A/N: First off, thank you so much for the reviews for part one of this little two-shot. I'm glad to hear Baek was written okay in the first chapter, too, it's the first time I've written him so I'm happy that I did him justice!
Secondly, I just want to say that I am so grateful to you guys for reading this series. Every single review I've had since I started writing it has been so precious to me, and I've loved hearing from you all and reading your opinions on all three fics. Your enthusiasm and feedback kept me going and spurred me on to finally finish everything up. (Even though it shouldn't have taken me this long. I'm sorry! The reason it took so long for this part to get finished is because I felt like I was losing the 'voice' I write Xiaoyu with, and I wasn't happy with parts of what I'd written, so I had to redo those bits completely.)
And thirdly, I don't think I'll be uploading anything new now this is finished, so I wanted to make sure that you all know just how much hearing from you guys meant to me. Thank you so much. (The other project I mentioned in part one is my novel, so hopefully this isn't the last you'll hear from me!) I learned an unbelievable amount during my time writing fic, and it's all 'cause of you. Thank you for taking the time to help me through all of this.
I really hope you like how it ends.
NEXT LEVEL
The sun shines through the clouds
Everything is washed away
By the sound of the waves coming and going.
Chapter 2: July 1st
It's a gorgeous spring morning. When my clock radio jarred me out of a dream at seven a.m, there'd been a couple of ominous looking clouds hanging around, but now they've blown away, leaving behind beautiful clear skies, warm sunlight, and the faint scent of cherry blossom on the breeze. It's the kind of weather that makes you want to grab all your friends and spend the whole day at the nearest amusement park.
Unfortunately, there's no chance of that. Today is results day, and Miharu is crying.
I'm not talking 'I'm really sad right now, but at the same time I'm in public and still kinda conscious of my appearance so I'm gonna look up and try not to blink and just dab my eyes really carefully to avoid unfortunate makeup malfunctions' crying. I'm talking the horrible, uncontrollable kind, where you're just so upset that you can't do anything to stop it. She's on one of the park benches, the crumpled tissue in her hand streaked black with mascara, an envelope lying beside her. We'd agreed to meet up and open our letters together.
"Miharu, what's…" I trail off, sitting beside her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "What's wrong?"
Her mouth tries and fails to form words, and she shakes her head, lips trembling, her hair stuck to her face.
"Did you check your results already?" I ask, and she nods, her eyes filling with tears again. I swallow, my throat tight. "Want another tissue?"
I fumble for my bag without waiting for an answer, and Hwoarang passes it to me, saying nothing. Miharu slowly dries her eyes, taking deep breaths and staring at her feet for a few moments.
"I f-failed," she eventually manages.
"Which-"
"All of them. I failed all of them."
"But… but you studied so hard." I say lamely. I can't believe it.
"I know."
"I thought you said you had a good feeling about the last one."
"Well obviously I was wrong, Xiao!" she snaps, making me jump. "Check for yourself if you don't believe me!"
She throws the results slip at me and I fold it and slide it into my pocket, wanting to slap myself for being such an idiot. I just feel so helpless. I wish I knew what to say.
"That was stupid. I'm sorry. I just… I don't get it, Mi."
"And you think I do?" Miharu asks in a wobbly voice, wiping her nose with the tissue. It leaves a smudge of mascara above her top lip.
"No, I wasn't saying-"
"While you and Hwo were off training and fighting and whatever, I was working my ass off back here. Do you have any idea how many invites I turned down so I could stay home and cram for the exams? Everything's ruined, Xiao. We had plans, remember?"
"Mi, listen, don't worry about that. You can resit them, right?"
"Yeah, next year," she replies, her voice rising. She's looking at me as though I'm a complete moron, and it's obvious my efforts to comfort her are falling totally flat. I've never seen her like this, not even when she broke up with her boyfriend and she was crying so much that she couldn't even speak. Back then, I just hugged her and didn't say anything. Maybe that's what I should've done today.
"You know what pisses me off the most?" she carries on. "You weren't even that interested in getting into university until Jin told you to. I've always wanted to do it. So don't sit there and talk about resits like it's no big deal."
