Chapter Text
Chapter 1: 18 Returns?!
When he opened the screen door, there she was, standing awkwardly. The presumably evil android who he just couldn’t destroy. The woman he watched get absorbed by a horrifying monster. He wanted her to be his friend, or maybe more than just his friend if he was being honest… But, what was she doing here?
He thought she was the one who told him off, on top of Kami’s lookout, after he made the wish to remove the bomb from the androids’ bodies.
18 stood there, a slightly muscular blonde girl, avoiding eye contact and clutching her arm across her body. She peered up at him for a second, her piercing blue eyes, then shied away.
“18?!” Krillin gasped, “Uh, hey!”
She breathed out.
Krillin took a step out and down one of the stairs. “I mean, it’s good to see you, I guess I just don’t really get why-” He scratched his neck, glancing back at Master Roshi and Turtle watching from inside. “Why are you here? Is everything okay?”
He noticed her face turning a little pinker as she bit her lip. Even though he knew it probably wasn’t smart to keep getting closer to her, he did anyway, taking a step down onto the ground.
“It’s real boring around here, no crazy bio-monsters or anything, so…” He looked across the sand and up at her.
Even though 18 seemed tense, she huffed out a sigh. She pulled her hair to the side and stared at Krillin to ask, “Can I crash here?”
“Oh…” Krillin’s eyes went wide. He could tell she was embarrassed to ask by the intensity of her gaze. Her eyes pierced his like asking him for help wasn’t necessarily what she wanted to do, but she must have been living on her own for quite some time now. How long had it been since the Cell Games? Had she been wandering around alone this whole time?
Krillin ran through all these questions about her in his head so long he forgot to answer her. Snapping back into reality, getting hit by her eyes, and feeling his heartbeat, Krillin stumbled out an answer. “Uh, yeah, of course, I don’t think anyone would mind…” He turned around, “It’s just me, the old man, and Turtle.” He pointed back to Kame House. There was no way he was going to say no to her, how could he?
18 looked past him as Turtle and Master Roshi stepped out.
“Hi,” said Turtle warmly.
“Hello!” Roshi said with an undertone of laughter.
18 squinted, and Krillin surrendered under the pressure.
“It’s a nice place to be, you know, with the ocean and sand and all,” 18 started to walk forward, passing him, “So, uh, what have you been up to 18?” Krillin followed after her into the house.
Inside, she looked around. She had been there before, for a moment, and even then she thought it was small. But, now she was going to be living here or at least saying the night. “Is there a bedroom?” She asked, her tone cool and snarky.
“Oh yeah!” Krillin piped up, he rushed ahead to the stairs, “Come on, I’ll show you!”
“But Krillin…” Started Turtle, “That’s your room-”
He glanced back, “Shut up, Turtle!”
18 shrugged and might have smirked a little bit. She went after Krillin up the stairs, listening to him speak. “Some of my stuff is still in there, but I can take it out if it's in the way. I’ll grab what I need and it's all yours, okay?”
“Yes,” She stated simply.
“If you find anything weird,” Krillin paused at the door handle, “That’s Master Roshi’s stuff… I’d try to avoid him if I was you, but, well, who am I kidding, you can handle yourself!” He laughed awkwardly to save his comment, but kept digging himself deeper, “I mean, you beat up Vegeta no sweat! Right?”
“Open the door,” 18 muttered through her teeth.
“Oh, right!” Krillin turned the handle. “Here it is!” He swung the door open. “Boy am I glad I made the bed today!”
18 wandered in. She walked around, looking at the closet, the windows, the drawers. Krillin stood at the doorway, “The bathroom is down the hall. If you need anything come ask me, but I’ll let you be alone for-”
She interrupted him, standing up straight and turning, “Krillin?”
“Yeah?”
Her breath blew a piece of blonde hair out of her face, “Thank-”
Krillin smiled, cutting her off this time, “You don’t have to say it. I know it couldn’t have been easy for you to ask me for help, so don’t worry about it.”
He turned down the hallway, leaving her in the room. 18 sat back on the bed and stared out the window. The waves crashed on the shore of this little island.
All he could think about was how she screamed at him on the lookout. How she said that carrying her up there after Cell spit her out or making the wish to take the bomb out of her didn’t change anything. She wasn’t going to fall into his arms or be his forever.
