Chapter 2

…

Chichi sat on the bed completely baffled. How many people were expected to sleep in this thing? It was so big, it could easily fit four!

The thought that the queen-sized bed that sat in the center of the large bedroom was designed especially for her was completely absurd. She had never seen or felt anything as lavish as this. She let her hand glide over the luxurious texture of the fabric, pinching the lavender comforter softly between her finger tips. There was no comparison between this and the thin sheets of the narrow bed she had found warmth in, back at the temple The Clan.

Everything was so different here.

It was all very surreal.

The room was dimly lit by an elaborately decorated chandelier dangling from the ceiling, its numerous decorative crystals glistening in the play of light. In her direct view was a walk-in closet full of clothes in her size. It was all so bizarre! So many cuts, so many styles, so many colors! She didn't understand it; clothes were meant to conform one's differences, not accentuate them. At least, that's what she had been taught all her life. All these clothes, with their variety in color, design and texture would surely make it difficult for her to remain unnoticed.

A soft knock at the door caught her attention, and she looked towards the large cherry-wood door. "Yes?" she called.

"ChiChi, it's me Ox King! May I come in?" came the boisterous voice of her host.

"Yes," she replied.

The golden doorknob turned slowly, and in walked the large jovial man. He wore that same expression that had perplexed her from the moment she had walked outside the gates of The Clan - a smile. His large onyx orbs danced with an emotion that perplexed her even more because she couldn't place it.

He made his way over to a chair that sat adjacent to her bed.

Chichi watched as the much larger man struggled for a minute before finally settling in properly.

"I suppose they made this chair extra small for you," he said aloud, his cheeks a deep shade of red. He chuckled away at his own humor until he noticed the stern expression embedded on ChiChi's face. "I just wanted to make sure that you were okay with your room," he began to explain himself, when all she did was sit and regard him, like a headmistress would regard a student.

Okay with my room? What is there to be okay with? She couldn't grasp the Ox King's odd humor. A room was nothing but a necessity. There wasn't anything to like or dislike about it. "It's fine."

"Ok," he said. "Well if there's anything extra that you need don't hesitate to ask me or one of the servants. I'm not often at home, but all members of household staff are warm and friendly, they know that this is your home now. I'm really glad to have you here; you don't know how happy I am."

"Happy?" she asked, aloud. So much was new to her; she was like a newborn baby.

She watched the emotions on the large man swiftly change from the foreign one known as 'happiness' to the one she was very familiar with - pain. If there was once thing she had learned during her life inside the gated walls of The Clan, it was pain, and more importantly, how to live above it. However, this pain etched on his face wasn't the same as the pain of the whipping of a lash against your skin. No, this was different. This kind of pain seemed to emerge from the man's emotions, and that she found rather…peculiar.

"You don't understand?" he asked, and when she responded with a simple nod he went on to answer. "To be happy is…it's when you feel light and your heart feels warm." He explained as he stood from the small seat with his eyes hooded, and his heart crying out for the young girl before him. "I don't know what you must have been through, all those years alone as an orphan." He shuffled his feet slightly, "However, I know that I want to make sure that you never have to go through any of it again. This is your home and will always be, even long after you have found your independence and place in life, as is the case with many other orphans before you." He searched her face for any sign of softening, but he was only met with that same stoic expression. Ox King cleared his throat, unsure of what to say to put the girl at ease. "I know you might not feel up to opening-up right now, but I'm here for you whenever you are." He placed his large hand on her shoulder.

Was it pity Ox King felt for her? She needed none, and never would. She was a woman that was trained to do what no others could. So why would she need pity? She sat silently as he placed his hand upon her shoulder, letting it linger as if he was waiting for a reply.

"Dinner will be in another hour, I'll see you then," he cleared his voice and informed her. After a few minutes of silence he made his way out of the room and closed the door behind him.

