Mr. Satan arrogantly walked around the main hall of the arena, giving the young participants his autograph. He acted as if he was the main event of the whole show, though everyone pretty much went along with it. Even after all these years the people of the world still saw him as their savior. It was sickening, well, it was sickening to begin with even.
He happily looked up to the sky as he was turning from a fan, freezing in his place when he saw Usagi and her brother jumping down from the fifty foot roof that enclosed the room where the fighters were to be getting ready. "What are they DOING!?" He darted his attention in all directions to make sure that no one had seen what the two siblings had done. They were just lucky that no one seemed to be too concerned with anything but their own business.
Mr. Satan frowned as he angrily began to walk towards the duo. "What were you two doing up there?! That's fifty feet high with NO stairs leading up there!"
Goten took the liberty of answering for the both of them. He knew that Satan wasn't too happy with Usagi…ever. "Don't worry. We don't need stairs, remember? We can fly."
Mr. Satan began to freak out as he pushed the two Saiyans into a low traffic corner. "I know you can fly! THAT'S the POINT! Some one may have seen you! It's a little unnatural that you climbed up fifty feet just to watch a fight! And then when you came down, you BOTH landed on your feet! DON'T do it again!"
Usagi rolled her eyes as she listened to the man's rambling. "Why do you care? In a few hours me and Hotaru will beat you good." Usagi grinned as she placed her hand on Mr. Satan's shoulder. "Don't worry, you wont have to cover your secret with lies anymore. You can get yourself out in the open. Believe me, when you tell the truth, you'll feel better about this whole thing…trust me."
Mr. Satan pulled away from the child as he smirked down at her. "We'll see about that."
"What you think you can bea…"
"USAGI!" Hotaru emerged, running, from the fighter's building and sensed for Usagi's energy, which she found just by the door. She quickly slowed herself down, nearly knocking another person down, and turned back around to see Usagi with Goten and Mr. Satan. "USAGI!" Once she was completely turned around, she picked up the pace again and ran straight for Usagi to tell her of her fight.
Usagi smiled when she saw Hotaru. "Hotaru! Great fight!" Hotaru tried to stop herself before she hit Mr. Satan, but her feet slipped in some soda that had been spilled on the floor and went flying straight into the liar, causing him to fall to his face and let Hotaru use him as a pillow. "Oops."
Usagi laughed as hard as she could when she saw Mr. Satan grab his head. "Oh man! That was classic. You should have seen the look on your face when Hotaru ran into you."
Hotaru let on a slight smile when she realized that she wasn't going to be yelled at for hitting him. She quickly rolled off him to let him up before he got too terribly angry. She looked up to Goten, who also seemed to find the situation funny, which only caused her to laugh.
Mr. Satan jumped to his feet as fast as he could to risk any further embarrassment. "Hey you kids! Don't laugh at me!" He turned around and frowned at Hotaru. "Why don't you watch where you're going!?"
Hotaru only continued to laugh along with Usagi. Usagi poked Mr. Satan on the back of his shoulder to get his attention. "Come on Mr. Satan. Loosen up. Have some fun…live a little."
"That's easier said than done. But your time will come. And then we'll see how much loosening up you will have to do." With that, he threw his shoulders back and conceitedly walked away as if he had no care in the world. At times, he actually thought himself to be the world's TRUE hero.
Hotaru shrugged of her curiosity for the man and ran to Usagi with a bright smile. "Usagi! I won! I won!" She calmed down a bit. "But only because my opponent wasn't very good. She didn't do anything that you taught me. Like she just went at me without knowing if I was capable of dodging or anything. I hope they all aren't THAT easy."
"When I was fighting in these tournaments they were. My only competition was Trunks. Though, now that I'm older, my competition is pretty much our friends still. I just moved up to the adult division." Goten grabbed his sister and her friend by the hand as he began to lead them to the stands. "Come on. Let's go let Hotaru rave about her victory to her dad."
Hotaru walked ahead of Usagi as she tugged on Goten's arm. "Come on! Let's go faster!"
Goten chuckled as he sped up the pace. "She sure reminds me of someone." He accusingly looked down to his sister, who only responded with an innocent smile. "Are you sure you're only training her in the art of fighting and not your personality as well?"
"Nope! I'm not!" Usagi looked around the area as she walked with her friend and brother to the spectator's stand. "Where are the others, Hotaru?"
Hotaru shrugged as she continued to pull on Goten's arm. "I don't know. They were with me when I came back from the fight. Then they were gone. They're probably watching the next fight already." Hotaru pulled away from Goten's grip when they came to the top of the stands. "Look! There they are in front!"
Usagi, too, pulled from her brother and joined Hotaru as she ran down the stairs. "Look, the others ARE still down there watching the fight from the door."
"Can we stay up here until my next fight?"
Usagi nodded as she directed Hotaru to move into the stands. "Sure."
Hotaru ran to her father and hugged him from behind. "Daddy! What did you think?!"
Professor Tomoe smiled as he glanced back at his daughter. "What can I say? You were great. When's your next fight?"
"I think it's a couple fights after this one." She looked down to the fight that was going on. Currently, Emiko was fighting to stay in the tournament.
~*~*~
~~Two and a half hours Later~~
It had been one hour since Hotaru's first fight and she had fought four times since then. She had barely beaten her third opponent by hitting him out of the ring and had actually lost her fifth fight. Her opponents were proving to be quite formidable, which was what Hotaru found herself wanting more of. She didn't want things to be easy. She wanted a challenge to make her stronger. Though, she didn't win her first through third battles because she was stronger than them. Though, that did play an important part in her winning for her hits were received harder, but, that's not why she won. She won because she had better skill than her opponents. Though, her fifth opponent seemed to know more what she was doing than Hotaru, but that was to be expected. Hotaru hadn't even expected to get as far as she had.
