Is this chapter long enough to be a weekly update? Yeah. But like, I just said these POV chapters would be bonus chapters and I can't go back on that already.
Even though a buffer week would probably be helpful since Frieza fight but whatever, too late now

Regardless, after this I have one more POV chapter written, and unless a specific POV demands it, I'll probably just incorporate POV snippets in chapters if they need it. I don't expect them to be often at all really.

Shadowj6480: I'm currently going with it's a skill she developed as she used it to determine how Piccolo was feeling at any given time because he ain't exactly an open book
Thanks ^.^ and as for the questionable knowledge thing, well, who knows

thewittywhy: Thanks ^.^ and yeah, I couldn't imagine

frankieu: Thanks ^.^ Though SIGohan isn't much older than Krillin, and he's been using Ki and Ki sense a lot longer, so I don't quite agree with that explanation

TrueNecromancer: That's a good of an explanation I've seen anywhere else, I think I'll roll with it

Reishin Amara: That is a really interesting idea! Though there's the slight issue of Goku then never achieving Super Sayain. And I believe that in the Cooler movie, he knew to go to Earch because he saw Goku's escape pod escaping and just, didn't bother killing him cause he didn't want to clean up his brother's mess

NotRob: Fair enough, and since SIGohan's unique thing that I have planned is still a ways out, that works for such a thing for now

Seraphy64: eventually

Kitsune-Queen91: Is it suspicious?

Krillin

It didn't take a genius to see that Gohan, wasn't normal. But it was reasonable enough for a kid to be kind of off after being kidnapped twice and spending an entire year alone with someone who wanted his father dead.

Now granted, he can clearly tell that Piccolo had changed in the past year, and the two clearly cared about each other, but that didn't mean that a kid spending all their time with a single person wasn't entirely healthy.

But for the most part, Gohan seemed fine enough. True, he wasn't scared as he should have been, and was a little too willing to fight, but he didn't seek it out either which is more than he could say from Goku.

And then Piccolo was killed.

Aside from the devastating loss of the Dragon Balls, the loss to Gohan was much more personal than that. For a moment, his rage was all-encompassing, but it burned out just as quickly.

And Goku showed up pretty quickly after that. It got hard to pay attention to Gohan over the fight aside from physically holding onto him.

If nothing else, the kid was touch starved since he leaned so heavily into him.

Or maybe he was just scared. He didn't look very scared though, actually, should he be concerned with how he grinned at the fight?

Krillin knew Goku would win, and obviously he did. Goku was, incredible. To be so strong, to get that strong in only a year. It was amazing.

It took a full minute after Gohan had shot a blast at Vegeta for Krillin to understand what had happened.

Vegeta had tried to kill Nappa for losing, and Gohan had protected him.

It wasn't too strange that Gohan had been looking at them. After all, they were attacking. If anything, He and Goku shouldn't have gotten so distracted from them.

What was strange was that Gohan protected the man who killed Piccolo. If Gohan had just let them be, the big guy would have been gone with no blood on their hands. It'd have been a total win in that moment.

Gohan had claimed it was just because Vegeta was stupid. Which, was true he supposed, but still. It'd have been so easy.

And how Krillin wanted to kill him. Gohan even went out of his way to mention that he wouldn't mind if he did.

But he couldn't kill so callously. He couldn't kill someone while they were unconscious, and even more so in front of Gohan. The kid was only five. He shouldn't have even been there in the first place.

But he was, and for a moment it looked like he was going to kill Nappa instead.

And, Krillin didn't know if he would have stopped him if he had tried. He should have, no child should have blood on their hands. But, if anyone had the right, it'd be a child who just lost their only friend for the past year.

But then the moment passed and Gohan just cut off the big guy's tail and was done with it.

For a moment all was well, he tried to ignore the possibility of that giant ape that Goku turned into at the World Tournament coming into play.

