Author's notes: This story is mostly based on the Tekken Anime movie and is set right after Heihachi flew off on a jet plane and the Tekken fighters escaped the island via a submarine. It is also based on Tekken 2 endings of specific characters, as well as a few opening sequences from Tekken Tag Tournament. This fanfic is in Jun Kazama's point of view. Rated NC-17
Disclaimer: Jun Kazama, Kazuya Mishima and all Tekken characters are the property of NAMCO. This is only a fan fiction from the imagination of an obsessed fan. No copyright infringement intended.
Chapter II: Reason
I took a sip from the stew I was cooking. It tasted good enough. I scooped some up into a bowl. Together with the eggs and bread, I put it on a tray which I carried to my small, traditional Japanese dining table. I still had to prepare a cup of green tea.
I opened the windows wide to let some fresh air in. I loved the smell of the forest after a storm. It's as if it was given a new life with each droplet of rain that fell on the earth. The sunlight played peek-a-boo with the clouds that sailed past. All in all, the day was neither sunny or overcast.
It was almost noon. Kazuya was still asleep in my room. I slept on one of the spare futons I had kept for guests. Not that I always had any. It's my habit to be prepared for anything.
I had finished cleaning and bandaging his wounds and I don't really think there was any need for him to be brought to a hospital. It's not like there's a hospital near Yakushima anyway. Just a small clinic but that one's a long way off from where I lived.
I had just finished pouring the tea into two small cups when I heard a loud groan from behind me. I turned to see Kazuya, his hand on his bandaged head while leaning against the wall for support.
"Kazuya! You shouldn't be up yet!" I chastised and hurried to his side. I put his arm around my shoulder and assisted him back on the bed.
"No..." he croaked. "Let...go...of me..."
"You need to rest," I eased him back on the thin mattress and covered him with a thick blanket. I had already changed him into what was once my father's robes. I was yet to wash and iron his own clothes.
"You're burning up," I commented, touching his forehead. He slapped my hand away.
"D-don't...touch me..." he groaned, his eyes barely open. I stared at him. In seconds, he was asleep. I sighed deeply. So many questions rang deep in my mind. Why and when did he get here? Why did he try to kill himself? I guess I'll have to wait longer to find out. I rose from his bedside and set out to find some medicinal herbs for his fever.
Another day passed. I was squatting down on the porch, sewing Kazuya's torn clothes as well as my own kimono. I had given Kazuya just enough medicine to cure him. The herbs also made him sleep the rest of the day away. Last time I checked, his temperature had gone back to normal.
I hummed a little tune as I folded the clothes I had sewn. I stood up to put them back in my closet. When I opened the sliding door to my room, I was quite surprised to find Kazuya, sitting on the futon, his scarred chest gleaming in the morning sunlight.
"Ohayo gozaimasu," I greeted, walking over to my closet. Kazuya turned sharply towards my direction but didn't say a word. I could feel his eyes following my every move. When I was done, I knelt down beside him. I raised my hand to have a feel of his forehead. He shuddered at the touch of my palm.
"Looks like your fever's broken," I said. Just like the day before, he slapped my hand away.
"Why did you save me?!" he demanded.
"It's the least I could do after you did the same to me," I answered simply. "And even if you didn't save my life, I still would have."
"And why would you?! Who am I to you?!"
"You may deny it all you want but we share a common bond...a common memory," I looked at the gold locket around his neck and held it. "And this...is proof of it."
"Humph," Kazuya grunted, snatching the locket from my fingers. I sighed and stood up.
"I'll go and prepare some breakfast for you," I exited the room. One of the things that gave me relief the night I rescued him, other than his being alive, was the fact that he still kept the locket that I returned to him during the tournament. It was the same locket that was torn off his neck sixteen years ago, just before Heihachi threw him off the cliff; a locket that held a picture of him and his mother.
I put a cup of Oolong tea, a bowl of chicken teriyaki and a piece of tiramisu for dessert on a tray and returned to my room. I had already eaten my breakfast, and had saved more than enough for my guest. I set the tray beside him and he eagerly wolfed down his food. It was understandable, being that he hadn't eaten anything for two days. Kazuya saw the way I was staring at him and slowed down. A short while later, he was done.
"So...I suppose you can tell me why you tried to kill yourself?" I asked after setting aside his empty dishes. His head snapped towards me, his cold eyes wide.
"I had a vision of you," I explained, "just before you threw yourself off the ravine. Why did you?"
Kazuya's gaze broke away from mine. I saw his fist curl around the covers. I could still feel the same rage that flowed through his veins but unlike before, it seemed to be directed at something or someone else. I didn't want to leave without getting an answer.
"You should've let me die..." he hissed. "You should've just left me to die!"
"You know I would never do that," I shook my head. "I can't understand how you could behave with such abandon."
"Of course you wouldn't understand! No one could!"
"That's because you wouldn't let me understand," I put one hand over his, making him shudder again. "If you would just tell me...I really need to know. I have the right to know."
"The right?!" Kazuya glared at me with daggers. I feared him then, but I held my ground. I gave his hand a soft squeeze.
"You saved me as I saved you. I fed, clothed and housed you. I think that gives me a few rights."
Kazuya pulled his hand away from mine and turned towards the open window. A small bird stopped by the window sill but when it saw Kazuya, it flew off.
"I don't have a reason to live anymore..." he said in a low voice.
"A reason? Kazuya...every life is precious. Just the fact that you escaped death more than twice is proof that you should continue living."
"I lived only to get revenge for what my father did!" he thundered. He riveted those piercing eyes at me and narrowed them into deadly slits. "And YOU took that away from me!"
His attack caught me by surprise. True, I had stopped him from taking revenge. But it was also true that I had managed to pull that hatred away from his heart because if I hadn't...he would've killed me there and then.
"Get out of my sight..." he spat. I gave a small nod and hurried out the room with the dishes. I left them in the sink and proceeded to the porch. There, my legs gave away, leaving me to sink down on the wooden floor. Those eyes...those dark, haunting eyes. How cold and hateful he could make them. Whenever I look into those eyes, a shiver runs up and down my spine. If it was a good or bad sign, I couldn't tell.
But right now, a more important question hovers over my mind. How did I take away his reason for living? As I thought about it more, the answer became clearer and clearer. It was indeed my fault. I had taken his hatred away and with that, his desire for revenge and his will to live. Well then, I'll give him a reason to live! I know I can find it. All I have to do is make sure he doesn't attempt to escape or commit suicide again. But strangely enough, something tells me that those options aren't in his mind...
Chapter III