Shattered
Chapter Six: Compassion
Jun rocked back and forth as she sat on the leather interior loveseat in the expansive living room of the Mishima manor. She had woken up earlier this morning because of her lack of sleep during the night. Today was the day that Wang Jinrey was to come for her. The girl had no idea what the old sage had in mind to help her accomplish the goal that she had traveled all the way from her mountain home to Tokyo for, adding to her anxiety. She bit her lip and her fingers fidgeted incessantly as she waited for her mentor to arrive.
"What are you doing here?"
She recognized the all-too familiar voice of Kazuya and her eyes traveled to meet his stoic face, which currently failed to show any traces of emotion. "Good morning, Kazuya-sama," she greeted in an attempt to sound cheerful. "I'm just waiting for Wang-san."
"Why?"
Jun's eyes abandoned his for the luxuriously carpeted floor. "Because he said that he would be back today to see me again."
Although there was a sign of anticipation in her soft voice, Kazuya also sensed a sign of anxiety. In his curiosity, he decided to interrogate her further.
"You don't sound happy. You have something against the old man?" He asked bluntly.
Jun shook her head, her raven hair swinging to and fro against her smooth cheeks. "No, Wang-san is like a grandfather to me."
"Then what's the matter? Are you going somewhere?" He hid his disappointment at the possibility of Jun leaving for Yakushima under his indifferent countenance. Even if she had been her for three days, he could not lie to himself that he had enjoyed her company.
"I don't know," she mumbled audibly, "but that's what I'm scared of, Kazuya- sama."
"What could you possibly be afraid of?" He retorted, remembering that in the short time she had stayed at the manor, she was able to befriend an enormous grizzly bear that could easily tear her into innumerable pieces.
"...I'm afraid that...he's going to take me into the city." She admitted, shivering involuntarily at her own words.
Kazuya chuckled lightly. "Tokyo? There is nothing frightening there."
Jun began to hug her knees tightly for comfort. "That's because you lived here all your life. I've never left Yakushima until Wang-san took me here. If he is going to take me into Tokyo, then it'll be my first time in a big city."
"Then why did you come here?"
Jun fell into an awkward silence, burying her face against her knees. She did not want Kazuya to see the frustration that she tried with all her might to hide from him, but his dark eyes missed nothing.
"...well?" He continued, hoping to receive an answer.
"...because," she began, her voice barely above a whisper, "...Otousan didn't know what else to do with me."
Kazuya was taken aback by her solemn answer. Was that the reason why this little girl was here? Because her father wanted to throw her out of his house and into another? But what could Jun possibly have done to deserve this? She was only six years old and already her only living parent had driven her away from the one place she could claim as home. Could anyone be that cruel...?
Kazuya's fists tightened together and his eyebrows furrowed. He knew perfectly well who was capable of such malice: the one man that had hurtled him into a ravine and who he was forced to call 'father'.
Jun looked through the thick strands of her hair and saw the preteen's grimace. "...Kazuya-sama? Are you all right?"
Her timid voice brought him back to his senses. Before he could answer, he heard the sound of approaching footsteps heading towards the living room. He looked behind him to see the kindly elder standing patiently at the entrance with his hands folded behind his back.
"Good morning, Kazuya-kun," he greeted politely.
"Don't call me that," he snapped. He hated it when he was regarded as a little child. It made him feel inferior.
Wang's warm smile did not falter under Kazuya's hostility. "I apologize, Kazuya. You are growing into a young man and must be treated as such. In any case, have you seen my student?"
-Student?- Kazuya questioned himself, and then looked at a nervous Jun. Upon hearing her mentor's inquiry, the girl slipped off of her place on the cushion she was sitting on and presented herself in front of Wang.
"Hello, Wang-san." She welcomed him, a small smile obscuring the feeling of discomfort welling inside of her.
The old man bent down and pulled his pupil into a hug. "It's good to see you again, Jun-chan. How have you been?"
"Great. Kazuya-sama and his father have been very kind to me."
"Thank you for taking care of her, Kazuya." He acknowledged the brooding youth who only shrugged in response.
"It was nothing. Where exactly are you taking her?"
"Into Tokyo," Kazuya caught the look of distress that crossed the raven- haired girl's features, but said nothing. What could he possibly do to help her when he had to go to school?
"Will you be bringing her back here?"
"Yes, I'll have her back before nightfall. Well then, we better get going, Jun-chan. Have a good day, Kazuya."