“Oh, and-!” Krillin bursted back into the doorway, “Uh, I am really happy you’re here.” 18 blinked at him, surprised. He finished, “That’s it. I'll come bring you dinner later, alright?”
She nodded, “Whatever.”
And with that, he left for good. 18 folded her arms over her chest as she stared, more glared out at the endless sea. She let out a big sigh and flopped back onto the bed. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep.
A knock at the door woke her up. The doorknob jiggled, but it couldn’t open. She had locked the door hours ago.
“Should I leave it out here?” Krillin’s voice asked from the hallway. She didn’t respond, instead, 18 just laid motionless on the bed, her eyes blankly staring at the ceiling. “Okay, I’m just gonna leave it! I brought you water, but if you want something else let me know!”
She could hear a tray hit the floor and Krillin walk away. 18 waited a while before she moved to open the door and get the food. She probably didn’t actually need to eat the food, but if he was going to go through all the trouble of making it she could fake it a bit.
18 dropped the tray on top of the dresser. She picked at the food while looking out the window. A piece of chicken in her mouth. She noticed him come outside with the turtle. He had changed his clothes into a more casual, beach kind of outfit, but his shirt was also a button-down which he tucked into khaki shorts. She watched as he crossed an arm over his chest to stretch while staring out at the sea.
Krillin turned around for a moment, his eyes went straight to the window of the room where 18 was staying. He didn’t expect her to be right there though. She was holding a fork up to her mouth and she had paused just looking at him. He let out a little laugh, then gave her a big smile. With a wave, he tried to convey how happy he was that she was eating what he made, but 18 didn’t reciprocate.
Her eyes angled down, and then she hid away.
Turned around, her back against the wall, 18 gripped her chest. Why did he have to be such a weird guy?
The next day he brought her breakfast in the morning, but she still refused to leave or open the door for him to come in. Master Roshi and Oolong tried to push Krillin to just go in. “I don’t you guys, maybe I should just give it some time.”
“Come on Krillin, don’t you want to be with this girl?” Oolong asked, sitting on the couch.
Roshi cackled, “Ooh! And she’s a hot one!”
Krillin scolded him, weakly, “Master…”
“Thanks for bringing her in, my boy, it’s been a while since we had a pretty girl around, huh?”
Oolong thought to himself out loud, “It has been a long time since Launch was here…”
Krillin laughed along, “And Bulma never comes.”
“I go there sometimes,” Oolong told him, “But her husband or boy toy or whatever is so annoying. Plus, then Paur is nagging me too and it's a whole mess.” Krillin knew all this, sometimes they would go visit Capsule Corp, and it was probably a mess for Oolong to distance himself from Vegeta. He’s harassed Bulma about as much as Roshi. Of course… Vegeta would have to care about her. Krillin had his suspicions the Saiyan prince loved his family more than he would ever let on, what with him yelling over Trunks like that.
“She’s getting old!” Roshi chimed in, loudly, “We needed a new girl!”
“Hey!” Krillin put his hands on his hips, “Leave her alone. She could easily beat you up, ya know?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Roshi shooed the thought off.
Just then, Krillin heard a noise, footsteps coming down the stairs.
Roshi continued, “Maybe an old man will get lucky and sneak a peek-”
“Master!” The turtle whined, trying to get him to stop being such a pervert.
Krillin’s head turned, he saw her take a step down. She was still in the same outfit she had been in since the fight against Cell. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her expression looked annoyed. So, why did she come down?
“18!” Krillin gasped.
She paced through the living room, taking a seat on the couch across from Oolong and the old man. Krillin was stuck hovering between the couch and the kitchen.
After sitting and folding her leg over the other, 18 peered over at Roshi, “Sneak a peek at what?”
Krillin held up his hands, in a panic, blushing, “Oh no! 18, he was joking. You do not have to-”
She ignored him, keeping her eyes locked on the old man, who was now smirking. “You want to see my body, is that it?” Her glance shifted from him to Oolong, “Were you going to creep on me upstairs or something?”
Oolong chuckled.
She leaned back and slipped a hand under her belt, grabbing the bottom of the tucked-in white shirt she was wearing. The boys sat up, highly interested in what she would do. Krillin only had a reaction of shock and fear, well, except for the coat of red blush that was covering his face.
“That hasn’t changed, you’re all just perverts, huh?” She asked, sensually.
