When Jin woke up, it was to another room he didn't recognise. This was becoming something of a recurrence in his life. He blinked awake slowly. He was in a spacious bedroom, with a window view that implied he was still in G-Corp. There were tell-tale signs of Lee Chaolan about the place though – a coffee machine bubbling in the corner, a faux fur white throw draped over a lilac cotton duvet that was soft and downy to the touch. The only thing that stood out was a dressing gown in more reserved colours, presumably to tempt him into wearing it.
He noticed with a start that he was clinging to something. With a sleepy, dawning horror, he realised that it was not a something, but a someone. He had curled himself around an arm and clutched it to his chest. Next to him on the bed sat Lee, flicking through a data pad one-handed, a pair of purple rimmed spectacles on his nose. Jin released the arm quickly and shuffled away. A burning embarrassment crawled up his face.
Lee kept reading his data pad, and Jin wondered if it was in an effort to give him his dignity back. Jin propped himself up on the pillows and cleared his throat a little awkwardly.
"You and Kazuya both wear glasses?"
Lee had the class to pass straight over Jin's embarrassment.
"I've always worn glasses. Kazuya's the one crowding my style."
Jin gave a weak smile and took a deep breath.
"What… uh… what happened to me?" The last thing he recalled was three burning eyes looking straight at him, and the world going to darkness.
"You transformed into that devil form. Kazuya took care of it the only way he knew how. By overpowering your mind with something terrible that he apparently can't explain to me. You've been out since yesterday."
Jin could hear strained things in his uncle's voice. He pushed his fringe out of his eyes. Jin realised his hair was wet. His whole body was cover in a thin film of cooling sweat.
"Since… yesterday?" Jin asked.
"You were troubled in your sleep. Nightmares, or something Kazuya did to you." Lee had that levelness to his voice that Jin knew now to be anger. He was getting better at reading his uncle. "I was unwilling to leave you alone in that state." Lee tapped the data pad and it dimmed. "I'll give you your space now. I've moved into G-Corp Tower for the present and had you moved to a room next to mine. There's an en suite shower on the left, you should find everything you need." He made to move.
"Wait." Jin saw his uncle hesitate. There was uncertainty in his movements, Jin realised. He wondered just then if perhaps everyone Heihachi had raised was unsure of the right way to be close to people. "Thank-you," Jin said. He rested his forehead against his uncle's shoulder. An invisible tension sagged out of Lee's posture and he relaxed.
There was a long quiet. Jin could hear the bleat of Tokyo traffic beyond the window and the murmuring spatter of grey rain against the glass. When Lee spoke again, his voice was soft.
"You were right to be angry with me before. You were right to ask where I was, and why I never helped you. I was hiding. I was afraid. The first I knew of your existence was after you'd been at the Mishima Estate for a month. I still had people I could get information from, and when I first heard them talking, I thought somehow Kazuya was back from the dead. I moved as quickly as I could to hack cameras at the estate and see for myself. When I saw you, I knew who you were. But I also saw how my father was with you. He was different from the Heihachi I remembered. I told myself: perhaps he's changed, perhaps I should give him a chance. I told myself, if he ever hurt you, I'd intervene. I told myself many things, but the truth is that I didn't want to confront him. It had been fifteen years since he told me he'd kill me if I ever set foot in Japan again, and I still feared that threat. I knew it was a matter of time before he turned on you. I knew he would use you for whatever ends he had in mind, and then discard you. But I thought I had more time. I thought I still had time to swoop in and be a saviour. It all happened so fast. I thought there was a way I could make myself known to you without risking a confrontation with him. In the end, it's as Kazuya always said it was. I'm good at looking after myself and no one else."
Jin wasn't sure what to say. He pressed his head into Lee's shoulder a little more. That gesture seemed to do what his words could not.
"Alright," Lee said, and his brightness had returned. "Coffee? I think I saw some biscuits too. I told Kazuya if this place wasn't up to five star quality that I'd drive you back to Violet Systems instantly." He laughed but Jin heard the edge of self-consciousness in it. Lee swung his legs over the side of the bed and stepped spritely over to the coffee maker. He poured a cup and paused with a second empty cup in his hand, looking to Jin. His silver hair and sharp suit were immaculate, but Jin could see sleepless rings under his eyes.
