Chapter 33
Half an hour later Lara was dropped off by the taxi in front of a massive skyscraper. Blue lit letters on the building formed the name Mishima. Lara looked up, but all she could see was the massive glass front. Most of the lower windows were dark while on the upper floors there was still some life going on. Lara took a deep breath and walked towards the entrance.
"Hello, my name is Lara Croft..." she began addressing the guard.
"Oh yes, Miss Croft. Mr. Mishima has informed me. Please step through." he replied.
He unlocked the door for her. Then he pointed towards the lifts.
"Take the lift up to the 83rd floor. His office is at the end of the hall."
He handed Lara a pass card and told her that she couldn't go up to Level 83 without it. Lara thanked him and then stepped inside the hall and looked around. The floor was made of marble and there was a fountain in the middle of the hall. She marched towards the lift. The doors opened automatically when she stopped in front. Lara stepped inside slowly and the lift doors closed behind her.
"Please state your destination." said a soft female voice in Japanese.
Lara had to grin but she didn't want to take her chances with the voice recognition and she had to use the passcard anyway, so she swiped it through the slot, the number 83 was lit on the control panel. With a soft humming the lift started moving up. Shortly afterwards the lift door opened on the 80th floor. Lara was surprised how quick the elevator had gone up, she had barely noticed the movement. The door opened and a beautiful young Japanese woman stepped inside and wished Lara a good evening. Lara caught a glimpse of the hall. The interior looked very modern and elegant. The door closed and the young woman was about to use her swipe card but then pulled back her hand when she saw that apparently she had the same destination as Lara. Moments later the lift stopped on floor 83. The other girl stepped outside and went straight to the next door. Lara followed outside. At once she realised the difference, there was a carpet on the floor and the walls were lined with beautiful pictures. The 80th floor had looked dull compared to the 83rd. She walked right towards the door at the end and knocked.
"Come in." Kazuya said.
She opened the door and stepped inside. His office was huge. The floor was made of marble again. A huge window was behind the desk. Lara looked around.
"Do you work here? Or do you live here? Now I know why you work all day."
"What?"
Lara walked over to the massive window behind the desk.
"Look at this, the view is magnificent... It seems like the whole city is lying there in front of you, and the bay... I always thought working in an office is boring. This convinces me otherwise."
"It is boring most of the time."
Someone knocked at the door.
"Come in." Kazuya said.
Another beautiful young girl entered. She handed Kazuya some papers.
"I have finished the task. Is there anything else I can do for you." she said, smiling at him.
"No, that will be all for today. You can go home."
She bowed, turned around and walked out.
"A lot of pretty girls around here."
Kazuya looked at her intently and then said: "Yes, I have to agree."
"I was talking about the girls who work here." she said staying serious.
"Oh, these are only the ones working for me."
"You are an arrogant bastard."
"I have heard that thousands of times before... Well I can live with that reputation. I have heard worse."
"So have I." Lara replied.
"I can imagine. Paul Phoenix... So what did he do exactly?"
"He told me what a bad person you are... He said something along the lines 'I would be better off with him'."
"Why does he always want what's mine?"
"Excuse me?" Lara replied with anger in her voice.
"That's not the way I meant it."
"That's just so typical male. You think you have sex with the girl and then you own her?"
"Hey, calm down young lady. You only hear what you want to hear, right? I did not say that I own you. Let me correct my last sentence. 'Why does he always wants to be like me'."
Lara kept silent for a moment, then she said: "I am sorry, I have overreacted, again. Why did I have to meet Paul? That's one thing I didn't need today. It was bad enough without..."
"So did you meet any of Heihachi's idiots?"
"No. I was surprised, but apparently they have not found me."
"Then someone will lose his job tonight... or worse. He was cursing all day." Kazuya said grinning. "The first thing he did when he came to work was calling me into his office. He asked me where I had been all night. If I stayed with you. If you where the one who got the stone..."
"So what did you tell him?"
"Nothing. I am not Lee."
"But wasn't he angry?"
"Angry? He was beyond angry."
"You say that as if it were nothing. Aren't you worried?"
"I will be worried when he starts being friendly to us. He swore I would have to pay for this on Saturday. He knows he has to honour the rules and cannot fight me before that."
"You really scare me. I am worried about you."
"I can take good care of myself!"
"But..."
"Lara, you don't understand. You've got nothing to do with that. We had this coming for a long time. Sooner or later it's going to be me or him."
"What about Chaolan. Where does he stand?"
"He will side with the winner."
Lara walked towards the window and looked outside absent mindedly. She was rubbing her fist, with which she had hit Paul. She didn't want to admit it, but it really hurt. Fighting with bare hands was not her speciality. Kazuya came towards her.
