Chapter 12

Roughly a hour and a half after Hitomi went to freshen herself up the driver arrived to take the pair to the estate of Leifang's parents. It wasn't too far away from where her friend lived, maybe another thirty minutes, depending how the traffic was at the time.

It was located at the very outskirts of the district, where the population density was lower to afford the space for the more luxurious mansions that were built here. Hitomi looked out of the window of the car in silent awe of how expensive the whole area looked while her friend just looked at her with silent amusement.

Hitomi was always prone to react like that to luxury, having humble origins, and the German could still remember how at awe she was when she worked on that luxury cruiser during one of the past Dead or Alive tournaments. She doubted she would ever lose that habit.

The driver pulled into a long driveway and Hitomi looked at a rather modern looking estate, quite the contrary to what she would have expected, three stories high and it looked like it had more rooms than her apartment building.

The brunette whistled through her teeth at the sight of it. She caught sight of two men tending to the various flowers and plants that formed the front garden of the estate. The driver pulled up in front of the small set of stairs made of white marble that lead to the front doors of the building.

Before Hitomi could open the door the driver already beat her to the punch, bowing respectfully as he did so and closing the door after they got out diligently, then walked ahead of them to open the doors and announce their presence. The German looked around the interior. The main hall was a huge room with four doors to each side leading to different wings of the estate and right in front of them was a set of stairs that lead to the second and third floor.

A vase near the front door caught her attention. It was white with a blue phoenix on it, not unlike the one that adorned Leifang's Cheongsams, and looked very, very expensive, like burning half through her prize money expensive. She was about to touch the blue phoenix, but caught herself just in time, let her hand drop back to her side and shook her head, thinking Wouldn't be a good first impression if I broke something now, wouldn't it?

"Hitomi!" At the mention of her name she spun around, facing her friend who chuckled.

While looking at the vase she had missed the person that had approached them from the top of the stairs. She walked towards Leifang and only caught a few snippets of things that were said. Next to her friend stood a near mirror image of her friend, only dressed more elegantly, her hair cut shorter so it barely reached her shoulders and, if you looked carefully, a few small wrinkles on either side of her mouth which were covered up by decent make-up, who looked at her with a curious expression on her face. Guess that's the mother she figured.

"Hitomi, this is Gāo Zeng, my mother." Leifang told her, then added. "I'm sorry, but she doesn't speak Japanese."

Smiling, Hitomi nodded and bowed respectfully, giving her a simple "Nice to meet you." which Leifang promptly translated. Mrs. Gāo looked at her for a moment, no reaction to the words, before a smile graced her red lips and spoke to her daughter.

"She says that she is delighted to make your acquaintance." Her friend told her and as her mother spoke further translated dutifully. "She says that it would be best if we sat down in the living room. My father should return from work soon."

Leifang's mother lead them through hallway into the living room that was exactly if not more so richly furnished as the main hall and Hitomi got the feeling that if she went to the bathroom that she would see a washbasin and toiled bowl made out of gold. I must be losing my mind...

Mother and daughter sat down on two sofas opposite of each other, a glass table between them, and Hitomi, checking quickly if her pants weren't dirty, sat down beside her friend.

A young woman entered the room, holding a tray in her hands which she placed onto the table. She placed a cup in front of each woman and one in front of the currently still unoccupied space and filled them with tea. She waited until getting her leave by the older woman and, with a bow, left them, leaving the tea can.

Hitomi took her cup, extra careful, while the other two ignored them and took a small sip from it, managing to keep her face straight as the contents nearly burned her tongue. She covered up her discomfort with a small cough and placed it back.

"A little too hot?" Leifang asked amused and the young Karateka just nodded. "Father likes it like that."

Is that good or bad news now? She wondered and looked around the room, then turned to Mrs. Gāo. "You have a lovely home." she complimented.

The woman looked at her daughter as she translated what Hitomi had said, smiling and nodding then answered. Leifang turned to her. "Well before you ask the furniture is all her idea since my father, and that is what she really said, couldn't be bothered by something like that and if it was left to his devices the whole house would probably be empty aside from some chairs, beds and the odd table or two." She giggled. "Yeah that sounds about right."

Hitomi opened her mouth to answer when a deep voice from the other side of the room cut her off. Her friend's smile widened as she got up and walked across the room. "Father!"

She watched her friend capturing the man in a tight hug. The brunette knew a little about the man from what Leifang had told her. He was a strict man, but rather lenient when it came to his only child. The day when he learned that a spot on the back of his head was losing hair he ordered his barber to shave it off completely, leaving him bald rather than something in between. He wasn't the type to deal in anything but absolutes when it came to his person.

The precisely trimmed goatee he was sporting had been there since Leifang could remember and, as Hitomi noted, didn't have any gray in it yet. He was dressed in a dark gray business suit, waistcoat and all, giving off an aura of a confident businessman with decades of experience and success.

Father and daughter spoke to each other, the smallest of smiles that the German had ever seen on his face, before turning to where Mrs. Gāo and her were sitting, walking towards them and sitting down. Mr. Gāo greeted his wife, though he didn't kiss her. She didn't seem to mind, simply placing her hand on her husband's knee.

