Disclaimer: Tekken isn't mine, duh!

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Her deep chestnut-brown eyes stared back at her through long, dark lashes. Shifting her focus slightly, Julia gazed through the window at the shoppers passing by. She was distracted from her thoughts by the till attendant before her, signalling that she was now at the front of the queue. Blinking dazedly, she handed over her purchases and returned to watching the busy people. A sharp cough jolted her back to reality, and she turned to face the girl again. She frowned in confusion at the words spoken to her, and it took a second for her to glance at the till to see how much she owed. Her attention was again flagging as she fumbled in her wallet for the correct notes, and the shop assistant's impatience was evident from her expression. On the way out of the store, she collided heavily with another customer, dropping her bags. Having gathered them up and made it out of the store embarrassed, but unhurt, Julia decided that it was time she took a break.

Ten minutes later, she was sat at a small table in a quiet café, blowing softly on a steaming mug of hot chocolate. It was hopeless, she'd been gift shopping for three hours now, and all she'd bought was a tiny radio for a university friend, and a pair of brown, fingerless leather gloves for herself.

She was finding it impossible to concentrate on anything for any length of time. Her thoughts were constantly returning to Hwoarang, and their talk last night. His words had puzzled her. On one hand, he seemed so nice, and sincere, and on the other, he seemed to mock her. He thought that she believed she was perfect. That wasn't true, she never thought that. Or did she? She had judged him without knowing him. She had thought that she was somehow better than he was. What a horrible person she was. But who was to say that she hadn't been right about him? He had attacked her, that night, and he hung around with drunks and muggers. However, at times, when they were talking, he'd come across as being so much nicer than she thought he was, and she found herself believing he could be a good guy. What did she really know about? Well, after talking to him, all she could be certain of was that he wasn't an idiot. She'd strongly sensed that he was playing with her: that what he said, he said on purpose.

This line of thought wasn't getting her anywhere… Why couldn't she get him out of her head? Julia looked down at her drink. It had gone cold. Gathering her things, Julia stood and headed to the exit. She made a promise to herself: she was going to shop, and she wasn't going to allow herself to be consumed by thoughts of Hwoarang anymore. It just wasn't healthy. As she stepped out onto the busy street she repeated over and over in her head, 'Shopping, shopping, shopping…'

"Hi Steve!" Julia called out as she came up behind him.

"Jules! Hey there. Been shopping, huh?" He smiled broadly at her, gesturing to her carrier bags.

Returning his smile, she nodded, and watched as a black limo pulled up.

"Well, this is my ride, I'm afraid. Talk to you later, eh?" Steve said apologetically, as the driver held open the car door for him.

"Oh, sure." She replied, before he left her standing alone in front of the hotel, waving at the car as it disappeared into the distance. As she turned to go in, something caught her eye. Several army vehicles coming along the road, going a little faster than they should. They had no visible signs of what nationality they were, but her mind immediately went to Hwoarang. Glancing around in a frenzy, her attention focused on the valet climbing out of a silver Mercedes, jangling the keys in his hand. Without thinking what she was going, Julia grabbed the keys and jumped into the car, shouting over her shoulder, "I just need to borrow it for a bit!"

"My god, what on Earth am I doing!? What am I doing?" She muttered to herself as she recklessly pulled out into the busy traffic and pursued the army vehicles. They were moving quite quickly, and the Tokyo traffic was terrible. She lost sight of them a couple of times, but luckily managed to find them again. All the time, her mind was racing. Why was she doing this? Had she lost her mind? How did she know that these vans had anything to do with Hwoarang at all? And even if they did, what business was it of hers? How was she going to explain this to her mother?

She pulled up at the side of a large hotel. The vans had disappeared down a ramp into the car park beneath. She sat with the engine running, wondering what to do next, when the sound of gunfire cut through her thoughts. Not really realising what she was doing, Julia rammed the car through the exit barrier and careered down the ramp. Screeching into the car park, the noise of gunfire was deafening, and she saw Hwoarang and Jin sheltered by a van, a huge cloud of smoke and debris billowing behind them. Throwing open the car door, she gestured frantically at them. Without hesitation, the two men leapt up and ran full speed to the car, throwing themselves in. Julia slammed her foot down on the accelerator, driving dangerously fast back out into daylight. She kept up the pace for several blocks, until she was satisfied that there was no pursuit, before slowing down to a more reasonable velocity.

Her grip on the steering wheel was so fierce that her knuckles were white, as she drove mindlessly across Tokyo. The panting of her passengers was gradually slowing, and glancing in the rear view mirror Julia could see Hwoarang's ferocious stare, fixed not on her, but on the Japanese youth beside her in the front seat. The light danced in his eyes like wild fire, matching the blazing strands of hair hanging in a tangled mess about his head. Sweat glistened on his brow, which was furrowed into ugly ridges of anger.

