Val grunted, serving up a swift kick in the chest of her opponent. He grunted, landing on the sand hard. She stood up, looming over him, ready to knock him down the moment he rose up again. She wiped her brow, not sure if she was sweaty from the fight or the heat.
"Dude, uncle," Krillin said. He raised his hand up in the air. She clicked her teeth, reached her hand down, and helped him get back up on his feet. "I swear, you fight like you want to kill me," he complained with a chuckle, brushing himself off.
She frowned down at him, thinking she had held back enough this time, to the point where she might have been sweating not from the spar, but from the heat. The Kami House area surely got hot and humid a lot quicker than Capsule Corps or Goku's village did.
"Sorry," she muttered.
She watched him plop himself down on the sand tiredly. "It's pretty clear you've trained with and around Vegeta and Piccolo. You've gone pretty hard the last couple of sessions."
She sat down next to him gingerly. She raised up one knee, wrapping her elbow around it. She hummed softly.
"Ah, right," he recalled. "You know, I still really don't think Piccolo and Kami stopped you from dying from the heart virus just to try to keep you out of the fight with the androids," he repeated what he had already shared before. "You said before Kami offered you the guardianship before we all fought Garlic Jr. So why wouldn't he offer it again?"
She sighed, dropping her knee, crossing her legs, and leaning her back on the sand. She brought the back of her hand to her forehead. "Well, it doesn't make sense to me otherwise," she sighed out. She thought about what all she told him about the situation, but how she had left out the complex romance with Piccolo though.
Krillin looked down at her and shook his head. "And Piccolo's not someone to keep someone out of a fight. Worse he'd do is warn you you're not strong enough and will probably die, but won't stop you from doing it."
She grunted, saying nothing more. She pushed herself up on her elbows, looking out over the beach and the water. She stared out at it, find the calm, methodical way the waves whooshed so peaceful.
"You going to kiss her or not?" she heard Master Roshi's voice call out from an open window of the house.
Krillin blushed at that and shook his head. Val also shook her head at that, laughing a bit. "He's supposed to die tomorrow and I'm supposed to already be dead," she reminded him.
"Now or never then, eh," he prompted, nodding over at the both of them.
Val turned and looked Krillin in the eye. "Never," they said at the same time. She laughed at that, sitting up, and punching him playfully in the chest. He winced at that.
"Sorry," she said, not pulling her punch enough.
"It's fine," he said, voice hinting that it might not that fine.
She hummed, pushing herself up and going to where she had her phone. She checked the time and saw she also had four messages from Daiki. "I think I need to go back to Capsule Corps early," she said. "Daiki still has some questions about my research."
Krillin looked up at her. "He still confused about the research he's supposed to take over in case you die for real tomorrow?"
She nodded. "Yeah, but I just didn't have time to make the healing tanks like I've wanted to. We don't have any other healing options besides the senzu beans."
"It's times like this I miss Dende," Krillin commented.
She nodded. "He's so far away," she said, feeling a pang of missing her other brothers as well. "But Daiki can figure it out someday. I know he can," she said half confident. She felt her phone buzz. She looked down at yet another message from Daiki. "I've got to go. See you tomorrow."
"Yeah. We can see which one of us dies first," he said, a poor attempt at a joke.
They exchanged a quick nod before she took off.