? Go to an arcade, take up playing golf, get jobs and houses in some city miles away from where Goku lived? Could they—would they? Krillin could remember going to visit the Sons, and seeing Piccolo hoeing peas at Chi-Chi's command and constantly having to turn down the offer of lemonade while behind them Gohan was pushing Goku in a tire swing, when Vegeta had been there at every Capsule Corp barbecue to eat everything and mock all the humans there, and even of how Yamcha had joined Bulma and Goku and Oolong to help them…Three years training for so little, but there might be peace after all.

"But, then…what are you going to do now?"

"We are going shopping," said that female android, who finally was looking at him as though he were something other than the lowest dog. A girl. Why had Trunks left out that detail? It would have been nice to have a warning before the dust had cleared and revealed that smirking distant face that was too close, alive and aware. Just to mentally prepare himself. Because he had problems, if it came to punching a pretty woman in the face, unfair, stupid chivalry…not that he would have a chance to even take a swing at her.

"And then?"

"I guess we'll see then, won't we?" Nearly sticking her tongue out and everything.

Like this was another day at the park, and could all be solved through arm-wrestling or a tickle-fight. Pillow fights to see who would have to pay for the trip to the movies. What brats. As they all knew, could nearly read his thoughts, and it was maybe this casual acceptance of where they stood that made her glance over her shoulder before all three were taking off.

Impossible for Krillin to stop them, to reason with them any further, but for now, maybe this was a start.

456. I Am Your Girl, and I Will Protect You

Later, Juuhachigou will appreciate the irony more. Much later.

For now, she was simply grateful of having this tiny snippet of programming that taught how to use the Solar Flare, as so used by the humans. Even while cursing Gero for all he'd done to her and her twin brother.

She can understand why she'd used it, while wishing she'd done it later. She can understand the cowardice that came from running, and from leaving Juurokugou, so badly damaged, behind. She can almost understand her own stupidity and how she'd underestimate that monster, and growing realization that yes, Juunanagou is gone.

But she can't understand why she'd used that damn move, and then grabbed that miserable short weakling that hadn't used that remote, grabbed this idiot, and dragged him along to escape this island. Even now, leading him along, trying to remember how she'd once held this world in her palms, how she could have turned everything to ash alongside her brother, she couldn't understand why she was running with him, and remembering a story she might have heard when she still human. Hansel and Gretel from the witch.

Juuhachigou can only ask herself why she'd taken the strange bald human away from Vegeta's rage, Cell's frustration, that mysterious Saiyan who looked at her with such rage in those pupil-less green eyes. Ask herself, and take him further away and imagine a dark forest where a boy and girl had been abandoned and a house filled with candy where a cannibal lived.

457. Male or Female, I Don't Care, Is that The Problem

It wasn't jealousy no matter what jokes the others made. Or even just empathy, and care for the other woman.

If only it were those things.

To be honest, there were elements of it. A matter of comparison, of lack that she found in herself, but it wasn't anything as simple envy. Juuhachigou was the most beautiful person on the planet, enough to leave anyone struggling to form sentences, but Krillin didn't care about wanting to look like her. She didn't want to know what shampoo Juuhachigou used (well, alright, maybe a little), but simply wanted to sit and sigh heavily when the sun would hit it at a certain angle.

What she felt was strangling, heavy as any burden she'd ever carried. It couldn't even be hidden, or denied, what she felt. Already, it had been admitted and confessed, before she'd even opened her mouth. Already, she would lay there, wounded and free and alive.

Smiles and feeling like she'd missed a step on the stairs, and sometimes actually missing a step and falling down them to everyone's laughter because Juuhachigou was looking at her.

She wanted to throw rocks at Juuhachigou's window, and run away. She wanted to write poetry, and slip them under Juuhachigou's door and hope her brother never found it. She wanted to savor every word that was said to her, and wince at every awkward exchange. She wanted to believe her friends and what they said to her, in hopes of keeping Krillin's spirits up.

She wanted…

Right now, she kinda wished she'd thought this out better, than hanging outside the small cabin, looking at the yellow light through the curtains, feeling her jacket sticking to her back. She could wish that she hadn't left that room, left the warmth of the bed and pale arms, and wonder why the light was still on.

He'd thought the intentions had been clear enough bringing him here, but the other man was still rather confused. "There sure are a lot of guys here…" Then he's seen two of them kissing, and realized the dancing wasn't so innocent. "Um. Juuhachigou? Is it okay to be here? We're not intruding, right? It's okay for us to be here?"

Apparently, he'd taken Juunanagou's comments as just jokes, and not seen the grains of truth in them. While the blonde cyborg hadn't taken him swimming just to get him half-naked, that had definitely been a plus. And yes he only watched sports that Krillin liked to enjoy the short fighter explaining things, rather than to see those other men in shorts.

