Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken.

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Beads of sweat were trickling between her shoulder blades and her chest heaved great lungfuls of air, rich with the scent of exertion. Julia squeezed her eyes shut as she ran, trying to block out the rest of the world, focusing only on the rhythm of her breathing and the thudding of her feet upon the treadmill.

"Geez, you're really poundin' that thing!" The bold British accent cut through the silence of her concentration and bright blue eyes twinkled at her when she looked up. A scowl flickered across her features briefly, but still long enough for the young boxer to notice and he apologised for disturbing her. However, from his smile she guessed that Steve wasn't really sorry. The fact that he showed no sign of leaving confirmed this.

"Hello, Steve." She said, slowing the machine down to a steady walking pace.

Steve's smile broadened in response to her acknowledgement and he offered her a bottle of water. "Y'know, you're gonna hurt yourself if you keep up that pace. You shouldn't push yourself so hard, you're in great shape already." He took a cheeky look at her body as he said this, making Julia feel uncomfortable.

She sighed, taking a swig of the water and stepping off the treadmill. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew he was right. "So how are you?" She asked politely, resigned to the fact that she would have to talk to him, whether she liked it or not.

"Not too bad, not too bad." Steve responded, a hint of weariness in his voice as he followed her across the gym. They sat side by side by the vending machines as he continued. "I had a pretty rough fight yesterday, actually." Steve grimaced slightly and Julia noticed the red bruising on his cheekbone. "But I won anyway, so it doesn't matter." He continued, his smile quickly returning. "Think I'll train a bit more in the future though. I didn't expect this tournament to be so tough."

"Yes…" Julia said distractedly. Shaking her head, she brought her thoughts back to the present conversation. "I lost my last fight, so I'm not in the contest any longer." She explained, not bothering to keep the disappointment from her voice.

"Oh, that's tough luck." Steve consoled, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "That mean you'll be going back home soon?"

"My flight's not until the end of the week, so I'll be hanging around until then." Julia glanced down at her watch, uneasy discussing her failings. "Well, it looks like one of the weight machines is free now, so I'm gonna get back to my workout." She stated, making to return to the gym.

"Hey wait a sec' Jules!" Steve called after her. "Fancy going out for a drink tonight?"

"Oh, I don't think so." Julia called back, a bit surprised at his sudden invitation.

"Heh… Well, if you change your mind, hotel lobby at 8pm?" He replied, remaining cheerful. "And don't overdo it, ok?"

"Ok." Julia waved half-heartedly to him before going back to exercise.

Several hours later and Julia was sat on the end of her bed, flicking pointlessly through numerous bizarre Japanese TV channels. She'd read all the books she'd brought with her, exhausted herself at the gym, surfed the internet for ages at the library, and spent an hour on the phone to her mother. There was nothing left to distract herself with, and her mind was filled with daydreams that she was less than happy with.

She'd fantasised about Hwoarang coming to see her at the hotel. She'd though about bumping into him in the street. She'd considered being drawn to fight him in the tournament, and dreamt of having coffee with him at her university. She'd even imagined introducing him to her mother. It was driving her crazy. She didn't want to think about him anymore. Why couldn't she just forget him? She cursed Xiaoyu for putting more ideas in her head, though if she were honest, they were there already. She couldn't stand it. Her frustration at not being able to think of anything else was becoming too much to bear. She threw herself back on the bed and tugged at her hair in irritation. Rolling over, she caught sight of the clock: 7.48pm. 'Hmm, I guess it wouldn't hurt… A night out might do me good.' She thought to herself, getting up and heading for the bathroom.

Julia entered the lobby just as Steve was about to leave. She managed to catch his eye and waved. A wide grin plastered itself over his face when he saw her. "I didn't think you were gonna show!" He gushed, obviously relieved.

"Yeah, well… I needed to get out of that hotel room." She smiled broadly at him, and they made their way out of the hotel.

Julia stared down into the depths of her drink, her mind wandering discontentedly through the darkness of the Tia Maria. Her evening out wasn't as enjoyable and distracting as she had hoped it would be. It had turned out that Steve's enthusiasm wasn't reserved purely for her, but was directed at anything with breasts. At this particular moment in time his attention was fully devoted to those belonging to a young globetrotter from Canada, and next to her voluptuous figure, Julia was feeling decidedly plain and dull in her denim shirt and shorts.

She was just considering making her excuses and leaving, when Steve's bold and friendly voice boomed out over the top of her head, "Hey, Kerrang! Come and join us, man." Julia froze, hardly daring to turn and see who he was calling to. When she did look, she was met with the sight of Hwoarang standing just inside the entrance to the bar. He was looking a little less than pleased with Steve's embarrassing mispronunciation and wild, attention-drawing, gesticulations. Steve didn't seem to notice and continued to wave at him to come over. After what seemed an eternity to Julia, in which Hwoarang's eyes burned into hers, he chose to do the polite thing, and come over.

"Alright there, Kerrang?" Steve continued, not realising the embarrassment he was causing himself. "Funny name that, like the magazine, huh? Suits you!"

Hwoarang met Steve's confident smile with an overly stern stare and Julia mumbled under her breath, "His name's Hwoarang, not Kerrang."

"Ah, sorry mate." Steve apologised, raking his fingers through his hair awkwardly. "Hwoarang, grab a seat." He grinned, brushing his abashment away with ease. "Really, I'm sorry. I've never been any good with names."

"It's fine. I'm used to it." Hwoarang's voice was quiet, and he glanced sidelong at Julia as he took a seat at their table, a gesture which Steve didn't fail to spot.

"You two friends then?" He asked, looking from one to the other and grinning broadly. Fortunately, Julia was saved from having to make an attempt at explanation by Sally, the globetrotter, who chose this moment to flash her smile at Hwoarang and introduce herself, knowing full well the power of her feminine charms. Julia felt her insides churn at the sight of the bubbly Canadian making eyes at her man. Not that she had any right to call him that. Indeed, she didn't even want to, she reminded herself. She hated Hwoarang. He was a horrible person, who she wanted nothing to do with.

Jealousy was clearly kick started in Steve as well. He very quickly clicked back to full attention mode, telling Hwoarang all the exciting things he'd discovered about Sally in the half hour he'd known her, offering to buy her more drink and lavishing as much attention as was possible. Hwoarang and Julia sat awkwardly beside each other, each sipping their drinks in silence. Julia felt as though the tension would kill her and she fought desperately to keep from shaking. She stared fiercely at the table, painfully aware of every movement he made, she tried to concentrate on the conversation between Steve and the backpacker, but the words just wouldn't register with her brain.

Then she felt him lean closer, his face at her ear. His voice was quiet and breathy as he whispered to her. "I realise that our last meeting didn't go very well, or any of our meetings really, but…" He paused, gathering his thoughts before continuing. "Can we go somewhere private?"