Now, she was getting herself prepared for her next battle, even though she had only lost a few moments ago. This next fight would determine whether she would be staying in, or if she would be leaving. If she won this fight, she would only have one more fight to do and then she would leave with either first, or second place, both very high honors.
Hotaru worriedly looked over to Usagi as the announcer was preparing for the next fight. "Usagi I'm scared. What if I loose again?"
Usagi turned to the concerned little girl. "Don't worry, Hotaru. You're going to do great, just like you have been for this whole tournament. You're going to win."
"How do you know? I'm TIRED."
Usagi giggled as she remembered back to when she had been worn out at the tournament. She had wanted nothing more than to sit out and rest, but she wasn't able to. She had to keep on fighting. "I know that you're going to win because I said so, and whatever I say, goes. You just keep your motivation in your head."
"What's my motivation?"
"There are two things to motivate you to do win. One, you want to beat Satan up. This is broadcasted so when you win, you will show everyone of your classmates that you aren't a wimp. You'll show them that you're one tough cookie. Now get out there and do your best. We're rooting for you."
Hotaru nodded with a smile as she turned around. "I'll show them all that I'm not weak!" With that, she walked out to the fighting platform with her head held high with pride.
~*~*~
~~Meanwhile~~
Gohan snuck around the arena, quietly. He didn't want anyone to know that he had left. He definitely didn't want anyone to know WHY he had snuck away from the family, either. That would have been disastrous. He had his power level lowered as far down as he could get it to risk being caught, by his wife especially.
He sensed out for the one person he was searching for. He felt the energy reading near the front gate of the stadium. He hesitated to go any further to make the deal. He wasn't sure it was the right way to solve the problem. He though once more about Mr. Satan, which jolted his hesitation out of place. He knew what he had to do.
~*~*~
~~Back at the Fight~~
Hotaru was occupied with a rather tough opponent back at the fighting arena. She was fighting a seventeen year old male who seemed to have much more strength than her. Though, she was smaller and more mobile while he was slow and unable to keep up with her speed, which made the fight a little bit easier. But his attacks were very accurate and Hotaru took a terrible beating for it.
Now the two fighters stood face to face, both panting for breath from the previous fights that they had taken part in. They took this bubble in their fighting as a small break to replenish their energy reserves, though it would be much harder for Hotaru since she was nearly beaten as much as she could be. Her body was already beginning to bruise all over. Her face was covered with cuts from her opponents beating her in the face. But she wouldn't give up. None of her friends would give up so she wouldn't give up. She wanted to make her father, as well as her friends proud of her.
Without a single word from either fighter, they both began to move again as if they knew it was time to end their break. Hotaru followed the big guy's movements very carefully and placed her body into a fighting stance. She watched him for any sudden movements. She couldn't afford to take any more hits from him. She was afraid that if she did, she would be done for. Her energy was already depleting without the help of any assaults. She was relieved when she had heard that there would be a fight in between the last and final fight to determine who she would be fighting up against, if she got that far.
The big guy, who looked very intimidating, smirked down at Hotaru. "You look pretty silly with all those fancy movie moves, kid."
Hotaru jumped to the side as the guy came closer. "They aren't movie moves. This is what REAL fighters fight like."
The boy just let out a 'humph' out of annoyance and jumped up and forward towards Hotaru. "They shouldn't let little girls fight in these things. Girls need to be in the kitchen, where they belong."
Hotaru acted fast, faster than the older fighter could follow. She had expected him to try something like that. He may have been strong, he may have known a lot about fighting, but he sure didn't know HOW to use that knowledge. Just before his fist hit the top of her head, she ducked to the ground, barely missing the hit. "A little too close for my liking."
The older fighter fly over the crouched Hotaru and landed with his fist into the ground. He quickly bounced back to his feet and turned to Hotaru with a fist full of blood. "Not bad, kid."
Hotaru grinned as she jumped into the air and swung her leg into the boy's face. She gracefully landed back on the ground just as the boy crashed into the concrete. 'Too slow.'
~*~*~
Professor Tomoe couldn't believe he effort his daughter was putting into this fight. Though, he was happy that she was enjoying herself and had finally found something that she was good at. Even if he didn't care too much for the wounds that came along with the fighting. 'Her mother was right…'
~*~*~
The teen pushed himself off the ground and once again stood in front of Hotaru with a bloody lip. 'Damn that kid is strong. No wonder why a pipsqueak like her made it this far.' He jumped forward at Hotaru with his hands in front of him and open. Before Hotaru had a chance to react, he had his hands gripped around her tiny arms and pulled her close to him. "Don't get cocky now, kid." With that, he spun her around and threw her forward, she landed with her head hanging over the edge of the platform.
Hotaru turned her head to look at the soft turf below and gasped. If she didn't do something fast, she would loose the whole tournament. She lifted her head to see her opponent running to her. 'Heh…' He looked as if he were going to try the same thing on her.
Just as he was about to run into her, he began to jump into the air. But before he got a chance to go very far, Hotaru lifted her hands up and grabbed the wrists of the boy. Immediately, he began to fall backwards, meaning, over the edge. Hotaru helped with that though, as she brought her hands over her head as well as sticking her foot into his stomach to push him even more.
The big guy landed with a large thud and the bell was rang to claim Hotaru as the victor of the fight. Hotaru jumped to her feet with a smile. She rubbed her wrists from the strain that had just been placed on them. 'I actually won?! Cool! Now I can compete for the championship of my division!' She began walking forward, but found herself on the ground with her arm wrapped around her leg. "I guess he took more out of me than I thought."
