Disclaimer: If I owned Tekken, I certainly wouldn't be write fan fiction about it!
Author's Note: Since I played Scenario Campaign… I've been itching to do this pairing. I'm just happy it's done now :) And yes. I will be writing more of this in the future. That's a promise, because I had so much fun doing this. I think this might be my second fave pairing after Xiaoyu/Hwoarang XD. This is for Shadi, aka shadowivy on deviantART, because she inspired this by being a great friend. So, thanks. And I mean it, I really, really do. ILUSOHARD. XD
BUTTERFLIES
"You ignorant girl."
A disorientated and distracted Miharu looked up at the person who she'd walked into by accident. After quickly observing him up and down, she concluded that he was attractive enough to apologise to in a non-bitchy manner. Bowing her head, she remarked, "I'm sorry…" Pausing for a moment, she thought of a way to extend the conversation. Sitting up a little straighter and holding her head, she continued, "I haven't been feeling very well lately… And school has been giving me trouble."
The man narrowed his eyes, staring at her with annoyance. He'd seen her around before, "Oh stop complaining and suck it up." Noticing that she'd flinched at the comment and how those beautiful orbs drooped, he exhaled sharply, realising he was unable to keep up his angry pretence, "…Fine, I'm sorry too. You're not the only one who is having a bad day, you know."
She bowed again and moved to pass him, "I'm sorry."
Before she got away though, her arm had been harshly grabbed. She flinched again and turned to look at him, noticing that he hadn't meant for such a strong grip. Pulling her arm free, she spun wholly and faced him, books clutched close to her chest with one arm, and her briefcase in the other. She felt strange underneath his probing, curious gaze – vulnerable, even.
He grabbed the briefcase quickly, before motioning for her books, "Give them to me."
"I can carry my own things," she replied defensively.
He shrugged and walked past her, "Follow me."
They navigated through the crowded mall, passing numerous faces, each unique in their own right. Miharu occasionally looked up from the ground, observing the man's Tekken Force uniform and the unique chest plate he had. It wasn't like the other soldiers she'd seen before, for it sported a larger red lion emblem compared to what she'd seen around. He also had short, black hair, stern, focused features with an accompanying scar and a little bit of a beard; and was clearly Japanese, just like she was. He also had a sword by his side.
After several minutes passed, she found herself and the soldier standing before an ice cream parlour. Confused, she looked to him, only to see that he was walking ahead to the empty counter, and grabbing money from his pocket. Reluctantly following him, she tucked some of her auburn hair behind her ear.
Before she reached him, though, he'd turned and was approaching her with an ice cream. Shocked, she tried to coordinate a string of words together, but to no avail. All she could manage was facial expressions. Soon enough, the cone was shoved into her hand, breaking a little bit due to the force of the push. He spoke, "I hope this makes you feel a bit better, kid."
"My name is Miharu Hirano," she hissed unceremoniously, before gasping a little and bowing her head again. She bowed it down so hard and fast that it reached the tip of the ice cream, leaving a little bit of the food on her nose – however given her current state of mind and panic, she didn't notice, "I'm sorry! I just don't like it when people call me 'kid', please don't cut my head off with your shiny sword!"
To her surprise, she heard stifled chuckling, and then full-blown, hearty laughter. Lifting her head and furrowing her eyebrows, she saw the man smiling and trying to reel his amusement, "Miss Hirano, I'm not going to decapitate you with my sword! What makes you think I would do such a thing?"
"Well… You're from the Tekken Force… And you have a sword and a serious look on your face."
"Correction… I had a serious look on my face."
She rolled her eyes, "Pssh."
Ignoring the action and the sound, he leant forward a little, still smiling, and extended a single finger out. The man's peculiar antic confused her further, and she wasn't sure of what he was doing or thinking when he extended his arm out, aiming to touch her. Her vision was blurring when she focused both eyes to watch it rest at the tip of her nose and –
He brought the small piece of ice cream to his mouth and licked it off, "Next time, don't bow too far down."
"…I had that on my nose the whole time?!"
"Yes."
Embarrassed, she inched her free hand up to her face to cover it, feeling her cheeks heat up. He chuckled a little again, still all smiles and walking past her with her briefcase. As he left her vision, she wondered why he bought the ice cream. Moving the free hand away again and turning, she took a small lick of the vanilla treat, hoping not to offend him, and followed, "So, why did you buy this for me anyway?"
He shrugged a little, "I don't know."
"Hmmm."
"Where are you off to?"
"The bus stop, so I can go home."
Nodding and walking towards the bus stops he could see, he spoke again, "What is troubling you with school, Miss Hirano?"
"Miharu. I don't like 'Miss Hirano'."
"Very well."
