"I'm just giving you an act of courtesy by letting you have the option to drop out now," said Hermit Crane, smirking.

Kit opened her mouth, but Roshi beat her to it.

"We're not backing down for you, or anyone!" he snapped, looking enraged.

"Come now, old friends, we wouldn't want anything to… happen… to any of your students, would we?" Hermit Crane looked at Kaijo, who stiffened.

Kit stepped forward, smiling, "Thanks for your concern," she said in her most sincere voice, "But you'll find that we can handle ourselves just fine. Isn't that right boys?" she looked back at the three of them and winked, playing it off that she had known them for some time rather having just met them.

Yamcha swallowed and nodded at her, a look of harsh determination on his face. Krillin nodded as well and Goku grinned at her.

"Heh, well let's hope so, for your sake, hm?" Hermit Crane chuckled, and beckoned his students, "Come, we've spent enough time in the nosebleed section."

As they walked away, the three-eyed boy looked back at Kit. His confident smirk had faltered when they made eye contact, but came back quickly. Now it was completely gone, and the look he gave Kit was one of pure hatred. She wondered if he didn't like the fact that she had seen him being beaten bloody, unable to defend himself. For a moment it was like the two of them were hanging in forever, just looking onto one another's eyes, the hatred on one end, the burning curiosity on the other.

And then he went into the gates, and the moment shattered. Kit blinked repeatedly, as if trying to flush her eyes of the anger he placed there.

"Kit?" Kaijo placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Master Roshi, who was that man?" asked Yamcha.

"His name is Master Shin. He used to train with Master Kaijo and I," said Roshi bluntly, "He also used to be my friend. But that changed a long time ago."

"Kit," Kaijo pressed.

Kit looked back at him, "Master Kaijo?"

"Are you okay?" Kaijo asked, his amber eyes searching her face.

Kit opened her mouth to finally explain that she had seen them before in the rain at the edge of the woods, but Goku spoke before she could.

"Well, I know who those two boys are," he said.

"You do?" asked Krillin.

Goku nodded grimly, "And they're bad. They cheated a whole lot of villages out of money, and then blamed it on me. The tall one even attacked me."

Kit looked at him, her mind fluttering about. What had made that boy in the rain she had seen two years ago change so harshly?

Kaijo nudged her and pointed to the stand. She nodded and went and gave the officials her name. She paused before she rejoined the others, and smiled sweetly at the official.

"Could you tell me who that handsome boy was? With the three eyes? Surely he entered," she batted her lashes.

The official nodded, looking in his book, "Of course, miss, hard to forget that one… Here it is, his name was Tien Shinhan," he smiled at her, "But this isn't exactly the place to be developing crushes, sweetheart, you may very well have to fight him, you know!"

Kit smirked a bit, "Oh, I hope so," she said, and turned away, leaving the official blinking in confusion.

"Where are you staying?" asked Roshi, "If I know you, you didn't plan ahead and have nowhere to go."

Kaijo chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, "When you say it like that you make my whims sound bad!"

Roshi laughed and clapped a hand on his shoulder, "You can stay in our rooms, we have two rented, one for the girls of course," he chuckled.

"Thank you, old friend," said Kaijo, smiling lightly, "We appreciate it."

"That's right," Kit piped in, "It's very nice of you," she looked at the girls, the one with blue hair and another that had long flowing blonde hair, "You don't mind one more, do you?"

"Of course not," said the girl with blue hair, smiling, "I'm Bulma, this is Launch."

"Pleased to meet cha, just keep outta my things and we'll be fine," said Launch, smirking.

"Right," said Kit, pulling hair from her face and smirking back. This one she would get along with just fine.

The tournament's preliminary rounds weren't to start until the next morning, so they all headed back to the hotel that Roshi had booked rooms in. It was a fancy place, tall and with plush carpets and shining doorknobs. It was the little things that Kit always noticed about a place first.

