by Amazon and Masquerade
Chapter 5
All of Tansei's usual confidence seemed to have left her at the moment. She felt shy. Tansei blinked and averted her gaze, brushing a lock of her hair behind her ear once more.
"Well,...you seem to have me down to a 'T'," she finally said softly.
Cell finally looked away and stood straight.
"You described me very accurately as well."
Tansei smiled.
"You know...you could almost say we're becoming friends," she mused, "Were this any other situation I would invite you to a friendly spar."
Cell smiled back.
"I wouldn't have minded. I could use a little training for the tournament."
Tansei chuckled.
"Why not?" she asked no one in particular, "You pick the location."
Cell thought for a minute.
"There's a flat area just
by my arena. We can spar there."
"Sounds good. Lead
the way," she offered.
Cell nodded, and headed into the air. He flew a small ways, and waited for her to follow. Tansei flew after him. He continued flying until he saw the arena pass under him. He quickly spotted an elevated cliff formation and landed on the flat top. Tansei landed next to him and looked around.
"This will do perfectly."
Cell nodded proudly, then struck a defensive pose.
"Shall we begin?"
"Hai," she responded getting
into her own stance with a smirk.
"Your move."
Tansei quickly went on the offensive with a quick
roundhouse kick, front kick combination. Cell took the hit, faltering
backwards. But he quickly caught himself and took another defensive position.
He was more interested in what she could do than defeating her. Tansei
continued, dropping to the ground and sweeping his legs. He fell,
landing on his back on the ground. He quickly jumped back up to his
feet, and decided to go on offense this time. He spread his wings
out a moment, then lunged foreword for a jump kick.
Tansei blocked the kick and stepped back a bit.
The moment Cell's feet touched the ground, he jumped up and flipped over
Tansei, clearing her head, and landing behind her. He turned to her, waiting
for her to make another move. Tansei smirked and did a back kick
followed by another perfect sweep. She continued by pinning him down
by the shoulders.
"Gotcha!"
Cell blushed, and glared. He was never in this predicament before.
"Oh, let me up."
"Nope. I prefer you
at my mercy," she winked teasingly.
"I am never at anyone's
mercy. Now, get off."
Tansei laughed.
"Seems like you're at my mercy right now, Cell," she said laughingly, "If this is how you'll fight me, I know I'll win."
Feeling insulted, Cell arched his neck, making his
head go back farther. Then, he suddenly brought it back up, and slammed
his head right into Tansei's forehead. Tansei screamed, startled.
She brought her hand up to her forehead. When she looked at her fingers
they had a little bit of blood on them, her eyebrow had been cut slightly.
Cell took advantage of the pause, and kicked her off him.
Tansei landed firmly on her back a few feet away.
"Damn...," she swore lightly.
Cell stood up, and craned his neck to stretch it.
"What did I tell you, Tansei?"
"You merely caught me off
guard. It won't happen again," she replied, standing.
"We will see." Cell smirked,
lowering himself into an offensive position. "Is it my move or yours?"
"Yours I believe."
Cell nodded, and lunged foreword with both fists
ready for multiple swings. Tansei readied herself to block.
Cell started swinging his fists at her at almost blinding speed.
Tansei's ki flared as she matched his speed. Blood dripped from her
eyebrow into her right eye. She closed her eye from the sting.
Cell continued swinging at her until he was certain her side was unguarded,
and side kicked her hip.
Tansei stumbled to the side, grunting at the hit
which she managed to cushion using her ki. She wiped at her right
eye, but the sting of the blood wouldn't go away, leaving her with only
one good eye. Cell noticed she was pausing because of her injury,
and smiled.
"Careful, now."
He moved to her right side, hitting her hard in the chest with his elbow. Tansei grunted and growled in frustration. She closed both her eyes and stood in a defensive stance, using her ki sensing instead of her eyes. Cell paused a minute, wondering what she was doing. Tansei sensed his stillness and attacked with a powerful kick to the center of his ki energy. Cell attempted to block, but the kick connected, and he stumbled back in pain.
That's it! No more playing around!