At the click, ChiChi abruptly stood from the bed. She grabbed the small bag of her miniscule belongings sitting on the large dresser and opened it up. She grabbed a black ribbon and quickly tied her hair up into a messy ponytail. She needed to rid herself of all the trivial emotions that she had encountered today. It was beginning to become apparent to her - people outside The Clan were all weak and emotional individuals, just as she'd been taught, just as she'd been warned.

She was determined to never succumb to these emotions, she had a purpose and that purpose had no room for such worthlessness. Who needed to have that happy feelings when they had a purpose?

Throwing her fist forward into the empty air, she began to train. She threw one punch after another and kick after kick. She upgraded to jump-kicks to push herself harder and harder. She would not succumb to emotion; she would not succumb to weakness. In a few days, the orders for a mission would come. She had to be ready. She had to stay at her peak, she had to succeed. Failure was a one way ticket back to the confinement of the The Clan's premises, and that was out of the question.

Wiping her brow, she frowned when the image of a laughing spiky haired boy from the bus, suddenly popped out of nowhere, infiltrating her concentration. She couldn't wrap her mind around how everyone seemed so at ease and uniform with this laughter. Why hadn't they been taught that emotion was the root of failure like it was instilled in her? Just the thought of his nonchalant foolishness evoked memories of her training and the pain she underwent to become who she is.

"You are no one and I want you to remember that," informed a tall slender man. He was clothed in a loose traditional white GI, his hair cropped with a scar above his right eye. His charcoal eyes burning holes through all the cowering children. "Your only purpose is to follow orders and rid yourself of any foolish emotions."

He walked with his hands clasped behind his back in the center of a square formed by the children. "The moment you start to believe that you are someone, you will lose, and you will be punished severely. Emotions hold you back, and pain widens your eyes to a world of power and success. You will be committed to an oath before you leave these walls and you will know yourself as no one. Your allegiance lies with this clan and dies with this clan!"

A knock at the door pulled ChiChi from her thoughts, as she continued to wipe away at the accumulated sweat from her forehead. "Yes?"

"Ma'am your father will be ready for you to attend dinner in twenty minutes," said a voice on the opposite side of the door.

Father? The man was very peculiar. "Okay," she answered.

The potent smell from her body informed her that she was overdue for a bath. Unclasping her hair she made her way to the en-suite bathroom. Everything about the house was immaculate, dressed in the finest.

The bedroom walls matched the lively pink walls in her bedroom, and the bathtub looked more like a bed than a tub. Black ceramic tiles lined the floor and the side of the bathtub, and pretty white lilies were cascaded about the room. There was a large mirror above a wash bowl that looked as if it were made out of diamonds.

Lavish, foolishly lavish, she decided as she undressed and ran the warm water. She would never let the things of this world become wants, and she would never let herself become like him or any of the people she had met thus far.

She was after all, no one.

He sniffed his underarms and cringed. Man, how long was I at it? "Heh heh heh, I sure do stink! Maybe that's why that girl Chichi didn't wanna come home with me so I could teach her about Ki," Goku concluded as he took the stairs to their semi-detached town-house, three at a time.

The modest house was situated in a nice complex of ten identical semi-detached units. The complex itself was located in a quiet, spacious and green up and coming neighborhood in the east of West-City. An old man living with his two grandsons was a nice cover for the trio of martial artists.

Master Roshi had uprooted to West-City with his two students to take a well paying job after a monstrous typhoon had swept, sunk and swallowed up all of Kame Island. The four inhabitants of master and pupils plus Turtle had been left with just the clothes on their backs.

Goku slipped his hand in his pocket and pulled out his key. "I'm back you guys!" He greeted as turned the key and pushed the door open.

"You're late for dinner!" Krillin announced with what sounded like a mouth-full.

Ah! How could he have forgotten? Goku paled as he swooshed inside the walls like the wind. He took the fastest shower of his life and threw on black track-pants and a white vest.

"I'm here, I'm here!" he slipped into his place around the table, making the chair screech as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "Wait," he quirked his brow at Krilin and Mater Roshi. "Why does it smell so good?" He glanced at the spread of food, sniffing it as he went along. Such delicious aromas were foreign to their household, especially if Krilin or Master Roshi were doing the cooking.

