Disclaimer: Chapter 1.
I hope the OC isn't scaring people off, 'cause he's not staying.
.-K-.
"I'm thirsty for some tea," I hummed to myself as I walked into the dojo. "Just a little sip, another maybe…"
My entrance alerted Yunnan, and he spun around from the punching bag he was occupying to see me. "Kushami!" He quickly paced himself before me and gathered me into an embrace. "How are you today?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine…Where's the master?"
"In his study at the moment. We're just free-training right now." He released me and pointed to my medical mask. "By the way, how long are you going to wear that thing? I mean, winter's over, and there's nothing wrong with you."
I shrugged. "I'll wear it for as long as I like. It's not like I give a damn about what people think. Let them say I'm a demon or a germaphobe."
He sighed and slumped his shoulders. "I still don't get why you insist wearing that thing. It's not like you have anything to hide."
Yunnan had bothered me about the mask ever since we started going out a few months ago. Of course, I wore it partially to hide my identity, but mostly because I didn't want to sneeze. By this point, being involved in a romantic relationship with a cop would make hiding my face futile. I still counted my blessings that he didn't recognize me as an international criminal and take me in. But the thought of sneezing again… each time made me think back on TaoPaiPai's words, and I somehow just couldn't allow myself to disappear from this world through something as small as a sneeze, even if it was temporary.
The master joined us from his office, and with a gentle command, gathered us in a circle around him. In the time that I spent at North Capital at this dojo, I began to realize how the people who I've been acquainted with for so many years could completely immerse themselves in it. At first, it was tedious, joyless, and painful. But I decided to stick with it, and as time went on, it got easier and easier to lose myself in the constant posing, exercising, sparring, and even meditation. To my surprise, I was even surpassing some of the previous students already.
Yunnan, in the meantime, has been talking about getting a larger apartment, which means he intends to ask me to live with him soon. He asked my opinion on the matter, but I told him that I was undecided at the moment (I mean, come on, if I start to live with him, then I have to give up stealing!). But I still enjoy his company, and he's sorta' been growing on me during this time.
Anteceding the master's training, Rapusan and Souchon approached us, casually inviting us to go with them to the bar and have a drink. Yunnan turned them down, saying that he had to go down to the station. I had to wave it away as well; I had to talk to the master about payment, since I was late (my funds had been dwindling and I forgot to sell something to increase them). I waved goodbye to all of them, and headed for the master's study.
I placed my hand on the handle, feeling an odd sense of dread. I never entered his study before, or even glanced inside of it, despite all this time I've spent in his dojo. Something about this fact made me feel as if there was something I shouldn't see in that room, but I pushed these feelings aside and scoffed at myself before opening the door.
I should always follow my instinct, though, especially since this time, it was right. On the other side of that door, I saw Tenshinhan's face.
.-T-.
Sand flew around us as Chouzu and I battered each other with attack after attack. The sun searing rays felt like they were baking me in my own skin, and the feeling always felt to be just below unbearable. The cool air of morning that gave some comfort in this wasteland was completely gone, and it was so bright, I was having problems looking through my three eyes without getting a headache. From this, I surmised that it must have been almost noon.
I landed a few meters away, and telepathically called as I waited for the flying particles to settle back on the desert floor. Chouzu! Let's take a break; it's almost time to eat.
He nodded and hovered over to me, hanging in the air as he always did, and we began to discuss what to eat. He suggested that we went back to the town and ate something fresher instead of the rations we had bought, and I was inclined to agree; I was growing tired of dried foodstuffs and water myself (in truth, I really missed having a home cooked meal). So we threw around restaurants to go to, suggesting as far as going to a larger town instead.
Then we felt it.
Two dark kis to the East appeared abruptly, both Chouzu and I stopped, and our eyes widened.
Chouzu shook. "T-Ten-san!"
"Tsh!" I gripped my fists. "They came a lot sooner than we expected."
Energy fluctuated suddenly, and we could see a bright explosion in the distance as the sand flew back at us. I held up an arm to block the particles from my eyes and I kept in stance. "What…what the Hell did they just do?"
The winds died quickly as the shockwave passed, and not long after, I felt them moving. They were going towards two other powerful energies… they must have been Piccolo and Son Goku's son. I shook off the sand and unceremoniously snatched a piece of jerky and tore into it before lifting off, Chouzu following in suit. I looked at my friend and training companion from all these years. "Chouzu! You stay here!"
He continued to look ahead of him with a determined face. "Ten-san, I'm going too! I trained just as hard, so I'm going to fight along side you!"
The words silenced me, and I felt twinge of surprise and dread. I wasn't going to stop him; he did train hard. But something in me, perhaps its because he'd died before, but it knew that he was going to die. I was certain.
.-K-.
The surge subsided when I became aware that I was looking at picture; it was Tenshinhan, right after he had won the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai. I felt odd, seeing him so happy and tired, an image of him that I had grown to not remember.
The people that managed to get in the picture as well were all cheering and smiling behind him, and little Chouzu was by his feet, just waving at the camera like a child. I looked all the way down the posters, and each was of a winner of the Tenkaichi Budokai. I recognized Jackie Chun, laughing like an idiot and holding up a victory sign, and on the other side, Goku stood, grinning widely with the decimated ring behind him, and his new little wife by his side.
A numb feeling of nostalgia ran through me, and I jumped when the master's voice called my name. "Kushami!"
