Wonderful Day
By: Mako-chan
Mako_chan@tekken.cc


To clear up some questions that due to the passing of time has become archaic and for bogus circumstances I wasn't able to answer, let me take up a tiny space before we move onto the story. First, for those who are asking, "What would you call them, anyway?" (Xiaoyu's Diary) Honestly, I can't make up an answer, and that's exactly why it ended there. Besides, it's fun, I think if I were the reader, I'd have a ball thinking about them. So in a nutshell, I didn't/don't/can't have a single answer, it's all up to you to conjure up those beautiful and creative words. Second, about continuing and writing more stuff. For the longest possible delay, my deepest and most sincere sorry. Gomen nasai. It's just that when I write, everything begins fast and ends fast. When I write, I finish it in a short span of time. But when I don't write and can't find my mojo...you've been a witness to what happened...or should we say, didn't happen. So, sorry from the bottom of my heart. Besides I've been reading lately -- there are many great Xiaoyin authors with too many great stories! They're more brilliant and bolder than I am! (Mako-chan wishes she could be too). I just hope that I'd be leaving you a feeling of happiness after you've read the whole story, even a wee bit. My, I took up more space than I thought...

*Disclaimer: Jin Kazama, Ling Xiaoyu, and other Tekken characters you'll come across this fic are all owned by Namco (God bless this company, Jin Kazama has made lives such as mine paradoxically exciting). Mishima Polytechnic School belongs to the Mishimas (duh -_-) and is also owned by Namco, which means the Mishimas really don't own the school...yeah, yeah, I'm messing with your minds. Anyway, you get the picture. I didn't create them and I'm not gaining profit from this...*




CHAPTER ONE




It was almost 11:00 in the evening and Jin was sitting in his desk, paper and pen in hand. He stared at the spotless white sheet, as he had been doing so immediately after dinner. It was supposed to be the easiest paper he had to write in his entire life, but it turned out the most mind-numbing one.

"Oh, crud." In his frustration, Jin tossed the pen, placed his hands on the back of his head and leaned on his chair. "I...don't know her after all."

Meanwhile, Xiaoyu was in her bed, lying on her stomach with her legs crossed at the back and chin rested on her little hands. She stared at her big friend Panda, who was seated comfortably at the carpeted floor toying with the bell Xiaoyu had given herself on her arm.

Xiaoyu sighed loudly and looked at the ceiling. Nothing, absolutely nothing. Then she looked at her pet again and started to talk. "Panda, what do you think of me?"

At once, the large but gentle animal stopped and went to her young mistress' bedside. Her eyes were so sincere that Xiaoyu had to smile.

"You think I'm nice?"

Panda nodded faithfully.

"You think I'm friendly?"

And again Panda nodded faithfully.

"You think I'm interesting?"

And yet again, Panda nodded faithfully and grunted loudly.

Xiaoyu let out a giggle, utterly happy of the loyalty her pet was displaying. After all, Panda was her bestfriend. The moment she was given to her, they were inseparable. Xiaoyu had difficulty having friends back in China, the kids were just so frightened of her pet, it was as if she were hauling a beast by her side all the time. When she came to Japan, everything changed. To her surprise, people were captivated with Panda. Everywhere they went, people kept asking how she was able to take care of such an adorable yet enormous animal. Heck, even the kids wanted to take her pet home, only there wasn't enough space to spare in their tiny rooms. Much also to her surprise, Heihachi Mishima himself had a bear named Kuma for a bodyguard! And she learned this from Jin. It was the very first time they met...

"Whoa, Panda! This is such a big house! The garden is like a forest! It's so pretty," Xiaoyu exclaimed, awed by the vast estate her guardian owned. With time in her hands and permission, she decided to do a little exploration...she didn't like the idea of getting lost either.

Xiaoyu suddenly stopped on her tracks and placed a finger on her lips, hushing Panda down. A loud
grunting sound came out of nowhere, giving her goosebumps all over her body. She knew Heihachi
Mishima virtually owned Japan, he had an army and an army of bodyguards, even at an old age can still fight like a 20-year old, but would he go as far as letting wild (maybe even unheard of) beasts roam his estate? Doesn't he take walks in the morning?! Xiaoyu thought with a scare.

"Argh...argh!"

Xiaoyu let out a shriek and looked at Panda who also seemed frightened. Obviously, even she won't
be able to protect the both of them if the beast came their way. "I should've known from the that old man's hair that he was bad." Is he feeding it humans? Was that the reason he let me off easy on the cruiser? To make feeding time more interesting?! she absurdly thought.

Judging from the voice, it came from the east. Xiaoyu decided to head to that direction. Three people can put enough fight, she thought. "I won't be eaten! My Panda won't be eaten either!" She looked at Panda, who also now possessed determination. They bravely ran and followed the voice.