She had rarely ever slept in an actual bed. After a hearty meal and a game of cards that Kit won with ease, she and the other two girls left the boys' large room to their smaller one. Off on their own, Kit carefully placed her bag on the bed, and gently placed the pouch containing her starred ball inside it before stripping off her tunic.

"So you fight?" asked Bulma, "You must, otherwise you wouldn't have entered."

Kit glanced back at her, smirking a bit, "Kaijo taught me everything I know. He said that he, Shin, and Roshi trained together since they were kids. But Shin… he started using his abilities to hurt rather than help. I'm guessing he's passed on that teaching to his students."

"Those two boys that entered," Launch nodded, "Couldn't tell from the little one, but that tall guy seemed full of himself. I saw him look at you funny, though, Kit."

Kit looked at her. So someone had noticed. She tilted her head to the side, blinking innocently, "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean!" Launch snapped, "When he looked at you, it was like his tough guy bravado came to an emergency stop, and you smirked at him like you knew why."

Kit blinked, furrowing her brow and tapped her nose with her index finger, "I was… smirking at him? Are you sure? I know I gave that Shin guy a smirk, but not three eyes."

Launch opened her mouth then looked to be pondering, "Hm, well, maybe you were smirkin' at Crane freak, but it doesn't change that when the kid looked at you he seemed all sorts of freaked out."

Kit shrugged, "Maybe he likes red heads," she winked and turned, about to shed her leggings when the door burst open.

"Oh! Oh, no this isn't my room, my, my, no, not my room at all!" laughed a voice.

Kit felt her face flush as she looked back to see Roshi there in his pajamas with an armful of blankets, laughing in the doorway, his cheeks red.

"Roshi!" Bulma snapped, "You knew damn well this wasn't your room, GET OUT!"

"Well, I brought ya some blankets!" Roshi began to come into the room.

Kit turned, only in her bra and skin tight leggings, and walked right up to him, gathered the blankets and smirked as he stiffened at her casual approach.

"Easy there, turtle," she said slyly, "Now go on and get out of here before you get your sly self in trouble," she winked.

Roshi pressed a sleeve to his nose which had just sprung a blood leak and nodded, stumbling out of the room. Kit kicked the door shut lightly and turned, to see the other two girls staring at her.

"Either you're brave, or crazy," said Bulma flatly.

Kit giggled and set the blankets down, shrugging, "He's probably so used to the punches and slaps that when someone acts like I just did, he doesn't even know what to do with himself."

"I think she's a genius," laughed Launch.

Kit smirked a bit, "I do my best."

*scene change*

The next morning, Kit made her way with the others to the tournament grounds again. They split up at the building where the preliminaries took place since these were not open to the public. Kit bowed to her Master, and he smiled gently, clapping a hand on her shoulder.

"You've got this," he assured her.

"Oh, I know," she said, grinning.

With that, she followed Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha, into the building. They were all wearing matching red jumpers with the turtle symbols on their backs and above their hearts.

"I don't get it," said Yamcha as they entered the crowd of awaiting fighters, "You would think we would be rivals too, the fox and the turtle, but it's like you and your master are on our side versus Shin."

"Wrong place, wrong time, sweetheart," Kit patted his chest, "Ears are everywhere, this is not the spot to discuss our Masters' relations with Master Shin."

"What does it matter if we're over heard, I mean, I think it's pretty obvious they know we hate them," said Krillin.

"Everything matters, kiddo," said Kit, scanning the crowd.

There.

She spotted him waiting near the stage that one of the officials was climbing. She smirked lightly. Tien Shinhan. The boy in the rain finally had a name.

"Best of luck, boys," Kit told them.

"You going somewhere?" asked Goku, "Wait! Here comes Jackie Chun!"

Kit blinked and looked around. Jackie Chun, the man who won the last tournament, was indeed approaching. She recognized him from all the posters in the gift shop. He had thick wavy gray hair and a long white beard. His eyes were gently open, as if he were wisely assessing everything he was seeing.

"Goku, you've come back."