The first thing he did was taking a sip of his tea, clearly enjoying the temperature of it, then turned his attention on Hitomi, his eyes scanning her with a searching look, looking a bit like the eyes of a hawk. She was about to say something when, "Gāo Jintao, it's a pleasure." he greeted her in fluent Japanese and when Hitomi gave her friend a puzzled look he explained. "In my type of business it's important to know various languages, though I'm afraid you'll find my German more than lacking, Miss Buchfink." he turned to his daughter. "Go on, you don't want your mother to miss out of the conversation, right?"

"So you know me?" Hitomi asked.

"Oh I do. After all, my daughter mentioned you countless times and I did happen to see you participate in the Dead or Alive tournament, though I didn't realize that it was you until my daughter did mention it again. Congratulations by the way, you didn't make it easy for the young man that beat you in the finale. Your Karate was superb."

Now Hitomi felt embarrassed and could feel her nervousness returning, brushing a stray lock behind her ear. "I'm honored."

"I'm just stating the facts, really." he took another sip. "Since you are obviously a black belt, might I be so forward and ask how long you hold that rank now."

"Since I was 18- no wait, actually a little bit before that, it was a few weeks before my birthday."

"Really? That is impressive and at such a young age." he looked at his daughter who was busy translating what they said to her mother. "Not unlike my Leifang here. And where did you train?"

Smiling eagerly she told him all about her father's dojo and how he had trained her from an early age. The man in front of her listened patiently while drinking his tea, his face betraying no emotion but clearly interested in what she had to say. It quickly turned into her telling them about the first time she participated in the Dead or Alive tournament, leaving out some of the more personal things, how she met Leifang and how they had become friends.

"Hmm wasn't that island destroyed before the 4th tournament?" he asked as she mentioned Zack Island.

"It was? I didn't hear anything about that. We were there a second time after the 4th, weren't we?" she asked her friend, who nodded in confirmation.

"Very well, I probably misheard it then." he placed his now empty cup back onto the table and even the women on the table had decided during the tale that the tea was now more to their liking. He stood up, pointing to an adjacent room. "Would you mind a closer demonstration of your Karate?"

Hitomi looked at him, confusion on her face. "Uh you want to watch your daughter and me fight?"

"Oh no no. I was talking about me." he pointed at himself to clarify what he just said.

"Father!" Leifang said, and his wife turned a disapproving look towards him. He simply said something to her in Mandarin, causing her to roll her eyes and shake her head with a sigh and then looked at his daughter. "You want to say something?"

Leifang opened her mouth but decided to say nothing and lowered her eyes.

"Good. Miss Buchfink-"

"Please just Hitomi."

"Hitomi then. Are you willing to indulge an old man a little bit?"

She looked between her friend and Mrs. Gāo hesitantly before returning her gaze to the man, simply nodding. What could it hurt? She could simply hold back and she was aching for a little training right now anyway.

The tiny smile crawled back onto his face. "Good."

Jintao led her into a room and closed the door behind them. Looking around she saw that there was more than one vase and other furniture objects in here that could be broken. "Um, right here?"

"Yes, don't worry if we break something." he said, pulling off the jacket of his gray business suit, but leaving on the waistcoat, and loosening his cuffs, placing them onto a nearby table. He stroked his goatee with thumb and pointer, contemplating something. "Hmm, yes." He pulled of his shoes. "I believe it's safer this way."

The German agreed and pulled off her own brown boots. No matter how much she would hold back it would still hurt a lot if she kicked him with them on.

"You have to excuse me, I'm a bit rusty." he told her.

They walked into the center of the room. "Ready?" he asked, placing his right hand, formed into a light fist, against his left palm.

"Ready." She bowed in respect.

They both got into position. He took in a firm stance so that his body looked a bit smaller holding his right hand to his side while extending his left with the palm facing upward.

Hitomi raised a puzzled brow, assessing her options and as he did nothing lunged forward, throwing a punch at him. Jintao stepped slightly to the side, snaked his right arm around hers and attacked with his left, delivering a quick punch against her collarbone. "Hit." he said simply. He punched a second time but two could play that game and before it could connect the young woman blocked it with her free arm, swatted his arm aside and dodged the next one by making a sidestep, pulling him along with her. She used her right leg to trip him up and used the momentum to free her arm from his grip.

The older man managed to get his balance back and turned around just to be grabbed by his left arm and thrown over her shoulder, landing on the floor rather roughly and being exposed to the punch that she aimed at his face.

"Hit." she said grinning, her fist just inches away from his face. She uncurled her fist to help him up. "I'm a bit surprised. That was no Tai Chi Quan."

"Just because my daughter practices it doesn't mean I have to, but I suppose many people would think that. Tell me do you recognize this style?"

"Oh yes I do. It's Wing Chun."

"Very good." the smile on his face looked a bit bigger now from where Hitomi was standing. He returned into a fighting position, this time he held out both hands, the left one lower than the right. "Shall we continue?"

"I'd love to." she bowed again. "I hope for an educational exchange."

There will always be a Zack island. No exceptions.

So now we finally got to know Leifang's parents. Loveable aren't they. And I always said we needed a Wing Chun practitioner in Dead or Alive. Would be a better rival for Jann Lee than some Taek Kwon Do Oil Rig dude if you ask me.

Oh well, see you next week guys. ;)