War of the Roses
By: Mako-chan
(Nope. I still don't own Xiaoyu, Jin, and other Tekken characters appearing in this fic.)
Chapter 3: The Royal Meeting
Li watched Xiaoyu as she rummaged around her closet and stuffed clothes inside her suitcase. The young mistress came home barely two hours that morning, not even uttering a greeting and went straight to her room to pack her things. She had a stern look on her face.
"My goodness! You've just come back and already, plans to leave!"
The young woman stopped briefly and answered, "Don't take it against you or anyone. This is urgent business. My flight leaves in a matter of hours."
"Today!" the elderly woman exclaimed, not believing Xiaoyu's words. "And not even your grandfather knows!"
"I didn't bet on it either, Amah." She expelled a long sigh. "But I'm doing this because I was given a big responsibility. I owe it to him and that means I will do everything in my power to manage Ling Enterprises in the way he did."
"I like that attitude of yours Xiaoyu. That's why I feel so lucky to have passed the business to you, considering that it is only the two of us now."
Xiaoyu turned around and saw her Grandpa Jinrey standing at the open doorway with a smile on his face.
"Grandpa I… I'm leaving for Tokyo. My plane leaves this afternoon."
"Is that so? May I at least know why you're flying?"
"The papers, Grandpa. We're getting big, unnecessary publicity over some rumour relating to the Mishima Conglomerate."
Jinrey stared at his granddaughter clueless.
"Let me guess, they want to gobble us up."
"Yes! Can you believe that? The nerve of those people!"
"On the contrary, I can. It's not difficult to see how, or why not."
"Grandpa! Do you understand what you're saying? This is serious!"
Xiaoyu wanted to pull her hair from her scalp. Of all the times Grandpa Jinrey chose to be senile, it just had to be today…
"Aren't you taking this a little too seriously?"
"No! They're playing with us! I'm going set things straight with them!"
Jinrey shook his head. "May Buddha bless you."
Narita International Airport
Xiaoyu wanted to scream.
Overkill would have been an understatement for everything she was seeing and hearing. The large screen not far from the entrance was advertising Mishima Motors. As if that wasn't enough, the next commercial was Mishima Telecommunications. Then Mishima Bank and Consulting. After that, Mishima Technologies. Outside, several jets had the logo of Mishima Airlines on it.
She gave a snort as she rode the escalator. The next thing they'll own in this country is oxygen, I bet.
Sitting on her suitcase, Xiaoyu let out a huff. Bored out of her mind and waiting for the Narita Express Train to Shinjuku, she blew the bangs on her forehead. Before she could ramble to herself all the way to insanity, the train came right on the dot. After waiting for its passengers to get off, Xiaoyu carried her suitcase and boarded the train.
"At least one good thing about this trip is I get to stay in a luxury hotel," she said quietly as she took a seat by the window.
Shinjuku, Tokyo
After an hour, the train finally arrived at the Shinjuku Station. As if on cue, the door of the cars opened automatically and a representative of Ling Enterprises stood waiting just on the other side for her. Unmistakably behind her was a company runner. The woman, about the same age as she is, was wearing a uniform and on her collar was the company pin.
"Welcome to Japan, Ms. Ling. How was your trip? You must be very tired." greeted Miharu Hirano, one of the company's interpreters.
Xiaoyu smiled warmly at the two. When the chauffeur offered to carry her suitcase, in perfect Japanese, she spoke, "Thank you very much. I didn't really mean to disrupt your day. But since you asked, I had a relatively good trip. The flight's good. It was the arrival that was not so much of a good thing." She knew how Japanese people could be very sensitive with "bad" words. If ads could kill, Mishima is capable of massacre.
"We were lucky to have snagged a suite for you. It's quite ironic that we were able to snatch from under Mr. Kazama's nose," Miharu enthusiastically informed her.
"Mr. Kazama?"
She looked at the Chinese girl with her eyebrows raised. "Yes. He is the head of the Mishima Zaibatsu. He has been for half a year now. It's… outrageous how he's turned it to an empire in the literal sense of the word." Miharu was careful not to use the term "fantastic".
"They're having a three-day conference with other companies. It starts the day after tomorrow but he seems to like settling in earlier. Although I don't know, I was so sure that I overheard his assistant saying that he wanted two suites booked for him. He is only one man, and not exactly the size of a whale at that."
Xiaoyu tried to suppress her giggles while Miharu talked. Much to her delight and surprise, the Japanese was quite the talker. She may even come off tactless if she continues to blab about this Kazama person.
"Say, Miss er--"
"Oh, how thoughtless of me!" Miharu sputtered, not paying attention to the way she talked or treated the CEO of the corporation she works for. She gave a deep bow and introduced herself. "Good evening, Ms. Ling. I am Ling Enterprises' interpreter, Miharu Hirano. I look forward to working for you on this visit of yours. But if I may say so, I'm afraid to think that Ms. Ling has no need for my services. She's very good in speaking the language."
Xiaoyu listened intently as she settled herself comfortably in the passenger seat of the royal blue Alfa Romeo. "Miharu, you're correct. I don't have a need for an interpreter. But I'd be certainly glad to have a friend… Have you had your dinner?"
Miharu's stomach grumbled. It was all the answer she needed.
"Have a seat. I'm pretty battered so I'm going to get changed. I hope you know a good yakiniku place nearby."
"W-wait a minute. I live in Seibu-Shinjuku and I've been walking and commuting all my life. I can't let you run around this city!"
She tipped her head to the side and placed her hands on her hips. "Well, if I am a responsibility, then fine. As if walking from the station to here was going to be the end of me that you just had to make me ride a car. Anyway, they do have restaurants in the basement, right? Now indulge yourself and give me some time to freshen up."