"I'm not trying to make it no big deal, Miharu," I say, eyes stinging. "I'm trying to make you feel better."
She stands up, biting her lip, fighting to keep the tears back.
"Well you can't, okay? So just… just don't."
Then she turns and hurries off, and only Hwo's hand closing around mine keeps me from giving chase.
"Leave it," he says, and even though I know he's right, a sick, guilty feeling twists inside me as I watch her go. Because I couldn't do anything to help, because I'd said all the wrong things, and because I'd not been able to resist sneaking a look at my own scores before I'd set off to meet her, and I'd passed them all.
It's so stupid how what you find in one little envelope can wind up having such a massive effect on your life. Yesterday, it was test scores. Today, it's something else.
Mum's left it on the table in the kitchen for me, along with a few scribbled lines to say she's gone out with Dad for the day. She's used one of my bear shaped sticky notes, and I can't help but smile. Maybe I'll go see my grandfather and Panda today. It's been too long. I grab the envelope and flip it over, and as soon as I catch sight of the Mishima Zaibatsu's logo stamped on the reverse, I know what it is. Still doesn't stop me from almost ripping it in half in my impatience to get it open though. A scan of the letter confirms it. An invitation to the next Iron Fist tournament. Oh, and as luck would have it, the date clashes with my first semester at uni. Awesome.
I close my eyes for a second, then put the letter back in the mangled envelope and reach for the phone.
"Did you get your golden ticket this morning?" I tease Hwoarang when he finally answers.
"Yeah. Guess who else got one?"
"Who?"
"Baek. So now he keeps going on about how he probably wouldn't enter, but I obviously need supervision since I got myself arrested the first time he wasn't around to keep me in check. Thinks he's hilarious."
I laugh, getting up and wandering over to the sink to get a glass of water. He's complaining, but I know he doesn't really have a problem with the idea of Baek being there too.
"So we're gonna have to be on our best behaviour?"
"You're definitely entering, then?" He sounds way too dubious for my liking, and I feel a prickle of annoyance.
"I'm thinking about it, yeah. You never know, I might win. Besides, it's pretty impressive to get invited back for a third time, right?"
Hwo says nothing for a moment, and I peel the sticky note off the table, then press it back down. Is invitation really the right word? Invitations you can turn down. To me, it's more like a summons. It's impossible not to go.
"You heard anything from Miharu?" I ask. I tried to call her a few hours after our meeting in the park but she must have turned her phone off, and when I dropped by her house, no one was there.
"You want to see Kazama again," he says suddenly. "That's why you wanna enter, right? 'Cause of him."
"…Partly," I admit after a moment. I can't lie to him.
"Yeah. Figured." There's a coldness in his voice that wasn't there before.
"Hwo, it's not…" I trail off, pushing the envelope away. "It's not because…"
"It's not because what?"
We've never really discussed the whole Jin thing. The closest we got to it was over a month ago when I told him about everything that'd happened at Hon-Maru, and he asked me if I could get him some of whatever I'd been smoking, and then kissed me before I could act all offended. (It's become the standard Hwo way to stop an awkward conversation since we started dating.) But now, here it is again, creating a barrier between us.
"I want to see him again, yeah. 'Cause I want to know he's okay." He snorts at that, but I carry on. "Heihachi's dead. I need to know that it isn't 'cause of Jin. That what I saw in Hon-Maru was real."
"Okay," Hwo says, and I wish we were face to face, because I can't tell if he believes me or not. A visual would really help right now.
"Are you still coming over later?" I ask, uncertain.
"Sure."
When he arrives, I'm fresh from the shower, finishing off the last of the comfort chocolate I'd bought after the disaster with Miharu. Which means my hair's a frizzy mess thanks to my tendency to go overboard with the towel drying when I'm stressing about something, I've got no makeup on and I'm wearing my old off-white panda t-shirt and a pair of shorts that are coming unstitched on the hem. Talk about irresistible. And talk about Hwo choosing the totally wrong time to be half an hour earlier than he said he'd be. Usually he's half an hour later, so I thought I'd have a full hour to make myself look at least passably presentable. But no, here he is, sitting on my bed playing Tetris on his phone while I try and tidy up my haystack hair.
