Chapter IX: Helping Out (I)

A/N: I don't own Tekken. Yes, I know I haven't updated this in ages, so I'm giving you a very lengthy update to chew on this time! Oh, and maybe you noticed that this fic is divided into Story Arcs. There was the Early Childhood Story Arc, and the Meeting the Gang Story Arc, which concluded last chapter with the establishment of some sort of trust between Rang and Kazuya, and the "agreement" between Jin and Rang. This chapter begins a new Story Arc; it's called "Helping Out", and it doesn't involve the "big fight", but Jin(with Rang's reluctant and inadvertant help) sorting out the other gang members' problems. Oh, and this Story Arc introduces more characters in the mix. So... today's object of Jin's attention is... Ling Xiaoyu!

Jin and Rang's unwritten "pact" meant that the two of them could finally get along, at least until the end of the truce in June. Indeed, in the next few days, both boys, along with Steve, bonded rather well, prompting the girl in their group to start calling them "the trio". True, Rang never missed an opportunity to taunt Jin, but the latter's liking of him deepened with each passing day. There was something there, a certain charm, an undeniable charisma, that drew Jin to the Korean.

But Jin knew there was a huge flaw to Rang's character: Rang liked to poke fun at people, to great excess, and the butts of his jokes sometimes included Xiaoyu, Asuka, Julia, and Lily(never mind Jin himself), who were technically his friends. Yet, despite that, Rang remained vastly popular, so popular in fact that the majority of the student body began to look at Jin with a new respect, now that he was on good terms with the red-head. But Jin found that he could not turn a blind eye to Rang's condescending attitude.

International School of Cambridge, Mid-September

It was lunch break, and Jin, together with Steve, was strolling through the school grounds, at ease. Steve was giving him an earful; another blow-by-blow account of last summer's World Cup. Like Rang, he was an avid soccer fan, albeit with the British tenacity that made him use the term "football", even on American soil.

Jin listened with polite interest, his eyes straying over to where Rang stood, on one of the soccer benches, entertaining a sizeable crowd of students. Jin couldn't hear what he was saying, but the other kids were laughing their heads off. Then the red-head began to bounce up and down on the balls of his feet, emitting high-pitched aqueaks and pretending to swoon. This cruel imitation of Ling Xiaoyu, which sparked off a fresh gale of laughter, brought a deep frown to Jin's tranquil features.

As though sensing Jin's eyes on him, Rang suddenly leapt off his pedestal, waved lazily to his admirers and hangers-on, and sauntered over to the other two boys.

"Hey," he greeted, linking his arms behind his head.

Steve replied in kind, but Jin merely nodded. There was a tense silence for a moment, but then a shout went up and the trio turned their heads in its direction.

"Uh-oh, here he comes," Steve muttered.

A different crowd was now swarming around a tall, black boy with dreadlocks, who carried a soccer ball under one arm, They watched as the boy failed to extricate himself from the mob, resigned himself to his fate, and proceeded to perform neat soccer tricks to appease the fans.

"Darn, this guy plays like freaking Ronaldino!" Rang commented with reluctant awe. " Gonna be real tricky getting him to sign us up for this year's team."

"Who is he?" Jin asked.

" That, there, is Eddy Gordo, tenth grade Brazilian boarder and captain of the school's football team," Steve replied. "Among other things, too."

" Yeah, people seem to think that he's number one DJ or break-dancer or something," Rang said dispassionately.

" We don't think, we know, Rang!" an unfamiliar voice said. Jin turned to the newcomer, a tall, slender and dark-skinned girl, with long brown hair. She looked slightly older than the trio, and was glaring hatefully at Rang.

"Eddy is number one, " she said with a touch of pride, in acknowledgement of Jin's inquisitive look.

" Yeah, thanks for throwing in your two cents, Christie," Rang scoffed. " You can go back to worshipping your Brazilian Bonbon now."

The girl sneered. " Well I've never been a fan of yours, Rang, and I'm not about to start now, so yeah, I think I'll just go, but I didn't throw in my two cents yet." She took a deep breath and turned to Steve. " You know, Steve, I've lost count of how many times I told you to stay away from this jerk here, but I'll say it again because this new kid here deserves to know. " She smiled at Jin. " Jin, right? Julia told me about you. And like I said, you'd stay away from him if you knew what's good for you, or he'd have you tugging on his pocket in no time, just like he did with Steve-" she glared at the blond, " and those other idiots out there, " she jerked her head at Rang's posse and departed in a huff, leaving an awkward silence in her wake.