"Yes, please," Jin said. He didn't really drink coffee, but it was difficult saying no to Lee Chaolan. He received the warm cup into his waiting hands. The gesture took him back to times when he'd been ill and his mother would press hot drinks into his hands whilst he sat in bed with the blankets drawn up to his nose. Jin looked up at his uncle. "Sorry I lost control, yesterday. I know you told me to be careful, and I know I-"
"Yesterday was Kazuya's fault, not yours," Lee said sharply. His brown eyes softened again. "Now, drink your coffee, take a shower, have a biscuit. My room is next door, so come knock when you're done." Jin opened his mouth, not done talking about their fight yesterday. Lee clipped his chin with a light finger. "Stop with all that concern and go look after yourself. Everything else can wait."
Jin warmed to the familiarity and nodded slowly in agreement.
He did feel much better after the coffee and a hot shower. He even had one of the biscuits, though it mostly served to remind him how hungry he was. He spiked up his hair and dressed in clothes his uncle had left out for him. He checked his reflection again. An acrid burning sensation suddenly hit the back of his mouth and nearly made him wretch. His vision faded to monochrome and all colour sunk into ashen shadows. The world darkened further until only the mirror was before him – a window of unearthly light. Three red eyes stared out from the mirror. He could smell the crackle of charcoal mixed with burning plastic and woodsmoke as his home burned around him. Voices all dissonant and distorted crowded his head with whispers.
A second later, everything faded. Colour and light returned. He found himself clutching the sink and bending over it, breathing hard. Only the imprint of those three red eyes stayed pressed into his recent memory, like he'd stared too long at the sun and now saw it when he closed his eyes.
He touched his forehead, trying to collect his breath. He had seen things like this before in Hon-Maru when he'd been chained up. He wasn't sure what it meant, but when he'd opened his eyes then, he'd seen his father before him with head bowed as if in some mental struggle. Jin took a step back. He chewed his lip, wondering if he should say something to his uncle. Lee had done so much for him recently. He wanted to show him he could be strong and independent on his own.
Jin double-checked his appearance then made his way to his uncle's room and knocked on the door, doing his best to look professional and collected, and not like he'd just spent a feverish day curled up like some child with a nightmare.
The door flew open and Asuka bounced out. She grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him in.
"Mr Lee is taking us out!" She beamed at him. Jin tugged his hand free and scowled. Lee appeared in a long jacket embroidered with silver thread and a pair of mirror back glasses that Jin knew were hiding at least one night of lost sleep.
"Indeed!" he said enthusiastically, he threw a finger out dramatically, "and for the rest of the day I'm going to be talking English because Miss Kazama here has an exam at school next week that she's neglected to revise for."
"Aw, Mr Lee, come on." Asuka pouted. Jin's frown deepened. His English wasn't fantastic either.
"What do you mean 'going out'?" Jin was sullen.
"First, we're going shopping for you, dear nephew." Lee explained, in English Jin could only just follow. "Some outfits of your own choosing, and at least one suit."
"Bo-oring," Asuka folded her arms and blew hair out of her face. "I want to do cool stuff. Let's check out the local dojos and see if trendy Tokyo types know how to fight as well as jack up sushi prices!"
"You can have a new outfit too, Miss Kazama." Lee smiled.
"What do I want new clothes for? You saying mine aren't nice?"
"No, no, no," Lee raised his hands, "nothing like that. New clothes just for fun! Don't you ever just want to go shopping sometimes and try on something beautiful?"
"Huh?" Asuka pulled a face at him.
Jin put a hand to his head.
"Uncle Lee…"
"Don't 'Uncle Lee' me, Jin. You've both been stuck in this dull genetics company tower for too long. Today we're going to have some family fun. I'll show you Kazamas how it's done. It's going to be excellent!" He gave them a thumbs up.
Devil genes and red eyes and blood tests remained out of Jin's head all morning as he was reluctantly towed around Tokyo malls.
Jin huffed impatiently as a tailor finished up taking his measurements. The suit Lee had suggested didn't look very Kazama Jin. It looked like it belonged on Mishima Kazuya. Lee fussed with his collar and pushed his chin up so that he stood prouder.
"It's very…" Jin searched for the word.
"Smart!" supplied Lee.
"Formal," Jin finished. He looked down at the charcoal grey suit with its faint flashes of silver pinstripes.