"Paul?" he asked looking at her fist.
"Yes."
"You shouldn't have done it. He is not worth it."
"You mean you would have left him alone?"
"Of course not. I would have broken his yaw."
Lara grinned.
"I don't like the idea of him flirting with you." he continued. "Like it or not, you are mine." he then said.
And before she could protest he had pulled her towards him and kissed her. At first Lara was struggling, urged to make her comments, but finally she gave in and her hands wandered to his back. Someone knocked at the door.
Kazuya released Lara at once and straightened his shirt. He walked towards his desk while Lara sat down on the couch.
"Come in." he finally said.
The young woman Lara had met in the lift entered.
"I am done for today. I have made you an appointment with Mr. Chigasaki for Friday. And I have prepared everything for the meeting tomorrow morning."
"Thank you, Natsumi." he replied.
"This is my first meeting... I hope everything goes well. I hope your father is satisfied with our work."
"Ok, listen: The point of these meetings is not to make Heihachi happy; it's to show the rest that we have made more money than they have all together."
The girl nodded.
"Ok, then I will see you tomorrow at 9. Don't worry too much about it, just be on time."
The woman said goodbye and left. Kazuya went over to the sofa.
"So, where were we?"
"I was about to kill you for what you said."
"Forget I have asked."
"You are..." Lara began but then paused for a moment.
"Mean? Arrogant? Possessive?"
"... a really good kisser."
He was silent.
"Say something... It's making me nervous when you are quiet."
"Well... Then maybe we should continue?"
"That's an excellent idea, it's not as if people were coming and going the whole time."
The telephone started ringing.
"Well this must be the guy from New York." Lara said.
Kazuya looked at the display.
"No. Internal call."
He picked up. Lara could only hear his replies.
"Damn, thank you." he said and hung up. He turned towards Lara. He had a serious look on his face.
"Speaking of people coming and going, we have a little problem. My dear father has just passed the gate. I wonder what he wants."
"What???" Lara yelled. "If he finds me here... Where can I hide." she screamed nervous.
"Bathroom." he said pointing at a door.
"Ok." she said walking towards that door. "Tell me when he is gone."
Lara disappeared in the bathroom. In complete darkness she waited, listening at the door to see what happened.
Kazuya pressed a button on his computer, and at once a couple of programs came up. A moment later Heihachi knocked at the door. He didn't wait for a reply but entered immediately. Kazuya looked up from his screen.
"Still working?" Heihachi asked suspicious.
"As you can see."
Heihachi wandered around the desk and looked onto the monitor.
"You are still working on the financial statement? All other departments had them ready this morning.
"Well, we are not all other departments, we have been working today. So what do you want?"
"I want you to have your financial statement ready... on time."
"If I remember correctly I have till 9 o'clock tomorrow morning. We have never been late and we are always better than the rest. If that changes you can come and complain. So what do you really want? Oh wait, I know, your spies didn't do their job, so you are here to see what I'm up to? As you can see I am not up to anything. I'm working."
"Where can I find your little girlfriend?"
"I don't know."
"Don't lie to me." Heihachi yelled.
"Last time I saw her she was in the Four Seasons Hotel."
"She has moved out."
"Well I don't know where she is then. Do you want her phone number? Then you can ask her." Kazuya said grinning.
"Don't take me for a fool. Where is she? You met with her last night."
"That's none of your business."
"In case you haven't noticed, it is. She has stolen what's mine."
"What's yours? I heard it belongs to the museum. Why are you after it anyway? Don't tell me you believe that crap about it's special powers. Taken your precious, has she?"
"You must think you are really smart. But stop annoying me..."
"Saturday. You will get your chance on Saturday."
"You will regret the day you got born."
"I have been doing that for all my life."
Heihachi turned around and walked out of Kazuya's office without saying another word.
A minute went by and then Lara peeked out of the bathroom.
"Is he gone?"
"I wouldn't bet on that. He might show up again without any warning."
Kazuya walked towards the door and opened it. He looked out into the passage. Then he stepped back in and closed the door.
"Ok, wait another minute in there. The lift has just gone up to his office. But maybe it was just to fool me. I know my father."
They waited for 3 minutes, Lara inside the bathroom, ready to close the door immediately. Nothing happened.
"Well. I guess he is not coming back."
"To tell you the truth, I am pretty nervous. It was a mistake to come here."
"Hey, don't worry. I will get you out of here safely. You know what..."
He walked over to the door and locked it.
"Well, in case he comes back."
"But wouldn't he suspect something when the door is locked, if he returned?"
"So what?"
