~~Day of the Tournament~~
Over the course of the next week and a half, Hotaru learned a great deal more about fighting than she had ever imagined that she could. She learned more about physical fighting and become surprisingly good at it for a beginner. Even her training with gravity had proved to do well. Within three days of training with the gravity, Hotaru could easily move around with out trouble at all. She had become much stronger in such a short time that even her father was beginning to see the changes in her. Her appetite had even gotten bigger. He was happy to hear her laughing more often, with seldom fits about her mother. Everyday she seemed to be getting happier.
Professor Tomoe had tended to the paperwork that was required to be filled out to get his daughter out of her current school and in the school with her friends, which had made her overjoyed. After many meetings with the principle, who had on many occasions refused to give up her transcripts and test scores, he had finally convince the woman that Infinity College was doing Hotaru more harm than good.
Now, it was the day of the tournament, the day that would not be forgotten by either Usagi or Hotaru as they both had a reason to be excited about it. Hotaru would finally get to put her new knowledge of fighting to the test, while Usagi would finally get her wish to beat Mr. Satan in front of everyone.
So there the two friends stood, in the middle of an open field, two hours before the tournament started. They were going to have one last spar before the whole ordeal started. Though neither of them could really concentrate on what they were doing from all of the excitement. They had been trying for a good hour to try to start a good spar, yet, it only ended in fun, games, and laughter.
Usagi remembered back to when she had participated in the Tenkaichi Budaki tournament. She remembered how scared for her father she had been, also how nervous she had been. She had barely made it through the spar with Piccolo before the tournament started she was so nervous. "So, Hotaru, shall we try this again?"
Hotaru nodded as she cocked her neck from side to side with confidence. They were going to attempt to have a spar with no power levels, meaning no Ki attacks and no flying. "Let's try to do it without playing around this time."
"Yeah, no more imitating those funny Kung Fu movies and all those funny noises they make in them. We need to get ourselves ready for this tournament, even though I know we're both going to be ready."
"Well I just want to be warmed up. K?" Usagi nodded. "Ok, let's go." Hotaru quickly took to her fighting stance so she would be ready for anything that Usagi could possibly dish out to her.
"Ok." Usagi started out walking slowly to Hotaru. She was careful to have as much of an emotionless face as possible so Hotaru could not read what her intentions were. Hotaru turned her body towards Usagi as she walked around to her back. "Good, you're keeping your back guarded."
"Of course." Hotaru looked down and dug her foot underneath some loose dirt. She quickly looked back up to Usagi to make sure that she wasn't watching what she was doing. To her relief, Usagi hadn't seen anything.
"You're planning something. I can sense it." Usagi pulled back from Hotaru, so she wouldn't be caught in any trap or attack that Hotaru was sensing.
Hotaru grinned. "Aww…you know me all too well, Usagi." Hotaru pulled her foot out of the sand and rushed for Usagi with her fist. She had had it with talking things slowly. She wanted some action.
Usagi jumped back from Hotaru's attack and caught the younger fighter's fist in her hand. "I thought we taught you better than to just jumped out at your enemy."
"You did." With that she lifted her knee to Usagi's stomach, but soon found it being held in Usagi's other hand. "Hey!"
"Too slow!" Usagi pulled Hotaru back by her fist and knee. "Beat this." She quickly let go of the girl and spun her around so she was facing out away from herself. She then proceeded to push her forward with her foot.
Before Usagi got a chance to push Hotaru out too far, Hotaru bent her arms over her head and reached for Usagi. She quickly grasped her hands around her shoulders and then went down to her arms. Usagi didn't even bother with pulling her arms away from Hotaru. She just continued to push on the girl's back, which started to get Hotaru's grip to loosen up. But Hotaru wasn't about to give up. She pushed back on Usagi's leg. She heard her friends quietly cry out in pain, but that was the point to the game, to win no matter what. With Usagi's slight loss of concentration, Hotaru took her opportunity to tighten her grip on Usagi's arm.
"Watch this!" Hotaru used Usagi as her brace as she lifted her feet into the air and flipped over Usagi. Now both girls stood back to back with no idea if the other was moving or not as they didn't have their power levels raised up.
Usagi grinned. "That was pretty good, Hotaru. Where'd you learn a move like that?"
Hotaru smiled as she took the compliment. "Ami taught me that little move when we were sparring yesterday in the woods. Actually, she used it on me. That's why I became their prisoner."
"Heh, she's getting good." With that, as if it were instinct, both fighters turned around at the same exact time. "Trying to show me up, are you?"
Hotaru smirked. "Maybe."
'Ok, now she's starting to freak me out. She's acting like she's been fighting for a long time. Of course, she doesn't have her gravity turned on today since it's the tournament and all, but still…' Without further conversation, Usagi ducked to the ground and swung her leg out at Hotaru's ankle, causing the younger fighter to fall to the ground. "Ha!"
Hotaru rolled away from Usagi and swiftly bounced back to her feet. "Good one. I didn't see that coming." Just as Hotaru went to retaliate against Usagi, she sensed her friends flying towards the location. "Usagi! Everyone's coming!"
Usagi looked up into the sky for she too sensed what Hotaru was feeling. "Yeah. It must mean that they want us at the stadium already."
Hotaru looked down to her watch. "But we still have an hour and a half left."
Usagi jumped into the air. "I know. But it's usually a good idea to get there about an hour before it starts to get yourself mentally ready and so you can see when you have to fight."
Hotaru hopped into the air after Usagi. "Are you sure that I'll be ok in the intermediate division? I mean, I only started two weeks ago and all. I don't want to look stupid in front of daddy."
Usagi gave Hotaru a sarcastic look. "Give me a break, Hotaru. With the way you've been trained, you would've been bored in the beginner's division." Usagi waved to her friends, who were nearing them.
Hotaru sighed as she flew with Usagi towards their friends. "I hope you're right. Hey, if I win in my division does that mean that I would be able to fight Mr. Satan too?"
Usagi smiled as she looked down to the child. "I never thought of that! Of course you will! Oh how great that would be! Getting beaten by a ten year old and a five year old in just ONE day. Oh how much fun we're going to have today."
"Hey you two, what's up? You don't look like you've been fighting very much." Rei noted the fact that neither of the girls had any scratches on any part of their bodies. "I thought you were going to train her for the last two hours free time we had before we had to be there."