"It's good. You look like a businessman."
Jin looked down at himself again.
"I do?"
"Yeah, boring like a businessman," Asuka put in. Lee frowned at her. She blew hair out of her face.
"Do you want to get measured to Asuka? What would you like? There are some beautiful dresses here." Lee indicated to a line of manakins modelling flowing skirts and tight corsets and floating sleeves and lace hems.
"Sure, I'll get measured." Asuka put her hands on her hips. "For that same suit Jin's getting. I want a matching one. And I'm going to wear it with one of those hats – those American hats that gangsters wear."
"A trilby?" Lee supplied.
"Yeah. And with shades like yours."
Lee raised an eyebrow.
"Very well."
Jin looked aghast at them both.
"She can't get the same suit as me!"
"Afraid I'll pull it off better than you, Jin?"
Jin narrowed his eyes and pulled a face at Asuka. She stuck her tongue back out at him.
Lee laughed. "It'll look cute you both in matching outfits! We'll measure Asuka for it next."
Jin did have to reluctantly admit that Asuka pulled off the suit just as well, if not better. When she borrowed a hat and Lee's sunglasses, she looked like she'd walked straight off a movie set.
"Nice. Sharp," Lee told her.
"Oh hell, yeah." Asuka spun on the spot, blazer fanning out and slapping the tailor in the face. She clacked the shining black shoes on her feet in a small dance. She glanced at her reflection. "I look proper Yakuza." The tailor paled.
Lee's smiled thinned.
"Not an idle word to throw around, Miss Kazama," he chided.
"I keep the peace between half a dozen street gangs in Osaka," she said, shrugging as she did, "I'm allowed to mock what I can beat up. Anyway, aren't you and your big brother the real organised criminals in Japan?"
Lee brought his hand to his lips and gave a cough. Jin couldn't help but snigger at Lee's embarrassment, though he covered it up when his uncle shot him an unimpressed look.
"Violet Systems is an entirely legitimate business, my dear girl."
"Yeah? And Mr Mishima?"
"Kazuya… has never had a problem with the law," Lee said carefully.
Asuka slapped her thighs in laughter and several pins fell to the ground. The tailor clicked his tongue in annoyance and bent to pick them up.
"Is that because he's got the government running too scared to stop him."
Lee frowned and opened his mouth, but Jin surprised himself by getting there first.
"Asuka, we are guests of G-Corp. It's not appropriate to discuss such things whilst receiving their hospitality."
Jin could see Lee's eyebrows climbing into his hair line. Asuka pulled another face at him.
"You've just got daddy issues, Jin. You're pouty all day long because you can't work out if you want to kill your old man or give him a big, soppy ol' hug."
Lee had to separate them and escort them out the shop, apologising to the tailor.
"Really," he scolded them lightly once they were in the wintery bright street once more.
"He's just sore that I hit the truth," Asuka huffed, her breath puffing out as a misty cold cloud. She wiped a spot of blood from her lip where Jin had caught her with a punch.
"You're not even worth my anger," Jin said to her coolly. She'd very much hit the mark and he was seething that someone like Asuka had read him so easily. She'd also clouted him in the side of the face with a solid backfist and now he had a headache coming on.
"Now, now, children, play nicely." Lee's eye twinkled as both Kazamas scowled at him.
After that they had lunch. Lee wanted to take them to a fancy restaurant, but Asuka managed to persuade him to take them instead to a street food bar. They sat on tall stools with only a half curtain between them and the bitter wind, and the grill sputtering with hot grease before them. They nursed their numbing fingers whilst eating takoyaki and steaming udon noodles. Jin and Asuka laughed at Lee, who grumbled that he couldn't understand why someone would choose to sit out in the cold when they could have the luxury of a Michelin star restaurant. After that they were back out again, this time searching for some casual wear for Jin. Jin was feeling pleasantly full, his cheeks were red from the chill wind, and he didn't even object much as he trailed behind his uncle, wandering into different shops and looking at all the bright window displays.
Half an hour later he was trying on a number of clothes he'd selected.
"Jin, are you sure you only want to try on those clothes,… they're all so… black."
Jin scowled at his uncle. He saw Asuka lean over to Lee and whisper to him, a flash of something hideously emerald and glittery exchanged hands.