He lunged for her, putting his arm back for a hard chop. Tansei ducked under the chop and executed an elbow strike to his side followed by a spinning kick to his back. Cell caught himself on his hands as he fell, and flipped back to his feet.
Now I'm angry!
He lunged again, but before he could land a hit, he disappeared from in front of her. Tansei tried to locate his ki. Cell appeared again in front of her, ramming her with his shoulder and making them both fall to the ground. He quickly pinned her.
"Who's at who's mercy, now?"
Tansei panted and opened her eyes to look up at him. Her chest rose and fell as she took each breath. She said nothing, however, hating to admit it. Cell grinned at her.
"Well, are you going to say
something, Tansei? I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?"
"No. I'm fine," she
replied, "Looks like I know what to work on next...my ki sensing."
She half smiled as she looked up at him, another trickle of blood stinging
her eye and making her wince and close it.
"Yes, that could use some
improving."
He noticed she was bleeding, and stopped grinning. He found himself wiping some of the blood away from Tansei's eye with one gentle thumb. Tansei opened her eye and looked up at him in slight confusion. Her face was flushed from battle and her hair was splayed beneath her like a halo. She locked eyes with him briefly before settling on staring at his nose.
I'm staring at her again....
But even though he was punishing himself for being
rude, his eyes were stuck to her face. He started blushing too, not understanding
why he was behaving so strangely around her. Tansei's eyebrows furrowed
at bit at the sudden discoloration on the bridge of Cell's nose.
She looked up and realized he was blushing and looking at her. She
blushed in return and was captivated by his eyes.
Then, Cell found he couldn't move. He felt paralyzed.
Right around now, he would finally look away, or break the silence by clearing
his throat......but he had somehow become powerless, just by looking into
this girl's eyes......
What is happening to me?
I've never felt this way before...I can't look away. It's like I've been hypnotized by merely locking gazes with Cell.
Cell started noticing that he wasn't breathing very
much, and his vision blurred. He leaned his head foreword slightly, closer
to Tansei's, feeling dizzy. Tansei's breath caught in her throat.
His face was a mere half inch away from hers. She could feel his
breath flutter across her lips. Her eyes closed and she let out a
shaky breath.
Feeling her breath on his warm cheeks was almost
too much to handle. Being this close to her, feeling this way about her....he
couldn't help himself. He brought his lips to hers, softly and nervously,
in a first kiss. Tansei felt the warm softness of his lips against
her own and she stiffened at first, then relaxed into the kiss. She
hesitantly placed her hands on his shoulders, sliding them onto the back
of his neck, slowly drawing him closer. She whimpered lightly at
the feelings the kiss invoked in her.
His lips soon parted from hers....and then it struck
him. WHAT DID I JUST DO?! He quickly got off of her and stood up,
blushing furiously. "What...in...uh... You're not hurt anywhere else, are
you Tansei?!"
Tansei's eyes opened and she blushed as well.
She stood shakily and shook her head in the negative.
"N-no...I'm fine...," she replied, catching her breath, "What...just happened?"
Cell quickly found a pebble near his foot interesting to look at.
"I......wouldn't know. I'm......."
sorry
that happened... "I'm.....not hurt anywhere either......"
"Well, that's good," she
replied a little put off, "It's getting rather late. I suppose I
should head back home.... I..." She stopped momentarily and
smoothed her hair before she continued. "I apologize...it...shouldn't
have happened."
Tansei turned from him and hesitated. He looked back up at her.
"No, it was my fault. I should
be the one apologizing." He found he was getting hypnotized again, and
quickly looked away. "You.....should be getting home."
"I...," she began, but then
nodded in agreement.
She took a step away from him, before she sucked in a breath and swiftly turned to him again, kissing his lips quickly before flying off madly, blushing like a cherry. Cell covered his mouth with both hands in a panic.
WE DID IT AGAIN!
He started to fret inside his head, moving back and forth, until he got a hold of himself and took his hands away. He went back into the arena, and sighed heavily.
"How am I supposed to fight her at the tournament now?!"
~*/|\*~
Tansei flew towards her home, giggling a little.
