Sushi Train
Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken or any of its characters
A/N - I'm eating sushi. That might just explain the chapter name. (:
Thanks to Thee Slushee, Sachi Gosetsuke, EpikStyle & Doodles123 for reviewing
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8:00pm, Mishima Mansion
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Asuka was settled comfortably in an arm chair in what looked like the family room of the mansion. It was far from family-ish, however, at least compared to her old house. The living room in her old home consisted of beaten chairs, worn down from the amount of trampling it had suffered over the long years, crocheted cushion covers and other homely items. The living room in the mansion was spotless, probably cleaned every day by one of the thousands of maids that were hired to do nothing, a fireplace, a television bigger than her body mass, and probably weighed as much, and expensive portraits.
Asuka eyed the professional portrait of Jin posing on the wall. He looked so evil and devious that she wanted to tear down the picture and paint a spiky-haired stick figure with a happy smile, in its place. On the left and right sides, there were marks suggesting that his ancestors were there before, as tradition, but had been ripped down forcefully. Not much of a surprise, considering Jin endeavored to eliminate the entire Mishima bloodline.
After speculating whether she would ever get a portrait done, Asuka went back to reading her paperback in peace.
Minutes later, Jin Kazama joined her, settling in the lounge chair on her left side, and pulling out a laptop, to, no doubt, type up some boring business letter to some old boring businessman.
Moments passed in silence. Asuka wondered whether she should tell her brother about the elevator incident and the rude Korean boy, and decided against it after remembering the tedious lecture he had given her about running way that morning.
"What are you reading?" Jin asked politely, attempting to make conversation with his sibling.
"This book about a girl dealing with anorexia."
"You're not fat," he said instantly.
Asuka rolled her eyes disbelievingly.
"Thanks for the subtlety, Captain Obvious, but I know I'm not fat."
Asuka went back to reading her book, and Jin continued to work on his laptop, typing away with loud clacks.
Asuka paused and looked up from her book, marking the page that she had stopped at with her hand.
"Jin?"
"Mmm?"
"When was the last time you did something spontaneous?"
Jin looked up at her over his laptop.
"Spontaneous?"
"Yeah."
"What does that mean?
The confused expression upon her brother's face was so realistic that she stared at him blankly.
"I'm joking," Jin smiled at Asuka's look of shock, "I know what it means."
Asuka clicked her tongue impatiently, let her book drop and shifted to face her brother with a significant look.
"That wasn't spontaneity, oniichan. That was lame humour. You need to get out more."
"And how do you expect to do that? I have a company to run. It's more work then you think."
"Get Mr Tanaka to do it. He likes work more then you do."
"I don't like work."
"Oh, you rebel."
"Shhh Asuka, I'm trying to do my work."
Asuka rolled her eyes again, wondering if he was kidding. From the serious look on his face, it appeared not.
A loud beeping interrupted her before she could retort back with a witty statement. Asuka clambered out of her sitting position and pulled her cell phone out of her bag, before climbing back up to her seat again. With a few quick taps, she opened her inbox and smirked at a txt she had just received.
Jin caught the grin on Asuka's face.
"What's so funny?"
"Xiao sent me a txt. About you."
Jin suddenly looked pleased. He fiddled with his Rolex watch distractedly.
"What did she say?"
"Oh, that you were such a rugged, manly lumberjack. 1"
"Oh, shut up."
Asuka grinned. Maybe Jin did have a sense of humour, after all. And maybe he didn't. Still, it was fun toying with his emotions.
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Lunchtime, Mishima Polytechnical School
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"You got trapped in an elevator," Xiaoyu's gasp was so loud it attracted unwanted stares from passerbys.
"Were you scared?" Miharu asked.
Asuka shrugged, a light smile upon her face.
"What's so funny?"
Asuka shrugged again, watching the trees swish in the wind. She never noticed how beautiful the scenery of Mishima Polytechnical High School was until now.
"Oh, so you almost died and you're laughing?"
Asuka just sat there with a silly grin, her arms folded in her lap, sitting cross legged on the grass. She let the wind whip her spiky ponytail back, and stared at her two new friend's puzzled expressions.
Miharu's eyes narrowed mischievously.
"You met someone, didn't you? In the elevator? That is such an American movie-plot kind of thing to happen!"
"No…" she said slowly, her white teeth sparkling cheekily.
"You liar!" Xiaoyu squealed, "You did!"
"Tell us," Miharu pleaded.
"I didn't really…" Asuka replied slowly, watching students kick a soccer ball at the golden statue of Heihachi Mishima constructed on the field, "Well, I did, technically. But at the same time, not really."
Xiaoyu groaned.
"You're not making any sense, 'suka! Just tell us his name!"
"I don't know his name," Asuka informed them, "He was so familiar and very good-looking… But he's seemed like such an idiot. And anyway, it doesn't matter. It's not like I'm ever going to see him again."
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6:30pm, Apartment 12B
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Hwoarang lay back on his bed, tucking an arms beneath his head and with his other hand, took a long puff from the cigarette he held. He ignored his conscience, and the thought of the reprimands he would be receiving from his master, if Master Baek had have been there.
Hwoarang thought back to the day before, about how he was stuck in the elevator with the Japanese girl.
Morse code…
He chuckled to himself, and gazed up at the ceiling, picturing her pretty, willful face, before she stepped into the cab, the wind making her hair fly back perfectly. She seemed so familiar… He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. What was wrong with him? He had dated many pretty girls, even prettier and more matured then the girl in the elevator, and none of them had affected them in this way ... What did this one have that the others didn't? Besides extensive knowledge of complicated communications and oh, say the fact taht she had completely rejected him.
He had never been rejected by the opposite sex. If love was a battlefield, he would have already won the war.