Krillin was so hopeless. Pretending he hadn't gasped and blushed over that dumb kiss, that breaking the remote had just been an act of friendship, that he was just hanging out with Juuhachigou to be a be just two guys acting like regular straight guys.

-How could anyone who drank Shirley Temples and appletinis be completely straight? Right? Right.

"Are you open to the possibility that you might belong here?"

458. We Could Be A Real Disaster

Everyone just got it with a sickening gross, nearly audible click as Krillin and Juuhachigou smiled at one another across the yard. Even seeing the supposed-murderer in this sunny place was strange, but seeing her looking at their friend with something like borderline interest was like watching a child waving a matchstick near a pile of dynamite.

Trunks was the one to step in, grabbing his arm and leading him away and towards where the tournament was taking place.

Krillin went with some protesting, hardly looking at the half-Saiyan, hardly looking away from the cyborg.

And the cyborg was the same puppy-dog way.

Which was all very good to say, that looks were enough to determine such a thing. That maybe, perhaps, something was occurring between them after all.

In retrospect, maybe it was just a warning.

Because the way that she went after that red-haired alien woman who had been talking to Krillin, now that was a giant red flag to slap them in the faces, if you were watching them rather than worrying about your son. Then, you had to add in the fact that yes, that was totally a modified destructo disk and that was the Kamehameha, of all things for her to use while defending Krillin and even trying to help Trunks and Gohan, and it was all over then. Not just because of her being blasted through a building and causing Krillin to panic over her state, but there was no more room for kidding or talk of pathetic crushes?

And since when did Krillin shoot beams from his fingers?

Bulma, watching, could only shake her head, annoyed, amused by their basically flirting was being caught on camera as Krillin ignored his own wounds to dig her up. If Vegeta had cared enough to be here could have warned the others that it was already too late. Roots had been sunk, and only these two could dig them up, because even been pulled away, the taboo natured, only added a little extra spice to their deranged relationship.

Later, much later, when Vegeta showed up to be a hero, then a jerk, then a hero again, when Gohan won and the rest of the fighters were being scrapped up and taken to the hospital, the blue-haired genius was trying to wrestle with her squalling son and with a hurt Vegeta who refused to get in an ambulance. She believed she might have seen their hands briefly brushing across their beds, before they were wheeled away and separated. Krillin holding hands with an android—and then Vegeta was grabbing Trunks to calm down the squirming toddler. A strange day.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe they deserved each other, and so what of the collateral damage they might cause defending each other?

In the room, after having promised to visit Juuhachigou who was in a different wing, Krillin refused to own up.

Chi-Chi patted his arm. The undamaged one, as a show of support. "I don't really get it. But it's good that you're moving on past your ex."

Oh, that was true. The blonde woman, even given the fact that she had programming at all, was a better option than what's-her-name.

"Just try not to take it too fast." Said the woman who married Goku, because of a dumb little proposal he made as a kid. On the other hand, who would know better.

"Yeah, really, we have enough kids running around without adding in an android's baby."

"What? Guys, we're friends. Just calm down!"

"You say that now. But we're not driving all the way out to Kame House to babysit any towheaded kids for you two…though, they would probably be adorable."

When they visited Juuhachigou, and found her passed out and drooling, they were considerate to her rest—besides, why piss off a cyborg that might have murdered them all? And one who was dating one of their friends. Still, they were unable to resist leaving her flowers on her bedside table, along with a stack of condoms, and an get-well card placed atop it with Krillin's forged signature written inside. Because Krillin was their friend after all, and it was their duty to help him live out his dream of having a wife if not yet a child as soon as they got their shit together like everyone else.

459. "You know, it's kind of cute."

His sister had always prided herself on her taste, her willpower, and complete lack of…fawning. For anything. That was one woman that despised everything. Especially things she considered to be so below her, things of tackiness and gaudy accessories, words that were unnecessary symbolic, and shirts non-striped.

So where was she, and why was he left with this imposter that, if reluctantly, cooed and smile at that hideous, freakish baby crawling its way from that shell, what few feathers it had clumped and damp and horrid over all? When exactly had she developed a nauseating soft spot for the pathetic?

460. "To be young and in love. To be completely irrational. Boy, I miss those days. Lots."

After everything was said and done, and she could say that they'd mostly covered from the experience, Juuhachigou reached over and punched Krillin in the shoulder.

He awoke, yelling, panicked. Angry, once realizing what she'd done. "Oooww. What the hell, woman?"

"That was for what you said yesterday."

"What?"

"You said that you weren't in love anymore."

"What?" Krillin, like a shocked widow in their early nineties, reached for his throat.

"You said that you missed being young and in love."