~*~*~
~~Back with Gohan~~
Gohan hastily approached his destination, who still stood within the gates. Him and his friends. He wished that he didn't resort to this particular method, but he didn't think that his father would go along with what he wanted. It wasn't that he ONLY wanted it, it was what was right and they both knew it. But Usagi being his daughter only made the situation tougher on his decision.
"Mamoru!" He called out once he saw him and his friends in full view.
Mamoru turned around, annoyed. He knew that voice. He would know the voice of any Son in a heartbeat. Especially if it were Goku, Gohan, or Goten. He resented them for always trying to protect Usagi. "What is it old man?"
Gohan tried to keep from frowning. He wanted Mamoru to go along with his proposition and if he were going to get him to agree with anything, he would have to be on the boy's good side. Though, he hated to be called an old man as he didn't feel or look like one. "I need to talk to you. All of you, actually."
Mamoru's expression lightened up when he heard the sincerity and kindness in Gohan's voice. "Is that a fact? Now tell me, Gohan, what could you possibly have to say to us except leave your damned sister alone?"
"Please, Mamoru. I'm trying to hold an adult conversation with you. Don't make this any harder than it already is going to be." Gohan couldn't help but frown at that. Though he felt somewhat angry with the reason why Usagi had come to the tournament in the first place, he still loved her and didn't want Mamoru going around, bashing her.
Mamoru grinned as he looked into Gohan's eyes. He knew that there was something playing on the man's mind. He also knew that he was going to ask him a favor. "So tell me, Gohan. What did you want from us? If it's to loose to your kid sister, don't even think about it. We've got our eyes set on having our names put in the hall of fame. Well, actually, just Haruka, Michiru and I. These guys here are just in to watch, though they're going to be entering in the next tournament so tell Usagi to watch herself."
Gohan just shook his head. "I don't want you to loose to Usagi. Actually, I want her to loose to you."
Mamoru quirked his eyebrow in interest. "Oh really? And tell me, why would and older protective brother such as yourself want his kid sister, like Usagi, to loose to an ass like me? Isn't that how you like to refer to me? Or better put in your words, a pain in the ass."
Gohan made a tight fist as he tried to control his anger. "Look here, Mamoru! This isn't funny! Stop changing the subject."
Mamoru smirked. He was enjoying seeing Gohan suffer all too much. "I didn't. I asked you a question. Why do you want her to loose?"
"That's none of your concern. Now what is, is this little bit of information that can help you beat her. Listen up because I know that you are going to be going up against her at least once, unless you get your asses kicked by one of the other girls, but here it is. I've been sparring with Usagi ever since she first started out so I know her fighting style as well as her weaknesses. Haruka, Michiru, Mamoru, you well know that her tail is he biggest weakness. But, there is a dilemma, she hides her tail when she's fighting so it wont be grabbed. So here's how you're going to get it. I've noticed that she swings left when she does her roundhouse kicks, leaving her tail wide open. If you could somehow dodge her attack and grab her tail she'll be defenseless."
Haruka frowned as she crossed her arms. "You know what, I don't even know why we're even listening to this guy. He's her brother who NEVER fails to stand up for her. WHY in the world would he want her to loose to "scum" like us I ask you? This is a trick. they've planned this out. This is just a way to make sure that she wins."
Gohan glared at Haruka as he grabbed her by the front of her Gi. "Now listen here you little shit! I don't have time to deal with this! My sister wouldn't EVER have to cheat against the likes of you to win. You're just child's play to her. Even that little kid, Hotaru, gives her a better challenge than you would ever dream of." He released Haruka and pushed her away from him. "Now, do we have a deal or what? This is for real, I don't want her to win this tournament."
Michiru couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for Usagi. Here she was, trying her hardest to win and her older brother was trying to ensure her lose. "What has to world come to when a girl can't even count on her older brother?"
Haruka punched Michiru in the stomach. "Don't be going soft on us here, Michiru. That kid has it coming. This is for our fifth and sixth grade years. She humiliated us in front of the whole school. Now we humiliate her in front of her family."
Michiru doubled over in pain as she grabbed her stomach. 'I'm not going soft you idiot. I just don't think it's right for her brother to go behind her back like this.' "Fine! Gohan, why are you telling us this?"
"I'm doing it to protect her me." No one said a single word for they weren't exactly sure what he meant by that. "You heard me. Now DON'T tell her that I set this up. If you do, it will be each and every one of your hides. Even the ones who DON'T participate. I don't care anymore." He particularly glared back the Americans. "Make sure your friends don't spill, unless you want to deal with me, that is."
Mamoru patted Gohan on the shoulder. "You're a good man, Gohan. My respect for you has grown." He smirked as he watched Gohan walk away. "We've got him in a very interesting position."
Haruka grinned as she turned to her friend. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Mamoru nodded. "Oh yeah. We can use this to our advantage. Blackmail."
For the first time in her life, Michiru disagreed with what her friends were planning. The one thing that she didn't exactly like doing was getting the middle of a family quarrel, though, she wouldn't dare tell her friends in fear that they would shun her and try to jump her.
~*~*~
While the next to last fight was going on for the intermediate division, Professor Tomoe went down to the fighters' preparation room, where he found his daughter laughing with her friends. He smiled as he walked forward to congratulate her. "Hotaru…"
Hotaru stopped laughing as she turned to her father. "Daddy! I got into the FINAL fight for my division! That means I got either second or FIRST place! Isn't that great?" She didn't even let her poor father get in a word before she starting in again. "I think it's wonderful! I mean, who would have thought that I, of all people," would have gotten to the LAST fight?" She quite her jabbering and ran to her father.
