Shattered
Chapter Four: The Morning After
His eyes opened to meet the black storm clouds above him. The cool raindrops splattered onto his entire body, but he was numb to their relieving touch. He lifted himself off the rigid exterior of the ground that he had landed upon. He sniffed the air and nearly vomited. There was an atrocious scent hanging about, that of which was extremely vile. He felt an extremely horrid pain throbbing on his chest and as a reflex his hands threw themselves upon it. There was a sticky warmth underneath his fingertips, something that was flowing from his chest. His eyes cast downwards, and what he saw had made his sick.
A large diagonal gash streaked across his chest and down to his abdominal muscles. Flesh was torn open upon its infliction, blood streaming from the opening, a grisly red cascade pouring from the poor boy's wound. Had it been any deeper, glistening white bone would have been revealed.
What had he ever done to deserve this? He had never known the depths of his father's hatred of him until now. To be thrown off a cliff and left for dead as casually as a child would dispose of his toy was unthinkable. But he had survived, whether or not he intended to.
"He wants me to die," he whispered out loud as a distant rumble of thunder was heard over the splashing of the raindrops. "...I won't let him get what he wants, not after what he did to me..."
He staggered over to the base of the great ravine and clutched the jagged rocks, pulling himself off from the ground in an attempt to climb. His body cried for death after the multiple injuries it had received, his mind was too weary to even function, all that kept him going was that white hot hatred that burnt inside of his heart. That was all he needed to force himself to scale up the rocks with his bare hands and feet. To see his father's face contorted with pain was all that he wanted now, to feel his blood dripping upon his hands, to hear his cries of agony, was all that fueled Kazuya to continue his ascent.
"I can't die here," he seethed through clenched teeth as his scarred hand reached for another rock. "Father...you don't deserve to live after all you've done. I won't let you...even if I have to kill you myself..."
Kazuya woke up, opening his eyes and letting out a sharp gasp. He sat up from his mattress, his heart racing turbulently. His dark brown eyes scanned the room: he saw all of the papers strewn across his oak desk, the spines of all the multiple books that his shelves housed, and the scent of the candles that were organized in no particular fashion around his chamber. The sweat rolled off of his forehead after he had grasped that what he had saw in his thoughts just now was only a memory. His hand reached underneath the top of his pajamas to trace the wound that his father had given him on that fateful day. Even if it was pitch dark in his room, he has had that scar for so long that he knew by heart where it was located.
The flesh had healed itself over the gash, mending it so that no more blood would escape from his body. However the injury was so deep that Kazuya would have to carry it as a constant reminder of the result of his father hurtling him off the cliff and into the shadows below. If he had any doubts about how his father truly felt about him, Kazuya only needed to trail his fingers along his hideous scar to remind himself of how Heihachi had forsaken him. He would never care about the welfare or good being of his son. Kazuya knew that he loved watching him drown in his misery or suffer at his hand during each training session. Heihachi would never let him out of the house except to attend school or to go to the appointments with his psychiatrist, which he knew only added to Kazuya's despondency. Every other minute was devoted to being locked in that wretched dojo and desperately struggling to survive through sparring. Kazuya was not just fighting his father; he was fighting to ensure that he would live to see another sunrise.
His hands reached out towards his brass clock, its hands reading fifteen minutes after four. He would not have to prepare for school and sit down to breakfast for another two hours. Kazuya was about to lay back down again, but he heard a shuffling from outside his door. His muscles tensed as a natural reaction while he got out of bed. He knew that all of the butlers were not due to arrive until five o' clock, and he doubt that his father was lurking outside of his room. He cautiously walked towards the door, prepared to pounce upon whoever was on the other side if needed be. His hand grasped the doorknob and he swung it open, expecting to see a shadowy figure recoiling back into the darkness of the early morning. But he saw no one in the hallway, that is, until he looked below him to find the sleeping form a girl, clad in a white nightgown.
Kazuya was startled to find her there. After he had shouted at her and shoved her into a wall in his impatience, he assumed that she would go back to her room to sleep. But to see the girl huddled upon the wooden floor outside of his door had taken him aback. Why was she laying there asleep when anyone would agree that sleeping on a soft featherbed mattress was more comfortable than sleeping on solid ground? She had a reason for being there instead of being locked away in a colorful world of dreams from the comfort of her bed. It was as if...she had been waiting for him and had fallen asleep in the process. He remembered her pleading with him to allow her to treat his wounds the night before, despite his responses of denial. He thought that after he had gone so far as to push her forcefully away from him, she would stop meddling and go back to her own business. But she obviously did no such thing to Kazuya's surprise. Had she actually want to look after his wounds? Was she...worried about the well being of a person that she had just met?
