Chapter 4

The arena was colossal, to say the least. Asuka was pretty sure it was much bigger than the one used for the last tournament. It was circular in shape and was decked with large electronic billboards, half of which were off while the rest had white letters over a crimson background saying 'COMING SOON'.

What they would display when the tournament began, she didn't know. But that time didn't seem so far away as she approached the building to register.

Signing up took little to no time since Asuka was a returning fighter. She didn't need to bother with the documents and forms like she had to with the fifth tournament because they would just reuse old data. She went ahead and asked about how they would pair up the fighters, to which the guys at the registration table replied that the fighters who do not come with a pre-established partner would receive a random partner.

... At least, that's what the public will be told, which meant that the fan favourite rivals and partners would be teamed up together. So now it was guaranteed that her partner would be Rochefort, which was a damn shame but there was no helping it.

She probably should have come with a partner beforehand. Now that she thought about it, there was Lei Wulong, that blond guy with the red jacket (or girl?), the Korean biker or even that fat dude who moved pretty fast for his body type. Well, she'd already let the brass know that she didn't have a partner in mind at the time, so now they would make sure she fought alongside Rochefort.

Guess this is what she got for being such a hypocrite about entering this tournament.

With a month left till the start of the Tag Tournament, Asuka eventually found a decent room in a hotel not too far from the arena. The room was clean and smelled normal (a drastic change from the last room she lodged in for the sixth tournament) and she could see the arena's entrance from her window, which let her know who had come to sign up.

So far, from what she could remember, there was the Korean biker and his mentor (so he already had a partner… good for him), the Brazilian girl who was always half naked (didn't seem as happy as she normally was), the Chinese girl with the pig tails and her pet panda (how does one have a pet Panda?), the chef with the spicy food and his son (if the strong resemblance between the two were to be trusted) and Miguel (she couldn't help but stare. This guy was, to put it bluntly, manly as hell). The rest of them must have either registered before or would do so later.

She sincerely hoped that Rochefort wouldn't show up and she'd end up as the partner of someone else. She entertained the idea of being Miguel's partner, before quickly returning to reality. No way in hell that was happening.

As the days went on, whenever Asuka would visit a restaurant or some store or even take a walk through the street, she would occasionally spot one of her fellow brawlers, which didn't surprise her. After all, they would stay near the arena till the tournament began, just like her. A few of them spotted her as well, but no-one actually interacted with her.

That is, except for one.

Asuka had been at the local deli, perusing through the menu above the cashier's counter when he felt a tap on her shoulder and a voice that muttered, "Um, excuse me?"

Asuka turned in place and came face to face with the person with the red jacket.

"Hey, uh, you were in the last tournament, right? Asuka Kazama?"

Asuka nodded and the person sighed in relief. "Nice. So, do you already have a partner or...?"

"No, I don't have a partner," Asuka told her before scrunching up her face in displeasure. "But I already registered and the brass is dead set on who my partner will be..."

"Aw," said the person, their disappointment apparent. "Sorry for bothering you then..."

The blonde turned out to leave but something came over Asuka (perhaps it was the fact they had actually approached her) and she spoke up. "What's your name?"

The person stopped in place, turning around to consider Asuka. "Leo. Leo Kliesen."

"Leo," Asuka repeated. "You wanna grab a sandwich, Leo?"

Leo looked at her with raised eyebrows. Eventually, Leo nodded at her and smiled slightly. "I wouldn't say no to that."

Of course, the first question Asuka asked Leo was preferred pronouns, though Asuka had been incredibly awkward about it. Leo took it in stride, saying female pronouns were good enough. Asuka could only assume she got this question often.

The two began to see each other every day through sharing lunch at a local deli, where they would discuss stuff like how this tournament may differ from its predecessors, or who would be teamed up with who and even things that didn't revolve around the tournament, like their likes and dislikes.

"So… you never told me why you were entering," Asuka said one day.

"To try and find some information on my mother and the people she may have worked with," Leo responded.