"Are you here to fight, Jackie?" asked Goku excitedly.

"Unless they tell me otherwise," chuckled Jackie.

Kit frowned. There was something about that laugh, about his voice.

"And Yamcha and Krillin too, good. And who is this?" Jackie's eyes met hers.

"Kit," she replied, "Representing the school of the fox hermit under Master Kaijo. I hope I get to challenge you, sir, you seem a worthy opponent," she bowed slightly, smiling crookedly.

He smiled back, looking a little embarrassed, "Oh, no, really, I'm not all that…"

Kit looked him over, "Of course you are. But another time, or when we're in the ring. I need to assess my opponents now."

She stepped back into the crowd and melded with it like she could so easily do. Kit slipped along the throng of people, her eyes set on him. She moved like water, slipping and flowing, until she was a few yards behind him, straying with a group of fighters, watching him carefully. They were being called to pick up numbers for the elimination round now. Kit slunk along, careful to stay out of sight, to keep with the crowd.

She was placed in the second half of block 2. The elimination rounds had eight blocks, of each had two halves and therefore had two victors. These two victors would be placed in the main event, where a total of sixteen fighters would be chosen out of the nearly two hundred that had signed up. The rounds had a time limit of thirty minutes, and you lost if you fell out of the ring, knocked unconscious, or give up. The entire day was to consist of these elimination rounds, the real tournament wouldn't begin until tomorrow when the final sixteen had been chosen.

As the names continued, Kit was pleased to see that Tien was not in her block. She wanted to fight him in the ring, not here where no one got to see. Yamcha was in the first half of block one, and Goku was in the second. Krillin was in the first half of block four. Even Jackie Chun was in the second half of block six. It appeared none of them would be forced to fight one another before the actual tournament.

The first fight was Yamcha's, and Kit carefully made her way to watch it to see what this kid was made of. After a lot of showing off, his opponent finally tried to attack Yamcha, who easily dodged his attack and kicked in square in the face, making him win by knock out. He was fast, but not very elegant. Still, a skilled fighter made Kit smile. She would have been sorely disappointed if all the fighters were weak.

She saw Krillin's match before anyone else's that she knew off. He fought a massive man that he sent flying out of the ring with ease. This one too, was strong, especially for his size. Kit stood impressed. But it apparently took much more to impress others.

Kit was watching from afar as Goku and Yamcha congratulated Krillin when he came down from the ring. He waved them off, assuring them it was nothing.

"Are you kidding? You sent him sailing!" laughed Goku, "You're a lot stronger than three years ago!"

Laughter interrupted their conversation, and Tien and his fellow student pushed their way to them. Tien looked them over, smirking that confident smirk, arms folded.

"Your expectations must be extremely low if you call that an accomplishment," Tien scoffed.

"Screw off," snapped Yamcha, "I don't remember inviting you in on the conversation."

"You wouldn't, I go where I please," said Tien, "After watching your display, I wouldn't be talking with such tones with me. You had the perfect opportunity to deal a critical blow on your opponent and you missed it."

"When I fight, I aim to defeat my opponent, not kill them," said Yamcha, "But if I fight you, I'll make sure to reconsider."

"Oh really?" Tien laughed, "How adorable, you think you actually stand a chance against me? You have no clue what you're dealing with."

"Hey, what's with your friend?" Krillin demanded.

The little pale one was staring at Krillin, eyes wide, face vacant.

"What?!" Krillin demanded.

The little thing pointed at him, and still with that straight face, said, "Midget."

"WHAT?!" Krillin cried, "I would watch your language, tiny!"

"Midget."

"Stop calling me that!"

The little boy stuck out his tongue. Kit nearly giggled. Somehow, she found this little guy endearing.

"Now, now, Chiaotzu, you know it's not polite to make fun of your inferiors, especially pathetic excuse for fighters such as these three," Tien said, still smirking.

"Hey, bud, you better watch your mouth," Yamcha growled.