Maybe…they should have told Goku what happened back then. Krillin had asked at the time, but when Goku didn't know what he was talking about, he dropped it. Master Roshi had been right, since there wasn't a moon it would be a problem.

Until he had a kid with a tail. Until there was an entire race of people who could turn. Until now when Goku had no idea it was even a possibility.

But hey, there was no moon so it wasn't one. Until Gohan brought up the idea of them being able to make a fake moon for the transformation.

And that Vegeta did. Every fiber of Krillin wanted to run away. Run away from the possibility of that Ape from his childhood. To take Gohan and get him somewhere safe like Goku had asked him to.

But Gohan was insistent. And, Krillin didn't think Goku could beat a Giant Ape like that.

Goku was amazing, but even he had to have limits.

And if, if Gohan really could control himself, there'd be no real risk about it right?

That's what he kept telling himself as he guided Gohan to the overpowering threat.

All went well, until it didn't.

Gohan had control, at least enough where he recognized us. But then he looked at Vegeta for too long and Krillin could practically see the moment Gohan was gone and rage was all that remained.

The fact that Vegeta survived long enough to cut off Gohan's tail was impressive.

And for a singular, selfish second, he was glad that he did. Because Krillin knew that if Gohan's rage had turned on them, well there was nothing they could do about it. They could deal with a battered down Vegeta, barely. But a rage-fueled Giant Ape? Not so much.

Krillin kicked himself every time he thought about the fact that he let Vegeta go. But Goku had asked him too, and if anyone had the right, it'd be him right? …right?

It didn't matter now anyway, because Gohan was waking up, and someone had to make sure he was ok. Ok physically, they had already checked him for injuries, a few surface-level scrapes but otherwise, he was fine. And, ok mentally, ok with all that had happened, and that Piccolo was gone.

But of course he couldn't be ok with that, how could he? When Krillin had died Goku was of a single mind to get him back, and he couldn't even imagine if the roles had been reversed.

But, Gohan seemed fine. He was immediately moving on to the next thing.

Ah, he thought they could still bring them back…that, explained.

Krillin could only sigh as he tried to explain that they couldn't anymore, and for a moment Gohan looked at him with genuine confusion, then something seemed to click and he explained that he thought they could just, go to the Namek's home planet and use their Dragon Balls.

And what a simple thought that was, Krillin was surprised he didn't think of it. He should have thought of it.

And for a moment he felt a wrongness, he felt like he really should have thought of it. But that passed and with some help from Goku's new teacher they had a plan moving forward. All thanks to the kid who was now sleeping as soundly as any child should.

It didn't take long for their plan to be made, and He was convinced to go up into space with Bulma.

As much as He would like to spend his time training, He had to admit the idea of space travel did sound pretty exciting.

And then, Gohan said that he wanted to go. Krillin wanted to shut that down immediately. He just got back home to his mother and all he's been through, Gohan probably doesn't need another adventure right away.

But, he could understand Gohan's wanted to make sure Piccolo got back. And Goku said it was fine so, why not. It was supposed to be a safe enough trip anyway.

On the trip there, he made sure to talk to Gohan relatively often, and include him in the conversation, not that that was difficult when there was only one other person to talk to for a month, but still.

It was also a great opportunity to learn more about the kid.

Gohan didn't often initiate conversation, but he had no problem talking once one started.

He was also pretty clearly afraid of space. He outright refused to look out the window when prompted. Which was odd considering how quickly he volunteered to go.

Gohan liked to draw, Krillin thought, though he'd often glare at whatever he was drawing at the time, he continued to do so adamantly all the same.

When asked, Gohan freely talked about his little characters, if a bit embarrassed. And, surprisingly well-drawn and thought out for a child. But, it's not like he'd have had much else to do for the past year outside of training than come up with these characters and stories.

The main one was a girl, which seemed odd to Krillin. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but didn't most young boys latch onto boy characters better? While there was a mostly even mix of boys and girl characters drawn, both the main, and the strongest characters were girls.

