Heihachi woke up very early, he noticed that Kazumi wasn't there anymore so he began looking for her around the mansion. After a while he found her, sitting on a bench outside, looking at the early rising sun. She looked sad and Heihachi felt worried for her. He went toward his wife and asked her:
"Kazumi, are you okay?"
"…Yes."
"Then why are you here, looking sad?"
"…In fact, I'm not sad…"
Heihachi bent down to her and lifted her chin while he smiled at her.
"Then why are you here, pretending to look sad? You want to play a joke on me? I prefer to see you smiling!" said Heihachi who began to tell her jokes to make her laugh.
Kazumi looked at Heihachi and remembered how much she loved him, he was so funny… so kind with her… But she also remembered how he could be mean or heartless with others… She sometimes loathed him, how he didn't feel anything for anyone else but her… She knew how he was now governing the Mishima Zaibatsu… Since that overthrow, he had taken the reigns from his father but somehow Jinpachi had let him do it, to make his son happy and said he had to retire. Yet Jinpachi intended to still have his word to say in the matter and both men continued arguing like they did sometimes before the overthrow. Heihachi was right, his methods were good for the growing of the Mishima Zaibatsu but they were not always very morale and both Jinpachi and Kazumi were opposed to them… Knowing about the future from her clan's seers, Kazumi knew what Heihachi was to become, that was why her clan sent her to meet and marry Heihachi… They wanted her to end the future brutal rule of that man. Yet when she met Heihachi and began to know him, she discovered more than the monster he was supposed to become, she found a charming man, a loving husband and while she often had a melancholic personality, he always found a way to make her smile and laugh… She felt good with him… Except when she was thinking about what she would have to do one day and how his harsh rule was leading to that day… This late overthrow was just another step toward that evil state… Her clan was right, he could be dangerous… Yet she still hoped to change him since she was now in love with him…
Despite giving her so many worries without knowing it, Heihachi was also very reassuring to her and Kazumi laid over her husband's shoulder to get some reassurance and peace of mind. Heihachi embraced her in his arms while kissing her on the head. He knew something was bothering her but he didn't know what, she was often introverted and secretive and only told him her problems after a while, if she did at all. But he stood by her side, saying nothing until she began to speak once more.
"… I just have some sickness since many mornings…"
Heihachi suddenly understood what Kazumi meant.
"You mean…"
"Yes. We will soon have a child."
While she wanted that loving family, this was still troubling Kazumi very much… If she had to kill Heihachi, she would have to somehow hide it from her child… She even knew that her superior told her that she may have to kill whatever child would come from that union, since they may grow up to be like their father… In fact, her superior was certain of it, he had foreseen a child, a son, who would follow in his father footsteps in hurting people… But Kazumi had refused to believe it since she still believed she could change Heihachi… While in that situation, she probably should not have a child but she wanted to have a loving family… And she also believed that a child may change her husband and make him act more kindly… She could actually feel Heihachi's joy as he began to breathe more quickly and held her against him in his arms.
Learning the news, Heihachi was so happy, he would have hugged her more roughly (no wonder he felt some affinities with bears since he always felt the need to give bear hugs when he was affectionate with Kazumi, that little cub he just found would probably feel at home with his hugs…) but despite training with her very roughly since she was a very dangerous adversary, one of the few who was equal to him in fighting, he was never rough toward Kazumi outside of the dojo. And mostly now, since she was carrying their child…
"…Kazumi… You make me so happy… So like we discussed, it's still Kazuya, if it's a boy and Heihachiko, if it's a girl? You have to rest Kazumi, if you need anything just tell me, even if I'm at the office, you call me and I'll come back! I have my own family! I'm so happy!"
Then Heihachi turned toward Kazumi and asked her: "Are you happy, Kazumi?"
She looked sad earlier yet she told him she had morning sickness but he still wondered if she was fine, was she just worried over her pregnancy or if something else was bothering her?
"Yes…" said the young woman as she once more laid toward Heihachi, needing his embrace to feel reassured by all that would happen…
She probably is fine, thought Heihachi as he hugged her once more. She knows she can tell me anything if she needs to…
Some weeks later…
"Kazumi… You know I have to do it."