He shook his head, chiding at himself. Why would she be so eager to care for a stranger that she has never known? Yet, why would she still be right outside his door if not out of genuine concern?
He saw her shift onto her other side as she slept, muttering something inaudible as she did. He saw a blue mark upon her milky white skin and realized that it was inflicted by him after he sent her crashing against the wall. An unfamiliar sentiment of guilt formed within him, something that he had never felt in countless years. He bent over her and slipped his arms underneath her head and slim legs. Effortlessly, he rose onto his feet, carrying the girl in his arms as she slept. He took her back to her room and placed her on her bed, where the silk sheets had been thrown aside after she heard him in the hallway. He pulled back the sheets over her tiny form and stared at her while she laid peacefully in slumber. He looked at the girl, the moonlight that escaped from the curtains illuminating her adorable face.
Her ivory flesh and silken raven hair had given her the resemblance of a porcelain doll. However, from what he could tell she did not act like one. Whereas a doll would stay stationary throughout the events that transpired before its artificial glassy eyes as it sat in place on a shelf, this child did not do the same. She seemed to come to life in a fit of passion whenever she felt that she had to, like she had done to defend Nairusu. Unlike the vacant eyes of a doll, hers were sparkling and expressive with a touch of solemnity to them. There was more underneath her timid demeanor that roused Kazuya's curiosity, and he hated to be frustrated by not knowing what it was. Ignorance was bliss if you were a fool, and he of course would never want to be as such.
He took one last look at her, both perplexed and aggravated by her mysterious character. He walked out of the room and back to his chamber, figuring that two more hours of sleep would not hurt.
* * * *
"Miss!" A loud knock rapped on her door, stirring her from her sleep. "Breakfast will be ready in an hour."
Jun opened her eyes to find herself in a massive, elegantly-furnished room. It took her a few seconds to come to the realization that she had spent her first night in the Mishima Estate. "I'll be down," Jun groggily replied as she got off from her bed when it had struck her. She slept through the night in here?
Jun remembered clearly sitting upon the floor outside of Kazuya's room, waiting for him to grant her entrance so she could care for him. She was so worried in fact that she must have fallen asleep without knowing it. But then, how did she move from one place to another? Did one of the butlers see her lying on the floor and took her back to her room...or did HE?
Remembering the injured and battered state she had found him, anxiety overtook her like a powerful wave. She rushed from her room in search of the older boy, completely forgetting about changing out of her nightgown. She practically flew down the long flight of stairs and looked about the dining and living rooms. Seeing that he was absent from both, she continued her search in the kitchen, finding only the family cook.
"Excuse me," she addressed the man, the large chef's knife that his right hand brandished stopping midair before chopping the stalk of celery beneath its metallic blade. "Did you see Kazuya-san come by here?"
"Master Kazuya? He is in the courtyard." the chef answered, and went back to nimbly chopping the celery.
"Thank you." Jun answered gratefully and entered the courtyard from the white lattice doors that were in the back of the large kitchen. She ran along the path, her small feet occasionally coming across a stray pebble or two. Her heartbeat was irregular and rapid with concern for the silent Mishima heir as he was nowhere to be found near the neatly kept bushes or shrubbery. The winding cobblestone path finally led her to the very far reaches of the expansive courtyard, and to her relief, Kazuya.
He was clad in his pinstriped pants and blue vest, sitting on the edge of a bench completely built of white granite. His back was to her since he was staring into the direction of a man-made pond whose clean waters served as a marine home to various colored koi fish. A small cataract trickled down several ragged rocks that surrounded the pond like a fortress of stone. A small garden of a few remaining irises that had thrived in the earlier months of summer swayed lightly in the morning breeze, crystals of frost glistening from their indigo faces.
Jun was about to call out his name, but she remembered the events that transpired last night. Although he was cruel in his manner of informing her, he was correct: she never was granted permission to address him by his name. "Um...good morning."