It seemed like an odd detail that Krillin was getting too hung up on. He dismissed it soon enough.

Maybe Gohan just wanted his little story to stand out more from others around him.

Actually, did Chichi even let Gohan watch much TV or play video games? She seemed awfully focused on studying. Well, any kid would need a break from that eventually.

Ah, or maybe Gohan had a little crush on one of the girls he had become friends with and wanted to impress her. Krillin made a mental note to tease him about that if the topic ever came up.

Krillin nodded to himself, satisfied with that explanation.

Gohan had taken to wearing that cloak of his just about all the time. It became something of a safety blanket as far as Krillin could tell. If there was any sort of turbulence, if he had accidentally looked out the window for too long, of if Gohan was just in a bad mood it wasn't odd to see him bundled up in the cloak.

Krillin tried to make sure Gohan knew he could talk to him about anything, but he had more or less brushed him off. That didn't seem right to Krillin either. Kids were pretty open about their feelings when they weren't discouraged from it, weren't they?

Krillin had done a bit of research over raising kids, after all, he wanted to have a kid someday, and he certainly wanted to be a good father. Of course, first, he'd have to get married, and for that, he'd have to get a girlfriend…

Anyway. Hopeless love life aside.

Krillin's first guess would have been that being with Piccolo for so long stunted that, but that couldn't be it, Gohan was perfectly willing to talk with Piccolo from what he could tell, more so than he was willing to talk with Krillin now, and the only time Gohan stuttered over it was when he was praised, which it wasn't surprising to think that Piccolo would be conservative with giving praise.

Not to mention how much the cloak Gohan clings to so heavily was obviously made to look like Piccolo's. If anything, the kid might be too attached.

Maybe kids were just more open to their parents than family friends like he would be. He'd ask Goku to talk to him once they got back to earth. Or actually, probably Chichi. Goku was great, but the emotional end of things weren't really his forte, and Chichi was…better? Maybe he'd approached the Ox-King about it first.

And then the whole, fake Namek thing happened, absolute waste of time that was, and Gohan seemed very, bothered, after the fact. He didn't talk much at all while they were there and absolutely brushed off any mention of it after with a frown and would just, stop talking. It was annoying, sure, but nothing about what happened should have bothered him that much, right?

Of course, there's nothing he could do if Gohan doesn't talk about it. Aside from offering, he could try to push the subject but that didn't seem, right.

But regardless, they had, finally, gotten to Namek, and everything would be fine once they got their friends back. Or if not fine, then at least better.

Then Vegeta showed up.

And that's just the downfall of everything, now isn't it.

Now their relatively safe trip to Namek has been turned into an almost certain death trap.

And you know, he was glad that Gohan stepped in to save those kids. But it was not a very nice feeling to have a target painted on their back from people who could just wipe them from existence with a flick.

He kept glancing back for the duration of their flight, expecting to be chased down. Nothing came, but the feeling didn't fade until they were well and safe in their cave.

Going with one of the kids, Dende, to see this Guru guy, he had his doubts at first. But when he saw that he had one of the Dragon Balls he was elated. And then he was given a power boost on top of that? Yeah, for once things seemed to be looking up.

The first thought he had was that if he had gotten such a boost from his hidden potential, Gohan probably would get an even bigger one! Between the whole Sayain thing, and being Goku's kid, man, he had to get Gohan here asap.

He went back to Bulma alone, Dende electing to stay with Guru and Nail, to find an extra child along with Cargo.

At what point was it appropriate to joke about Gohan adopting other children?

Of course, this one seemed a tad older than Cargo, or even Gohan, but was also kinda, skittish.

Well, better he be here than out there, liable to be attacked.

Bulma said that Gohan was off finding another Dragon Ball that Vegeta had apparently left behind. And two out of seven wasn't bad. Maybe they should just hide one for safety.

And then Vegeta showed up.

He could end the sentence there.