"Ah!" I shot my eyes to him, slight embarrassment taking over before regaining my composure and looking down at the old man. "Hey, I've got the money today. Woulda' gotten it to ya' earlier, but what can I say? Can't give money that you don't have," –until after I take it from someone else, my mind continued as I handed him the bills.
He took them into his own and bowed slightly. "Ah, thank you, Kushami." As he walked away to put it in the box, he continued speaking. "You were looking at the posters, right?"
I glared back at him. "What do you mean by that?"
He ignored the threatening mood I tried to force on him and looked over at the pictures as if reminiscing. "All of them I managed to find in their original print, but the first one that I obtained was this." He gestured towards one of a young man from many years before, "It's a memory… of one of my greatest moments as a martial artist."
His eyes came back to me. "And as an old man that surrounds himself with memories, I know that look all too well: that look you had in your eyes when you saw that winner of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai. You know him, don't you?"
I narrowed my eyes at him. "You must think yourself as really observant, old man."
"I might only be a prying old kook anymore, but could I ask how you know him?" I chose to remain quiet, but the silence just seemed to tell him more. "You loved him, didn't you?"
I suppressed the urge to pull out a gun and let him have a piece of my mind, but I let him see my anger in my stare. "So what if I did?"
But he smiled and shook his head. "I don't mean to make you uncomfortable, Kushami, but after so many years of training students to fight myself, I am easily able to see the frustration in your movement."
What's with these guys and 'watching my movements'? "A little frustration never hurt anyone."
"But it's more than when you're training. I see it especially when you're around Yunnan. You both grew close in the time that you've been here, but you've forced yourself into becoming closer. You… may or may not be aware of it." He placed a hand on my shoulder. "I just want you to recognize that you're ignoring your own feelings, and that will only cause you more pain in the end. I won't tell you how to run your life, child."
"You're being absurd," I barked back.
His hand lifted, and I returned my gaze to Tenshinhan's likeness. Internally, I shouted viscously that he was wrong and only a babbling geezer, but my entire body was cold. I remained still for a long time before pushing that old master away and rushing out of the dojo. The only thing I could think of was to escape… but to where?
I rushed to my apartment and capsulated all of my belongings, including my large collection of firearms. I'll go knock over a bank… that'll cover it. That'll clear my mind. I've been itching to do some heavy stuff anyway; I've been sitting around comfortable for too long. I made sure that I packed everything and told the landlord of my apartment complex that I was leaving immediately. He didn't seem to care one way or the other, but he did insist that I do paperwork since I'm leaving at such an unexpected time. This got us into an hour-long argument that really tried my patience, and I ended up just screaming at him and running out of the building.
I pulled out a capsule and threw it out by the curb, my Embrio bike appearing in a puff of smoke. Wasting no more time, I jumped on and squeezed the handle.
"Wait!" I felt a man's hand grab my arm, and the scent of floral cologne and roasted coffee went past my nostrils. I looked over to see Yunnan's relieved face. He was in his police uniform. "Kushami! Geez, I just heard that you were trying to leave your apartment. For a second, I thought you were going leave and not going to say goodbye. What's happened?"
I pulled my arm out of his grasp and looked away. "I'm tired of North Capital, so I'm leaving."
"What! But… this is so sudden… You really did intend on leaving without saying goodbye."
"Look, I don't belong here, in an apartment, spending all my time in a dojo, with a cop for a boyfriend. This isn't my life." I pulled off the medical mask. "I'm tired of running from it."
"Kushami, I don't know what you're thinking, but now is not a good time to travel. Haven't you been watching the news? At about 11:40 p.m. today, East Capital had been decimated, wiped off the map, and no one can figure out why. People are panicking."
"What?" I lowered my eyes. Then… those aliens that they talked about must have finally come.
"Please, just don't be so hasty. Tell me: Where do you intend to go? What do you intend to do?"
"A bank to the south," I growled. No sooner had I said it then I heard the click of a gun. I glared back at him. "I thought volunteers weren't allowed to have guns, or was I mistaken on that?"
Yunnan held the gun securely before him. "Kushami, I've known for a while who you were. Hell, your name's infamous in the police force. But since there hasn't been any records of your exploits for a while, and it seemed like you could honestly turn a new leaf—"
"Men are so foolish. You really thought that? Hmph."
"Kushami, I'm warning you… If insist on robbing that bank, I'll have to arrest you."
I scoffed at him. "And you think that'd be easy? Yunnan, you're not the first person to aim a gun at me." I quickly pulled out a piece of my own and pointed it back at him. "And I doubt you'll be the last."
Terror came over him, but his eyes weren't staring down the barrel as was common for someone who had a gun in their face. Instead, he was staring at me, and the sweat that dripped down his temples fell silently on his blue collar as he stood silently. The gun lowered, and his shoulders slumped, defeated. "Kushami…"
I felt a slight pang of guilt, but I ignored it and continued to sneer at him. "Enough of this. I'm not thirsty for tea anymore. You can give my goodbyes to the others for me, if you want." I put the gun to my side and drove off as fast as I could, not looking back as my curls thrashed violently behind me in the wind, as the city's buildings flew by me.
By the time I was on the road away from the huge city, it was past lunchtime. I thought about stopping at a restaurant for some fried rice before hitting that bank.
I couldn't possibly think of what happens next. I mean, it's not like something substantial happens in the series to these characters at this time. –chuckle-
A little side note: Tenshinhan's name comes from "Tien chun fan", a kind of fried rice.