A/N: Appreciating the reviews guys! Keep em' coming!
Hitomi pulled her luggage along hurriedly beside Lei as they went to meet up with Asuka. The first thing the German noticed about the girl was her rather interesting attire.
The Japanese girl, who looked slightly younger than the German, was wearing what appeared to be some kind of light blue jumpsuit that exposed her toned arms and legs. She had matching gloves and boots to go along with it, as well a darker blue crop top underneath and a belt adorned with stars. It was a very interesting outfit; definitely unique considering the fact that most of the other people around them were in suits and dresses for the most part.
Asuka was also a brunette like Hitomi, although her hair was quite a few shades darker and cut a lot shorter. The Japanese girl looked slightly miffed when she saw the duo, as if she'd been waiting for a long time – which she probably had been considering their flight was late.
The German had to suppress a light laugh when Asuka decided to give Lei a nice solid punch on the arm. He winced.
"Ow! What was that for?"
The Osakan crossed her arms and smirked, "I don't like waiting."
The super cop kept rubbing his arm, "It wasn't our fault! Our flight was delayed."
Asuka simply waved her hand dismissively while turning to Hitomi. She stuck out her hand and grinned widely.
"Asuka Kazama. Pleased to meet ya!"
Hitomi took the girl's blue-gloved hand without a second thought, "Hitomi Heinrich! And same!" She smiled warmly at Asuka.
"You're related to Joachim, right?"
The German nodded, "Yeah. He's my dad." The karateka suddenly furrowed her brow in confusion, "Wait, you've heard of him?"
"Of course," said Asuka while stretching her back a bit. "My dad told me about his skills in karate. You must be pretty good yourself!"
Lei patted the German girl's back a couple times, "She is. She came second in the most recent Dead or Alive tournament."
Hitomi sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.
Asuka grinned, "Seriously? That's pretty impressive, Hitomi. Though I bet I could've beat you if I had entered."
Lei gave the older girl a look as if to say, See what I mean about her? Hitomi just laughed and gave the Osakan a smirk.
"Well why didn't you enter then?"
Asuka shrugged and put her hands behind her back, "Wasn't old enough, at least according to my dad. I was still 16 when it was going on. I actually just turned 17 a couple weeks ago."
Hitomi had to stop herself from gaping. Asuka didn't look that young. The girl only looked maybe a year younger than herself, two at most. It surprised her greatly considering the great shape the younger girl was in. The German had to admire that.
"Ah well," Hitomi started, "your dad has a point. I mean, I only entered my first Dead or Alive tournament when I was 18, and my dad nearly had a fit. You should have seen him when I first told him I wanted to move out."
The Japanese girl laughed and started to pick up her luggage, "I can't wait for when my dad finally lets me move out too. That's why I'm so excited to be here. Gets boring around Osaka when all you do is go to school and break up morons who decide to fight in the middle of the street."
Hitomi and Lei had fallen into step with the younger girl as they headed towards the exit, "People just fight in the middle of the street in your hometown?"
Asuka nodded and ran her free hand through her hair exasperatedly, "Like you wouldn't believe…they're not even good competition either. They're all just idiots."
Hitomi and Lei shared another look. It seemed the super cop was right about this girl, she was definitely hot-blooded. She couldn't wait to see Asuka fight…maybe she'd ask her to spar later.
There was a moment of silence before Asuka decided to break it, "So are here for Feng too?"
The German tensed when Asuka had asked the question and she simply nodded, "Thought so."
The two girls set their luggage down as Lei hailed for a cab, "So you're after him too, Asuka?"
The Osakan's fists clenched in anger. Hitomi was glad that someone shared the habit.
"Oh yeah. He did a number on my dad and trashed our dojo."
"Same…" said the karateka solemnly.
Asuka suddenly placed her hand on the older girl's shoulder, surprising her a bit.
"Hey. We'll get him. Or, at least one of us will."
An idea suddenly popped into Hitomi's head and she smirked, "Wanna make it interesting?"
The younger girl lifted her hand and furrowed her brow, "In what way?"