Usagi groaned as she turned to Rei, who was sure to get on her case for goofing off again. "Uh…well about that. You see, we kind of got sidetracked a lot and JUST really got into real sparring about a half hour ago."
"Well that's going to have to do because they are starting the tournament in forty-five minutes and your dad is freaking out about where you've been."
"Excuse me? Did you just say FORTY-FIVE MINUTES! I thought we still had an hour and a half left to go." Usagi looked to Hotaru with a ball of nerves. She knew she was going to get it from her mother for being irresponsible and getting there late.
"Usagi, you dork! You got the time that the tournament starts. Come on before it gets even later."
~*~*~
~~The Tournament~~
Usagi arrived at the stadium with her friends with a half hour left on the clock before the tournament started. She couldn't believe that she had gotten the time screwed up, though she did wonder what really was supposed to happen in an hour and a half.
Just before Usagi entered the room where her family was, she stopped. Inside, she saw Mr. Satan talking with them. Though she couldn't tell what. Even her sensitive Saiyan hearing couldn't quite pick up what they were saying, but she knew it was bad.
She frowned when she thought of what she was doing. She was acting scared. Scared to go in and join her family because Mr. Satan was in there. She wouldn't let him intimidate her, after all, she hoped to beat him in the tournament that day. She figured that it was only fair to let him know of his destiny. "Hey Mr. Satan!" She finally decided to merge into the room.
Mr. Satan nervously looked over to Usagi, whose friends had already come into the room before her. "Uh…hi Usagi." He turned back to Goku and Gohan. "We'll talk about this later. Please think about it." He turned back to Usagi and calmly nodded good by to her. "Good day, Usagi."
"Hey Satan, just a minute." Mr. Satan turned back to see the smirking face of Usagi, which only made him feel even more uneasy. "I'll see you at the end of the tournament…when I'm kicking your butt. Don't worry, though. I'll go easy on you."
Mr. Satan sympathetically turned to her family for help. He to get a response from Gohan, who frowned down at his little sister. "Give it a rest already, Usagi. No one cares if you're going to try to beat Mr. Satan."
Usagi was a little hurt by her brother's statement. She knew he couldn't have possibly meant it though. He had never said anything rude to her before, she doubt that he was meaning to be rude now. She knew how adults got whenever they were stressed about something. "Gees, Gohan. Don't have a cow. I'm just having some fun. I mean, this has got to be the greatest day in my life."
"Yeah Usagi. YOUR greatest day. You just can't stop to think of others, can you?" Gohan turned away from his sister and walked out of the room without letting her speak. He couldn't help but feel ashamed of her.
Usagi wasn't sure how she was meant to take that, but that time she actually took it as him being rude to her. She looked to her father in question. "Why is he mad at me, daddy? What did I do?"
Goku just shook his head as he too turned away. "Don't worry about it."
Usagi got an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach as she watched bother her oldest brother and father walk away from her. She didn't know how to take her father's reaction either. "I know I'm late but…"
"I said don't worry about it. Now leave it alone."
Videl could see the tears building up in her sister-in-law's eyes. She ran to her side and hugged her. "It's ok. It's just a man thing. Men always get like this from time to time. Especially when they have things on their mind. Don't take it personally, Usagi." She didn't want to get Usagi upset if there was no need to. And at this point, things hadn't been decided yet, so there WAS no need to get the child upset…yet, and hopefully there would never be.
Usagi smiled as she hugged Videl back. "Ok. I wont. I'll just concentrate on winning so I can beat your dad. No offense."
Videl giggled. "Non taken."
Usagi pulled away from her sister-in-law and walked to her friends. "Well you guys, let's go check out what times we fight. I wonder if I'll get to fight Mamoru. That would be cool."
Ami remembered back to the last time that Usagi had fought with Mamoru for real. That was the day that she had first met Usagi. She remembered how they had both fallen to the ground from exhaustion. "What makes you think that he's going to come? I mean, he knows that he's no match for you."
Usagi grinned as she put her arm around her friend's neck. "Well my dear friend, Ami, I know Piccolo. Need I say more?"
"Yeah, Piccolo will be sure to make him go." Makoto walked backwards out of the room so she could face her friends while she spoke to them. "Remember when we went to the tournament before and he had to take us? Now THAT was interesting. And how he yelled at us when we called Mamoru a bully. Man, that was scary. We thought he was going to beat us up or something."
Videl watched as the six youngsters left the room to find themselves some entertainment while they waited for the tournament to start. When she saw that they had fully left, she turned back to Goku and Gohan who were both acting like pigs at the moment. "I hope you BOTH are happy. You are acting on something that hasn't even been decided yet! Can't you just keep your big mouths shut!? There may be no reason to even act that way towards her! And Goku! You should be ashamed of yourself for what you did to her!"
Goku frowned as he crossed his arms. He hated to be told how to act with his daughter. "And what was it that I did so horribly."
"You told her not to worry about it!"
"Well it isn't something that she needs to worry about. It's none of her concern until we have further reason to tell her."
"You could have at least told her to her FACE instead of turning your back to her like that!"
"Father, speak for yourself, I've made up my mind. It's my decision to make anyways."
Goku turned to his son with a slight frown. "She's MY daughter. I think it's MY decision to make. You're only her brother." Goku turned to his wife. "What do you think, Chi-Chi?"
"I'm with you, Goku. We need more convincing."
"Yeah, dad. So am I."
Goku smiled as he turned to his second son, Goten. "Try to knock some sense into your brother then." With that, he walked away from the group so he could have some time to think about his decision.
Gohan frowned at his father as he walked away. "I don't care if he agrees with it or not. It's not right. If he goes along with Usagi, he's being just as selfish as her."
~*~*~
Goku walked out into the main room of the stadium, where he found his daughter and her friends looking at the bored to find out when they would be fighting. He sighed as he leaned against the wall. 'Videl was right. I just keep screwin up, don't I? But I'm still not convinced enough to tell her anything.'
~*~*~
"Usagi! Usagi! When do I fight?" Hotaru hoped up and down with excitement. She couldn't wait to be able to show her dad everything that she had learned from her friends.
"Well, Hotaru, it looks like you're fighting first for you division, which is the very first fight of all. You should start getting ready soon, then."
Hotaru was all of a sudden taken over with fear. "FIRST!? That means I can't watch any of the fights that go on to see what I'm supposed to do."