The old man smiled once more and left the living room with a reluctant Jun following him. She looked back at Kazuya one last time, afraid that this would be the last time that she would see him. Even if she had only known him for a few days, he was the only one that made staying in this household comforting.
Kazuya saw the helplessness in her almond brown eyes and felt a pang of sympathy for her. He knew that she would want nothing more than to hide in the sanctuary of the manor, but she had no choice to obediently trail after her mentor. Or was she doing it out of her own free will?
"Good-bye, Kazuya-sama." She called softly out to him and left for the front foyer of the mansion.
He was alone in the living room with only the glowing streams of the awakening sun strewn streaming through the windows and his thoughts for company.
"...good-bye." He heard himself mutter, and he went to gather his things for another arduous day at school.
* * * *
Jun tightened her grip around Wang's wrinkled hand, standing her ground as frantic businessmen and chattering school children shoved past her. Something about all of this made Jun wish she had never taken a step outside of the limousine that brought both Wang and her into the heart of the Tokyo. Thousands upon thousands of tons of concrete surrounded her in the form of skyscrapers that stood like giants in the paved streets of asphalt. The air was filled with the deafening sounds of mangled traffic and numerous voices.
Jun was frightened, if not petrified, but she still forced herself to walk alongside her mentor. She tried to keep in the same pace as he did, fearing that she would be lost in the sea of people if they were separated.
"Jun-chan," Wang consoled her, knowing that she was uneasy. "There is no need to be afraid."
"I am sorry, Wang-san." Jun answered back, her voice quivering from her anxiety. She shuffled along, feeling misplaced in the heavily populated metropolis.
She looked up to the sky, but to no avail. She only saw a few patches of blue from where she was, for the skyscrapers that towered ominously over her and people who were twice her height had cast shadows upon her small figure, making it all the more difficult to see. In Yakushima, there were no concrete or people who were always in a rush. There was clean air that always lightly perfumed with the mixed smell of the great forests and freshly fallen rain. There were no automobiles blasting music and crowding the streets, only vast meadows of beautiful flowers and grasses that Jun would always frolic through since she was young. She remembered lying among the clusters of flowers as if they were a bed, enjoying the sun's warmth as it showered its light upon her, looking to the limitless skies of indigo without a care in the world...
Jun stopped abruptly in her tracks, feeling herself involuntarily releasing her mentor's hand. Her eyes, wide with bewilderment and fright, traveled to the right of her where beyond the iron cast gates that trapped it, a vast cemetery laid. The monuments and graves, some consisting of marble or concrete, stood motionlessly from the beds of earth. A cold wind enveloped the small girl like a blanket, its icy touch chilling her to the bone.
-Oh, hello. Have you come to visit me?-
-I shouldn't be here! Why did they do this to me...WHY?!-
-Such a pretty little girl...why are you here?-
-God, why? I worshiped you all my life and this is how you repay me? By taking me away from the ones I love?-
Pain screamed through her head as she grabbed handfuls of her sable hair, her heart pounding in her ears. She fell to her knees, her face an expression of anguish.
-The blood...there was so much blood on that knife...-
-He said that he loved me, said that we could be married...-
-Mother? Mother, where are you?-
"Stop it!!!" Jun screamed, her hands cupping over her ears. Memories, memories that weren't hers, flew through her mind. Images of people she never saw, people crying, laughing, smiling, screaming, dying...
-My little Ayame...I wish I could of held you one last time...-
-It's not fair, not fair at all...-
-Look at that little girl screaming at us...how rude...-
-Save me!!! I don't want to be here, I want to go home!!!-
The voices rang through her ears, a twisted and grotesque melody. There was only darkness. The skyscrapers did not exist, the people were no more, Wang was not at her side...only darkness. She felt weightless, as if she was no longer bound by mortal chains of flesh and bone. The pain had gone and slipped away like it was never there. She suddenly collapsed and went into a state of sweet oblivion, not feeling the solidness of the concrete when she landed on the sidewalk.
* * * *
"Tell me Kazuya," the droning voice of his psychiatrist said, "why must you harbor such hostility towards people?"
Where would he like him to start? Perhaps if Kazuya told him that the man that was paying him was the same one who threw his own five-year-old son into a ravine to die, perhaps that would be a satisfying answer. "People annoy me." He answered bluntly.
"And why is that?" His psychiatrist asked with half-interest, his pen scribbling down on his notepad. Probably drawing pictures.
