Reflections: Devil and Angel
A Tekken Fanficition
Part Three of the Reflection Series
By Snafu the Great
Disclaimer: Bandai Namco owns Tekken. Katsuhiro Harada is the mastermind. My first Tekken fanfic. Wow. The main inspiration for this came from Gwendy's Mishima-Kazama Connections Trilogy (yes, I also support Kazuya and Jun as a couple). This is basically a one-shot and as you probably know, the characters in this are out-of-character. If you had read Reflections in a Dragon's Eye and Reflection in a Tiger's Eye in the Street Fighter section, then you know that this is a parody of an interview.
Bold text denote the interviewer speaking.
[The Peacock's Eye – the fighters' exclusive bar and grill co-owned by Chun-Li Xiang and her friend Mai Shiranui. Tonight, the restaurant is hosting a costume party, and everyone inside is dressed to the nines. As always, the Peacock's Eye is quite a rowdy place. There is also a contest for singles and pairs. Ayane have already won the singles' contest, having dressed up as Saeko Busajima from Highschool of the Dead. The pairs' contest will take place within the hour.
Since both Chun-Li and Mai are co-owners, they opted not to compete. Both her and her husband, Ryu Houshi, are dressed as Marion Ravenwood and Indiana Jones from Raiders of the Lost Ark, respectively. The feisty Shiranui kunoichi opted to dress as Rose DeWitt Bukater, while her longtime companion, Andy Bogard, is dressed as Jack Dawson. The co-owners and their respective others are sharing a table, chatting.
On the Eye's impromptu stage, Pai Chan – dressed as Willie Scott from the Club Obi-Wan scene in Temple of Doom – is entertaining the gathered patrons with 'Anything Goes,' singing it as Kate Capshaw had done in the movie's intro. Of course, this is before her rival Johnny Cage – dressed as legendary dance choreographer Herman Benjamin from the Bollywood movie Gumnaam – one-ups her by performing Mohammed Rafi's Jaan Pehechaan Ho. Even more surprising was that Johnny did not lip-synch, as he did the entire song in Hindi, mimicking Rafi perfectly, which is quite an impressing feat. The crowd approves. Pai fumes.
As the New Faces Team - Yashiro Nanakaze, Shermie and Chris - take the stage and perform You Know My Name by Chris Cornell, we see several recognizable faces. At one table, Brad Wong, who is dressed as Inspector Tequila Yuen, is casually nursing back some sake, having drunk Chin Gentzai, Shun Di, Zangief and Edmond Honda under the table, the aforementioned men are unconscious in a heap, sake, tequila and vodka bottles litter the table. Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, both dressed as Marcus Wright and Blair Williams - Jill wearing a wig to hide her blond hair - has their picture taken by Frank West, who is performing the photography. At another table, sits Ryu Hayabusa and his companion, Irene Lew. Both are dressed as Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala. Sharing his table, is Guy and his wife, Rena. Cody Travers and Hayate are currently in an arm-wrestling match.
The second floor of the Peacock's Eye consists of one massive balcony which overlooks the bottom floor. Seated at one of the tables, is Kazuya Mishima and his wife of twenty-two years, Jun Kazama. Both are longtime anime fans, and like Ayane, are dressed as characters from Highschool of the Dead – Soichirou and Yuriko Takagi. Their two children, Jin, 22, and Asuka, 18, are nearby, last seen chatting up Jaan Lee and Leifang. The phrase 'opposites attract' is a total understatement when it comes to these two. Watching the pair banter back and forth, feeding off the other, reminds one of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts.
Having celebrated his 50th birthday last month, Kazuya looks 20 years younger, given his brutal training regimen. He is the son of legendary karate master, 'The Iron Fist King' Heihachi Mishima and Kazume Mishima, a marine biologist. A stark contrast to his in-game persona, Kazuya is mellow and calm, Jun's Devil to her Angel. Respected by friends and enemies alike, he is the face of Tekken, with his son being a close second. He speaks fluent English, but is speaking Japanese in a Tokyo-ben accent. His adopted brother, Lee Chaolan, was last seen at the bar, talking to Lei Wulong and Brad Wong about the advantages of drunken fighting. His half-brother, Lars Alexandersson, is in the middle of his own drinking contest with Shen Woo.