"That's great Hotaru."
Hotaru looked up at her father as she felt his hands picking her up. "Look…" She pointed to a cut under her eye. "I got a boo boo and guess what…it doesn't hurt! I got it when I threw that guy over me."
The Professor hugged his daughter as he eyed her wound. "Well as long as you're having fun."
Hotaru's mood soon became grim with tears. "I wonder what mommy would think? She knew that I was a fighter. She told me so herself. That's why I'm able to fight good, isn't it daddy? Cause us fighters love to fight."
Tomoe sighed as he set his daughter down. "Yes, Hotaru…" He hadn't heard her speak of THAT since she was about four years old.
Hotaru became confused at her father's sudden sadness. "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong."
Tomoe shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I'm just remembering your mother." He rubbed his hand on her back as he led her back to her friends, who were gossiping about recent happenings at their school. "I'm going to watch the last fight from down here, if that's all right with you, fire fly."
Hotaru took her father to the doorway that led out into the fighting area. "You're going to watch from down here?! Cool! You'll love it. You get to see a lot more down here." She turned her head when she sensed the slightly raised power level of Gohan walk into the building. "Gohan!" She looked up to her father. "Look, daddy! That's Gohan's older brother Gohan."
Gohan faked a smile as he indistinctly waved to the young child. He wasn't too happy with himself for what he just did and didn't feel like talking to anyone at the moment. But he knew that since Hotaru had called out to him that his sister would come over and demand to know what was wrong. "Hey, Hotaru." He looked up the man who stood with the excited child. "Hi, I'm Gohan."
Professor Tomoe returned the smile that Gohan gave. "Hello, Gohan. I'm Professor Tomoe, Hotaru's father. It's nice to meet you. Usagi has told me a lot about you. She really looks up to you."
Gohan dropped his head in shame. 'She wont look up to me for long after what I just did. Though, she wont ever find out if I can help it.' "Yeah…" He couldn't stand to stay there any longer. He wouldn't be able to look Usagi or any of her friends in the eye again and not feel guilty. But then he thought about the reason why he had done it. Not only was it to protect Usagi, but Mr. Satan as well. "Good luck out there, Hotaru."
That's when it hit him. Hotaru would also be going up against Mr. Satan. She would be able to beat him in a heart beat. He shot his head back up and looked down to the laughing girl and her friends. 'Whoa crap. I think I have somewhat of a problem now.'
"Hey traitor." Goten walked into the room with anger written all over his face. He glared at his brother as he shook his head in shame.
Gohan turned around, stunned at what his brother had just called him. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Usagi turned her head up at the sound of her brother cursing. "Language people! Language! I don't want to hear that kind of stuff coming from you."
Goten chuckled down at his sister. "Dad sure did teach her well. Though, he never took the time out to stop himself from cursing in front of us."
Gohan frowned as he punched his little brother in the arm. "Don't change the da…subject. What was that supposed to mean? Why are you calling me a traitor?" 'Crap. I thought that he was still in the stands.'
"I saw you talking with Mamoru and the others. I know I didn't see them getting mad, so you couldn't have been yelling at them for anything. What was it? What were you talking to them about? I already think I know what it was, but I want to hear it come from your mouth."
Gohan turned around to see if his sister was still listening. Goten was talking loud enough for her to hear, even if she was on the other side of a loud room. Her hearing could still pick up low frequencies. "It's not any of your business. Don't worry about it."
Goten grabbed his brother by the arm and pulled him close enough to his face to where he wouldn't have to talk very loud. "It IS my business. Now spill."
Gohan ripped himself away from his brother. "Don't do this, Goten. It's not that big of a deal. But it's also not any of your business. Just don't worry about it." He stepped to the side and proceeded to walk away from Goten. "And by the way, not a single word to anyone, especially Usagi. I hope I can at least trust you to do that for me."
Goten scowled forward as his brother left. He didn't even want to watch him leave. He couldn't believe what Gohan was doing. Never in his life had he ever seen his brother acting in such an awful manner. 'To think, I used to look up to him. What was I thinking? I always thought that he had a straight head on his shoulders. I guess not. But I don't think he's doing it to be mean. But I'm NOT going to keep something like this from Usagi.' "Usagi!"
Usagi once again tore herself from her friends and turned to her brother, this time with more annoyance. "What?"
Goten motioned for her to come to him, which she did. He looked down into her light blue eyes that sparkled in the light shining in from the door behind him. "I have some bad news. I think Mamoru got some information from…" 'Maybe I shouldn't tell who…' "Somewhere. Information about your fighting style or a way to beat you. I'm not sure what it was but I overheard them talking about a sure-fire way of beating you so you may want to watch yourself extra carefully."
"Who could have told?"
Goten shrugged, though he knew. He didn't want her to become disgruntled with Gohan. That would have been hard on both of them. "I have no idea. But that isn't the important thing. What is, is keeping you informed, which I have done."
"Are you gonna tell daddy and mom?"
Goten shook his head. "What can they do?" 'Besides giving Gohan a giant lecture, nothing. He isn't under their control anymore. Besides, their leaning towards going along with Mr. Satan anyways. Why tell the traitors anything.' "You just worry about yourself and giving Hotaru over there good advice for her next fight."
Usagi smiled. "You got it."