"Oh, does she not live with you or something?" Asuka inquired, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Actually, she passed away a year ago."

Asuka almost choked on her sandwich from surprise. Miraculously, she was able to swallow without too much visible discomfort.

"I'm so sorry," Asuka whispered. Leo shrugged it off.

"Not much I can do now but pick up the pieces and move on," Leo said. "I have somewhere to start at least. Hopefully, I'll be able to uncover something."

She smiled at Asuka before taking a bite out of her previously ignored sandwich. Asuka had to admit, that was pretty admirable of her.

"What was her name?"

"Come again?"

"Your mother's name. What was it?"

Leo was startled by her question but recovered quickly.

"Emma."

Asuka nodded in understanding, making a mental note to help however she could.

"What about you?" Leo asked, pointing her sandwich at Asuka. "Why'd you come back?"

"Well, to be blunt, I'm here for the money," Asuka replied, rubbing her head sheepishly.

"Ah. I'm assuming financial problems?"

"And a dad in the hospital…"

Asuka was normally not this frank with people, but Leo had been so honest with her about her ordeals, she felt like she needed to return the favour.

"Ah. Say no more."(Asuka felt so grateful towards her. She was not used to telling people her problems) "It would have been nice to have met before. We could've teamed up and helped each other."

Remembering who she was to fight alongside, Asuka responded with an "Oh, you have no idea how much I would love that."

Leo laughed at that but her laughter died quickly, her gaze locked on something behind Asuka and a scow on her face. Asuka turned in her seat to find what upset her. She assumed it was the TV, but all it had on was the news channel, interviewing a few employees from G Corp.

"Everything okay?" the brunette asked, turning again to face Leo. Leo blinked and returned her gaze back to Asuka.

"Yeah," she replied, although she didn't seem to be entirely there. "I'm fine. I should stop keeping up with the news, but I can't help it..."

"I don't think that's a bad habit, to be honest," Asuka remarked, taking another biting and chewing thoughtfully. "I should watch the news more often."

"It's mostly depressing these days," Leo commented, leaning back into her chair. Asuka twisted in place to look at the TV, the screen now showing clips of the Mishima Zaibatsu's army. Jin Kazama's face was prominent and a familiar anger welled up in her at the sight of his face.

"Kinda funny how he was the centre of everyone's problems and then he just up and disappears," Asuka scowled, glaring at the screen. "What the hell even happened about this whole Mishima Zaibatsu mess?"

"All anyone knows is that Jin Kazama went missing after he supposedly lost to Lars Alexandersson in the last tournament," Leo informed her after a brief pause. "Nina Williams took charge of the Zaibatsu, but only for some time before Heihachi Mishima managed to take over the company again."

"Huh," was all Asuka could say. "I wonder where the asshole dictator is now..."

"No-one has seen or heard from him for months. For all we know, he could be in hiding… or dead," Leo added, as an afterthought. One that did not sit well with Asuka.

Yes, she was all for kicking his ass for starting World War III but she never wished death upon anyone she hated, and he was no exception. She was hoping instead to beat some sense into the man or send him to jail or whatever is done to criminals as an alternative to the death penalty.

The concept of death had always put a bad taste in her mouth but it had been disturbing her even more lately, ever since her father had been re-admitted to the hospital.

"I hope he's not dead, just so I can kick his ass myself," Asuka snarled.

As the days marched on, Asuka starting feeling worried, which was enough to encourage her to start training again. She and Leo would spar with each other as practice at a nearby gym, but they were not the only ones. The Brazilian girl (Christie Monteiro, according to Leo) had come to practice alone, one day.

"What's with her anyway?" Asuka brought up one day, observing the tanned brunette as she performed some Capoeira moves some distance away from them, the same scowl on her face from when Asuka first saw her. "She used to be all happy, and now she looks pissed as hell."

Leo glanced Christie's way, a sympathetic look on her face, before facing Asuka.

"Family problems," was all she said, which was fine by Asuka. She didn't want to know any-more. She had enough family problems of her own…

She would have to ask how Leo knew all this information though.