"Wha—oh, yeah. Honey, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant…it's different now. We're married and with a kid."

"So our lives are empty and meaningless."

"You don't understand." His fingers were caught in his hair, and Juuhachigou restrained herself from helping him. That rat's nest on his head. Remembering breaking his electric razor, then buying him a new one when the facial hair began to grow. 'Just not the head.' And Goku telling Krillin, more than once, that he looked better without that hair.

"I…babe, don't take this the wrong way. But you there's some things that you can't get. About aging. Since you don't do that."

There is steel cutting into her stomach. "What exactly am I missing?"

"It's different now. Than when I first fell in love. I wake up every day next to you. Every day I choose-to love you, again and again. To be together, every single day. I had no idea that was going to happen. That there was a choice. That you learn faith in a person, and it's not entirely blind. I learned to trust you, and that, that, you could love me. Am I making sense?"

As though she hadn't felt the same way, was incapable of understanding that there are choices. Did not wake up, less and less, to wonder who was sleeping next to her, this stranger, and tell her that yes, he was her husband, father to her child. Yes.

"Not like when it felt like you just stole something from me. I couldn't even begin to imagine we would get married and have a child together. I've never loved anyone like I do you."

Only Krillin could ruin the opportunity for an argument.

But not completely, offering her an olive branch that allows her to still be annoyed. And she loved him for that, loved him. "Plus, let's be honest, I'm not young or as irrational now. You're the young irrational one."

461. I Never Want to See You Until Our Wedding Day

(A/N: Apparently, BoG was going to take place at Krillin/Eighteen's wedding rather than at Bulma's birthday party, and thus, this story was born.)

To say it was belated was a bit of a understatement. When your own daughter was the flower girl, you'd clearly down some things in a different order from most. As seen in everyone's face and their chuckles and cooing over Marron going to person to person and just handing them flower petals; watching even Vegeta take one was so miraculous Juuhachigou hoped her brother had caught a shot of it.

God knows he had plenty of her fiancés weeping, mockingly or not, into a tablecloth. "I never thought this day would come!"

Juunanagou patted his back. "No one did."

Goku managed to join in, despite a mouth of shrimp. "Especially not me."

"Thanks for the encouragement, you guys. It's nice to know you care."

"I meant, you know, I didn't think you'd marry one of the androids. Uh, no offense, you guys." Her husband's best friend: the man she'd been programmed to murder. Who, incidentally, had beaten Vegeta again in terms of who could finish the most crab cakes, though Bulma was going to drink them all under the table, the way she was going. She had already taken off her shoes and looked a step away from unzipping that bridesmaid gown, and thankfully, it was Chi-Chi who was looking after Marron.

"Juuhachigou. You can't be here, I'm not supposed to see you in that dress. It's bad luck."

She took a glass of champagne from one of the buffet tables, one of the many buffet tables. "Oh, please. What could makes this day go wrong? Worse?"

Juuhachigou tipped her glass at him, admiring the pale blue suit that she hadn't seen before that matched the light touches her own dress had. Glad after all that there was no red here, and that he hadn't picked the bright pastel that even their daughter had thought was tacky. And didn't this man, cursed with otherwise bad taste, know the gleam in her eyes, respond himself in that he smirk back? The, this happiness and ease between them that had never abated since their first date trying to track down her brother and end up making out in a dilapidated warehouse after the roof had caved in to send them falling into each other. If there was such a thing, perhaps it was fate, and the way Krillin had grabbed her and asked if she were alright.

Tonight, she would carry him in her arms to their bridal bed, and further make this bed-and-breakfast with its cozy inn appearance regret hosting their wedding. "I'm already marrying you."

Enjoying the spring day, not minding anymore how long Krillin had spent just trying to pick the perfect day. How much they'd spent on all this. Not annoyed even by Hercule being here given that it was his money she'd rightfully blackmailed from him.

"Yeeeeah, Krillin. Dende's here to make everything official too, and the food's great and Vegeta's not being a jerk."

Astute, for a man that hadn't known how she and Krillin had been able to have a baby.

A reminder of his inherent thoughtless goodwill. Like when he'd won some small tournament for Chi-Chi's sake, and had gone around literally showering people with crisp bills like a Santa Clause that had gotten money and in shape. Even chasing down Vegeta to force money onto his fellow Saiyan; the train of destruction had been caught by the news. Only to give it all away so that by the time he got home, had to be sent back out to win some more money.

Soon, he would give a speech, and they would all have to shake their heads over how absurd this all was. Sooner, there would be further drinking after and during the ceremony when she declared aloud that she'd chosen Krillin and wouldn't cringe when it came to kissing him in front of his friends and Bulma and Master Roshi would make a show of egging them on. Eventually, they would head home and he would have to rest after getting a concussion on that headboard and she would put the photo album away.