" Um, for your info, Mish-mash," Rang finally said with a grimace. " If you don't want to-what was it again, oh yeah- tug on my pocket, I won't force you to."

Steve laughed appreciatively and Jin allowed himself a small smile. It was hard not to like Rang, despite his faults. Surely Christie was exaggerating?

XXXXXXX

But for Jin, the charm soon wore off. They had maths straight after lunch, and with a collective sigh, the class produced their textbooks.

"What's wrong?" Jin asked when his deskmate Xiaoyu gave a little moan as she rummaged frantically in her bag.

"Can't find the textbook," she said with dismay. " It's gone, again!" The tone with which she said it made Jin glance behind him, and sure enough, Rang and Steve had their heads together, conspiring. When Rang caught his eye, he grinned like a cat about to snare its prey and even had the gall to tip him a huge wink, while Steve looked away, uncomfortable. Jin faced front again, sighing inwardly. What was Rang playing at?

" That's okay," he said to Xiaoyu kindly. "We'll share." he placed his book between them.

" I'll still get detention, though," she muttered, eyes downcast. He looked at her. He was getting all sorts of vibes from her these past few days: trepidation, uncertainty, restlessness and excitement; she was just as easily readable as Asuka, only he had no idea what those feelings were doing beneath the cheerful surface. He determined to find out later.

" You won't."

The teacher came in and surveyed his class. " Bookless again, Miss Ling?" he tutted.

Jin's fist punched the air. " The bookless one would be me, sir." Beside him, Xiaoyu made a curious little noise; Asuka frowned and Rang leaned forward, intrigued by Jin's altruistic act.

The teacher sighed. " I need to know how far you're willing to go with this claim, Mr Mishima."

" All the way, sir," Jin replied, without the slightest hesitation.

" Then I'll have to give you and Miss Ling separate detentions. It's not your place to cover for offenders, Mr Mishima."

Xiaoyu hung her head. Sorry, she mouthed.

Jin shrugged.

XXXXXXX

Jin cornered Rang after school.

" I think you ought to get off Xiao's case," he began sternly, arms folded.

Rang rolled his eyes. " And I think you misunderstood this whole "deal" between us. See, the fact that we have to be buddies till June doesn't mean you're in any position to boss me around, Mish-mash, 'kay? And anyway, I've always been pulling the Bookless Act with Loony; it's like my monthly fix!"

" Don't call her that!" Jin flared.

" Or what, Mish-mash?" Rang laughed.

Jin gave no reply.

Rang smirked in triumph. " Yeah, just what I thought! Oh, and Loony's book is in one of those unused lockers down the hall. You can take it to her, or she can find it herself; it's up to you."

XXXXXXX

Ling Xiaoyu Residence

Jin sighed. Rang was turning out to be... obnoxious. There was no better word for it. Jin had been so eager for a close friendship with the Korean that he'd been willing to believe that the whole attitude was one big charm act, but now the red-head's "charm" was spinning out of control, and Jin wished they could go back to Rang's " You'll fight me, Mish-mash!" one-liners, and his own one-syllable responses, so that he could go out of his way to avoid the Korean, like he used to, and hear accounts of how he had heroically saved Asuka, and not witness his meanness first-hand.

All those thoughts were going through Jin's head as he sat across from Xiaoyu on her bedroom floor, her recovered maths book forgotten between them.

"You look like you're in La-La Land," Xiaoyu remarked.

Jin was jolted out of his reverie. " La-La Land?" he said with a slight smile.

Xiaoyu blushed." Like, you're, you know, drifting off..."

" Oh... Got a lot on my mind, I guess."

"Mmm... I'm so sorry by the way, about this whole book thing. I should have told the truth. I was like, c'mon Xiao, 'fess up, but this other voice in my head kept saying Xiao, what are you doing? You and Maths teachers big no-no, remember?"

" Um, I'm not sure I follow. Do you mean to say that you're scared of Maths teachers?"

" Uh-huh," she said. " Ever since I was little." She giggled. " No idea why, though!"

"Ah.." Jin's mind raced. He wanted to say something that would make her feel better. For some reason, Rang's smirking face popped into his vision and he vaguely wondered what the red-head would say in a similar situation, if the girl in question wasn't Xiao. Probably invent an amusing math teacher joke to make her laugh. Jin sighed; his mind just didn't work the same way. So he took a different approach.

" Um, something bothering you?" he asked tentatively, recalling the vibes he kept getting from her.