( Wow, this got out late, but that's ok. At least it got out, right? Anyways, a little note from me. I'm going to do this tournament in fast time, meaning that I'm going to be skipping a lot of time, as I already did with Hotaru's fight. There is a reason for this. It's because if I did all the fights LONG like I should, this chapter would span out FOREVER. Anyways, so what do you think? I guess I should be going. Ja ne! )
He happily looked up to the sky as he was turning from a fan, freezing in his place when he saw Usagi and her brother jumping down from the fifty foot roof that enclosed the room where the fighters were to be getting ready. "What are they DOING!?" He darted his attention in all directions to make sure that no one had seen what the two siblings had done. They were just lucky that no one seemed to be too concerned with anything but their own business.
Mr. Satan frowned as he angrily began to walk towards the duo. "What were you two doing up there?! That's fifty feet high with NO stairs leading up there!"
Goten took the liberty of answering for the both of them. He knew that Satan wasn't too happy with Usagi…ever. "Don't worry. We don't need stairs, remember? We can fly."
Mr. Satan began to freak out as he pushed the two Saiyans into a low traffic corner. "I know you can fly! THAT'S the POINT! Some one may have seen you! It's a little unnatural that you climbed up fifty feet just to watch a fight! And then when you came down, you BOTH landed on your feet! DON'T do it again!"
Usagi rolled her eyes as she listened to the man's rambling. "Why do you care? In a few hours me and Hotaru will beat you good." Usagi grinned as she placed her hand on Mr. Satan's shoulder. "Don't worry, you wont have to cover your secret with lies anymore. You can get yourself out in the open. Believe me, when you tell the truth, you'll feel better about this whole thing…trust me."
Mr. Satan pulled away from the child as he smirked down at her. "We'll see about that."
"What you think you can bea…"
"USAGI!" Hotaru emerged, running, from the fighter's building and sensed for Usagi's energy, which she found just by the door. She quickly slowed herself down, nearly knocking another person down, and turned back around to see Usagi with Goten and Mr. Satan. "USAGI!" Once she was completely turned around, she picked up the pace again and ran straight for Usagi to tell her of her fight.
Usagi smiled when she saw Hotaru. "Hotaru! Great fight!" Hotaru tried to stop herself before she hit Mr. Satan, but her feet slipped in some soda that had been spilled on the floor and went flying straight into the liar, causing him to fall to his face and let Hotaru use him as a pillow. "Oops."
Usagi laughed as hard as she could when she saw Mr. Satan grab his head. "Oh man! That was classic. You should have seen the look on your face when Hotaru ran into you."
Hotaru let on a slight smile when she realized that she wasn't going to be yelled at for hitting him. She quickly rolled off him to let him up before he got too terribly angry. She looked up to Goten, who also seemed to find the situation funny, which only caused her to laugh.
Mr. Satan jumped to his feet as fast as he could to risk any further embarrassment. "Hey you kids! Don't laugh at me!" He turned around and frowned at Hotaru. "Why don't you watch where you're going!?"
Hotaru only continued to laugh along with Usagi. Usagi poked Mr. Satan on the back of his shoulder to get his attention. "Come on Mr. Satan. Loosen up. Have some fun…live a little."
"That's easier said than done. But your time will come. And then we'll see how much loosening up you will have to do." With that, he threw his shoulders back and conceitedly walked away as if he had no care in the world. At times, he actually thought himself to be the world's TRUE hero.
Hotaru shrugged of her curiosity for the man and ran to Usagi with a bright smile. "Usagi! I won! I won!" She calmed down a bit. "But only because my opponent wasn't very good. She didn't do anything that you taught me. Like she just went at me without knowing if I was capable of dodging or anything. I hope they all aren't THAT easy."
"When I was fighting in these tournaments they were. My only competition was Trunks. Though, now that I'm older, my competition is pretty much our friends still. I just moved up to the adult division." Goten grabbed his sister and her friend by the hand as he began to lead them to the stands. "Come on. Let's go let Hotaru rave about her victory to her dad."
Hotaru walked ahead of Usagi as she tugged on Goten's arm. "Come on! Let's go faster!"
Goten chuckled as he sped up the pace. "She sure reminds me of someone." He accusingly looked down to his sister, who only responded with an innocent smile. "Are you sure you're only training her in the art of fighting and not your personality as well?"
"Nope! I'm not!" Usagi looked around the area as she walked with her friend and brother to the spectator's stand. "Where are the others, Hotaru?"
Hotaru shrugged as she continued to pull on Goten's arm. "I don't know. They were with me when I came back from the fight. Then they were gone. They're probably watching the next fight already." Hotaru pulled away from Goten's grip when they came to the top of the stands. "Look! There they are in front!"
Usagi, too, pulled from her brother and joined Hotaru as she ran down the stairs. "Look, the others ARE still down there watching the fight from the door."
"Can we stay up here until my next fight?"
Usagi nodded as she directed Hotaru to move into the stands. "Sure."
Hotaru ran to her father and hugged him from behind. "Daddy! What did you think?!"
Professor Tomoe smiled as he glanced back at his daughter. "What can I say? You were great. When's your next fight?"
"I think it's a couple fights after this one." She looked down to the fight that was going on. Currently, Emiko was fighting to stay in the tournament.
~*~*~
~~Two and a half hours Later~~
It had been one hour since Hotaru's first fight and she had fought four times since then. She had barely beaten her third opponent by hitting him out of the ring and had actually lost her fifth fight. Her opponents were proving to be quite formidable, which was what Hotaru found herself wanting more of. She didn't want things to be easy. She wanted a challenge to make her stronger. Though, she didn't win her first through third battles because she was stronger than them. Though, that did play an important part in her winning for her hits were received harder, but, that's not why she won. She won because she had better skill than her opponents. Though, her fifth opponent seemed to know more what she was doing than Hotaru, but that was to be expected. Hotaru hadn't even expected to get as far as she had.
