IMPORTANT NOTE: I do not own anything

CHAPTER 9

Japan…

Highway to Kazama Family Shrine…

It's already known that photography and especially a "certain kind" of it, was an art that Asuka Kazama was really fond of. Tens of photo albums could be found inside that young girl's bedroom. She, still, remembered how long her mother was passed out when she accidentally saw one of them. What did she do wrong with this child? However, that was definitely something the two of them never let her father know.

She would always hide behind a tree or a wall whenever a handsome man was in her vision field. She didn't care if he was married, single and etc. Her best friend started walking on the opposite sidewalk of hers fearing of misunderstandings because of a certain event some months ago. As always, inside their college campus, Asuka saw another man, who was sitting alongside his girlfriend next to the central fountain. The young woman could tell just how angry her friend was since she couldn't take a single good shot because of that girlfriend of his, who was always hugging and kissing him. Being fed up with the situation, Asuka made her way there, pushed the poor girl inside the fountain and took the picture she wanted. But the girl didn't do anything to her or ask for compensation. Asuka was lucky that she had created a name for herself, being the strongest woman in Osaka…Oh!...Being cousins with Jin Kazama, the CEO of the Mishima Zaibatsu, helped a bit too…She never admitted it or was going to…

Anyway, we have already talked a lot about that "misunderstood" young woman…

"SNAP" Asuka Kazama photographed the traffic policeman, who was standing on the sidewalk. She would be considered a professional taking in consideration that they were in the highway and the car was still moving…

"SNAP" Another oblivious man was photographed, who just tried to pee behind a tree…

"Will you stop taking these damned photos?" said Jin Kazama trying to regain his good vision. Asuka's camera's flash could cost them their lives and she still didn't stop…

"Uh…Nope!" this time, however, she didn't take a good one and clicked her tongue irritated. It was this useless cousin of hers' fault…The only thing he cared about was his girlfriend and if he got her satisfied. Just give her some good amazing sex and you're all perfect. But no…This was how Asuka Kazama was thinking…Jin was on the romantic side…

"At least turn off the flash. I can't see well."

Asuka sighed and turned off her camera letting it fall on her lap… "Ugh…Fine. You're so boring to travel with."

The man bit his upper lip but didn't bother to look at her… "It's not like I wanted to have fun or travel with you. If only uncle wasn't sick, I would do everything to avoid this…" he stopped for a moment, thinking that he had to give Shin a call for the "usual report"… "And I'm getting anxious, too."

The young woman rolled her eyes and looked at the window… "Come on, Jin…I can't believe you eat my old man's crap?" this time she turned her gaze towards her cousin… "He just did that for you to meet our "wonderful" family. The hell with them!" she said and closed tightly her eyes…

"I preferred it a lot when I was an outcast." He said remembering how he felt back then…

Asuka crossed her arms… "Don't remind me. Do you know how jealous I was? Going there, every year, for pointless things…Ugh…As to share some…What? Some fucking tea! I can have tea at home, if I want."

Jin glanced at her and noticed that she was, indeed, angry but it wasn't like she was going there for the first time. She might have been used of it… "Isn't that the point of a family meeting? To spend some time together?" he tried to reason with her…

She chuckled sarcastically… "Don't make me laugh. People, who want to call themselves family, make the other person a part of their lives."

The man nodded. He had to admit that she was right… "True enough."

"See? And good thing, I got the family album with me. I remember almost none of them."

Jin Kazama recollected the fact that he needed to make a call back to the others. He would definitely aim straight for Xiaoyu but he regretted it. Let's call Shin for now, he thought. Thankfully, he spotted a small fast food restaurant just a mile away and he decided to make a stop there. It wasn't, only, that he wanted to check things out, he, also, started to get hungry. He took the corner and Asuka shifted from her seat. Why was he going this way? Or could it be that he didn't want for them to go to that stupid meeting and decided to turn back? Asuka was hoping for that…

Her questions were answered when he said… "Let's make a stop here. I'll go get something to eat."

Asuka raised an eyebrow ironically. Yeah sure…He got hungry…When they were ready to drive away from Osaka, the two of them agreed that they are going straight there, meet those people and turn back. The girl smirked at him and said…

"Oh yeah sure, Jin boy…Just say that you want to check on your bitch girlfriend."

The man tightened his fists. She saw right through him. Everyone was able to but he wasn't aware of it. He still believed that he emitted this mysterious aura…Keep dreaming! "Don't call my Xiao a bitch! You know nothing."

