Chapter Summary: Jin rushes in and saves the day, but will his actions have more consequences than he planned?

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken but I do own my OCs and plot. If you steal, be prepared to suffer.

Chapter Warnings: Swearing.

Notes: Hey guys, think I'm settling back into my old routine while doing something new, which is good. I will try and update as much as I can, but I can't promise anything!

Extra Notes: I don't think I'll be uploading again anytime soon as I've got a few assignments and an exam coming up, plus it's my birthday next week, but like I said, I'll try and update as much as I can. In the meantime, plus continue R&Ring, I really appreciate it!

Chapter 21 – Devil or Angel? will be up soon!

A Tekken Story: Through the Years

Those true eyes

Too pure and too honest in aught to disguise

The sweet soul shining through them

Owen Meredith

Chapter 20 – The Real Jin Kazama

…One week later…

"How on Earth could you forget?!" Satomi screeched at me, "This is the single, most important thing in your entire life!"

Great, here we go…

I stood back, my arms folded, my eyes watching Satomi in case she turned to foam at the mouth, my ears half-listening but my mind was somewhere else.

"How could you forget that you volunteered to help my Drama group for our exam?!"

Because I have more important things to think about…I bit on my tongue and hid a smirk.

"You promised me before Christmas break that you would volunteer as a stage hand for rehearsals – you all did! Seriously Akira, we need all the help we can get!"

I held out my hands defensively, "Alright, alright, I get it. I'm sorry I forgot…but I'm here now, aren't I?" Oh shit, I shouldn't have said that…

Satomi's nostrils flared and I swear her eyes glinted as she narrowed them, "Yes, you are…after I had to drag you here myself!"

I shrugged sheepishly, "I'm here, that's what matters," I brushed past her and headed towards the centre stage, where all the Drama students, along with Sakura, Ryo, Jin, Ichigo, Tae and Shin had witnessed my scolding, "Right, where do you need me?"

In all truth, I hadn't forgotten about my volunteer duties – I merely couldn't be bothered. It had been a…'spur of the moment' sort of thing when Satomi mentioned it, although I regretted it immediately afterwards. Seeing as I made my promise back before Christmas, I thought me and/or Satomi would forget about it, or I could make up an excuse to get out of it, but all that time away…I forgot about it.

Ironic.

I had been on my way out of school when Satomi cornered me, curling her finger around the collar of my school shirt and literally tugging me back into the building by my heels.

Still, at least I wasn't the only one. We all were volunteers.

"Please don't feel angry towards Satomi-san," Tae whispered to me as we helped the extras arrange the set with Satomi barking orders in the background, "She's not herself at the moment,"

"I know. I never imagined her to react like that in my entire life,"

Tae shrugged and sighed, "Ever since she was appointed the lead female role, Satomi-san feels she's the one who's in charge, and this is the first big thing she's ever been included in at school,"

I chuckled, "I guess she's secretly enjoying more than she should," She would never seem like the bossy type…

Tae giggled and pushed her glasses back up her nose, "It would seem so. Satomi-san is usually so kind and energetic…,"

I yanked on the red velvet curtain, straightening it out for Satomi's inspection, "There, I think that should do it,"

"Good job. Perhaps we should go and find Kikukawa-kun?"

My cheeks reddened and my heartbeat sped up as the image of Ryo popped into my mind, "Y-Yeah, sure," I glanced up to the other side of the stage, where Ryo, Jin and Ichigo were straightening out the background

As we diagonally crossed the stage, something didn't feel right. When we reached the middle, I gazed up and noticed one of the stage lights was wobbling from side to side.

What on Earth…?

Something creaked, then snapped.

"Akira-san, look out!" Tae cried, but I didn't hear it until it was too late.

The events that occurred merged into a blur. One minutes, I was standing directly underneath a falling stage light, hurling itself straight ontop of me; the next I was on the side of the stage I had just walked from, the curtain trapped between my back and the wall.

And someone had me pinned against it with their upper torso. Both of their arms were hard-pressed onto the wall as well.

That someone was Jin.

I didn't realise I had stopped breathing momentarily until it all hustled out at once. I rolled my head back onto the wall, all terror thawing from my body.

Jin lifted his head but refused to look at me, "Are you alright?"