But then, he thought with a smirk, if love was a battlefield, this Japanese girl would have pitched her flag straight into his gut.
Amused by this thought, he exhaled a large amount of smoke, and stepped over various possessions of his to make it to the tiny kitchen. He hadn't bothered to clean up a lot of his mess; he had been too preoccupied with revenge and being trapped in elevators with pretty girls that he spent most of the time he should have been cleaning, daydreaming.
He pulled open the fridge with his free hand. It was complete bare, except for a rotting salami stick, which he deemed to be not only inedible, but poisonous. He gagged at the putrid stench, and snatched his wallet from his bed. After the cigarette had hit the cherry, he threw it down, stepped on it, and opened his apartment door.
"Take out, it is," he announced to no one in particular.
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"C'mon Jin, this is your chance," Asuka begged to her older brother who was yet again, typing away on his laptop in the living room, "Get off your high horse - be spontaneous! Let's go out for dinner!"
"We just had dinner. You didn't eat it."
"Neither did you! We don't have to have noodles every night. Be adventurous, oniichan!"
"No, imouto. Have you seen my tie?"
Asuka scowled, wondering if the boy ever managed to keep a tie for a longer then a period of two days. But then, that was what wives were for… Maybe he just needed a girlfriend…
"I'll tell you if you come out with me."
"I can't," he sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time, rubbing his head with his fingertips, "I have work to do."
He spoke with a note of such finality that Asuka knew that he wasn't going to change his mind.
Asuka pouted, her arms crossed stubbornly.
"God, you really are boring. What was I thinking, considering I was related to you…"
She stamped out of the room her arms swinging wildly. Jin sighed at her departure, setting down his laptop, guilt tearing into his insides.
Family could be so annoying sometimes.
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7:15, Xiaoyu's house
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"- And then I thought that it was like … hang on a second Miharu," Ling Xiaoyu cut off, placing the cordless phone on her bed.
BEEP.BEEP.BEEP.
The lean, Chinese student rustled through her handbag to pick out her cell phone.
At Sushi Train alone. Plz come? Asuka xx
Xiaoyu read the message, and slowly lifted the cordless phone to her ear.
"Mi, I gotta go, 'k?"
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7:30, Downtown
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Hwoarang wandered the busy streets of Tokyo restlessly. He was shocked to see a larger crowd of tourists at night, than at day time, as he searched for a restaurant that wasn't packed with screaming kids.
Restaurant after restaurants filled with flashing cameras and loud, drunk tourists and locals singing together in harmony, persuaded Hwoarang to follow one of the less busier streets. In one of the cheaper looking roads, there appeared to be smaller and quieter cafes. He strolled down the boulevard, peering into stores, hoping to find one that suited his fastidious tastes.
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Jin smoothly parked his red Ferrari into an empty space and climbed out of his sports car. Swarms of tourists snapped pictures of his expensive car, blinding him whilst doing so. He blocked the bright lights with his arms and meandered down the busy streets, looking into restaurants, hoping to find his little sister somewhere.
He had only taken ten paces when he recognised a familiar figure in a skimpy pink dress and sandals walking a few feet in front of him.
"Xiaoyu?" he blurted out without thinking.
The small Chinese girl hastily swung around in surprise.
"Who?" her mouth turned into a big O when she recognised the speaker, "JIN!"
She wrapped her arms around his built torso tightly, cutting off his circulation, and Jin felt himself blush as he hugged her back awkwardly. He let go rather quickly, and scratched the back of his head with a nervous smile.
"Um… how are you, Xiao?"
"I'm fine," she grinned sweetly, swinging her arms behind her back, "What are you doing down here in the sticks? I don't believe you've left your palace since the tournament."
"Yea," said Jin awkwardly, remembering how rude he was during the Iron Fist, "Listen, sorry I never got the chance to say hi during the tournament, I was just - "
Ling waved her hands hastily, her pigtails flapping madly.
"Forget about it!" she insisted, "So… what are you doing? Are you meeting Asuka at Sushi Train, too?"
"She's at the Sushi Train?" Jin questioned.
"Yes…" Ling replied.
There was silence.
"I'll show you were it is!" Xiaoyu cried, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the crowd.
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7:40pm, Downtown- Sushi Train
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Asuka sat boredly in the restaurant, Sushi Train, and waited for the train to slowly pass by. She had been watching the train for awhile now, and hadn't picked any food off of it. It wasn't any fun being alone…
Eventually, she got up and paid for her green tea and left the restaurant with a sigh. She pulled her headphones out of her back pack forcefully, and it tugged free when – WHACK!
"Ouch!" a voice yelled, doubling over.
"Oh shit, sorry!" Asuka uncharacteristically cursed, wincing.
The young man looked up at her under his long strands of bright red hair. He stood up straight and grinned at her, shaking his hair out of his face.
Asuka gaped, her palm still before her mouth in shock, from maiming a complete stranger. When she recognised the stranger, she squashed all of the butterflies in her stomach and remembered how rude he was in the elevator.
"On second thoughts, I'm not so sorry," Asuka said, beginning to walk off.
But after taking a few steps away, she was starting to wish that he would stop her…
"Wait," he smiled, grabbing her wrist and fulfilling her surreptitious hope, "Okay, I'm sorry you hurt me. What's your name?"
His smile was so soothing that Asuka didn't even consider pulling her hand away and attacking him with a Kazama-style spinning heel kick, as she would have if any other stranger had done the same thing. She gazed back into his amazing brown eyes, her surprised expression melting away.
"It's Asuka…"
Hwoarang slipped his hand lower down and shook her hand sloppily, with another heart stopping smile. Asuka felt herself blush as she let go of his hand shyly.
"Nice to meet you, Asuka. I'm Hwoarang."
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1- Reference back to Asuka's comment in chapter 2