Jun Kazama is six years younger than Kazuya. Born in Yakushima and raised mostly in Osaka, she is the only daughter of a martial arts master and his wife, a registered nurse. Jun looks remarkably young despite her 44 years. She is in her words, 'just an ordinary girl from Osaka,' Kazuya's Angel to his Devil if you will. To others, she is mostly known as either 'a girl who loves nature,' or in Kazuya's words, a 'tomboy,' and a 'tree-hugging Japanese hippie.' Jun is cordial and polite, her Kansai accent evident as she speaks. Aside from being a martial artist, she is a former equestrian champion.]
Kazuya: Most people don't know this, but the Mishima clan has quite the history. Originally, we were part of the Kazoku.
Kazoku?
Kazuya: The Kazoku was the hereditary peerage of Japan, similar to Great Britain's nobility system. The koshaku was the equivalent of a prince or duke, koshaku was the marquess. Earl and counts were known as hakushaku, a viscount was a shishaku and a baron was known as a danshaku. Originally, we were shishaku, but we lost our status long before the dissolution of the nobility during the American occupation in 1947. The Mishima was originally a samurai clan, its founder shared the same name as I did.
Your father named you after one of its members?
Kazuya: Yes. The Kazuya Mishima in the past was a skilled swordsman. But he was an even better fighter in hand-to-hand combat, the Miyamoto Musashi of Karate, if you will. When Hideoyshi Toyotomi launched his infamous 'sword-hunt' in 1588, the Mishima was affected. When we rebelled, Toyotomi stripped the Mishima family of its wealth and land. He traveled to Okinawa to perfect his style, and thus came the basis of Mishima-ryuu Fighting Karate.
And the origins of the Mishima Conglomerate?
Kazuya: That did not come about until nearly six decades later, at the start of the Sakoku period.
Sakoku? The isolationist policy in which no foreigner could not enter Japan nor any Japanese could not leave Japan on pain of death, right?
Kazuya: Correct. With the exception of Dutch traders operating in Nagasaki, Japan was closed off to the world. It was at that time that Kazuya's great-grandson, Hayato Mishima, settled in Nagasaki and learned the basics of capitalism from the Dutch traders. From those humble beginnings, came the mercantile guild which was the predecessor of the Mishima Conglomerate.
So what does the Conglomerate deal in?
Kazuya: Presently, we major in import-export, biomedical research and heavy industry.
Can you go in deeper with the background of the Zaibatsu? I heard that it came under fire in the years leading up to World War II.
Kazuya: I am impressed. You do your research. The merchant house, which had moved to Tokyo, did come under scrutiny in the years before the Second World War. We did not share the animalistic hatred of those who were not Japanese. We treated everybody fairly who worked for the zaibtsu, including the foreigners; Koreans, Chinese, even Russians. The Imperial fanatics did not take too kindly of that fact and tried to close us down.
But the Imperial military failed.
Kazuya: My great-grandfather who ran the zaibatsu at the time, Hotaru Mishima, had forced the Imperial military to a showdown; himself against three of their top karateka. He won the handicap match and the Imperial forces were to keep away from the guild, its workers, and from the Mishima clan themselves, or else risking losing face. He was a hero, protecting the foreigners in Japan. When the war was over and the American occupation began, it was through their testimony to the Americans that kept them from closing the zaibatsu down and kept him from the war crimes tribunal. As the Mishima had a personal connection with Nagazaki, we cooperated with the local government in providing medicine and food for the survivors of the atomic bomb.
You must be very proud of him.
Kazuya: I am. We all are. He was the one who had taken the Mishima style, which was starting to grow stagnant after over four hundred years, and made improvements on it, thus making it a more effective fighting style. His way of thinking was like a sculptor - one does not keep piling on clay onto a statue, but rather remove the inessentials until the truth is revealed.
Never knew you were the philosophical type.
Jun: He's not most of the time. I am.
So how did the two of you meet?
Jun: We first met at a martial arts tournament in Kyoto. I was there with my parents, competing in the womens' division, while Kazuya was there with his father and Lee. I was seventeen, Kazuya was twenty-three. (smiles) You could say that I had a crush on him when we first met. (shrugs) I was always attracted to bad boys for some strange reason. Guess it runs in the family. Mom met Dad when she was working at the hospital; Dad was pretty infamous in the Osaka underground fighting scene. After that first meeting, I did not see him for another two years. When I moved to Tokyo, I had planned on becoming a model. But I was attracted to the underground fight scene there. It was there, I met up with Kazuya.
