Chapter 1: A New Job

It was a cool summer's night... somewhere within the inner city of Hong Kong, there was this one apartment, which is housing only one person... a middle-aged lady, was sitting on a couch in her living-room, taking a sip out of her cup of tea, just enjoying her work-free evening... when all of a sudden, the phone began ringing. She gently puts the cup on the table and swiftly sweeps the phone in her one hand, before picking up...

"Hello?"

...and as it turns out, the person calling her was no other than her loyal colleague... Lei Wulong. His typical, cheerful and laid-back greeting already made her gently grin at ease.

"Heeey, it's me, Lei!"

"Oh! Hehe, nice to hear from you, Lei..."

But she had to giggle to herself, since it was TOTALLY unlike Lei to call her in the middle of the night like that, as she got know, he HATED to call at that time of the day, since he wanted to enjoy his booze in peace... so she had to question it.

"Excuse my question, but... what is it, that makes you call me this late? Knowing you, you NEVER do that, so what is the matter?"

This made the middle-aged police man laugh in an awkward way, as he was scratching his head with an embarrassment-filled grin on the other end of the line...

"True, true, but I can assure you, this is not some kind of joke I am trying to play on you and trust me, I am the master of ridicule. And sorry if I am disturbing anything, but I have someone on the line, that needs to talk with you and it's a little urgent... mind taking over?"

The woman had to sigh a little in sadness, since she was already set on relaxing for the rest of the night by preparing a nice and relaxing bubble bath... but being the selfless person she actually she is, she had to giggle and show her approval.

"Sign me up, I will take care of this."

Lei exhaled in a relieved way.

"Thanks, you're really saving my life right now. Anyways, see you, I am leaving the office now..."

"Alright, bye-bye."

And then, he switched the contact over to the person calling him to let the signal travel to her phone... and as it turns out, it was an old man on the other line. And it was her to start the conversation with the mysterious man.

"Good evening, how may I help you?"

"Ahhh, hello, am I speaking to, ummm..."

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds and the lady could hear stomping in the background, obviously indicating that the man was looking for something... but finally, after thirty seconds, he finally returned and looked at the note in his hand.

"Am I speaking to... Jun Kazama?"

Jun had to nod and giggle at this man's clumsiness.

"Yes, that's me. I am Jun Kazama, from Interpol Hong Kong... how may I help you, Mr. ummm..."

"Luis. Simply call me Luis, Ms. Kazama..."

"Sure, ummm... Luis, why is your request urgent? What's the problem?"

"I know, this may sound strange, but... someone is asking for your assistance in an orphanage, somewhere in Mexico."

"Are there criminals on the loose, that threaten them to do whatever they please?"

Luis had to laugh a little, since it was the total opposite.

"No, this job does not actually involve you hunting down any troublemakers, more like... the client actually wants you to watch over the children at the orphanage, that he and an old lady share ownership over. The reason, why he needs you, is because the lady has fallen sick and that she actually needed some rest for a while... and according to him, he is a busy guy, that can't always afford to be there for the children, so he needs a trustworthy replacement and he just happened to have suggested you, out of all the people over there at Interpol... so will you accept?"

This announcement made her surprised indeed. Interpol is certainly no place, where you can apply for personal baby-sitters, as it was not part of their job to watch over children like this in general... however, Jun being the selfless and reliable woman that she is, having grown to know how to raise a child before, she kindly agreed on this man's request, despite having a few doubts...

"You do realize, that it's not Interpol's job to watch over orphans, but... we can make exceptions. I will be on my way, just give me the address of the orphanage and I will be right there..."

And so, as the man began spilling out the important information and even giving her his phone number for safety purposes, should she get lost along the way, it all then ends with Jun asking something regarding the client.

"But I'd like to know... who was it, that asked me to come over? By any chance, do you happen to know this individual? Have you seen him or her personally before?"

"Ummm, it may shock you for sure, but... I can't tell who it was. This guy came to my agency and the things, that were distinct about him, was his tall frame and some kind extraordinaire mask that only wrestlers would wear... not to mention, he completely forgot to tell me his name and before I could ask who he was, he was already a goner. Fortunately, he left what seems to be his phone number behind, so... as soon as you arrive, I will give him a call and let him know, that you are waiting at the airport, so that he can go and pick you up. Just call me, as soon as you arrive and he will be right on his way."

He then chuckled, as it was clumsy of him to not note down the name.

