Love Worth Fighting For
By Indigo Siren
Disclaimer: Tekken is © to Namco. I am making no money from this fan fiction; it is just for fun. I however own all the characters that are not apart of the Tekken franchise. All rights reserved.
Chapter 6
The calm was a heavenly touch. It something so serene, so blessing as the day began to fade away, melting liking running paint on canvas. The soft tones of oranges and pinks were dabbed in a pattern, over the horizon. Miharu stood watching the sunset on the hill of the park, with nobody in sight, with the feeling of having only the gentle breeze for company. It felt so different, the lulling bringing her a sense of peace for once, though she always found sunsets to be the slow descent of another day, with her heart wishing it would hurry and end so she could start a new day without feeling so heavy. But of course, she could never get rid of the feelings she had. But tonight, it felt different. For once, she loved the sunset, and she smiled to herself, admiring the beauty that seemed so far away.
Her blue summer dress whipped around behind her as the wind picked up, and the soft rub of fabric on her legs was a reminder that she still existed there, still breathed through her thoughts of pain and loneliness.
A sigh escaped her lips in a sense of longing and she folded her arms as coolness trailed up her dainty arms. The air suddenly become more crisp and alert that made everything stand to attention, watching and waiting. The whole world seemed to light up with life around Miharu, and she could suddenly feel the presence of another.
She turned swiftly; eyes focused on the trees to one side of the park. Her jaw went slack, her mouth dropping open. First, she though her eyes were deceiving her, but after several moments of blinking, her mind started to believe. She took a step forward, her face lighting up slightly.
Jin stood there. It was him, it just had to be. That face, that physique… She was sure this time. He just stood there watching her, eyes holding her in his sights, looking her over. She didn't know whether to run to him or not, whether to feel sad or happy to see him again after so long.
Her hearted lurched as he turned and walked away into the thicket of the trees. And like a flash, she was running after him.
"JIN! WAIT!" She called, brushing through the trees in pursuit.
She came to a stop aside the band stand, and saw him standing on the steps, back to her. She was careful at first, walking slowly towards him, hands to her sides as she could feel a tingling of them wanting to reach out to him and touch his back, though she didn't know what he was feeling or how he would react to that.
Why was she so unsure all of a sudden?
"Jin?" She said softly, stopping a few metres behind him.
He didn't turn to start with and she was afraid. She was about to say his name again, when he spun around, face completely void of emotion. Just staring at his face made Miharu's insides twist in fear.
Fear of Jin? This was wrong. Miharu had taken a step back without knowing, but plucked up a little courage to at least reach out to him with a slight smile, maybe to ease things.
"Jin…" She stepped in, hand out to his face, but stopped. The aura around him… was so icy cold. Her fingers seemed to twitch and go painfully numb. She pulled back, holding the now cold limb.
His voice came deep and subtle. "You shouldn't keep looking for me. It just makes it harder then it should be."
Miharu frowned, rubbing her hand. "What? Jin, I don't understand?"
"We can't be together. I can't love you…" He took a slow breath. "I won't love you."
The last four words were a shot straight to her heart and her knees gave up and she used the support of a tree to keep her standing. She couldn't believe what he was saying.
"Why Jin? Why are you telling me this? After so long?" She asked, keeping the tears from her voice.
"It was so obvious. You didn't listen to your instincts to carry on. You didn't have to wait for me," he said blatantly. "I didn't for you."
Her eyes were streaming with crystal tears of pain. These words were like sharp stabs all over her body. It didn't make sense to her.
"WHY DID YOU MOVE ON?" She shouted at him, her voice now slurred with weeping. "YOU RAN AWAY FROM EVERYONE! FROM ME! NEVER TO CONTACT US AND NOW YOU'RE TELLING ME THIS! AFTER EVERYTHING!"
He just stood watching her cry, not making a move to comfort her or apologise. She thought she'd choke on her tears with the rush of agony that ran from her heart, all the way around her body.
"Move on, Miharu." It had been the first time he had said her name, at there was no feeling behind it. "I have other things to deal with. Dangers you wouldn't understand. Love is the last thing I want to think of. As of now, we don't know each other."
And with that, he walked around her and began to move back towards the trees. She was gasping for breath, as if he had punched her in the stomach. She looked up to him going and started after him.