His head wheeled at her direction upon hearing the familiar timid voice and saw the girl standing a few feet from where he sat. She expected to see the already usual look of agitation on his brooding face, but to her surprise he appeared calm. "What is it?" He asked, the slight deepness to his voice a confirmation that he was maturing into an adolescent.
"I was only wondering if your wounds have healed."
"They are fine," Kazuya informed her coolly. "Why do you ask?"
"Because, you were bleeding so much...I was kind of worried." She admitted openly to him, the clarity in her almond brown eyes never fading.
Kazuya only stared at her for a moment and noticed the bruise on her little arm that he himself had inflicted upon her. He then looked away from her and back to the pond.
"Did you take me back to my bed last night?" She asked coyly.
"...yes."
"You did? Thank you very much then-"
"Think nothing of it. I only moved you because you were in the way of my door." He callously responded, although the reason he gave was not entirely the truth.
"Oh...sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep."
"What were you doing on the floor in the first place?"
Jun's feet shuffled through the dew-laden grass. "I was just afraid. You were so hurt last night that I was scared that something serious might have happened to you if you weren't treated."
Another awkward moment of silence passed between the two children, the melodic songs of the awakening birds sounding through the frosty stillness of the morning. The beams of the sun slowly crept across the blades of grass like countless vermillion serpents.
"Why did you defend Nairusu yesterday?"
Bewilderment struck her as if lightning had jolted her senses. "W- what?"
"Don't make me repeat myself. Why did you go out of your way to stand up for a pathetic man who makes his living off of hanging coats and scrubbing toilets all day?"
"His job doesn't matter to me. I didn't want Nairusu-san to get into trouble for something that I did. It wouldn't be fair." Jun answered defiantly.
"Little girls like you wouldn't know what's fair or not." He criticized in a mocking tone.
"I don't have to be a grown-up to know that it's wrong for someone else to take the blame for your own actions." Jun replied in her gentle voice. "If Nairusu-san was punished because of me, it would be wrong. I didn't want that to happen."
He was silent, quietly astounded by the girl's tranquil, yet obstinate, behavior. Again, her youthful appearance had misled her age. There was something beyond her years that her innocent countenance failed to show, making her the more enigmatic.
She drew closer to him as he was seated upon the bench to take a closer examination at his injuries. She suddenly took his arm gingerly and suspended it with her hands, pulling the sleeve of his white shirt up to his shoulder. He did nothing to stop her and allowed her to inspect his other arm, observing her with his scrutinizing chestnut brown eyes. She did not notice him staring at her, too absorbed with making sure that the wounds had sealed themselves and were not in need of sterilization or bandages. She saw that there were two deep scars that embedded the firm skin above the vital veins on both his wrists, but she said nothing, thinking that they had been there last night. He noticed that she had seen them, but he knew that she was much too young to realize the cause of those particular cuts was the razor sharp kiss of a knife.
Her fears put to rest for the time being, she released his arm and watched as he rolled his sleeves back down. "What is your name?"
"Jun Kazama." She answered soundly. "Oh...what should I call you if you do not wish for me to-"
"My first name." He interjected abruptly and stood up from the bench so that the girl was barely half his height.
"Okay then...Kazuya-sama." A small smile formed at the corners of her mouth, displaying the premature, but glowing beauty that was apparent in all children. For some reason, the beauty that she possessed was something unique from all toddlers her age. Kazuya felt an odd urge to grin in response to her smile, but he did not allow himself to do so.
He watched her from the bench as she approached the pond where the koi fish swam. When they had detected the presence of a human, their large heads surfaced, water sliding down their gills and round black eyes. Jun saw a tangle of brilliant oranges and reds as the fish emerged from the sanctuary of the pond's waters, their large mouths opening and closing as they bobbed up and down in the water.
"They look hungry," she commented to him.
Kazuya walked over to her side and chuckled. "The gardener feeds them daily, so don't give them any food while you stay here. If you feed them too much, they die."
"Poor things," she remarked. "Must be terrible to be starving all the time."
"That's their fault. They're all gluttons." Kazuya simply answered.
Jun's sympathy for the fish did not waver under Kazuya's statement. "You'd be the same way too if you were cooped up in a pond all day with nothing to do."
"Maybe. That's why I'm glad that I'm not a fish."