"They just do."
"Kazuya, I cannot help you if you continue not to tell me the truth."
He nearly scoffed. As if this tedious man could possibly stand a chance at helping him. Kazuya knew that he was just doing it to keep his wallet thick with his father's money. This was so useless...Heihachi only scheduled these damn sessions so he could torture Kazuya and perhaps break him down to the point where he would be an obedient pet. But the young Mishima was not as docile as a tamed animal...he would have to resist his father's efforts to torment him. He would get his soon enough. Kazuya would make sure of it.
His eyes looked to the clock, the hands reading thirty minutes after four. Only a half hour, and then he would undoubtedly be beaten by his father's hand after another training session in the dojo. What a wonderful life.
* * * *
Jun rested against the mattress of her bed, her blanket draping over her tiny form. The dizziness and fatigue that plagued her earlier were slowly fading away, yet the infliction that she received today was much deeper than any physical injury.
"Are you sure you are all right, Jun-chan?" Wang implored, his usually calm voice wracked with deep concern for his young pupil.
She smiled to reassure him. "Hai, Wang-san. Please don't worry about me." Her eyes then shifted away from his aged ones. "I'm sorry."
He looked quizzically at her. "There is nothing to apologize for."
"Yes there is," she stated firmly. "I failed Wang-san and Otousan. I wasn't able to do the one thing that I came to Tokyo for."
"Jun-chan, these things take time. It's not a surprise at all that you were overwhelmed today. You are but a child; your gift will take much time for maturation."
She cringed slightly at the word 'gift'. Jun never thought of her so- called abilities as anything of the matter. Gifts were something that brought people happiness and contentment. How could anything be considered a gift if it was the reason for her isolation and being sent to a huge metropolis that was entirely alien to her?
"...okay, Wang-san." She answered meekly, not knowing anything else to say, and attempted another weak smile, covering up the war of frustration and fear that was waging in her mind.
"Do not worry about anything. You will be able to control your ability one day, but in time."
He stood and prepared to leave for Jun's door, smiling kindly at the girl. "I will be back sometime this week. While I am gone, please get some rest."
Jun nodded, her raven hair sprawled amongst the soft surface of her pillow. Her large almond brown eyes watched as Wang left, gently shutting the door behind him. His footsteps sounded in the hallway as he went, and then eventually faded into nothing. Again she was left alone. She was accustomed to it by now, for she had been avoided all her life.
The warm sunlight that streamed through her lattice windows did nothing to break her fear. Whether or not she came to terms with it already, today had scarred Jun. Never had she felt such emotions in her life; this morning she had experienced pure hatred whose depths were bottomless, drowned in unfathomable sorrow that she had never imagined was possible. Even though these were not her emotions, they stung and wounded her all the same. Whether they were channeled to her unintentionally or not, she still suffered the impact of it all. Having to endure apathy and distress that were too great for words having to experience the grief of strangers she never knew...
She was oblivious to the beautiful day outside of her window, oblivious to the monarch butterflies and the alluring purple hue of the irises that she would often be delighted to sit among. She only buried her face in the depths of her pillows and cried heavily.
* * * *
Kazuya climbed up the stairwell, both his mind and body aching under the strain of yet another dull and uneventful day. He entered the vast hallway and started for his chamber, when a certain sound caught his attention. He stopped when he had heard it, and caught the muffled crying from the other side of the door that Jun had resided in. He approached it closer and he could hear the whimpering distinctively.
-Why are you stopping?- The hissing voice of his demonic counterpart interrogated.
Kazuya ignored him, the sobbing compelling him the same way a flame does to a moth. He could not remember the last time he cried, since he figured that tears were signs of weakness and a waste of time. How could drops of water that the human body can naturally produce on impulse possibly change the course of events?
But...HER crying made him feel different. Funny, she was making him feel that way a lot lately. Much to his hesitation, he opened the door and entered the room.
Her head shot up from her pillow and her eyes instinctively locked onto the boy that was drawing nearer to her. She quickly wiped away her tears and tried to regain her normal breathing. "Oh, Kazuya-sama. I didn't hear you come in."
He shrugged. "I didn't knock."
She sat up from her bed, attempting to hold back the tears she wanted more than anything to spill down her cheeks. "How was your day?
"Never mind about mine. How did yours go?" He asked.
She attempted a smile, but the result was quite terrible. For some reason, she could not hide behind her seemingly assuring smiles the way that she was able to around her father and Wang. "It was fine."