Pausing for a moment, she replied, "School's just… being really annoying with all of those exams. Plus my best friend Xiao is being all ditzy right now about how she's going to do something or other about Jin to help him and stuff – he was her friend, and mine too, you know? So it's kinda weird to see him doing what he's doing. Also there's this one guy that keeps hitting on me and he doesn't understand what 'no' means!"
Now at the bus stop with numerous others, he placed her briefcase beside her legs and looked to her, "Just keep chipping away at those exams, and they'll go eventually. Your 'Xiao' friend – I assume that is Ling Xiaoyu from the King of Iron Fist Tournaments?" A small nod, "Well, you should tell her that it is a waste of time. I work for the man, he's beyond corrupt now, though I sympathise with both of you. It must be hard to see him as he is, and remember him for who he was…" He saw the bus come down the street, "And as for your boy problem, I'll fix that. Mishima Polytechnical School, am I correct?"
"Yes."
The bus stopped. He began to walk back the way he came with a small nod, "I'll fix it."
"Wait!" she called, licking her ice cream, "What's your name!?"
"Tougou."
She was standing in front of the once golden (but now damaged and gratified) statue of Heihachi Mishima when the annoying boy approached. Xiaoyu was beside her, looking through her pictures on her cellphone of the pair of them and Jin, deciding which one to make her new wallpaper and her new screensaver. She was totally oblivious to the sly arm slinging around her best friend.
"Hey Mi," he grinned.
She shrugged his arm off, "Don't call me that. And go away!"
"How are you today?"
Her eyes darted around for any sign of Tougou. She couldn't believe she was actually hoping for him to come. Adjusting her watch, she looked to the annoying youth, who had just run his fingers through his hair. Narrowing her eyes, she remarked, "I was having a splendid day until you decided waltz your way into it. Now get lost, you annoying little fly!" When he didn't move and maintained the infuriating, frustrating grin, she looked to her Chinese friend for support.
"Now now Mi, you know I won't do tha – WHOA!"
Her eyes were as wide as the boy's. There was a large hand on his shoulder, and it was that hand that'd spun him around to face the staring face of Tougou. He narrowed his eyes, "I believe you've annoyed this young lady enough, kid. If you know what's good for you, you'll leave her alone. Permanently."
He eyed Tougou's sword and nodded rapidly, "Y-yes sir."
Both Miharu and Xiaoyu watched as he skittered away, passing through other students. The former looked to the latter, before looking to the soldier with a wide smile and bright, sparkling eyes, "Thank you."
That made it all worth it. He inclined his head slightly, "You're welcome, Miharu."
He turned to leave and return to his former duties (he'd said to Lars that he was just going to take a small walk), but he heard the pitter-patter of her small feet and stopped, looking over his shoulder. She was still carrying that briefcase and a lot of her books against her chest, and he smirked a second. She stood up a little taller and held out her briefcase, which he took; and then they both left a gaping Xiaoyu behind them.
As they walked, they began to talk about small trivial things – or rather, she did. She spoke about what she remembered of Jin, she spoke about when she had a go in the King of Iron Fist Tournament Four, she spoke about how she loved the colour of the cherry blossom trees, how her favourite food was cookies, and so on and so forth. Tougou would merely smile a little and nod, listening to every word, and answering any question that she threw his way.
When they got to the bus stop, though, she turned left and continued to walk down the long pathway. Confused, the soldier looked between the coming bus and the girl, calling out, "Miharu, your bus is here."
"I don't care about that right now. Come with me."
Moving the briefcase to the other hand, he continued to follow her, boots scuffing over the concrete. He furrowed his eyebrows and joggled a little to catch up with the speeding youth, asking, "Where are you going?"
"I want to go to the park and do my homework there. I normally do, but when we met I was having such a bad day that I just wanted to go home," she replied, turning to face him, walking backwards, "And I want you to come with me and distract me while I do it, because homework is so boring."
"Miharu, I do have a job, remember? One that I really should be getting back to."
"You can't be on break for a little while longer?" she asked softly.
He stared at her for a moment before speaking, "Fine, just a little while."
The small chatter once again passed all too fast. They were at the park now, near the forest. They found a bench nearby and set up there, pulling out numerous homework piles and organising them into sections. While Miharu droned on and on about how much she hated this math problem, Tougou looked around the area, hoping that Lars or even Jin wasn't around to see him extending his break.
"Hey Tougou, look!"
He looked up from the bench to the girl, who was pointing behind him. Turning his head, he watched as a bright blue butterfly fluttered past them, landing on the edge of the table. His eyes briefly flashed back to Miharu, who was still smiling and observing the creature with a tender gaze. Smiling a little at that fact alone, he watched as she tried to reach out and catch it, but to no avail.
She shrugged and stuck her nose back into the worksheets, "Oh well. It was really pretty though, wasn't it?"
"I can think of something prettier," he replied honestly, shrugging slightly.
