Chapter 8: The Tournament

Today was the day! I got to the island two days early, just so I could be one of the first few to sign up. I was so excited. Some of these fighters looked really strong, this would be awesome! I hope in the preliminaries I face off with Goku. WAIT! What am I saying? No! that would be a bad idea. Cause what if he lose against me, and can't go into the finals. I would never forgive myself for that. Fine, new wish. I wish that me and Goku make it to the top 8.

After I signed in, I decided maybe I should wait for him. Oh boy! Won't he be surprised to see me! He'll be so happy! Oh man, I need to calm down. Can't get too worked up. Don't want to scare him.

It had been an hour since I signed up, and no sign of Goku anywhere. I was starting to lose hope I'll catch him at the gate. Then another hour past. Maybe I should go to the hotel. After all, I'll be seeing him tomorrow. So, it's not that bad. With that I went on my way. As I did, I happened to notice Master Roshi stepping out a taxi. Maybe I should… No. I already made my decision, can't change it now.

…

Today the day. Kami said I should cover my head, and wear this weird outfit and take an umbrella. When I asked why, he stated that it was going to be raining. RAIN! I finally get to see, feel, and smell rain again! I can't wait! After getting all set, I jumped off the Lookout and headed for Korin. A quick stop to get senzu beans and I was off. On the fall I called out to my trusty cloud friend. Soon we were speeding to the tournament grounds.

When we reached the island I landed a few… Um… What's that word again? Blocks! Yeah, I landed just a few blocks away from the tournament. On my way walking there, that weird scent, I thought I forgot, past my nose. Remembering what Mr. Popo said, I ignored it and continue walking. No point in following things that were just my imagination.

As I turned the corner, I spotted a female trying to reach a balloon. I went to help, afterwards I realize Master Roshi was there. I greeted my old master, and then I noticed that the female looked at me weird. She too, looked weird, and yet familiar. Then it clicked, it's Bulma! And with them was Lunch, Oolong, Paur, and… Wait? Where's everyone else?

The rain finally stopped. I closed the umbrella, and they asked who I was. I guess they too couldn't recognize me. So, I took off that weird thing on my head, and showed off my hair. "Who else has hair like mine?" I chuckle. Right away most of them realized it was me. But Bulma still didn't believe it. Then I noticed something strange on Bulma's face, and I got worried. "Bulma, your lips are bleeding! Are you ok?"

With that she pulled back, and stated it was really me. And also corrected me by saying she was wearing makeup. She then went on about how much I've grown, and something about being handsome whatever. I completely ignored her as I asked where my other friends were. I was told they weren't there yet.

We waited long, and the signing time was about to close when they finally showed up. After me and Krillin finally reunited, we gave a quick hug and he went to sign up. Then Bulma offered that she'll buy us dinner. Oolong made a comment that got him smacked on the head. At the restaurant I noticed Bulma trying to ask me so many questions. She even tried hugging my arm. I didn't really think much of it, after all it's just Bulma. We haven't seen each other in 3 years. It's only natural she wanted to catch up. But I didn't, especially with her. She was being annoying. Even pushed Krillin off his seat, when he was about to sit next to me.

Friends asked questions, and shared a few things while we waited for a waiter. I also happened to noticed that Yamcha looked really upset, and eyeing Bulma. While we waited for our food, I tried switching chairs with him. Like from the little I remembered Bulma and Yamcha always sat next to each other.

Just was we switched, she switched. Again! Next to me! This is just annoying. But luckily, I was also sitting next to Krillin, and was able to properly catchup with him. Then comes to find out, we were sharing a hotel room. Cool! We could talk about our training, and maybe share a few new tricks we learned. After the food came, that familiar scent passed by.

I resist all urges to look for its source. Well thank goodness the food was here. It made it easier to focus on food, than the lovely scent. WAIT! Did I just say lovely? What is wrong with me?

…

As I walked out the restaurant, after getting my to-go bag, I thought I heard a familiar, but not, chuckle. I was tempted to look for the sound, but resigned it was nothing important. So, as I walked my way back to the hotel it started to rain again. Oh no! I forgot my umbrella. So, I ran as quickly as possible back. Thank goodness it wasn't that fair.

Once in my room, I sat down, on the floor, to eat. As I slowly picked at it my mind started wondering about how would Goku react to me. And that this Dongpo pork was absolutely heaven. I definitely need to learn to cook this! I bet Goku would enjoy it. Maybe Goku would enjoy all my cooking. After all, I have gotten better.

The morning of the tournament I almost rushed out my room to go. But I made it to my door just to realize I wasn't dress. Silly me. I should probably get into the habit of not running out the bed when I wake up. After all, I'm currently not in the rush to go training. And it's just 5am. I got plenty of time to get ready. Everything starts at 8am. With that said, I got myself ready for the day. I had to look my absolute best when I see him. I hope he recognize me.

…

Once me and Krillin got to our rooms, I finally decided I should talk to him about all these weird things that happened. Before I could say anything, he starts talking. "Man Goku, do you think you'll make it to the finale two again?"

"Krillin I'm hoping I actually win." We started laughing.

"Did you really train at Kami's Temple?" I nodded. "That's so cool! What was it like?" I told him about my training in the beginning, also other stuff along the way. While doing so I chose to leave out the ROSAT failure, and the weird stuff that happened to me. There's no point in telling my failures. And definitely not going to tell him something he'll laugh at me for not knowing. This was kind of stressful, not being able to tell my best friend every little thing.

After so long knowing them, I came to realize that I can't really trust them. I know they'll have my back. Scratch that, remembering the time I got left behind in an underwater cave. Um… they're good company? Sometimes. They're funny, yeah, the really are. But trustworthy, I don't really know. Remembering how I all met them, told me I can't completely trust anyone. I would say they got my back, at least half the time.

As I listen to Krillin go off about something all I could think about was my fight with the son of Piccolo. Before I let myself fall asleep, I maybe myself a small promise. I promise I'll find the owner to the scent.

The next morning, I woke up with the horizon trying to make itself known. Looking around the room I noticed Krillin wasn't in the room. The I remembered he talking about going for a night jog. After a yawn, I got up and started that new routine I've learned. Which was brushing my teeth. It was weird when I first learned about it, but it became a daily happened on Kami's Temple.

After clean teeth, and anything else that had to do in the restroom, I went about doing a few pushups before getting ready to go. The moment I was about to start Krillin finally showed. He stated after his jog he ended up crashing in Yamcha's room. "Ok." After that I noticed something weird about Krillin. He had hair on his face. I followed him into the bathroom and saw him put stuff on his face. Then using some stick taking the stuff off, and even the hair. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like Goku? I'm shaving. Did you already shave this morning?"

"I never shaved before, why do I have to do it now. And besides I don't have any hair on my face." He looked annoyed at me for a moment, and went back to shaving. So weird. With morning workout forgotten, I got ready to head to the tournament hall.

Once everyone was there, and we changed into our gi, it happened.