Steve Fox, the world-famous boxer, also appeared once, alongside the American with the huge hair (Paul Phoenix, as Leo was kind enough to tell her). The two pairs sparred with their respective partners without saying a word.

Asuka didn't want to tell Leo, but she noticed Steve's eyes falling on her blonde friend a lot more than what would be considered normal. But they weren't the creeper sort of eyes she had grown used to. No, they were more like the look you'd give someone you found suspicious. But he didn't make any attempt to come their way so she left it unsaid…

The Korean biker and his mentor also came around another day (Hwoarang and Baek Doo San). Asuka actually approached them for conversation though, perhaps inspired to do so from how Leo had approached her.

As it turned out, she and Hwoarang had a lot in common, especially when it came to fighting. But when she told him her name, he seemed surprised and confused, which was probably because she had the same surname as a certain douche-bag. But he didn't pester her about it like some other assholes from back in Osaka. She hoped they could meet up again sometime.

Despite the fact that many of their fellow fighters did appear, Leo and Asuka would find that they would be alone on most days.

"So there's a strong chance of Lili being your partner, right?" Leo brought up on one of these days, sitting on the floor with a bottle of water in hand after a particularly hard work out.

"Are we… really… that entertaining?" Asuka panted, flopping down next to her. Leo grinned after taking a swig from the bottle.

"Well, even if I didn't know everyone, I would say it's pretty obvious that you too love to fight each other."

Again, she had to ask Leo about this 'knowing everyone' thing some day.

"It's all her, okay?" Asuka insisted, lying down on the floor with her arms behind her head. "I beat her in the fifth tournament and she didn't take it well. She even registered in the same school as me just so she could have a chance to spar with me every day."

"And…?"

"Well, we don't fight every day…"

"Just as I thought."

"In my defence," Asuka said loudly, sitting up. "She pisses me off so much-"

"-that you lose your temper."

"And when I lose my temper…"

"You use your fists," Leo finished, laughing. Asuka looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"Wel,l it doesn't matter. She hasn't beaten me yet and I don't want her as my partner. But the fans love us, so I'm stuck with her," Asuka scowled, crossing her arms.

"The things you have to do."

"Amen to that."

"Who do you think they'll pair me up with?" the blonde asked. Asuka pursed her lips in thought.

"Maybe Steve Fox," Asuka chuckled. That statement confused Leo, which reminded Asuka that she had yet to tell her about the other day.

"Never mind," Asuka waved as if fanning the very sentence away. Leo, still confused, just shrugged it off.

Asuka had to admit, she hadn't enjoyed another person's company like this in a long time. And it felt nice. It almost made her forget about her problems…

She turned his way, her eyes an ominous shade of yellow that seemed to glow in the darkness of the street. He stood rooted to the spot, not in fear but in shock.

This woman…

She started running and he followed. He kept yelling for her to wait but she didn't pay any heed to his requests.

Why would she just ignore him? Did she not recognise him?

She turned a corner. He did the same. He tried to stop her again. She just ran faster. He ran faster too.

She had to recognize him.

All those years together… don't you remember?

Was she even the right person? Her eyes…

She climbed up a ladder. He followed suit.

Her eyes were not yellow in his memory. But could his memory be trusted?

It had been so long…

No!

His memory was just fine! She had changed…

She jumped over a gap. So did he.

He wanted to ask her. Ask what else had changed… See what else had changed… If anything else had changed…

She stopped. He stopped.

Where did you go… Why did you go…?

He walked towards her. She was turning quickly.

Where are you going without telling me?

He felt pain. Wind was rushing past his ears. His feet weren't touching the ground. He was falling… and she was gone…

"…So you're basically hitting with the force of an ox with very little effort on your part," Leo concluded.

"Wow," Asuka stared in awe. "You gotta teach me more sometime!"

"In due time, young pupil," Leo said, performing a mock bow. Asuka rolled her eyes, still amused.