I nodded, "Yes. Thank-you,"

Jin stood up to fall height, his face concealed by the shadows, but I guessed he still wasn't looking at me, "Good,"

"Are you-,"

"Akira, are you alright?" Ryo skidded over, fear spreading across his face.

"Yeah-,"

"Thank goodness," Tae breathed a sigh of relief, putting a hand on her chest.

"What happened?" Shin asked as a crowd began to gather.

"I don't know…," I dug the heels of my hands into my temples, "I looked up at the stage light for a split second then all of a sudden it started falling…,"

"Good job Kazama was around to save you," Shin chuckled and lightly punched Jin on the shoulder, but he didn't respond. He still hadn't moved from the light either.

"Yeah…thank-you," I run a hand through my hair.

"Yeah, thanks Jin," Ryo patted him on the shoulder and smiled at me.

"Hey Jin, are you-," I was about to ask him if he was OK, but I noticed his arm.

A shard of glass was jammed in his skin.

"Jin, are you alright?" I tenderly took hold of his forearm and twisted it to examine his wound, "We should get you to the school nurse,"

Satomi nodded, "Go and take him, Akira. We can managed without you both for the time being,"

Thanks for being so considerate. "C'mon, let's go,"

I wrapped my fingers around his wrist and tugged him towards the medical office, but not once while we were there did he glimpse up at me.

Half an hour later, the glass shard was removed, the cut was cleaned, stitches were made and Jin was free to go. I knew I would receive another telling-off if I didn't go back to Satomi and her Drama group, but I decided to walk with Jin back home.

Better yet, I needed to interrogate him.

Yes, I was thankful that he had saved my life, but he left me with so many questions.

When I looked at him before the light fell, he was on the other side of the room.

How the hell did he get to me so fast?

When I thanked him, he didn't look at me. He didn't look at anyone.

Did he feel embarrassed in some way?

It wasn't until I pointed it out that he noticed he had been hurt.

How did he not notice that sliver of glass was sticking out of his arm?

Why did he save me?

I brought my feet to a halt, hanging back so Jin would notice. Sure enough, he did. He also stopped, but he didn't look back at me.

"What's wrong?" he asked over his shoulder.

I peered up through my eyelashes to his angled head, "Jin, I…,"

How could I ask him about something I didn't even apprehend myself?

How? Why?

"I-I…,"

What he did…it wasn't human…was it?

Was Jin some type of…superhero or something?

Jin finally circled round so he was fully facing me, but his eyes were deterred to the ground, his face serious, "You want to know…don't you?"

I heaved a deep breath, "I-I just don't understand it…," I held my arms out for an explanation, "What…how…why-,"

"I'll explain everything," his eyes fleeted up to mine, his mouth set in a firm line, "Follow me,"

"Will you? Will you really?" my tone dripped with cynicism.

"Trust me," he reached his arm out so I could take his hand.

Which I did.

I wasn't sure how much time had passed, but we seemed to have been walking for most of the day, in complete muteness, hand in hand.

Jin directed us to the nearby forest – not far from where we first met. We tramped through the muddy grass, weaved through the ashy trees, hiked up the steady hills until we reached a barricade of trees on the other side of a clearing.

"Here," Jin drew back a few branches, "Just walk straight on through,"

I casted him an uncertain glance.

"Trust me," he repeated and gave me a small smile.

He's never hurt me before…I doubt he'll do it now, even if he wanted to…

I crouched under the branches and shuffled out.

When I adjusted back to full height, I truly couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing.

As I gazed out, all I could see were mountains. Grass. Flowers. Water. From where I was standing – ontop of a slope – nothing but green, fresh grass and little, delicate flowers in the colours of pink, purple, yellow and white stretched out like a long carpet. There were a few ponds filled with clear, blue water dotted here and there at the bottom that reflected the brilliant sun rays like a mirror. Small streams of smoke curled around us.

"Jin…," I struggled, flabbergasted as he stilled next to me, "This place…it's so beautiful,"

The pungent perfume of the pleasant flowers wafted all around me. The sound of trickling water, cool and calm, filled my ears. The grass felt soft underneath my feet.

This is…truly unbelievable. This is Mother Nature's true beauty.

"I found this place one day as I was taking a walk…," Jin surveyed the landscape but his smile was missing, "…it wasn't look after I moved in with Heihachi…,"

My hand twitched to comfort him, but I ignored it, "Do you often take walks alone?"