Ignoring the absolute terror caused by Vegeta just destroying the scariest of Frieza's men, considering that Monsterous form, he then demanded the Dragon Ball.

Even forgetting his own life, it wasn't worth risking Bulma and the kids for the Dragon Ball. Besides, Vegeta seemed confident that he'd had all seven, but if what Bulma said was true, then Gohan had just taken that opportunity from him.

He'd just, have to hope that Gohan didn't cross his path on the way back.

Except, when he got back, Dragon Ball in hand, not only had Gohan crossed paths with Vegeta, he apparently snuck the Dragon Ball right under his nose.

Not only that, but the usually calm and rather serious kid now had an excited, almost spiteful smirk on his face. Actually, scratch the almost. There was definitely a fair bit of spite there.

It was, hard. On one hand, he should probably discourage such a pointed disdain that he clearly had, on the other hand…it's Vegeta.

But the spite was apparently short-lived enough since by the time they had gotten to a new hideout, he was back to his normal, relatively normal, self.

Watching him interact with the new kid, Ocari, was interesting. It was like he had taken an older sibling role or something, despite almost certainly being the younger of the two. But otherwise, it was encouraging to see Gohan spending time with someone his own age, and being so supportive of them.

Regardless, he had to get Gohan to Guru. The flight was tedious, and as much as it was getting to him, for Gohan it seemed worse. He didn't complain, but it was obvious how impatient he was getting with the flight.

So he decided to pick up the pace a bit. Surely they were far enough away that nothing could really come of it, right?

And then Vege- yeah you get the point.

Krillin quickly sent Gohan off to get his potential unlocked and stood to face the, excessively pissed Vegeta.

And was almost immediately blown off once he noticed Guru's house.

No nonononono.

Krillin rushed after Vegeta, completely forgetting his own safety as he demanded Vegeta stay away.

It was fruitless of course, but soon enough, Gohan had stepped out.

He looked, shaken, but Krillin was sure he only saw it since he had known him for this long. To Vegeta, it'd probably look all the same.

You know, except the massive power boost.

Gohan's already impressive power, from Krillin's perspective, had multiplied over several times now.

The casual "sup?" And not giving looking bothered by Vegeta would have been funny. You know, if it weren't for Vegeta being there.

Still, aside from the initial shock, Vegeta was completely unconcerned.

And it was frustrating, and Krillin didn't know what to do, but he couldn't let Vegeta get near Guru. It's their fault, his fault Vegeta even found this place what could he-

And Vegeta was grabbing Gohan by the collar and Krillin was too caught off-guard to do anything.

Still, Gohan was, too casual about it. Like he knew Vegeta wasn't actually going to do anything, which didn't make sense because he was all too willing to kill us before-

And, and he said someone was heading towards the planet? Five someones? Five very dangerous someones?

And the Vegeta grabbed Gohan again after getting over the shock and this time Krillin was able to pull himself together enough to demand he let go of him.

Surprisingly, Vegeta listened and turned on him instead.

And what he had said, about there being five guys, just as strong as him? If not stronger? It really scared Krillin.

But he couldn't. He couldn't believe Vegeta when he said he wouldn't hurt any of them. How could he?

He looked over at Gohan, who was still just sitting where Vegeta had dropped him, and- and he just looked annoyed- if not even a little bored by the conversation.

Did- did just not understand what was going on? No, he followed the conversation just fine, and was the one who pointed out the very quickly approaching powers.

No- nope. Not the time for this.

If…if we get three wishes…and we listen to Vegeta…then what? We'll either get our friends back. And an immortal Vegeta. Who might kill us. Will probably kill us.

If we don't listen to Vegeta? Either he'll kill us or those Ginyu guys will.

Was it worth it? Was it worth risking an Immortal Vegeta?

Wouldn't that be worse than just dying? Dying, but also leaving him roaming around, untouchable?

But if there was a chance, a chance not to die, not to let Gohan die. Who shouldn't even be here he should have shot down the idea of him coming in the first place-

Not- not helpful.