Minako turned around with a friendly smile and looked down to Hotaru. "Don't worry. Just fight these guys like you would with us. Just remember not to fall for anything that they say."
Once Makoto found when she would be fighting, she turned around to look at Hotaru's nervous face. "Yeah, Minako's right. And remember, there are only three ways to get kicked out of the tournament. If it's a total knockout, which we wont have to worry about, if you are beaten by your opponent twice, or if you fall out of the ring."
Rei could see the nervousness in Hotaru's face diminishing. "Remember these rules and you'll be fine. But you also have to remember that you can't raise your fighting power at all. That's why we've been practicing with only our normal energy level." She looked around to all of the people who were passing by and smiled. "Man you guys! This is great! I've been to so many tournaments before but this is the first time that I've actually been able to PARTICIPATE in one."
~*~*~
Not too far from the girls, a group of seven were fast approaching them. The oldest of the group was Mamoru, who was now fifteen years old. He stopped when he saw the little kids. "Hey people, looks like we've found ourselves some entertainment."
Michiru looked up to see the girls laughing and carrying on about who knows what. "Whoa, it's Monkey Girl. Are you sure we aren't making a mistake by entering?"
Mamoru snorted. "Of course we aren't. We've gotten stronger in the past two years. We can take them on. They wont be THAT hard to beat." He let his eyes wonder down to the newest addition to the group. "Hey, looks like they've integrated themselves a new brat. Come on, let's go show that kid whose boss around her."
Haruka smirked. "Yeah. She looks like a person who would be dumb enough to be hanging around Monkey Girl. Come on boys, let's go formally introduce you to them." Haruka pushed out in front of Mamoru and led the way to the girls, who they would soon be trying to harass.
~*~*~
Minako's attention was soon taken by the approaching of her most despised group. "Oh look at that. It's Mamoru and his followers."
Usagi looked away from the bored that told what times they would be fighting and laid her eyes upon Mamoru's knew friends, which they had met two weeks earlier. "What do THEY want?"
Haruka stopped just in front of Hotaru and sneered down at her. "Look at this little runt. I hope she doesn't think that she can fight. You've really caught yourself a dumb ass friend this time, kids. You can tell by looking at her that she's a loner."
Hotaru stepped back from Haruka as she moved closer to Usagi. "Who are they? Why are they looking at me with such hate?"
Rei grabbed Hotaru and pulled her to the side. "Leave her alone you FREAKS! What do you want?! No one asked you here! No one here talked to you first!" Rei looked over to Usagi, who seemed to be paying more attention to the newcomers from America than the argument that had broken out between the two groups.
Usagi pushed past Michiru and Mamoru as she looked up to the faces of the Americans. "Americans sure do look funny, aside from sounding funny with their accents. I bet you have some pretty strange names too…don't you?"
One of the boys, with white hair hanging down to the middle of his back, growled as he took the liberty of speaking to the girl. "Our names can't be as bad as Usagi. I mean, really. Listen to how that rolls off your tongue…Usagi."
Another boy, with blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail at the bottom of his neck, stood to join his friend. "Yeah. It sounds like something that you would order in a big fancy restaurant. Usagi…I wonder if that IS something you can eat."
Usagi glared at the two boys as the laughed, making the others join in with them. "At least I don't look funny."
The blonde boy stopped laughing just in time to reply. "YOU don't look funny? Oh man that's just too good!" He stopped to laugh more. He could barely hold it in. "You look the funniest out all of them. I mean, look at you. You have a TAIL and you wear your hair up in the strangest style I've ever seen. Face it kid, you look like a complete dork."
Michiru snickered. She couldn't let this great opportunity to pass. "She LOOKS like a dork? Try she IS a dork. Along with all of her friends." She and her friends laughed harder as they saw the pouting face of Usagi.
Usagi crossed her arms as she turned away from the group. "I hope you guys can swallow your jokes since I'm going to beat you ALL in the tournament. I plan on going straight to beating Mr. Satan." With that, she motioned to her friends that it was time to go as she walked away.
Hotaru gave the group one last glare as she turned her back to them and walked away. Michiru grabbed Haruka's hand as she pulled her to the side. She stared into her eyes, both in wonder and in concern. "That little one is strong. We may have some trouble with her later on."
Haruka watched as Hotaru happily waddled away from their group. She frowned when she sensed her body for her power. "She's got the potential to become very strong. Feel that energy that her body is emitting. We mustn't let her become part of that group. She must be ours."
Michiru nodded. "Right. We will prepare to take her under our way of thinking." Michiru evilly smiled as she continued to watch Hotaru skip away. She couldn't wait to finally get Usagi back for what she had done to Mamoru, she knew that Mamoru would appreciate it as well. "Little kids are so easy to trick."
~*~*~
~~Half hour Later~~
Hotaru and all of her friends stood at the door that allowed them to peer out onto the stage, where things were just starting. Out on the stage stood a man with a microphone, who was introducing the contestants who would be fighting in the first fight.
Hotaru poked her head slightly out the door to look for her father, who she spotted sitting in the front row with Mrs. Mizuno and Usagi's family. Seeing her father only made her more nervous for she didn't want to look like a fool in front of him. She gulped when she heard her name called over the intercom. "Looks like I'm up."
Usagi kneeled down in front of Hotaru and looked into her wide violet eyes. "Don't get nervous on us, Hotaru. Just remember everything that you've been taught and you'll do fine. Don't get cocky, either. Make sure you don't underestimate your opponent and don't turn your back on him either."
Hotaru nodded as she smiled. "Ok. I'll try my best." She turned around and took a deep breath. "Here I go." She took a deep breath and picked up her foot, placing it outside into the main arena. She looked up to her father and waved.
Usagi turned to her friends with a grin. "I'm going to go watch the fight from a more fun place. Anyone wanna come?"
Minako rolled her eyes with half wonder. "Usagi, you go and knock yourself out. We're going stay here. This is a perfectly good place to watch. I don't like watching from the stands anyways."
Usagi shrugged as she turned around. "Ok. Your loss."
~*~*~
Professor Tomoe could have gone nuts with pride right there and then as he waved back down to her. But, because he didn't want to embarrass her, he stayed calm. "I can't wait to see how much she's learned."
Mrs. Mizuno let her eyes travel with the child as she made her way to the ring. "Well she must be pretty good if she's entering the intermediate division."
