Chi-Chi was up before the sun. She walked quietly outside and stood on the balcony. She let the chilling city breeze rush past her. The city was a completely different experience for her. The only type of city setting she had lived in was when she lived with her father. When she left to train with Master Roshi, she didn't get to see very many other people. Besides Krillin, that is. She sighed. She wished her father would visit her before she left for the World Martial Arts Tournament. Being cooped up with Master Roshi and Krillin was almost murder. Still, she didn't deserve the right to complain. She had learned much from her training. She was prepared for the tasks ahead of her. She was going to take home the title of champion. She could feel it.
As she expected, her father didn't show up. He would be in the group of spectators no doubt. She walked wordlessly alongside Master Roshi and Krillin. She didn't care to hear what the two were excitedly discussing. She had learned to block out their conversations. A loud voice interrupted her calm.
"All registered fighters please report to the arena at this time," came the booming voice. This was it. Chi-Chi's heart started pounding with excitement.
"Well, boys," Master Roshi said, "Here's where we split!" He smiled encouragingly. Normally, Chi-Chi would have angrily protested when he generalized and addressed her as a boy. But she was too focused on her goal to care. She and Krillin waved goodbye to Master Roshi and headed towards the arena with the other fighters.
"Do you think we have a shot this year, Chi-Chi?" Krillin asked. Chi-Chi laughed.
"Of course we have a shot. We've done excellently in the other Tournaments. We've been finalists every year."
"You think body odor guy is coming back this year?" Krillin asked, a hint of worry in his voice.
"I don't know," Chi-Chi said, smiling at the memory. "For your sake let's hope not." She smiled at the scowling Krillin. They stopped amongst a large group of other fighters. The announcer began to state the rules. Chi-Chi didn't really listen. She'd done this before. All that mattered right now was endurance. If she could make it through the preliminaries using minimal strength, her fights in the semifinals would be simple.
The next few hours were all a blur. She drew her number. She didn't have to fight for a while. She stood aloof, silently watching all the other competitors. She kept an eye out for Tien and Yamcha, but hadn't seen them yet. She had no doubt they'd be here, and she'd like to watch some of their matches, seeing as they'd be her most challenging opponents. While she was scanning the crowd, she stood simultaneously watching Krillin. His first fight was easy, and he won quickly.
When she stepped onto the ring for her first match, she felt the same rush of adrenaline she had felt three years before. She studied her opponent. He was tall and menacing. He had dark, curly hair that was quite untamed, his blue eyes were glowing maliciously, and his lips were twisted into a sneer.
"This is insulting," he said. "Me? Fighting a girl? This match won't last ten seconds." Chi-Chi laughed and put her guard up. The muscles in her body were coiled, ready to strike. Normally, she would be angry, but too much anger would ruin her concentration.
"You're probably right," she said. When the match began, her opponent rushed forward. He reared back, preparing to attack her with his full strength. She quickly stepped out of his way, and delivered a swift, sharp kick to his spine. He staggered forward and let out a howl of rage. He tried to swipe her feet out from underneath her, but was once again unsuccessful. He had let his guard down near his abdomen. Chi-Chi delivered a powerful series of punches to his stomach, knocking him backwards out of the ring.
"Ring-out!" cried the announcer. Chi-Chi stood and walked calmly away, ignoring her opponent's angry remarks. If the whole tournament was going to be like this, she might have an even better shot at the championship title than she thought.
She watched Krillin's next few matches, ignoring everyone else. She cheered loudly for her friend as, time and time again, he was victorious. Her matches were equally as simple. The crowd of opponents was slowly diminishing, and the competition became a little tougher. Krillin almost lost because of a ring-out, but was able to regain his footing and win.
Chi-Chi stepped forward for her match. She was greeted by her opponent: Yamcha. He hadn't changed much since she'd last seen him. His hair was shorter and his muscles were slightly bulkier, but he was still the same old Yamcha.
"Hey, Princess," he said, grinning and putting his guard up. "I've been training hard, so don't feel too bad when I win."
"We'll see," she said, though internally she was hardly confident. Yamcha was a formidable opponent. If she didn't concentrate, she could easily lose. Her muscles tensed and she stared forward, waiting. Once she heard the gong signal the beginning of the match, she was flying towards Yamcha as fast as her feet would carry her. He was ready for her and blocked her first attacks. He swung at her head, narrowly missing. Her next moves were instinct, but she could feel her fist connecting with Yamcha's jaw. He was stunned and took several steps backward. Chi-Chi smiled to herself.
"I didn't want to have to bring out the big guns this early," he said, "but it looks like I'll have to." Chi-Chi knew what he meant by this. She'd only seen his Wolf Fang Fist in action, never been on the receiving end. This wasn't something she wanted to change. As Yamcha charged forward, she stood still, concentrating. At the last second, she leaned her body out of his way, leaving only her foot behind. Yamcha tripped and fell to the ground. He was quickly back on his feet, rushing towards Chi-Chi. This time she rushed towards him, too. She threw quick punches and dodged his as best as she could. She delivered a kick to his chest, sending the weakened Yamcha stumbling backwards. He collapsed, breathing heavily. The countdown began. The announcer reached ten and Yamcha hadn't moved. Chi-Chi had won. She hoped Yamcha wasn't hurt too badly, and made a mental note to go and see him after the tournament if he wasn't better.
The hours seemed to melt into each other as the day progressed. Soon, only the semifinalists were left. Both Chi-Chi and Krillin had succeeded in reaching the semifinals. Tien made it as well. Amidst her celebrating with her friends, Chi-Chi observed the other semifinalists. She had watched at least one of each of their matches. They were all strong, but couldn't be too much of a challenge. She'd only have problems fighting Tien. There was one opponent, however, that made Chi-Chi's confidence falter. This girl kept mostly to herself, occasionally casting a dark glance around her surroundings. She was dressed in an odd sort of armor and Chi-Chi wasn't sure of her eyes were playing tricks- but it seemed this girl had a tail! Her tail wasn't what unnerved Chi-Chi, though. It was the girl's expression. Her dark eyes seemed so sad and so angry, as though there was a war being waged in her mind. Her tall face was framed by her jagged, spiky, jet black hair, and she appeared to have a perpetual frown.
Chi-Chi hadn't trained for over ten years only to not recognize that this match was going to be interesting.