"And while I am at it, I might as well ask him, what his name was again... that's a thing, when you are in a hurry, you are ALWAYS in risk of screwing up BAD."

Jun found this man's quirkiness very amusing, so she had to chuckle, as it was so true in itself... but this didn't solve the problem of who asked for her help.

"That's strange, strange indeed... well, I suppose, I might have to solve this mystery for myself then. I will be right on my way. Expect me to arrive tomorrow night..."

"You have my thanks, Ms. Kazama. I am sure, this man will be happy to hear the news of you having taken the contract."

The female Kazama may not know, who it was, that gave her this task, but the task alone gave her the impression, that this said person has got to be not so bad after all... and then, she giggled again at the thought of watching after orphans.

"My pleasure... and before you worry about me, probably not possessing the nerve to know how to deal with kids or early teenagers, there is no need in worrying about me. I know what I am doing, I know which buttons to press with youngsters."

"That's good, hehehe... if it hadn't been for my age, I might handle my son better, but hey, we never get any younger, do we?"

And with that, Jun jumped off of her couch, before stretching and letting out a loud groan in pleasure.

"No, hehe. Well then, thank you for the call. Now if you would excuse me, I will now go and prepare myself for the trip over to New Mexico. Sayonara."

"Goodbye."

And with that, the guy hung up... this was the signal for Jun to get over to her laptop, put on her glasses and search for the cheapest ticket she could find to get to America. And after a few hours, she found one ticket, that was cheap and short-termed as possible... she gave her credit card information, waits for the money to be exchanged with the ticket and when the download was finished, she nodded and prepared herself for the trip to America... but before she thought about leaving, she decided to make herself look as fine as possible, because it was a habit of hers to always make sure, that she is an eye-catcher, even with it not really being intentional... so she packs her stuff, quickly gives Lei a call on his phone, that she will not come tomorrow, because of the contract being a special case, that may take much longer to complete than a day, takes her car keys and her handbag, closes and secures the door behind her and then heads for her car... she throws her bag on the backseat, jumps inside, turns on the engine and drives off to head for the airport, but along the way, she heard screams of terror around the next corner through her open window. She abruptly stopped the car close to a corner shop and ran out of the car to face whatever horror that one person was facing right now and to her shock, she saw three men, attacking a little boy, who had a pork bun in his one hand... it seemed like, he tried to steal it from one of the men, since a restaurant was right next to them and judging by the looks of the kid, he seemed to be a homeless boy, just wanting some food to survive the night...

Man #1: "Hey! Who gave you permission to touch our food?!"

Man #2: "Yeah, we paid for it, you take your filthy fingers away!"

Man #3: "Seriously, go and find a job instead of bothering others, you little piece of shit!"

Kid: "B-But please, I-I was hungry...! I don't have any money with me...! Leave me alone!"

Suddenly, one of the men pulled a knife and began holding it close to the poor boy's face...

Man #2: "Oh, do not worry, we will leave you alone... in hell!"

?: "Stop it right now!"

And once the men turned around to see who was jumping in for the young man, they had to realize... it was Jun Kazama. She looked at the three men with a sorrowful look, as she wanted to approach this situation with care and patience, as using too much violence was not a solution in any way... and it was a trademark of hers among her other colleagues, that she was more of a peaceful nature, never to use force, only when it really calls for it and this is what made her so popular at Interpol... even though she isn't fond of this person hype around her, as she only does her job as she is told to do. Obviously, the men weren't pleased to see her and since she wasn't wearing her typical uniform as a cop, they don't think much of her and don't see her as a real threat... and because of her good looks, one of the man with the knife approached her with a sleazy grin...

Man #2: "My, my, m'lady, getting all bossy here... y'know, if it wasn't for this little waste of space down here, I would honestly ask you out on a date, if you would allow me... you got the looks and the attitude, I like that..."

"Leave this kid alone, right now... aren't you ashamed of yourself, beating up someone who is weaker than you? Where is your dignity?"

Man #2: "Look, this boy down here tried to steal our well-deserved dinner! After a hard day's work, we deserve to fill our stomachs with good food and booze, it's only natural... and since there are way more many of them, why not just simply put them out of their misery? No hunger, no suffering, it's THAT simple..."

But this only made Jun angry on the inside, since she hated this kind of life-style... every human being has a right to live, even the poor ones... so she swiftly turned her head to the man, who was playing with the knife and looked at him with a piercing look and the tone in her voice made it all too clear, she was not approving of this kind of behaviour one bit...