"NO JIN! PLEASE DON'T GO!" She cried.
"I don't know you," he just said.
She screamed at him to come back, but he did nothing but walk away, no longer acknowledging her. He was melting into the shadows of the woods now there was no sun to guide her.
She was running after him again, though he was getting further away. She reached out long stretched arms.
"JIN!" She screamed, her eyes closing, as the tears became overwhelming.
Her voice echoed away and she opened her eyes to complete darkness, her body wrapped up tight and she jumped, crying out Jin's name. She was falling all of a sudden and hit the ground with a heavy thud. But it wasn't grass or wood shavings that she landed on; it was soft carpeting. She struggled up as she gripped to the mass that was wrapped around her.
They were blankets. She held them tighter, looking around her room nervously.
It had been a dream. Another dream, but this had been so different from the others. The woman in white had been the first to invade her dreams for a while, and ever since talking to Rubi, her dreams had been so different, so dark. But tonight, had been the first night Jin had appeared like that, and had acted so coldly towards her.
She slumped on the bed, crying softly into the ruffled blankets.
"No, Jin, come back… come back…" She whispered breathlessly, as the tears soaked into the blankets against her cheek.
Each breath she took sent a shudder up her spine, and she curled up into a tight ball, as small as she could. It was strange all of sudden. Why could smell Jin's scent against her blankets and tingling over the skin of her arms and face?
She fell asleep; feeling that he had been there, even if only for a moment, though the thought of it had her slightly scared.
***
"See you guys later," Yamaki called to his friends as he left them in the middle of the town centre, making his way home from soccer practice. He whistled, refreshed and happy after a friendly game they had been playing.
He saw the ice cream truck ahead and brightened up more. It had been a while since he had had an ice cream. He dug into his pockets of pulled out some spare change and ran towards the now shortening queue. It wasn't long before he was served and he ordered a vanilla cone. He gratefully took it and licked at the sweet creamy treat, thankful for the coolness against the hot day.
He froze up suddenly. He almost dropped the cone when he saw Miharu sat on a wall just across from him, licking an ice cream of her own.
He felt ecstatic now. His day was just getting better and better.
"Hi, Miharu," he greeted as he walked towards where she was sat.
She looked up at him, pausing for a second just to faintly smile at him. "Hi."
Yamaki noticed she looked rather pale. Her expression was one of sadness. He felt the need to snap her out of this depressed form.
"It's a pretty nice day, don't you think?" He said.
"Hmm, it's okay," she replied, licking a drip that had threatened to run down the side of the cone.
He sat beside her. "Did you hear that Amai Youdou from Miss Ai's class is having a party next week? She lives in a really cool house, you know, the big one near the Mishima mansion. Everyone is going to it. I hear it'll be a blast."
"Probably will, but I'm not going," Miharu said, looking at her ice cream rather then at Yamaki.
"Aww, why not?" He asked her.
"Well, for a fact, everyone knows that Amai is such a drama queen and everyone will only be going since she has a swimming pool. Nobody really likes her, so I'm not going to pretend for one minute just to eat her food and swim in her weedy pool."
Yamaki blinked then nervously laughed. "I think Amai is alright. Not too bad a girl."
"Yeah, it's because she fancies you," Miharu said.
Yamaki was surprised at that. He was hoping to think Miharu was jealous, but she lacked emotion towards him and it seemed totally unlikely. He sighed.
"You okay, Miharu?" He decided to ask.
She sighed, and finally looked at him. "Had a rough time these past few nights."
"The tournament getting you down?" He licked at his ice cream as he spoke.
She thought about it for a moment. "I guess so."
"Hey, if you want, we could go for a walk around the water gardens," he grinned sheepishly. "May take your mind off things and cheer you up."
She sighed softly and gave him an apologetic smile. "Thanks for the offer, but right now, I would like to be alone. I've got a lot of thinking to do. Maybe we could do it after school someday, I've been meaning to go in a while."
Though sad she wouldn't go with him then, but it brightened him up to hear she'd go with him another time.
"Okay, sure, I'll leave you to your thoughts," he said, jumping down from the wall. "See you at school."
"Yeah, bye." She waved him off as he returned on his journey home.
