Just Casual
- Chapter IV -
'How can you have a day without a night.
You're the book that I have opened,
and now I've got to know much more'
- Unfinished Sympathy, Massive Attack
Eventually, Julia was caught not long after her time with Jin. Zaibatsu Troops had surrounded one of the back streets not far from the Mishima Tower Centre. She tried to reach her pick-up at the end of the alley way illuminated by signs and paper lanterns; however she was trapped and completely surrendered to the amount of guns aimed at her. The last thing she wanted was to involve innocent people in the crossfire.
Mishima had her incarcerated. She was taken to a prison centre in the outskirts of Tokyo, which was practically owned and funded by the Mishima Corporation. This institute only detained persons who were convicted of crimes against the Corporation. Heihachi took criminal activity against him very seriously, he wanted to make an example of disgruntled employees and outsiders with harsher penalties. However long they interrogated Julia, her accomplice was not exposed; the mystery driver who snuck her in and tried to get her out; sped off as soon as Zaibatsu swarmed the district.
Julia was charged with several accounts of breaking and entering, assault against officers, damage of property, unauthorized use of the computer network, and apparently according to the Daily News Bureau - Activism. It was odd that Mishima told the media her beef was with the 'Adani Coal Mining Project' in Australia; ruining ancestral lands and having an environmental impact on Oceanic waters and threaten the Great Barrier Reefs existence, and that the Mishima Corporation had their hand in giving funds to the project.
During the event, Heihachi had also locked up his own Grandson for aggravated assault and obstruction of Justice by assisting in a criminal's escape. The only difference was, it was not to be known by the media at all and no disqualification from the Tournament. His sentence was basically 3 weeks without bail, as opposed to Julia's 25 years.
Luckily, someone was looking out for her interest and after 3 weeks, Heihachi had arranged to see her personally. It was one of the most intense meetings with both parties, Mishima and a Chang in confrontation held a lot of animosity towards each other in the room. However, from what Heihachi saw in the security footage; beating his son to a pulp, which delighted him very much, and hijacking the servers in minutes impressed him somewhat, and he was not only willing to let her back into the tournament; he proposed that she work as the tutor's assistant at MPI School. He also gave her the task to see that Jin passed his grades by the end of the semester. If she refused or failed Jin, it was back to the hell hole of murderers, thieves and prostitutes. She accepted. There was no other choice.
Currently at MPI College.
Computers. One of the most mind numbing subjects next to Accounting. The subject is purely based on IT programming and hardware systems. The class started the semester with twenty students, thinking they could learn about Google and Facebook, and now it was down to fourteen. There were definitely Tech-junkies in the class who often fantasized about programming their animated Waifu's. Some of the guys were in the same boat as Jin, passing grades because they didn't know what they wanted, others just meeting the criteria at the end of their semester and only three female students remained in the class.
As everyone stood around chatting in their groups as they waited, Jin decided to login into his computer.
Password Denied.
He tried again.
Password Denied.
Irritated, he smashed the keyboard and ran his fingers through his hair, looking frustratingly at his screen. 'What? Really?' he frowned.
Password Denied.
Password Denied.
Password Denied.
Password Denied.
Password Denied.
Password Denied.
Password Denied.
Password Denied.
[Gomen nasai! You have too many attempts. Wait till tomorrow or notify admin for assistance ~ tomorrow].
*Error screen with cute little, orange Dinosaur laughing while stars radiate around it.
As soon as Sensei arrives, everyone immediately takes to their station. He was a frumpy, matured man in his mid 50's and wore thick black prescription glasses. Nakamura Sensei formerly worked in the Mishima Network Tower as a Hardware Engineer, a Network Administrator, and a Solutions Architect. Aside from looking as if he had no sentimentality, he did have an artistic flair in wearing frivolous bow ties each day. Today was a pink bow tie with purple and yellow brush strokes. Even though naturally he is a very focused, monotonous man, it was the most eccentric representation off him. The students would wonder if either he was in the closet or liked wearing Sailor Scout Uniforms at night. Although, no one has ever seen him that way.
"Ohayoo Gozaimasu. Shall we begin?" he said figuratively.