"And what might that be, my soldier friend?"
Before he could answer, his cellphone rang. Furrowing his eyebrows, he grabbed it from his pocket and noted the call ID with hesitance and caution, thereafter answering with a firm, "Tougou here."
"Stop flirting."
Of course, the person on the other end of the line had to say it loud enough for Miharu to hear. She looked up, noting Tougou's serious face, and finding the crimson that suffused his cheeks undoubtedly endearing. He turned the upper half of his body away and hissed lowly, "Alright then, where are you?"
"To your right, against the lamppost on the side of the street."
Swiftly following the directions, he looked to his right to see an amused man leaning against the aforementioned lamppost. He too was in the Tekken Force uniform, but had a large, silver lion emblem on his chest, as well as a cape. He immediately identified it as his leader and swallowed a little, narrowing his eyes in an effort to cover up his embarrassment, unaware that his company was also looking at the man, "Thanks, Lars. Really."
"No problem," Lars replied. Tougou could hear the grin in his friend's voice, "Now, please get back to work."
"Yes sir."
Miharu had been watching him the entire time with a small smile on her face. She leant forward a little when he hung up and asked, "So who was that? Your boss? What's his name – what's his code name? Is it like, Omega Leader or something?"
"That was my boss, yes… His code name is Alpha Leader, actually," he chuckled a little and stood, "I have to go now, Miharu. It was wonderful seeing you again. Take care of yourself, and I hope to see you around again."
"Well, if you need me," she remarked with a small smile, gesturing to the park, "you know where to find me."
Tougou smiled and nodded his head, returning the way he came.
For a week, she found him in the park, waiting for her. He would stay with her until she had to leave, and he would walk her back up to the bus stop before leaving himself. But after that week, he did not come anymore.
Everyday after school, she'd return to the park in the hopes of seeing him there. Miharu continued this pattern for three weeks, but to no avail. Xiaoyu, who'd long since spotted her quickly blooming crush on him, told her to let it go, assuming that he wouldn't come back. The Japanese youth refused to give up hope however. She saw the Alpha Leader occasionally, and she would wave at him sometimes and was given a small nod and smile back.
On the first day of the fourth week, though, she approached the park and saw someone in red and black casual clothes – not uniform, for once – standing in the middle. He was looking up at the large, shady trees, watching something blue and small flutter down. He slowly stuck his hand out to it, silently hoping that the insect would land in the palm of his hand – and he smiled when it did.
Miharu held her breath as Tougou turned to look at her, still smiling. He slowly held out the butterfly to her, "Here."
She approached cautiously and stuck out her index finger, slowly placing it in his palm. He tilted his hand so the butterfly had no choice but to climb onto the milky, white skin. He slowly took his hand away and watched as she chuckled a little, the feeling of its feet tickling her. She brought the creature closer to her, observing the patterns on its wings, before looking past it and to the smiling soldier.
She smiled too and extended her hand back out towards Tougou. She angled her hand so the butterfly had no choice but to walk onto his nose, and once it did move, she start to laugh, "You look so cute, Tougou. It suits you."
"Pfft." Sadly, the noise and the shake of his head caused the butterfly to fly up and into the sky again, its wings gleaming in the sunlight, "It looked better on your finger. Do you know how long I worked trying to get it? I followed it for about two hours from one end of the park to the other, trying to coax it onto my finger."
She chuckled a little again, put her briefcase and books down by her side, asking, "Where have you been?"
"I was deployed to France for a while," he replied, fishing around in his pocket, "and while I was there, I got you this."
He withdrew a small box and held it out to her. Surprise and shock flashed across Miharu's face, and with a shaking hand, she took the item from him, opening it up. Her eyes widened and brightened when she saw a silver butterfly pendant, accompanied with a chain. Amethysts were on each wing, bringing life and colour into the piece that touched her so.
Tougou reached out a hand and took the piece from the box, moving behind her, "Let me put it on. I don't think your hands are capable of doing that right now."
Their proximity was making her dizzy. She covered her face with both hands for a moment, before bringing them down to cover her mouth. She asked softly, "Why…?"
"Because you give me butterflies," he replied, dropping the chain and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, "That's why."
She turned her head, her cheeks almost as red as the highlights on his shirt, "Tougou…"
"I have two weeks off," he stated, moving so he was standing beside her. He looked up to the sky, still smiling a little, his hands by his sides, "and I would like to spend them with you, starting now. So, what are you up for?" He looked to her, finding her current star struck expression adorable, "Your homework, or a movie?"
Miharu turned to her left and picked up her books and her briefcase. Holding them under her left arm and in the same hand, she reached with her other hand and grabbed Tougou's, "Movie."
Nodding, he reached across her and grabbed her briefcase, leading her back to the mall, linking his fingers with hers.