"'So what?' I am worried. I was really stupid. I stepped into the Lions den unarmed."
"I won't let him harm you because of a stupid, fake stone."
"You can be very romantic..."
"Don't call me 'romantic' or I might change my mind."
"No you won't. You enjoy annoying your father too much."
"You are pretty certain for someone who was scared just a moment ago."
"Worried, not scared. I got out of so many tough situations before. But normally I didn't walk into trouble blindly."
"I guess I am not the perfect company for you."
"You never were." She moved closer towards him. "You were a danger to me right from the start."
Lara was now standing right in front of him, very close.
"But ever since I ran into you the night you fought against Paul, I have been wanting you."
Her face was only inches away from his.
"I tried to fight this urge, but I just couldn't."
At that moment the phone rang again. Kazuya ignored it but kissed her instead.
"You better answer that." she said. "You have been waiting for that call."
Kazuya left her and walked towards the desk to pick up the phone.
"Another internal call." he said, with confusion in his voice.
He answered the phone. After a few seconds he hung up again.
"Just the guards at the gate. Heihachi has left again."
Lara looked relieved and let out a deep breath. Just when she was about to make her way towards the desk the phone rang again. Kazuya picked it up. Lara looked at him expectantly. He nodded. Lara sat down on the couch and grabbed a magazine. 20 minutes later Kazuya hung up.
"So?" Lara asked. "Was it successful?"
"Yes." he replied. "My father will kill me." he added grinning.
"Why?"
"He wanted to make this deal. But he offered far too much money, and they didn't want to agree. After speaking to me, the guy was willing to do the deal for less. Ok, I have one more thing to add to our financial statement."
He turned towards his computer and called up the financial statement. He added the numbers; meanwhile Lara started massaging his shoulders. He finished his work and then leaned back his head. Lara's hands wandered up to his hair. He spun his chair around and pulled her closer. He kissed her neck. She pulled him up and they continued kissing. Lara forced her tongue into his mouth, all the while she moved back towards the couch, pulling Kazuya behind her. His hands went up and down at her back while he returned her kisses. His hand wandered under her shirt. Lara pressed her body against his. She kissed his neck while her hands were moving through his hair again. She could feel how he reacted to her gentle touch on the back of his head. Then Lara's hands moved to the front where she began opening his shirt. She kissed his chest while she opened one button after the other.
Half an hour later Lara was dropped off by the taxi in front of a massive skyscraper. Blue lit letters on the building formed the name Mishima. Lara looked up, but all she could see was the massive glass front. Most of the lower windows were dark while on the upper floors there was still some life going on. Lara took a deep breath and walked towards the entrance.
"Hello, my name is Lara Croft..." she began addressing the guard.
"Oh yes, Miss Croft. Mr. Mishima has informed me. Please step through." he replied.
He unlocked the door for her. Then he pointed towards the lifts.
"Take the lift up to the 83rd floor. His office is at the end of the hall."
He handed Lara a pass card and told her that she couldn't go up to Level 83 without it. Lara thanked him and then stepped inside the hall and looked around. The floor was made of marble and there was a fountain in the middle of the hall. She marched towards the lift. The doors opened automatically when she stopped in front. Lara stepped inside slowly and the lift doors closed behind her.
"Please state your destination." said a soft female voice in Japanese.
Lara had to grin but she didn't want to take her chances with the voice recognition and she had to use the passcard anyway, so she swiped it through the slot, the number 83 was lit on the control panel. With a soft humming the lift started moving up. Shortly afterwards the lift door opened on the 80th floor. Lara was surprised how quick the elevator had gone up, she had barely noticed the movement. The door opened and a beautiful young Japanese woman stepped inside and wished Lara a good evening. Lara caught a glimpse of the hall. The interior looked very modern and elegant. The door closed and the young woman was about to use her swipe card but then pulled back her hand when she saw that apparently she had the same destination as Lara. Moments later the lift stopped on floor 83. The other girl stepped outside and went straight to the next door. Lara followed outside. At once she realised the difference, there was a carpet on the floor and the walls were lined with beautiful pictures. The 80th floor had looked dull compared to the 83rd. She walked right towards the door at the end and knocked.
"Come in." Kazuya said.
She opened the door and stepped inside. His office was huge. The floor was made of marble again. A huge window was behind the desk. Lara looked around.
"Do you work here? Or do you live here? Now I know why you work all day."
"What?"
Lara walked over to the massive window behind the desk.
"Look at this, the view is magnificent... It seems like the whole city is lying there in front of you, and the bay... I always thought working in an office is boring. This convinces me otherwise."
"It is boring most of the time."
Someone knocked at the door.