"Sumimasen, Sensei." Jin announced. "I am locked out of my computer."
"Okay, I'll come have a look soon. Just in case, you may possibly have to share with someone today."
As Nakamura Sensei got ten minutes into the CRM programming systems, which probably only 2.7% were listening at the time, a late-comer made a ruckus slamming the door open. Kazama scrunched his face. Of course it was a rude, arrogant Red-head waltzing in like a blumbering knob, performing exaggerated yawns while his hands are in his pockets, drunken eyes as though he has had a big night in *Kabukichō precinct. He slurred his words under his breath, "Sumi - sumi'asen-esensei."
(*Kabukichō is an entertainment and red-light district in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It is the location of many host and hostess clubs, love hotels, shops, restaurants, and nightclubs).
"Hwoarang san, just come in quietly. Please take your seat," Nakamura sighed. In college, it was up to the students whether they wanted to pass or fail. Being late was frowned upon but not unacceptable unlike High School. Most students normally creep in quietly like Ninjas and take their seats if they were late. However, Hwoarang was a guy who liked to make an entrance.
He made a lot of noise for someone plunging themselves onto a seat; with his hanging belts and zippers colliding onto the chair and desk, and all the while making dreary murmuring sounds as though this was too much effort to deal with at the moment. As he sat a table across the other side of the room, Jin was rolling his eyeballs at Hwoarang on the inside but not literally. In his peripheral vision, he could see the Korean fighter rocking his head back and forth, trying to sneak in 2 seconds of sleep, then he would just stare blankly at a black screen. Then Hwoarang turned, and gave Jin 'The look'. He made it an annoying ritual to start class by giving him the stare that simply meant 'I see you. We have some unfinished business.' Both eyes averted after a acknowledging that.
"Okay everyone, please go to your student handbooks 5.2.11 under Assessments for Mishima-Metacon 3i. I will talk you through the set up of CRM databases programming."
Everyone shuffled in their seats to get into it, except Jin, who reminded Nakamura Sensei by putting up his hand.
"Ah yes, Kazama san, if you can work with Hwoarang for the moment while I look at your computer".
This struck a nerve on both boys and they sat up on their chairs, wide-eyed. This wasn't the first time they had been set up together in class, although the last time it didn't go down so well. However, Nakamura would like to see both men gain improvement on their team skills, after all, a workplace environment needs to work as a team.
"No. Way," Hwoarang murmured.
Nakamura ignored his comment by looking at his booklet notes.
"Kazama san, do you know if Juria san is not well? I have not heard from her. As you may know, unfortunately, I may have to report this."
"Uh, Juria… uh…she is... "
"- she's got cramps!" Hwoarang blurted out to him over Jin. "Uuugh… in her stomach… legs… stomach, legs…one or the other. I forget."
"Okay, Hwoarang san. Thank you for telling me. Please ask her to let me know next time".
The red-head responded with a positive note by imitating his hands into a gun-like form and making a clicking sound while winking at the Professor like they do in cheesy Western movies. It was very cartoonish, sarcastic western way to respond, but it was Hwoarang. He was too cool for school. Although, he saved Jin at that moment, he didn't do it for him.
Hwoarang, inevitably was also penalised by Heihachi Mishima. This was for public property damage at Mishima owned districts. Gang violence. Public disturbance and disruption. Hitting on females publicly on trains. Laughing at ugly strangers. Eating and walking at the same time, then littering. Illegal Street fighting. Possessing "medications" without documentation. Riding his motorcycle through a pedestrian centre and doing donuts. Sleeping outside in public places in a robe. He was arrested not long after Julia, and in order to keep him in Tekken, he had to continue his studies in MPI to keep him off the streets out of trouble. It sucked, but it was better than being banned from the tournament.
"Sumimasen, Nakamura Sensei!" Julia busted into the classroom door completely dishevelled.
She was heavily trying to catch her breath at the door, her braids were wild with loose strands, and her clothes were partly soaked. It was like she came out of a storm in a teacup. It was obvious to Jin that she changed her outfit from this morning from the crop top to the white office blouse uniform, but it seemed she ran out of time to notice a very sad and lonely button at the collar who had lost its companionship.