Kazuya: Seeing Jun fight using her family style is like watching a ballet...that is, if you don't count the German suplexes she does on occasion. She inspired Heihachi to use one in Blood Vengeance.
Jun: That was how I got him to go on a date with me. I challenged him to a single match. If I won, then he would show me around Tokyo. I won...
Kazuya: ...with the aforementioned German suplex.
So what is the Kazama style based off of?
Jun: Kazama-ryuu Kobujutsu incorporates various traditional Japanese martial arts, such as Daito-ryuu Aiki-jujitsu, which uses mostly throwing techniques and joint manipulation to control, subdue or even injure their opponent.
Kazuya: Of which myself, my father, brothers and several others can attest to that little fact painfully.
[Jun punches Kazuya in the arm. Kazuya grunts in response.]
Jun: Aside from Aiki-jujitsu, the Kazama-style also incorporates various elements from Akido, Judo and Karate. My father is a master of the style, as am I.
Back to the story of how you two hooked up.
Kazuya: Honestly, I underestimated Jun. No one would ever expect a petite woman from Osaka could kick the ass of someone two or even three times their size. But as I showed her around Tokyo, I actually felt better about losing. The first date, I showed her around Tokyo. Our second date was at a horse ranch out in Kanagawa.
Jun: I asked him to meet me there.
Yeah, I understand that you were a equestrian champion back in Osaka.
[Photo of a teenage Jun, fully decked out in equestrian attire - black blazer jacket, white shirt, black hat, khaki pants and black boots - on horseback, riding over several obstacles. The second photo is a more recent photo of Jun, also in the same attire sans the hat, perched on the back of a thoroughbred. Kazuya is beside her, on a black steed, dressed in his purple shirt, black vest and pants, and black boots.]
Jun: I was quite the tomboy growing up...
Kazuya: Of which you passed down to our daughter.
Jun: Don't remind me. Mom wanted me to be more ladylike, so aside from Dad teaching me martial arts, she talked a friend of hers into giving me riding lessons. Come to find out that I actually like it.
Back to where you asked Kazuya to meet you at the ranch in Kanagawa...
Kazuya: So here I am, at this horse ranch, and she comes riding up on a thoroughbred, looking all prim and proper, a complete 180 from what I have seen of her inside the ring.
Jun: So imagine my shock that he heads up to the stable, and minutes later, he comes out on this beautiful black steed, and this annyoying little smirk on his face.
[Sure enough, Kazuya has that smirk on his face. On the stage below, Athena Asamiya - dressed as Lynn-Minmei from Robotech - sings Journey's Open Arms.]
Kazuya: You love it, Jun. You know you do. The look on her face was priceless when I emerged from the stable on horseback. I think that is probably the only thing that Jun and I have in common aside from martial arts and anime. We spent a good three hours on the trail, talking about our interests and the like. She had this...this aura of confidence surrounding her. She was to me, an enigma. I wanted to get to know her better.
Jun, I can understand, but you, of all people?
Kazuya: Mom was friends with the owners. They grew up together, and Heihachi help fund the place to appease my mother. They saw me hanging around the stables one day and offered to teach me free of charge.
You two seem so...different. No one could ever expect the two of you to be a couple.
Jun: (smiles) I think that was one of the main reasons why our relationship work so well. I'm good, he bad. I'm the calm one, and he's the sociopath. I like Hunger Games and Lord of the Rings. He likes Battle Royale and Star Wars.
Kazuya: (shrugs) Force Choke was always the best Force power out there, aside from Force Lightning. And yes, Han shot first.
Jun: Fanboy. Then there's Jin and Asuka.
[Shots of Jin Kazama, on his motorcycle, tearing up the Japanese freeway at break-neck speeds, laughing maniacally, which is followed by shots of Asuka Kazama riding her bicycle through the streets of Tokyo like a bat out of hell...starting from the top of Tokyo Tower.]