"I don't know… If you have to be the bad guy in order to eliminate the bad guys, I don't see the logic in this. You're only lowering yourself to their degree."
"But what is important Kazumi? Me staying clean and immaculate but helping no one or me doing things that helps people even if it means dirtying myself?"
"That's another point. I'm not sure how much you really help people now… The Mishima Zaibatsu never has been that successful but is the Mishima Zaibatsu the good cause you're referring to?"
"No. It goes farther than that. With the Mishima Zaibatsu, I'll be able to conquer the world, either physically or monetarily. And then I'll impose my will, I'll stop any injustice and bring law to the world."
"War… War is never a solution… It only brings death and destruction. People are happy in the end because the war is over but if it didn't start then all those casualties and horrors wouldn't have happened in the first place. Like your father said, it's not the way. Why don't you listen to your father?"
"Humpf! He's senile…"
Kazumi began to sulk.
"Awww… Kazumi, don't take it like that… It's not my fault if the old man says stupidities."
"You have to respect your father. He is a good man. It hurts me when you disrespect and mock him…"
"Are you married to him or me?"
"To you but he is still your father."
"Humpf."
Some months later, in the hospital…
Little Kazuya was sleeping in the crib while Heihachi was looking at him with much joy. The proud father then turned to his wife and told her:
"He has my hair, Kazumi! The Mishima hair! My little Kazuya! Didn't you see the back of his head? That's a sign of intelligence! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
"Yes, I did…"
Heihachi continued: "That's a sign of intelligence and also of genius! You know how they represent scientists in fictions? Always the crazy hair! Maybe Kazuya will become a great scientist one day and work to help the Mishima Zaibatsu get even more technologically advanced! Technology is the future! But of course, he won't be a nerdy scientist since he will train in the Mishima and the Hachijo ways, he will be both intelligent and a great fighter! I have no doubt about it! He really has the Mishima hair!"
And he also has something of me, thought Kazumi who knew the devil curse was running from parent to child in her family… yet they had charms and ceremonials to keep the evil entity under their control… The Hachijo clan had used the power of the Devil in many occasions, to reach their goals… to stop evil people from doing atrocities… Devil was a very useful power… She somehow sometimes understood Heihachi when he was telling her and Jinpachi that to do good, they sometimes have to do bad… She understood his point of view yet she thought he was not always doing as much good as the bad he did… Those things had to be carefully estimated and she had the feeling Heihachi was beginning to not really care about the price others had to pay to achieve his goals… She really had to convince him and bring some good back… He was not a bad person, Kazumi knew Heihachi had good in him, like their newly born son had as well, despite being cursed with the Devil… She would have to do the same as her clan did with her and with all her ancestors, with Kazuya to keep the Devil under control… but as long as she would be alive, she would have the curse on her, Kazuya would be free since Devil only possessed one person at the time… The oldest firstborn alive of the Hachijo line… Her father having died when she was a child, she had that curse upon her since years… But if she was to die, she knew the curse would awaken in her son's body… And she had to help him keep it under control…
Five years later…
Kazumi had retired in her room once again. Heihachi still wondered what happened to her. She always looked sad lately… She should enjoy life more… Looking at his son Kazuya, who was doing his writing lessons, he thought that they both were too serious. Kazuya was not a lively child, he was sick and frail and always very shy when they received guests. He would always hide behind his parents… or his grandfather. Heihachi wondered how such a frail child would be able to continue the Mishima fighting style, Kazuya was too weak, he had to get hardened… Yet looking at his little son calmly writing, he noticed how Kazuya and Kazumi looked so alike… Kazumi didn't look very strong either, yet she was the most powerful fighter he ever confronted apart from his father. Kazuya may have some of her hidden strength… He already had a lot like his mother, that calm and introverted demeanour, not extroverted like him, and while growing up, Heihachi had noticed that Kazuya had many facial traits like his mother…
Heihachi then told Kazuya:
"You know that you look a lot like your mother? You have my hair but everything else comes from your mother. Your face has her delicate traits."