"Are you serious...? Killing someone, that isn't as "valuable" as you, is considered a favour for them...? I DARE you... to say that again to my face."

Man #2: "Oh come on, lighten up, it's just a little boy! He isn't that much of a threat now, is he? Besides, in his current state, he won't achieve anything in life anyway, so it won't be a huge loss if he dies..."

And just then, the man actually dared to touch Jun by her shoulder and as soon as his hand came in contact with her skin, she felt alarmed... especially since that man was playfully brushing the edge of his little blade against her bare arm without really touching her...

Man #2: "Why don't you mind your own business? Aren't you supposed to go somewhere, doing woman stuff and all?"

"I am warning you... don't you do something, that you are going to regret afterwards..."

The man had to admit, that she was really starting to creep him out... how she hasn't run away in fear yet, was beyond him and his friends... and because of her having watched everything, they couldn't allow her to run to the police... so they just decided to go through with what they initially planned on doing in the first place...

Man #2: "So you won't leave...? Good. Boys, grab him!"

Suddenly, his companions grabbed the little boy, who really started to cry now, as he knew, what they are going to do to him.

Boy: "No, no! Please no!"

Man #1: "Hold still, you little brat!"

Man #3: "It will be all over soon, my boy!"

This was the signal for Jun, as the situation was significantly getting worse... she looked at the man next to her, who was holding the knife and began to look at him sad, pleading eyes... as she knew, what was coming next...

"This is your last chance, stop it now, or it won't end well, I mean it!"

Man #2: "Too late, because now..."

He began twisting the knife in his one hand...

Man #2: "...this little crap-barrel..."

...as he began targeting the young man's throat...

Man #2: "...will now bathe... in its own puddle!"

...and dashes forward, ready to slice through the Adam's Apple and the boy was already closing his eyes, waiting for its incoming doom... before reopening them, after realizing, nothing struck him and all he saw was Jun kicking the man away, making him crash against the stairs to the backdoor leading to the kitchen of the restaurant. As soon as he crashed against the stairs with a loud bang, he became mad and swiftly turned around to face Jun.

Man #2: "You bitch! You are going to pay for this! Don't think, you are getting away that easy!"

Jun however didn't respond, as she remained cool and simply got in her typical Kazama stance, waiting for the man to come closer... and he indeed did so. As he slashed his knife in Jun's direction, she kept jumping or stepping away from his slashes and as soon as she was cornered to the left, she waited for him to slash again... only to then grab the hand, which had the weapon in its grip, as she then starts twisting it, before doing a typical reversal, by beginning to twist the thug as a whole, making him roll away from her, hitting the floor with his head first... but that was still not enough to knock him out, so she waited for another attack...

Man #2: "Now... I really had enough... YOU ARE SO DEAD, MISSIE!"

...and as soon as he dared to come close, he only found himself getting kicked in the gut and it was perfectly timed, so much so, he clutched his stomach and fell unconscious from high amounts of pain he was feeling. And as the middle aged Kazama was turning her head towards the other two baddies, the two got angry, because of what she just did to their friend... so they let go of the kid and decided to focus only on her instead.

Man #1 & Man #3: "You really crossed the line now! You are toast!"

"I warned him, but he wouldn't listen. My apologies, but since you were about to harm an innocent boy, you can't seriously expect me to just stand here and not intervene, especially now that you scumbags just tried to kill him. And now I am forced to warn you two... because the outcome will NOT be pleasant."

Man #1: "Look at her, she just took out one man and she thinks, she is queen of the world."

Man #3: "Come on, let's get rid of her, we wasted too much time here anyways."