"Na-uh," she replied." I mean, Rang, well, he's just being Rang. I'm used to him."

"No i didn't mean Rang." He stared intently at her, sensing an immediate burst of nervousness, before she recoiled away from him with a slight shudder, eyes wide.

"Sorry," he muttered, breaking eye contact.

"S'okay," she said. " I just had this weird feeling that you were reading my mind or something!" she laughed.

Jin smiled. Be careful, he chided himself.

" But I'll tell you what's bothering me," she went on. " Only, you have to promise not to laugh!"

"I'm not about to; I'm not Rang."

She giggled." Yeah, I'm pretty clear on that!" She paused, took a deep breath. " Well, you know, our school has this tradition-the Fall Talent Show; it's coming up in two and a bit weeks, and well, I'd really like to try out for the Singing Sensation part." She winced, then dared to take a peek at his face.

Jin blinked and his face broke into a genuine smile. " Then go ahead. I think that's great!"

She blushed. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. When are the tryouts?"

"Two days. Christie's in charge of the whole thing. I'm not sure you know her; she's not in our year."

" Ah, I think I might have seen her around." He stood up." You'd best start practicing."

XXXXXXX

The next day, during lunch, Jin and Xiaoyu broke away from the rest and met up in an unused classroom.

"Okay, so here's what we're gonna do," Jin began. " I'll play a little something on the harmonica, and you'll sing a few bars. Just to see where you are with things."

" What are you gonna play?"

He paused. " A song we usually sing in music class. Uh, how about Country Roads?"

"Sounds good."

Jin lifted the instrument to his lips, and they were off.

" Country Roads

Take me home

To the Place

Where I belong

West Virginia

Mountain Mama

Take Me Home

Country Roads..."

She broke off, flustered, and asked," So how was it?"

"Uh, sounded like a rusty hinge squeaking," a voice said. Jin turned to see Rang lounging in the doorway, smiling his Cheshire cat smile. " I'd never again open my mouth if I were you, Loony."

"And I'd back off if I were you, Rang," Jin said wearily. He looked at Xiaoyu; her face was as pink as her bangles.

" Sure, Mish-mash, but I'll come back when I have ear muffs." he sauntered off.

Xiaoyu sank into a chair. " My voice is sooo wrong!" she moaned.

"No, it's just..." Jin began thoughtfully." You'll have to sing from here," he pointed to his diaphragm. " Let it all come out of there. Can you do that?"

She nodded and her second attempt was better than the first.

"That's good, Xiao, really good."

"Thanks!" she beamed." You're coming to the tryouts?"

"Wouldn't miss them."

XXXXXXX

But one of the school supervisors rescheduled Jin's lunch detention to be on the same day as the tryouts, and consequently, Jin missed them. When he finally made it out of the detention hall, Asuka was waiting for him.

"Rang turned up at Ling's tryout," she began with a heavy scowl." That jerk totally ruined it. He put his feet up on Christie's desk, started banging around with a drumstick and said totally mean things. Poor Ling couldn't even get the lyrics right."

Jin sighed and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. " So who did Christie pick?"

"Emily Roquefort," Asuka said distastefully." I have to admit, she's pretty good when she's not putting on a nasal French accent." She looked at Jin and bit her lip. " I hate to say this, but you'll have to have a word with your red-head 'friend' about this, or I will, and it won't just be words we'd be exchanging, then!" she clenched her fists.

Jin sighed again. "All right, I'll deal with this. Where can I find Christie?"

XXXXXXX

"A duo?" Christie echoed skeptically. " i don't know, Jin..."

"And why not?" Jin said. " Lily and Xiao can sing together at the Talent Show, can't they?"

"Christie folded her arms. " Do you know how hard it is to find a proper musical duo? They have to be in complete harmony. Their singing, their timing, their appearance, their body language... I just don' think Lily and Ling are compatible. And..." she hesitated. " Don't take this the wrong way, but there's something... off, about Ling."

"Off? In what way?"

"As in, she has a severe case of stage fright."

"That's it?" Jin was relieved. " Nothing that removing Rang from the equation won't handle..." he muttered. Surely that would restore Xiaoyu's confidence? " So, um, just give it a thought, and talk to Lily about it for me. You know I can't." He didn't add, because for some reason, she seems to hate me. That would come off as childish. Instead he said," I mean, you're in charge."