The whole class and Nakamura, watched as Julia straightened up and casually walked into the classroom pretending her awkward entrance didn't happen. Some of the nerds were too smitten to care as they were hardcore fans of her. In fact, on the first day when she and Hwoarang walked down the gateway into Mishima Institute, nosebleeds were happening everywhere. The boys hoped to be ruffled up by a fierce American Girl, and on one side, the school girls dreamt of riding off into the sunset with a Korean bad-boy. It was all so exciting to have a bit of diversity in their daily lives.
"I hope you're feeling better Juria san. Hwoarang mentioned about your stomach-leg pains," Nakamura said, even though he was insinuating a fine line between sarcasm and seriousness whilst Julia took her seat.
Immediately, she turned to look back at row six and shot a glance at him, who was in turn grinning at her in a very cheeky way. 'Jerk-off' she thought.
"Hai, arigatoo, I'm all better now."
"We are on CRM Systems today."
"Hai, Nakamura Sensei."
After Nakamura gave his lecture, the class got into the practical. Nakamura sat at his desk, prioritising urgent paperwork first while Julia automatically made her rounds assisting students. Julia came to the attention of Sachiko, but as they were getting into it, she was rudely interrupted by yours truly...
"Excuse me Miss!" Hwoarang mocked speaking in English.
"Can you help this loser with his laptop? He's somehow screwed it up and I don't exactly want to share," he put it bluntly.
Jin sighed, 'what a pain he is'.
"I'll-be-with-you-in-a-sec," she said locking her teeth together.
Now that Julia was here, Nakamura needed time to finish the paperwork so he thought of the latter.
"Sota, please assist Sachiko san. Juria san, please attend to Kazama san," Nakamura ordered, choosing Sota who was one of the most accelerated class students to help out. He also knew the reason of Julia's arrangement strictly from Heihachi's orders.
"Sumimasen," Julia gave Sachiko a disheartened look as she knew, Sota had a mad crush on Sachiko, but in a really creepy manner. Sachiko hated his guts. Truthfully, Julia was happier helping the girls in her class because "feminism". The young girl was disheartened too to see Julia move on.
She passed Hwoarang with grim look, "Stomach-leg pains. Really?"
"Hey, I was doing you a favour sister. Jin couldn't lie for you if he tried."
"And you..." she stood next to Jin's post, towering over him crossing her arms. "Everything is sorted. You have a brand spankin' new fountain. Fishies, happy."
"Arigatoo, Juria," he nodded up at her, then turned to Hwoarang who was stuffing a Pocky chocolate stick into his mouth. "And no thanks to you."
"Huh?" the Korean perked up innocently from his rummage, not really following their conversation. It suddenly occurred to him what Jin was talking about.
"Oh yeah! Best GTA stunt ever!" he chuckled.
Julia massaged her temples as though she had a splitting migraine, whilst Jin scrunched his face up with disgust from his inconsideration for both of their early morning errands.
"So what seems to be the problem?"
"I can't log into my studies account. I've typed my password several times and now, this, Dinosaur is telling me I'm locked out."
"Jin Kazama, were you attempting to make a joke?" Julia snickered, a little bit entertained by his try at sarcasm. "Yeah, your basically locked out until 24 hours. That is admins problem now. Unfortunately, the guy who programmed this is in Block C and he is an absolute douche-bag. He couldn't give a Rat's-ass about student problems, this will literally refresh tomorrow morning."
"Hm," was all he could say about it and frowned at his screen.
Julia studied his keys and saw a tiny blue light glowing.
"Did you know you had the Caps on?"
He literally died inside. Kazama felt like a total dumbass. He sunk in his chair and closed his eyes, taking a moment to conjure up an image of water streams, before biting the bullet and sitting next to his arch enemy, who was absolutely gagging of laughter from the opposite side.
"When signing in, a pop-up would usually tell you, you have your Caps on, however..." Julia decided enough torture and bent down, grabbed his mouse and started rummaging through the servers elements.