Jun pondered his answer and the thought of Kazuya in the slippery form of a constantly hungry koi fish had greatly amused her. She burst into a fit of giggles, startling the older boy.
"What's so funny?"
Jun shook her head rapidly, holding back her laughter by placing her hands over her lips. "Nothing!"
Kazuya raised a suspicious eyebrow. "If you have something to say, then say it."
The younger girl looked back at him, her ebony eyes twinkling with laughter. "I just thought of you as a fish. That's all."
His pride was greatly offended, having being compared with a lowly creature such as a brainless fish. "Oh, and I suppose you think that's humorous, do you?"
Jun's giggles subsided after hearing the insulted tone in Kazuya's voice. "A little," she confessed.
"Well then, what about this?" Kazuya asked, scooping up a handful of water from the pond and throwing it at her. She gasped as the cold sensation of the water seeped through her nightgown. The chilly morning air had only made matters worse as she felt the water dripping down her skin.
Kazuya smirked in triumph from seeing the shocked look on the girl's face, but was taken aback when she had the nerve to thrash the water, rippling with the surveying koi fish, with her own hands and splash him back. The frigid water trickled through his sleeveless vest and he felt his shirt clinging tightly to his chest as a result of Jun's retaliation. He was both unnerved and stunned that the shy, quiet child actually had returned his assault just now.
But of course, being himself, he was not going to take this lying down.
He lashed at her with more ferocious attacks of water with the intentions of soaking her. Jun's onslaught did not halt either as she gathered as much water that her little palms could hold and flung it towards her enemy. The usual tranquility of the morning at the Mishima manor was ruptured by the seldom heard laughter of Kazuya that day.
***Sorry that this chapter was a bit short...or all my chapters normally that way? In any case, I hope that this one wasn't corny or rushed. I honestly think that the last scene was cute, but not everyone might agree with me.
But I'm glad that I've been getting such positive reviews. This fanfic has been an idea of mine that I've kept to myself. I have so many ideas with this that the possibilities are endless, so keep reading if you want! Thanks to Kazuya-sama, mashpotatobunny, Ksim3000, Dragon Empress, Chibi- Sugababy, and Aoi Shidou. It's great to know that people actually read a fic on this website that isn't Xiaojin related!
Chapter Four: The Morning After
His eyes opened to meet the black storm clouds above him. The cool raindrops splattered onto his entire body, but he was numb to their relieving touch. He lifted himself off the rigid exterior of the ground that he had landed upon. He sniffed the air and nearly vomited. There was an atrocious scent hanging about, that of which was extremely vile. He felt an extremely horrid pain throbbing on his chest and as a reflex his hands threw themselves upon it. There was a sticky warmth underneath his fingertips, something that was flowing from his chest. His eyes cast downwards, and what he saw had made his sick.
A large diagonal gash streaked across his chest and down to his abdominal muscles. Flesh was torn open upon its infliction, blood streaming from the opening, a grisly red cascade pouring from the poor boy's wound. Had it been any deeper, glistening white bone would have been revealed.
What had he ever done to deserve this? He had never known the depths of his father's hatred of him until now. To be thrown off a cliff and left for dead as casually as a child would dispose of his toy was unthinkable. But he had survived, whether or not he intended to.
"He wants me to die," he whispered out loud as a distant rumble of thunder was heard over the splashing of the raindrops. "...I won't let him get what he wants, not after what he did to me..."
He staggered over to the base of the great ravine and clutched the jagged rocks, pulling himself off from the ground in an attempt to climb. His body cried for death after the multiple injuries it had received, his mind was too weary to even function, all that kept him going was that white hot hatred that burnt inside of his heart. That was all he needed to force himself to scale up the rocks with his bare hands and feet. To see his father's face contorted with pain was all that he wanted now, to feel his blood dripping upon his hands, to hear his cries of agony, was all that fueled Kazuya to continue his ascent.
"I can't die here," he seethed through clenched teeth as his scarred hand reached for another rock. "Father...you don't deserve to live after all you've done. I won't let you...even if I have to kill you myself..."
Kazuya woke up, opening his eyes and letting out a sharp gasp. He sat up from his mattress, his heart racing turbulently. His dark brown eyes scanned the room: he saw all of the papers strewn across his oak desk, the spines of all the multiple books that his shelves housed, and the scent of the candles that were organized in no particular fashion around his chamber. The sweat rolled off of his forehead after he had grasped that what he had saw in his thoughts just now was only a memory. His hand reached underneath the top of his pajamas to trace the wound that his father had given him on that fateful day. Even if it was pitch dark in his room, he has had that scar for so long that he knew by heart where it was located.