"Or what?" laughed Tien, "You're lucky we're not fighting in the preliminary rounds, otherwise I would show you a thing or two about proper fighting, such as the best way to deal a fatal blow."

"Is that a threat?" Yamcha snapped.

"Could be," said Tien, "Where'd Kaijo's little girl run off to, huh? She already give up?"

Kit slid into view, smirking, "You would like, that, wouldn't you?" she asked.

Tien faltered, smirk vanishing, looking at her with shock. He really had thought she left. He swallowed and put on that confident mask on again.

"Ah, there she is. Good, I was hoping to meet with you in the ring," he narrowed his eyes.

"That so?" Kit stepped forward, hips swaying, she smirked and placed a hand on her waist.

Tien grunted, looking her over, "My Master always told me Kaijo's fox fighting style was weak and flawed. I wanted to show you how he was right."

"Tell me something, hot shot, have you ever seen the hermit fox style of fighting with your own eyes?" Kit walked closer to him, making his smirk fall again as she was mere inches from his chest. She looked up at him, seeing the look of worry on his handsome face at her closeness.

"No," he said, "But I don't need to. My technique is flawless, nothing-"

"That's your flaw right there," Kit murmured, and flicked his nose.

His hand snapped up and closed around her wrist. Good speed. Excellent speed. She grinned at him as he glared at her.

"Fighter number seventy-three, please come to block two!" called the official's voice over the intercom.

"That's me," said Kit, stepping back, but he still gripped her wrist. She glanced at him from under her lashes, "You gonna let me go, or did you want to be my opponent?" she asked.

Tien grunted again and threw her wrist down and away from him, "I'd much rather have your master watch when I put you in the ground," he snarled.

Kit grinned crookedly at him, rubbing her wrist that was still warm from his grip, "You act all big and bad," she murmured, "But I know who you are," she winked and walked away, leaving Tien nearly shaking with rage.

*scene change*

Tien fought hard to regain his composure. Nothing had ever shaken him up like this girl did. What was it? The fact that both of them knew that they had seen one another before, the circumstances it had been in? That she had seen him weak? Or was it how she presented herself, her confidence, that sly way she winked. It unnerved him. Made his rage bubble up to the surface and lick the insides of his skull.

"Tien?" Chiaotzu tugged his sleeve.

Tien swallowed and looked down at him as the girl walked away, "Let's go see if this little bitch can back up what she's boasting about."

"Hey, you watch how you talk, buddy," snapped Yamcha, stepping toward him, eyes narrowed.

Tien's three eyes snapped up to meet his, and he smirked, "I think we've already discussed that you're not going to do shit about how I talk, so why don't you shut your mouth instead?" He jerked his head in the direction that Kaijo's student had gone, "Come on, Chiaotzu, we've wasted enough time on these amateurs."

Chiaotzu nodded and followed him. Tien didn't need to glance back to see that they had left two of Roshi's students enraged. But that one with the tail, the same kid he had faced before, he didn't look shaken or intimidated at all. It was interesting. Tien hoped he would get the chance to fight the brat again.

But for now, it was time to see if Kaijo's little fox kit actually knew how to fight.

The fox-faced girl stepped up onto the stage as they approached, with grace and easy balance. She stepped forward, smiling crookedly as her opponent got up onto the stage. Her opponent was a big man in sweats and a bare chest. He smirked at her as he stepped forward, looking her up and down almost hungrily.

Tien grunted at the man's blatant show of approval at the girl's body. He shouldn't be opening himself up to distractions, not any kind. The girl winked slyly at him. Interesting, she wasn't showing anger at his animal interest, but encouraging it. A good technique.

"Fight!" cried the official.

The man changed his posture to an offensive one, "I promise to go easy on you, sugar, maybe take you out for dinner after I win the tournament with the prize money."

The girl giggled, "If you can beat me, sweetheart, I'll let you take me anywhere," she smiled and only slightly changed her own posture.

Tien ran all three eyes over her new posture. She was on her toes, and hands were out to her sides slightly, open, palms to the ground, knees bent just a bit. It was not defensive, not exactly. So… what was she doing?