"Don't worry about it." The best man whom she might have killed almost a decade ago was raising his own glass of orange juice, presumably not one of the Screwdrivers that Bulma had been making earlier. "Here's to your happy wedding day."

462. I Will Dig A Hole, and I'll Throw You Into It

Sense came back only after her brother found them like that, in bed, with only caramel and a pair of boxers covering strategic areas. And considering it was only a pair of ridiculous boxer shorts in orange and white, marked with the Kame insignia, Juuhachigou couldn't say she felt great over the situation. Though, she did look great in those boxers.

That didn't mean she wasn't ashamed, and scrambling to find a shirt and chase after her blinded brother.

Then grab him, and shake her twin, and final express what had been brewing in her mind since she'd seen him again, and found herself making out with him, right there, in public. Inside the mall. Falling nearly into a window and right in front of the small playground while children looked on. "Get me out of this."

"Oh no. You dug your grave. And you two can lie in it together. Ugh."

"I don't know how it happened. He's got some strange hold on me. Sometimes literally."

"Uuuugh. Stop talking."

"You can help. You can't kill him. But you can…freak him out. You're good at that. He's already afraid of you. Especially now.

"I have a disease."

Somehow, he looked a little bit more disgusted. "…From him?"

"Because of him. Of him. I'm sick."

"Why?"

Madness. Because she couldn't bear not to. Because she'd wanted to slap him when first seeing him again, and was being suffocated with the realization that she did want to touch him, had to, and not simply to slap him.

Krillin had assumed too much at the beginning, only now to turn shy when there were so few pretenses between.

Why, her brother had asked, as though such a question had never occurred to her.

Follow the rope to the knot tied around her throat. Trace backwards and admit that Krillin had made her flush, and taught Juuhachigou in such a prurient way to enjoy her body as she hadn't before. Go further. She could barely walk when spotting him, let alone run away when he noticed her. The sky had fallen in at his presence, a punch to her gut that dropped her to her knees and then she could not continue, could not even continue that line of thought in front of her brother.

Better to give him a half-truth. "I guess I have nothing better to do."

463. Teacher Needs To See Me After School

(A/N: Inspired by a certain fanart/comments posted on the Chestnut Island tumblr blog)

He sat there with a grin, as though the red marks on his paper were anything other than a sign of incompetence. There is sun in his life, no matter how grey the sky is outside and how the rain will soak him when he has to walk home in it after he misses the bus. For now, there is still dry clothes and hope and the glitter from the metal on her name tag and that skirt that is really too short, no, honest, it was a sign. A beautiful signal. Just like the way her glasses glinted under the fluorescent lights, the clean pearls, of a black bra almost hidden under a purple jacket this time if you weren't spending the hour looking for it, the other notes she'd left of approval that Krillin had learned was worse than corrections.

The perfect storm in lust and taboos that only made it all the more tempting. Who wore belts that were in their own league in terms of sexual temptation. This woman that made Krillin understand why the other couples in his life were so terrible to one another: for the attention. Positive, negative, what did it matter really. Really.

While Bulma practically flung her own paper into his face. "A hundred and twelve percent. Suuuuck iiiit." This, after promising to tutor Krillin and get that failing grade up.

Everyone making their own little comments, and staring a little at his ink-stained paper. All that was missing from it was a sad smiley face like the ones Goku would get for his behavior. And spelling. People gathering their things brought such a relief that he wanted to sink into his chair and jump up and down like he was six and rushing on sugar. Better, because he was less likely to vomit. It was not okay how excited the sound of a backpack zipper got him.

Good. Let the others rush ahead. Gather their own papers and leave. Get out. Just get the hell out now.

"Jeez, man, even Goku did better than that."

Goku pulled his head up from his dead, the paper that had been sat on it flying through the air. "You guys are mean."

Why were any of them still here? Oh, oh, Kami, had any of them gotten notes on their own papers? No, she was good, competent and complete. No one else was getting a D minus, not this late in the semester. They would have dropped the course by now. Together, their little group had stuck it out, even Goku who had the tendency to let his mind wander almost as bad as Krillin lately.

"Dumber than Kakarotte," Vegeta hissed, as he took off. So confident on his own grade that he apparently didn't feel the need to share.

Was Juuhachigou purposely avoiding his gaze, cleaning up the board? Something that he'd rushed to do the first time. The first moment, the first time Krillin had properly noticed that she was more than just a simple matter of pretty, to be glanced at and dismissed because, well, she was also his teacher. The sudden catch in his stomach when she looked at him, looked down at him and told him to stop using his thesaurus so much because it showed.

Arguing was impossible because he now saw that she wore red hoop earrings that only accented that she was mature, and Krillin could picture her in an apartment with white walls, before a mirror and putting them on, tilting her head.

