A/N: Thanks to my reviewers! R&R plz.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken.

***

"Rise and shine, deary, time to rise and shine."

Xiaoyu awoke to a cheerfully bustling presence. A presence that felt it necessary to throw open the ugly curtains and let in the morning sun.

"Come now, child, there's work to do and not much time to do it."

Xiaoyu sat up groggily and looked around with bleary eyes. "Mmmwhat?"

A plump graying woman strode over to Xiaoyu and looked at her with eyes that sparkled with energy. "Time to get up I said. I'm Ananda Smithe, I'll be your maid for as long as you are a ward here at Mishima Mansion." She looked critically at Xiaoyu and murmured, "They should fit."

Xiaoyu rubbed her eyes and grumbled, "What should?"

"Your uniforms of course! Heihachi ordered them yesterday; I'm surprised even he got them so soon," the maid replied from the closet. She fished something out of the closet and tossed it onto the bed. "Hurry, take your shower and put these on. School here starts at 8:30. Its 7:30 now and you still need to register. Wouldn't want to be late on your first day of school now would you?"

And so Xiaoyu found herself promptly hustled out of bed and into the bathroom by an energetic Nan, (as she insisted on being called). She was showered by a nonstop flow of words even as she bathed. Xiaoyu was shocked by the maid's lung capacity. To be able to talk that long without drawing breath must surely require a bellows. However, Xiaoyu found Nan's obsessive gaiety to be refreshing rather than grating as she found most things to be in the morning. Her cheer was contagious; Xiaoyu found herself smiling into the mirror.

The uniform Nan had handed her fit perfectly and Xiaoyu was surprised at how much she liked it. It consisted of a short plaid skirt and a sailor style shirt. It also came with two very long very soft socks and brown walking shoes. The outfit was comfortable and didn't restrict her movement. Xiaoyu fell in love with it immediately.

"How do I look, Nana?" Xiaoyu asked merrily as she twirled for the maid.

She raised her eyebrows at her new nickname but only replied, "Gorgeous, of course!"

Xiaoyu laughed and ran out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen. "Morning!" she chimed at Heihachi and Jin. They were sitting at a huge table eating from plates heaped with eggs, sausage, and bacon.

Heihachi grinned at her and waved her over to the table. He was on the phone again but to Xiaoyu's surprise he hung it up immediately and welcomed her. "Well, well, well, but aren't we looking nice this morning!" he laughed.

Jin set down the book he was reading and looked at her. "Good morning Ling- san. Does your uniform fit you well?"

"It fits me very well, thank you!" she spun for them as well then laughed and hopped into a chair. Then she noticed something. "Hey guys, how come you're all so far away? Am I 'sposed to be sitting here?"

"You can sit where ever you want, Xiao," Heihachi assured her.

Xiaoyu tilted her head. "Cant we all sit together?" she asked innocently.

Heihachi and Jin were staring at her now. They had identical looks of surprise on their faces. After a moment they shifted their gazes from her to give each other wary glances. Finally Heihachi shrugged and moved over to sit by Xiaoyu. A moment later Jin followed. Xiaoyu got the distinct feeling that she had missed something.

A servant appeared at her elbow as asked her what she would like for breakfast. Xiaoyu's face regained its happy grin. "Do you have Wheaties?"

The servant looked confused. "Wheaties Miss?"

She smiled. "Yeah, Wheaties. Those flakey things? You know, cereal?"

He bowed dazedly and left.

Heihachi laughed. "Shocked the pants off of him, you did!"

Xiaoyu looked puzzled. "How?"

"Most guests ask for something fancy. Never miss out on Mishima Hospitality! But you're not a guest, are you?" he asked slyly.

Xiaoyu smiled back at him shyly. "Your Wheaties Miss."

The servant was back. He set a large bowl in front of Xiaoyu and left. Xiaoyu took one look at her bowl and burst out laughing.

Heihachi looked at her quizzically. "What's so funny?"

Xiaoyu was laughing so hard she couldn't breathe. Finally she wheezed, "He.He gave me Wheaties.in a.crystal bowl!" Xiaoyu howl with laughter until she felt she might have broken a rib.

Heihachi and Jin were staring at her again but after a minute Heihachi was chuckling with her and even Jin was smiling.

***

"So what classes will I have?" Xiaoyu asked as she skipped beside Jin.

You'll work that out with the school counselor. You will have five core classes and two electives I think. You're in your sophomore year aren't you?"

Xiaoyu shook her head. "Junior."

He looked at her sharply. "Really?"

She nodded. "Me and my mom thought all that freshy and sophomore stuff was junk so we skipped it. I took the grade test and passed it." Xiaoyu shrugged. "So I guess I'm a junior now."

Jin still looked confused. "You and your mom?" he prompted.

I home schooled with my mom." She grinned. "I kinda had to. I got kicked out of math class so often the school wasn't going to give me the credits."

"Why were you kicked out?" Jin asked.

"Well." Xiaoyu cocked her head to the side and flashed him a quirky smile. "Mr. Tanako told the class 'the basic theorems of geometry' and told us all this stuff about lines and formulas and showed us some shortcuts. Everything was going so well and then I asked him why it all worked. He wouldn't tell me! He said 'It just does'. Well, there has to be a reason. I asked him why it couldn't be another way and he said, 'It just isn't'. So I got mad and told him he didn't know what he was talking about and he said that he did but that I wouldn't understand the answer. So I told him to try me and he did and I did understand and he made a mistake and I showed him and he got mad at me and kicked me out of class." Xiaoyu panted. "And that's the story. From then on when ever I asked a question he ignored me or told me to shut up. I got mad a lot and kept asking questions and he started to kick me out of class almost every day. Finally I told him he was stupid and he tried to get me expelled. Then my mom came to the school and talked to the principal. I'm not sure what they said but my mom got really mad and I haven't gone to school since. I don't like math teachers, do you?" Xiaoyu looked at Jin.

He was staring at her and his mouth was hanging slightly open. ".Uhhh."

Xiaoyu laughed. "So Jin, does your grandpa really own this school?" Jin scratched his head and blinked. "Yeah."

"How come you walk to school if you're rich?"

"I enjoy it."

Xiaoyu clapped her hands. "Me too! I love walking places. I run too."

He nodded absently then stopped and pointed. "There: Mishima Polytechnical School."

Xiaoyu looked up ahead and her eyes widened. Was everything here so big? The school was a huge stone building lined with a large black metal gate. The building looked to be about four stories tall with a large column of black windows and, near the top, a large clock ticked out the time. There were trees planted around in spurts and groups of teenagers roamed around the grounds chatting until it was time to go to class. "Wow," she mumbled.

"Come on," Jin urged.

Xiaoyu followed him to the gate and beyond, into the school yard. Several of the kids nodded casually at them but for the most part they were ignored. Or they seemed to be. Xiaoyu look back a couple times and caught people staring at her with open curiosity. "The counselor's office is this way, Ling-san," Jin stated.

Xiaoyu sighed. "You can call me Xiaoyu, Jin."

"Of course, Ling-san."