Jun: (mock-sadness) Our son is a speed demon who knows half of the Tokyo Police Department's Traffic Division by their first name and our daughter is a certified stuntwoman on a bicycle. I'm trying to figure out where we went wrong.
Kazuya: They came out all right. Could be worse. They have your patience and smarts...
Jun: ...and the Mishima clan's drive to be the best.
Kazuya: Since when is striving to better yourself is a bad thing?
Ahem. Focus, people.
Kazuya: Sorry. Where were we?
Since we're on the subject of your children, what can you tell us about Jin and Asuka that we don't know already?
Kazuya: Despite the fact that they occasionally drive both Jun and myself up the wall with their antics, we could not be any more proud of them. When he is not busy with Tekken, Jin has graduated at the top of his class from Toudai in physical education and business administration. Asuka has accepted a scholarship to Waseda. I offered to pay her way, but she refused, saying that it was her decision.
There's one question that I've got to ask, Kazuya. It's about the scar.
Kazuya: You're wondering whether or not Heihachi gave me this scar as a child, right? Well, that's part of the storyline. I used makeup to cover up the smaller scars prior to Tekken 4. The scars which cover most of my body was the end result of being caught in a gas explosion when I was nineteen.
Ouch.
Kazuya: Given what had happened to Sagat and his run-in with a tiger, he got off lucky. Lee and I were at a restaurant in Kabukichou, seated at a table near the kitchen when the gas lines ruptured. My body was riddled with shrapnel. I almost died from blood loss and trauma. Three of the restaurant's patrons did not make it. Turns out that the owner knew about the bad gas lines, but did not do anything. When my parents found out that piece of information...well, it was not pretty.
I'll bet. So how did Heihachi take it when you two decided to elope?
Jun: Kazume gave us her blessings before she passed. I was twenty and Kazuya was twenty-six. We didn't get hitched until a year later. Heihachi got so drunk at the reception that he ended up in bed with a blond Swede.
Kazuya: Thus, Lars was conceived.
How does it feel to have a half-brother half your age?
Kazuya: (shrugs) I stopped trying to figure that out a long time ago.
So how did the Mishima family get involved with Namco and later, Tekken?
Kazuya: Namco has been around since the fifties, and from time-to-time, whenever the Mishima wasn't running the zaibatsu, we lend a helping hand. During that time, Namco wanted to do a fighting game that could rival the popularity of Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and King of Fighters. It was originally titled 'Blood Rave,' before it was changed to Tekken. When production began, Jun and I were married for a while now. Jin was fifteen and Asuka was thirteen.
Jun: Kazuya, Heihachi and Lee were already well-known in the martial arts world, and Harada pitched the idea to them. They agreed to do the game, thinking that it would be a one-time thing.
And it became a runaway hit.
Kazuya: I was shocked. Harada was even more shocked. He was thinking, "Holy shit. What have we unleashed upon the gaming world?" No one in their wildest dreams thought that Tekken could stand up to Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat.
Jun: So much so that a sequel was ordered. I was called in by Director Harada because of Kazuya. He had his doubts, and had me test my skills against Nina Williams. In the end, he was impressed and offered me a spot.
As a result, you became a fan favorite. But with your rising popularity, there were open challenges from other characters from fighting games.
Jun: I was already familiar with those from Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, as Kazuya, Heihachi and myself had fought several of them on numerous occasions, as well as other Capcom vets. Chun-Li and I are both tied with eight matches apiece. Liu Kang, he's a challenge. Even Geese Howard, the Hakkyokuseiken and Kobujutsu master acknowledged that I was strong after the ensuing match. Kazuya and Ryu Houshi are tied with nine matches apiece and Heihachi fought Gouken, Akuma and Gen many times.
Kazuya: As it turns out, our children are not exempt from that fact. Jin and Asuka both fought Jann Lee and Leifang in a two-on-two match. Then it was the Bryant siblings. And don't get me started on Bi-Han and his little brother.
But your biggest rivals came from the ninja from Dead or Alive.
Jun: (nods) It began after completing Tekken Tag Tournament. Hayate was the first. Then came Kasumi. Ayane was the hardest. Kazuya had fought against Ryu Hayabusa several times in the past. Then, while we were in Kyoto celebrating Kazuya's return in Tekken 4, it was a two-on-two battle with Hayate and Ayane against Kazuya and myself. Then with the appearance of Heihachi and Ryu Hayabusa, it became a three-on-three brawl.