Hitomi pumped her fist, "We'll make it a competition. Out of the two of us, whoever takes out Feng first wins. Simple."
Asuka gave the German a confident smirk, "What does the winner get?"
The older girl stuck out her hand, "Pride?"
The Japanese girl looked down at the red-gloved hand extended to her before shaking it abruptly, "You're on."
"Girls! Let's go!"
Hitomi, Asuka and Lei threw their luggage in the surprisingly spacious trunk of the cab before departing. Lei sat in the front seat while the two girls sat in the back.
"Where we headed today?" asked the cab driver, slight boredom evident in his voice.
Lei took out a small piece of paper, "The Iron Fist Hotel. I think it's a branch of the Mishima Zaibatsu that's been reserved for the tournament fighters."
Light returned to the driver's eyes upon hearing this, "You guys are in the tournament?"
"You bet!" said Asuka, obviously excited.
The driver started up the car, "Well let's go then!"
The hotel was swarming with people. Hitomi had never seen such a huge crowd before, except for maybe during the last DOA tournament. The trio cautiously left the cab and headed towards the registration line.
There were some…very interesting people in line. The first thing the German noticed was one huge brute of a man that seemed to easily tower over everyone else. He had a really annoying and smug look on his face. The karateka couldn't wait to wipe it off his face.
Lei suddenly nudged her, probably noticing her staring at the man, "That's Craig Marduk. He's a particularly brutal Vale Tudo fighter. Be careful if you get a match with him."
"He looks slow," said a very bored sounding Asuka. Hitomi had to laugh; the girl's confidence was slightly overbearing, but pleasant nonetheless.
"Hey, Lei!"
The trio turned around to see a guy who quite possibly had both the best and worst hairdo Hitomi had ever laid eyes on. One glance at Asuka was all it took to get Hitomi to burst with laughter as well. Lei grinned, knowing exactly why they were laughing so hard.
"Still going with that hairstyle, eh Paul?"
Despite the girls' laughter, Paul Phoenix just smirked confidently.
"The toughest fighter in the universe has to have a memorable look about him, doesn't he? Besides, I've been rockin' my hair like this for as long as I can remember! Anything else just wouldn't feel right."
Having finally recovered from their laughing fit, Hitomi took a moment to wipe her eyes and stuck out her hand.
"Hitomi Heinrich! Great hair, seriously."
Paul accepted the handshake wholeheartedly, "Paul Phoenix. And thanks, I try." He turned to look at Asuka, "You're a new face too. What should I call ya?"
Asuka also seemed to have recovered, though her face was still rather red from laughter, "Asuka. Asuka Kazama."
Paul's eyes widened, "Kazama? Do you know Jin?"
The Osakan scratched the back of her head, "Uh…nope. Doesn't sound familiar. Must just be a coincidence."
The American crossed his arms, "Well, probably better if you don't know him. Kid's seriously a bummer. I ain't ever seen him smile, not once since I met him at the third tournament."
"The third tournament?" asked Hitomi, "I heard he won that one though."
Suddenly Paul tensed up, "Jury's still out on that one, kid."
Lei rolled his eyes, "Paul, have you seen an unfamiliar looking Chinese man here? He probably has a really stern look about him. His name is Feng Wei, if that helps."
The American put his hand on his chin in thought, but shook his head.
"Sorry, ain't ringing' any bells. Looks like I'm up for registration, I'll see you guys at the tournament!"
Paul then pumped his fist and exclaimed, "Osu!" before walking away abruptly.
Hitomi couldn't help but grin widely, "I say that too!"
Asuka rolled her eyes while Lei chuckled. Hitomi blushed, slightly embarrassed.
Once they were all registered, all of the fighters made their way to their hotel rooms. It seemed that everyone had the option of sharing rooms, so Hitomi suggested her and Asuka share a room together, as it could provide them more time to get to know each other. Luckily, the Osakan hadn't protested the idea.
One of the tournament officials explained that matches started tomorrow, and that the traditional introductory banquet was tonight. At the mere mention of free food and dancing, both girls, Hitomi especially, became super excited.