She groaned inwardly. Yamaki was okay, but he was the last person she needed around her right now. As a matter of fact, she needed very little interaction with men altogether while she felt this bad. After her dream, no, nightmare last night, she was edgy and still thoughtful about Jin, the man who had become her one true love.
She finished off her ice cream cone and sat, looking up at the clear blue sky. The sun was bright, and it was a nice warm day, with everyone so cheery around her. Nope, it didn't make her feel any better. She condemned these emotions for ruining her life. Was love seriously worth all this?
"Hey, is that Miharu? Hey it is!"
Miharu blinked and looked down to Julia Chang waving up at her and she smiled, hoping down to join the older girl. Behind Julia, Lei Wulong stood, checking through his many shopping bags, just a few less then Julia had.
The American girl beamed. "It's nice to see you again."
Miharu did her best to match her smile, trying not to seem glum. "Yeah, it's weird to see you out and about in Tokyo."
"You know, doing some shopping," she said. "Lei brought me out, being my bodyguard. Though I don't see why."
The Chinese man looked up with a grin at Julia. "Couldn't let you wander around alone."
She rolled her eyes and laughed. "I'm a big girl, don't you know? And I can clearly kick butt just as good as you, or any other hot bodied man!"
He blushed slightly. "Yeah I know that. Besides, I wanted to do some shopping too."
"A man who likes to shop, that's a new one," Julia commented and turned back to Miharu. "I just came out to pick up a few supplies and get some new clothes. We've just finished up, and we were about to head to Xiaoyu's match. Thought you'd have been there?"
Miharu eyes widened. "XIAOYU'S MATCH! OH NO! I totally forgot!"
Lei finally managed to get a grip on all his bags, looking at Miharu with a raised eyebrow. "How could you forget her match? She's up against that hairy beast, Craig Marduck."
Miharu cringed. "I've had a lot on my mind. Xiaoyu will kill me if I miss her match! It's her first official one since the preliminaries."
"One of the first to go up," Julia commented. "You haven't had yours yet?"
"No, but it says I'm going to go up against someone called Christie Monteiro." Miharu remembered from reading the match ups recently.
"We'd better cut the chatter if we want to get to the match," Lei said. "Shall we go, ladies?"
"Yeah, of course," Julia said, and touched the Japanese girl's shoulder. "Come on, Miharu, hitch a lift with us. We'll get there before the match ends."
"Alright." Miharu didn't protest and hurriedly followed them back to their rental car.
***
With their competitors passes, the three instantly got in and headed straight for the open front row tier, which was clear for high paying ticket holders and people who had special passes. Miharu grabbed a seat and almost jumped as the big hair competitor known as Marduck crashed against the barrier.
"Woah! What a move, and from such a little bean pole!" Someone shouted out.
Miharu peered around the sweating mass, to see Xiaoyu in stance, breathing hard and wiping the sweat from her brow. She was covered in sand from the ground, showing she'd had a rough ride so far and a little bit of blood had trickled from her nose. This was looking to be hard work for the Chinese girl.
Marduck was already moving again, growling loudly and swearing in a thick American accent. Miharu was completely taken back by the size of Craig Marduck. He was a huge mammoth. A woolly mammoth at that! His physique was intimidating and his height rivalled that of Panda and Kuma. Scarily inhuman!
Miharu worried that Xiaoyu wouldn't have a chance against this brute. But of course, she didn't want to not have faith in her friend. She knew she could get the job done if she did the right moves.
Marduck began to circle around her, but she instinctually moved to stay out of striking range. He was looking for a weakness, yet Xiaoyu wasn't willing to show one, keeping an eye on his actions so she could at least evade a heavy attack.
His attack came like lightning, and would have been missed if you blinked. But Xiaoyu was ready. His arm swung like a lump hammer at her head, but she dropped and rolled out of the way, coming back up to his side. If it had hit, it would have surely taken off her head.
She didn't anticipate his hand spinning and grabbing her hair and swinging her around 180 degrees. The release and the power were a force to be reckoned with and she was sent crashing down face first onto the sandy floor.
Marduck roared, pumping the crowd up even more, now on their feet and screaming in bliss of the action. Miharu had pretty much forgot all her troubles as she got into the match, she herself standing in worry.
"NO! XIAO! GET UP!" She cried out.