She sighed. " I'll think about it." She suddenly smiled. " You know, I can think of someone who's more compatible with Lily, only that someone is, well, a boy- Steve." she laughed. " Both blonds and all, and I'd put Steve on stage any day, just to hear that funny accent. It's to die for!" She laughed again. " Oh, and can you tell him that I'm rooting for him to make the soccer team?"

"Mmm.." Jin said, feeling awkward. He knew liking when he saw it, and again, he thought of Rang and what he'd do in this case. Probably yell out Christie's crush to the whole school in no time...

" I wouldn't care one bit if that red-head jerk didn't make it. God, he was terrible last year; I'm sure they were glad to get rid of him as a boarder..." Christie was saying.

XXXXXXX

Christie eventually agreed to Jin's proposition.

"So," she began in the music room, where she, Jin, Ling, Lily, Asuka and Julia were gathered. " Duoes... very tricky to find; there aren't many good ones around. So we're gonna show you what to expect through an example. Julia?" And Julia came up to join Christie at the mike, and the two of them began to sing Colours of the Wind by Vanessa Williams.

" You think you own whatever land you land on

the Earth is just a dead thing you can claim

But I know every rock and tree and creature

has a life, has a spirit, has a name..."

The pair captured the essence of the word 'harmony' and left the others speechless.

"You know," a voice drawled from the doorway." I might not need ear muffs after all. Awesome, Jules!" Rang came into view, winking at Julia, Steve in tow.

"Get out, Rang, we're trying to work here," Julia said.

" And I'm trying to watch here," he countered.

"And do any more than that and I'll personally kick you out," Christie flared.

"I'm right behind you," Asuka said, hands on hips.

"Whatever." He went in and took a seat, rudely propping his feet up on the table in Christie's face.

Jin went up to Xiaoyu. " It's okay," he said." Pretend he's not there.. pretend he's some big stuffed Panda bear!" he sought wildly.

Xiaoyu giggled. " Then he's got to be the ugliest I've ever seen!" he smiled.

Christie clapped her hands. " All right, Ling, lily, you'll have to do even better than us. We'll get you to sing some songs and see which one suits you most as duo..."

And they were off. Christie pulled all the shots, Julia and Asuka gave constructive criticism, Rang was quiet, for once, and Jin struggled hard to bury his disappointment, because it became clear after many performances of several High School Musical songs, that Lily and Ling made a lousy duo. But it was possible that Rang's mere presence flustered Xiaoyu, so Jin remained hopeful.

XXXXXXX

Rang Do San Residence

Jin steeled himself to do what must be done, and as he rang the doorbell, he mentally rehearsed the telling-off he had in store for the Korean. Enough is enough, Rang, you better learn to respect other people, otherwise that deal we made, it's off, and our friendship goes with it...

A tall stern-looking man answered the door. Jin knew him to be Baek, Rang's surrogate father, who told him stiffly that Rang was in the shower, and that he could wait in the red-head's room.

Jin sat on Rang's bed and looked around: car posters on the wall, comic books on the shelves, computer on the desk, stereo system on the floor.

"Wotcha doing in my room, Mish-mash?" Rang had come in, wearing a vest and shorts, his hair damp and hanging about his face.

" Your dad said I could wait for you here..."

"Oh...well,you gave me a start, that's all..."

"Listen, Rang, we need to talk-"

But Rang cut him off. " Yeah, you're probably here about Loony, so unless you want us to talk something else, I got nothing to say." He walked over to the stereo system and bent down to inspect it.

Jin's anger bubbled." No, you really have to listen, Rang!"

" Yeah, I'm gonna listen all right, just not to you." He pushed the 'play' button on the stereo. Loud music blared, accompanied by a female voice:

"To the beat of my heart, it sweeps us apart.."

"What the-"Rang quickly pushed 'stop' and ejected the CD.

Jin looked at him, incredulous.

Rang held up his hands. " Hey, hey, I don't listen to that! I was just babysitting the neighbours' kid-her name's Valerie- and she likes this crap!"

"Put it back on," Jin said softly.

"I- what?" Rang asked, taken aback.

" That song, I want to listen to it."

Rang finally obliged, and as Jin listened to the song, a smile appeared on his face, and all his anger evaporated. "Rang, you're a life-saver!"

XXXXXXX

"Jin! Jin!" It was Christie, tearing down the hall after him. She stopped and faced him. " I don't know where you get those instincts, but oh my God, you were absolutely right, this is the perfect song for them! And I did what you said to do; asked Eddy to distract Rang with soccer tryouts, and Ling did super without him there!" she gushed. "Hey, Eddy!" she called suddenly, as Eddy walked past with friends. " I picked a song for the Singing Sensation. The Beat of My Heart, by Hillary Duff."

