Xiaoyu and Panda boarded the Umi No Kamisama and waited for a sign of Jin. Some of the passengers looked at the massive panda bear and backed away or rushed to another part of the boat. Ling decided to walk around the boat if she couldn't see him. "I hope Jin made it on the boat in time." She covered her eyes from the bright sunlight and scoped the area around her. She started to look anxious and grabbed at her jacket, while Panda kept a look out for Jin.
Jin was on the boat and was sitting the top deck looking out to the way to Hokkiaido, then he scoped the deck below him, looking for Xiaoyu. He squinted for a better look in-between the crowds on the fair sized boat. He saw her looking up at him and she waved, then ran to get to the top deck as people cleared the way to avoid Panda. Jin looked to the stairway as Xiao hopped up the stairs with Panda right behind her. "Jin, I thought you missed the boat. I was so worried!" Jin shifted his weight to his right leg and kept silent. "So, why are we going to Hokkiaido?" Ling cocked her head a little like a confused puppy. "Jin?" He turned around and rested his back on the pole fences. "Heihachi released Kuma in a forest somewhere there…" "So?" "I'm on a search for Heihachi and Kazuya. Kuma's my only help so far." Ling stood beside Jin. Jin looked down at her and raised an eyebrow. All she did was smile sweetly, but realized that he was dead serious and didn't feel at his happiest, so the smile faded and she looked down at the ground. "Why are you looking for Kazuya and Heihachi?" She crossed her legs, and Panda sat down beside her. Jin sighed and shook his head. "You wouldn't understand…it's…it's a complicated matter." Xiao nodded her head as if she understood, but she didn't.
After three or four hours of traveling over the ocean, the boat finally arrived to the shores of Hokkiaido and the passengers slowly boarded off the boat. Jin, Ling, and Panda were caught in the middle of the crowd, but were ready for almost anything. Xiao looked to Jin and tugged at his black jacket. "Where to now?" She asked. Jin pointed to a small village, west of the boating dock. "I've been there once. We can rest there and head off for the closest forest the next day." Xiaoyu started to shiver as a small wind blew at her blue denim pedal pushers. She grabbed on to Jin's arm and pulled him closer for warmth. "I'm c-cold." Jin glared at her coldly and yanked his arm back. He looked to the village, then walked towards it, leaving Panda and Ling Xiaoyu behind. "Hurry up if you don't want to freeze tonight." She looked up and started to run to get to Jin.
There weren't many shops in Tsukiji village, but there were many people who lived there. I t wasn't much like a village, but a tiny town with a small variety of shops. Jin and Ling walked into the entrance and looked around. There were people out in a small tavern across from an inn that were singing old folk tunes and celebrating whatever. The rumbling of Panda's stomach disturbed Jin and Xiao from enjoying the atmosphere. Xiao looked back at Panda, and then to Jin. "Were starving, Jin. What about you?" Jin crossed his arms across his chest and flipped back a piece of his bangs. "Yeah, I guess so." He looked around. "Over here. Follow me." Panda was the first to start toward a small hut right beside the inn. "Wait for me, Panda!" Xiao hollered as she raced her into the hut. Jin just kept behind, hoping no one would find out that they were with him. He looked up to the dusk sky before he went in. He squinted to see if any stars were out yet, but only a couple were visible. "This is going to be a hard journey for me." He thought to himself.
It was 10:00 a.m. on the next day as Xiao and Panda just woke up. Xiao rubbed her eyes and looked around. Jin wasn't there beside her like she hoped he would be, he wasn't even in the room. She pulled on her red sneakers and rushed to the cramped lobby of the inn. Jin wasn't there either. She turned to the owner of the inn with a worried face. "Have you seen the man with the pointy hair and the black jacket and that cute black shirt that's open and…and…" "Calm down…he just left for the tavern…it's okay." The owner said while trying to hold their laugh back. "Thank you." Xiao said with a slight bow, and she ran off across the square to the tavern.
Jin was asking questions about Kuma. If he's been seen anywhere near the village or in the forest. People were explaining how they sometimes saw the bear watching t.v. with them behind their back. One man stepped up to tell his story. "Yeah, once I saw that bear actually fighting with a tree! I thought it was so dumb, yet so funny, that I decided to leave him alone." Everyone started laughing. Another man stood up and gave a different story. "I think that bear belonged to someone before. I caught it dancing as a played some drums in my shack in the woods, not far from my house!" The person sat down and patted Jin on the back. "Why are you looking for that bear anyway? You want to see it dance, or fight with itself?" They laughed. "That bear actually happens to be training…it wasn't fighting with a tree, and it's very intelligent…it's almost human. And yes…it did belong to someone before, but it was granted freedom." "What do you mean?" Xiao walked to Jin and interrupted the discussion. Panda walked in behind her. When everyone saw her they backed away as Panda sniffed the air, then looked to the terrified villagers. "Don't worry, she's my bodyguard." Xiao announced. "Just don't threaten her and you won't get hurt." She quickliy turned to Jin. "Why didn't you wake me up?" " I was going to go on my own, but Panda refused to leave your side, so I waited here." Jin set his glass of water down. "Come on. We must leave for the forest."