Xiaoyu groaned and began to get up on her hands and knees, trying to get some air back into her lungs. She looked up to Miharu, who was shouting in her support, a worried look plastered to her face. She spat sand from her mouth, growling to herself. She knew she couldn't let this monster of a man beat her.
Jumping at a roar, she found herself in the path of another one of his attacks, his form looming over her as he dived towards her. With little and no time to think she launched herself into a 'California roll' and thrust her legs up to catch him straight under the chin, knocking him onto his back. She landed, barely hopping over a low attack as he tried to catch her off guard.
Miharu cheered. "Way to go, Xiao!"
Xiaoyu backed away from the hulking mass as he began to scramble to get back to his feet. She had to change her tactics, as her strength would no way match his and her punishment had little or no effect on him. She needed to be able to incapacitate him.
It finally struck her. He was so much taller then her and relied on that much. She had to take out his vertical base. She glimpsed down at his knees, her new point of attack. She waited on his decision to attack. His incoming would give her the chance she needed. She cheekily grinned at him as he rubbed a sore jaw.
He wiped a fair amount of spittle away, and growled. "You'll pay for that!"
He charged at her, ready to tackle her down to the ground. She surprised him by charging at him too, even more so by baseball sliding past him, hooking her arm around to strike his knee hard. His stumbled and fell forward.
"You little bitch!" He cried out, trying to ignore the pain running through his kneecap and the joint.
She got up, dusting down her side and watched him get up slower this time then before. She was sure her tactics would work well in her favour. Wasting no time, she shifted into her 'Rain Dance' stance and hopped backwards. He looked up just in time to see her push herself over forwards into a 'Monkey Flip' and struck both feet against the knee. She got up as she heard him land roughly behind her. She turned and grinned, casting a glance to Miharu, to say she'd got this one in the bag. Miharu gave her the thumbs up.
Xiaoyu went in and relentlessly attacked his damaged knee. She performed the 'Flapping Wings', aggravating the injury so it took him longer to get back up. She went in for low kicks, aiming at both knees. He was struggling to stop her attack, also trying to protect his knees.
This mammoth man didn't look so big to her now.
She went into the 'Front Layout', dropping her whole body weight straight onto his right knee. He roared, swearing at her as he tried to make a grab for her, but in his position, she was too fast for him. He'd managed to roll onto his front and was pushing himself up, just as Xiaoyu dropped into the 'Phoenix Stance', watching and waiting till his knee was position just off the ground. And suddenly, there was her chance and she dropped back into the 'Firecracker', legs cutting across the sand and at his knee. That's when she heard the loud pop and he was down, in complete agony. He didn't get up after that.
She got back up, worn out completely.
"Ling Xiaoyu wins!" Came the announcement, and Xiaoyu stretched her arms over her head, mumbling something in Japanese.
***
Xiaoyu had showered and changed, only coming out with a few bumps and bruises, now covered up under a soft fleece jacket, over her pink dress. She stepped out to be greeted by Miharu, Lei and Julia.
"That was brutal!" Julia said. "We missed the beginning but it looked as if you had taken a beating."
"I got too headstrong at the beginning of the match," Xiaoyu admitted. "But it seems we traded places. How is Mr. Marduck?"
"They are taking him to the hospital," Lei told her. "You really roughed up his knee."
"Well, he wouldn't have stayed down if I hadn't of hit him hard," Xiaoyu said as she rubbed a sore arm.
"Well, I thought it was great tactics," Miharu complimented. "Well done on your victory, Xiao."
Xiaoyu hugged her friend. "Thanks, Miharu. What do you say we all go out for something to eat, to celebrate? I really need some chow."
"Yeah, that sounds good," Julia agreed.
"Count me in!" Lei said pretty much thrilled with the idea of stuffing his face. Julia elbowed him and he just laughed.
"Okay, I guess I can stomach some things," Miharu said. "Not been feeling too great lately."
"Well, take it easy, Miharu," Xiaoyu said, patting her shoulder. "You've got a match to win soon."
"True." Miharu hooked arms with Xiaoyu and the group walked through the back area, making their way towards the car park.
Miharu listened to Xiaoyu talk about the match and how she thought she'd lose to Marduck, when her attention was caught by a hooded man up ahead. He looked their way only for a second and disappeared. Miharu blinked, quickening the pace and looking through the door he had left through. He was nowhere to be seen.
'Jin…' Her mind whispered.