The man charged. Head on, not a good tactic. The girl smirked as he held back a fist to punch her. To the naked, or untrained eye, it would have appeared that the girl vanished and reappeared behind him when he took his swing, but Tien's eyes followed her movements with ease. She twirled to the side when he was close, like a dancer. She came to a swift halt behind him, and it only took her two steps to do so without even getting close to being touched.

With the back of her hand, she thwapped the man on the back of his neck. It was perfect precision, avoiding any lethal damage and only hitting hard enough to disturb the spinal cord enough to knock the man unconscious. Just before he fell flat on his face, the girl gently cupped his cheek with her hand from behind and kissed the opposite cheek. She pranced a step back as he fell, giggled, twirled elegantly, and walked off the stage, winking to Roshi's boys.

"Number seventy-three wins by knock out!" called the official.

Most of the crowd stared in both fear and longing as the girl went to Roshi's boys who covered her in praise. Alright… so she could fight. But that didn't mean she was any match for Tien. In fact, since he found it so easy to track her movements, he knew he was the superior fighter. Yet at the same time…

He had a feeling she was holding back.

"She's strange," Chiaotzu said, making Tien look down at him, "I've never seen a girl like her before."

Tien's eyes flicked up, watching her as she chatted with Roshi's students.

"… please, he didn't even have proper stance, it really wasn't anything," she was saying, waving them off, "That prick with the three eyes did get something right, the challenges aren't going to start until the tournament. These elimination rounds are just to prune the hedge."

Tien grunted. Prick with the three eyes. That was a new one.

"Numbers ninety-nine and one hundred please report to block three!" called the official.

Tien smirked, "Excellent," he said, "I'm up."

"Fight well, Tien!" Chiaotzu said, smiling up at him.

Tien grinned down at his friend, "Of course," he said, half laughing, "How else can someone like me fight?"

*scene change*

So it was Shinhan's turn. Kit and Roshi's boys headed over to his block to watch.

"Do any of you think this guy is actually as strong as he think he is?" asked Yamcha.

"I doubt it," laughed Krillin, "Watch him go down in his first match!"

"No," said Goku, smiling and lacing his hands behind his head, "That guy is a great fighter."

"That's right, you've already had a run in with this guy," said Yamcha, looking down at him, "How strong is he?"

"Very," said Goku, "Watch and see."

Kit turned her attention to the fight. Tien had just mounted the platform, and he shed his robes and hat, tossing them to the little one he called Chiaotzu, who caught them on his arm. This left Tien in nothing but his pants and cloth boots. Kit had to admit, he had quite the body. Toned and muscular, all that robe did for Tien was hide the fact that his torso looked like it had been sculpted by gods. And he did look much less like a douche bag without the hat. He was still bald, and Kit wondered if he shaved his head to keep hair from getting in that third eye.

His opponent, however, was far less attractive. A massive man with heavy girth, and wearing nothing but a cloth liner to cover his business. Sumo wrestler, it must be what he was. Kit wrinkled her nose. She didn't think even she could put on a false face and act like this guy was nice to look at.

"That man is quite famous," said a voice behind them.

Kit looked back and saw Jackie Chun there, looking on at the large man, "He uses his massive girth to his advantage. One punch, and your hand can get caught in all that extra tissue."

"How appetizing," said Kit sarcastically, making Yamcha laugh.

Tien however, didn't appear nervous at all. He looked on at this man, and held that confident smirk on his face.

"Fight!" cried the official.

The big man rushed forward, looking like he was intending on using his massive size to topple Tien off the platform. As he approached, Tien carefully shifted his posture in one smooth motion. He lifted one leg, and held out his arms for a moment, keeping his finger tips pressed to his thumbs, and then brought his elbows close to his sides, standing on one leg with the bottom of his foot pressed against the supporting thigh. He looked like a crane.

