33Adventures of the Chestnut Clan
Chapter 1: Rhythm of Your Movements
Disclaimer: I do not own DB, DBZ, DBGT, DBS or any of its characters. All rights belong to Akira Toriyama. This is a not for profit fanfiction. Enjoy!
Shockwaves erupted from colliding limbs as two figures sparred on the white sandy beach of Kame House, attracting the two other occupants onto the scene.
"Wow Marron, looks like your dad and mom are at it again huh?" Roshi patted the little girl's head gently while his eyes kept track of the two combatants, noting several close calls for the haired ex-monk who was getting pushed back by the blonde cyborg woman.
From the crystal blue eyes of the three-year old whose eye shape inherited her father's, what her parents were doing resembled a strange version of tag. Rather than merely trying to keep one's body from the other, it would seem that limb-to-limb contacts were okay but limb to body contacts weren't. Furthermore, instead of running away from IT, neither one of her parents was in the running mood as both continued to pit their arms and feet against one another.
At first little Marron cheered and giggled at her father's shorter limbs worked hard to catch up to her mother's longer ones but the more she watched, the more she began to realize minute details, such as how her parents each moved in their unique ways. Granted, there's no way for a toddler to grasp the meaning behind such a complex term as rhythm, but her observant nature still picked up unique timing in her parents' moves.
Her dad, with his mop of firm black hair that swayed little under the sea breeze, possessed a more defined stance that could almost be described as rigid at times. His movements on the other hand were more relaxed and harbored a more controlled rhythm. Her mom, with her silky golden strands that waved beautifully in the wind, utilized a much looser stance and her body gestures more graceful but the tempo behind her moves was much faster and time-lapse between thrusted limbs shorter.
While not necessarily a direct contrast, watching these two closest people in her life, each with their highly personalized rhythm still intrigued the little girl and gradually she began to dance and sway to the odd couple engaged in their bizarre tag on the beach.
"Yay! Go papa! Go mama!" Marron screamed as she jumped up and down, her blonde pigtails swaying rhythmically as she began her own little dance of joy.
Unbeknownst to the little kid, her parents, despite of continuing with their sparring, were having a much harder time concentrating on the match at hand with their daughter chirping in delight like a baby bird, demanding their attention without realizing the consequences of her action.
Krillin was the first one to take note of his wife's distraction, with her piercing cat-like eyes that made her appeared akin to a lioness in the heat of combat began shifting sideways to her offspring's cries. Before their daughter had arrived on the scene, the former killer cyborg had worked up a fast and efficient tempo that kept him on the edge of his toes. As soon as the child broke her eye contact though, the strength and ferocity behind her attacks evaporated into thin air as did the rhythm behind her strikes, giving the human fighter valuable time to calm his nerves and recompose himself.
"That was great mommy! I love you!"
Their daughter's next cheer would completely break his beloved's momentum as the artificial human completely took her eyes from him in a near comical way just to steal herself a glimpse of her precious little girl. At that moment, the disciplined warrior wasn't sure whether to take advantage of his wife's distraction and land the finishing blow or to be the gentleman and wait for her recovery. He could even see from the corner of his eyes their Marron had stopped her dancing as she looked at the older blonde with puzzled stares, probably curious at the abrupt interruption to her mother's movement.
Sorry babe! It's not my problem you can't keep your focus whenever our little girl's present! Now time to win me my breakfast!"
With a triumphant grin, Krillin launched a fist right at Eighteen's stomach, his heart racing and his brown eyes glued onto her face, praying she wouldn't notice his sneak attack in time.
Right before his fist connected with her midsection; however, the z-fighter found himself lost in the loving eyes of his wife and how their cute little girl reflected in her ocean blue eyes. The sight of his girls looking lovingly at each other was all it took for the husband and father to subconsciously slow down his punch, allowing his spouse to parry his attack in the nick of time.
The retired warrior monk swallowed a gulp nervously when his wife glared at him with a disapproving frown and her heart-warming maternal expression long gone. What really made him broke out a nervous sweat was her eyes that previously resembled the warm tropical seawater around Kame House plummeted below freezing point.
"You shouldn't have done that honey!" she delivered her message with her frozen orbs alone while her grip on his fist tightened emphasizing her point.
What followed was a series of assaults executed at breakneck speed with the already short intervals between her punches decreased to minimum. Krillin, already having a hard time keeping up with her blitzing tempo, was forced into survival mode dancing to her rhythm.
