Disclaimer: Don't own Tekken. Miharu, Xiaoyu and Bob are not my characters.
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The sky was now only a cluster of white clouds, like puffed up cotton candy with small gaps, showing a sunny city waiting below. It was like one of those paintings to Miharu, surreal and scary. Was she really this high?
They were on their way to Florida. Her stepfather had given her an early birthday treat and booked a holiday for two in America. It was school break and this is how Miharu wanted to spend it. But now she was starting to have second thoughts. What if she didn't fit in?
She peels her gaze away from the window and fixes her belt. The plan is going to land soon and Xiaoyu grips her arm, half giggling and half whimpering in fear.
"Oh Haru! Please pray for me!"
"What about me Xiao?!" Miharu says back, tone equally as shaky and her heart thudding fast when she felt the plane tip forwards.
They were a couple of eighteen year old girls who had never been on a plane before. Xiaoyu had come from China to Japan on a ship. Miharu had never travelled outside of Japan before and now this was the trip of their lifetime.
Xiaoyu shuts her eyes close. "Okay I'll pray for the both of us!"
A man sitting in front of them turns his head and smiles at the two girls. "Hey, don't worry, it'll be okay girls."
Miharu looks at him. Handsome. Blonde and blue eyed. Just what she needed to calm her nerves. But then again, damn! The fit guy had seen her panicking and she grins uneasily at him.
He takes off his own seatbelt and stands up, with arms in the air. "See, it's nothing bad."
"Sir, you need to put your own belt on," A nearby stewardess warns.
"I'm just showing her it's alright. The landing isn't dangerous."
"Sir. Please!"
"Get your fucking belt you on you cabron!" A man sitting next to him groans. "I don't want you landing on me! This ain't Brokeback Landing!" Then he continues his profanity in Spanish in an agitated mutter.
"Chill out dude," The blonde guy frowns at him and then shoots an apologetic smile towards Miharu. "It'll be fine."
He sits down when the stewardess comes marching over and quickly ties up his belt like a naughty schoolboy when the woman inspects him like a stern teacher.
Miharu smiles. Xiaoyu's fingers dig into her skin. She is not that much scared any more.
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America is different to Japan.
Xiaoyu tells her that she misses the lit chaos of Tokyo, her panda and Forest. But a few shops quickly distract her, pulling her into a Disneyland bonanza and she emerges with bags of stuffed toys, each one for their schoolmates back in Japan. Miharu tries to find a nice place to eat. She avoided fast food joints ever since her mother had complained that all the fat was going just to her boobs, making her look like a porn star because they always had uneven bodies. Slim bodies and ridiculously big tits, as her mother said.
"There is Mcdonalds everywhere! I can't find a place that does Chinese food or even some good sashimi…"
"Hey this is the USA, Haru. You're not going to get steamed shrimp dumplings, pecking duck and spring onion fried noodles here!" Xiaoyu giddily exclaims and both girls lick their lips. Ah, what a delicious image. Miharu could literally smell the lovely soy sauce wafting in the air. Thin white pancakes stuffed with shredded duck and spring onions, dipped in…
Maybe she should cook. She'd have to buy the ingredients. But where would she find them? Her stepfather only had given her a certain amount of spending cash plus she had with her some of her wages from her part time job as a cook for Forest's restaurant. She was about to ask Xiaoyu if they could go to a supermarket next. But Xiaoyu was already running off to Mcdonalds to order.
The day is long and tiring but both the girls are happy as they retreat back to their hotel with bags of shopping. Astonished at Xiaoyu's energy, Miharu joins her the next day for an aerobic session which came included in the hotel package. Xiaoyu moves, bounces and jumps with joy and Miharu drags herself to the side to drink some Lucozade and quietly leaves for a shower. With only a towel around her, Miharu tries to find her locker. Where was it? And why where there stinky muddy soccer boots on the floor?
"Hey, are these your shoes man?" Someone behind her taps her on the shoulder and she turns around.
It was the same blonde guy. The fit one. He was in a red tracksuit and boy, he was smoking hot! He looks at her in surprise.
"Pixie chick? From the plane? What are you doing here?!"