"Come in." Kazuya said.
Another beautiful young girl entered. She handed Kazuya some papers.
"I have finished the task. Is there anything else I can do for you." she said, smiling at him.
"No, that will be all for today. You can go home."
She bowed, turned around and walked out.
"A lot of pretty girls around here."
Kazuya looked at her intently and then said: "Yes, I have to agree."
"I was talking about the girls who work here." she said staying serious.
"Oh, these are only the ones working for me."
"You are an arrogant bastard."
"I have heard that thousands of times before... Well I can live with that reputation. I have heard worse."
"So have I." Lara replied.
"I can imagine. Paul Phoenix... So what did he do exactly?"
"He told me what a bad person you are... He said something along the lines 'I would be better off with him'."
"Why does he always want what's mine?"
"Excuse me?" Lara replied with anger in her voice.
"That's not the way I meant it."
"That's just so typical male. You think you have sex with the girl and then you own her?"
"Hey, calm down young lady. You only hear what you want to hear, right? I did not say that I own you. Let me correct my last sentence. 'Why does he always wants to be like me'."
Lara kept silent for a moment, then she said: "I am sorry, I have overreacted, again. Why did I have to meet Paul? That's one thing I didn't need today. It was bad enough without..."
"So did you meet any of Heihachi's idiots?"
"No. I was surprised, but apparently they have not found me."
"Then someone will lose his job tonight... or worse. He was cursing all day." Kazuya said grinning. "The first thing he did when he came to work was calling me into his office. He asked me where I had been all night. If I stayed with you. If you where the one who got the stone..."
"So what did you tell him?"
"Nothing. I am not Lee."
"But wasn't he angry?"
"Angry? He was beyond angry."
"You say that as if it were nothing. Aren't you worried?"
"I will be worried when he starts being friendly to us. He swore I would have to pay for this on Saturday. He knows he has to honour the rules and cannot fight me before that."
"You really scare me. I am worried about you."
"I can take good care of myself!"
"But..."
"Lara, you don't understand. You've got nothing to do with that. We had this coming for a long time. Sooner or later it's going to be me or him."
"What about Chaolan. Where does he stand?"
"He will side with the winner."
Lara walked towards the window and looked outside absent mindedly. She was rubbing her fist, with which she had hit Paul. She didn't want to admit it, but it really hurt. Fighting with bare hands was not her speciality. Kazuya came towards her.
"Paul?" he asked looking at her fist.
"Yes."
"You shouldn't have done it. He is not worth it."
"You mean you would have left him alone?"
"Of course not. I would have broken his yaw."
Lara grinned.
"I don't like the idea of him flirting with you." he continued. "Like it or not, you are mine." he then said.
And before she could protest he had pulled her towards him and kissed her. At first Lara was struggling, urged to make her comments, but finally she gave in and her hands wandered to his back. Someone knocked at the door.
Kazuya released Lara at once and straightened his shirt. He walked towards his desk while Lara sat down on the couch.
"Come in." he finally said.
The young woman Lara had met in the lift entered.
"I am done for today. I have made you an appointment with Mr. Chigasaki for Friday. And I have prepared everything for the meeting tomorrow morning."
"Thank you, Natsumi." he replied.
"This is my first meeting... I hope everything goes well. I hope your father is satisfied with our work."
"Ok, listen: The point of these meetings is not to make Heihachi happy; it's to show the rest that we have made more money than they have all together."
The girl nodded.
"Ok, then I will see you tomorrow at 9. Don't worry too much about it, just be on time."
The woman said goodbye and left. Kazuya went over to the sofa.
"So, where were we?"
"I was about to kill you for what you said."
"Forget I have asked."
"You are..." Lara began but then paused for a moment.
"Mean? Arrogant? Possessive?"
"... a really good kisser."
He was silent.
"Say something... It's making me nervous when you are quiet."
"Well... Then maybe we should continue?"
"That's an excellent idea, it's not as if people were coming and going the whole time."
The telephone started ringing.
"Well this must be the guy from New York." Lara said.
Kazuya looked at the display.
"No. Internal call."
He picked up. Lara could only hear his replies.
"Damn, thank you." he said and hung up. He turned towards Lara. He had a serious look on his face.
"Speaking of people coming and going, we have a little problem. My dear father has just passed the gate. I wonder what he wants."
"What???" Lara yelled. "If he finds me here... Where can I hide." she screamed nervous.
"Bathroom." he said pointing at a door.
"Ok." she said walking towards that door. "Tell me when he is gone."
Lara disappeared in the bathroom. In complete darkness she waited, listening at the door to see what happened.