"New cook," Krilin muttered between a mouth-full of food.

Goku raised his brow at the news. "Oh boy. I hope you hired a 'he' this time Mater Roshi." Goku spoke as he helped himself to some food. "All the lady cooks we've had so far don't seem to like you very much." He commented

"Ooh!" Mater Roshi's face lit up like a spark in the dark. "But you should see this one Goku, she's got buns I could just sink my teeth into. Mmm…you wait and see boys, this one's a keeper!" He spoke with golden stars dancing in his eyes.

"Only because she's on parole, and no one else will hire her," Krilin muttered, shaking his head. Master Roshi was so irresponsible. They were supposed to be keeping up appearances for this job that had brought them all the way out here to this city, but he had gone ahead and hired an ex-con, just because she had a pretty face.

"What's parole?" Goku asked absently as he emptied dish after dish into his mouth.

"Sometimes, when you've been in prison, they let you out early, if you've been good. They keep an eye on your behavior though. If you mess up and do something bad again, they send you back in." explained Krilin

"Oh. That sounds nice and pretty fair to me. So our new cook did something bad before?" he turned curious eyes to his master, or 'grandpa' as they had introduced themselves to the neighborhood and their school.

"That's right Goku, she's been a really, bad, bad girl. Ooh, just how I like 'em." Master Roshi rubbed his hands together and started drooling "You boys don't know anything." He waved their blank expressions off with his hand. "Just wait till you see her juicy melons Goku, you'll just want to bury your head between them and go brrr…ooh…brrr…" he shook his head between his hands in demonstration.

"Melons…as in…breasts right?" Goku asked, just to be sure. Since starting school a few months back as cover for their job, Goku was learning that words like jugs and melons, which he knew to mean one thing, could sometimes be used in other funny ways. It was confusing, but he was starting to get the hang of it.

"That's right Goku. I'm talkin 'bout bouncy, voluptuous, squeezadelic boobies!" Master Roshi squealed in delight, his hands cupped in front of him.

Krilin just shook his head. How Goku had managed to remain oblivious to women with a master like the one they had, he would never know.

"Tomorrow I'm going to give her a proper cook's uniform." Master Roshi continued with his fantasy, "I like to keep things professional you know." He grinned so wide, the gaps between his teeth seemed to stretch.

"Oh boy." Goku shook his head. The last time Master Roshi had presented a potential cook with one of his 'uniforms', she'd been so mad, she'd clobbered him over the head using an overturned Turtle. Master Roshi had passed out for hours. "Please don't, Master Roshi. Let her wear her own clothes. This food is really good. I'd really like to taste this cooking again." Goku pleaded with his Master.

"You'll be singing a different tune once them hormones kick in ma boy. I swear Goku, you're such a late bloomer. At least Krilin here's already spanking the monkey."

"Phtlph!" Krilin missed his bite and sank his teeth into his tongue instead, his cheeks turning the same colour as his tongue.

"But you, Goku," Mater Roshi continued conversationally, "at your age, and you still can't tell the difference between a regular girl and a hot little number." Master Roshi shook his head in pity at the taller student. His mood quickly brightened though at the thought of the new cook in the bunny outfit he was going to make her wear as her 'uniform' as soon as she reported for work the next day. Oh, he couldn't wait to get started on the employee calendar. And, as the only employee he had, she would pose for January up to December!

"A Hot. Little. Number?" Goku repeated and tested the phrase. " Hmm…You mean a pretty girl right?" he turned his face up to the old pervert expectantly, not fazed at all by the dribbles of blood trickling from his nose. "I think I might have met one of those today." he tapped his chin and grinned, curving the corners of his mouth in a way they had never seen him grin before.

Krilin placed his glass of water carefully on the table and turned his head to his friend.

"Come again?"

"I met a pretty girl on the bus today, I don't know about going brr…on her breasts, but I'd sure like to see her smile though. Man she was something. " He said dreamily. The memory of the strange way she had looked at him when he'd laughed, pushing itself to the forefront of his mind.