As Eighteen continued unleashing her attacks at her husband, her cybernetic enhanced brain began taking note of his solid stance and disciplined movements, no doubt the results of his past rigorous training that kept him in the game this long against an opponent such as herself. With a single calculated swing of his arm, the former warrior monk had managed to deflect three of her rapid jabs and dodged another incoming kick with a careful sidestep. Gradually, a gentle smile crept up on her face once more that, unlike the one given to her daughter filled with motherly love, resulted from a form of admiration she still didn't quite know how to put into words.
You don't fight nor behave quite like anyone you know that Krillin?
Unlike Vegeta, whose ferocious style was built on relentless aggression and destructive techniques, the man she married had a much gentler style that proved to be no easier to deal with. Although his form was quite orthodox, the textbook example of a watertight posture, his fighting style and techniques were anything but and the cyborg woman found herself constantly on high alert with what he might do next. This former monk's best asset in fighting though, as Eighteen would like to put it, was probably his ability to keep calm under pressure as even know, he had managed to work up a rhythm that began affecting her own tempo.
Well done Kril, but I've got one more trick up my sleeves...
After engaging in close quarter combat for so long with the warrior monk, Eighteen had already memorized the timing of his breathing and how his limbs moved accordingly to his inhale and exhale. Utilizing this crucial information, the cyborg woman managed to grab hold of his fists as they propelled toward her before pulling his arms apart, exposing his carefully guarded midsection.
"Daddy watch out!"
Krillin heard his little girl's scream and need not be told twice as he mentally cursed himself for not switching up his pattern. Of course his wife, with her analytical mind, would be able to figure out his pacing he thought. Now with his entire body laid defenseless before her, the only question left was how his wife was planning to win the match.
What's Eighteen going to do? Is she going to knee me in my stomach, kick me in the chin, or even give me a head-butt? Let's see how you plan on finishing this honey! Whatever it is I'm ready for you!
While Krillin was mentally psyching himself up to take the blow, he noted that his wife had taken a few steps forward but hadn't lifted her feet yet.
So a head-butt it is, well it's a good thing I don't have a nose otherwise it's going to be...
All of Krillin's thoughts were erased as he felt the luscious lips of his wife crashing against his. No longer in control of his body, he let gravity worked its magic as the impact of their mouths knocked him down onto the white sandy surface.
"Looks like mommy has caught daddy! Does this mean mommy won the tag Grandpa Roshi?" their daughter's innocent voice drifted into their ears, making the couple to smile against each other's mouth but continued their embrace, feeling their hearts drumming up a rhythm no less intense than during the match.
After what felt like an eternity had passed which in reality only lasted for a few minutes, the pair, now covered in the fine grains of their private beach, got up with healthy pink complexions on their cheeks.
"So who won this match sweetie? I mean you never managed to land a blow on me right?" Krillin asked cheekily while mentally praying to Dende his wife would let him off easy.
"What are you talking about Kril? My lips clearly claimed yours so it's my victory!" Eighteen proclaimed haughtily.
"Oh..."
"That's right honey, and this means you have to cook us breakfast!" the cyborg woman gave his still blushing cheeks a playful poke then walked over to pick up her daughter still jumping up and down chanting how her mama had won the tag. "So tell me Marron, what do you want for breakfast? Cause whatever you want, daddy will cook for you!" she finished with a mischievous smirk.
"Really daddy? You'll cook us anything?" their little girl chirped while clinging onto her mother.
Krillin saw two pairs of sparkling blue eyes looking at him and felt his entire body turned into pudding swaying back and forth in the wind. "That's right firefly! Daddy will cook you anything!" he answered and was greeted with his daughter's shout of joy.
"Yay! I want pancake, spaghetti, miso soup, and..." the three-year-old began chanting all kinds of food she could think of and her parents let out a collective chuckle.
"I said you can ask for anything darling, but your requests can't be too hard on daddy right?" Eighteen corrected her daughter, causing the little girl to lower her head.
"Then...can I just get some pancake papa?" Marron finally replied after some deep thinking.
"Of course you can darling! Now let's go make you some pancakes!"
Therefore, the little family made their way back inside their home and the rest of the day carried on per usual in a rhythm carefully coordinated between its three members. For the little child seeing her parents being their intriguing selves was all it took to brighten her day and causing the musically inclined girl to start a dance of her own, her still clumsy movements in turn brought radiant smiles upon the retired warrior monk and the cyborg woman's face.
A/N: So this short piece is for the Chestnutchest 2K21 that will go from September 4th to 25th and here I decided to tackle the theme rhythm. Hope you all enjoyed this entry and feel free to let me know how to improve since this is my first time writing a one shot. For those who want to participate, simply paste the link of your story to either your tumblr or twitter account with the tag #chestnutfest2k21. Also note that while nsfw content is okay for twitter, all submissions must be safe for work for tumblr.