"This is insane!!" she breathed, "You don't just go around making out with android super villains who want to destroy your planet!! Yet still...there's no one quite like him." She sighed deeply disturbed by one thought, however. How can I possibly fight him at the tournament feeling the way I do? I have to fight...for the fate of the earth, but I don't want to lose him...
She landed outside the house to see her mother and Aria on the porch, drinking tea and waiting for her. Aria turned to Tansei when she landed.
"Hey, Tan-chan. How was it?"
"I...," she began, her cheeks
still tinged pink, "We uh...had a good spar."
Tansei tried to edge away from Aria before she could pick up she was hiding something.
"Spar?" Aria blinked. Her eyes narrowed. "Hey, what are you doing? You're not hurt and trying to hide it, are you?"
Tansei sweat dropped.
"No! Why would I be trying to hide something?! Heh heh..."
Aria stood up.
"That jerk hurt you, didn't
he? I'm kicking his sorry butt at the tournament for this!"
"No. Really, Aria.
I'm not hurt. I'm...fine."
"Tansei, dear, is something
wrong?" Ikuko asked curiously. "You're acting strangely."
"I...," she began then sighed
in defeat, "Something happened out there. And I don't know what to
do. Cell...kissed me," she confessed.
Aria's jaw dropped while Ikuko sipped her tea thoughtfully.
"WHAT?!" Aria roared. "He......
Oh my God...."
"Ah...love." Ikuko sighed.
"Tansei, it's so wonderful."
Tansei's face grew red like a beet and her eyes widened like a deer caught in the headlights.
"I NEVER SAID I WAS IN LOVE!!"
she cried out, waving her arms around in denial. "He just...kissed me.
And I...kinda liked it..."
"I don't believe it...."
Aria shook her head. "I just don't believe it...... Tan-chan..... That
man killed a lot of people.... And he's going to blow up the planet too!"
"I know, Aria. That's
why I don't know what to do. My feelings are conflicting with my
better judgment right now. I know what I have to do to save the planet,
but I just...I don't think I could bring myself to kill him if it came
to that."
Aria sat back down and thought about it.
"Hmmm..... hey, I think I got it!"
Tansei sat down on a lawn chair and sighed lightly.
"Hmmn?" she asked.
"Well," Aria began as she
thought, "his tournament works like another Budakai, right? Well, that
means that if you're knocked out of the arena, you lose. Well, if we knock
Cell out of the arena in a fight, then he loses the tournament, right?
Am I right?"
"That's true...," Tansei
replied, "Then that will be my goal during the fight. Still...,"
Tansei continued, "I just....This is so complicated. I have no idea
what to do about my feelings for him. Mom?" She asked hopefully.
Ikuko smiled at her daughter.
"Well, I'm not sure, dear.
A man like him may make this difficult.... I suppose it wouldn't hurt to
ask him what he thinks of you."
"You mean you want me to
just go up to him and say 'Hi, Cell. I was wondering what you feel
toward me'? Mom that just isn't done!"
"Oh. Hmmm..." Ikuko had
to think about this one. "My goodness, what to do...."
Tansei sighed and leaned back in her chair, a small smile on her lips.
"Don't worry. I'm sure it'll come to me when the time is right," she said.
~*/|\*~
Cell stood right in the center of his arena, arms folded, head bent and eyes closed as usual. However, his thoughts were in a frenzy.
I don't understand it. Why did I do that? What made me do that? What is wrong with me? What is it about that girl? She's just a human like the rest of them! ....No, that's wrong. She's not like the rest of them. She's half a kaio. That can't be what's wrong......Well....now that I think about it.....it was very nice....NO! NO! NO! NO! WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! Think of something else, think of the tournament! Tournament, tournament, tournament! .....I hope I can see her before the tournament again. Then, maybe we could....Tournament! Tournament! Tournament!
He sighed to himself and looked back up at the sky.
"Tansei...."
Disclaimer: We don't own DBZ or any related characters or entities. DBZ is © Akira Toriyama. The characters of Tansei Kibito, Ikuko, Aria, and Masaru are however our intellectual property and we reserve the exclusive right to use said characters.
Tansei Kibito, Ikuko, Aria, Masaru © Amazon and Masquerade, 2003.
