: XVII : The Face of Evil

Jun stayed in the old house with Kazuya, and what had at first meant to be days turned into weeks. The change inside the man she had promised all this and more to had been marked, drastic. They talked, at first a lot, but then little. She became used to his presence in her life; he became as natural to her as her own shadow. And yet, at the back of her mind, she remembered the Angel's words. There is still danger. Where would the danger come from? Heihachi? Perhaps. He could certainly kill them both.

And then, not a month had passed when Jun discovered another shadow of life entering the little world she and Kazuya had created. For a time she could not quite believe it, but it was true.

She was pregnant.

The Mishima would live on.

-oOo-

Lee, at first delirious in his hospital bed, had little idea of the machinations of the world about him. Instead he dreamt of Heihachi, of Kazuya and Wang and Anna and Jun. He could not make sense of what he saw, nor did he want to. He was blissfully unaware of all troubles, of all responsibility. That he was alive was enough.

Then weeks passed and he sat up and heard of things. Of how Kazuya had resigned as head of the Mishima Conglomerate, of how Heihachi had taken his place, of how Kazuya and Jun had disappeared as though off the face of the earth. Jun. Lee had ruminated over her and what she had said. She had said she would help Kazuya. Then Lee knew she must be with him. And Heihachi must know that too.

Heihachi had visited Lee to reinstate him as his heir as it were.

"I'm going to find Kazuya and the Kazama girl," he'd told his adopted son. "I will destroy them both."

"Forgive me, father," Lee had spoken apologetically. "But what has that girl Jun got to do with the Mishima's affairs?"

"She is dangerous," Heihachi had replied, his eyes glinting. "She is helping Kazuya. She could yet pose a threat to me. I must be rid of her once and for all."

Lee had chewed on that bit of information too. So Heihachi knew, at least in part, that Jun was more than she seemed. Lee did not care so much about Kazuya, but Jun he did not want to see hurt. Still, she had known the risks, she had made her choice. There was nothing he could have done about it.

He'd resigned himself to forget these things when something happened to make him change his mind. He'd been sitting in bed, lazily eyeing up the nurse when a familiar person entered his room. Lee stared up at his latest visitor in surprise.

"Kazuya!"

Kazuya stepped into the room and walked to his brother's bedside. After all the hate and acrimony that had existed between them throughout the years, Lee was amazed to see an unusual look of greeting on the other's face.

"Hello, Lee," Kazuya said quietly, amicably.

"Kazuya. Why are you here?" Lee could not keep the suspicion from his voice. This new Kazuya was something he was not used to. He couldn't imagine his adopted brother greeting him so cordially without some ulterior motive.

"To see you," Kazuya replied simply, looking about as if to make sure he hadn't been seen. "Perhaps to say that I no longer harbour any bad feelings against you, Lee. I just wanted to let you know that. I don't think we'll be seeing each other anymore."

Lee remained speechless for a split second, shocked at Kazuya's words. He'd lived so long hating Kazuya that he found it difficult to see himself anything but hate for him. But he swallowed this feeling quickly and spoke with an effort:

"I don't understand. Why are you telling me this? Why have you suddenly forgiven me?"

"There's no reason for me to hate you now," came the simple reply. "I've changed."

"You mean the Devil?" Lee questioned incredulously. "It's gone?"

"For now," Kazuya answered wryly.

Lee considered it a moment, and, feeling his brother was genuine, motioned for him to sit down. Kazuya obliged, pulling forward a chair and sitting down next to the bed.

"You shouldn't have come here," Lee warned him uncomfortably. "It would be dangerous for you to be seen here. You do know that Heihachi is out for your blood, don't you? He'll kill you on sight."

"I know. But I won't be staying long."

"You said we wouldn't be seeing each other anymore," Lee said inquiringly.

"Precisely because it would be dangerous. You're back in Heihachi's good books now."

"So how do you know you can trust me enough to tell me all this?" Lee spoke archly.

