Holy fic update, Batman! Yes, it's been nearly TWO YEARS since I've updated this, but I had some recent reviews, and felt guilty about leaving it unfinished. Some of the stuff in this fic will probably be contradicted by Tekken 5, but hey! I'm English, it's not out for another five months over here: (

I don't own any of the rights to the Tekken characters or concept – that joy belongs to Namco. Non-Tekken characters are all mine though, mwahahaha!

Back then….

"Hiro calling Kira, hello?"

Kira started slightly, and turned her attention to her co-worker. "I'm sorry, Hiro, I was a million miles away."

Hiro grinned. "So it was a good night? What happened with Takeshi? We've heard all sorts of rumours."

Kira leant back in her chair. "You've been dying to interrogate me all morning, haven't you?"

Hiro feigned indignation as he checked a message on his mobile phone. "Really! A polite inquiry, and I get accused of being a…a gossip merchant!"

"Your words, not mine," Kira grinned. She arched her neck. "Who's the text from?"

"Natsuko," Hiro smirked. "She wants to know if I've got the full story out of you yet."

Kira laughed. "All right, all right!"

She recounted how Takeshi had spoken to her, and the actions that had lead to him receiving a short but brutal beating from Kazuya.

"I'm just signing his contract termination," she said with considerable relish. "If K-Mr Mishima hadn't have been there, I don't know what I would have done."

Hiro looked gloomy. "He never steps in to defend my honour," he said, doing a fairly good impression of being genuinely dejected.

"Will you pack it in? I think I preferred you when you were all lovelorn, mooning over Natsuko like a puppy," she said, trying to change the subject. Hiro got the hint, and he also seemed to have guessed what had happened. He began entering a message on his phone with a smirk on his face.

Kira turned her attention back to the screen, and smiled inwardly. She felt awkward, but elated at the same time. She'd left Kazuya asleep in her apartment, with her keys and a note. She wondered briefly if it was the correct etiquette to leave him there, but she quickly realised that there probably no official guidelines that covered 'Sleeping with your boss on the first date'.

Kazuya was confused as he awoke in a room he didn't recognise. As the memory of the previous night's activities came flooding back, he glanced over to the other side of the bed, and frowned. It was empty.

He glanced over to the bedside table, and saw a set of keys and a note propped against the lamp. He carefully unfolded the sheet of paper, and read the contents with an amused chuckle.

Dear Sir,

I apologise for having to leave your company early, but unfortunately I have work to attend. Tardiness is unacceptable at my place of work, and my boss is an unforgiving bastard. I would have woken you, but I decided that after last night you probably needed some rest.

Help yourself to anything in the fridge, but I recommend that you check the expiry dates as I'm somewhat of an antique food collector. At least that's my excuse.

Key's on the side, don't burn the place down.

Regards,

Kira Wilson

Kazuya shook his head, still laughing.

Now

Jun tapped the keys of her laptop, scrolling through the reams of information on the screen. It hadn't taken much digging to discover the identity of the woman and the child that had been in the missing picture – their part in Kazuya Mishima's life had caused much scandal amongst Japan's conservative society.

The more she found out about Kazuya, the more she felt for him. He had risked his reputation for the love of a foreign woman, fathered her child out of wedlock…and now buried the pain and grief he felt over their loss. Jun shook her head sadly; some things shouldn't be buried. Some things couldn't be buried. She began to understand his coldness, his anger – throughout his life, Kazuya had played the part of Heihachi Mishima's son perfectly. He had been heartless, arrogant and cruel…and when he had finally let some humanity show, and allowed someone into his life, they had died.

She frowned. Although that assessment rang true to her in many ways, there were elements of her theory that didn't feel right. According to the records, Kazuya's lover and child had died after she had become aware of the growing darkness that drew her to him. Had he played a part in their deaths? That didn't feel right either – his grief was genuine and raw, and accompanied by a sense of bewilderment.

With a sigh, she wondered what path Kazuya's life would have taken if he had been bought up by a loving family.