Kazuya: (smiles, as he remembers fondly of the battle) Ah yes. We fought. We cursed. We wrecked half of Maruyama Park. We made our ancestors proud. Good times. Director Itagaki was pissed, as the battle ended in a draw, since he always claimed that Dead or Alive was superior to Tekken.
Jun: (looks at Kazuya as if he were insane) And people wonder what kind of family I married into.
Kazuya: We Mishima are not as dysfunctional as the series portrays us. Quite the opposite. We are highly competitive, something that I had passed down to Jin and Asuka. Trying to one-up the other in martial arts is a time-honored tradition in the Mishima family.
Such as the three-way fight scene between yourself, Jin and Heihachi seen in Blood Vengeance.
[Shots of the aforementioned fight scene from Tekken Blood Vengeance.]
Kazuya: (voice-over) That entire fight between the three of us was 100 percent improv. We trashed the set, but it was all in good fun. Of course, before that, we played a quick game of Janken to see who would win the match. Judging by the outcome of that fight, Jin had won.
Jun, what made you go bad as Unknown in both Tag Tournaments?
Jun: It was Kazuya that talked me into it.
Kazuya: "Come to the dark side," I said. "We have a lot more fun, we make a lot more sense. I did it. Jin did it. Soon, I will convert Asuka to the Dark Side as well."
And thus following a trend in which good characters go bad.
Kazuya: Ryu Houshi, Cammy White, myself and Jin, to a degree. I was surprised to see Jill Valentine, of all people go evil, although she was brainwashed.
Jun: (laughs) But Kazuya was right. Playing the bad guy once in a while is indeed fun to do.
You were originally slated to appear in Street Fighter x Tekken, but you stepped down.
Jun: Asuka wanted to sign on, and since Jin was already present and since it would hinder my work on Tekken Tag Tournament 2, I stepped aside.
Since we're on the subject of Street Fighter x Tekken, what was it like, working with a company whose top-ranking fighters had fought against the likes of Takusumoto, Marvel and even SNK Playmore?
Kazuya: There's no animosity between Namco and Capcom. When Harada pitched the idea to us, we were quite open to the idea of a crossover with Street Fighter. Ryu and the others from Street Fighter also liked the idea as well.
So what's your take on Ryu Houshi?
Kazuya: (beat) I respect him. Both as a man and as a martial artist. I may be older than him, but he's been through so much during his tenure at Capcom; his feud with his father and brother, the sex tape scandal with him and Chun-Li...
Jun: ...which elevated their popularity instead of causing them both to lose face.
Kazuya: ...and his painkiller addiction. Anyone weaker would have burned out. But it goes to show what kind of a person Ryu is. His attitude is a lot like mine. He never backs down, nor does he give up.
So what's next for the both of you?
Kazuya and Jun: Tekken Tag Tournament 2.
Jun: I decided to return, along with Michelle. (wry grin) You can say that being married to Kazuya has given me some of his bad habits, such as testing my art on stronger fighters. But now, I really don't see it as a bad habit as much.
Kazuya: Testing your abilities...the thrill of the fight. It's what the Mishima live for. (looks at Jun, smiles) But...being a husband and dad also has its perks.
Jun: (smiles back) You're just saying that because I won our spars the last ten times.
Kazuya: Nine, times, Jun. Nine. That last one in Tahiti doesn't count.
Just how many times have you two fought?
Kazuya: Over the course of twenty-plus years? Too many to count. How many times we won? The same.
Jun: We're going by this past month.
You two are incorrigible. Anyway, thanks for your time.
Jun: You're welcome.
Kazuya: No problem.
[Down on the stage, Athena has started another ballad - You Got It All by The Jets. Kazuya and Jun excuse themselves as various couples began to converge onto the impromptu dance floor in front of the stage. As Athena begins to sing, Kazuya and Jun are seen together, dancing, enjoying each other's company. Kazuya smiles at his wife, who returns the smile as he pulls her closer, relishing in the moment.]
Snafu's Notes: That's it. I had a case of writer's block while working on A Change In Pace and decided to whip this out in honor of Tekken Tag Tournament 2. Hope you enjoyed it.