To everyone else, anyone with untrained eyes, saw a blur smack against the big man's forehead, and Tien relax his posture to normal. He walked away before the big man even fell.

"Ninety-nine wins by knock out!" exclaimed the official.

"That was four punches," breathed Yamcha.

"And three kicks," said Kit, placing a hand on her hip and smiling, "Well, well, well. Looks like he actually can back up all that hot shot talk. Good, it would have been a letdown it he turned out weak."

"Told ya," said Goku, grinning as Tien hopped off the platform and Chiaotzu praised him.

As the fights went on, Kit got to see Goku, Jackie Chun, and that little Chiaotzu fight. They all did extremely well, and pretty soon, it was finally worn down to sixteen fighters. Kit, of course, was one of them, along with all the students of Roshi, Jackie Chun, and both Tien and Chiaotzu. The other nine consisted decent fighters, including a large white furred, sleepy looking bear that Kit had seen smack an opponent all the way across the room, and a hot headed guy with dark hair and a goatee that acted almost as confident as Tien.

With the final sixteen chosen, they were set loose for the day, and the actual tournament would start tomorrow. Jackie offered to treat them to lunch, and they went to the restaurant that was on the grounds. As they ate, Kit observed how Goku mowed through plate after plate almost like a machine. That kid must have a bottomless pit for a stomach.

"You fought very well, Kit," Jackie spoke, making her look at him, "Kaijo taught you very well."

Kit tilted her head to the side, "How did you know Master Kaijo was my teacher?"

Jackie turned a bit red, "Well, you're symbol of course," he nodded her chest, then coughed, turning more red.

Kit smirked a little. What was it with the old men around here having such a weak spot for women?

"Oh, right. So you're familiar with the hermit fox style," she said.

"A little, yes," said Jackie, grinning under his beard, "You display the lithe part of it very well."

"Well, I try to add some flair," said Kit, tucking some red hair behind her ear, "For the crowd, of course."

"I thought it was part of your technique," said Yamcha, looking at her, "Your movements are so fluid."

Kit shrugged, "It's a fox thing," she said, "And I'm not the only one who did well, today. All of you fought well. I look forward to facing you in the arena," she grinned.

"That is right," said Jackie, "All you boys have improved greatly in three years."

"And you're as strong as ever!" said Krillin with a chuckle.

It was true. Though looking old and decrepit, Jackie Chun fought with such endurance it was unbelievable.

"We've got this tournament in the bag," Krillin said, "One of us is sure to win!"

"Krillin!" snapped Jackie, "Only a fool would look out with such arrogance. There are plenty of strong fighters in this tournament outside of who is sitting at this table. Don't let confidence blind you. You must face every opponent with the belief that there is a chance they can beat you!"

"Uh, right, sorry, sir," said Krillin, turning red, "But you sound a lot more like Master Roshi than Jackie Chun!"

"That's true, you do," laughed Yamcha.

"Master Roshi?" Jackie turned red again, "Heh, that's crazy, me! Master Roshi! That's just foolish, I'm not that handsome."

Kit perked a brow.

Wait a second…

CRASH!

Her thoughts were snapped when the sound of a plate shattering across the room made her turn in her chair.

"You call this disgusting slop food?!" bellowed a familiar voice and Kit saw him.

Tien Shinhan lifted his waiter by the front of his shirt up and off the ground, glaring into his face, "What kind of service are you idiots running here?!"

"P-please- don't hurt me!" squeaked the waiter, squirming.

"That asshole," growled Yamcha getting up.

"When I came in here, I expected a decent plate of food after a long day of fighting, and what do I get?!" Tien continued.

Kit noticed how little Chiaotzu was just sitting in his chair, stirring his noodles with his chop sticks, looking blankly forward, stirring, stirring, stirring, while his fellow student raged.

"So go make one."

Yamcha was about ten feet back from Tien now. Tien tossed the waiter to the floor, where he crashed, and yelped, crawling away, whimpering like an injured dog.

"What?!" Tien whirled, looking furious, then his face smoothed over when he spotted who spoke, "Oh. It's you. What do you want?"