When the road divided, the two waved goodbye to each other and followed their respective roads. As she made her way to her hotel room, she tried to call her father, hoping to check up on him, but he wasn't answering.

He was probably sleeping, considering how late it was. She pocketed her phone and looked around.

This area was a far-cry from the central parts of Tokyo, where she felt so tiny surrounded by gigantic buildings and never-ending skyscrapers, all glittering with a million lights and billboards. She was in the quieter part of the city, where the buildings were smaller and more down-to-earth (an apartment complex probably), which reminded her of her own home in Osaka.

Seriously, she felt like she would hear some people arguing any second now and she'd rush over to settle the matter.

It was at that point that she heard someone yelling "Wait!" and the vigilante in her came to life.

Speak of the devil! Just like back home!

She followed the sounds of heavy footsteps, which sounded like they were coming from the roofs of the buildings. When she looked up, her deduction turned out to be spot on, noticing two figures jumping between the buildings, one running after the other.

Oh, it was one of those cases, huh?

She ran alongside the buildings while keeping her eyes open for a way to go up there herself. But, she eventually reached the last building on the street. A dead end.

Panting, she looked up to locate the two and instead saw something that made her heart stop. One of them had jumped off the roof.

"What the crap?!" she yelled, not even thinking as she raced towards the falling figure, repeating a mantra of 'Shit! Shit! Shit!' in her mind.

Just as the person was meters away from the ground, Asuka leapt forward, her feet leaving the ground, praying that she would somehow make it. She managed to tackle him mid-fall and the two of them tumbled as they hit the ground, with Asuka keeping her eyes shut tight and holding onto the body for dear life.

Even once they had come to a halt, she continued to clutch onto the other's shirt, breathless. Once her breathing calmed down, she let go, sat up and hovered over the man (she found out after twenty seconds of holding his shirt that he was definitely male). He was wearing a flame-accented hoodie, which made it even more difficult to see his face in the dark.

"Hey!" she said, loudly. "You okay?"

He didn't respond. She immediately put her head on his chest, listening for a heartbeat, before he suddenly moved, knocking her over in the process.

"The hell!" she yelled as her head hit the concrete. Rubbing her skull furiously, she looked up to see that he was on his feet and was looking at the roof. She scrambled to her feet.

"What the hell, man?!" she yelled. "What were you doin' jumpin' off buildings?! Were you trying to kill yourself?! Don't just ignore me!"

He glanced her way, his face not visible due to the lack of street lights. Soon enough, without a word, he looked up at the roof again.

"That wasn't my intention," he replied, simply.

"Did someone push you then?" she asked, hands on her hips.

He didn't reply to that.

"Well, as long as you're okay..." Asuka said, before folding her arms behind her head and looking upwards innocently. "And there's no need to thank me. I do what I can to help."

"What help?"

All the worry she had for him disappeared at that moment, replaced with irritation.

"Um... I just saved your life," she pointed out.

"I would have survived," he stated plainly. Her head throbbed in anger.

"Like hell, you would have!" Asuka growled, brandishing a finger his way. "I just went out of my way to help you! You should be thanking me!"

"I didn't ask for your help. Why must I show gratitude?" he replied, eyes still on the building.

She was livid at this point. The next thing she knew, he was on the floor again and her knuckles were aching.

"Asshole!" she screamed, not even waiting for him to reply as she turned on her heel and stomped away, wishing she had let him meet a gruesome end. All the while he remained on the floor, staring after her.

Big thanks to all who have reviewed, favourited and followed so far. Glad there are some more Jisuka fans out there :D

This would have come out sooner if I didn't keep playing Tekken Tag 2 more than I wrote fan fiction. Don't you just love Jin and Asuka's win poses? And the fact that he has a tag throw with her? Ah, now if only Namco would give Asuka a part in the story other than her one-sided rivalry with Lili…

The chapter title is a song lyric from 'Ignorance' by Paramore.

Same as always, feel free to tell me if there are some errors and what not.

May Peace Be Upon You.