"Yeah. It was something Mother and I would do back home, in Yakushima,"

"Yakushima…," I recited. I had never been there, but I'm sure I had heard it from somewhere.

"This place remains me of home…it was just like this – beautiful, natural…,"

"Is this why you've bought me here?" I eased myself down onto the grass. It was as soft as I thought.

"I wanted to show you this place…," Jin seated himself next to me, "…I wanted you to see it, because I knew would understand,"

"Understand what?"

"How important it is to keep hold of memories. When someone dies, we can no longer see them, or hear them, or touch them…that's why it's so important to keep hold of the memories you have,"

I revolved my gaze back to the outlook, "That's why you take walks in the forests, because they remind you of home. They remind you of your mother,"

"Yeah,"

I shifted my legs into a more comfortable position, "When I was little, me and Dad…we had this tradition of sorts, during the weekends…we would…," I couldn't help but chuckle at the memory running through my mind, "We would go into an empty room and set up a few plain canvas', some pots of paint, you know things like that, and we would…we would go insane so we could paint something together. We always had so much fun…and that's where my love for Art came from…," I rested my chin of my bent knees, "But I haven't done it since he died…,"

It's hard…sometimes it's so hard…

"What would you do with the paintings when they were finished?"

I grinned, "We would store them in the attic, or hang them up somewhere around the house. We always joked that if becoming martial artists didn't work out, we should sell those paintings and become art dealers or something,"

All that time…laughing and goofing around…

"But, I understand what you mean. You have to keep those memories alive; otherwise…you have nothing,"

The memories keep them alive…

"That way, you'll feel like they're always there with you," Jin added.

Exactly…I understand…

"You didn't lead me here just to give me a little speech…you promised," I steered the conversation back. I didn't want there…back when…

Stop it, stop it!

Jin inhaled through his nose and eased the breath back out, "You want to know how I got to you in time, don't you?"

"Yeah, I mean…well, it just doesn't make sense. Just as me and Tae-san were going over to help you guys, you were on the other side of the stage. And you didn't even noticed that you were hurt…," my eyes flickered to his bandage then back up at him, "…I don't understand it. I know it wasn't by luck or anything…so how did you do it?"

"Would you really believe me…if I told you the truth?"

"Of course," I nodded, "I'm your friend, Jin,"

He exhale noisily again and linked our gazes.

"What do you actually know about my family?"

"The Mishimas?"

Jin nodded. I shrugged.

"I know your grandfather, Heihachi, is a famous martial artist and often hosts The King of Iron Fist Tournament where combatants around the world compete. He owns the Mishima Zaibatsu and founded the school,"

I also know you're the son of Kazuya and Jun…

"That's all true…did you also know he had a son?"

"Kazuya…," I answered in a low voice.

"Yes,"

"He's your father,"

Jin blinked at me, then revolved his vision towards the water pooled at the bottom of the hill, "…Yes,"

"Your mother, she competed in the tournament too…Kazama Jun,"

Jin closed his eyes, almost as if he was meditating, "Yes,"

I knew it! I was right!

"So, Kazuya and Jun…they were in love?"

Jin seemed hesitate before he fully answered me, "Mother entered the tournament to stop him, but…something drew her to him, something she didn't understand. At least, that's what she always told me whenever I asked about him,"

Wait, didn't Jun drop out of the tournament? "So, what exactly happened between them?"

"My mother approached my father, completely fearlessly, but he warned her to stay out of the tournament, and eventually she did. When she headed back to Yakushima, she discovered she was pregnant with me. Then she heard the news – Kazuya was dead,"

God, that's so awful…your father dies before you're born, then to be raised by your mother single-handedly…

"She raised you by herself in Yakushima,"

"Not long after my twelfth birthday, Mother sensed something – something bad. She told me that if anything ever happened to her, I should seek out my grandfather. We moved to Tokyo not long after,"

"And then you ended up here, with Heihachi, Lee and Xiao…Jin, I'm so sorry,"

Jin shook his head, "Don't be sorry…I don't deserve it,"

My eyebrows took the form of a frown, "Jin, how can you say that? Nobody has ever been what you're going through and what you're currently going through right now,"

"It's because of this…," he placed his hand on his chest, just above his heart, and squeezed the flesh, as if he wanted to get rid of it, "…it's all my fault,"

"I don't understand," I tried to keep my voiced calm because I was starting to freak out. What was Jin talking about? The fact that he wasn't strong enough to protect his mother when Toshin attacked? Or something else?