In contrast to the burning fury of the Korean's expression, Jin's calm, stoic gaze was like a rock. Hard, and impenetrable. His eyes were so dark, Julia found it very difficult to tell his mood, or if he felt anything at all. He turned to face her as she looked sidelong at him, and there was something in his stare that made her uneasy. It was as though there was something behind his eyes, a strangely familiar darkness, which she couldn't quite see, but could tell was there, nonetheless. She looked back to the road quickly, not wanting to meet those eyes again.

"Thank you, Julia." Jin's words were slow and steady. He continued to keep his eyes on her, as he spoke. "Could you please let me out here? I have a tournament fight to get to."

Julia took a deep breath as she pulled over at the side of the road. As he reached for the door handle, she stopped him. "Wait, Jin…" He turned to look at her again. "Um…" She faltered, "Xiaoyu is really worried about you. You should speak to her, let her know you're ok, before you disappear again…" She trailed off, unsure of how this mysterious man would react.

He looked away from her, pulling up his hood to hide his face before replying. "I will speak to her."

As Jin made to step out of the car, Hwoarang, who had been silently glaring at him until now lunged forward and grabbed him round the neck. "We'll finish this another time, Kazama!" He hissed, the bitterness of his voice like acid to Julia's ears. Jin silently removed Hwoarang's arm and stood up. As he walked away, Hwoarang called after him. "Who are you fighting?"

Jin stopped, not looking back at them, and his words hit like a hammer on an anvil. "My father." With that, he left, walking away down the street.

Hwoarang clambered into the front seat as Julia started driving again, grumbling various swear words as he settled down. "I will beat him. Next time, I'll beat him." He stated, more to himself than to her. His words were wrathful and harsh, and he clenched and unclenched his fists angrily as his eyes cast around, searching for something to glare at. They drove on in silence for another 15 minutes, before Hwoarang regained enough composure to make conversation. "So what are you doing here?" His voice snapped at her a little more severely than he had intended.

Waveringly, she tried to explain. "I saw the army vehicles, so I thought…" She stopped, until he probed her to continue. "Well, I knew that you're AWOL, so… I thought they might be here for you and…"

"How did you know that?!" Anger and suspicion sounded in his voice, and Julia swallowed nervously. She felt unsafe being so close to him when he was in such a foul mood.

"I guessed. Your profile on the tournament website said you were in the army, but you're here in Tokyo."

He seemed to be satisfied with this explanation. "So why did you help me? What happened to me being a bad guy?" He snarled his words at her, and her faith in her original view of him was quickly being restored.

Shrugging, she answered him as he had answered her the previous night. "You needed help." His eyes burned into the side of her head, as she kept her eyes firmly fixed on the road. After a moment, his face broke into a wide grin, and he chuckled at her. She was quite taken aback by the sudden shift in his mood.

Raking back his hair he looked around the vehicle, before quizzing her with a wicked smirk. "I didn't realise you had a car…"

Julia's cheeks flushed red, the impact of what she'd done hitting home. "I kind of… stole it." She explained.

Hwoarang continued to smirk. "So you really are a bad girl, after all." There was no doubt about the mocking in his voice this time. Julia ground her teeth together, staring fiercely at the road. She hated the way he was making her feel like a fool, when it should be him that was ashamed. He was the one who was AWOL, and he was the one who'd been getting into fights in parking lots. She shouldn't have to put up with his superior attitude. After all, she had saved his life. "What're we gonna do now?" He asked, stretching back in his seat, grinning at her, cockily. She threw him a furious glance and didn't answer. Sitting up and turning a savage gaze upon her, he snarled his next words. "You got yourself into this. Don't go blaming me just because you're not perfect all the time!"

"I've never thought I was perfect!" She snapped back, her anger building.

"You could have fooled me!" He retorted, and she was afraid he might strike her.

"Well if you're much better than me, then you tell me what we're going to do now!" She spat out.

Hwoarang glowered at her for what felt like an eternity, before he spoke. When he did, his voice was quiet, his anger controlled. "You could start by going somewhere, instead of driving around in circles."

Breathing deeply, Julia nodded silently. "I don't know my way around Tokyo."

"Ok. I can give directions. You can take me back to my apartment. You know your way to the hotel form there, don't you?" His voice was now calm, and they were both working hard not to lose their tempers again.

"Yes, I think so." Julia glanced at him quickly. She was still very tense, and he made her so nervous and angry she was afraid she'd be sick, or pass out. He was staring ahead now, and he began to direct her, his instructions sharp and to the point.

Drawing the car to a halt, Julia peered over the steering wheel at the camouflage-green van parked near the other end of the street. "It looks like they're watching your place." She stated the obvious, and Hwoarang let out a long sigh.

"Great…" He mumbled. "So what'll I do now?"

They sat silently for a few minutes, before Julia worked up the courage to give a suggestion. "I guess you could… stay with me."