Chapter 6: An offer that cannot be refused

After bidding fairwell to her parents, sending off all Wangs possessions thanks to the help of Miharu and meeting with a real estate agent, Xiaoyu found that she had a lot less off her hands sooner than what she had expected. What am I suppose to do for the next three weeks? She wondered to herself. Wang's house seemed so much bigger now that it was pretty much empty. Miharu would stop by after work on most evenings for Xiaoyu's sake. Hearing a knock at the door, Xiaoyu looked at her watch. Who might that be? Its way too early for Miharu to stop by, she thought to herself. She answered to find Heihachi and Jin at the door.

"Grandpa Heihachi!" Xiaoyu said as she bowed down. "Please do come in."

"Hello, my dear. Come here," he said with open arms. "We're past formalities now," he chuckled. As Heihachi hugged Xiaoyu, she felt as if he was gonna crush her.

"Jin," Xiaoyu bowed slightly towards him.

"Xiao," Jin said as he nodded in her direction.

Turning to Heihachi, "To what do I owe this great pleasure?" Xiaoyu asked almost reverting back to her old lively persona.

For a split second, Jin was almost certain he caught a glimpse of the old Xiaoyu.

"I've come to check on you but I'm affraid my visit has a motive," before Heihachi got to the point he looked around the house, "How can you stay in an empty place like this? Doesn't it make you miss your grandfather?"

"Well, I..."

"And you do know that you could've just stayed with us?"

"Thank you. That's very kind of you but you've already done so much for me. I didn't want to be a burden..."

"Nonsense!" said Heihachi. "You're always welcomed there, its your second home. You could never be a burden to us. Speaking of which, you know that you would lift a burden off my shoulders if you would take your grandfathers place in helping out at the dojo."

"You wish me to work at the dojo?" asked a wide eye Xiaoyu.

"Yes but of course I don't know what your plans are and I would certainly appreciate it. I'm sure you need something to bypass your time. So what do you say?"

"Yes," Xiaoyu said without thinking it through but she respected Heihachi too much to turn down the offer.

"That a girl, I knew I could count on you," he said as he gave Xiaoyu a pat on the back almost knocking her forward.

"It will be my pleasure," Xiaoyu said through gritted teeth. Holy crap! The old man doesn't realize his own strength.

"Great, I'll see you there tomorrow morning so you can get started. You and Jin will be working together just like old times," Heihachi said as he elbowed Jin on the side.

Ha! Just like old times indeed, Xiaoyu nearly laughed, already regretting her decision.

"Well I must be off now. I have an important meeting to attend."

After bidding farewell to Heihachi and Jin, Xiaoyu could not believe what she had just agreed to. What was I thinking? How could I be such a push over? She wondered while massaging the bridge of her nose.

The next day Xiaoyu made her way to the Mishima estate. Here it goes, she thought to herself. The place hadn't changed much. It was still pretty much the same. To her surprise Jin was already waiting at the front for her. Brilliant!

"Thirty minutes early as per usual, I see," was all he said.

"Well, hello to you too, Jin. Shall we get started then?"

"Right this way," he said leading her to the dojo.

After explaining everything to her, Xiaoyu decided to warm up a bit on her own. Jin did the same thing but now and again he would look over at her. I remember those moves, he thought to himself. Since learning a new fighting style in Australia, he wondered what it would be like to spar against her now, knowing he probably had the upper hand, but then again Xiaoyu was not one to be underestimated. Jin always thought of her as living proof that dynamite worked in small packages. Xiaoyu might have been small but what she lacked in size, she made up for in martial arts. That tremendous talent combined with her agility, she was almost unstoppable, evident in all her matches against fighters who were much larger than her. If anyone had been too cocky towards her, she could make them pay. Wanting to ask for a friendly match, he decided not to at the last minute. She probably wouldn't want to anyways since she wasn't as enthusiastic as before, or rather towards him that is. Xiao... He thought. What have I done to you... Jin soon found himself missing his lively friend, What I wouldn't do to go back and change everything. He thought. If only...