"Really? Then why are you crying?"
She was taken back by his recent question, feeling as if she was undergoing some interrogation. Kazuya's dark mahogany eyes watched her intensely, as if he was waiting for her to confess something.
"It's nothing, Kazuya-sama," she lied, feeling a sudden pang of guilt. "I'm okay, really."
"You're not a very good liar," He stated straightforwardly. "Why are you crying?"
She fell silent, knowing that it was useless to lie to the older boy. But how could she tell him? How could he possibly understand her predicament when he would probably just laugh scornfully at her in the end? Jun knew by now that Kazuya was a realist, and if she told him that she had the psychic ability to detect the thoughts and emotions of those around her, living or dead, the outcome would be disastrous.
"I can't tell you." She said, tearing away her ebony eyes from Kazuya's accusing face.
"What do you mean you can't tell me?" Anger underlining his deepening voice.
"I just can't." She responded meekly. He couldn't make her, he WOULDN'T make her tell...
"Stop playing these games with me, Kazama."
"It's nothing."
"If it were nothing you wouldn't be in your room crying."
"...I don't want to tell you."
"Why?"
"Why do you want to know so much?"
"Answer my questions, damn it!" He cursed at her, feeling as if she had stabbed him in the back. Within the few days she stayed here, she was the only one that he actually enjoyed the company of. He felt betrayed that the person he had felt comfortable would lie to him. "Why can't you tell me?"
"I don't want you to know."
"Why?"
"...because."
"Because why?!?"
"BECAUSE YOU'LL HATE ME!!!"
He took a step back, taken off guard by her words. Her glistening eyes were alive with sorrow, he could see it swirling in the almond brown depths. The tears she held back were cascading down her cheeks now, her body trembling heavily.
She looked at him, those eyes of hers boring into his. "...because...you'll hate me," she trailed on, her voice in a subdued whisper that only he could hear. "If you knew like everyone else...you'll hate me like they do..."
Jun broke down into deep sobs, her breathing coming out ragged and heaving. Her hands had covered her face now in a pitiful attempt to obscure her tears from Kazuya. He looked at her and said nothing, feeling that there were no words that needed to be said.
She was an enigma, pure and simple. Despite the efforts she made to conceal her own worries, she was still a child. She carried a strength, a maturity, that most toddlers did not possess. Within her silent demeanor lied a quiet strength that was quite rare, and yet she was just as vulnerable as any little girl would have been. Even though she was a determined and solemn person, that did not deny the truth that she was in reality a child. And every child needed to be comforted at one time or another. Even Jun.
Kazuya was not angry or irritated at her for displaying her weakness. How could he have been when this girl was obviously grieving over something that she did not want to reveal to him in fear of forcing him to carry her sorrow onto his own shoulders? He stared at her in astonishment, but more surprisingly, in sympathy. Her tears had awakened something inside of him, her anguish had wrought discomfort and unease into his own being. Looking at her...made himself cry inside.
Her sorrow stirred memories within him, little fragments of time that he had kept in the recesses of his mind. He remembered that he was three years old and had scraped his knee on the paved path in the courtyard. How he wished he was there to curse at himself for crying over a tiny little cut. If he knew back then what the true essence of pain was like, he would have never acted like such a little weakling. However, when he had cried, his mother had come to him. She knelt down and placed a moistened towel on it, cleansing it and covering the wound with a bandage. And when she was finished, she had drawn him in her arms, and then he knew that he was safe. His abusive and callous father did not exist, pain was nowhere to be found. It was only him and his mother, who had not loved him any less for expressing grief over a minor injury. He felt...secure.
He calmly approached Jun and sat himself right next to her on the mattress. He enveloped her in his arms, feeling her stiffen. He said nothing, because there were no words to say.
Jun's eyes went wide with childlike innocence, her tear-stained face settling against Kazuya's vest. She looked up to the older boy to see an unusual, but soothing, countenance of reassurance on his youthful face. Her lips parted to speak, to utter something, but the words failed to come.
"Don't say anything." He said, his arms still draped over her small quivering body.
In return, she did as he had told her. She felt her cries subsiding into a calm. That was how Kazuya made her feel during her stay in this house. He made her feel safe, as if he were a guardian protecting her from all that threatened to do ill to her. Jun rested her head against his chest, feeling her sadness slowly fading away.
She remained in his comforting embrace, both children silent as the dying sunlight outside diminished into nothing.