No wedding ring.

How he'd run through the hallways with a grin and bag hanging off him after that. Damned and so happy in the autumn light when eventually finding the doors, and not caring when he slid on wet leaves to fall on his ass because there was no way Miss Juuhachigou had seen it. Krillin could roll around, in this filth of dirty leaves and cigarette butts and mud and chip wrappers and crushed cans of soda, not caring about how sticky his hair would get or the new cuts. Arrive home disgusting his roommates and never be able to explain his smile, even as he found the broom.

Because a switch had been turned. Because her name was Juuhachigou Gero, Miss Juuhachigou Gero, and there was very else in his world aside from her somewhat apathetic and beautiful face hidden behind those glasses.

Glasses. Never before had he thought much about glasses in any capacity, let alone had found himself particularly fetishizing them. Finding her in the library, working on something no doubt brilliant for her tenure, and taking them off to bite the end of one arm and she had been kind enough not to laugh too hard when he knocked over the book cart Krillin had been trying to hide behind. Not that she was a sweet woman. Many things, but not kind to those that didn't try which was why half the classes was empty.

All the better.

Yamcha patted him on the back when seeing the note she'd left in the corner. "Good luck with that. Maybe Bulma can tutor you?"

Though, obviously, he couldn't be the only one that had a crush on her. Couldn't be the only one that had to lean forward and hold the ends of this small flimsy desk with its graffiti of genitals and initials and gum stuck to whatever-he-would-reach-for. Pull it in a little closer if possible, or yourself closer to it, the better to hide yourself from what she didn't need to notice.

Then think, long and for too long, with glazed eyes, about that desk and what it could be used for. Even while knowing that it wouldn't happen, nothing like that ever happens to you, no matter how many notes she might put down or how she might smile the tiniest bit over his comments when she asks a question. Even while knowing, even if it were, the desk was too flimsy and would fall over from the weight, to say nothing of the gum situation or the windows to the outside world that had little to do with him when he was in here.

I will flunk. I will flunk this class so fast.

Empty class, and his stomach is in his throat. The dumbest grin on his face that has to be stuffed down and hidden. "I guess you didn't like this essay either."

"You went from being one of the best students here to the worst. Care to explain why?"

But none of that mattered. Not even his GPA mattered.

Or that he might have to retake this class. No, that would be even better.

"Oh, you know, I just don't have a very good grasp on certain parts of this class."

In the porno that his life wasn't, Juuhachigou didn't take him up on that offer. Right on the desk, no way would that happen. But still, the fourteen-year-old inside had to giggle. He was insanity and cursed with the worst crush ever, all wrapped up in a green shirt that he'd ironed just for this class. She had to despise him, at this point. Why wouldn't she? Campus security should be called, really—especially considered that Krillin knew about her connections with the school.

What was in that glance, unblinking? "Have you thought of getting a tutor?"

"I don't know. Is that necessary?"

The painfully blue eyes, hidden behind the glasses or not, were looking down at something at her desk. "I suppose I have time in the evening."

For what? Dates with tall men that aren't students. Obviously.

Looking at her watch. "Meet me here tomorrow at six, in this classroom for a tutoring session."

"Tomorrow?"

"And don't be late." It didn't matter that there was a threat in her voice.

As though he wouldn't be there an hour early.

I am going to flunk.

464. When I Tell You That I Love You, You Think It's A Joke

She'd just finished making a joke about her own shopping habits, and between that and this cozy coffee place they sat in as any other two people on a date might have, Krillin had to give in. No matter how sense might yell at him, impossible not to lean towards as, pulled into her presence as he'd been ever since that kiss on the side of the road. To look into her eyes across this table, not so far away and look into blue, mildly unsettled eyes. Practically smell the cappuccino on both their breath, and simply savor that Juuhachigou was here.

That they were here, together.

"What? Do I have foam on my face again?"

"I love you."

Rather than all the other times he'd made that confession, the announcement, she was not laughing in his face and then ignoring him. Not almost turning away or doggedly keeping quiet, making Krillin sure that she hated him, that she didn't care, that she could love him in return but could not express it and could only lock her jaw instead. Or that she really hadn't heard him, considering how he had said it on the Ferris Wheel, half-hoping to be heard over the music, the time reluctantly flying kites with him and the Son boys, after the storm, trying to patch up the house with whatever scraps of board they could find and in the bar, after watching her dancing with herself, alone but not lonely while Krillin sat there. Watching her.

But it was better than laughter, right? Than silence or pretending not to hear him or acknowledge his existence in anyway. It had to be better that Juuhachigou rolled her eyes with a sneering, "Shut up."

465. "You're not gonna believe this. He killed 16 Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator."

"His house looked like shit!"

It was easy to forget the power that Krillin did in fact possess.