Kazuya lifted his head and shyly smiled while saying nothing before he bent his head once more to continue writing.
"You like that, huh? You love your mother more than you love me?"
Kazuya now looked embarrassed but Heihachi told him:
"Hahaha! Don't feel ashamed my son! It's normal! Kazumi is such a good mother and wife, we both love her very much, we can't do any other way! Beside your mother is far prettier than me, it's a good thing you take from her. The ladies will run after you like crazy!"
Kazuya blushed at the thought while his father burst into laughter.
"Gahahaha! You'll have to stop being shy, Kazu!"
"I don't really want to date…"
"You'll have to, later. And you'll become a real Don Juan, I know it! Unless you meet a woman like Kazumi, then you'll have met perfection and won't need to go elsewhere… But right now, I understand that you prefer Kazumi over anyone. Even over me."
"…I love you too, Otousama…"
"I know. I love you as well, Kazuya."
Some weeks later…
"Mama…"
Kazumi woke up as she felt someone caressing her head. As she expected, it was her beloved son, Kazuya.
"… Oh, Kazuya… What is it, sweety?"
"I made you a drawing. This is you when you will feel better. This is me and this is Tora, Otousama , Ojiisan and Kuma. We will all go for a picnic in the woods."
Tora… Kazumi had not dared tell Kazuya already but Tora, her tiger, was dead since some weeks. The female tiger who had taken a liking in Kazuya, sleeping around him to protect him, licking his face to show her affection, acting almost like a mother would to her cub, had fell sick and died… It all happened so fast, Kazumi fell sick just after… She somehow suspected something with her Devil curse… She didn't know what but she felt something… The evil entity was getting stronger and maybe it somehow needed Tora's energy to awaken or maybe it felt Tora was an obstacle instead… The veterinarian didn't see why Tora died, it was sudden and mysterious… Kazumi didn't know all about those Devil things, she couldn't ask anyone, she knew her clan were asking her to kill Heihachi and Kazuya, Devil was always used for such tasks since generations and she felt more urges to let the entity take control, even if she didn't want to. She didn't know what to do and didn't know who to ask for advice… Her clan was somehow against her since she wanted to spare both her husband and son and if she told Heihachi, she somehow feared his reaction… How could she tell him she married to kill him? She didn't want to since she now knew and loved him but still… She wondered if she should speak about it to Jinpachi who was wise and kind but again, she feared being chased away as the devilish creature she was… Even if he often disagreed with him on many subjects, Jinpachi was still Heihachi's father, he probably wouldn't be happy to learn that Kazumi first married to kill his son… Tora, her most faithful companion just died and she couldn't tell anything to her little five years old Kazuya… If he was older, she felt she could have been very close to him, he would have understood a lot of things since he would be like her, she somehow related a lot to him, but now he was an innocent child… She didn't want to spoil his childhood… Beside he wouldn't know what to do… He didn't have to reassure her, she had to protect him… First, by not telling him about Tora right now and by pretending to feel better than she really felt…
"Oh that is so sweet, my love… Yes, when I will feel better, we will do it…"
Kazumi looked at her son with love and Kazuya smiled back lovingly at her. Kazuya loved her very much, loved her far more than he loved his father even if he also loved him but Kazumi was everything to him, each time she and Heihachi had an argument, Kazuya always took his mother's side… Mama is right, mama this, mama that… A thing that always made Heihachi laugh, he knew Kazuya loved him but the little boy was tied to his mother and Heihachi found it funny, calling Kazuya his 'rival' for Kazumi's love… Yet Kazumi was sad, she knew what the clan told her about Kazuya as well… She had to raise him to be good so that they won't order her to kill him… Kazuya was not evil, he was so kind… They had foreseen everything so wrongly… She knew that if she was to die or was unable to teach her son to control his powers, he would turn evil as her clan had foreseen… Devil was a strong force, very hard to control… She had to be there for him… or else, she knew he had to be killed like his father… because not only he would be raised by an evil man, teaching his son his morally sick ways for the Zaibatsu but he would also have that Devil influence inside of him…
Yet she did tell that man, Akuma, who owed her his life since she once saved him from the Satsui no Hado's influence and helped him control his powers, to kill Kazuya as well should she fail in her attempt to make Heihachi good… But as long as she would be alive, she would try to change Heihachi and would try to keep Kazuya on the good path…
"Kazuya, let your mother sleep."