Now, she was getting herself prepared for her next battle, even though she had only lost a few moments ago. This next fight would determine whether she would be staying in, or if she would be leaving. If she won this fight, she would only have one more fight to do and then she would leave with either first, or second place, both very high honors.
Hotaru worriedly looked over to Usagi as the announcer was preparing for the next fight. "Usagi I'm scared. What if I loose again?"
Usagi turned to the concerned little girl. "Don't worry, Hotaru. You're going to do great, just like you have been for this whole tournament. You're going to win."
"How do you know? I'm TIRED."
Usagi giggled as she remembered back to when she had been worn out at the tournament. She had wanted nothing more than to sit out and rest, but she wasn't able to. She had to keep on fighting. "I know that you're going to win because I said so, and whatever I say, goes. You just keep your motivation in your head."
"What's my motivation?"
"There are two things to motivate you to do win. One, you want to beat Satan up. This is broadcasted so when you win, you will show everyone of your classmates that you aren't a wimp. You'll show them that you're one tough cookie. Now get out there and do your best. We're rooting for you."
Hotaru nodded with a smile as she turned around. "I'll show them all that I'm not weak!" With that, she walked out to the fighting platform with her head held high with pride.
~*~*~
~~Meanwhile~~
Gohan snuck around the arena, quietly. He didn't want anyone to know that he had left. He definitely didn't want anyone to know WHY he had snuck away from the family, either. That would have been disastrous. He had his power level lowered as far down as he could get it to risk being caught, by his wife especially.
He sensed out for the one person he was searching for. He felt the energy reading near the front gate of the stadium. He hesitated to go any further to make the deal. He wasn't sure it was the right way to solve the problem. He though once more about Mr. Satan, which jolted his hesitation out of place. He knew what he had to do.
~*~*~
~~Back at the Fight~~
Hotaru was occupied with a rather tough opponent back at the fighting arena. She was fighting a seventeen year old male who seemed to have much more strength than her. Though, she was smaller and more mobile while he was slow and unable to keep up with her speed, which made the fight a little bit easier. But his attacks were very accurate and Hotaru took a terrible beating for it.
Now the two fighters stood face to face, both panting for breath from the previous fights that they had taken part in. They took this bubble in their fighting as a small break to replenish their energy reserves, though it would be much harder for Hotaru since she was nearly beaten as much as she could be. Her body was already beginning to bruise all over. Her face was covered with cuts from her opponents beating her in the face. But she wouldn't give up. None of her friends would give up so she wouldn't give up. She wanted to make her father, as well as her friends proud of her.
Without a single word from either fighter, they both began to move again as if they knew it was time to end their break. Hotaru followed the big guy's movements very carefully and placed her body into a fighting stance. She watched him for any sudden movements. She couldn't afford to take any more hits from him. She was afraid that if she did, she would be done for. Her energy was already depleting without the help of any assaults. She was relieved when she had heard that there would be a fight in between the last and final fight to determine who she would be fighting up against, if she got that far.
The big guy, who looked very intimidating, smirked down at Hotaru. "You look pretty silly with all those fancy movie moves, kid."
Hotaru jumped to the side as the guy came closer. "They aren't movie moves. This is what REAL fighters fight like."
The boy just let out a 'humph' out of annoyance and jumped up and forward towards Hotaru. "They shouldn't let little girls fight in these things. Girls need to be in the kitchen, where they belong."
Hotaru acted fast, faster than the older fighter could follow. She had expected him to try something like that. He may have been strong, he may have known a lot about fighting, but he sure didn't know HOW to use that knowledge. Just before his fist hit the top of her head, she ducked to the ground, barely missing the hit. "A little too close for my liking."
The older fighter fly over the crouched Hotaru and landed with his fist into the ground. He quickly bounced back to his feet and turned to Hotaru with a fist full of blood. "Not bad, kid."
Hotaru grinned as she jumped into the air and swung her leg into the boy's face. She gracefully landed back on the ground just as the boy crashed into the concrete. 'Too slow.'
~*~*~
Professor Tomoe couldn't believe he effort his daughter was putting into this fight. Though, he was happy that she was enjoying herself and had finally found something that she was good at. Even if he didn't care too much for the wounds that came along with the fighting. 'Her mother was right…'
~*~*~
The teen pushed himself off the ground and once again stood in front of Hotaru with a bloody lip. 'Damn that kid is strong. No wonder why a pipsqueak like her made it this far.' He jumped forward at Hotaru with his hands in front of him and open. Before Hotaru had a chance to react, he had his hands gripped around her tiny arms and pulled her close to him. "Don't get cocky now, kid." With that, he spun her around and threw her forward, she landed with her head hanging over the edge of the platform.
Hotaru turned her head to look at the soft turf below and gasped. If she didn't do something fast, she would loose the whole tournament. She lifted her head to see her opponent running to her. 'Heh…' He looked as if he were going to try the same thing on her.
Just as he was about to run into her, he began to jump into the air. But before he got a chance to go very far, Hotaru lifted her hands up and grabbed the wrists of the boy. Immediately, he began to fall backwards, meaning, over the edge. Hotaru helped with that though, as she brought her hands over her head as well as sticking her foot into his stomach to push him even more.
The big guy landed with a large thud and the bell was rang to claim Hotaru as the victor of the fight. Hotaru jumped to her feet with a smile. She rubbed her wrists from the strain that had just been placed on them. 'I actually won?! Cool! Now I can compete for the championship of my division!' She began walking forward, but found herself on the ground with her arm wrapped around her leg. "I guess he took more out of me than I thought."