Kazuya pressed a button on his computer, and at once a couple of programs came up. A moment later Heihachi knocked at the door. He didn't wait for a reply but entered immediately. Kazuya looked up from his screen.
"Still working?" Heihachi asked suspicious.
"As you can see."
Heihachi wandered around the desk and looked onto the monitor.
"You are still working on the financial statement? All other departments had them ready this morning.
"Well, we are not all other departments, we have been working today. So what do you want?"
"I want you to have your financial statement ready... on time."
"If I remember correctly I have till 9 o'clock tomorrow morning. We have never been late and we are always better than the rest. If that changes you can come and complain. So what do you really want? Oh wait, I know, your spies didn't do their job, so you are here to see what I'm up to? As you can see I am not up to anything. I'm working."
"Where can I find your little girlfriend?"
"I don't know."
"Don't lie to me." Heihachi yelled.
"Last time I saw her she was in the Four Seasons Hotel."
"She has moved out."
"Well I don't know where she is then. Do you want her phone number? Then you can ask her." Kazuya said grinning.
"Don't take me for a fool. Where is she? You met with her last night."
"That's none of your business."
"In case you haven't noticed, it is. She has stolen what's mine."
"What's yours? I heard it belongs to the museum. Why are you after it anyway? Don't tell me you believe that crap about it's special powers. Taken your precious, has she?"
"You must think you are really smart. But stop annoying me..."
"Saturday. You will get your chance on Saturday."
"You will regret the day you got born."
"I have been doing that for all my life."
Heihachi turned around and walked out of Kazuya's office without saying another word.
A minute went by and then Lara peeked out of the bathroom.
"Is he gone?"
"I wouldn't bet on that. He might show up again without any warning."
Kazuya walked towards the door and opened it. He looked out into the passage. Then he stepped back in and closed the door.
"Ok, wait another minute in there. The lift has just gone up to his office. But maybe it was just to fool me. I know my father."
They waited for 3 minutes, Lara inside the bathroom, ready to close the door immediately. Nothing happened.
"Well. I guess he is not coming back."
"To tell you the truth, I am pretty nervous. It was a mistake to come here."
"Hey, don't worry. I will get you out of here safely. You know what..."
He walked over to the door and locked it.
"Well, in case he comes back."
"But wouldn't he suspect something when the door is locked, if he returned?"
"So what?"
"'So what?' I am worried. I was really stupid. I stepped into the Lions den unarmed."
"I won't let him harm you because of a stupid, fake stone."
"You can be very romantic..."
"Don't call me 'romantic' or I might change my mind."
"No you won't. You enjoy annoying your father too much."
"You are pretty certain for someone who was scared just a moment ago."
"Worried, not scared. I got out of so many tough situations before. But normally I didn't walk into trouble blindly."
"I guess I am not the perfect company for you."
"You never were." She moved closer towards him. "You were a danger to me right from the start."
Lara was now standing right in front of him, very close.
"But ever since I ran into you the night you fought against Paul, I have been wanting you."
Her face was only inches away from his.
"I tried to fight this urge, but I just couldn't."
At that moment the phone rang again. Kazuya ignored it but kissed her instead.
"You better answer that." she said. "You have been waiting for that call."
Kazuya left her and walked towards the desk to pick up the phone.
"Another internal call." he said, with confusion in his voice.
He answered the phone. After a few seconds he hung up again.
"Just the guards at the gate. Heihachi has left again."
Lara looked relieved and let out a deep breath. Just when she was about to make her way towards the desk the phone rang again. Kazuya picked it up. Lara looked at him expectantly. He nodded. Lara sat down on the couch and grabbed a magazine. 20 minutes later Kazuya hung up.
"So?" Lara asked. "Was it successful?"
"Yes." he replied. "My father will kill me." he added grinning.
"Why?"
"He wanted to make this deal. But he offered far too much money, and they didn't want to agree. After speaking to me, the guy was willing to do the deal for less. Ok, I have one more thing to add to our financial statement."
He turned towards his computer and called up the financial statement. He added the numbers; meanwhile Lara started massaging his shoulders. He finished his work and then leaned back his head. Lara's hands wandered up to his hair. He spun his chair around and pulled her closer. He kissed her neck. She pulled him up and they continued kissing. Lara forced her tongue into his mouth, all the while she moved back towards the couch, pulling Kazuya behind her. His hands went up and down at her back while he returned her kisses. His hand wandered under her shirt. Lara pressed her body against his. She kissed his neck while her hands were moving through his hair again. She could feel how he reacted to her gentle touch on the back of his head. Then Lara's hands moved to the front where she began opening his shirt. She kissed his chest while she opened one button after the other.