Unfortunately, once they had unpacked all their belongings, Asuka and Hitomi realized that neither of them had packed any kind of formal wear for the night.
"Well that was kind of stupid of us, huh?" said Asuka tiredly.
Hitomi glanced at the clock on the wall. It read 4:15. If they were fast they could probably go grab something to wear quickly.
"The banquet doesn't start until 7:00, Asuka. Let's go see if we can get some clothes for tonight."
Asuka rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "I don't think I can afford to do that."
The German grinned at her, "I've got a fair amount of winnings from DOA. It's no problem!"
The Japanese girl shrugged, "Well if you insist…"
Luckily for the two fighters, there was a mall only ten minutes away from the Mishima Zaibatsu. While looking for an appropriate store, the girls were engaging in light conversation.
"You know Hitomi, you really don't look half Japanese."
The German laughed, "I inherited my dad's looks, what can I say? My mom doesn't even look like she's part of our family at all, but I love her all the same."
"I wish my eyes were like yours."
The statement caught Hitomi off guard. Asuka had said it so nonchalantly that it just struck her as…strange. Although if she thought back on it, Leifang had once told her the same thing a while back.
"Thanks, but they're nothing special. Almost everyone in Germany has eyes like mine."
"Yeah well mine are all plain and boring so…plus you also have really nice-"
"Hey!"
Hitomi wanted Asuka to finish her thought, but they were interrupted by a voice behind them. When they turned around they saw a rather odd sight. A girl, clad in a pink qipao and white shorts was running up to them. She looked Chinese and had her hair in two pigtails, but the most distinctive feature was what was running beside her – a panda. Not only that, but it seemed as if everyone around them were unfazed by this and thought it was completely normal. Hitomi just stood there wide-eyed.
Japan's a weird place sometimes…
Once the girl finally made it to the duo she rested her hands on her knees for a moment to take a breath. She then looked up to the duo with a bright smile on her face. The panda seemed busy poking at the ground beside her.
"You guys are in the tournament right?"
Hitomi had started to recover from the scene in front of her, suddenly remembering that ridiculous dinosaur park she had been in during the 4th Dead or Alive tournament. Suddenly, a panda in a mall didn't seem so strange.
"Uh yeah," she said holding her hand out, "I'm Hitomi and this is Asuka. Pleased to meet you."
The girl took Hitomi's hand and smiled at a still slightly shocked Asuka, "Same here! I'm Ling Xiaoyu, but you can just call me Xiao. Oh, and this is Panda!"
The Panda made some kind of growling sound and gave the girls what Hitomi hoped was her version of a smile, though it looked more like a scowl.
"Well Xiao," said Hitomi quickly, "what can we do for you? Are you in the tournament too?"
Xiao nodded, "Yup! But I…uh, don't really have anything to wear for tonight, so I came here to grab clothes. And then I recognized you guys from registration earlier so I figured I'd say hi!"
Asuka grinned, "That's actually why we're here too. You know a place where we could get something decent to wear?"
The Chinese girl nodded happily, "Totally! Panda and I have been here a bunch of times during the third and fourth tournaments. I know a great place with the cutest party dresses! Let's go!"
Without any warning, Xiao took off throughout the mall leaving the other two girls dumbfounded. Panda made a soft grunting noise and hung her head down while she walked after her. Hitomi had to suppress another laugh at the scene.
"She sure is lively, huh?"
Asuka ran a hand through her hair, "A bit of a handful maybe, but she's alright. C'mon let's catch up to them."
The Osakan started to head in the direction of Xiao and Panda, but the German stopped when she thought she saw someone familiar.
There was a girl, roughly around the same age as her with long auburn hair walking calmly throughout the mall. The two made eye contact for a brief moment and Hitomi was about to call out to her when she heard Asuka's voice.
"Let's go, slowpoke!"
Hitomi turned to her new friend and nodded, then briefly looked back to where the other girl had been.
To her dismay, she had disappeared from sight.
A/N: Things are getting interesting now! (Crossovers are so fun to write! :D)
Also, the "Osu" line was totally essential...obviously. (C'mon both Hitomi and Paul both say it!)