Kazuya turned around in surprise: His father was there with a stern air. Unused to that harsh attitude from his father, Kazuya got scared and dropped the drawing that feel on the ground. Kazumi also noticed the harshness in Heihachi's voice and told him in defence of her son:
"He is not bothering me, he gave me a very fine drawing, which made me feel better… Kazuya is a very caring boy…"
Kazumi tried to pick the drawing to show her husband but Heihachi bent down and picked it before her, yet he didn't even look at it and put it on the desk. He told her on a still harsh tone yet now with some softness in it:
"You have to sleep, Kazumi. And you can also be contagious. We don't know what you have, I don't want Kazuya to fall sick as well."
And I don't want Kazuya to fall prey to my clan as well… thought Kazumi who had been reminded lately to kill Heihachi since he was going too far… Kazumi still didn't want to do it, she still hoped Heihachi could change his ways… But right now, she wasn't in any position to either convince or kill Heihachi… Yet she was sometimes feeling those urges… from her, other self… She had to fight those… Kazumi knew that not many people were loved by Heihachi and despite becoming more harsh right now, she knew he loved Kazuya and worried for him as well and she hoped he still loved his father, despite that coup he organized five years ago to take control of the Zaibatsu and how he now seemed to treat his father with disrespect, calling him Oyaji and not caring about any of the old man's opinions. The way Heihachi was now treating Jinpachi was revolting Kazumi but she knew he still cared deeply about her, he sometimes listened to her, Kazumi knew she was the last hope to change him… To change his views on how to control the Zaibatsu and to change his growing disrespect toward his father… To change the future of her son and of the whole world… It wasn't time to fall sick… She had to save them… before anyone would try to kill them…
Meanwhile scared by his father's severe tone, Kazuya had quickly left the bedroom. He had never seen his father acting so harshly before his mother became sick… Heihachi was always cheerful and caring toward him, he probably was really worried over his wife and was acting more harshly because of it… yet it did scare Kazuya who was also worried for his mother, so he decided to go see his grandfather for reassurance, about his mother's health and about his father's late harshness. Ojiisan Jinpachi was always kind toward him… Despite his imposing bulk, Ojiisan was calm and gentle…
Some days later…
Playing in the wood near Hon Maru since Heihachi took him there while he went to meditate in the temple, Kazuya suddenly noticed his mother going inside the temple. He was surprised, Kazumi was still not feeling well when they went to the temple, his father and him, so she was sleeping in her bedroom. Kazuya quickly left his action figures and the castle he had built with some branch to run toward the temple to see his mother.
Yet he couldn't reach the door already since he came from the side that was steeper, the real trail was on the other side. But Kazuya didn't care, he was good at climbing and he didn't want to lose time turning around the temple. Yet as he was still climbing, he suddenly heard some fighting noise inside. Were his parents fighting? Was Kazumi already in shape for that? Kazuya kept climbing, hearing the fight until he finally reached the top and ran to the door. The fighting noises had stopped since a while and Kazuya thought his mother may be tired or something. But still it was strange that they fought now… Once he arrived to the door, he noticed Heihachi was standing over Kazumi's body. So his mother really felt sick… Yet Kazuya thought that something was strange, Heihachi was turning his back on him, his father had not seen him but he didn't move… He was leaving Kazumi down on the floor without doing anything… And those fighting sounds… They really fought… but Kazumi was not getting up… and Heihachi was leaving her on the floor…
Somehow worried over that and even for his own safety, Kazuya hid behind the entrance. After a while, he noticed Heihachi getting out with Kazumi in his arms, she was still unconscious… Kazuya discreetly followed his parents to the mansion where Heihachi put Kazumi back in the bed and fell on his knees beside it, seemingly crying. Realizing that his mother was really dead, Kazuya started weeping as well. He didn't understand why his father killed his mother but he knew he had lost the person he loved most… His father took her away from him…