He agreed. He agreed but every second they flew to retrieve the Dragon Balls had his stomach sinking lower and by the time they had gotten to Vegeta's six, he, couldn't.

He couldn't walk forward and just let Vegeta-

It didn't matter. It didn't matter either way. Because those Ginyu guys showed up and it was ridiculous for a group that…eccentric, to be so terrifyingly powerful.

Krillin wanted to run. He couldn't leave Gohan here. That fast guy would kill them both if they ran. What was he supposed to-

They were fighting. They were fighting the short green guy. That, that should be fine. He's the weakest of the bunch. The whole time thing was annoying, but he was tiring fast.

Krillin couldn't move. Not because of some fear or hesitation. He literally could not move. The green guy was doing something, telekinesis; Vegeta mentioned that.

Damn it! He should have been more careful! He should have-

Gohan-

Gohan killed him.

Krillin could move again.

For a moment he still didn't, needing to process what had happened.

Then he saw how scared, and freaked out Gohan was, having fallen to the ground, dropping his sword.

Krillin landed, and, as calmly as he could, approached Gohan. He didn't notice, so he placed a hand on his shoulder. That, at least, startled him out of whatever had been running through his mind.

It was too much. Too much for a kid. He hadn't even-

No. No. No even. Killing someone isn't supposed to be expected.

But Gohan had now and he had to, make sure he was ok. Not- not ok with it. But, ok, in general.

But again, just like on the ship, he was brushed off.

And this time it was worse. It was worse because he knew what was wrong. He knew, but he didn't know what to do with it. How far he could, or should push it. How far he could push until he pushed Gohan away.

So when Gohan walked away, he let him.

Maybe he should talk to Ox about getting Gohan into some kind of therapy too… but then again, there's no saying how Chichi would take that.

Krillin wanted to snap at Vegeta when he commented on the fight as much decorum as ever. That is to say, none.

Because couldn't he tell? Couldn't he tell that Gohan had just killed someone and that that was a big deal?

But no. Of course not. It was Vegeta. If he had ever cared for the people he killed that was long gone now.

It was almost gratifying when Vegeta's fight started and he was getting tossed around like a toy. Except, the longer it went on, the more he realized that it'd be him and Gohan next and if Vegeta couldn't do anything how could they-

They couldn't. They couldn't and the best chance they had was if Vegeta survived.

The idea of helping Vegeta burned through his skin but, they didn't have a choice here.

Clearly, Gohan feels the same since as he explained his plan, he wanted to switch roles.

But no, no that wasn't an option because it'd be far more dangerous to be the one attacking and Krillin couldn't let Gohan do that. And Krillin could have laughed because the safer part is jumping into the line of fire to save Vegeta.

But that's just how it was.

And for a moment of worked great. He got a good hit in. Caused that behemoth to lose most of his teeth by kicking his head closed on the blast.

But the monster stood right back up and Krillin was hyper-focused on every move, every step forward he made.

Not that it mattered since he could do nothing to defend against the kick that had him flying across the clearing.

He wasn't exactly lying when he said he couldn't quite feel the pain.

Oh sure, he felt pain, but not as much as he should have. At a certain point, he just felt a tightness and was unable to move some joints. Most joints. He could pretty much only move his head, a tiny bit, and his right foot.

He told Gohan to run. To leave. He didn't stand a chance. If Vegeta couldn't, and now Krillin was useless.

Gohan ignored him. Gohan just ignored him and turned to the Goliath and Krillin could do nothing but watch as Gohan repeatedly got beat down. But he kept getting back up. He kept getting back up and Krillin wanted to cry, to scream, to do something that would keep Gohan safe, to the futility of it all.

And then Gohan didn't get back up. Gohan wasn't moving. And Krillin felt cold, because he had to just be unconscious, right? Right, that had to be it.

Krillin didn't sense for his energy, because he didn't want to risk the chance of him being proven wrong.