By Indigo Siren
Disclaimer: Tekken is © to Namco. I am making no money from this fan fiction; it is just for fun. I however own all the characters that are not apart of the Tekken franchise. All rights reserved.
Chapter 6
The calm was a heavenly touch. It something so serene, so blessing as the day began to fade away, melting liking running paint on canvas. The soft tones of oranges and pinks were dabbed in a pattern, over the horizon. Miharu stood watching the sunset on the hill of the park, with nobody in sight, with the feeling of having only the gentle breeze for company. It felt so different, the lulling bringing her a sense of peace for once, though she always found sunsets to be the slow descent of another day, with her heart wishing it would hurry and end so she could start a new day without feeling so heavy. But of course, she could never get rid of the feelings she had. But tonight, it felt different. For once, she loved the sunset, and she smiled to herself, admiring the beauty that seemed so far away.
Her blue summer dress whipped around behind her as the wind picked up, and the soft rub of fabric on her legs was a reminder that she still existed there, still breathed through her thoughts of pain and loneliness.
A sigh escaped her lips in a sense of longing and she folded her arms as coolness trailed up her dainty arms. The air suddenly become more crisp and alert that made everything stand to attention, watching and waiting. The whole world seemed to light up with life around Miharu, and she could suddenly feel the presence of another.
She turned swiftly; eyes focused on the trees to one side of the park. Her jaw went slack, her mouth dropping open. First, she though her eyes were deceiving her, but after several moments of blinking, her mind started to believe. She took a step forward, her face lighting up slightly.
Jin stood there. It was him, it just had to be. That face, that physique… She was sure this time. He just stood there watching her, eyes holding her in his sights, looking her over. She didn't know whether to run to him or not, whether to feel sad or happy to see him again after so long.
Her hearted lurched as he turned and walked away into the thicket of the trees. And like a flash, she was running after him.
"JIN! WAIT!" She called, brushing through the trees in pursuit.
She came to a stop aside the band stand, and saw him standing on the steps, back to her. She was careful at first, walking slowly towards him, hands to her sides as she could feel a tingling of them wanting to reach out to him and touch his back, though she didn't know what he was feeling or how he would react to that.
Why was she so unsure all of a sudden?
"Jin?" She said softly, stopping a few metres behind him.
He didn't turn to start with and she was afraid. She was about to say his name again, when he spun around, face completely void of emotion. Just staring at his face made Miharu's insides twist in fear.
Fear of Jin? This was wrong. Miharu had taken a step back without knowing, but plucked up a little courage to at least reach out to him with a slight smile, maybe to ease things.
"Jin…" She stepped in, hand out to his face, but stopped. The aura around him… was so icy cold. Her fingers seemed to twitch and go painfully numb. She pulled back, holding the now cold limb.
His voice came deep and subtle. "You shouldn't keep looking for me. It just makes it harder then it should be."
Miharu frowned, rubbing her hand. "What? Jin, I don't understand?"
"We can't be together. I can't love you…" He took a slow breath. "I won't love you."
The last four words were a shot straight to her heart and her knees gave up and she used the support of a tree to keep her standing. She couldn't believe what he was saying.
"Why Jin? Why are you telling me this? After so long?" She asked, keeping the tears from her voice.
"It was so obvious. You didn't listen to your instincts to carry on. You didn't have to wait for me," he said blatantly. "I didn't for you."
Her eyes were streaming with crystal tears of pain. These words were like sharp stabs all over her body. It didn't make sense to her.
"WHY DID YOU MOVE ON?" She shouted at him, her voice now slurred with weeping. "YOU RAN AWAY FROM EVERYONE! FROM ME! NEVER TO CONTACT US AND NOW YOU'RE TELLING ME THIS! AFTER EVERYTHING!"
He just stood watching her cry, not making a move to comfort her or apologise. She thought she'd choke on her tears with the rush of agony that ran from her heart, all the way around her body.
"Move on, Miharu." It had been the first time he had said her name, at there was no feeling behind it. "I have other things to deal with. Dangers you wouldn't understand. Love is the last thing I want to think of. As of now, we don't know each other."
And with that, he walked around her and began to move back towards the trees. She was gasping for breath, as if he had punched her in the stomach. She looked up to him going and started after him.