And with that, the two thugs start bombarding Jun with an endless barrage of punches and kicks, but it was all for the naught, as she then stuns the two with a falling thunder kick from above, hitting both of their heads in the process and since she wore her high heeled sandals, the hits hurt more than normal, before pulling the two thugs down by their collars, only to then jump in a forward-backflip and throw the two against the brick wall right before her. Both crashed against the bricks with full force, but since they didn't have enough, both jumped back up and jumped in Jun's direction again, only this time, they ran after her again, but she used the narrow space to her advantage, by running up the wall right next to her, only to land right behind the two thugs. She knew, it was time to finally stop this senseless fighting, so she stomped the floor and waited for the two to come closer and as soon as one of them did, as they saw that stance as a taunt, one of the men found themselves getting brutally kicked in the face with a spinning roundhouse kick from the middle old Kazama and to make sure, he won't stand back up again, she does a lower roundhouse kick to sweep the man off of his feet, making him hit the floor hard... and then, as the final thug dashed forward to throw a simple punch at her, she swiftly and gracefully steps aside, only to first stun the man with a side kick in the gut, before kicking him in the face from the side, making him fall unconscious too... Jun sighed, as she wiped the sweat from her forehead... she initially planned on solving this situation violentless, but it all ended up happening the opposite, of what she actually hoped for... but she then quickly went over to the child and kneeled down to wipe its blood away with a tissue, as she looked at it with concern-filled eyes...

"Hey, everything OK?"

"Y-Yeah... t-thank you..."

She then crammed inside her little pocket and then gave the child a fine little sum of cash, and brushed a hand softly across his messy hair... however, looking at the wounds that these three gave the poor child and how blood ran down from the top of his forehead, as he was also covered in bruises...

"Wait here, I will call an ambulance and my colleagues, they are going to take care of these guys, OK?"

The boy nodded in a timid way, but then Jun had to ask him...

"But before I do, do you have any relatives close by, that take care of you?"

He shook his head, confirming that he truly is without a roof over his head... so the Kazama nodded and softly began stroking this boy's head, while speaking in comforting tone.

"Don't worry, I will let my colleagues know about you and they will make sure, that you get a into a safe homeless asylum, alright?"

He nodded, before hugging her... which she quickly returned before standing up to quickly tie these three troublemakers against the stairs that lead to the backdoor of the kitchen with three handcuffs, that she quickly brought over from her car. Then she took out her phone and began calling a few of her colleagues over that were still at work to let them know about the kid and the three men that bothered and dared to assault him... and as she was done with that one task, she then called an ambulance, so that they can pick up the kick and give him a medical treatment... and as soon as her colleagues and the ambulance arrived, she explained to them what happened and what they should do with the kid... the officers were agreeing with her and decided to take the three men and the child with them to put them were each of them belong to... one of the officers came to congratulate Jun for his late night effort...

Officer: "You really saved us a lot of trouble, again, Jun. Can't you ever make mistakes?"

"Hehe, sorry, I am way too incapable of making little mistakes. It's my job after all."

Officer: "Haha! Good one."

But then Jun had to look at her watch and she began to panic a little.

"Oh! If you would excuse me, I gotta go, I have a mission in New Mexico and I will be late for my flight over there! Goodbye!"

Officer: "Bye!"

And with that, Jun frantically jumped in her cab and quickly drove to the airport of Hong Kong... she went through the scanner to let her bag and her pocket get scanned, asked for the ticket at the terminal, takes it as quickly as she could and sat down to wait for the announcement... she sighed as she made herself comfortable and she took a sip of her hot coffee-to-go... and fifteen minutes later came the announcement, that her flight was ready to go... so she stood up and ran to get to the right terminal, that will lead her to her plane... and indeed did she find it, so she followed the other passengers to her flight to Mexico... she puts her bag in the luggage space above her seat, takes one of a few books out that she took with her, lets herself collapse on her seat and puts on her glasses, ready to read, once they take off... and a few minutes later, it was indeed time, as the plane finally began to move, before it increased velocity, until it finally took off into the air... Jun personally has always liked the tingling feeling of flying through the air in any way, shape or form, it made her feel... so free... so alive, with nothing prohibiting her freedom... but this time, she didn't feel it that much, since something was bothering her greatly...

Ever since she left her son to recover, so that he can safely return to their old home in Yakushima, leaving him with a feeling that she wasn't mad with him, despite what he did... she still felt incomplete and it wasn't only for the fact, that she wasn't with her son, it was also something else... something, that has been haunting her, since Jin's birth... since he has never seen his father personally in his childhood, after his fifth birthday, he became curious, because he wanted to know, where his father was and why he wasn't present, since he had a right to know. Jun feared, that he would ask her sooner or later... but because of her having been a real coward, for not having been able to accept the fact, that it was Kazuya Mishima, a world wide sought-after criminal and troublemaker, that she had previously tried to arrest, because of shady activities regarding his leadership over the Mishima Zaibatsu, who impregnated her... she wouldn't even have DARED to talk about him in a good way, simply because... she couldn't stand him. His cruel nature, his arrogance and his overconfidence... all this was simply NO part of a good father, that's at least what she thought back then and it still didn't change, even after she has watched him leave with a sad expression... so she was forced to lie, because she couldn't bear the thought of letting her son live with the fact, that his father was an impure overall evil individual, who seemed to only care about nobody but himself and his own interests.