Deeply focused, she hadn't realised how close she was to Kazama's face. This was too close for comfort in Japan standards. It was all so sudden, although he had picked up her natural female scent, a sweet honey-like fragrance emanating from her hair and skin. He couldn't help but travel his eyes towards her brown, auburn fringe that hung on the side of her cheek, the mess that it made to make her look like she didn't give a shit. Then he discovered three subtle freckles on the side of her face, that could be easily mistaken for beauty spots, then downwards to her silent naked lips, ascending from there to the bareness of her neck, onto her soaked collar, ultimately finding the lonely button unbuttoned, attempting to explore all this while his head maintained positioned facing the screen as she tapped away. He didn't agree with what he was doing at that moment, but without actually being in battle with her, he was discovering new things about her each day.
"There you go, done."
"But… I thought only admin could unlock it?"
"So it seems. He has some flaws in his system."
"How did you know my password?"
"I don't," she grinned confidently, "but I can find out."
"Please don't."
Julia laughed.
"Arigatoo, again Juria," Jin said, sincerely embarrassed in a passive kind of way.
She was about to walk off but remembered something.
"Oh, thanks for the rice crackers. It was very nice of you."
There was balance now in his world and Jin can concentrate on his assessments until Hwoarang blatantly said to him as he was Face-booking, "You are so lame dude. Who gives someone rice crackers."
Finally class was done and Jin was ecstatic. He walked out towards the main pick-up satisfied to go home to a foundation intact. A well attired driver opened the Limo for Jin as he approached the car.
"Look! Supamaan!"
Out of nowhere, immediately Ling pointed to the sky and jumped into the car on Jin's side, then rudely poked tongues at her friend, followed by a hysterical laugh. He was stupefied, even though he showed nothing.
"Come Panda!"
[Whistles]
The driver started to freak out. "Uh, no Animals! No Animals! No! Nooooo preeeeaaaase!"
Jin watched as a Panda Bear tried to cram into a Sardine can, and a Chauffeur being shaken around as he held onto her big furry leg, and a petite Chinese girl encouragingly yelling out to her pet, "You can do it!" - all the while filmed by some giggling school girls.
He then saw Julia in the distance, walking and tapping on her phone by the gateway. A motorbike pulls up beside her. It was that prick from class, Hwoarang. She approaches the Rebel and looks as though she is having a pleasant conversation with him, and is laughing. 'How are they friends? She is useful. He has crashed into a wall too many times.'
After a brief moment, Julia then waves at him as he places his helmet back on and speeds off; she continues to walk out the gates.
"I'll see you at home," he quickly announces.
"What? Jin kun? Jin! Jiiin! " Ling said, smothered by fur.
He left the chaos at the Limo behind and ran to catch up with her.
"Juria!"
"Hey, Jin. Do you need anything else done?" she greeted with friendly sarcasm.
"Uh no…no… " he frowned at the pavement as he held onto his clutch. While they walked together, it just dawned on Julia that her probation sentence was basically to be his Nanny, or doormat, or both.
"He's going to notice, you know."
"Yes. I know."
"And it isn't just because of the rock formations. I've installed a better Aeration system than the last one, along with UV PVC Water Filtration and black corrugated hose fittings for durability, especially when someone tries to crash into your pond again. With the new Aeration System installed, algae and plantation thrives quicker on oxygenated water that it will give the fish a naturally engineered environment and will improve their health over time, as well as stabilise PH levels. He'll notice."
"Juria… " he paused, becoming more accustomed to calling her without honorific, only because she had asked him too awhile ago, "... I want to take you somewhere."
"What?" she must admit, she was a little surprised.
"I want to know more about what you told me that day in my Grandfather's office. What you were mainly looking for."
This was a bold move. She started uncomfortably checking her surroundings. 'What's he playing at?' she wondered. "The rice crackers were enough dude. Besides, what is wrong with you, are you trying to get me in trouble?"
"No."
He grabbed her arm to stop her and she turned to face him. He leaned in to speak quietly towards her. "Meet me in front of Okubo Park tomorrow morning at 6am. That is two blocks from your hotel. I will come and get you. We will go to Mount Mitsutoge. The view is nice up there."
Jin basically says this as a matter of fact situation with a dash of dictatorship as well, and all the while holding a completely straight face, not even thinking about whether this suits her or not. Julia wasn't ready for any of it really so she responded accordingly.
"O...kay?"