"Yeah. That's true." He smiled brighter as she took her first step onto the fighting platform. 'She's finally found something that makes her happy.'
~*~*~
Once she was in the middle of the ring, Hotaru looked back to the walkway, where she had just come from, to see another young girl, about Usagi's age, walking towards the ring. 'At least she isn't any older than the girls. That's a relief.'
The girl walked to the ring held high. She smirked when she and Hotaru made eye contact. 'That's the girl that was hanging out with Usagi earlier.' She stepped up to the ring and continued to smirk down at the child in purple, which only caused her nervousness to sky rocket.
~*~*~
Rei squinted to get a better look at the girl who stood on the fighting platform with Hotaru. "Wait a minute, isn't that that Emiko girl from school?"
With great curiosity, Minako pushed Rei aside to look upon the girl. "I think it is. I thought she was going to join in the advanced division, though."
Rei giggled as she walked to the other side of the door and looked out. "Yeah, that's what she told me. Maybe she chickened out after I beat her with my finger. Hotaru should have an easy time with this girl. She's just a bunch of talk."
~*~*~
The announcer walked off the fighting platform and turned to the girls. "Ladies and gentlemen, Hotaru and Emiko!" The crowd went wild in anticipation of the fight as he turned to go to the judges desk.
Emiko continued to smirk at Hotaru as she walked towards her. "Aren't you a little young to be an intermediate fighter? I think that you meant to sign up for the beginners division."
Hotaru crouched into a fighting position with her hands in front of her, ready to block anything that Emiko may have had for her. "I am a beginner, but I've been taught by one of the best."
Emiko stopped walking towards the child as her smirk only strengthened. "Yeah right. Let's test out your skills, then." With that, she quickly balled her hands into two tight fists as she jabbed at Hotaru.
At the first sign of movement, Hotaru jumped to the side, causing Emiko to hit dead air. Before Emiko got a chance to recover from her failed punch, Hotaru promptly ran to her and lifted her leg to kick her in the thigh. "You shouldn't tell people when you're going to attack. It's no fun that way." Hotaru jumped away from Emiko to give her a chance to recuperate from that kick.
Emiko grabbed her thigh and stumbled backwards, but caught composure before she fell. "I didn't tell you anything, BRAT!" With frustration, she jumped at Hotaru with her foot heading right for the child's head.
~*~*~
Professor Tomoe looked away just before Hotaru got hit in the face. "My god! She finds THIS fun?" He didn't want to watch his only child get beaten up.
Mrs. Mizuno, knowing full well what Hotaru's father was going through for she felt the same way about Ami fighting, placed her hand on the man's shoulder. "Don't worry, Hotaru dodged it. She's been trained well."
~*~*~
Hotaru frowned as she landed near the edge of the platform. "Come on. This is boring. I can get better entertainment sparring with Usagi."
Emiko grunted as she threw another punch at Hotaru, who dodged it, effortlessly. "Then go fight with the BRAT!"
~*~*~
Mamoru laughed as he watched the older fighter struggle to keep up with Hotaru. "That older one is horrible. She should have gone into the beginners division. She's giving that little pipsqueak false hope of winning later matches."
Michiru eyed Mamoru with annoyance. "Mamoru, that kid has a good potential and she's just young enough to fall into out grasps. All we need to do is get some time alone with her. Can you arrange that?"
Mamoru grinned, evilly, as he turned to Michiru. He knew exactly what she had in mind. "I can indeed. Though, not today. Things like this take time to plan out, correctly." He looked back down to the youngster, who had yet to attack Emiko anymore than just once. "She also needs to learn a thing or two about finishing off boring opponents."
~*~*~
Hotaru jumped into the air when Emiko came running at her with full force. "Do something besides JUST attacking head on!"
Emiko stopped herself short as she furiously turned to face Hotaru. "You annoying little brat! How dare you try and show me up!" She tried to jump kick Hotaru, but as always, Hotaru dodged.
~*~*~
Usagi giggled from afar as she watched the fight from the top of the roof of the open arena with her brother, Goten. "That girl is pathetic. Can you believe that she actually thought that she was going to be good enough to fight in the advanced division."
Goten chuckled. "You've gotta be kidding me. Man, this is horrible. Forget that kid, I feel sorry for Hotaru. This is an insult to her fighting ability. Of course, when Trunks and I entered the tournament, right before Buu came to earth, most of the kids weren't worth fighting."
"Yeah but still. I know that there's GOTTA be at least one person in this division worth fighting."
Goten nodded. "There is. I was watching some of the other kids warm up before everything started. They're pretty good. Hotaru may have a hard time defeating everyone, but that's the fun of it."
"I just can't wait to see the look on Mr. Satan's face when me AND Hotaru beat him in front of everyone."
Goten became silent as he looked down to his little sister. "Uh…Usagi, maybe you should go easy on the guy. I mean…" He stopped when he got a quick glare from her.
"Hey! He's the whole reason why I entered this thing. I'm not going to go easy on him just because he's a retard. And besides, you said that Trunks threw him into a wall. Am I wrong?"
Goten sighed as he had been defeated by his sister. "That's right. He was thrown into a wall. But he said that he threw the fight. So even if you do beat him, he's going to win. But, you have to remember that he's just a wimpy human who can't even fight like us. So that's why you should go easy on him." 'Forget it. I'm not going along with Satan, but it's not my decision.'
Usagi smiled as she looked back down to the fight. "Oh but of course. I wouldn't want to hurt him TOO bad."
~*~*~
Hotaru frowned with annoyance as she looked upon her supposed opponent. "You don't know how to fight, do you?"
Emiko jumped away from Hotaru. "Of course I do! It's you who doesn't know how to fight! That's why you keep running away from me. You wont attack me because you know that I'll beat you and then…"
Hotaru's fist went flying into Emiko's stomach, causing her to fly backwards through. Emiko fell on to the ground just before she landed outside the platform. Hotaru walked to the fallen fighter and looked down at her with pity. "And I thought I was going to have a challenge. It looks like I'm going to have to wait for the next round. Oh well, I guess that's ok. Better luck next time."
Emiko grabbed her stomach as she tried to sit up, but every time she moved the slightest bit, a sharp gush of pain rushed through her body. "Damn you!"
Hotaru grinned as she turned to look back at her friends, who watched from the door. "Who says I don't know how to fight?"