"Jin, what are you talking about?"

He gritted his teeth like he was in pain. I grabbed the back of his hair and yanked so he was forced to look at me.

"Jin, look at me. You're scaring me right now," I cupped the left side of his face, "Tell me. You can tell me anything,"

"Are you sure you want to know the truth?"

I nodded. How bad could it be?

"The Mishima family…they're not exactly normal,"

I detached my hand from his cheek but kept our locked gaze level, "What do you mean?"

"We have…a special gene,"

A special gene? What does that mean?

"Huh? You mean like…special powers that run through the family or something?"

Jin seemed almost slightly amused with I had just come out with, "Something like that. It's seems like a trait we all share – me, my father, my grandfather, my great-grandfather…,"

"So this 'special gene' you have…what exactly does it do?"

"A lot of things – we have higher levels of energy than normal people, we're faster at healing ourselves, we have increased strength and agility, we don't feel as much pain as the average person would do, but…,"

"But what?" I questioned when Jin grew quiet again, "That all sounds great to me,"

"When we fight…we sometimes lose control because of this…electrical element we have,"

"Electrical element? What do you mean?"

"You see it lot when we fight…this electricity that runs through our bodies when our gene kicks in…my grandfather calls it 'The Fatal Lightning'. When we start to lose control…it tends to hurt people, a lot,"

"Is there no way to control it? Therapy? Drugs? Anything like that?"

Jin shook his head again sadly, "No. I've tried everything. Sometimes meditation helps, but…,"

I tried to process this all through my head. The Mishima family have a 'special gene' which gives them the upper hand when fighting – no surprises there then at why they're the greatest fighting family in the world. But, the way Jin talks about his father…did Kazuya die because of the gene?

"So that's how you were able to save me so quickly," I stated as it all pieces fit together – how he got to the other side of the stage so fast, how he didn't notice he had been hurt.

"Yeah,"

I patted his bandaged arm lightly, "Thank-you for saving me,"

Jin squeezed my hand in his, "I'm glad I did just in time,"

I couldn't help but keep my eyes secured with his. Those chocolate-brown iris'…it was like they were taking me somewhere, somewhere safe and away from here…

Oh no…don't go there again…

I tugged my hand back and laid it on my lap, "When did you know you had this gene?"

"When I asked Mother about Kazuya, she never told me he was a Mishima…but I guess I knew I was…'different' ever since I was a child,"

"A child? How so?"

"Where I lived in Yakushima, it was a small place, so I guess the adults knew about Mother being involved with Kazuya, so they knew about me…then they told their children, and they stayed away from me,"

Wait? Didn't Jin say something like this before? Back when he told us he suffered from epilepsy?

"I was so young when these…'attacks' started happening. Mother found it hard when I was diagnosed, she struggled with looking after us both…the other children didn't understand though…the other parents steered them away from me…claiming I was cursed, so I had no friends. I was often lonely, isolated…Apart from Masaya, my best friend, the one person I could depend on. He was the only one who did not believe, nor did he care of the rumours…,"

Oh, Jin…

Something clawed at my heart, wanting to make it break, causing tears to begin to form in my eyes, "I'm so sorry, Jin,"

"Don't be,"

"Stop saying that!" my voice become thick and croaky as I grabbed his face with my hands and shook him with all my might, "Jin, you're a human being! Nobody ever deserves to be treated like that, ever! Please, you have to believe me!"

"Akira…,"

"Jin, no matter what you may think, you don't deserve to have gone through what you did. But, you have me, and Ryo, and Xiao and everyone else – everyone who cares about, everyone who loves you. So please, don't think you're never worthy of someone's sadness,"

Jin didn't say or do anything. He simple wiped away the tear that I was completely unaware about. But I think my words got through to him, because we didn't speak of it again that day.

After that afternoon, I had deeply wished Dad was still alive. He would have liked that view – now the place where me and Jin promised to go to if we were ever feeling troubled. But most of all, he loved the tournaments. He would have loved to have heard all the things that Jin told me.

But something still didn't add up. Why was Kazuya dead? I knew that he had been defeated at the least tournament, but there was no mention of him dying. He was just missing.