~*~*~
~~Back with Gohan~~
Gohan hastily approached his destination, who still stood within the gates. Him and his friends. He wished that he didn't resort to this particular method, but he didn't think that his father would go along with what he wanted. It wasn't that he ONLY wanted it, it was what was right and they both knew it. But Usagi being his daughter only made the situation tougher on his decision.
"Mamoru!" He called out once he saw him and his friends in full view.
Mamoru turned around, annoyed. He knew that voice. He would know the voice of any Son in a heartbeat. Especially if it were Goku, Gohan, or Goten. He resented them for always trying to protect Usagi. "What is it old man?"
Gohan tried to keep from frowning. He wanted Mamoru to go along with his proposition and if he were going to get him to agree with anything, he would have to be on the boy's good side. Though, he hated to be called an old man as he didn't feel or look like one. "I need to talk to you. All of you, actually."
Mamoru's expression lightened up when he heard the sincerity and kindness in Gohan's voice. "Is that a fact? Now tell me, Gohan, what could you possibly have to say to us except leave your damned sister alone?"
"Please, Mamoru. I'm trying to hold an adult conversation with you. Don't make this any harder than it already is going to be." Gohan couldn't help but frown at that. Though he felt somewhat angry with the reason why Usagi had come to the tournament in the first place, he still loved her and didn't want Mamoru going around, bashing her.
Mamoru grinned as he looked into Gohan's eyes. He knew that there was something playing on the man's mind. He also knew that he was going to ask him a favor. "So tell me, Gohan. What did you want from us? If it's to loose to your kid sister, don't even think about it. We've got our eyes set on having our names put in the hall of fame. Well, actually, just Haruka, Michiru and I. These guys here are just in to watch, though they're going to be entering in the next tournament so tell Usagi to watch herself."
Gohan just shook his head. "I don't want you to loose to Usagi. Actually, I want her to loose to you."
Mamoru quirked his eyebrow in interest. "Oh really? And tell me, why would and older protective brother such as yourself want his kid sister, like Usagi, to loose to an ass like me? Isn't that how you like to refer to me? Or better put in your words, a pain in the ass."
Gohan made a tight fist as he tried to control his anger. "Look here, Mamoru! This isn't funny! Stop changing the subject."
Mamoru smirked. He was enjoying seeing Gohan suffer all too much. "I didn't. I asked you a question. Why do you want her to loose?"
"That's none of your concern. Now what is, is this little bit of information that can help you beat her. Listen up because I know that you are going to be going up against her at least once, unless you get your asses kicked by one of the other girls, but here it is. I've been sparring with Usagi ever since she first started out so I know her fighting style as well as her weaknesses. Haruka, Michiru, Mamoru, you well know that her tail is he biggest weakness. But, there is a dilemma, she hides her tail when she's fighting so it wont be grabbed. So here's how you're going to get it. I've noticed that she swings left when she does her roundhouse kicks, leaving her tail wide open. If you could somehow dodge her attack and grab her tail she'll be defenseless."
Haruka frowned as she crossed her arms. "You know what, I don't even know why we're even listening to this guy. He's her brother who NEVER fails to stand up for her. WHY in the world would he want her to loose to "scum" like us I ask you? This is a trick. they've planned this out. This is just a way to make sure that she wins."
Gohan glared at Haruka as he grabbed her by the front of her Gi. "Now listen here you little shit! I don't have time to deal with this! My sister wouldn't EVER have to cheat against the likes of you to win. You're just child's play to her. Even that little kid, Hotaru, gives her a better challenge than you would ever dream of." He released Haruka and pushed her away from him. "Now, do we have a deal or what? This is for real, I don't want her to win this tournament."
Michiru couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for Usagi. Here she was, trying her hardest to win and her older brother was trying to ensure her lose. "What has to world come to when a girl can't even count on her older brother?"
Haruka punched Michiru in the stomach. "Don't be going soft on us here, Michiru. That kid has it coming. This is for our fifth and sixth grade years. She humiliated us in front of the whole school. Now we humiliate her in front of her family."
Michiru doubled over in pain as she grabbed her stomach. 'I'm not going soft you idiot. I just don't think it's right for her brother to go behind her back like this.' "Fine! Gohan, why are you telling us this?"
"I'm doing it to protect her me." No one said a single word for they weren't exactly sure what he meant by that. "You heard me. Now DON'T tell her that I set this up. If you do, it will be each and every one of your hides. Even the ones who DON'T participate. I don't care anymore." He particularly glared back the Americans. "Make sure your friends don't spill, unless you want to deal with me, that is."
Mamoru patted Gohan on the shoulder. "You're a good man, Gohan. My respect for you has grown." He smirked as he watched Gohan walk away. "We've got him in a very interesting position."
Haruka grinned as she turned to her friend. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Mamoru nodded. "Oh yeah. We can use this to our advantage. Blackmail."
For the first time in her life, Michiru disagreed with what her friends were planning. The one thing that she didn't exactly like doing was getting the middle of a family quarrel, though, she wouldn't dare tell her friends in fear that they would shun her and try to jump her.
~*~*~
While the next to last fight was going on for the intermediate division, Professor Tomoe went down to the fighters' preparation room, where he found his daughter laughing with her friends. He smiled as he walked forward to congratulate her. "Hotaru…"
Hotaru stopped laughing as she turned to her father. "Daddy! I got into the FINAL fight for my division! That means I got either second or FIRST place! Isn't that great?" She didn't even let her poor father get in a word before she starting in again. "I think it's wonderful! I mean, who would have thought that I, of all people," would have gotten to the LAST fight?" She quite her jabbering and ran to her father.