Then Goku was there.

Goku was there and was giving Gohan a Senzu and Krillin wanted to cry again. Because Goku was there, too late but right on time. And Goku was there but he wishes he wasn't cause now he's just gonna get killed too.

But Krillin couldn't cry, not in front of the enemy. Not in front of Gohan, who he needed to be strong for. Not in front of Goku who was so incredibly strong. Not in front of Vegeta, who was Vegeta.

So instead he just smiled as best he could and cracked a joke while Goku gave him a Senzu Bean.

And he told Goku his concerns.

But Goku seems fine. Seems calm. Like he's not worried about these guys at all.

And that big guy, Nappa, was here too. Krillin already knew he'd be coming but seeing him in person put a sour taste in his mouth.

But he wasn't having any trouble at all with the fight, and if he was on their side he could at least tolerate him, for now.

Gohan, who was just, fine apparently? Not to question right now, question later. Anyway, Gohan gleefully pointed Vegeta out who was, in fact, freaking out over Goku and Nappa being stronger now.

And the two, Goku and Nappa, were stronger. Nappa beat, and killed, the big guy no problem. As if he hadn't just tossed the three of them around. And then Goku was barely doing anything against the other two and they couldn't even touch him.

He looked over to Gohan to make a comment, and, he wasn't even looking. He was looking at Vegeta again, being amused by his internal freak out rather than watching his father win a fight. The few times he caught Gohan looking, he looked, bored? That, couldn't be right but he couldn't put many other words to the almost blank expression on his face.

Krillin flinched away as Vegeta yelled when the fight was wrapping up. Sure he, really, didn't want to let those guys get away, but he didn't want to let Vegeta go either.

He still thinks he shouldn't have.

Besides while they're arguing no one's paying attention to the red-

Yep he's gone.

And they were arguing again.

Gohan walked away- and jumped into the water.

Oh, well, I guess it makes sense he'd want to rinse…all that, off. It's not like they had the time to find Bulma and ask to use the shower of her Capsule House.

And the red guy was back with that Ginyu guy. Goku still didn't seem worried, but with how strong he seemed before maybe he was right not to be.

Either way, now Goku was saying that Nappa should go with him and Gohan to grab the Radar and find the Dragon Balls

And he trusted Goku's judgment. he did! But, that guy, Nappa, the idea of being around him for so long, it twisted his stomach.

Still, he did as Goku said and they took off. At least it was better than Vegeta.

It did not help that Nappa apparently had no self-awareness in the fact that Gohan did not want to talk to him.

Krillin was impressed that Gohan didn't just tell him to shut up.

Still, they finally, finally, found the Dragon Balls. At least something in this Kami forsaken trip has gone rig-

They didn't work. Krillin put all his effort into them summoning, new dragon, gotta make a good impression, but nothing. No glow, not even a spark.

They needed a password, or to be summoned in Namekian, or, or, or something and Krillin didn't know-

But a Namekian might! He could just find Bulma again and ask one of the kids.

If they didn't know-

No, no! Can't think like that, like-

Why was someone heading this way?

Two people- did, did that Ginyu guy beat Goku after all? He knew he should have left him there alone- let alone with Vegeta!

How could he be so stupid, how could he-

It was…Goku who landed.

Krillin didn't even think twice about the fact that Tyne red guy was with him. Nappa was standing right next to him after all and if that wasn't proof that Goku had a way of changing people, he didn't know what was.

And yet Gohan said to stop, and said that that was not Goku, Goku not dad like he usually called him. Probably just because he thinks that that's someone else.

But how could it be? He looked just like Goku, and he doubted that anyone here could shapeshifter like those guys from fake Namek-

Why was, Goku- not Goku?- agreeing with him? Or at least going along with-

Nappa was more than alright with fighting him, which wasn't comforting, at all.

And, then Ginyu showed up, and claimed that he was Goku.

Krillin wanted to scream.