Oh well, I guess it can't be helped. Besides, he's seen me in worse states than this. Like last tournament, after my match with Violet. I remember him winding me up, then taking care of me, making me feel better. Like always.
I never want that to change.
"Hwoarang…" I sit next to him, distracting him from the game. "About before…"
"Forget it," he replies, but I press on.
"Jin told me he was gonna fight against Devil. I just… I want to believe he won."
Hwo gets up, moving towards the window.
"And what if he did?" he demands. "What happens then?" He turns to face me with an expression I've seen so many times before. I never really understood it, but that's because in the midst of the tournament, I never took the time to try. My chest tightens as it hits me how often I saw it back then, how often I hurt him.
"Nothing." He's shaking his head, but I go to him, grab his hand, refusing to let him pull away. "Nothing happens. Hwo, I don't just want to enter the tournament again to see if he's okay, I want to go because that's where you'll be."
He doesn't answer, and I lace my fingers through his.
"Listen. When I'm not with you, I'm not happy. So if you're going, then you're gonna have to put up with me. If you thought you and Baek were gonna get some male bonding time in, you thought wrong."
That draws a smile from him, finally.
"What about uni?" he asks.
"Me and Miharu're supposed to be going together, so I'll wait for her to ace the exams next spring. I can defer it 'til then."
"You sure?"
Somehow, I can tell he's not just referring to the uni thing. So I let go of his hand, reach up and kiss him, deciding to show him just how sure I really am. His hands slide around my waist, mine finding their way into his hair as I nibble his lower lip gently, but it's not enough now. Just kissing him isn't enough. I need something more. My hands wander restlessly, over his chest, under his t-shirt, and when I press myself closer, he regains enough presence of mind to pull away.
"Xiao, you don't need to…" He trails off, breathing hard. "I mean… I don't want you to feel like we've gotta…"
I shake my head, leaning into him.
"I want to." My lips brush against his, heart thudding in my chest. "You do too, right?"
Hwoarang doesn't reply, but he doesn't need to. His lips trail from my mouth to my jaw to my neck, and I tilt my head a little, eyes closed, lost to everything. I'm dimly aware of us moving towards my bed, of letting him tug my top off, of his mouth on mine as he strokes my skin. Of letting him undress me, laying there in bliss as he runs his hands over me.
After a while his fingers entwine with mine and he gently tugs my hand. I sit up so we're face to face, and I want to say something but I can't speak. All I can do is stare at him. I've got a feeling I'd have a bit of trouble stringing a sentence together at this point anyway, so it's not exactly a big loss. I wrap my arms around him, slipping my hands under his t-shirt again, tracing the muscles in his back. He feels a little tense under my fingertips, but I'm not really one to talk, considering I'm trembling now. Hwoarang pulls away to look at me, a shade of concern in his expression, and I try to smile.
"Xiao, we don't have to."
I pull him close for another kiss.
"I want to, though." My voice is barely audible, a shaky whisper against his lips, and I feel him smile.
"I want to," I repeat, and he settles me back down against the pillows and moves to my side, the sheets rustling beneath us as he wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me against him.
"Hwo, I mean it... I'm okay."
"Alright," he murmurs. The light's starting to fade outside, the evening sun filling the room with its warm glow, and I can feel his lips on the back of my neck. My eyes close of their own accord as his hand strokes my stomach lightly before slipping lower, and I soon start to focus on how it feels to be touched rather than how nervous I am. His breath tickles my ear, and I turn and capture his mouth with mine, my tongue sliding over his.
"Uh... Xiao?"
He sounds hesitant. I gaze at him, all messed up hair and flushed face. He seems self-conscious now, and it's sort of nice, considering how he's usually way overconfident.
"Yeah?"
"I don't think I've got any… um…"
"Any what?"
He blinks and looks awkward, and it dawns on me what he means.
"Oh!" I didn't even think of that, I was so lost in what was happening. "Oh. Um, well, I think I…"
I sit up, grabbing my jacket off the back of the chair and taking my wallet out of the pocket. I am such a guy, carrying a condom in there.