Just letting him know, that his father was on a long business trip and he wouldn't return for a long time and only, when she goes on her own to meet up with him... that was the best possible excuse she could make up, just to avoid letting her own flesh and blood raise suspicion... of course, her son's reaction wasn't ANYTHING but positive, but she knew, that it was better this way... but now, twenty years later, she began to feel dreadful for having done that... there were just so many doubts surrounding her head, because now that she thought about what she and Kazuya did together in hindsight... in the past, she could still remember him having dropped that cold attitude of his at one point, that she couldn't remember that well anymore, since she didn't think much of it... but she wasn't convinced, she still thought ill of him... and when the two came together in bed... from her point of view, at least... it simply felt like, he only did it with her, all because of her good looks, since he was known for being greedy... and she was hoping for it to end very soon, so it was quick and painless, no further questioning... nothing more to be said. And even with her telling herself all this, she still felt bad for it, since it wasn't like her to be so cold towards someone she used to know... and Kazuya was not the only.

Ever since Heihachi let a journalist write down the story of how he and Kazumi ended up together, how Kazuya was born and how he ended up being forced to murder his wife, all for the sake of freeing her from the curse of the Hachijo clan and she just happened to have met the reporter by coincidence to let him tell her the true story behind Heihachi's motives... she began to feel bad for him and finally realize, that it was never Heihachi's intention to murder anyone, not related to his conflict... she was just a total mess inside her head... on one hand, she hated the Mishimas for what they did to her and Jin's life, but on the other, now that she knows the truth... she couldn't decide, if she should now have sympathy for them or not... but the fact remained, she would not forgive Kazuya for what he did to her, forcing her live alone and raise Jin, all by herself with no support whatsoever... and she would not change her mind, since she is THAT sick of him. So she simply activates the light bulb over head, makes herself comfortable, fixes her glasses and begins reading her book, as the plane disappeared in the clouds...

Eight hours later...

Jun was still fast asleep, as her head is gently leaned against the seat and she was snoring... until then something woke her up and that was the pilot, giving the more or less relieving announcement.

Pilot: "Dear passengers, we are slowly reaching our destination, Mexico City, please fasten your seatbelts, relax and enjoy the rest of the ride."

And as soon as looked sleepily through her window and realized, it was already daytime, she rubbed her eyes and then could clearly see the airport of Mexico underneath her and as soon as they got lower and lower, she could see everything... she began smiling to herself...

"Heh, never thought Mexico City to look so beautiful from above... and the airport is huge too... who gets the chance to see something like this often enough?"

And it wasn't long, before the plane finally set on landing... and as soon as it landed, everyone began clapping, because of the successful landing sequence, even Jun... she prepared herself for leaving, as she packed everything back into her bag, before leaving the plane, followed by the rest of the other passengers... and as soon as she got out, she gave Luis the call, that she has arrived.

"Luis, I am here. You can give the signal for the person to pick me up."

"Ahhh, good, and I finally found out this person's name, hehe and goodness, why was I clumsy to not ask, because this person is a literal CELEBRITY! The man is called King and he is a world wide known wrestler from Mexico, and he is known for the jaguar mask he wears..."

When Jun heard the name, she sort of got a little deja-vu, because she could remember a person called King from way back when she was participating in the second tournament... so she had to ask in a curious way.

"King? Like... THE King? Could it, by any chance, be the same King that owns his own orphanage?"

"Why yes! Indeed, is he the owner of the orphanage! I was surprised myself, but now we got smarter! You always learn something new every day, so to speak."

"OK, thank you. Well, farewell, Luis. I will take it from here and thanks again."

"My pleasure, Ms. Kazama. Goodbye."

Then... after going through the same routine again, Jun sat down close to the exit to await her escort to the orphanage, that was King... and merely thirty minutes later, she saw someone entering the airport with a significant jaguar mask and a tall frame, like Luis told her... and she recognized that same mask from the past too... she quickly stood up with her stuff ran over and kindly asked the man:

"Excuse me, are you King?"