Juuhachigou had never exactly let them forget that she could crush their heads in with her little finger. To the perverts, and Krillin. It was something she was always aware of, her own strength, and how much damage she could do to the world around her.

But it was only when she reminded Krillin of why the others so feared her that her odd friend gave her a crooked, reassuring smile. Crouched there next to her on the porch as they had countless times before. Why had she let anything the others might say hurt her anymore? How could she have faltered in anyway, when he was at her side, when he was here now to take her hand and never flinch away?

That smile was aimed not for her. "Juuhachigou. You think you're such a monster…but I've killed more people than you have.

"I guess you haven't thought about it. But between Frieza's henchmen, and those demons Garlic Junior had-you know, my hands aren't entirely clean.

"Even though everyone was so afraid of you two, the worst you and your brother did was murder Gero. And well, after learning what he did to you, I wanted to kill him."

It was probably the wrong thing, to kiss him after such a confession. Even she knew that.

466. you spent daydreaming about a night at her place

Krillin was still walking around, as though gutshot. The tears hadn't finished drying on his face before more came. Every once in a while, he might dry-heave. "Why do we keep doing this to him?"

"Because it's funny." Then Juunanagou attempted, oddly, to backtrack. "Really, you're the one that keep finding more of these movies."

At least he had finally shut up about trying to ask her on a date.

467. As Far As I Can Tell, While Others Go Through Hell, We're Too Cool For Damnation

It might be the worst time, or the best for such an urge. Already, they'd lost friends. Videl refused to even believe that Gohan was dead, and Chi-Chi had to watch her husband leave her again. Last night, though she'd been careful and quiet as a mourning woman could be while watching her only child sleep, Juuhachigou had still heard Bulma weeping in her room. Down on Earth, people were being decimated in untold numbers.

A disaster that is familiar, but never on such a scale.

And regardless, Juuhachigou carefully turned her head away to ignore any reactions, and slipped her hand into Krillin's while they waited again for another day. Maybe she could still be that selfish, uncaring monster as something in her stomach gave a twinge of pleasure when he squeezed back.

468. You were Born Too Soon, I Was Born Too Late

It was everything he'd ever dreamed about, somehow.

As though his day hadn't already been going quite well, after having already found his perp, and was about to be handed his check, after a pleasant morning wake-up in an apartment that was becoming not so strange, finding the perfect quiet coffee place with the best chocolate croissants, his hair had never been so long and so frizzy-less, and had practically skipped here, perhaps catching the eye of a few pretty girls on this kind spring morning.

Seeing that old, yellowing poster was the cherry on this delicious Sunday.

Haughty still, unknowing what was to come. Hair longer. Doomed, in some tragic way. So they had been normal, somewhat. Nameless.

But still recognizable.

Wanted for…quite a list.

It wasn't such a big shock, to see them there. Hadn't that been in the back of his mind, that they would fall to a life of crime, no matter how hopefully petty? But these were old.

He nearly ripped it off the wall, but managed to slowly pull it carefully instead. To admire it, before doing the same to her brother's mug shot. A treasure. It had been months since he'd last seen either of them, and it could be an eternity until he saw them again, but Krillin had to hope again otherwise. If only to give them these.

"You know them?"

"Maybe." Carefully trying to keep them safe, as they were already falling towards disarray, Krillin was sliding them into a newspaper before the week-old date reminded him of other numbers.

The year required him to do some serious math. Some seriously disturbing math.

"She's how old?" How old could she be in this picture? More than eleven years old, if his previous guessing had been right. Was this them, really? Really? It couldn't be their parents…and what were the odds of cousins or even uncles and aunts sharing such looks? They had never known how long Gero had been working on the androids, after all. He and everyone else had assumed that only the future androids that had surely been destroyed by now might be a similar age.

But…what the hell? Even in this way, she had to find some way to be superior.

"She's older than I am?"

469. Love Is Lying By Yourself, Alone, Awake, and Crying

Krillin could barely pry his swollen eyes open anymore.

After a while, Master Roshi, Oolong, Turtle, Bulma, Yamcha, a nonplussed Vegeta, Chi-Chi and Gohan, stopped trying to drag him out of bed. They no longer even knocked at the door to ask how he was doing, c'mon, champ, let's get up and maybe take a shower and go for a shave.

Eventually, he stopped even noticing the sound of his own sobs echoing in the room. Lost in replaying certain memories of his failures, so many of them, and where everything had gone wrong, and what a fool he was.

Was it night again, or evening or morning?

He pulled a sheet over his head, and resolved not to care.

Juuhachigou had barely understood what was happened to her own face. Stupidly, she'd wondered if her eyes were bleeding, if she was dying, as that would explain the sucking pain in her chest and stomach.