(There it is, the tournament, well at least part of it anyways. What did you think? See ya later )
Over the course of the next week and a half, Hotaru learned a great deal more about fighting than she had ever imagined that she could. She learned more about physical fighting and become surprisingly good at it for a beginner. Even her training with gravity had proved to do well. Within three days of training with the gravity, Hotaru could easily move around with out trouble at all. She had become much stronger in such a short time that even her father was beginning to see the changes in her. Her appetite had even gotten bigger. He was happy to hear her laughing more often, with seldom fits about her mother. Everyday she seemed to be getting happier.
Professor Tomoe had tended to the paperwork that was required to be filled out to get his daughter out of her current school and in the school with her friends, which had made her overjoyed. After many meetings with the principle, who had on many occasions refused to give up her transcripts and test scores, he had finally convince the woman that Infinity College was doing Hotaru more harm than good.
Now, it was the day of the tournament, the day that would not be forgotten by either Usagi or Hotaru as they both had a reason to be excited about it. Hotaru would finally get to put her new knowledge of fighting to the test, while Usagi would finally get her wish to beat Mr. Satan in front of everyone.
So there the two friends stood, in the middle of an open field, two hours before the tournament started. They were going to have one last spar before the whole ordeal started. Though neither of them could really concentrate on what they were doing from all of the excitement. They had been trying for a good hour to try to start a good spar, yet, it only ended in fun, games, and laughter.
Usagi remembered back to when she had participated in the Tenkaichi Budaki tournament. She remembered how scared for her father she had been, also how nervous she had been. She had barely made it through the spar with Piccolo before the tournament started she was so nervous. "So, Hotaru, shall we try this again?"
Hotaru nodded as she cocked her neck from side to side with confidence. They were going to attempt to have a spar with no power levels, meaning no Ki attacks and no flying. "Let's try to do it without playing around this time."
"Yeah, no more imitating those funny Kung Fu movies and all those funny noises they make in them. We need to get ourselves ready for this tournament, even though I know we're both going to be ready."
"Well I just want to be warmed up. K?" Usagi nodded. "Ok, let's go." Hotaru quickly took to her fighting stance so she would be ready for anything that Usagi could possibly dish out to her.
"Ok." Usagi started out walking slowly to Hotaru. She was careful to have as much of an emotionless face as possible so Hotaru could not read what her intentions were. Hotaru turned her body towards Usagi as she walked around to her back. "Good, you're keeping your back guarded."
"Of course." Hotaru looked down and dug her foot underneath some loose dirt. She quickly looked back up to Usagi to make sure that she wasn't watching what she was doing. To her relief, Usagi hadn't seen anything.
"You're planning something. I can sense it." Usagi pulled back from Hotaru, so she wouldn't be caught in any trap or attack that Hotaru was sensing.
Hotaru grinned. "Aww…you know me all too well, Usagi." Hotaru pulled her foot out of the sand and rushed for Usagi with her fist. She had had it with talking things slowly. She wanted some action.
Usagi jumped back from Hotaru's attack and caught the younger fighter's fist in her hand. "I thought we taught you better than to just jumped out at your enemy."
"You did." With that she lifted her knee to Usagi's stomach, but soon found it being held in Usagi's other hand. "Hey!"
"Too slow!" Usagi pulled Hotaru back by her fist and knee. "Beat this." She quickly let go of the girl and spun her around so she was facing out away from herself. She then proceeded to push her forward with her foot.
Before Usagi got a chance to push Hotaru out too far, Hotaru bent her arms over her head and reached for Usagi. She quickly grasped her hands around her shoulders and then went down to her arms. Usagi didn't even bother with pulling her arms away from Hotaru. She just continued to push on the girl's back, which started to get Hotaru's grip to loosen up. But Hotaru wasn't about to give up. She pushed back on Usagi's leg. She heard her friends quietly cry out in pain, but that was the point to the game, to win no matter what. With Usagi's slight loss of concentration, Hotaru took her opportunity to tighten her grip on Usagi's arm.
"Watch this!" Hotaru used Usagi as her brace as she lifted her feet into the air and flipped over Usagi. Now both girls stood back to back with no idea if the other was moving or not as they didn't have their power levels raised up.
Usagi grinned. "That was pretty good, Hotaru. Where'd you learn a move like that?"
Hotaru smiled as she took the compliment. "Ami taught me that little move when we were sparring yesterday in the woods. Actually, she used it on me. That's why I became their prisoner."
"Heh, she's getting good." With that, as if it were instinct, both fighters turned around at the same exact time. "Trying to show me up, are you?"
Hotaru smirked. "Maybe."
'Ok, now she's starting to freak me out. She's acting like she's been fighting for a long time. Of course, she doesn't have her gravity turned on today since it's the tournament and all, but still…' Without further conversation, Usagi ducked to the ground and swung her leg out at Hotaru's ankle, causing the younger fighter to fall to the ground. "Ha!"
Hotaru rolled away from Usagi and swiftly bounced back to her feet. "Good one. I didn't see that coming." Just as Hotaru went to retaliate against Usagi, she sensed her friends flying towards the location. "Usagi! Everyone's coming!"
Usagi looked up into the sky for she too sensed what Hotaru was feeling. "Yeah. It must mean that they want us at the stadium already."
Hotaru looked down to her watch. "But we still have an hour and a half left."
Usagi jumped into the air. "I know. But it's usually a good idea to get there about an hour before it starts to get yourself mentally ready and so you can see when you have to fight."
Hotaru hopped into the air after Usagi. "Are you sure that I'll be ok in the intermediate division? I mean, I only started two weeks ago and all. I don't want to look stupid in front of daddy."
Usagi gave Hotaru a sarcastic look. "Give me a break, Hotaru. With the way you've been trained, you would've been bored in the beginner's division." Usagi waved to her friends, who were nearing them.
Hotaru sighed as she flew with Usagi towards their friends. "I hope you're right. Hey, if I win in my division does that mean that I would be able to fight Mr. Satan too?"
Usagi smiled as she looked down to the child. "I never thought of that! Of course you will! Oh how great that would be! Getting beaten by a ten year old and a five year old in just ONE day. Oh how much fun we're going to have today."
"Hey you two, what's up? You don't look like you've been fighting very much." Rei noted the fact that neither of the girls had any scratches on any part of their bodies. "I thought you were going to train her for the last two hours free time we had before we had to be there."