"NO JIN! PLEASE DON'T GO!" She cried.
"I don't know you," he just said.
She screamed at him to come back, but he did nothing but walk away, no longer acknowledging her. He was melting into the shadows of the woods now there was no sun to guide her.
She was running after him again, though he was getting further away. She reached out long stretched arms.
"JIN!" She screamed, her eyes closing, as the tears became overwhelming.
Her voice echoed away and she opened her eyes to complete darkness, her body wrapped up tight and she jumped, crying out Jin's name. She was falling all of a sudden and hit the ground with a heavy thud. But it wasn't grass or wood shavings that she landed on; it was soft carpeting. She struggled up as she gripped to the mass that was wrapped around her.
They were blankets. She held them tighter, looking around her room nervously.
It had been a dream. Another dream, but this had been so different from the others. The woman in white had been the first to invade her dreams for a while, and ever since talking to Rubi, her dreams had been so different, so dark. But tonight, had been the first night Jin had appeared like that, and had acted so coldly towards her.
She slumped on the bed, crying softly into the ruffled blankets.
"No, Jin, come back… come back…" She whispered breathlessly, as the tears soaked into the blankets against her cheek.
Each breath she took sent a shudder up her spine, and she curled up into a tight ball, as small as she could. It was strange all of sudden. Why could smell Jin's scent against her blankets and tingling over the skin of her arms and face?
She fell asleep; feeling that he had been there, even if only for a moment, though the thought of it had her slightly scared.
***
"See you guys later," Yamaki called to his friends as he left them in the middle of the town centre, making his way home from soccer practice. He whistled, refreshed and happy after a friendly game they had been playing.
He saw the ice cream truck ahead and brightened up more. It had been a while since he had had an ice cream. He dug into his pockets of pulled out some spare change and ran towards the now shortening queue. It wasn't long before he was served and he ordered a vanilla cone. He gratefully took it and licked at the sweet creamy treat, thankful for the coolness against the hot day.
He froze up suddenly. He almost dropped the cone when he saw Miharu sat on a wall just across from him, licking an ice cream of her own.
He felt ecstatic now. His day was just getting better and better.
"Hi, Miharu," he greeted as he walked towards where she was sat.
She looked up at him, pausing for a second just to faintly smile at him. "Hi."
Yamaki noticed she looked rather pale. Her expression was one of sadness. He felt the need to snap her out of this depressed form.
"It's a pretty nice day, don't you think?" He said.
"Hmm, it's okay," she replied, licking a drip that had threatened to run down the side of the cone.
He sat beside her. "Did you hear that Amai Youdou from Miss Ai's class is having a party next week? She lives in a really cool house, you know, the big one near the Mishima mansion. Everyone is going to it. I hear it'll be a blast."
"Probably will, but I'm not going," Miharu said, looking at her ice cream rather then at Yamaki.
"Aww, why not?" He asked her.
"Well, for a fact, everyone knows that Amai is such a drama queen and everyone will only be going since she has a swimming pool. Nobody really likes her, so I'm not going to pretend for one minute just to eat her food and swim in her weedy pool."
Yamaki blinked then nervously laughed. "I think Amai is alright. Not too bad a girl."
"Yeah, it's because she fancies you," Miharu said.
Yamaki was surprised at that. He was hoping to think Miharu was jealous, but she lacked emotion towards him and it seemed totally unlikely. He sighed.
"You okay, Miharu?" He decided to ask.
She sighed, and finally looked at him. "Had a rough time these past few nights."
"The tournament getting you down?" He licked at his ice cream as he spoke.
She thought about it for a moment. "I guess so."
"Hey, if you want, we could go for a walk around the water gardens," he grinned sheepishly. "May take your mind off things and cheer you up."
She sighed softly and gave him an apologetic smile. "Thanks for the offer, but right now, I would like to be alone. I've got a lot of thinking to do. Maybe we could do it after school someday, I've been meaning to go in a while."
Though sad she wouldn't go with him then, but it brightened him up to hear she'd go with him another time.
"Okay, sure, I'll leave you to your thoughts," he said, jumping down from the wall. "See you at school."
"Yeah, bye." She waved him off as he returned on his journey home.
She groaned inwardly. Yamaki was okay, but he was the last person she needed around her right now. As a matter of fact, she needed very little interaction with men altogether while she felt this bad. After her dream, no, nightmare last night, she was edgy and still thoughtful about Jin, the man who had become her one true love.