As the remnants of a training bag scattered across the simple room, Heihachi Mishima reflected with grudging pride that his son had grown up to be quite the fighter. He had had his doubts over whether Kazuya would ever be a true Mishima – as a child he had been hopelessly sentimental and weak. Heihachi had been grimly satisfied as Kazuya had thrown him from that cliff. Still, Kazuya had made one fatal mistake that day.

He hadn't made sure Heihachi was dead before throwing him from that cliff.

It had always been the way of things in the Mishima family, son usurping father for command of the zaibatsu. Heihachi wondered if he would be the first father to retake the reins of power from his upstart son.

Since his recovery from the previous tournament, Heihachi had kept himself apprised of his son's handling of the zaibatsu. Again, Heihachi felt a vague pang of paternal approval; the zaibatsu was in the best state it had ever been, continually growing and crushing the competition. He had been somewhat surprised, and more than a little disgusted, when Kazuya had played happy families for a short time with a foreign woman, even fathering a child with her. Still, that situation had resolved itself with their 'tragic' deaths in a car crash.

Heihachi restrung the bag. If he was to defeat his son this time, he would have to be in the best shape of his life.

"You look terrible."

"Thanks, Jeremy, you're a true gentlemen." Kira slumped onto the chair, and gestured for Jeremy to sit. He looked startled as a loud squeak emanated as he lowered himself, which lead to a huge giggle from Dai. Kira smiled slightly as he handed her the brightly coloured toy of indeterminate shape responsible for the noise.

"They get everywhere!" she said. "I swear I'm going to make this child tidier than I ever was, even if it kills me!" She handed the toy to Dai, and pointed to a large plastic container in the corner of the room. "In the box, sweetie."

Without a word, the child obeyed her mother, toddling over to the toy box and, after a bit of a struggle with the lid, deposited the toy. She then sat at Jeremy's feet, idly playing with his shoelaces.

"So," Kira said. "You were telling me that I looked terrible."

"Well, er, you look…tired," Jeremy said. "If there was anything wrong, you would tell me?"

Kira bit back her annoyance. "I have had to take a new identity, abandon the country that I loved, had to abandon the man I love-"

She held back her tears. "What, exactly, has been right about my life over the past six months?"

Jeremy began to open his mouth, but Kira raised a hand to silence him. "And now, I have you constantly worried that my baby daughter – my baby – is some sort of monster."

Jeremy's expression turned frosty. "Yes, Kira. Your baby. Yours, and Kazuya Mishima's baby. Now, I don't know whether Kazuya was ever the man you've said he was, or whether that was just some schoolgirl fantasy-"

"Get out," Kira said, her own tone freezing over. Jeremy shook his head.

"Not until you stop feeling sorry for yourself, and start thinking about the bigger picture," he said firmly. "Like it or not, that child possess the gene that allows her power beyond human thinking, and it's a power that so far has only ever caused pain and grief."

"So what are you saying? That she should be locked away? Killed?"

Jeremy looked horrified. "Of course not! If that's what you think of me, no wonder you're so…belligerent!" He sighed. "What I was trying to say is that Dai has a battle ahead of her, and needs you to be strong. Kids pick up on more than you know.

"Yes, you've lost a lot – I can't begin to imagine what it must be like to see the one you love change-"

"But he wasn't until after we left he went so cold," Kira began to sob. "I could have helped him…"

"We've been through this before, Kira," Jeremy said gently. "It was a matter of Dai's safety. Even your love, your life together, couldn't stop his hatred of his father. He bears a wound that I don't think will ever heal.

"You must talk to me, or Reiko, or Yamada – you mustn't keep it bottled up. It's not good for you, or her."

Kira nodded mutely. Jeremy got up to leave.

"I'm sorry to have disturbed you. But one more thing, Kira….stop watching the tournament."

Kira frowned at him. "How did….how do you know?"

Jeremy sighed. "Because it's what I would do."