"That's great Hotaru."
Hotaru looked up at her father as she felt his hands picking her up. "Look…" She pointed to a cut under her eye. "I got a boo boo and guess what…it doesn't hurt! I got it when I threw that guy over me."
The Professor hugged his daughter as he eyed her wound. "Well as long as you're having fun."
Hotaru's mood soon became grim with tears. "I wonder what mommy would think? She knew that I was a fighter. She told me so herself. That's why I'm able to fight good, isn't it daddy? Cause us fighters love to fight."
Tomoe sighed as he set his daughter down. "Yes, Hotaru…" He hadn't heard her speak of THAT since she was about four years old.
Hotaru became confused at her father's sudden sadness. "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong."
Tomoe shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I'm just remembering your mother." He rubbed his hand on her back as he led her back to her friends, who were gossiping about recent happenings at their school. "I'm going to watch the last fight from down here, if that's all right with you, fire fly."
Hotaru took her father to the doorway that led out into the fighting area. "You're going to watch from down here?! Cool! You'll love it. You get to see a lot more down here." She turned her head when she sensed the slightly raised power level of Gohan walk into the building. "Gohan!" She looked up to her father. "Look, daddy! That's Gohan's older brother Gohan."
Gohan faked a smile as he indistinctly waved to the young child. He wasn't too happy with himself for what he just did and didn't feel like talking to anyone at the moment. But he knew that since Hotaru had called out to him that his sister would come over and demand to know what was wrong. "Hey, Hotaru." He looked up the man who stood with the excited child. "Hi, I'm Gohan."
Professor Tomoe returned the smile that Gohan gave. "Hello, Gohan. I'm Professor Tomoe, Hotaru's father. It's nice to meet you. Usagi has told me a lot about you. She really looks up to you."
Gohan dropped his head in shame. 'She wont look up to me for long after what I just did. Though, she wont ever find out if I can help it.' "Yeah…" He couldn't stand to stay there any longer. He wouldn't be able to look Usagi or any of her friends in the eye again and not feel guilty. But then he thought about the reason why he had done it. Not only was it to protect Usagi, but Mr. Satan as well. "Good luck out there, Hotaru."
That's when it hit him. Hotaru would also be going up against Mr. Satan. She would be able to beat him in a heart beat. He shot his head back up and looked down to the laughing girl and her friends. 'Whoa crap. I think I have somewhat of a problem now.'
"Hey traitor." Goten walked into the room with anger written all over his face. He glared at his brother as he shook his head in shame.
Gohan turned around, stunned at what his brother had just called him. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Usagi turned her head up at the sound of her brother cursing. "Language people! Language! I don't want to hear that kind of stuff coming from you."
Goten chuckled down at his sister. "Dad sure did teach her well. Though, he never took the time out to stop himself from cursing in front of us."
Gohan frowned as he punched his little brother in the arm. "Don't change the da…subject. What was that supposed to mean? Why are you calling me a traitor?" 'Crap. I thought that he was still in the stands.'
"I saw you talking with Mamoru and the others. I know I didn't see them getting mad, so you couldn't have been yelling at them for anything. What was it? What were you talking to them about? I already think I know what it was, but I want to hear it come from your mouth."
Gohan turned around to see if his sister was still listening. Goten was talking loud enough for her to hear, even if she was on the other side of a loud room. Her hearing could still pick up low frequencies. "It's not any of your business. Don't worry about it."
Goten grabbed his brother by the arm and pulled him close enough to his face to where he wouldn't have to talk very loud. "It IS my business. Now spill."
Gohan ripped himself away from his brother. "Don't do this, Goten. It's not that big of a deal. But it's also not any of your business. Just don't worry about it." He stepped to the side and proceeded to walk away from Goten. "And by the way, not a single word to anyone, especially Usagi. I hope I can at least trust you to do that for me."
Goten scowled forward as his brother left. He didn't even want to watch him leave. He couldn't believe what Gohan was doing. Never in his life had he ever seen his brother acting in such an awful manner. 'To think, I used to look up to him. What was I thinking? I always thought that he had a straight head on his shoulders. I guess not. But I don't think he's doing it to be mean. But I'm NOT going to keep something like this from Usagi.' "Usagi!"
Usagi once again tore herself from her friends and turned to her brother, this time with more annoyance. "What?"
Goten motioned for her to come to him, which she did. He looked down into her light blue eyes that sparkled in the light shining in from the door behind him. "I have some bad news. I think Mamoru got some information from…" 'Maybe I shouldn't tell who…' "Somewhere. Information about your fighting style or a way to beat you. I'm not sure what it was but I overheard them talking about a sure-fire way of beating you so you may want to watch yourself extra carefully."
"Who could have told?"
Goten shrugged, though he knew. He didn't want her to become disgruntled with Gohan. That would have been hard on both of them. "I have no idea. But that isn't the important thing. What is, is keeping you informed, which I have done."
"Are you gonna tell daddy and mom?"
Goten shook his head. "What can they do?" 'Besides giving Gohan a giant lecture, nothing. He isn't under their control anymore. Besides, their leaning towards going along with Mr. Satan anyways. Why tell the traitors anything.' "You just worry about yourself and giving Hotaru over there good advice for her next fight."
Usagi smiled. "You got it."
( Wow, this got out late, but that's ok. At least it got out, right? Anyways, a little note from me. I'm going to do this tournament in fast time, meaning that I'm going to be skipping a lot of time, as I already did with Hotaru's fight. There is a reason for this. It's because if I did all the fights LONG like I should, this chapter would span out FOREVER. Anyways, so what do you think? I guess I should be going. Ja ne! )