Usagi groaned as she turned to Rei, who was sure to get on her case for goofing off again. "Uh…well about that. You see, we kind of got sidetracked a lot and JUST really got into real sparring about a half hour ago."
"Well that's going to have to do because they are starting the tournament in forty-five minutes and your dad is freaking out about where you've been."
"Excuse me? Did you just say FORTY-FIVE MINUTES! I thought we still had an hour and a half left to go." Usagi looked to Hotaru with a ball of nerves. She knew she was going to get it from her mother for being irresponsible and getting there late.
"Usagi, you dork! You got the time that the tournament starts. Come on before it gets even later."
~*~*~
~~The Tournament~~
Usagi arrived at the stadium with her friends with a half hour left on the clock before the tournament started. She couldn't believe that she had gotten the time screwed up, though she did wonder what really was supposed to happen in an hour and a half.
Just before Usagi entered the room where her family was, she stopped. Inside, she saw Mr. Satan talking with them. Though she couldn't tell what. Even her sensitive Saiyan hearing couldn't quite pick up what they were saying, but she knew it was bad.
She frowned when she thought of what she was doing. She was acting scared. Scared to go in and join her family because Mr. Satan was in there. She wouldn't let him intimidate her, after all, she hoped to beat him in the tournament that day. She figured that it was only fair to let him know of his destiny. "Hey Mr. Satan!" She finally decided to merge into the room.
Mr. Satan nervously looked over to Usagi, whose friends had already come into the room before her. "Uh…hi Usagi." He turned back to Goku and Gohan. "We'll talk about this later. Please think about it." He turned back to Usagi and calmly nodded good by to her. "Good day, Usagi."
"Hey Satan, just a minute." Mr. Satan turned back to see the smirking face of Usagi, which only made him feel even more uneasy. "I'll see you at the end of the tournament…when I'm kicking your butt. Don't worry, though. I'll go easy on you."
Mr. Satan sympathetically turned to her family for help. He to get a response from Gohan, who frowned down at his little sister. "Give it a rest already, Usagi. No one cares if you're going to try to beat Mr. Satan."
Usagi was a little hurt by her brother's statement. She knew he couldn't have possibly meant it though. He had never said anything rude to her before, she doubt that he was meaning to be rude now. She knew how adults got whenever they were stressed about something. "Gees, Gohan. Don't have a cow. I'm just having some fun. I mean, this has got to be the greatest day in my life."
"Yeah Usagi. YOUR greatest day. You just can't stop to think of others, can you?" Gohan turned away from his sister and walked out of the room without letting her speak. He couldn't help but feel ashamed of her.
Usagi wasn't sure how she was meant to take that, but that time she actually took it as him being rude to her. She looked to her father in question. "Why is he mad at me, daddy? What did I do?"
Goku just shook his head as he too turned away. "Don't worry about it."
Usagi got an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach as she watched bother her oldest brother and father walk away from her. She didn't know how to take her father's reaction either. "I know I'm late but…"
"I said don't worry about it. Now leave it alone."
Videl could see the tears building up in her sister-in-law's eyes. She ran to her side and hugged her. "It's ok. It's just a man thing. Men always get like this from time to time. Especially when they have things on their mind. Don't take it personally, Usagi." She didn't want to get Usagi upset if there was no need to. And at this point, things hadn't been decided yet, so there WAS no need to get the child upset…yet, and hopefully there would never be.
Usagi smiled as she hugged Videl back. "Ok. I wont. I'll just concentrate on winning so I can beat your dad. No offense."
Videl giggled. "Non taken."
Usagi pulled away from her sister-in-law and walked to her friends. "Well you guys, let's go check out what times we fight. I wonder if I'll get to fight Mamoru. That would be cool."
Ami remembered back to the last time that Usagi had fought with Mamoru for real. That was the day that she had first met Usagi. She remembered how they had both fallen to the ground from exhaustion. "What makes you think that he's going to come? I mean, he knows that he's no match for you."
Usagi grinned as she put her arm around her friend's neck. "Well my dear friend, Ami, I know Piccolo. Need I say more?"
"Yeah, Piccolo will be sure to make him go." Makoto walked backwards out of the room so she could face her friends while she spoke to them. "Remember when we went to the tournament before and he had to take us? Now THAT was interesting. And how he yelled at us when we called Mamoru a bully. Man, that was scary. We thought he was going to beat us up or something."
Videl watched as the six youngsters left the room to find themselves some entertainment while they waited for the tournament to start. When she saw that they had fully left, she turned back to Goku and Gohan who were both acting like pigs at the moment. "I hope you BOTH are happy. You are acting on something that hasn't even been decided yet! Can't you just keep your big mouths shut!? There may be no reason to even act that way towards her! And Goku! You should be ashamed of yourself for what you did to her!"
Goku frowned as he crossed his arms. He hated to be told how to act with his daughter. "And what was it that I did so horribly."
"You told her not to worry about it!"
"Well it isn't something that she needs to worry about. It's none of her concern until we have further reason to tell her."
"You could have at least told her to her FACE instead of turning your back to her like that!"
"Father, speak for yourself, I've made up my mind. It's my decision to make anyways."
Goku turned to his son with a slight frown. "She's MY daughter. I think it's MY decision to make. You're only her brother." Goku turned to his wife. "What do you think, Chi-Chi?"
"I'm with you, Goku. We need more convincing."
"Yeah, dad. So am I."
Goku smiled as he turned to his second son, Goten. "Try to knock some sense into your brother then." With that, he walked away from the group so he could have some time to think about his decision.
Gohan frowned at his father as he walked away. "I don't care if he agrees with it or not. It's not right. If he goes along with Usagi, he's being just as selfish as her."
~*~*~
Goku walked out into the main room of the stadium, where he found his daughter and her friends looking at the bored to find out when they would be fighting. He sighed as he leaned against the wall. 'Videl was right. I just keep screwin up, don't I? But I'm still not convinced enough to tell her anything.'
~*~*~
"Usagi! Usagi! When do I fight?" Hotaru hoped up and down with excitement. She couldn't wait to be able to show her dad everything that she had learned from her friends.
"Well, Hotaru, it looks like you're fighting first for you division, which is the very first fight of all. You should start getting ready soon, then."
Hotaru was all of a sudden taken over with fear. "FIRST!? That means I can't watch any of the fights that go on to see what I'm supposed to do."