She finished off her ice cream cone and sat, looking up at the clear blue sky. The sun was bright, and it was a nice warm day, with everyone so cheery around her. Nope, it didn't make her feel any better. She condemned these emotions for ruining her life. Was love seriously worth all this?
"Hey, is that Miharu? Hey it is!"
Miharu blinked and looked down to Julia Chang waving up at her and she smiled, hoping down to join the older girl. Behind Julia, Lei Wulong stood, checking through his many shopping bags, just a few less then Julia had.
The American girl beamed. "It's nice to see you again."
Miharu did her best to match her smile, trying not to seem glum. "Yeah, it's weird to see you out and about in Tokyo."
"You know, doing some shopping," she said. "Lei brought me out, being my bodyguard. Though I don't see why."
The Chinese man looked up with a grin at Julia. "Couldn't let you wander around alone."
She rolled her eyes and laughed. "I'm a big girl, don't you know? And I can clearly kick butt just as good as you, or any other hot bodied man!"
He blushed slightly. "Yeah I know that. Besides, I wanted to do some shopping too."
"A man who likes to shop, that's a new one," Julia commented and turned back to Miharu. "I just came out to pick up a few supplies and get some new clothes. We've just finished up, and we were about to head to Xiaoyu's match. Thought you'd have been there?"
Miharu eyes widened. "XIAOYU'S MATCH! OH NO! I totally forgot!"
Lei finally managed to get a grip on all his bags, looking at Miharu with a raised eyebrow. "How could you forget her match? She's up against that hairy beast, Craig Marduck."
Miharu cringed. "I've had a lot on my mind. Xiaoyu will kill me if I miss her match! It's her first official one since the preliminaries."
"One of the first to go up," Julia commented. "You haven't had yours yet?"
"No, but it says I'm going to go up against someone called Christie Monteiro." Miharu remembered from reading the match ups recently.
"We'd better cut the chatter if we want to get to the match," Lei said. "Shall we go, ladies?"
"Yeah, of course," Julia said, and touched the Japanese girl's shoulder. "Come on, Miharu, hitch a lift with us. We'll get there before the match ends."
"Alright." Miharu didn't protest and hurriedly followed them back to their rental car.
***
With their competitors passes, the three instantly got in and headed straight for the open front row tier, which was clear for high paying ticket holders and people who had special passes. Miharu grabbed a seat and almost jumped as the big hair competitor known as Marduck crashed against the barrier.
"Woah! What a move, and from such a little bean pole!" Someone shouted out.
Miharu peered around the sweating mass, to see Xiaoyu in stance, breathing hard and wiping the sweat from her brow. She was covered in sand from the ground, showing she'd had a rough ride so far and a little bit of blood had trickled from her nose. This was looking to be hard work for the Chinese girl.
Marduck was already moving again, growling loudly and swearing in a thick American accent. Miharu was completely taken back by the size of Craig Marduck. He was a huge mammoth. A woolly mammoth at that! His physique was intimidating and his height rivalled that of Panda and Kuma. Scarily inhuman!
Miharu worried that Xiaoyu wouldn't have a chance against this brute. But of course, she didn't want to not have faith in her friend. She knew she could get the job done if she did the right moves.
Marduck began to circle around her, but she instinctually moved to stay out of striking range. He was looking for a weakness, yet Xiaoyu wasn't willing to show one, keeping an eye on his actions so she could at least evade a heavy attack.
His attack came like lightning, and would have been missed if you blinked. But Xiaoyu was ready. His arm swung like a lump hammer at her head, but she dropped and rolled out of the way, coming back up to his side. If it had hit, it would have surely taken off her head.
She didn't anticipate his hand spinning and grabbing her hair and swinging her around 180 degrees. The release and the power were a force to be reckoned with and she was sent crashing down face first onto the sandy floor.
Marduck roared, pumping the crowd up even more, now on their feet and screaming in bliss of the action. Miharu had pretty much forgot all her troubles as she got into the match, she herself standing in worry.
"NO! XIAO! GET UP!" She cried out.