"You sure about that?"

"Positive!" she beamed.

"Okay, then."

She turned back to Jin. " I'm gonna go look up outfits for Ling and Lily. This year's Singing Sensation's gonna be a big hit! Thanks for helping out, Jin!"

Jin smiled. " Don't thank me. Thank Rang."

XXXXXXX

On the night of the Talent Show, Xiaoyu and Lily were the picture of girlish glamour. Christie had them both dress in fashionable tops and jeans, but whereas Xiaoyu's theme was pink and black, Lily's was gold and black. Both girls had gold and silver glitter sprinkled sparsely on their clothes and faces, pink gloss on their lips, painted nails with bright pink polka dots, and loose hair arranged the same way Hillary Duff's had been on the Lizzie McGuire show. They sang as one, danced as one, and established a rythmic beat that held the audience enthralled.

To he beat of my

To the beat of my

To the beat of my heart

I'm thinking about,

Letting it out.

I wanna give in,

I wanna go out.

Been looking around

I've finally found,

The rhythm of love,

The feeling of sound.

It's making a change,

The feeling is strange.

It's coming right back.

Right back in my range

.

Not worried about anything else,

I'm waking up

To the beat of my,

To the beat of my,

To the beat of my heart.

The beat of my heart,

The beat of my heart,

The beat of my heart,

It tears us apart.

The beat of my heart,

The beat of my heart,

The beat of my heart,

Now I'm back to the start.

To the beat of my,

To the beat of my,

To the beat of my heart,

I'm up from my down

.

I turn it around.

I'm making it back,

I'm not gonna drown.

I'm taking a stance

.

I won't miss a chance.

I want you to see

I'm not scared to dance.

The way that you feel

Could never be real.

I want you to know I finished the deal.

So I'm sayin to you

I'll always be true.

To the rhythm inside,

To the beat of my,

To the beat of my,

To the beat of my heart,"

People applauded them them when they were done, asked for encores even, and then Julia stepped onto the stage and took the mike. " Ladies and gentlemen, let's all give a big thank you to the organisors of this year's Singing Sensation: Christie Monteiro, Jin Mishima and... Rang Do San!"

People clapped, and Rang clapped along, before it dawned on him. " Wait, what?"

Steve laughed and gave him a playful shove, winking at Jin. "That's your curtain call, mates!"

Jin, Christie and a mystified Rang walked up the stage, as music continued to play in the background. Rang found himself standing between the two glamorous stars, with Jin on Xiaoyu's other side, and Christie on Lily's. The audience gave them a standing ovation, and in the din, Xiaoyu giggled giddily and said, " Aww, Rang, I never knew you had such great taste in music!" The red-head glared at a smiling Jin, then turned to look at Christie. To his horrified fascination, he noticed that Lily Roquefort was beaming at him, something she had never done before. Then, in her moment of glamour, she steeled herself and pressed her lips to his cheek, in a very fleeting kiss that was nevertheless captured by the cameras.

"Aw, man, if someone puts this pic up on Facebook, I'm gonna kill 'em!" Rang said, but he was grinning.

It was an event to remember.

XXXXXXX

A/N: 4000+ words! So what do you guys think? Mmm, I think Rang was a tad too mean this chapter, but then again, life was being mean to him last chapter. And Jin, he's such a goodie-two-shoes, isn't he? But if he forgives Rang his meanness this chapter, that doesn't mean he'll stand for it next chapter, when twin Asuka needs helping out. Yes, Rang's meanness to his friends is definitely one issue that needs resolving... Oh, and Rang/Suki fans, I'm sorry for the limited interaction between the pairing this chapter, but I can promise you a lot more of them next chapter. On the plus side, it's the Xiaoyin fans' lucky day today, also the HwoLily fans(see last scene)Hmm, I notice an explosion of HwoLili fics these days; the winds of change! And special thanks to Dil, for putting the idea of Ling&Lily as a singing duo into my head! If any of listen to The Beat Of My Heart, you'll notice it has a very rapid beat, and a really good rythm and tune, and I thought it was worthy of preteen Lily and Xiao. If you beg to differ, then please excuse my ignorance; I'm not an authority on music, lol. I also believe Julia and Christie make a good duo, and I couldn't think of a better song for them than Vanessa William's Colours of the Wind; it appeals to Julia's nature, plus Vanessa herself is African American, so Christie singing would sound sort of like Vanessa singing.