And when the man turned around, he could not sound anymore surprised than now to see Jun Kazama herself standing before him... but because of his face being hidden under the mask, the Kazama could not tell his emotions, however the tone in his voice was more than enough to confirm his current emotion and it was clear joy.

"Heeey, just the woman I'm looking for, you're Jun Kazama, right?"

She bowed in a polite way, before grinning.

"Yes, that's me. Jun Kazama from Interpol Hong Kong, nice to meet you."

"And I'm King, I am honoured to meet you in person."

Both then began shaking hands, as he guided her to his car, that turned out to be... a big bus. It was odd, but Jun theorized as she got in the bus, that it had something to do with the fact, that since King is the owner of the orphanage and whenever the kids wanted to go for a trip, he would basically take them all for a ride anywhere they wanted... but she didn't question this any further, since she kind of knew, she was right... and she pulled her stuff up, King grabbed her bag and gently took it from her, as he wanted to relieve her...

"Give me that, I am sure you're exhausted from the long trip, let me help you."

"Oh, thank you. I am indeed tired..."

"Do not worry, as soon as we arrive, you can already go upstairs, with your bed being prepared for you to lay on."

"You're too kind, you know that?"

"That's how I roll. Story of my life."

And as he puts the bag next to her seat, she sat down and was surprised at how hot it was in here... the heat was almost like a slap in her face. It was hot before, but the heat was almost inhumane in the bus... but King had good news. He simply put on a switch and already the heat began to disappear within the cool wind, that was coming through the in-built air conditioner, making King chuckle, since he already knew, she expected this bus to be like rest. Old, used and out of date.

"Thought wrong, this baby here looks like nothing, but the core is worth the money. I do not regret ever having invested a good sum of cash in this, hehe."

He turns on the engine, waited for the road to be clear and then sped off to head for the orphanage... while he drove, he and Jun decided to pass the time a little through small talk... for one thing, Jun wanted to know a little more about the orphanage itself.

"One question... how many children can I expect to see?"

"Well, in total, we have 20. But do not worry, all of them behave well, even though a few can be a handful, but other than that, none of them are that much of troublemakers."

"Aha... and Luis actually told me, that the other owner has fallen sick and you don't have that much time for them... but, just out of curiosity, who is the other owner?"

"Well, Michelle Chang is the other owner... she wasn't exactly specific, as of why she didn't feel well, but the point is, she isn't getting any younger, so I thought, someone could relieve her and me for a while... obviously, I still have to take care of a good friend of mine, since he hasn't recovered from his wounds yet and I am still on the search for a new partner... so yeah, I am pretty much cornered right now in my business."

"Michelle... hehe, I wonder how she is doing... it has been quite a while..."

"Wait... you know her?"

"Let's just say, I am familiar with her. Me and her actually encountered one another before, back in the 2nd tournament. We became friends fairly quickly... but ever since that one job of mine was finished, I haven't seen her since... probably, she wasn't able to get what she wanted and instead decided to just set back and forget what she experienced thus far... poor thing... hope, she was able to get over this..."

King was now personally intrigued... but since she was exhausted, he did not really feel like bothering her with more personal questions now and instead decided to leave that for some other time... and to keep the good mood alive, he had to ask this.

"But now I have a question for you... do you look forward in watching over the children?"

That question alone made Jun smile, since she actually enjoyed the presence of youngsters and even with a few being obnoxious, she just knows what to do to get on their good side, so that they will behave. Trust was everything.

"Of course, in fact, I am relieved to get something different for once... hunting criminals down is my specialty, but getting a new kind of job is an all-around new experience for me personally. And like I told Luis, I am experienced with kids, I even raised a child myself, so if you are looking for someone that can even make the unpopular youngsters loveable little angels, you can count on me."

"Hehe, that's good to hear. I like persons, that know what they do."

And the wrestler was even more curious now, since she mentioned something about her having a child herself... and he couldn't resist asking this.

"And excuse my curiosity, but you said you have raised a child yourself. Do you have a son or a daughter? And how is he/her doing?"

"Oh, um, I have a son and he is doing just fine. Right now, he is in Tokyo and tries his luck in life. And no, he isn't a child anymore, he is an adult now, he can take care of himself just fine without me."

"Ahhh, good... the older they are, the more they want to distance themselves a little from the family to find their own place in life."

"True, true..."