How was he supposed to tell Chichi-

No, no. Not the time for that. It would all work itself out, he was sure.

And then that Pink Guy from early showed up- Dodoria?- and honestly, it was the most normal thing that's happened in a while.

He was obviously most angry at Gohan, who wasn't concerned, and well, Krillin wasn't either.

Compared to everything else, this guy wasn't that scary anymore.

"Yeah…you were kinda scary a few days ago, but one power awakening and quite the Zenkai boost later, you're really…not..? I mean, thanks to the exponential power growth of the Namek Saga, you're kinda just, irrelevant," Gohan was all nonchalance and, there were several things wrong with that sentence. Krillin decided to start with the easiest question.

"…exponential?" Because that was definitely too big of a word for a normal five-year-old to use casually, and while Gohan wasn't normal and uses words too big for a five-year-old often, and he probably learned it from all those books Chichi has-

"I…read some dictionaries in the hospital…?"

"…ok…" and that…that wasn't right. Krillin had seen the books Chichi brought in. They were all math or science, and maybe you could find that word in a math textbook but then Gohan wouldn't have said dictionary.

But why lie?

He expected a vague, noncommittal answer. To be brushed off again. For some story that could open up more questions.

So why lie? Gohan had no issue with dropping subjects before. No issue with brushing things off when he didn't want to talk about it.

Maybe, maybe he just missed it, he wasn't always in that room after all. Maybe he did have dictionaries in the hospital and Krillin was looking too far into this. He shouldn't be trying to poke holes in a story that has no reason to be lied about.

Still, it bothered him.

But now wasn't really the time for questions.

Now was the time for dealing with this guy who, wasn't actually that big of a problem at all really.

And Vegeta easily, killed, that red guy.

And Nappa already fought down not Goku, and Goku was back to being Goku apparently. And the entire situation confused Krillin and he was just glad he didn't have to deal with it.

Of course, now they had to deal with a very injured Goku.

And Krillin did not look when Nappa killed the pink guy. How someone could kill so callously was beyond him.

Nappa gave a noncommital answer to Vegeta's question on sides. That, that was probably a good thing. He had no reason to be concerned about what they would do if he chose against them, but he did for Vegeta, probably.

Not that Krillin wanted him on their side, but better than against them.

Or maybe he was actually just undecided. He had more history with Vegeta, there was no telling if he would drop everything to return to his side-

Not the time. Not the time for any of this. Because for now. For now, they were on the same side.

And apparently, they had healing tanks, like some sci-fi movie. well, that solves the injured Goku problem.

And Vegeta was giving them new clothes. Armor even! Gohan didn't seem convinced but Krillin talked him into it, at the very least it's best to stay on Vegeta's good side.

So when Gohan came back in he wasn't expecting the argument that started, and he was about to pull Gohan back-

"Oh, you are nothing to me. Nothing more than a murderous, sycophantic, arrogant fool, better than Frieza only in that you are his victim,"

And Krillin's heart could have stopped right then.

They were going to die there. They were going to die because Vegeta was going to kill them. He'd kill Gohan for saying that and Krillin by extension. Probably Goku too since he was helpless and-

"Wow. Did you rehearse that?"

And Krillin never thought he could be happy about Nappa's presence, but for a moment, and only one, he was Krillin's favorite person in that room because he cut through the tension and Krillin had no idea if it was on purpose or not, but he tugged Gohan out of there as quickly as he could.

Only once the threat of imminent death was not on them did Krillin pause to think over what was said.

"Sycophantic…?"

Whether he didn't hear or was ignoring him Gohan didn't so much as blink or miss a step at his questioning tone.

That was certainly a word Gohan shouldn't know. Heck, Krillin didn't even know if he knew what that meant, not really. He could probably get it through context clues but-

Well, now wasn't the time to question it anyway.

He'd question it another day, when things weren't so stressful and wouldn't fall apart so easily.

Yeah, another day.

There would always be another day.