"You're kidding right buddy?" exclaimed Krilin.

"Nope. Her name's Chichi, and she's the prettiest girl I've ever seen." He sighed, reclining into his chair with his hands behind his head. Chichi. "I didn't know you were gonna get a pet, Krilin. I love monkeys. Can I spank him with you?"

"My chef, Rosa prepared the meal, she's is the best," declared Ox King. His large eyes were brimming with joy as he took a bite into a freshly made dinner roll.

ChiChi glanced over the long rectangular dining-table that was dressed in golden and white lace runners. There were three large candles scattered evenly in the center of the table. Each cream wax artifact was sitting securely on a golden hand carved pillar candle-holder. The seats around the table matched the cherry wood in her room. They were padded with micro fleece; which made her feel like she was sitting on air.

On top of the nicely dressed table were platters of delicacies, of which the scent alone nearly made her salivate. ChiChi eyed each dish carefully in wonderment; trying to grasp how food could stir such excitement in one's body. Never in all her eighteen years, had she ever felt such a strong urge to sink her teeth into food.

Cautiously she picked up a small roll from a platter in the center of the table and took a small nibble. Fireworks went off in her mouth as her taste buds were drowned with a sweet savory taste like no other. All her worry was thrown out as she grabbed another roll from the dish and then another, stuffing each one into her mouth, greedily.

"I'm glad to see you like them," expressed a wide eyed Ox King.

An elderly woman in a uniform set a bowl of wanton soup in front of ChiChi as she polished off the last dinner roll. She couldn't grasp the feeling that this food evoked in her. It's not like they starved back at the Clan, they were fed adequately three times a day. Mostly it was just rice and broth, or noodles and some type of broth. Twice a week they had cured meat, even some boiled eggs for breakfast, but none of that food had ever made her moan like she was now. Well, at least now she knew why Ox King was so large!

"Whoa! Slow down there before you choke," Ox King, warned.

The raven haired vixen immediately ceased her avaricious assault on the soup, and mentally scolded herself for her foolish behavior. With smaller bites she finished her soup. "I'm finished," she informed, and placed her porcelain spoon back on the table.

"That's great," said Ox King. "The netsum tastes just as great!" Ox King watched intently as ChiChi begun to eat the main course, smiling triumphantly as she continued on. He was beyond happy with his new daughter, and he couldn't wait till she opened up more. However, for now he'd have to suffice with the joy of her presence.

As ChiChi took her last bite of netsum, and placed her chopsticks down, Ox King cleared his throat. Taking a sip of his Saki, he decided it was time to speak to her about the arrangements for the next day. "This might seem sudden since you've barely settled in, but I think this is the best way to get you integrated into normal society," he explained. "I spoke with some good friends of mine with kids of their own the moment I learned that you'd be coming. They all had some great advice, but something that stuck out as important to me was instilling into you the right morals and a good sense of responsibility." He explained.

Morals? Chichi wondered, slightly confused. What's he talking about? Shouldn't he be more concerned with obedience? That's the true test of character, your ability to obey, right?

"I'm pretty sure that college is not on your mind for now," Ox King continued to talk. "I'm not going to force you to take that path, but I do want you to know that it's worthwhile to think about it. College can open doors for you."

Chichi knew what college was. It was some kind of high level educational institution. She once slipped through the walls of South-City University, under the cover of night and quietly wrung the chancellor's neck. Nice and easy, one of her easiest missions to date.

"I believe though, that it's something you must decide on your own." Ox King continued with his speech. "For now, I want you to know about responsibility and discipline. These are two very important qualities in life that keep society moving. After a long conversation with my friends, I decided that a job would be a good starting point for you" he took a small pause to test her reaction to the news. She didn't so much as bat an eyelid. "My friend Tien has graciously agreed to take you on in his shop." He announced with a big smile. "I think it's the perfect starting point for you. How does that sound?" he stared down at her, eagerly anticipating her reaction.