Asuka shrugged her shoulders uninterested. The last thing she cared about was the romance between these two people. And, she also believed, anyway both their romance and them as people were completely lame…

"Whatever…" she cared, though, for her empty stomach… "Bring something for me, too. With lots of calories."

"Lots of calories? What kind of woman is this cousin of mines? You're w-weird…No, no…What I said for her could be considered a compliment."

The young woman smiled and nodded saying something that left him dumbfounded… "I'll take it as a compliment. Now go."

Inside the Fast Food Restaurant…

Jin Kazama was sitting on one of the chairs as he was waiting for his order to be ready. There were a lot of people, so this was going to take some time. He took out his cellphone and dialed Shin's number. At first, he didn't pick up…He called for a second time and the same happened again…An irritated sigh left Jin's mouth…He shook his head and called for the third time, thinking that if he doesn't pick up once again, then for sure, he would turn back to Tokyo…and beat him up…

Sensing the supposed danger, Shin picked up the phone this time…

"At last, Shin…Why weren't you picking it up? Huh? Like you're working hard…I don't care if you two are tired or not…Did you or this useless uncle of mines made sure that she never left the building? Why are you silent? So what…You know that you will owe me, right? Good thing you know…Say…Any suspicious visitors? Huh…Who's her? Hm…Anyway, she's a woman, so no big deal…No, no…Don't say anything…I'll see you later."

As soon as, he ended the call, his order had been prepared. He paid and walked outside the restaurant with two paper bags in his hands…

Inside the car…

"At last you came…My stomach was growling like crazy." Said Asuka Kazama when her cousin opened the driver's door and stepped inside the car…

"What your stomach was doing is the last thing I care about." He glared at her and Asuka started laughing in the inside…That guy was so easy to read whenever he was angry or mad about something he couldn't control…

"Oh…As expected…You really called her."

Jin closed the door and opened the window… "I did not."

Asuka nodded… "Alright…How's she doing?"

He took his food from the bag and answered without thinking too much of it… "Fine…" he bit his lip when he realized what he said and she started laughing…

"See?"

Jin rolled his eyes and decided to dismiss the subject. He passed her the other paper bag… "Here. The calories you asked for."

Her eyes lit up within a second… "Lots of thanks! Amazing! I eat all of these." She said and started eating from the time she looked inside the bag…

"Are you an idiot or what? Didn't you send me a text with what you wanted?"

He wasn't surprised with the fact that he was completely ignored…

"Why don't we turn on the radio?" she asked while munching her burger…

Jin's lips turned downwards and he shrugged his shoulders. How much he wanted for Xiaoyu to be here? They would dump Asuka inside the restaurant eating whatever she wanted and they would be here doing…other kind of things… "Do as you like." He answered and closed the paper bag…

Asuka looked at him with the corner of her eye. What kind of boring aura this guy emitted? He completely ruins the mood. Not that when she would want to have fun her cousin would be her first choice but he could at least fake a little bit. She didn't think much of it and turned on the radio. She smiled when her ears twitched in the sound of her favorite Korean pop songs. All these made her think of her "Fallen God". Tsk…She felt so lonely…

She flinched when she heard Jin's voice… "You said that you have the family album. Where is it?"

The young girl never stopped eating and since her hands were busy, she just told him where to look… "In my backbag, big pocket."

"Why don't you just give it to me?" he asked and rolled his eyes because she wasn't looking at him…

"Can't…stop…when…eating." She answered while gulping her food…

"You sure eat a lot…" Jin started shaking his head being embarrassed of this woman being related to him… "Why mother? First, why did you have to give me that hateful person as a father?" he thought to himself thinking of Kazuya… "And why didn't you just change your last name?"

"Hphm…I can't help it, when I'm hungry I eat a lot, when I'm less hungry…I eat less." This time she smiled when she wiped the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief… "Pretty simple, right?"

Jin gave up on the thing called "His cousin, Asuka Kazama" and turned his body to reach her backbag, which was resting on the back seats. He gritted his teeth when he tried to grab the bag… "Why is this bag so fucking heavy?" he asked her when he, finally, managed to take it in his hands…

Asuka opened a bottle of water and swallowed some… "I've got my tablet inside."

"And how much does a tablet weight exactly?" he asked raising an eyebrow and started searching inside the bag as Asuka was thinking while counting with her fingers…

"One…This tablet…Hmm…Two…My four cameras…Three…Homework…Uhh…"

"WHAT THE FUCKING HELL IS THIS?!"