Chapter Six: Compassion
Jun rocked back and forth as she sat on the leather interior loveseat in the expansive living room of the Mishima manor. She had woken up earlier this morning because of her lack of sleep during the night. Today was the day that Wang Jinrey was to come for her. The girl had no idea what the old sage had in mind to help her accomplish the goal that she had traveled all the way from her mountain home to Tokyo for, adding to her anxiety. She bit her lip and her fingers fidgeted incessantly as she waited for her mentor to arrive.
"What are you doing here?"
She recognized the all-too familiar voice of Kazuya and her eyes traveled to meet his stoic face, which currently failed to show any traces of emotion. "Good morning, Kazuya-sama," she greeted in an attempt to sound cheerful. "I'm just waiting for Wang-san."
"Why?"
Jun's eyes abandoned his for the luxuriously carpeted floor. "Because he said that he would be back today to see me again."
Although there was a sign of anticipation in her soft voice, Kazuya also sensed a sign of anxiety. In his curiosity, he decided to interrogate her further.
"You don't sound happy. You have something against the old man?" He asked bluntly.
Jun shook her head, her raven hair swinging to and fro against her smooth cheeks. "No, Wang-san is like a grandfather to me."
"Then what's the matter? Are you going somewhere?" He hid his disappointment at the possibility of Jun leaving for Yakushima under his indifferent countenance. Even if she had been her for three days, he could not lie to himself that he had enjoyed her company.
"I don't know," she mumbled audibly, "but that's what I'm scared of, Kazuya- sama."
"What could you possibly be afraid of?" He retorted, remembering that in the short time she had stayed at the manor, she was able to befriend an enormous grizzly bear that could easily tear her into innumerable pieces.
"...I'm afraid that...he's going to take me into the city." She admitted, shivering involuntarily at her own words.
Kazuya chuckled lightly. "Tokyo? There is nothing frightening there."
Jun began to hug her knees tightly for comfort. "That's because you lived here all your life. I've never left Yakushima until Wang-san took me here. If he is going to take me into Tokyo, then it'll be my first time in a big city."
"Then why did you come here?"
Jun fell into an awkward silence, burying her face against her knees. She did not want Kazuya to see the frustration that she tried with all her might to hide from him, but his dark eyes missed nothing.
"...well?" He continued, hoping to receive an answer.
"...because," she began, her voice barely above a whisper, "...Otousan didn't know what else to do with me."
Kazuya was taken aback by her solemn answer. Was that the reason why this little girl was here? Because her father wanted to throw her out of his house and into another? But what could Jun possibly have done to deserve this? She was only six years old and already her only living parent had driven her away from the one place she could claim as home. Could anyone be that cruel...?
Kazuya's fists tightened together and his eyebrows furrowed. He knew perfectly well who was capable of such malice: the one man that had hurtled him into a ravine and who he was forced to call 'father'.
Jun looked through the thick strands of her hair and saw the preteen's grimace. "...Kazuya-sama? Are you all right?"
Her timid voice brought him back to his senses. Before he could answer, he heard the sound of approaching footsteps heading towards the living room. He looked behind him to see the kindly elder standing patiently at the entrance with his hands folded behind his back.
"Good morning, Kazuya-kun," he greeted politely.
"Don't call me that," he snapped. He hated it when he was regarded as a little child. It made him feel inferior.
Wang's warm smile did not falter under Kazuya's hostility. "I apologize, Kazuya. You are growing into a young man and must be treated as such. In any case, have you seen my student?"
-Student?- Kazuya questioned himself, and then looked at a nervous Jun. Upon hearing her mentor's inquiry, the girl slipped off of her place on the cushion she was sitting on and presented herself in front of Wang.
"Hello, Wang-san." She welcomed him, a small smile obscuring the feeling of discomfort welling inside of her.
The old man bent down and pulled his pupil into a hug. "It's good to see you again, Jun-chan. How have you been?"
"Great. Kazuya-sama and his father have been very kind to me."
"Thank you for taking care of her, Kazuya." He acknowledged the brooding youth who only shrugged in response.
"It was nothing. Where exactly are you taking her?"
"Into Tokyo," Kazuya caught the look of distress that crossed the raven- haired girl's features, but said nothing. What could he possibly do to help her when he had to go to school?
"Will you be bringing her back here?"
"Yes, I'll have her back before nightfall. Well then, we better get going, Jun-chan. Have a good day, Kazuya."