"Huh? What are you doing here? You're in the girl's shower room!" Miharu blushes hard and grabs her towel, holding it in place so tightly, aware that if it slipped off, he'd be the first guy to see her naked.
"I'm in the men's room…you're in the men's room too.." He looks around and then ushers her to a cubicle.
"Usually the shy guys take this but you're a girl! Where's your stuff?"
She only had a plastic bag with her that had her sweaty gym clothes in it and a pair of her sneakers. Everything else was in her locker!
"I can't find my locker..." She replies and holds up her wrist, showing him the pink rubber band with the key.
"It's pink. The lockers here have blue bands." He lifts his own up and then opens the door to show her unused lockers with blue bands attached to them.
"See?"
Oh fuck. No wonder there was no sign of Xiaoyu. He steps out and half closes the door. "Give me your key. I'll go and ask someone to bring it over for you."
Miharu clutches her key. Could she trust this guy? He was good looking but she didn't know him that well….
"You have a friend with you right? One with the babytails?"
"Yes."
"What's her name?"
"Xiaoyu. But I call her Xiao."
He repeats the name exactly as he hears it and Miharu smiles from behind the door.
"Okay, I'll ask for her to bring your things. I'll need the key though." She looks at her key and then takes it off, giving it to him.
"Oh wait, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Bob. Your name?"
He extends a hand but doesn't peek in to see her. Miharu slowly takes it and they shake hands.
"Miharu."
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The third time she sees him is at night. The hotel has a beach party with fireworks. He is sitting at the bar. She blushes when he notices her and waves. She was wearing a bikini and a pair of very tiny denim shorts that was so tight that Miharu had to leave the button open. When Xiaoyu asks her about it, Miharu shrugs and fixes on her cap.
"It's hot Xiao."
I actually fancy that guy sitting at the bar. I want him to find me sexy. Not cute.
Xiaoyu looks at her own swimsuit- the one-piece they both had from school. "I feel fine in mine."
The music plays and she searches for Bob. Xiaoyu dances like a loon and pulls on Miharu's hands, but this isn't high school. A few moments later, she slips away, deciding to apologize to Xiaoyu later. Right now, she had to meet him.
"Hey."
His voice is a sweet one. A nice sweet American man voice with a boyish tinge. He is wearing a T-shirt and cropped pants. She smiles back.
"Hey."
"Want a drink?" He offers her a Malibu.
She never drank before. But who is she to decline? He was being nice.
"You look stunning." He tells her and she blushes again.
"Thank you."
The first sip is deep. It is a fruity syrup which sizzles down her throat like those bath bombs she and Xiaoyu love. The second sip is like a sweet poison. She chugs down the rest in an unladylike manner and Bob chuckles.
"Want another?"
Yes please.
So they drink, they talk and smile. Any thoughts of Xiao go flying out of her head. All she wanted to see was his lips curve and his pearly whites shining. She is bolder with each sip and touches his hand. Surprised, he doesn't pull away. In fact he brings her hand up and kisses it.
"Want to dance?"
They move together fluidly. It is utterly erotic. Miharu loves the feel of his hands gently touching her hip and the small of her back. Never had a man touched her like before. She feels her skin tinge under his fingertips. He caresses her face.
"You're very pleasing to the eyes, Pixie chick," He tells her before they kiss. It's warm and sweet but brief. Very brief.
"HARU!"
Both of them pull apart, as if they had just been shaken awake. Xiaoyu is standing with a face that tells Miharu she was not happy on being ditched. Her head starts to hurt.
Bob apologizes to her for stealing Miharu. Xiaoyu ignores him and grabs her. "Why didn't you tell me before that you liked this guy?"
"I should have told you before. I know. Otherwise you wouldn't have spoiled this moment," Miharu mutters.
"Okay, introduce us properly first and then I'll let you dance with him!" Xiaoyu giggles. "After all, I'll be his sister-in-law, won't I?!"
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Their holiday is drawing to a close. They had met a few times in the hotel; he was staying over and coaching some basketball players. Bob and her decide to have a proper date. One that involved going to a park and having a picnic. Something that Miharu had always wanted to do with the man who would be hers. Like her, Bob appreciates good food. He enjoys basketball, playing air hockey and scrabble. He was a funny gentleman. The kind who would open doors and then get hit by them. The kind who would fall flat on their asses on purpose so she wouldn't look like an idiot when she fell.