Everyone knew about the Mishima family history. Heihachi's wife – Jin's grandmother – died shortly after Kazuya was born, supposedly in a house fire. But Heihachi continued to raise Kazuya, and quite harshly at that. Apparently he was reported for child abuse several times as his son grew up, but he was never arrested. And because of that, Kazuya grew up hating his father and entered the first tournament when it was announced to extract revenge. Kazuya succeeded, and took over the Mishima Zaibatsu.

The world was then thrown into chaos. Another tournament was announced a few years later, and after Kazuya was defeated by Heihachi, he went missing.

No-one heard from since.

But how did Jun know he was dead? Maybe it was a story she conjured up to give a young Jin a more 'definitive' answer. Or maybe she knew because she witnessed his death – that's why she didn't like to speak about him.

So many questions. Very few answers. None of which I can get the answer to.

Or can I?

Once I got home that night, I booted up my laptop. Once it was on and loaded, I typed into the search engine 'Mishima Kazuya dead'.

I scrolled through so many pages – many being news articles and fan speculations of what had happened during the second tournament.

My investigation carried on into the early hours of the morning.

Just as I was about to call it quits and head to bed, an blog entry caught my eye.

The final rounds of the second King of Iron Fist Tournament ended with a father versus son battle – Mishima Heihachi versus Mishima Kazuya.

Unfortunately, the cameras recording and documenting the tournament from the start so the whole wide world could watch were forbidden by Kazuya himself, as well as fans witnessing the event from the side-lines. Many people tried to sneak in to get a glimpse, but the Tekkenshu were not a force to be reckoned with. However, as eye-witnesses were leaving the scene to go back, some reported seeing a winged-being in the sky, almost like an angel.

Mishima Kazuya was defeated that day, and never seen again.

A winged-being, like an angel?

I steered my investigation towards 'The King of Iron Fist Tournament angel'. Thousands of results came up, but the majority were restricted, blocked or need access codes.

Drat.

I found another blog entry from the same website had read before when they were trying to figure this out.

There have been many rumours around Kazuya and his existence. But, during the first tournament – when Kazuya revealed himself after a long absence – it was reported that he had a 'dark aura' and was somewhat trouble. But, the strangest reporting was an eyewitness' account of a battle between Kazuya and another fighter.

She claimed she saw something in the sky with wings. At first, she thought it was an animal, but when she analysed it further, she realised it couldn't be an animal 0 it was too big.

It was human sized.

She immediately took a photo (which is below this entry). It is not very defiant as it was dark and the camera malfunctioned, but you can clearly see a winged-figure floating in the sky, just above the battle stage.

Other eyewitness' recall seeing this figure, but only during Kazuya's battles.

Is Kazuya not human? Is he an angel or something else from another world?

We may never know.

Could there be any possibility that Kazuya was an angel perhaps? Maybe that's why he's missing.

Wait, though. I was obsessed with angels from a young age and from my knowledge of reading about them, only fallen angels walk the Earth.

I skated my computer chair over to my bookshelf and found my book entitled History of the Angels.

It is said that the angels banned from Heaven by God fell to the Earth, but they would still retain their wings and powers. They would disguise themselves as human beings so they could impregnate human women with their offspring.

These offspring would be called Nephilim, sons of Heaven.

These sons of God would inherit the fallen angel's powers but would not fully develop them as their fathers would have back in Heaven.

The fallen angels would wreak other havoc amongst Earth, including torturing other evil souls and punish those who had committed the most heinous crimes on other human beings.

So, there could be any possibility that Kazuya was a fallen angel. I mean, if the reports are true about Heihachi physically abusing Kazuya as child, perhaps he 'accidently' killed him and Kazuya came back as an angel, only to fall from grace to complete his revenge.

But if that's true, and Kazuya impregnated Jun, that…

That would make Jin a Nephilim – a half-angel.

Cut all the 'Mishima Gene' crap! Jin has these 'abilities' and 'powers' because he's a half-angel!

Right?

…Right?

"I must be going crazy," I muttered to myself and shut up the book.

No-one would believe that. It even sounds crazy to me! Pfft, there's no way Heihachi accidently killed his son, who became an angel then fell from the sky, 'planted his seed' in a human woman and let her give birth to a half-angel.

That's completely insane!

"Guess I haven't been getting as much sleep as I should be,"

I shut down my laptop, turned off my desk lamp and without bothering to change into my pyjamas, I curled into bed.

It's a long day.