The old man smiled once more and left the living room with a reluctant Jun following him. She looked back at Kazuya one last time, afraid that this would be the last time that she would see him. Even if she had only known him for a few days, he was the only one that made staying in this household comforting.
Kazuya saw the helplessness in her almond brown eyes and felt a pang of sympathy for her. He knew that she would want nothing more than to hide in the sanctuary of the manor, but she had no choice to obediently trail after her mentor. Or was she doing it out of her own free will?
"Good-bye, Kazuya-sama." She called softly out to him and left for the front foyer of the mansion.
He was alone in the living room with only the glowing streams of the awakening sun strewn streaming through the windows and his thoughts for company.
"...good-bye." He heard himself mutter, and he went to gather his things for another arduous day at school.
* * * *
Jun tightened her grip around Wang's wrinkled hand, standing her ground as frantic businessmen and chattering school children shoved past her. Something about all of this made Jun wish she had never taken a step outside of the limousine that brought both Wang and her into the heart of the Tokyo. Thousands upon thousands of tons of concrete surrounded her in the form of skyscrapers that stood like giants in the paved streets of asphalt. The air was filled with the deafening sounds of mangled traffic and numerous voices.
Jun was frightened, if not petrified, but she still forced herself to walk alongside her mentor. She tried to keep in the same pace as he did, fearing that she would be lost in the sea of people if they were separated.
"Jun-chan," Wang consoled her, knowing that she was uneasy. "There is no need to be afraid."
"I am sorry, Wang-san." Jun answered back, her voice quivering from her anxiety. She shuffled along, feeling misplaced in the heavily populated metropolis.
She looked up to the sky, but to no avail. She only saw a few patches of blue from where she was, for the skyscrapers that towered ominously over her and people who were twice her height had cast shadows upon her small figure, making it all the more difficult to see. In Yakushima, there were no concrete or people who were always in a rush. There was clean air that always lightly perfumed with the mixed smell of the great forests and freshly fallen rain. There were no automobiles blasting music and crowding the streets, only vast meadows of beautiful flowers and grasses that Jun would always frolic through since she was young. She remembered lying among the clusters of flowers as if they were a bed, enjoying the sun's warmth as it showered its light upon her, looking to the limitless skies of indigo without a care in the world...
Jun stopped abruptly in her tracks, feeling herself involuntarily releasing her mentor's hand. Her eyes, wide with bewilderment and fright, traveled to the right of her where beyond the iron cast gates that trapped it, a vast cemetery laid. The monuments and graves, some consisting of marble or concrete, stood motionlessly from the beds of earth. A cold wind enveloped the small girl like a blanket, its icy touch chilling her to the bone.
-Oh, hello. Have you come to visit me?-
-I shouldn't be here! Why did they do this to me...WHY?!-
-Such a pretty little girl...why are you here?-
-God, why? I worshiped you all my life and this is how you repay me? By taking me away from the ones I love?-
Pain screamed through her head as she grabbed handfuls of her sable hair, her heart pounding in her ears. She fell to her knees, her face an expression of anguish.
-The blood...there was so much blood on that knife...-
-He said that he loved me, said that we could be married...-
-Mother? Mother, where are you?-
"Stop it!!!" Jun screamed, her hands cupping over her ears. Memories, memories that weren't hers, flew through her mind. Images of people she never saw, people crying, laughing, smiling, screaming, dying...
-My little Ayame...I wish I could of held you one last time...-
-It's not fair, not fair at all...-
-Look at that little girl screaming at us...how rude...-
-Save me!!! I don't want to be here, I want to go home!!!-
The voices rang through her ears, a twisted and grotesque melody. There was only darkness. The skyscrapers did not exist, the people were no more, Wang was not at her side...only darkness. She felt weightless, as if she was no longer bound by mortal chains of flesh and bone. The pain had gone and slipped away like it was never there. She suddenly collapsed and went into a state of sweet oblivion, not feeling the solidness of the concrete when she landed on the sidewalk.
* * * *
"Tell me Kazuya," the droning voice of his psychiatrist said, "why must you harbor such hostility towards people?"
Where would he like him to start? Perhaps if Kazuya told him that the man that was paying him was the same one who threw his own five-year-old son into a ravine to die, perhaps that would be a satisfying answer. "People annoy me." He answered bluntly.
"And why is that?" His psychiatrist asked with half-interest, his pen scribbling down on his notepad. Probably drawing pictures.