It had been nothing, and yet she was making a low sound in her throat. Seeing her vision blur as her system informed her of what she already was aware of, and informing her that this was no virus or internal circuit failure.

Her brother was knocking at the door, asking what was wrong.

470. You Keep My Hanging On The Edge of Time

It was her daughter that kept her calm, really. That, and the knowledge that something larger was taking place. That, and the fact that there were still too many people here.

That, and Goku and Gohan and Piccolo would not let anything happen to Krillin, wherever they were. The strongest fighters were out there, with him, and he would be fine, come back with a joke and a smile and mussed hair. Maybe torn clothes that he'd whine about later, and then slap Goku on the back, 'man, I thought for a second there, we were all goners…' Another story to amuse her at some odd moment, something to tell Marron about later, should she ask.

Juuhachigou reminded herself of these facts, actual facts that were not built solely out of fear and unease.

At the least, what could she do? She'd never been able to detect ki, and

(is he dead, again? Is that why he wasn't here when Vegeta showed up to kill all those people?)

if she had, could she do anything about fighting someone that might have killed the others?

It was out of her hands, and for now, Juuhachigou had to crush that worm of fear before it began to grow larger and eat away at her. Strange, how she'd thought that Cell might be the worst thing she'd experienced. Feel the grass beneath her shoes and listen to Marron humming something and look at that idiot acting brave and tough. Image what she will do with her winnings, and how Krillin will react when he hears what she did, laugh and shake his head, 'have you no honor, woman?' Crisp bills in her hand to do whatever she wanted, and maybe they'd throw money at each other or make love on a pile of it like something out of a movie.

Hope that another minute has passed, and that Krillin will come back soon.

Keep the glare on her face, and her daughter at her side.

471. That Was The Night We Kissed In The Moonlight

Later, they could only curse Goten's tail and sequential transformation for the opportunity missed.

472. I'll Probably End up Fucking Up and Make it Super Awkward

At first, in a moment of brief calm insanity, Krillin thought that this might be for the best. Uncomfortable as it may be to even make eye contact, at least they weren't allowed to talk as they dodged blast from the howling thing that had once been a man, a Saiyan. That might be for the best, as meeting in a romantic restaurant would have stolen all the wit from his head and left him to stare and knock over something.

Why shouldn't they meet as they had every other time: fearing for the lives.

Only once had there been peace, and look at how that had gone.

The pressure here was something else, and perhaps he could even get in one blow and make himself look half-way helpful to her—then he was slipping on the ice, sliding on his ass, slipping further no matter how how tried otherwise, and yes, crashing straight into her, back on fire, feet smacking right into her legs and no matter how graceful she was, Juuhachigou was still on ice. Tangled, her head half in a snow bank, but not muffling her enough to block out the cursing of his name and very existence.

473. We've got cul-de-sacs and barbeques in suburbia

Welcome to the rest of your life

Of course, it's when the last few boxes were being opened, the contents reassembled on the shelves, that Juuhachigou realized what this growing pit in her stomach really was. Not fear, or excitement or joy.

It wasn't even that she already hated the neighbors, all of them with their slobbery dogs and questions and barbecues and thoughtless middle-class courtesies. Or the grass that already needed cutting, and Krillin's apparent new fear of the lawnmower. The streets that all looked alike, and why had she chosen to come here, and not somewhere near the city, West City near Bulma—because it was near Bulma. Thought at least that wouldn't involve something called a 'PTA meeting' or whether or not to enroll their daughter in piano and ballet already and Krillin already getting made fun of for supporting the loser sports teams. While she pinched herself and told herself that she was awake, as none of her dreams were ever this boring.

Krillin had shrugged when asked about the money. "It's yours. Blackmailed, fair and square."

Juuhachigou had simply grabbed a handful of hair that turned out to not be the humidity's fault after all. And had she been aware of the sound outside, the smell of salt, the creak of the old house further settling in? Or had she been too busy staring at his chest and feeling her toes curl just at the concept that no one else was home at the moment?

Marron had already begun drawing on the walls, ignoring her parent's cries.

Simply dug her own grave with that house guide and cards to so many real estate agents.

It was dumb, and that she hated the most.

"So, what's our excuse, Juu. How come we can even afford this place. You know, to explain why neither of us have jobs but can afford this place. I was thinking, self-made millionaires. No, trust fund. You have a trust fund. You have that look. It's the nose. Since we can't tell them the truth. Marron, c'mon, kid, you have paper for that."

This should have been the place. The right place. Maybe, no, of course not exactly what she'd pictured when first meeting Krillin, even in a more romantic light as she watched him getting thrown into a mountain by another of Gero's androids before she and her brother had shrugged and decided to step in. But there should have been some dim idea of marriage associated with houses with lawns for children to run though, something buried or perhaps learned anew from watching TV shows and movies of domestic life.