"Don't even think about it," Jin growled, as his uncle tried to slip a sequin spangled waistcoat into the pile Jin was taking into the changing rooms. Asuka tittered whilst Lee pulled a hurt expression.
"But, Jin, seriously, what do you think about this? I think white could be very you." Lee held up a heavy jacket, all white with red crawl up one arm.
"The red is kind of like flames, isn't that basically your only style, Jin?" Asuka put in.
"I thought you hated shopping." Jin glared at Asuka.
"I take it back. Watching you scowling at clothes is amazing. I love shopping. I love how miffed you look. It's perfect. This is my new best hobby. It's excellent." She put her thumb up in a mimic of Lee.
Jin's eyes lidded. He snatched the white jacket from Lee and took the pile of clothes into the changing room and pulled the curtain across behind him. The welcome privacy was broken only by the continued sound of Lee and Asuka still exchanging snatches of laughter. He'd thought this trip stupid when Lee first suggested it, and the idea of shopping sounded like another of his uncle's vanity affairs. The different pace of the day had felt good though, and the clothes did make him feel more at home and more himself. For the first time since he'd woken up in Lee's lab, he felt more sure of himself. He even rather liked that white jacket his uncle had suggested. It was different – sort of suave but still casual. He admired his reflection, turning on the spot. The red on his jacket faded. All colour leeched from the world, like a plug had been pulled from it. He could feel it – that sensation like the physical world was circling a drain and dropping away from him. A familiar choking, burning sensation filled his mouth and the taste of brimstone was on his tongue, thick and nauseating. The mirror walls around him suddenly lit up. The rest of the room darkened. Rows of red eyes stared out at him from the mirrors. They sat haphazard on a canvass of black, like grotesque ornaments in a museum. Their slit pupils fixed him so that he couldn't move. A soft whisper hung on the air.
Kazama Jin.
Its voice was thin and papery and caught up with echoes, as if he were being called from down a long tunnel. The red eyes blinked slowly, all at random, following him as he tried to shake his vision clear. Don't! Jin tried to cry out. He couldn't hear his own voice. Instead, a deep laughter rippled through the hallway of his thoughts. The voice began to whisper of old hatreds and ancient curses.
Give in to anger. Hate me. Curse me.
The eyes around him nudged him towards a precipice of darkness. He felt his feet stumbling towards a place he knew he should not go to. An edge. The eyes blinked at him again. The myriad pupils pinned him in place.
Jin reeled back into reality. He slammed his palm against a mirror to steady himself. Cracks splinted under his hand and black lines split up his reflection. Beads of blood smeared across the cracked glass. He set his teeth together and held his head. He bent over, breathing hard.
When he'd taken a moment, he dragged aside the curtain and stalked out.
"That jacket is great!" Asuka exclaimed.
"I'm leaving," Jin grated. He realised that the restraints Kazuya had given him were not on his wrists. A faint panic rose within him. "This was a mistake. We shouldn't have come here."
Lee's face fell.
"Jin, what is it? What's wrong? A moment ago you-"
"I said I'm leaving," Jin snapped. "Take me back to G-Corp."
"Whatever it is, we can work it out," Lee said gently. "Talk to us. What's bothering you? You don't like the clothes?"
"It's not safe for me to be here. It's not safe for anyone."
"You need to get out of those laboratories sometimes," Lee reasoned. "You can't hide yourself away indefinitely. We will find a way to fix this, but you also need to keep living and keep sane. It's not good only to be surrounded by scientists and people that see you as a test subject-"
"I've had enough of your organised fun!" Jin's temper simmered. He could feel the curl of demonic tattoos writing themselves onto his skin. His canines were starting to ache and feel large in his mouth, and his nails felt that bit longer and sharper as they curled into his palm. The smoky flavour of demonic intention touched his tongue with a tempting taste.
"Listen to reason," Lee said. "Don't shut yourself up-"
"Take me back to G-Corp!"
"Listen to me for once, Kaz!"
Silence fell. Asuka's eyebrows raised. Lee passed a tongue over his lip and pushed his hair behind his ear. Jin was all black scowl.
"Jin, I mean." Lee corrected, far too long after the long, stiff quiet that had dropped between them.
