Just Casual

The pipes were broken again and it caused the Koi pond to leak. This usually happens on a Friday. Mrs Lobos cursed in Spanish, stressed out, than yelled in the top of her lungs

"Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin!"

Jin was just finishing up, training at the dojo-house and felt his wonderful morning shattered when he heard the shrilling sound of the house maid. He wiped the sweat off his face with the towel hanging around his neck, respectfully bowed his head at the Japanese copper statue, and walked out to see what the banshee is fussing about.

"Look, look, water everywhere!" she pointed with a white rag in her hands and her red plum-dyed boof of an afro shook at every word. "Your Grandfather will not be happy. Tsk, tsk. You must call serviceman this time!"

Jin remained cool-headed, but his eyes rolled towards the sky in such a subtle way that you couldn't notice, as if he was only thinking of it.

It all started with a deranged, red-haired screwball that was cool enough to crash into the edge of the pond with his Yamaha. Since then it had never properly functioned and Jin thought of an alternative to cover things up until his Grandfather came back from Nagasaki. Those alternatives specifically only benefited him, giving him the perfect set-up for a young man's necessity. However, this leaky pond was wasting no time to drown out this Zen looking courtyard and put half of Japanese plantations underwater, so he wasted no time to contact his "alternative".

"You gonna call serviceman now?" Mrs Lobos asked loudly while watching Jin walk upstairs.

"It is not necessary" he replied with his back turned and kept going.

Mrs Lobos knew why he was being such a cheap-arse even with their state of wealth. Letting it go she went back to her business whilst murmuring cursed Latin under her breath.

Jin logged on and signed into his Facebook, Messenger, Twitter, Friend ster, MySpace and Skype. She was bound to be on one of them. Mobile texting was useless. Her view on mobile phones was (apart from a nifty GPS system or an emergency phone call) anytime you got a text message, she refused to be a dog to a whistle. If she needs to use it, it would have to be on her own accord - plus it was a distraction. Socializing through internet was easier for him anyway. Having the power to control and end conversations without a real definition of emotion were absolutely convenient. And there is always the invisibility function...OFFLINE, even when you're still on.

Out of all social networks, he found her currently online on the Steam. He should have guessed that she would be there in the morning, starting the day with a nice cup of Real-World Shooters (eighty percent chance). He clicked his cursor on the profile name Mad_Axe_Wanderer, with the avatar of an Indian steer Skull. The chat box opens and Jin had felt the most pleasurable feeling of interrupting someone else's enjoyment.

DEVILJIN_K9999: PIPES BROKEN. COME OVER

MAD_AXE_WANDERER: HELLO TO YOU TOO.....AGAIN?!!

DEVILJIN_K9999: YES. COME OVER

MAD_AXE_WANDERER: X( GRR! TOLD HER NOT TO TOUCH THE DAMN THING! OK. GIVE ME A COUPLE OF HOURS.

DEVILJIN_K9999: NO TIME. COME NOW.

MAD_AXE_WANDERER: FINE. BE THERE 20MIN

(DEVILJIN_K999 IS NOW OFFLINE)

Keeping his conversations to a minimal as possible suits Jin socially. He is a very frank kind of guy. No bullshit just straight-to-the-point honesty. Apart from the dark and mysterious category, the female admirers believe he is a good listener...no a great listener! So great they can only hear echoes of their own voices. Jin was a listener, his mind was somewhere else that's all and his stare - towards the wall. Then there was this girl. She knew how to pull his interest strings without trying too hard to flaunt it. There wasn't a day where she would not oppose him, aggressively...and he liked that. She was stubborn, pushy and spoke in fluent English (which is critically important to pass his English class. How else could he deliver a speech of world domination if the nations can't understand a bloody nihongo word?) and she is fully ripe with the 'Knowledge and Science' genes. It comes in handy if you plan for political power, I guess you could say, in Jin's point of view it's an investment.

Jin quickly took a semi-cold shower and put on a white shirt with a collar, and settling for black Dickies pants. He slapped his chiselled jaws with fresh menthol-feel cologne and popped downstairs to the kitchen to start making snacks for him and his guest. Ling walked into the lounge sucking on a red gobstopper that protruded in the side of her cheek. Her school shirt untucked, the pigtails uneven, her back-pack unzipped, and looking like drowsy school girl who had just come from a natural disaster.

"Uuuugh I hate -orning casses" she whined. "Why I hab so -any -orning casses?"

She did this almost every morning. Usually when Jin doesn't have the morning classes. Ling moved to Japan as a transfer student. Heihachi Mishima was keen to take one on as a training opportunity for Jin at home. Little did the two men know, they were going to get a sixteen year old girl. Fortunately for her she proved to be an excellent fighter for her age. The only catch? She was a girl who acted like she was twelve and a handful each coming day. The first few days drove him nuts, but since then he has adjusted to her childishness.

She took the Gobstopper out of her mouth and spoke in a cute cuddly voice "What you making?" And popped the giant candy ball back in.

"Breakfast" he replied while keeping his eyes focused on pouring pesto and sour cream dip onto a Balinese wooden bowl. The remaining drip on the container he quickly picked and licked off his fingers.

She tip-toed to get a better glance of the counter. Placed presentably on two white platters was a mix of greens, orange and red veggies accompanied by rice crackers. Her face immediately scrunched in disgust and blurted out "Yuck!"

She shook her head, saying quietly to herself "Complelely no- ea-able" and plonked on the black leather couch.

Jin was too busy to care, although her comments made him grin for a bit. It was pleasant to know he could associate his health-addiction with someone. The guest he was preparing the meal for happens to be a green thumb and was a fan of vegetables herself. Both agreed they can't live without the meat though.

A sudden thought just waved a hit at Ling, finally it occurred to her she saw two plates and not just that. Jin was usually an instant-smoothie junkie, and would blend his breakfast to take on the go. He was expecting someone and she couldn't help pretending to guess who it was. Somehow the dreaded feeling would not go away, deep down she knew who it was.

'Oh what the heck' she thought and pounced upright on the couch to face Jin "I- thsumone comi- over?"

"Xiaoyu, I would appreciate you wouldn't speak with your mouth full. It is hard for me to understand you"

She popped out the now white, saliva-smothered candy out of her mouth to repeat her question "You have someone coming over?"

"The pond is leaking."

"Again?"

He nods at her and starts cleaning up after himself.

She sank slowly onto the couch, back to the sitting position. The pond's leaking disturbs her. It only means one thing and it has happened before.

'Stoopid Japanese boys' she thought wounded. 'All boys stoopid.' It should have been her. If only she could fix that 'stoopid' leakage.

Suddenly a sweet crystal, yet rough American accent broke the silence and could be heard in the yard "Oh well I'll be Damned!"

End of Chapter