After thirty minutes, Xiaoyu came out the room with her hair down, wearing a pair of hipsters, red silk shirt, and a pair of matching sandals. "I am famished. Let's go."
The yakiniku restaurant wasn't far from where they exited. Luckily enough and since it was already nine in the evening, the place was not as smoky or as crowded as they expected it to be. The only peeve still, was the businessmen who created a unique blend of beer, meat, and cigarette at the other end.
At least I'm using a good shampoo. "So Miharu," Xiaoyu began as she flipped a slice of beef, "can you tell me anything more about this Mr. Kazama?"
The almond-haired girl took a gulp of Asahi before answering. "Tabloids say that his family is a bunch of crazy people except for his mom." She took another bite at her portion of beef. "His great grandfather, his grandfather, and his father were reported to be at each other's necks. Although… I think that his father and great grandfather got along pretty well."
Xiaoyu washed down the grilled scallop with her cold tea. "Colourful family. Anything else?"
"Oh you bet there is! He also has an adopted uncle. Anyway, they all wanted the whole pie and ended up getting less. On top of that, everything goes to him. Until last year, he really didn't have any interest on running that monster of a zaibatsu. Today, not only does he own and manage it, he can adopt three small countries with the revenues their raking in!
"Nobody even knew he existed until the mess almost destroyed the conglomerate. It only gets better when I mention he cleaned up the Mishima image."
Xiaoyu stuffed an octopus in her mouth. "I doubt the last part."
"You'll be pleased to know that he's quite a tree-hugger. His mom's a saint! Everybody knows that! His father's from the netherworlds. So are the men before him. I'm not shocked. You shouldn't be either. Mishima women are angels. Mishima men are demons."
"Interesting. So he's a mama's boy and a shark at the same time. A half-angel. No, a half-devil." Appearance-wise, Xiaoyu did not have a clue about him. Still embedded in her head was an image of a man in his forties or fifties, white, thinning hair, and god forbid, a pot belly. Seriously, how different can he be from those people over there?
The two women talked for hours about everything – from salons, to electronics, to tourism, and international politics. It was obvious that they were perfect friends. However, for the most part, Xiaoyu kept asking – extracting – dirt about the Mishima Group and pleading her case to her subordinate.
Miharu took a glance at her watch. 11:30. "Ms. Ling—"
"Please, it's Xiaoyu. Or Xiao if you want."
"M-ms. Ling Xiaoyu," she began hesitantly, "I'm afraid I have to go. I might not catch the last train if I stay longer than I should."
"Oh, I'm sorry to have kept you! Please, go ahead."
"But the bill –"
"I've got it covered. A treat. Consider it as a treat so be on your way home. I'll see when I come to visit the office."
Having the spacious elevator all to herself, Xiaoyu hummed inside as she pressed the button that would bring her to her suite. Almost forgetting she was in a public place, she stretched her arms as she would in some mornings and stepped out as soon as the doors parted. Xiaoyu took a step then suddenly found her back banged against the elevator door. Not even a second later, she fell on the floor in disgrace.
A man closed his door shut when he saw someone thrashing about by the elevator. Squinting and leaning over his shoulder to see what was happening, he realized the belt of the girl's coat was caught by the elevator doors.
Xiaoyu tried to turn around and see what caused her to slam back. Great. Somebody even got to see me land on my ass! Moving as quickly as possible, she was about to remove her coat when the elevator suddenly opened.
"Are you alright?" he asked her with genuine concern.
She quickly scooted away, and the stranger offered her his hand. After dusting herself, Xiaoyu immediately looked up to say "I'm fine, thank you," but couldn't even produce a peep. She didn't even notice how her skin prickling because of his velvet voice and gentle grip.
"Are you alright?" the stranger asked again.
Xiaoyu felt warm and tingly all of a sudden. Her cheeks were a pink flush and her eyes looked at the handsome man as if she was going to eat him. When she realized that he was looking at her as if she was a nutcase, Xiaoyu yanked her hand away and pretended to dust herself off some more.
"I-I'm sorry," she said. "I can be very careless. Thank you for helping me. I-I must have offended you."
His lips curved into a fascinated smile.
She felt her heart stop. "Oh my," she breathed.
"What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Xiaoyu waved her hands in front of her. "N-nothing. I didn't say anything. Anyway, thank you. Thank you very much for helping me."
To pick up the remnants of her pride, she spun on her heel and walked with poise to her room. And all the while, her face was making ten different expressions saying, "Idiot!"
Pressing the elevator button again, he leaned back to see which direction the girl was heading. Jin crossed his arms leisurely, and watched her enter the suite next to his. When the bell sounded, he quickly entered with a puzzled look on his face.
Wait a minute. "Something's not right," he told himself. After deliberating and coming up short with the answer, he shook his head and dismissed the matter altogether.
Well, as you've read, I introduced Miharu as an employee for Ling Enterprises, Japan. I would have made her the secretary, but since she's Japanese and since there has got to be someone bound to pick up the boss, would anybody else have been perfect to fill in the role? Anyway, as I've previously mentioned, I've made some references in this story. Shinjuku is possibly the busiest district in Japan, most people live and go to work there. One of the nicest hotels there is, is Keio Hotel, situated very near the West exit of the Shinjuku station, which explains Xiaoyu's comments to Miharu. However, I haven't actually seen or been to their executive suites so I decided not to particularly indicate Keio Hotel. Let's just say that the hotel Jin and Xiaoyu are staying in is based on a genuine one.