"Oddly enough I have a certain kind of faith in you," Kazuya replied, a mirthless smile on his face. "You were a faithful employee – well, at least to a certain extent. At least you saw the job was done."

Lee conceded a grin before turning to a more serious frame of mind.

"To tell you the truth, I'm not interested in anything Heihachi has to offer me anymore."

Kazuya raised an eyebrow.

"Where's your sense of ambition gone?"

"Down the drain. No doubt I'll get it back again one day." He paused, half amazed at the frankness with which he and Kazuya were talking to one another. He looked up at his adopted brother speculatively, a question forming desperately in his mind.

"And Jun…she followed you, didn't she?" he spilled out quickly.

"Yes." There was a softer look on Kazuya's face as he said the word. "She followed me. I wouldn't be here now if she hadn't."

Lee looked away, swallowed, said: "How is she?"

"She's fine," he said quietly.

"Good." Lee looked up again. "You see, Heihachi's after her too and if she was out there by herself…" He trailed off, began again. "At least I know with you, she'll be safe."

Kazuya was silent at that, and for a moment he looked as if he was considering his next sentence.

"Lee," he finally began, "I think I should tell you this." He paused, looked at his hands. "Jun is pregnant."

Lee looked up sharply.

"You mean…?"

"Yes." Kazuya nodded once. "The Mishima line continues. But I shall break the chain of evil that began with my father. That's why I won't be coming back." He stood as if ready to go. "I must go now, Lee. I've already spent too long here. You can tell Heihachi all you know, if you want. There will come a time when I must face him again." He made for the door, opened it, then turned to speak as an afterthought. "I know you care about Jun," he said gently. "And I don't resent you for that either. You may not be able to protect me from Heihachi, but please… protect her from our father, at whatever cost."

He walked away then without saying goodbye, left Lee to think over his parting words. Lee sat back, his mind reeling. Now he no longer felt idle, apathetic. What Kazuya had said has stared to make him think. So suddenly Kazuya had changed. He had thrown away all that Lee had attributed to him since he'd first known him. Suddenly the Mishima empire seemed pathetic and futile – it could not even stop Kazuya from walking away from it. it seemed so ridiculous that Lee felt he could burst out laughing at the absurdity of it all. Kazuya had rejected the lonely ruthlessness of the Mishima Conglomerate, and now he had Jun and a child soon to call his own.

And yet Lee himself was too weak to walk away.

"The ironies of life," Lee muttered sardonically to himself, before settling back to mull over his lot.

-oOo-

The wind and the rain had ceased. The return of winter had been signalled by the oncoming flurries of soft, silent snow. The wooden house in the Kamakura forest – Kazuya's summer residence – had trembled vulnerably in the autumn winds, and now stiffened and creaked in the growing cold.

Jun was alone in the house, lying on her mattress in the back room, her hand on her stomach. There was still no visible sign of the child within her – it was too early yet. Although the threat of snow had showed itself in the wispy clouds and lilac sky outside, it was warm in the room. The house was strangely inviting now, cozy. It felt lived in. It was no longer just a house but a home.

Jun was asleep. She had been waiting for Kazuya to return home. He often went out for walks; to think, he said. She had waited, and the heat of the room had sent her to sleep. It was a dreamless slumber, one that left her tossing and turning, her face etched with anxiety. All she could dream of was danger. Of the white woman, and danger. Only danger was certain. She had to be careful. She had to stay alive.

"Jun."

Jun heard the voice, somewhere in the midst of her sleep. She stirred, her eyelids flickering.

"Jun."

The voice came again, by her ear, a familiar voice. Kazuya's. At the sound of his voice she opened her eyes, her sight focusing slowly on his face. For a moment he seemed strange to her, despite his closeness. She placed a hand to her forehead, confused, groggy.

"Kazuya?" she whispered, her voice still thick with sleep. "Is that you?"