"Argh!"

The voice of a young man became louder and louder, telling Xiaoyu that she was on the right path.

"AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

To her horror, she saw a monstrous brown bear, throttling a young man, oddly, with spiked hair.
Xiaoyu grabbed the first thing she could get her hands on. She threw, and the stone hit the bear's
head sure and true. It was knocked to kingdom come, and fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"I'll save you!" she exclaimed and sprang out of nowhere, with Panda fast behind her.

"W-wha?"

"I said I'll --" Xiaoyu stopped and turned into beet red with embarrassment. There he was, a boy,
perhaps of 19, with luscious pouting lips, broad shoulders, finely-chiseled muscles (almost angrily,
"With that body of yours, you could take that bear down with one punch!"), and sun-kissed skin.
Not to mention a strange but cool spiked hair and astounding brown eyes she never thought
anyone could possibly possess...and they also happened to stare back at her with confusion.

"Thanks, though it's a little embarrassing on my part to be saved by a girl," he said, his eyes
turning from confused to happy.

The blood that was just about to drain from her face went back up again as she watched the
young man approach her. He's big, she thought.

Possessing a towering frame, he smiled and looked down at Xiaoyu. "However, nobody needs
saving," he said, and let out his hands for her to take.

Hesistantly, she drew hers from behind and let his big ones engulf her little ones. They're light, she
fondly thought.

He knelt down and stroked the unconscious bear. When it didn't budge, he tapped lightly. When
it stirred and started to shake its head, the young man turned again to Xiaoyu and stood up. The
bear stood up behind him, just as Panda was standing behind her.

"I'd like you to meet Kuma." With that, he turned to the bear and whispered something in his ear.
Kuma nodded, looked at their two guests and bowed. The boy gave a chuckle. "Very good...he's
pleased to meet you, especially your beautiful friend."

Xiaoyu was delighted. She knew people thought it unusual to take care of an enormous animal, but
she didn't care. But she never knew another could share the same affection. "It's nice to meet
you too, Kuma. I'm terribly sorry for hitting you in the head. I thought you were hurting him!
Sorry!"

Hearing this, the young man gave a shout of laughter. "That's unusually sweet. That's the first
time a girl tried to save me."

"Why? You save them all the time?"

"I'm supposed to, but I can tell black from white."

"Hey, if Kuma wasn't trying to throttle you, what was he doing then?"

"See that pail over there? It's his feeding time and that's a bucket of food. I just decided to play around. I hid some. He's a smart one, since he knew. He was actually tickling me to make me give the rest of his food."

"Oh, is that so?" Xiaoyu asked. "I'm so terribly sorry."

"It's alright. Jin."

"What?"

"Jin. My name's Kazama Jin."

"I'm Xiaoyu. Ling Xiaoyu. I'm pleased to meet you Jin."

Jin smiled at her warmly and shook her hand. Not long after, one of the servants came and
addressed him as "Young Master". When they got back to the mansion, she learned that he was Heihachi Mishima's grandson, heir to the Mishima Empire...

 That was, by far, the most normal and pleasant conversion she ever had with Jin. In the succeeding days, weeks and months, they scarcely crossed paths, especially when the King of the Iron Fist Tournament drew near. Xiaoyu had overheard from the servants that Jin was hell-bent on killing the fighting god that took his mother's life. She immediately realized that he was the one she heard every single night in the Tiger Dojo.

"He didn't think he had enough time to make friends then. But the tournament's over now. I guess he'd gotten used to fighting all those years that even after avenging his mother's death, he seems to not want to have the time to make friends. I've somehow grown to worry about him. He's always alone, who knows when the next Hwoarang will come in," Xiaoyu said, her weary eyes staring into Panda's attentive ones.

She had seen Jin fight Hwoarang by chance when she passed by one of the dark alleys looking for Miharu's cat (heck, I'm not even sure she has a pet). Even before exchanging blows, the copper-haired Korean was already going about doing his trash talk.

"So the pretty boy's come to get his face rearranged, eh?"

That statement bore through her, it angered her so much that she wanted to fight Hwoarang
herself. Xiaoyu turned to Jin, whose face was practically unreadable. It was as if he didn't hear a single word. She watched in the corner, and stayed until the end. A draw was called.

"Thank God," she whispered.

Xiaoyu would rather see a no-winner than see Jin lose the match to a cocky gangster. She looked on, and saw Jin standing weakly, grimacing while holding his upper stomach. She could immediately tell that he must've cracked a rib or two. Otherwise, he seemed fine. But to Xiaoyu's surprise, when Hwoarang was being helped by other gang members, Jin was all by himself. Not a single bodyguard, nor a member of the Tekkenshu, which she heard was with him the first time he faced Hwoarang. He had come to this place alone, not even a word to anyone in the mansion. She saw Jin's legs as they started to wobble, and as she went deeper into the alley, she saw blood trickling at the back of Jin's head. He was going to collapse!