The flesh had healed itself over the gash, mending it so that no more blood would escape from his body. However the injury was so deep that Kazuya would have to carry it as a constant reminder of the result of his father hurtling him off the cliff and into the shadows below. If he had any doubts about how his father truly felt about him, Kazuya only needed to trail his fingers along his hideous scar to remind himself of how Heihachi had forsaken him. He would never care about the welfare or good being of his son. Kazuya knew that he loved watching him drown in his misery or suffer at his hand during each training session. Heihachi would never let him out of the house except to attend school or to go to the appointments with his psychiatrist, which he knew only added to Kazuya's despondency. Every other minute was devoted to being locked in that wretched dojo and desperately struggling to survive through sparring. Kazuya was not just fighting his father; he was fighting to ensure that he would live to see another sunrise.
His hands reached out towards his brass clock, its hands reading fifteen minutes after four. He would not have to prepare for school and sit down to breakfast for another two hours. Kazuya was about to lay back down again, but he heard a shuffling from outside his door. His muscles tensed as a natural reaction while he got out of bed. He knew that all of the butlers were not due to arrive until five o' clock, and he doubt that his father was lurking outside of his room. He cautiously walked towards the door, prepared to pounce upon whoever was on the other side if needed be. His hand grasped the doorknob and he swung it open, expecting to see a shadowy figure recoiling back into the darkness of the early morning. But he saw no one in the hallway, that is, until he looked below him to find the sleeping form a girl, clad in a white nightgown.
Kazuya was startled to find her there. After he had shouted at her and shoved her into a wall in his impatience, he assumed that she would go back to her room to sleep. But to see the girl huddled upon the wooden floor outside of his door had taken him aback. Why was she laying there asleep when anyone would agree that sleeping on a soft featherbed mattress was more comfortable than sleeping on solid ground? She had a reason for being there instead of being locked away in a colorful world of dreams from the comfort of her bed. It was as if...she had been waiting for him and had fallen asleep in the process. He remembered her pleading with him to allow her to treat his wounds the night before, despite his responses of denial. He thought that after he had gone so far as to push her forcefully away from him, she would stop meddling and go back to her own business. But she obviously did no such thing to Kazuya's surprise. Had she actually want to look after his wounds? Was she...worried about the well being of a person that she had just met?
He shook his head, chiding at himself. Why would she be so eager to care for a stranger that she has never known? Yet, why would she still be right outside his door if not out of genuine concern?
He saw her shift onto her other side as she slept, muttering something inaudible as she did. He saw a blue mark upon her milky white skin and realized that it was inflicted by him after he sent her crashing against the wall. An unfamiliar sentiment of guilt formed within him, something that he had never felt in countless years. He bent over her and slipped his arms underneath her head and slim legs. Effortlessly, he rose onto his feet, carrying the girl in his arms as she slept. He took her back to her room and placed her on her bed, where the silk sheets had been thrown aside after she heard him in the hallway. He pulled back the sheets over her tiny form and stared at her while she laid peacefully in slumber. He looked at the girl, the moonlight that escaped from the curtains illuminating her adorable face.
Her ivory flesh and silken raven hair had given her the resemblance of a porcelain doll. However, from what he could tell she did not act like one. Whereas a doll would stay stationary throughout the events that transpired before its artificial glassy eyes as it sat in place on a shelf, this child did not do the same. She seemed to come to life in a fit of passion whenever she felt that she had to, like she had done to defend Nairusu. Unlike the vacant eyes of a doll, hers were sparkling and expressive with a touch of solemnity to them. There was more underneath her timid demeanor that roused Kazuya's curiosity, and he hated to be frustrated by not knowing what it was. Ignorance was bliss if you were a fool, and he of course would never want to be as such.
He took one last look at her, both perplexed and aggravated by her mysterious character. He walked out of the room and back to his chamber, figuring that two more hours of sleep would not hurt.
* * * *
"Miss!" A loud knock rapped on her door, stirring her from her sleep. "Breakfast will be ready in an hour."