But still, she had so much more to learn about him and vice versa. They sit together, she is snuggled up against him and it was a nice warm day in March.
"What is your birth year, Bob?"
"1985."
"That would make you twenty five then."
"Yeah."
"How old do I look?"
"Twenty."
He was so self-assured. It hurt.
"I'm actually eighteen, going on nineteen next month."
Bob lets go of her, confused, Miharu sits up and looks at him.
"Whoa…You don't look eighteen."
Miharu frowns. "Are you saying I look old?"
Bob sits up and crosses his legs.
"No, I'm saying, you look mature, hot and way too pretty to look like a schoolgirl. To be honest, I thought that the other girl with you was your little sister who was sixteen?"
Miharu laughs. "No, she's the same age as me. We're best friends."
"Do you know what this means?" Bob's tone is quiet. "We can't date."
"What?! Why not?" She is confused.
"I know the legal age up in here is eighteen but it still doesn't feel right you know…I mean you're still a schoolgirl, about to graduate soon and I'm just three years into my career. We're at different stages of our lives right now. It won't be right for us to be together."
"Why do you think that way? You said I look older. I am mature..." Miharu frowns, suddenly feeling an onset of tears clouding her eyes.
"Because it's true. Maybe when you turn twenty one, I can come to meet you. You'll be in the middle of university then- if you're going and a good year from graduating. You graduate when you're nineteen right?"
"It's because you're six years older than me that you're saying that."
"No, it's-"
"And my twenty first birthday is miles away! You know that is at least two years…what if we meet new people….what if you find someone and get married and forget me?"
"Maybe. But hey, if we're meant to be, we will come together in the future. Be positive Miharu. You're young. You have your whole life ahead of you."
"So do you."
"Yes but I've lived the last two years of my teens without worrying about a serious relationship. You need to have fun, explore life, enjoy it. Don't let me take that away from you."
And from that day, they parted ways.
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Two years later,
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"I remember him. That blue eyed blond guy, Bob," Miharu wistfully tells Xiaoyu.
Things had drastically changed in those two years. The sixth Tekken tournament happened. A war happened and people were just starting to rebuild their lives. Xiaoyu was now seeing Forest full on and she suspected that those two would marry soon. Miharu had dated a few guys but none of them went anywhere. She remembers Bob's promise to her and waits.
He emails her, saying he's on the plane which is due to land soon. She hadn't seen Bob since they emailed each other. He refused to show her a photo. He had said he'd surprise her. Miharu imagines he is even more handsome than before. American men looked the sexiest in their late twenties. Just like a few Hollywood actors that Miharu had admired.
Ripped, rugged and risqué.
Xiaoyu helps her pick a short dress, dark blue with a leopard print. She suggests croc sandals but they're Xiaoyu's signature shoes, not hers. Miharu picks a couple of shiny white court shoes with a pair of red bows.
She is left sitting at a table and its broad daylight- her favourite shade of the day. She waits and waits, applies lipstick. It's when a looming shadow blocks the sunshine that she looks up.
A morbidly obese man smiles down on her,the eclipse to her sun! She did not want to be seen with an old fat man. Not when she had a date.
"Excuse me, do you mind old man? I have a date with someone." Miharu snaps rudely.
"It's me." His voice is gruffy, as if his gut had food stuck in it.
She stands up, annoyed and finds that this man is a foreigner. His tuft of blonde hair sitting on his scalp in a mess. His beady eyes were small between globs of fat skin and thick cheeks. His lips were small and surrounded by an awkward goatee. She had no business with such a man. If she recalled correctly, this was the clown in the sixth Tekken tournament. That fat guy. What was his name? Bernard, Bobby or Buster or something. Forest would joke about him and Ganryu being together; Paul would call him fat-ass. Xiaoyu would call him Santa.
"It's me, I'm Bob!"
Miharu looks at him again. Then finds him, her Bob, in that tiny gaze.
She steps back and screams.