Krillin had been pleasant enough about it. Going from house to house, dealing with people who were desperate to sell, and keeping his bored grimaces to a minimum while having to learn about dry-rot. Moving all the boxes, after having filled them in the first place while she and Marron made sandcastles and told him to hurry up. Then painting the rooms the exact color they'd picked out on the first day, followed by taking Marron to the zoo afterwards and then having to christen the new room with Juuhachigou, on the box sprint still missing its frame.

She was being dumb, like a kid at summer camp; even her daughter had taken to that horrid ballet lesson with more grace. But still, she wanted to bawl and have a tantrum and to go home.

"Krillin."

Homesick, and wanting to listen to the ocean and hear the TV downstairs and the old man and the pig and her husband arguing over something asinine. The marks on the walls where they'd drawn Marron's height, probably giving her the idea that it was okay to right on the walls. The place she'd spent these last years with Krillin, if not the place she'd become aware that she was in love with him or the first place they'd made love (those were Capsule Corp's sprawling overgrown garden turned into a maze, and the Carnival Funhouse of Mirrors/Terror one night at the Satan Amusement Park in Satan City, respectfully).

"I think I made a mistake."

"Well, you should have labeled the boxes better."

"I want to go back to Kame House." Out there, floating around now: her regret.

Krillin grabbed her as they crouched around a box of dishes and crushed nightlights their daughter needed after Buu, and magazines that really had no business following them to this white-picketed place wrapped around the glass wear

"Oh, thank Dende."

She could feel her fingers again. "You're just relieved that you don't have to lie."

"No, I hate this place! I thought, it would be a good idea to live somewhere normal. I used to think I would get married and live someplace like this. But it's terrible. I hate being surrounded by people. They're always there. Walking their dogs, waving hello. Five times a day I have to wave at these people. Even people I like I don't see that much- am I being a jerk because I hate that?"

"Who cares? Just pack, and I'll tell Marron she never has to go to another ballet lesson again."

474.You get me through my current occupation

His wife, the living light of his life, his darling and soulmate, the one to whom's bony shoulder Krillin rested his wary head on, and the mother to their child, neither asked, nor tried to stop him as he gathered his long cape close to him so it wouldn't get caught in the door. Juuhachigou hardly spared him a look up from watching Marron make another elaborate sand castle. Didn't say a word about his outfit, about where he'd gotten it, about why he would dress like that or even to ask where he might be going since Halloween was months away.

And Marron just waved goodbye to her impressively dressed father as he stood there, calling over his shoulder. "Have to go save Gohan!"

This impressively dressed father trying not to sound desperate, or angry, or middle-aged. "Don't wait up for me, honey!

"Don't wait up for me, honey!

"Don't worry, or anything, I've got this!

"By myself. All. By. Myself."

At least, if he died, it would be after completing his life goal. Krillin had married his love, fathered a child, and had lived a full life—several full lives. Best friends someone could have, after the murder attempts had, ended for the most part. Had even been to space too. There wasn't a lot Krillin could otherwise wish for. Maybe a nose…

Juuhachigou raised her drink, ice cubes clinks even from a distance. "Have a good time acting unnecessarily like a hero."

…if he did died, well, at least that would make Juuhachigou upset. Caring. She's be so upset, regretful, 'oh, how could those be the last words I said to him?!' then weep over his corpse. 'Why didn't I appreciate him when I could?' That would show her. 'I should have gone with him, and used my powers for good—not for blackmail or theft.'

His darling was all but sneering. "Let's hope this time you don't die again."

475. I Feel I Know You Well. I Saw You Go Through Hell.

For the hundredth or so time, Juuhachigou found herself forced to watch the strangers, her supposed enemies, fighting that large green alien. Again. Who could not be killed, no matter how hard the others tried. Repeatedly, she watched their doomed attempts over and over again, the child's growing rage. The Namek fading away, flickering. The short human throwing himself in danger's way to try and help the others, absurd remains of a suit being lost and revealing too much pasty skin

(had she, was she that light-skinned as well?)

that covered smooth swelling muscles that might be a distraction to another woman that was not about to drool for reasons entirely outside ogling someone.

Gero finally got to the point. "They were stronger, and yet they still lost."

Telling her and her twin, both strapped in and light-heated. Juuhachigou realized slowly, probably high on some pain meds from their latest surgery that allowed them to even see the movies they were to study. Perhaps she might not even remember any of this later. Perhaps she might not begin screaming this time, even after hearing Gero's voice some more.

A toneless voice asked, "I'm still not sure I quite understand the technique that the weak human performed at the end."

Had she been in different state of mind, she might have wondered, then dismissed, the possibility of any actual psychology consequences to this moment in particular.