Lee took all the clothes off Jin in silence and bought them all anyway. He drove Asuka and Jin back to G-Corp after that. Asuka drummed her fingers on the windows as the car purred down the Tokyo streets. Jin could tell she was agitated, but he just pulled his hood up and folded his arms.
When they got back to G-Corp Tower, Jin shut himself in his room and sat on his bed. He buried his face in his hands. He sat until light left the sky and his room filled with long shadows, and the neon stars of the city at night winked on.
A knock sounded on his door. He ignored it. There was a beep of a lock being disengaged anyway and the door opened. Jin's teeth clenched at the invasion of privacy.
"Chaolan thought you might want these back." Jin jumped up and whirled round at his father's voice. Kazuya stood, offering him the steel restraints. "And I assume these are for you too." Kazuya stepped into the room and indicated to a line of designer paper bags all neatly sitting in a row just beyond the doorway.
A twinge of guilt turned inside Jin. He offered up his hands to his father. Kazuya clicked the steel cuffs onto his wrists.
"I keep hearing you in my head." Jin said dully as a wash of familiar lethargy swept through his body as soon as the cold metal closed on him.
"Hm?" Kazuya looked up.
"You, laughing like a maniac. With red eyes everywhere."
"Oh…" Kazuya took this rather nonchalantly. "Devil's been a bit restless recently. Very keen to rip what remains of himself out of you. And to subdue you yesterday I had to call on some rather heavy-handed methods."
Jin glared at him. "You said you had everything under control. You said it would be safe for me to fight."
Kazuya's eyebrows raised.
"I did keep everything under control. I kept both you and Chaolan safe. What more did you expect?" Jin hugged himself and stared hard at the floor. Kazuya went over to the coffee machine in Jin's room and began spooning grounds into it. "This any good?" Kazuya asked, "Chaolan made me buy a few these. One in his room too. That cousin of yours asked for an arcade machine. In her bedroom. I'll never understand Kazamas."
"Is this all some joke to you?"
Kazuya's hands paused. He turned around slowly. All Jin's nerves flared with warning. Kazuya stepped up into his space until he was almost nose to nose with him. Jin held his gaze defiantly. The coffee machine began to bubble as it dribbled coffee into a cup.
Jin set his father with challenge in his eyes.
"I could have killed someone today," Jin said softly, "and all I can hear in my head is you calling to me about hatred and darkness and tempting me to something-… I don't even know what. Are you even trying to help me?"
One of Kazuya's eyes glowed red. His lip twitched. All Jin's instincts screamed at him to put distance between them. He stubbornly held his ground.
"You don't think I'm trying?" Kazuya's voice was quiet, but all threat.
"I don't know what you're doing! I've barely seen you in the last two weeks and now I get these nightmares that-"
"The nightmares are Devil, not me. I'm getting it under control, just like I did when I saved you from him at Hon Maru."
"You never did any such-!"
"As for what I've been doing for the last two weeks. Barely sleeping is the answer. Whilst trying to work on a method for extracting your devil gene, and simultaneously digging up what I can on the Kazama ritual. But sure, I've done nothing. I'm not even trying. You carried yourself up from the sparring hall to this room yesterday. The work's all been on your end and I'm just a devil CEO of an evil corporation."
Jin bit his lip. He dropped his gaze from Kazuya's.
Kazuya turned away. He picked up the coffee and switched off the machine. He sipped at it. He grunted and took it with him as he went to the door.
"Wait," Jin called after him. Kazuya didn't wait. He opened the door and strode off. Jin ran to the door and jumped over the neat line of clothes in folded paper bags. "Father, wait. I'm sorry."
Kazuya froze in his footsteps. Jin saw his shoulders tense, coffee paused part way to his mouth.
Jin's heart beat so loud that he found himself breathing in time to it.
Kazuya sipped his coffee then walked on up the corridor.
Author Note: Some of Thalie's Lee headcanons in this chapter, including Heihachi exiling Lee from Japan after the second tournament.. You can read their fic 'Lee Chaolan's (more or less) excellent life in the Mishima family' here on fanfiction dot net
Asuka and her misadventures are very much inspired by running around Kamurocho for the last few weeks as I played Yakuza 1 and 0.
Lee clothes shopping is basically my mother.
Sorry the chapter is late and I hope you all keep safe and healthy! Now's a good time to read and write all the fanfiction you want!