"Fine," she replied. If there was one thing she excelled at it was work, no matter the nature of the assignment. She always delivered. She was no stranger to orders and holding this job couldn't possibly be more difficult than her real purpose in The Clan.

"Well that's great then!" Ox King beamed. "I'm glad you have no objections. Tien's florist shop is spectacular, by far the most popular for special occasions. You're gonna love it there!" he reached for his sake, now that he'd delivered the news.

Chichi didn't quite know what to do now, but she figured she'd put in a bit more training before she went to sleep. "May I be excused?" She asked politely, hoping that it was the correct etiquette.

"Sure honey, you go right ahead." He pushed back his chair and attempted to pull out so he could pull her chair back for her, but his large mass didn't allow him such quick dexterity. By the time he had wiggled and tugged himself out, Chichi was already standing. "I'll be dropping you off bright and early tomorrow morning, so go ahead and get some sleep. Mrs. Baldsy will give you a wake-up call in the morning. Good night!"

ChiChi gave her host a formal bow and exited the dining room. As she walked down the long narrow hall to her bedroom she couldn't help but wonder, what was a florist?

"What'ya doing Krilin? Homework?" Goku peered over Krilin's head, staring at the scribbles he was making in-front of him.

"Yeah, chem. You done with yours?" Krilin asked without looking up.

"Nope." Goku said cheerfully, plopping himself on Krilin's bed with his hands behind his back.

"You gonna do it?" Krilin asked, tapping the head of his pen against his teeth in thought. Chemistry was just not his thing.

"Nuh, not gonna. Too boring." Goku said, just laying there, staring at the ceiling.

"Goku, if you flunk out, you could get kicked out. Which part of that don't you understand?" Krilin scolded his friend

"I won't flunk out, it's just one boring assignment Krilin, I'm just not in the mood tonight okay?"

"Give me a break Goku, you're never in the mood for anything that doesn't involve training or eating. Come on, do your homework." Krilin shook his head and stared back at his equations.

"I can't," Goku whined, turning over to his side, his palm supporting his face. "I can't concentrate on anything tonight. I should have asked for her number."

"Who?" Krilin asked him absently. Gah, what was SI again? Oh yeah, tin. He scribbled something in his book.

"Chichi! Keep up Krilin, I already told you about her."

"Oh boy, never thought I'd see the day. Our very own Goku, smitten." Krilin grinned, dropping his pen on his book. An infatuated Goku, this was priceless.

"I'm not sure what smitten means, so I'm pretty sure I'm not. All I want is to find her again." he said wistfully.

"Unlikely, this is a big city. You'll probably never see her again." Krilin rained on his parade.

"Aw, come on buddy. Don't take it like that now." He added, when Goku looked almost ill at the news. "Bulma and I have been telling you for months how popular you are with the girls at school. Why don't you ask one of them out?"

"Wha…" Goku widened his eyes, "Me? A girlfriend? Uh-uh, no way Krilin. Bulma's one thing. We have to hang with her, but girls can be nagging and boring, why would I want to do that to myself?"

Krilin shook his head in disbelief, just when he'd thought that the puberty bug had finally hit his friend. "All this talk about the girl on the bus, I thought you were finally ready to go out on dates with girls, and…you know…do stuff." Krilin blushed, casting his eyes back to his book.

"What stuff?" Goku asked innocently

"Never mind Goku. I'll just wait to see your face when that stuff comes up in our biology class. Speaking of Bulma though, did you find that guy today?" he asked, his voice laced with seriousness.

"I did." Goku clenched his jaw. He had almost forgotten the mission that Master Roshi had sent him on after school. "I couldn't get any names out of him, just that someone offered him a lot of money to grab Bulma and stick her in a van. I wish we knew what and who we were dealing with."

"So, no leads, back to square one, great." Muttered Krilin. "Oh well, we'll just keep doing what we do – stay close and protect her."

"I guess so." Goku answered absently, his thoughts already fleeing from the conversation. He was a lot more preoccupied with the person he'd talked to after his mission, on his way home on the bus.

Chichi

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