Roshi nodded, “Uh-huh.” He admitted to his lack of morals.
18 took her hand up, flicking her shirt out in the process. She stuck a finger out and first sent a blast near Roshi, then one towards Oolong. “Well, don’t bother me, old man. You too, pig,” She hissed, standing up again. “I saw what was in the closet upstairs.”
Oolong and Roshi sat stunned back in their seats, with burn marks only millimeters from their heads seared in the fabric.
“18…” Krillin mumbled as she began to walk away. She tucked her shirt back in and shoved her hands in her pockets, then started to head back up the stairs. Scanning over the scene, the mess of the living room, and his friends who probably pissed their pants, Krillin hesitated, then ran after her. “18!”
He jogged up the stairs, catching up to her as she calmly walked.
She went into the bedroom, but he was right behind, so she didn’t even try to close the door.
“18!” He repeated, both of them stopping inside the room. She turned to face him, her hands still in her pockets. The closet door open, showing the various sexy lingerie outfits Oolong and Roshi had collected over the years. “Why’d you come down?”
“Huh?” 18 wondered why that was his first question.
Krillin shook his head, “I mean… Thanks for coming down. It was good to see you!”
He wasn’t sure, but looking at her, it seemed like her cheeks flushed pink for a second there. Maybe she was just angry. He glanced at the stuff in the closet. “That’s not mine!”
“I know,” She stated, “You already said that.”
“Oh,” He paused, standing upright, rather than leaning in chasing after her. He thought for a second and started to figure it out. She hasn’t changed clothes since he saw her last, “Oh, do you need new clothes?”
She stared down at her outfit, the cropped black vest, and jeans. She had been wearing them forever. “Uh, yeah,” She looked away, bringing a nervous hand to rub her neck, “Could you take me shopping? I don’t have any money…”
Krillin took an excited step towards her. He almost grabbed her sides, but decided against it at the last second, “You wanna go shopping? Sure! I don’t have a ton of money, but I bet we can find something…”
He spotted a t-shirt on the ground. It was balled up in a pile. He froze, staring at it for a second. There was no mistaking it, it was definitely his t-shirt. He could see the bubble letter text of “in” peeking out that most certainly spelled out his name on the front of the shirt.
18 blinked, standing still across from him. He was just staring at the floor. She slowly turned her head to see what he was silently looking at… “What?” She questioned, confused about his reaction.
“Did you…?” He managed to stutter out his question in pieces, “...Wear that?”
His head turned up to watch her answer, she nodded.
“Last night?”
She nodded again.
“Oh…” His eyes drifted over her. A red flush coming up to his face.
18 in so many words explained her actions, without apologizing for them, “It was the only thing that wasn’t weird.” She raised an eyebrow at him, “Can we go?”
Krillin rubbed his forehead and face, with both hands, one after the other. He was heated and bewildered. “Uh, sure…” He walked over to the window, breathing out and trying to calm himself down. He cracked the window open and pushed it out wide. Pointing over his shoulder, he told her, “We can just fly there.”
“Okay…” She responded quietly, agreeing.
Krillin shrugged and turned, taking off, and flying out the window. 18 followed his lead and the two of them jetted forward.
As he flew, Krillin was hyper-aware of the fact 18 was right behind him. How the hell was all this happening? He wondered how only a few days or weeks ago it seemed like she was gone forever inside of Cell, and now he was going out shopping with her. How was that possible?
Maybe Yamcha was right, and he was able to pull her in more than he thought, and she really meant it when she said that she would see him later. It just seemed so strange that a tough girl like her would be into him. She threatened his old master, but slept in his t-shirt last night?!
Staring down at the water rushing underneath him, Krillin couldn’t get his mind off the idea. She really wore his shirt to bed last night like it was nothing. He understood she had no other options, but… Oh god, was that all she was wearing?! He hid his face in his hands.
18 glanced over. She couldn’t help it, she let out a little noise, a chuckle as she smirked to herself. She hadn’t seen him this flustered since she kissed him on the cheek that first time. Those other times, he had been so cool, at least she thought. Crushing the remote right in front of her and asking the dragon to do something for her, when he didn’t even know she was standing right there. Maybe he was nervous those times too, but, well, she thought it was kind of cute.
Oh great! 18 turned away, hiding her face to the side, because now she was blushing.