Author's Notes: Wow! I haven't written in years. I cleaned up my account here and so I thought I could start anew with a new project. I must warn you that I have no idea where it's going or if it'll really pick up, but I hope to continue it and eventually finish. I actually have several accounts on and so I've written a handful of Tekken fics before, but this is the first time in a long while that I'm picking it back up. Feedback, as well as good reviews, are always appreciated and do help motivate the author. Also, if you have any suggestions for improvements or plots, toss them this way! I will certainly consider and read all the comments.

By the way, my name is Vanessa. It feels nice to be back and a part of the world here. I hope you all enjoy the story!

Summary: You will always remember your senior year of high school. Two pairs of best friends create bonds with each other and find ones they will never let go of. AU with a love square – featuring Jin, Xiaoyu, Hwoarang, and Julia.

Last Year's Memories

CHAPTER 1: Frozen Yogurt

"How did your Christmas vacation go?" a cute perky voice came from behind him.

Jin sighed, stuffing his calculus book at the top of his locker as he turned to his best friend. "It was okay," he said, shrugging and slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

Xiaoyu smiled. She knew him too well to know that something else had happened. "That bad, huh?" she teased, poking him directly in the chest. "You must've gotten some good presents at least!"

He rolled his eyes as he shut his locker and they began to make their way down the hallway, Xiaoyu almost skipping to a beat. Sometimes she's too happy for her own good, he thought. Christmas had been like any other Christmas for him – familiar, drab, and routine. Not to mention living in Southern California also meant no snow. As a native New Yorker, he had a tendency to miss it, especially during the holiday season. The snow brought a certain comfort to the loneliest people.

Xiaoyu nudged him. "Hey, I know you're thinking about something."

Jin made a face. "I'm not." Was he really that readable?

She rolled her eyes with a grin. "Like I'm gonna believe that. Anyway, I gotta get to class. Mr. Davis is gonna kill me if I'm late again!" She stepped close briefly to say in a low voice, "If you wanna talk later… you know I'll always listen." And before Jin could respond, she was off in the opposite direction.

His eyes followed after her until he entered his own classroom, her statement echoing in his mind. As childhood friends, she was the only one he could really talk to, but even then he kept it to a minimum. The rest was kept up safe and secretly locked up in the corner of his mind.

"JULIAAAA!" Two big arms came up from behind to envelope her in a bear hug, as she almost stumbled over, laughing.

"Hwo, stop. You're choking me." She pretend to push him away, but in all actuality, she was glad to see her best friend again.

"Oh, you know you love it," Hwoarang flashed his famous grin, pinching her cheek as Julia swatted his hand away. "How was Arizona? Was it hotter than here? Check out the rays I got in Cancun."

"Arizona was great; yes, it was really hot; and wow, you are really tan." She smiled back. "Did that cover all your questions?"

"Yeah, but it was sort of insufficient. I'll get all the juicy details later, right?"

"… but there are no juicy details."

Hwoarang pretended to look shocked. "Oh, really? Then I'll tell you my juicy details about the girls I met." His grin, if possible, grew even larger.

"Oh, ew," Julia said with a disgusted face, silencing his mouth with a hand. "I do not need to know the details about how many girls you bedded while being drunk."

"Yeah, well, it's just too bad Jin couldn't come with me. We would've gotten twice as many girls, I bet, just by laying out there on the beach."

"Probably not, because unlike you, he doesn't hit on every female that looks his way," she teased, gathering her books from her locker.

"True, true," Hwoarang tapped his chin. "I've always been meaning to do something about that, though," he tried to look serious. "He needs to get out more. And get laid. He's always broody."

Julia laughed as she hit his arm. "You're so bad," she shook her head, hugging her books to her chest.

"And you're no fun. Wanna get together after school today? Maybe we can ask Jin and Xiao to join us. Foursomes are always better-"

"You're such a perv," she cut him off and not answering his question. "Now get to class; you're going to be late." She grinned.

"Yes, ma'am," Hwoarang mock-saluted her as his disappeared into the classroom next to hers.

"Dangit, why the hell did Coach Johnson make us practice the day after break!?" Hwoarang slammed his locker hard, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Probably because we're all rusty," Jin shrugged, not bothering to argue against either side.

"Ugh." He wiped his forehead with a towel, putting on his sneakers. "I wanted to hang out with Julia today too." He grabbed his cell phone and speed-dialed. "Hey, Jules, I know you never answered me about hanging out after school. … Oh, good. Jin and I just finished soccer practice. … Mhm. I don't know." Hwoarang looked over to Jin, covering the bottom part of his cell phone with his hand. "Do you wanna come and meet up with her? We're in the mood for some frozen yogurt."

Jin frowned. "No, thanks." He needed to get home and started on his homework. His grades at this point were not perfect, and with their senior year coming to a close, he wanted to end strongly.

"What a party pooper. … No, not you, Jules. He can't come. He probably wants to go home and brood- OW!" he yelped as Jin punched his shoulder. "Uh… nothing," he winced. "Yeah, I'll meet you there in 10. See ya." He sent a glare at Jin, who returned it. "What was that for!?"

"I don't brood." Jin stood up from the bench, holding his duffel bag as he left the locker room.

"You don't brood, my butt," Hwoarang mumbled as his slipped his cell phone into his pocket.

Jin sat on his bed, alone in his room. He had been trying to finish homework for the past hour, but all the numbers were just swarming around in his head. He had always struggled through mathematics, but this time he was on the verge of failing. Rummaging through his backpack, he pulled out a paper with a list of names. His coach had given him a list of student tutors available that he could work with, but he didn't want to call anyone. Maybe it was a pride issue.

Now it was going to become a permanent record issue, if he didn't fix his grade in time. Jin's eyes scanned the list until it fell on one that was very familiar.

Julia Chang.

Of course. He had forgotten that Julia was a whiz. More than that, she was a friend who could help. He picked up his cell phone, meaning to call her…

"Jin?"

"Xiaoyu, it's me."

"Duh, I can tell. What's up?"

He sighed. "I'm failing calculus."

"Okay, you are so talking to the wrong person…"

"I'm not asking for help. I just want to…"

"Talk?" She sounded like she had been waiting for him to say that.

Jin hesitated. "Kazuya and Heihachi want me to run Mishima Corporation." He had always referred to his father and paternal grandfather by their names. He wanted no connection to them. Jin's mother had died when he was a child and in honor of her, he took her surname. He wanted to make sure he wouldn't exist as a Mishima, but the weighing pressure was starting to get too heavy.

"Well… what are you going to do about it?" Xiaoyu knew Jin hated (if that was even a strong enough word) anything Mishima, so them forcing this on him had to be tough.

"I… don't know."

It wasn't very often that Xiaoyu heard her best friend speak like this. He was pained and aggravated, she could tell. But it wasn't like she could tell him everything was going to be okay. Truth be told, she didn't know either. She thought carefully before speaking. "Think about it this way. You're still in high school. We have another 5 months until it's over. Let's make the most of it! Ah, how about now? I'm in the mood to go out," she giggled, hoping he'd say yes. Partly because she didn't know how to handle his situation and partly because she really did want to go out with him. … as friends, of course.

Jin was quiet for a minute. Maybe getting out of the house would do him some good. And even if the situation wasn't necessarily going away anytime soon, maybe he should get his mind off of it. "Okay."

She gave a little squeal and he nearly had to plug his ears. "Excellent! Oh, I have a great idea."

He cringed at those words. Usually her 'great ideas' turned out into something disastrous.

"Why don't we get some frozen yogurt?"