"Yes." His voice was strangely flat, vapid. "Don't be afraid, Jun. I'm here."

"Afraid? I'm not afraid," she replied, perplexed at his words.

"You were dreaming," he stated after a short moment. "I saw the fear on your face." He reached out and touched her cheek, but there was no tenderness in his eyes. "You sensed danger."

She stared up at him, startled at the accuracy of his statement. He smiled then, an oddly cold smile that did not reach his eyes.

"Yes… I can feel it."

"Feel what?" she asked, her bewilderment growing.

He smiled again, still cold, and his hand moved down to her stomach.

"The Mishima blood inside of you."

"Our child," she whispered, feeling oddly tired once more, as though her limbs themselves were sleepy.

"Yes. Our child." And still the smile did not leave his face. "The game will continue." He leant forwards and kissed her, and almost immediately the alarm bells went off in the haziness of Jun's mind. With a sudden surge of fear she pulled away from him, feeling exposed, repulsed.

"You're not Kazuya," she breathed, both hands pressed upon his chest, keeping him away. "Who are you?"

The face that looked like Kazuya's but was not glared back at her, all at once full of a violent loathing that chilled Jun to the core.

"You know who I am," it said, "and that I will not leave. I will always come back."

And suddenly she knew. She knew that the evil that had hounded Kazuya all his life had not gone, had never intended to leave him. Yet somehow her heart prevailed, that small corner of her that yet belonged to the Angel.

"No," she murmured softly, firmly, no longer afraid. "Kazuya no longer needs you. He is strong enough to keep you at bay."

"Maybe so," hissed the other, "but the child is mine, and I will come to reclaim it."

Jun was wide awake now.

"What do you mean!"

"Kazuya promised me his first-born." The smile, insidious and wicked, filled the mask once more. "The bloodline continues. The bloodline belongs to me."

Jun sat up and inside her that old strength seemed to grow, and she no longer felt alone, helpless. She felt that she had the power, the power to save the Mishima family from itself. Whatever happened, her child would break the mould dictated by its strange and cursed blood.

"Not as long as I live," she seethed quietly, "will the bloodline ever belong to you. I'll protect my child to the death. You forget, this is why I've been chosen. To protect the Mishima from you."

The eyes narrowed into dark slits, full of hate for the woman they gazed upon. Here was her enemy, the one she must fight to keep away from the Mishima, from her family. It understood her promise. Wordless, it stood and left the house, its presence leaving as mysteriously at it had come. And when she could no longer feel its suffocating liquidity all around her, Jun sank back into the mattress and wept into her pillow.

Kazuya entered the room, and knew almost instinctively what had happened. He swam through the glacial climate of the room towards the inert body of Jun spread out across the floor. He said nothing but knelt beside her, the pain etched upon his face, until she sat up slowly and faced him, and told him everything.

He listened, unable to speak, knowing that what he had sought to escape had merely followed him. She stared up at him, her eyes wide and timorous, face ashen.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she pleaded, wiping the tearstains from her cheeks.

"I didn't remember making the promise," he answered in a murmur. "The Devil had me in his thrall. Whatever promise I made I made unwittingly."

Her cry was wordless as she raised her fists to his chest and pounded him viciously, the violent rhythm somehow draining all the anguish from her until she was exhausted and collapsed with resignation into his arms. It was silent after that, and he held her, suddenly aware of his own guilt, his shame, and even more, of how insignificant and powerless he was in the face of what he had allowed to consume him.

"We have to leave this place," he told her, his words somehow sounding irrational, comical in the cold light of this latest happening.

"Why?" she asked bitterly. "What difference would it make?"

"It won't make any difference," he answered, his tone slow, measured. "But here we are too isolated. It's too dangerous to bring up our child here. We must move."

She gazed up at him, nodded slowly. In truth they both knew it didn't matter where they went. Nowhere was safe.

-oOo-

Next:A final showdown between Kazuya and Heihachi...