Suddenly, the whole car felt like there was some earthquake outside. Asuka's eyes widened and she touched her chest. What was wrong with this guy? She nodded when she saw him holding the album. Well…duh…She reacted the same way when she first saw it…

"Phew…That scared me…And stop shouting! I know, we have a very big family…Bothersome, right? Tell me about it." After that she crossed her arms and pouted looking at her lap…

However, the family issue wasn't what bothering Jin, who was still shocked by the way… "I believe what I'm holding is even more bothersome…" he threw the album to her direction and she grabbed it just in time… "Take it away from me…So disgusting…"

A frown appeared above her eyes… "You…Really? What are you…" for a moment she decided to check the album herself. Could it be that other people were born and this lame family of theirs got bigger? Well, she would react the same way…Her eyes widened being shocked from what she just realized… "WHAT DID I DO?! Based on instinct, I took the treasure and not dad's album…Ugh…That's…kind of…bad." She added and touched her forehead, only for Jin to hit her at the back of her head…

"Bad?! You wished. It's completely disturbing…Abnormal for your age. You're not an old woman, even though, I won't be surprised, if you'll become one, soon enough, with this lecherous hobby of yours. I knew you were the peeping type but not this kind of pervert?!"

Being angry with what the man just said, she grabbed him from the collar of his shirt and shouted at him. She was making it worse… "Enough with that! I ask you. Is it bad for me to admire or even lust over a handsome man's nice body?"

Jin removed her hand from his neck… "Not really…If he was just ONE! You have the whole male Japanese citizenship in there."

In between seconds, a suspicious smirk appeared on Asuka's lips, which curved slowly upwards. She started looking through the pages and stopped in a certain one by placing her hand on it… "Wait, there…I have some foreigners, too…Hehe…Look, this one is my favorite."

The man took the brave decision to look but regretted it soon enough, when he saw the picture…Why? But why? Did he do something bad to both Xiaoyu and Asuka? This guy has been mentioned two times already in a small account of days…

"You idiot! Why that guy? Where did you see him?"

Asuka closed and held tightly the album in her chest and leaned towards Jin, who was still grabbing his hair…

"You know him? Tell me you do!"

Jin breathed in and out for a couple of times to calm himself down… "He participates in the tournaments."

The young woman started nodding excitedly… "Uh-huh…And that's where I met him. One day, I bumped into him…It was love at first sight…He was so kind and he smiled when he picked up the camera for me…Then, I followed him for a whole day taking pictures…I so love him…" she, suddenly, stopped and brought her hands together wanting to ask something from Jin… "And since you know him…Umm…You'll make sure, I'll spend some time with him, right?"

"No." he answered and she gritted her teeth. This stupid guy…And she was here being all nice…Hphm…As it seems, she should have already passed to the "threatening part"…Oh well, let's give him another chance…

"Please, Jin…Uh…I need some close-ups."

This time he shook his head losing the second chance. Asuka placed the album inside her backbag and let it rest between her legs. She straightened her back and crossed her arms… "Ok…I didn't want for us to come to this but…It was your choice…If you don't help me spend time with him…I'll let Xiaoyu know about the cameras, you have filled the whole estate with to check on her…and not to mention, even, inside the bathrooms, with these last ones being your favorite." Jin's eyebrow started twitching and she smiled… "Choose…I have some photos…Hehe…You have a whole movie."

Jin tightened his fists and pursed his lips… "You dare threaten me?"

She nodded… "I sure dare."

He sighed desperately and looked at his lap. He touched his forehead with his hand and nodded… "Fine…"

"YES!" she shouted… "I'm definitely going to marry a foreigner. Then, I'll leave with him and forget all about this family…Uh…Well, not mom and dad…"

The Japanese man decided that there was no point to continue arguing with her and he soon realized that having Asuka around that guy would stop him by being around Xiaoyu. As it seems this stupid cousin of his came in handy…

"You better make sure, first, that you'll manage to find a man to marry and the matter of his nationality is another thing."

Asuka opened the window and threw the paper bag outside… "Hphm! Your girlfriend has a bad influence on you."

Jin turned on the engine and placed his hands on the steering wheel starting the car… "Hehe…At least, she's a foreigner, correct?"

"Bastard!" she called him and covered her face with her hands…

"You angry?" said Jin mockingly… "Relax…I'll make sure you spend some time with him."

All of a sudden for obvious reasons, Asuka was happy once again… "Really?" she asked looking at her cousin…

The man nodded… "Wait for me, my GOD!" he rolled his eyes when he heard Asuka calling that guy…

Truth to be told, Jin wasn't kindhearted unlike his dear mother… "Hehe…The "poor" guy…Like I'll let him be close to Xiao…"

Thanks for reading!