"They just do."
"Kazuya, I cannot help you if you continue not to tell me the truth."
He nearly scoffed. As if this tedious man could possibly stand a chance at helping him. Kazuya knew that he was just doing it to keep his wallet thick with his father's money. This was so useless...Heihachi only scheduled these damn sessions so he could torture Kazuya and perhaps break him down to the point where he would be an obedient pet. But the young Mishima was not as docile as a tamed animal...he would have to resist his father's efforts to torment him. He would get his soon enough. Kazuya would make sure of it.
His eyes looked to the clock, the hands reading thirty minutes after four. Only a half hour, and then he would undoubtedly be beaten by his father's hand after another training session in the dojo. What a wonderful life.
* * * *
Jun rested against the mattress of her bed, her blanket draping over her tiny form. The dizziness and fatigue that plagued her earlier were slowly fading away, yet the infliction that she received today was much deeper than any physical injury.
"Are you sure you are all right, Jun-chan?" Wang implored, his usually calm voice wracked with deep concern for his young pupil.
She smiled to reassure him. "Hai, Wang-san. Please don't worry about me." Her eyes then shifted away from his aged ones. "I'm sorry."
He looked quizzically at her. "There is nothing to apologize for."
"Yes there is," she stated firmly. "I failed Wang-san and Otousan. I wasn't able to do the one thing that I came to Tokyo for."
"Jun-chan, these things take time. It's not a surprise at all that you were overwhelmed today. You are but a child; your gift will take much time for maturation."
She cringed slightly at the word 'gift'. Jun never thought of her so- called abilities as anything of the matter. Gifts were something that brought people happiness and contentment. How could anything be considered a gift if it was the reason for her isolation and being sent to a huge metropolis that was entirely alien to her?
"...okay, Wang-san." She answered meekly, not knowing anything else to say, and attempted another weak smile, covering up the war of frustration and fear that was waging in her mind.
"Do not worry about anything. You will be able to control your ability one day, but in time."
He stood and prepared to leave for Jun's door, smiling kindly at the girl. "I will be back sometime this week. While I am gone, please get some rest."
Jun nodded, her raven hair sprawled amongst the soft surface of her pillow. Her large almond brown eyes watched as Wang left, gently shutting the door behind him. His footsteps sounded in the hallway as he went, and then eventually faded into nothing. Again she was left alone. She was accustomed to it by now, for she had been avoided all her life.
The warm sunlight that streamed through her lattice windows did nothing to break her fear. Whether or not she came to terms with it already, today had scarred Jun. Never had she felt such emotions in her life; this morning she had experienced pure hatred whose depths were bottomless, drowned in unfathomable sorrow that she had never imagined was possible. Even though these were not her emotions, they stung and wounded her all the same. Whether they were channeled to her unintentionally or not, she still suffered the impact of it all. Having to endure apathy and distress that were too great for words having to experience the grief of strangers she never knew...
She was oblivious to the beautiful day outside of her window, oblivious to the monarch butterflies and the alluring purple hue of the irises that she would often be delighted to sit among. She only buried her face in the depths of her pillows and cried heavily.
* * * *
Kazuya climbed up the stairwell, both his mind and body aching under the strain of yet another dull and uneventful day. He entered the vast hallway and started for his chamber, when a certain sound caught his attention. He stopped when he had heard it, and caught the muffled crying from the other side of the door that Jun had resided in. He approached it closer and he could hear the whimpering distinctively.
-Why are you stopping?- The hissing voice of his demonic counterpart interrogated.
Kazuya ignored him, the sobbing compelling him the same way a flame does to a moth. He could not remember the last time he cried, since he figured that tears were signs of weakness and a waste of time. How could drops of water that the human body can naturally produce on impulse possibly change the course of events?
But...HER crying made him feel different. Funny, she was making him feel that way a lot lately. Much to his hesitation, he opened the door and entered the room.
Her head shot up from her pillow and her eyes instinctively locked onto the boy that was drawing nearer to her. She quickly wiped away her tears and tried to regain her normal breathing. "Oh, Kazuya-sama. I didn't hear you come in."
He shrugged. "I didn't knock."
She sat up from her bed, attempting to hold back the tears she wanted more than anything to spill down her cheeks. "How was your day?
"Never mind about mine. How did yours go?" He asked.
She attempted a smile, but the result was quite terrible. For some reason, she could not hide behind her seemingly assuring smiles the way that she was able to around her father and Wang. "It was fine."