Without a care in the world, or in this case, without a world of thugs, Xiaoyu caught Jin before he fell face first to the ground. With all her might, she hauled him upright. "Jin, can you hear me? Look at me!" she cried desperately.

"Well, well, well! Kazama, you never told me you brought a cheerleader with you! You never told me you had nice, little plaything...say we make a bet," Hwoarang called out, carried by the shoulders of his minions. "We fight," he declared and eased up by himself.

Xiaoyu looked at the rash boy approaching them, his face with a smirk. Furiously, she set an
unconscious Jin down to rest on one corner, and bravely met Hwoarang halfway.

"I see the choice was easy to make." Hwoarang arrogantly grabbed Xiaoyu's hand.

"You bitch!"

Xiaoyu had effortlessly snatched her hand away and took his wrist, twisting it until it was so close to snapping. Hwoarang used his leg and gave her a swift and painful kick in the leg that sent her falling onto the concrete.

Just as she thought she'd fall hard on her rear, Xiaoyu felt an arm grab her by the waist, quickly sending her to her feet. As if in a whirl, she saw a fist flying straight towards her. She wanted to block it, but she couldn't move. Something -- someone was restraining her. Left with no other choice, Xiaoyu helplessly closed her eyes shut and waited for the large and hard knuckles to make contact with her face...it never came. She crashed back at the impact and hit someone's chest. It was Jin, his arm receiving the punch. He looked at a humiliated Hwoarang with rage in his eyes. As his adversary attempted another attack, Jin's free hand quickly turned into a fist, stopping an inch away from Hwoarang's face.

"Don't you ever call her a bitch. You lay a finger on her, you're dead," he hissed, and sparks of lightning started to come out of his entire body.

Hwoarang gave a smug look and walked away. "This ain't over yet!"

"I never said it was," he answered back.

"Jin, are you alright?" Xiaoyu asked while she tried to help him walk.

At the contact, he immediately slapped her tiny hand away. "Who told you to come?" Jin boomed.

"Nobody."

"I don't like people meddling with my business. I didn't ask for your help."

"Yes, I know you didn't ask," Xiaoyu cried angrily. "But you needed it!"

That time, she couldn't help but burst into tears. She was already 16, and in some place far from China, still she suffered the same treatment! Boys never liked her because she knew how to fight. She effortlessly beat up the village boys whenever they sought chaos. But after the fright and trouble (not to mention strength) she had to go through, that was the thanks she got! And from a fully-grown man she thought saw her as a friend!

"Jin, you never wanted others to get close to you. You're afraid they'd get hurt because of you...isn't it?"

"All this thinking's getting me hungry. I better grab a bite." With that, Jin stood up from his seat. As he walked along the hall, he heard Xiaoyu talking inside her room. Jin leaned gently on the door and quietly listened.

"Panda, what was I thinking?" she asked exasperatingly. "You know what, just this afternoon, I asked Jin to be my partner in our Social Studies class. Why didn't I go with Miharu and went onto create a bigger problem?! I thought that when he said yes, everything would be great. That I could get to know him more...," she plopped more comfortably on the bed, then went on, "...when he told me he'd be done with his paper on me by tonight, I felt awful. I felt sad. To him, I'm just Ling Xiaoyu from China. The girl who always wears her hair in pigtails. The girl who made a complete fool of herself by threatening my grandfather and demanded that he build her her own amusement park...That genki slip of a girl who doesn't give a care in the world...Am I that shallow? Am I that...childish?"

With low spirits, Xiaoyu pulled out the ribbons that held her hair and stroked Panda's head, until she slowly fell asleep.

Jin stood by Xiaoyu's door for the longest moment. He felt terrible, as if he had cunningly deceived someone. She was always setting aside things...even people...just to say 'Hi' or ask 'How are you?' or 'How was training?' to him, and he'd push her away every single time. Sure he liked being alone and got used to being alone, but he once had people around him too. There was his mother and her mentor Uncle Wang.

"I never knew you felt that way," he quietly said, and decided to retreat to his room instead.

"Jin, are you alright?"

"Who told you to come?"

"Nobody."

"I don't like people meddling with my business. I didn't ask for your help."

"Yes, I know you didn't ask. But you needed it! I can't affort to watch you stagger helplessly. You were all by yourself --"

"Because I decided it!"

"Because you're arrogant and you're stubborn! If you want to beat that fighting god then stop wearing yourself out! I guess it's just nothing to you...to have someone like me worry about you. Who am I to say all these things, anyway?"

"You STUPID Jin," he said to himself as he stared at the ceiling. "How many times would you go on breaking her heart?"