"I-It's not like I expected to be using it tonight," I stammer, seeing the surprise on Hwoarang's face.
"Whatever you say, Xiao," he grins. "Don't worry, I don't blame you. I'd wanna do me too."
"Miharu gave it to me, remember?" I protest, flustered. I remember the payphone incident, how embarrassed I was when Christie showed up. I guess she was right in the end about me and Hwo.
"I'll have to thank her next time I see her then," he laughs, taking it from me, and I can't even imagine how weirded out she'd be if he did.
"Oh God, please don't."
"I'm joking. Now shh."
Hwo kisses me again, slow and soft, and I can't think anymore. All I can do is feel.
I don't know what I expected my first time to be like. I heard other girls talk about it at school, say that it hurt or bled or both, so to be honest I'm a little bit worried. Okay, maybe more than a little, but when it finally happens, it's fine. A slight pain at first, a little bit of discomfort as he pushes further into me, and then… when he starts to move, it's okay. Not like there's fireworks going off and bells ringing or anything, but it feels nice. What feels the nicest, though, is being this close to him, feeling like everything else has fallen away and there's just us and we're all that matters. It's everything I wanted.
"Tell me if it's hurting," Hwoarang says, and I smile up at him to let him know I'm alright.
He smooths my hair away from my face, and I feel a surge of reassurance and affection when I notice his hand's shaking. The idea of him being nervous never entered my head, and I probably would never have known if I hadn't seen that. I mean, this's Hwoarang we're talking about here. Mr. Self-Assured. I just gaze at him in wonder, reach up and lightly touch my fingertips to his lips, and he smiles a little. It's beginning to feel so much better now I've relaxed, and I close my eyes and bury my face in his shoulder, just letting myself enjoy it, and all the sensations of warmth and closeness it gives me.
Afterwards, I curl up beside him and he wraps an arm around me, stroking my shoulder lazily. Neither of us say anything for a while, the only sounds coming from the street below my half-open window, a soft breeze rustling the curtains as it winds its way in.
"Hwo?" I say eventually.
"Yeah?"
"What was that supposed to be?"
"Fuck off," Hwoarang laughs, his hand coming up to give my hair a gentle tug, and then we're kissing again, and I'm just settled back against him when the sound of a car coming up the driveway has us springing apart and grabbing for our clothes. Seriously. Parents and their flawless timing, huh?
The next day dawns clear and bright, and I spend the morning doing a few light workouts to ease myself back into the pre-tournament regimen I'd followed last time. I'm not exactly focused though, 'cause I keep getting distracted by texts from Hwo, his jokey messages and my memories of yesterday making me smile. After lunch, I've just started off on the short walk to my grandfather's shrine when Miharu calls me.
"Hey," she says, sounding tired. "Look… I'm sorry I flipped on you before. And I'm sorry I didn't answer the phone or text you back until now. I know you were only trying to help, but I kinda went a bit insane. I'm sorry. It's just, we were supposed to be going together, you know? And now I can't."
I breathe a sigh of relief and smile up at the sun. Everything's gonna be alright.
"Xiao?" Mi asks. "You still there?"
"Yeah, I'm here. But you know what? I should be the one saying sorry."
"Why?"
"For not winning the last tournament," I grin. "I could've taken over the Mishima Zaibatsu and you could've come and worked for me, and uni wouldn't even be a factor."
"Seriously Xiao, I'm really sorry," she tells me through her laughter. "We're friends again, right?"
"Don't be silly. We were never not friends."
"I'm glad," she replies, sounding like she's smiling. "I promise I won't get jealous when you make tons of new ones at uni, okay? We'll still hang out when you're not busy with school, right?"
"Don't even worry about it, Miharu," I say, the spring breeze blowing my hair around my face. Some kids zip past on their bikes, pedalling in the direction of the park, and I can hear windchimes tinkling from one of the gardens nearby. "I've got an awesome idea."
If it's sunny tomorrow
I'll come and see you
That's right, tomorrow and the day after and forever.
- July 1st, Ayumi Hamasaki