Minako turned around with a friendly smile and looked down to Hotaru. "Don't worry. Just fight these guys like you would with us. Just remember not to fall for anything that they say."
Once Makoto found when she would be fighting, she turned around to look at Hotaru's nervous face. "Yeah, Minako's right. And remember, there are only three ways to get kicked out of the tournament. If it's a total knockout, which we wont have to worry about, if you are beaten by your opponent twice, or if you fall out of the ring."
Rei could see the nervousness in Hotaru's face diminishing. "Remember these rules and you'll be fine. But you also have to remember that you can't raise your fighting power at all. That's why we've been practicing with only our normal energy level." She looked around to all of the people who were passing by and smiled. "Man you guys! This is great! I've been to so many tournaments before but this is the first time that I've actually been able to PARTICIPATE in one."
~*~*~
Not too far from the girls, a group of seven were fast approaching them. The oldest of the group was Mamoru, who was now fifteen years old. He stopped when he saw the little kids. "Hey people, looks like we've found ourselves some entertainment."
Michiru looked up to see the girls laughing and carrying on about who knows what. "Whoa, it's Monkey Girl. Are you sure we aren't making a mistake by entering?"
Mamoru snorted. "Of course we aren't. We've gotten stronger in the past two years. We can take them on. They wont be THAT hard to beat." He let his eyes wonder down to the newest addition to the group. "Hey, looks like they've integrated themselves a new brat. Come on, let's go show that kid whose boss around her."
Haruka smirked. "Yeah. She looks like a person who would be dumb enough to be hanging around Monkey Girl. Come on boys, let's go formally introduce you to them." Haruka pushed out in front of Mamoru and led the way to the girls, who they would soon be trying to harass.
~*~*~
Minako's attention was soon taken by the approaching of her most despised group. "Oh look at that. It's Mamoru and his followers."
Usagi looked away from the bored that told what times they would be fighting and laid her eyes upon Mamoru's knew friends, which they had met two weeks earlier. "What do THEY want?"
Haruka stopped just in front of Hotaru and sneered down at her. "Look at this little runt. I hope she doesn't think that she can fight. You've really caught yourself a dumb ass friend this time, kids. You can tell by looking at her that she's a loner."
Hotaru stepped back from Haruka as she moved closer to Usagi. "Who are they? Why are they looking at me with such hate?"
Rei grabbed Hotaru and pulled her to the side. "Leave her alone you FREAKS! What do you want?! No one asked you here! No one here talked to you first!" Rei looked over to Usagi, who seemed to be paying more attention to the newcomers from America than the argument that had broken out between the two groups.
Usagi pushed past Michiru and Mamoru as she looked up to the faces of the Americans. "Americans sure do look funny, aside from sounding funny with their accents. I bet you have some pretty strange names too…don't you?"
One of the boys, with white hair hanging down to the middle of his back, growled as he took the liberty of speaking to the girl. "Our names can't be as bad as Usagi. I mean, really. Listen to how that rolls off your tongue…Usagi."
Another boy, with blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail at the bottom of his neck, stood to join his friend. "Yeah. It sounds like something that you would order in a big fancy restaurant. Usagi…I wonder if that IS something you can eat."
Usagi glared at the two boys as the laughed, making the others join in with them. "At least I don't look funny."
The blonde boy stopped laughing just in time to reply. "YOU don't look funny? Oh man that's just too good!" He stopped to laugh more. He could barely hold it in. "You look the funniest out all of them. I mean, look at you. You have a TAIL and you wear your hair up in the strangest style I've ever seen. Face it kid, you look like a complete dork."
Michiru snickered. She couldn't let this great opportunity to pass. "She LOOKS like a dork? Try she IS a dork. Along with all of her friends." She and her friends laughed harder as they saw the pouting face of Usagi.
Usagi crossed her arms as she turned away from the group. "I hope you guys can swallow your jokes since I'm going to beat you ALL in the tournament. I plan on going straight to beating Mr. Satan." With that, she motioned to her friends that it was time to go as she walked away.
Hotaru gave the group one last glare as she turned her back to them and walked away. Michiru grabbed Haruka's hand as she pulled her to the side. She stared into her eyes, both in wonder and in concern. "That little one is strong. We may have some trouble with her later on."
Haruka watched as Hotaru happily waddled away from their group. She frowned when she sensed her body for her power. "She's got the potential to become very strong. Feel that energy that her body is emitting. We mustn't let her become part of that group. She must be ours."
Michiru nodded. "Right. We will prepare to take her under our way of thinking." Michiru evilly smiled as she continued to watch Hotaru skip away. She couldn't wait to finally get Usagi back for what she had done to Mamoru, she knew that Mamoru would appreciate it as well. "Little kids are so easy to trick."
~*~*~
~~Half hour Later~~
Hotaru and all of her friends stood at the door that allowed them to peer out onto the stage, where things were just starting. Out on the stage stood a man with a microphone, who was introducing the contestants who would be fighting in the first fight.
Hotaru poked her head slightly out the door to look for her father, who she spotted sitting in the front row with Mrs. Mizuno and Usagi's family. Seeing her father only made her more nervous for she didn't want to look like a fool in front of him. She gulped when she heard her name called over the intercom. "Looks like I'm up."
Usagi kneeled down in front of Hotaru and looked into her wide violet eyes. "Don't get nervous on us, Hotaru. Just remember everything that you've been taught and you'll do fine. Don't get cocky, either. Make sure you don't underestimate your opponent and don't turn your back on him either."
Hotaru nodded as she smiled. "Ok. I'll try my best." She turned around and took a deep breath. "Here I go." She took a deep breath and picked up her foot, placing it outside into the main arena. She looked up to her father and waved.
Usagi turned to her friends with a grin. "I'm going to go watch the fight from a more fun place. Anyone wanna come?"
Minako rolled her eyes with half wonder. "Usagi, you go and knock yourself out. We're going stay here. This is a perfectly good place to watch. I don't like watching from the stands anyways."
Usagi shrugged as she turned around. "Ok. Your loss."
~*~*~
Professor Tomoe could have gone nuts with pride right there and then as he waved back down to her. But, because he didn't want to embarrass her, he stayed calm. "I can't wait to see how much she's learned."
Mrs. Mizuno let her eyes travel with the child as she made her way to the ring. "Well she must be pretty good if she's entering the intermediate division."