Of course, Jun had to answer this way, since she didn't trust King. Since her son is still a criminal, she had to keep it tame with her description, so that he doesn't raise suspicion about her life too much... and much to her luck, he didn't further question and an awkward silence overcame the two... until King then stopped the bus and spoke in a cheerful tone.

"Well, here we are!"

He pressed the horn to signify the children, he has arrived with the new guest. And as soon as the two left the bus with him carrying her bag, all the children ran outside to greet their new "mother", that will watch over them and indeed were they happy to see her. Just watching all these happy faces made Jun smile and warm on the inside. Never before has she felt so welcome somewhere... but King had to make the cheering stop, as he wanted them to behave a little, since the guest was exhausted.

"Kids, please be a little more polite, Jun has had a journey behind her and needs some rest. Have some manners, please."

But the Kazama shook her hands in defence as she was totally fine with it.

"No, no, it's OK. I am tired, yes, but I am happy to have arrived here. And I certainly look forward to following days, where I have the pleasure of spending time with all of you. And are you happy too?"

Everyone: "YES! WE ARE!"

"Then I suppose, you can already look forward for tomorrow, because I will give it my all to make your time worthwhile."

The youngsters happily cheered, while the more older ones were nodding in a pleased way... but Jun then felt awkward, because they would actually expect her to cook something at one point and the problem is... she CAN'T cook. So she almost comically looked at kids with wide eyes...

"But... if you're expecting me to cook a meal for all of you... then I have bad news, unfortunately... I NEVER learned how to cook, so..."

But then, one of the more older orphans spoke up, as they showed a comforting grin.

Teenager: "That's no problem. We are prepared for that, because a few of us can actually cook on their own, we had to teach that ourselves, whenever Michelle didn't have time, so we pretty much had to teach it ourselves. So don't worry and if you want, we could also cook something for you. I am sure, you're hungry."

That made Jun feel greatly relieved on the inside... one serious problem less. But she had politely decline the kind offer.

"That's very nice, but I am not empty in my bowels, I ate something while I was waiting for King, but still, thank you very much."

But then King had to mention something.

"Ummm, would someone please be so nice to guide Jun to her room? Like I said before, she needs some rest first. And while you are at it, please show her around a little, just so that she can find everything the next day. Orientation never hurts."

And one of the more young adults in the group actually raised his hand to do the job.

"How about me?"

"OK, Xavier. I am counting on you."

"Sure."

"I will go inside and put her stuff in her room. You can show her around."

He then went over and gently grabbed Jun's hand, before going with her to the first place, she needs to see for herself and Xavier even explained a little, what was going on with this. First thing to present was the church.

"This here, obviously, is our church. A few of our kids are religious and if you believe in god too... feel free to go and pray a little, if it cheers you up. I myself am not a believer though, but anyway..."

Next, he presented to her the well...

"And feeling thirsty? Or want to prepare some water for rice? Here we have our own well."

Jun went over to test the quality of the water... she scooped a little up in her hand and drank it... and she nodded.

"Almost flawless quality. And cool too."

"The water here is perfect, nobody will ever get thirsty."

And then he showed her the two-story main building, with a total chain of four, smaller houses next to it... it was pretty plain-looking, but this was good enough for Jun, as she never asked for much.

"And last but not least, our little campus. Yeah, I know, looks shabby on the outside, but trust me, this is one hell of a comfortable home. The four little huts are the bedrooms for the children, being able to house about four children each. And if you are looking for protection from the brewing heat, not to worry, air conditioning system all the way and the fridge also works just fine. We have a TV, a radio, a working toilet, a well-enough designed kitchen, everything you can ask for. Oh, and by the way, we also have our own garage, where King mostly stores his car and the bus. Do you have a driver's license?"

"Yes, for the car."

"Good, then... we're all set, nothing more to be shown. And all I can say is: Welcome home."

"Thank you, Xavier, for showing me around. And now if you would excuse me, I would like to go inside and get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a tough day."

"OK then. See ya."

But before she left, she quickly kissed Xavier on the forehead for having been such a sweetheart to show her around and as she went inside, the Mexican was touching his forehead and was blushing, as he did not expect this kind of gratitude from her. And without further questioning, Jun went upstairs to find her stuff in her own room, ready to be unpacked... and after she has gotten herself comfortable, having put everything at its place, she kicks off her sandals and lets herself collapse on her bed, which was surprisingly comfy... and it didn't take long, until she finally fell asleep... already was she feeling like at home here... and would it remain that way?

TO BE CONTINUED...