Jun opened her eyes to find herself in a massive, elegantly-furnished room. It took her a few seconds to come to the realization that she had spent her first night in the Mishima Estate. "I'll be down," Jun groggily replied as she got off from her bed when it had struck her. She slept through the night in here?
Jun remembered clearly sitting upon the floor outside of Kazuya's room, waiting for him to grant her entrance so she could care for him. She was so worried in fact that she must have fallen asleep without knowing it. But then, how did she move from one place to another? Did one of the butlers see her lying on the floor and took her back to her room...or did HE?
Remembering the injured and battered state she had found him, anxiety overtook her like a powerful wave. She rushed from her room in search of the older boy, completely forgetting about changing out of her nightgown. She practically flew down the long flight of stairs and looked about the dining and living rooms. Seeing that he was absent from both, she continued her search in the kitchen, finding only the family cook.
"Excuse me," she addressed the man, the large chef's knife that his right hand brandished stopping midair before chopping the stalk of celery beneath its metallic blade. "Did you see Kazuya-san come by here?"
"Master Kazuya? He is in the courtyard." the chef answered, and went back to nimbly chopping the celery.
"Thank you." Jun answered gratefully and entered the courtyard from the white lattice doors that were in the back of the large kitchen. She ran along the path, her small feet occasionally coming across a stray pebble or two. Her heartbeat was irregular and rapid with concern for the silent Mishima heir as he was nowhere to be found near the neatly kept bushes or shrubbery. The winding cobblestone path finally led her to the very far reaches of the expansive courtyard, and to her relief, Kazuya.
He was clad in his pinstriped pants and blue vest, sitting on the edge of a bench completely built of white granite. His back was to her since he was staring into the direction of a man-made pond whose clean waters served as a marine home to various colored koi fish. A small cataract trickled down several ragged rocks that surrounded the pond like a fortress of stone. A small garden of a few remaining irises that had thrived in the earlier months of summer swayed lightly in the morning breeze, crystals of frost glistening from their indigo faces.
Jun was about to call out his name, but she remembered the events that transpired last night. Although he was cruel in his manner of informing her, he was correct: she never was granted permission to address him by his name. "Um...good morning."
His head wheeled at her direction upon hearing the familiar timid voice and saw the girl standing a few feet from where he sat. She expected to see the already usual look of agitation on his brooding face, but to her surprise he appeared calm. "What is it?" He asked, the slight deepness to his voice a confirmation that he was maturing into an adolescent.
"I was only wondering if your wounds have healed."
"They are fine," Kazuya informed her coolly. "Why do you ask?"
"Because, you were bleeding so much...I was kind of worried." She admitted openly to him, the clarity in her almond brown eyes never fading.
Kazuya only stared at her for a moment and noticed the bruise on her little arm that he himself had inflicted upon her. He then looked away from her and back to the pond.
"Did you take me back to my bed last night?" She asked coyly.
"...yes."
"You did? Thank you very much then-"
"Think nothing of it. I only moved you because you were in the way of my door." He callously responded, although the reason he gave was not entirely the truth.
"Oh...sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep."
"What were you doing on the floor in the first place?"
Jun's feet shuffled through the dew-laden grass. "I was just afraid. You were so hurt last night that I was scared that something serious might have happened to you if you weren't treated."
Another awkward moment of silence passed between the two children, the melodic songs of the awakening birds sounding through the frosty stillness of the morning. The beams of the sun slowly crept across the blades of grass like countless vermillion serpents.
"Why did you defend Nairusu yesterday?"
Bewilderment struck her as if lightning had jolted her senses. "W- what?"
"Don't make me repeat myself. Why did you go out of your way to stand up for a pathetic man who makes his living off of hanging coats and scrubbing toilets all day?"
"His job doesn't matter to me. I didn't want Nairusu-san to get into trouble for something that I did. It wouldn't be fair." Jun answered defiantly.
"Little girls like you wouldn't know what's fair or not." He criticized in a mocking tone.
"I don't have to be a grown-up to know that it's wrong for someone else to take the blame for your own actions." Jun replied in her gentle voice. "If Nairusu-san was punished because of me, it would be wrong. I didn't want that to happen."
He was silent, quietly astounded by the girl's tranquil, yet obstinate, behavior. Again, her youthful appearance had misled her age. There was something beyond her years that her innocent countenance failed to show, making her the more enigmatic.