"Really? Then why are you crying?"
She was taken back by his recent question, feeling as if she was undergoing some interrogation. Kazuya's dark mahogany eyes watched her intensely, as if he was waiting for her to confess something.
"It's nothing, Kazuya-sama," she lied, feeling a sudden pang of guilt. "I'm okay, really."
"You're not a very good liar," He stated straightforwardly. "Why are you crying?"
She fell silent, knowing that it was useless to lie to the older boy. But how could she tell him? How could he possibly understand her predicament when he would probably just laugh scornfully at her in the end? Jun knew by now that Kazuya was a realist, and if she told him that she had the psychic ability to detect the thoughts and emotions of those around her, living or dead, the outcome would be disastrous.
"I can't tell you." She said, tearing away her ebony eyes from Kazuya's accusing face.
"What do you mean you can't tell me?" Anger underlining his deepening voice.
"I just can't." She responded meekly. He couldn't make her, he WOULDN'T make her tell...
"Stop playing these games with me, Kazama."
"It's nothing."
"If it were nothing you wouldn't be in your room crying."
"...I don't want to tell you."
"Why?"
"Why do you want to know so much?"
"Answer my questions, damn it!" He cursed at her, feeling as if she had stabbed him in the back. Within the few days she stayed here, she was the only one that he actually enjoyed the company of. He felt betrayed that the person he had felt comfortable would lie to him. "Why can't you tell me?"
"I don't want you to know."
"Why?"
"...because."
"Because why?!?"
"BECAUSE YOU'LL HATE ME!!!"
He took a step back, taken off guard by her words. Her glistening eyes were alive with sorrow, he could see it swirling in the almond brown depths. The tears she held back were cascading down her cheeks now, her body trembling heavily.
She looked at him, those eyes of hers boring into his. "...because...you'll hate me," she trailed on, her voice in a subdued whisper that only he could hear. "If you knew like everyone else...you'll hate me like they do..."
Jun broke down into deep sobs, her breathing coming out ragged and heaving. Her hands had covered her face now in a pitiful attempt to obscure her tears from Kazuya. He looked at her and said nothing, feeling that there were no words that needed to be said.
She was an enigma, pure and simple. Despite the efforts she made to conceal her own worries, she was still a child. She carried a strength, a maturity, that most toddlers did not possess. Within her silent demeanor lied a quiet strength that was quite rare, and yet she was just as vulnerable as any little girl would have been. Even though she was a determined and solemn person, that did not deny the truth that she was in reality a child. And every child needed to be comforted at one time or another. Even Jun.
Kazuya was not angry or irritated at her for displaying her weakness. How could he have been when this girl was obviously grieving over something that she did not want to reveal to him in fear of forcing him to carry her sorrow onto his own shoulders? He stared at her in astonishment, but more surprisingly, in sympathy. Her tears had awakened something inside of him, her anguish had wrought discomfort and unease into his own being. Looking at her...made himself cry inside.
Her sorrow stirred memories within him, little fragments of time that he had kept in the recesses of his mind. He remembered that he was three years old and had scraped his knee on the paved path in the courtyard. How he wished he was there to curse at himself for crying over a tiny little cut. If he knew back then what the true essence of pain was like, he would have never acted like such a little weakling. However, when he had cried, his mother had come to him. She knelt down and placed a moistened towel on it, cleansing it and covering the wound with a bandage. And when she was finished, she had drawn him in her arms, and then he knew that he was safe. His abusive and callous father did not exist, pain was nowhere to be found. It was only him and his mother, who had not loved him any less for expressing grief over a minor injury. He felt...secure.
He calmly approached Jun and sat himself right next to her on the mattress. He enveloped her in his arms, feeling her stiffen. He said nothing, because there were no words to say.
Jun's eyes went wide with childlike innocence, her tear-stained face settling against Kazuya's vest. She looked up to the older boy to see an unusual, but soothing, countenance of reassurance on his youthful face. Her lips parted to speak, to utter something, but the words failed to come.
"Don't say anything." He said, his arms still draped over her small quivering body.
In return, she did as he had told her. She felt her cries subsiding into a calm. That was how Kazuya made her feel during her stay in this house. He made her feel safe, as if he were a guardian protecting her from all that threatened to do ill to her. Jun rested her head against his chest, feeling her sadness slowly fading away.
She remained in his comforting embrace, both children silent as the dying sunlight outside diminished into nothing.