"I think you need to fix your attitude or I'm going to have to ask you to leave," snapped Yamcha.

"Oh, that's cute," Tien smirked, "How about no, and fuck you?"

Yamcha growled, "Just who do you think you are, shoving people around and acting like you're a king? I think someone needs to take you down a notch!"

"Oh really?" Tien placed his hands on his hips, "And who is that going to be, you? Don't make me laugh. You're pathetic!"

"That's it, I've had enough of your lip!" Yamcha crouched, in an offensive position.

Tien did his crane posture, smirking, "Go on, I dare you," he goaded.

"How about we stop the dick measuring contest, and save the fighting for tomorrow?" Kit said, walking forward, grinning crookedly.

Tien's smirk fell from his face when he saw her. Yamcha looked back at her, "Stay out of this, Kit."

"No thanks, I'm good," she bumped him aside with her hip and he stumbled, caught off guard.

"Kit! This bastard needs to be taught a lesson!" Yamcha said, making to move forward, but Kit held out her arm to stop him, keeping her eyes on Tien.

"Sure he does," she said, looking the boy over. He was back in his robes and that hat. She slowly smirked, "But not here with so few people to see. Save it for the stage, turtle boy. And as for you," she looked up into Tien's eyes, "If the food is so bad, then get lost, yes?"

Tien grunted, relaxing his posture, eyeing her up and down, then looked to Yamcha, "You could have died. Thank the fox," he turned, "Come on Chiaotzu, we're done here."

Chiaotzu hopped from his chair and followed Tien out as he stormed from the room.

Yamcha sighed and flopped down in the nearest chair, "What a dick. You should have let me fight him."

"No way," Kit said, glancing at him, "That one? He's mine."

Yamcha perked a brow.

Kit just smirked.

Oh yes. If anyone was going to teach Tien Shinhan a lesson, it was going to be her. And when it was all said and done, she would find out where Mercenary Tao was, and finally get the answers to that fire, and maybe even what happened to the boy in the rain too.

*scene change*

Tien couldn't sleep.

He sat on the edge of his bed, head in his hands. It was dark in his room, probably around midnight. He was frustrated. How could one girl make him so shaken? He was supposed to be unmovable, no one was supposed to intimidate him, or make him lose his nerve. But this one… Every time he saw those green eyes, he just kept reliving the first time he saw them, with the rain sheeting down, the pain in his weak body, peering at him from behind the tree, how she was moving forward, to help, maybe?

Why couldn't the bitch have just been his imagination like he had believed for the past two years?

Kit.

That's what that idiot Yamcha had called her. Like an infant fox. But she didn't seem nearly as helpless as a fox kit was. He hated to admit it, but she had talent, she knew how to fight. But that didn't mean she would win against a perfect weapon such as he.

But if she got in his head like she kept doing…

No. He couldn't let her get in the way of his concentration. He lifted his head, glaring at the wall. That's it. If he could get it to where he fought her in the final round, he could kill her. He would lose the tournament, but he thought it was worth it. He couldn't kill anyone until the last round, so as to keep advancing. With Chiaotzu's help, he should be able to get her to advance to the finals if she couldn't do it herself.

Then, in the final match, right in front her precious Master Kaijo, he would kill her to prove who was truly flawless, and no one outside his school would know of the boy before. He knew Master Shin had sent Mercenary Tao to kill one of Kaijo's old students long ago. This would just continue to prove that the Crane school of martial arts was the superior.

Yes.

It was that simple. To continue to be the perfect fighter he was now, and to prove his loyalty to the Crane school, he would kill Kit in the finals in front of her own Master. Tien let out a bark like laugh, and flopped back in his bed. She wouldn't expect it either. She would think he wouldn't actually be trying to kill her in order to win the tournament. He had the advantage in almost every way.

Tien closed his eyes, still grinning as he fell into slumber in which his dreams fantasized about hundreds of different ways to kill the girl behind the tree.