She drew closer to him as he was seated upon the bench to take a closer examination at his injuries. She suddenly took his arm gingerly and suspended it with her hands, pulling the sleeve of his white shirt up to his shoulder. He did nothing to stop her and allowed her to inspect his other arm, observing her with his scrutinizing chestnut brown eyes. She did not notice him staring at her, too absorbed with making sure that the wounds had sealed themselves and were not in need of sterilization or bandages. She saw that there were two deep scars that embedded the firm skin above the vital veins on both his wrists, but she said nothing, thinking that they had been there last night. He noticed that she had seen them, but he knew that she was much too young to realize the cause of those particular cuts was the razor sharp kiss of a knife.
Her fears put to rest for the time being, she released his arm and watched as he rolled his sleeves back down. "What is your name?"
"Jun Kazama." She answered soundly. "Oh...what should I call you if you do not wish for me to-"
"My first name." He interjected abruptly and stood up from the bench so that the girl was barely half his height.
"Okay then...Kazuya-sama." A small smile formed at the corners of her mouth, displaying the premature, but glowing beauty that was apparent in all children. For some reason, the beauty that she possessed was something unique from all toddlers her age. Kazuya felt an odd urge to grin in response to her smile, but he did not allow himself to do so.
He watched her from the bench as she approached the pond where the koi fish swam. When they had detected the presence of a human, their large heads surfaced, water sliding down their gills and round black eyes. Jun saw a tangle of brilliant oranges and reds as the fish emerged from the sanctuary of the pond's waters, their large mouths opening and closing as they bobbed up and down in the water.
"They look hungry," she commented to him.
Kazuya walked over to her side and chuckled. "The gardener feeds them daily, so don't give them any food while you stay here. If you feed them too much, they die."
"Poor things," she remarked. "Must be terrible to be starving all the time."
"That's their fault. They're all gluttons." Kazuya simply answered.
Jun's sympathy for the fish did not waver under Kazuya's statement. "You'd be the same way too if you were cooped up in a pond all day with nothing to do."
"Maybe. That's why I'm glad that I'm not a fish."
Jun pondered his answer and the thought of Kazuya in the slippery form of a constantly hungry koi fish had greatly amused her. She burst into a fit of giggles, startling the older boy.
"What's so funny?"
Jun shook her head rapidly, holding back her laughter by placing her hands over her lips. "Nothing!"
Kazuya raised a suspicious eyebrow. "If you have something to say, then say it."
The younger girl looked back at him, her ebony eyes twinkling with laughter. "I just thought of you as a fish. That's all."
His pride was greatly offended, having being compared with a lowly creature such as a brainless fish. "Oh, and I suppose you think that's humorous, do you?"
Jun's giggles subsided after hearing the insulted tone in Kazuya's voice. "A little," she confessed.
"Well then, what about this?" Kazuya asked, scooping up a handful of water from the pond and throwing it at her. She gasped as the cold sensation of the water seeped through her nightgown. The chilly morning air had only made matters worse as she felt the water dripping down her skin.
Kazuya smirked in triumph from seeing the shocked look on the girl's face, but was taken aback when she had the nerve to thrash the water, rippling with the surveying koi fish, with her own hands and splash him back. The frigid water trickled through his sleeveless vest and he felt his shirt clinging tightly to his chest as a result of Jun's retaliation. He was both unnerved and stunned that the shy, quiet child actually had returned his assault just now.
But of course, being himself, he was not going to take this lying down.
He lashed at her with more ferocious attacks of water with the intentions of soaking her. Jun's onslaught did not halt either as she gathered as much water that her little palms could hold and flung it towards her enemy. The usual tranquility of the morning at the Mishima manor was ruptured by the seldom heard laughter of Kazuya that day.
***Sorry that this chapter was a bit short...or all my chapters normally that way? In any case, I hope that this one wasn't corny or rushed. I honestly think that the last scene was cute, but not everyone might agree with me.
But I'm glad that I've been getting such positive reviews. This fanfic has been an idea of mine that I've kept to myself. I have so many ideas with this that the possibilities are endless, so keep reading if you want! Thanks to Kazuya-sama, mashpotatobunny, Ksim3000, Dragon Empress, Chibi- Sugababy, and Aoi Shidou. It's great to know that people actually read a fic on this website that isn't Xiaojin related!