Xiaoyu groaned and began to get up on her hands and knees, trying to get some air back into her lungs. She looked up to Miharu, who was shouting in her support, a worried look plastered to her face. She spat sand from her mouth, growling to herself. She knew she couldn't let this monster of a man beat her.
Jumping at a roar, she found herself in the path of another one of his attacks, his form looming over her as he dived towards her. With little and no time to think she launched herself into a 'California roll' and thrust her legs up to catch him straight under the chin, knocking him onto his back. She landed, barely hopping over a low attack as he tried to catch her off guard.
Miharu cheered. "Way to go, Xiao!"
Xiaoyu backed away from the hulking mass as he began to scramble to get back to his feet. She had to change her tactics, as her strength would no way match his and her punishment had little or no effect on him. She needed to be able to incapacitate him.
It finally struck her. He was so much taller then her and relied on that much. She had to take out his vertical base. She glimpsed down at his knees, her new point of attack. She waited on his decision to attack. His incoming would give her the chance she needed. She cheekily grinned at him as he rubbed a sore jaw.
He wiped a fair amount of spittle away, and growled. "You'll pay for that!"
He charged at her, ready to tackle her down to the ground. She surprised him by charging at him too, even more so by baseball sliding past him, hooking her arm around to strike his knee hard. His stumbled and fell forward.
"You little bitch!" He cried out, trying to ignore the pain running through his kneecap and the joint.
She got up, dusting down her side and watched him get up slower this time then before. She was sure her tactics would work well in her favour. Wasting no time, she shifted into her 'Rain Dance' stance and hopped backwards. He looked up just in time to see her push herself over forwards into a 'Monkey Flip' and struck both feet against the knee. She got up as she heard him land roughly behind her. She turned and grinned, casting a glance to Miharu, to say she'd got this one in the bag. Miharu gave her the thumbs up.
Xiaoyu went in and relentlessly attacked his damaged knee. She performed the 'Flapping Wings', aggravating the injury so it took him longer to get back up. She went in for low kicks, aiming at both knees. He was struggling to stop her attack, also trying to protect his knees.
This mammoth man didn't look so big to her now.
She went into the 'Front Layout', dropping her whole body weight straight onto his right knee. He roared, swearing at her as he tried to make a grab for her, but in his position, she was too fast for him. He'd managed to roll onto his front and was pushing himself up, just as Xiaoyu dropped into the 'Phoenix Stance', watching and waiting till his knee was position just off the ground. And suddenly, there was her chance and she dropped back into the 'Firecracker', legs cutting across the sand and at his knee. That's when she heard the loud pop and he was down, in complete agony. He didn't get up after that.
She got back up, worn out completely.
"Ling Xiaoyu wins!" Came the announcement, and Xiaoyu stretched her arms over her head, mumbling something in Japanese.
***
Xiaoyu had showered and changed, only coming out with a few bumps and bruises, now covered up under a soft fleece jacket, over her pink dress. She stepped out to be greeted by Miharu, Lei and Julia.
"That was brutal!" Julia said. "We missed the beginning but it looked as if you had taken a beating."
"I got too headstrong at the beginning of the match," Xiaoyu admitted. "But it seems we traded places. How is Mr. Marduck?"
"They are taking him to the hospital," Lei told her. "You really roughed up his knee."
"Well, he wouldn't have stayed down if I hadn't of hit him hard," Xiaoyu said as she rubbed a sore arm.
"Well, I thought it was great tactics," Miharu complimented. "Well done on your victory, Xiao."
Xiaoyu hugged her friend. "Thanks, Miharu. What do you say we all go out for something to eat, to celebrate? I really need some chow."
"Yeah, that sounds good," Julia agreed.
"Count me in!" Lei said pretty much thrilled with the idea of stuffing his face. Julia elbowed him and he just laughed.
"Okay, I guess I can stomach some things," Miharu said. "Not been feeling too great lately."
"Well, take it easy, Miharu," Xiaoyu said, patting her shoulder. "You've got a match to win soon."
"True." Miharu hooked arms with Xiaoyu and the group walked through the back area, making their way towards the car park.
Miharu listened to Xiaoyu talk about the match and how she thought she'd lose to Marduck, when her attention was caught by a hooded man up ahead. He looked their way only for a second and disappeared. Miharu blinked, quickening the pace and looking through the door he had left through. He was nowhere to be seen.
'Jin…' Her mind whispered.