"Yeah. That's true." He smiled brighter as she took her first step onto the fighting platform. 'She's finally found something that makes her happy.'
~*~*~
Once she was in the middle of the ring, Hotaru looked back to the walkway, where she had just come from, to see another young girl, about Usagi's age, walking towards the ring. 'At least she isn't any older than the girls. That's a relief.'
The girl walked to the ring held high. She smirked when she and Hotaru made eye contact. 'That's the girl that was hanging out with Usagi earlier.' She stepped up to the ring and continued to smirk down at the child in purple, which only caused her nervousness to sky rocket.
~*~*~
Rei squinted to get a better look at the girl who stood on the fighting platform with Hotaru. "Wait a minute, isn't that that Emiko girl from school?"
With great curiosity, Minako pushed Rei aside to look upon the girl. "I think it is. I thought she was going to join in the advanced division, though."
Rei giggled as she walked to the other side of the door and looked out. "Yeah, that's what she told me. Maybe she chickened out after I beat her with my finger. Hotaru should have an easy time with this girl. She's just a bunch of talk."
~*~*~
The announcer walked off the fighting platform and turned to the girls. "Ladies and gentlemen, Hotaru and Emiko!" The crowd went wild in anticipation of the fight as he turned to go to the judges desk.
Emiko continued to smirk at Hotaru as she walked towards her. "Aren't you a little young to be an intermediate fighter? I think that you meant to sign up for the beginners division."
Hotaru crouched into a fighting position with her hands in front of her, ready to block anything that Emiko may have had for her. "I am a beginner, but I've been taught by one of the best."
Emiko stopped walking towards the child as her smirk only strengthened. "Yeah right. Let's test out your skills, then." With that, she quickly balled her hands into two tight fists as she jabbed at Hotaru.
At the first sign of movement, Hotaru jumped to the side, causing Emiko to hit dead air. Before Emiko got a chance to recover from her failed punch, Hotaru promptly ran to her and lifted her leg to kick her in the thigh. "You shouldn't tell people when you're going to attack. It's no fun that way." Hotaru jumped away from Emiko to give her a chance to recuperate from that kick.
Emiko grabbed her thigh and stumbled backwards, but caught composure before she fell. "I didn't tell you anything, BRAT!" With frustration, she jumped at Hotaru with her foot heading right for the child's head.
~*~*~
Professor Tomoe looked away just before Hotaru got hit in the face. "My god! She finds THIS fun?" He didn't want to watch his only child get beaten up.
Mrs. Mizuno, knowing full well what Hotaru's father was going through for she felt the same way about Ami fighting, placed her hand on the man's shoulder. "Don't worry, Hotaru dodged it. She's been trained well."
~*~*~
Hotaru frowned as she landed near the edge of the platform. "Come on. This is boring. I can get better entertainment sparring with Usagi."
Emiko grunted as she threw another punch at Hotaru, who dodged it, effortlessly. "Then go fight with the BRAT!"
~*~*~
Mamoru laughed as he watched the older fighter struggle to keep up with Hotaru. "That older one is horrible. She should have gone into the beginners division. She's giving that little pipsqueak false hope of winning later matches."
Michiru eyed Mamoru with annoyance. "Mamoru, that kid has a good potential and she's just young enough to fall into out grasps. All we need to do is get some time alone with her. Can you arrange that?"
Mamoru grinned, evilly, as he turned to Michiru. He knew exactly what she had in mind. "I can indeed. Though, not today. Things like this take time to plan out, correctly." He looked back down to the youngster, who had yet to attack Emiko anymore than just once. "She also needs to learn a thing or two about finishing off boring opponents."
~*~*~
Hotaru jumped into the air when Emiko came running at her with full force. "Do something besides JUST attacking head on!"
Emiko stopped herself short as she furiously turned to face Hotaru. "You annoying little brat! How dare you try and show me up!" She tried to jump kick Hotaru, but as always, Hotaru dodged.
~*~*~
Usagi giggled from afar as she watched the fight from the top of the roof of the open arena with her brother, Goten. "That girl is pathetic. Can you believe that she actually thought that she was going to be good enough to fight in the advanced division."
Goten chuckled. "You've gotta be kidding me. Man, this is horrible. Forget that kid, I feel sorry for Hotaru. This is an insult to her fighting ability. Of course, when Trunks and I entered the tournament, right before Buu came to earth, most of the kids weren't worth fighting."
"Yeah but still. I know that there's GOTTA be at least one person in this division worth fighting."
Goten nodded. "There is. I was watching some of the other kids warm up before everything started. They're pretty good. Hotaru may have a hard time defeating everyone, but that's the fun of it."
"I just can't wait to see the look on Mr. Satan's face when me AND Hotaru beat him in front of everyone."
Goten became silent as he looked down to his little sister. "Uh…Usagi, maybe you should go easy on the guy. I mean…" He stopped when he got a quick glare from her.
"Hey! He's the whole reason why I entered this thing. I'm not going to go easy on him just because he's a retard. And besides, you said that Trunks threw him into a wall. Am I wrong?"
Goten sighed as he had been defeated by his sister. "That's right. He was thrown into a wall. But he said that he threw the fight. So even if you do beat him, he's going to win. But, you have to remember that he's just a wimpy human who can't even fight like us. So that's why you should go easy on him." 'Forget it. I'm not going along with Satan, but it's not my decision.'
Usagi smiled as she looked back down to the fight. "Oh but of course. I wouldn't want to hurt him TOO bad."
~*~*~
Hotaru frowned with annoyance as she looked upon her supposed opponent. "You don't know how to fight, do you?"
Emiko jumped away from Hotaru. "Of course I do! It's you who doesn't know how to fight! That's why you keep running away from me. You wont attack me because you know that I'll beat you and then…"
Hotaru's fist went flying into Emiko's stomach, causing her to fly backwards through. Emiko fell on to the ground just before she landed outside the platform. Hotaru walked to the fallen fighter and looked down at her with pity. "And I thought I was going to have a challenge. It looks like I'm going to have to wait for the next round. Oh well, I guess that's ok. Better luck next time."
Emiko grabbed her stomach as she tried to sit up, but every time she moved the slightest bit, a sharp gush of pain rushed through her body. "Damn you!"
Hotaru grinned as she turned to look back at her friends, who watched from the door. "Who says I don't know how to fight?"
(There it is, the tournament, well at least part of it anyways. What did you think? See ya later )