Chapter Four: Fortune
The next morning dawned bright and early for Xiaoyu, and she could barely contain her excitement as she raced down the hallway and into the elevator that would deposit her in the lobby. Her stomach rumbled in protest to her hasty decision, but Xiaoyu banged her fist against it mercilessly. "Jin is more important than some stupid food!" she said to herself. "I wonder who I'll fight first?" She hopped from foot to foot, and practically exploded out of the elevator doors when they opened, surprising the guards. Crashing through the lobby noisily, she skidded to a halt in front of the board, searching the roster for the fight listings and locations.
With a cry of triumph, she found her name. Just as quickly, her face fell. "What? No way!" she exclaimed, stomping her foot in anger. "I don't fight until tomorrow? What kind of a bum deal is that?" Looking at the board more closely, she suppressed a groan. "And against Bruce Irvine, too," she mumbled. She remembered him now, the boxer who started the scuffle in the lobby the day before. "Great, just great, I have to fight an old lech for my first battle!" she complained, automatically turning to Panda for comfort. The lack of her giant furry friend brought her up short, dampening the elation that had been coursing through her body. "Right… this is my first competition without Panda," she said out loud. "That's okay, Xiaoyu, you can be strong," she encouraged herself.
"Talking to yourself now? Where I come from, they put you in special clinics for doing that."
Xiaoyu winced and felt her hair stand on end as the familiar voice grated across her nerves. "I'm in a good mood today," she said loudly. "Nothing can ruin my good mood right now, not even you," she continued in a sing-song voice. "So just shoo! Go stand in the corner and look angry or something, isn't that what you do best?"
Hwoarang laughed dryly, standing beside her and scanning the contestants' board. "Well good morning to you too, sunshine," he replied. He spotted her name and lifted an eyebrow. "Oh, so you don't actually have to get beaten until tomorrow. A free day of grace! No wonder you're so perky," he smirked.
"Humph," Xiaoyu huffed, repeating to herself silently that she would ignore him. She focused her attention on the board before her instead of the man beside her. It wasn't very hard to do as she studied the battle roster. "King versus Jack-5, Residence Poolside, 13:00..." She did a double take. "Jack-5? Why do they even still try with those things?" she muttered to herself. The next battle listed was even more interesting. "Nina Williams versus Anna Williams, Building 7 Rooftop, 18:00," she read out loud. A low whistle brought her attention back to Hwoarang, who was also studying the line-up.
"I bet that fight's gonna stop traffic in the city," he chuckled. "They must be getting ready to condemn Building Seven if they're letting those two crazy sisters go at it up there."
Xiaoyu found herself agreeing with Hwoarang, but managed to catch herself before she could do so verbally. "Don't try to make conversation with me, I'm still mad at you," she huffed.
Hwoarang raised his hands in mock protest. "Oh, so sorry to offend you by breathing," he quipped sarcastically. "What crawled up your ass and died anyway? Loverboy didn't live up to your expectations last night?" He laughed and ducked backwards as Xiaoyu aimed a half-hearted strike at his head.
"Just do yourself a favour and shut the hell up, Hwoarang!" she snarled at him. "It's too early in the morning for this." Unfortunately, the cocky redhead couldn't catch a hint even if she plastered it to his forehead with a mallet. Instead of leaving her alone, he continued to smile infuriatingly at her until she felt the need to respond once more. "What!" she yelled.
"I must have touched a nerve, or you wouldn't go that particular shade of red," he observed. Seeing her incredulous expression, he grinned and offered his explanation. "Well, if you go sort of pink, you're just annoyed or trying to look cute to fool some old sucker. Red cheeks mean you're pissed. But," he added, raising his eyebrows and gesturing at Xiaoyu. "When your face turns all blotchy and your nose starts to run like that, then I know you're really mad. Like I said, I hit a nerve." He laughed as Xiaoyu began to tremble with rage. "Whoa, now that's what I call pre-volcanic," he added, "thanks for reminding me!"
"Aaah!" Xiaoyu screamed, squeezing her eyes shut as she shoved her fists under her chin and doubled over. "I won't kill anyone before my first match, I swear I won't, no matter how annoying or stupid or persistent he is!" she yelled to herself. Hwoarang's laughter made her eyes pop open and she quickly amended her previous vow. "Except for just this once," she added quickly, getting ready to plant a kick directly between the Korean's eyes.
"Chill out, Ling," Hwoarang said smoothly, backing away from her and bouncing on the balls of his feet in what to the untrained eye might have appeared to be nervous energy. Xiaoyu, however, recognized his loose fighting stance, and was mildly pleased that he could realize the dire consequence of his motor mouth. She took it back as he levelled another teasing insult at her. "Much as I know you want me, I didn't come here to satisfy your urges," he grinned.
"Could've fooled me," she replied, giving him her best death glare. "Why are you still here then? You want me to show you the ceiling up close?" she asked sweetly.
"Naw, I'm looking for Kazama," he answered, twisting back and forth quickly and carefully remaining out of reach of Xiaoyu's poised foot.
"Well I have news for you, she's looking for you too," Xiaoyu answered with a smirk. "I'd watch out if I were you, I think it's going to hurt when Asuka finds you." She laughed with minor satisfaction at Hwoarang's annoyed expression.
"Don't play games with me," he answered, the light humour dropping away from his face as he stopped moving and rested one hand on his hip. "Where's Jin? I haven't seen that bastard anywhere yet, but he's on the list."
Relaxing her own body slightly, Xiaoyu almost forgot to scowl at the tall redhead. "I haven't seen Jin yet either," she said sadly. "I hope he's okay…"
"Pah," Hwoarang said, stopping as the death glare Xiaoyu shot him warned him not to spit on the pristine floor of the Mishima lobby. "Of course Kazama's okay, that coward promised me he'd show up for our appointment this time." He scrutinized Xiaoyu's face more closely and his eyes widened with surprise. "You really haven't seen him, huh? Aren't you supposed to be his girl?"
Xiaoyu felt the heat rise to her face almost as quickly as the disappointment rose in her chest. We didn't exactly part on friendly terms last time, she thought to herself. Does it count as a break-up if you were never dating in the first place? Noticing Hwoarang's continued and most unwelcome scrutiny, she scowled at him again. "Mind your own business!" she shot back. She hated the knowing look that passed across Hwoarang's face even more than she hated his teasing. "Just leave me alone right now!" she added furiously, hoping she wouldn't cry in front of him. Moments like these were when she missed Panda the most; the giant bear would have conveniently batted the annoying Korean out of the way and let Xiaoyu make a tactful retreat. I have to be strong. I can't let him see any weakness or he'll use it against me. Or Jin! She clenched her teeth together and stuck out her chin in what she hoped was a gesture of defiance.
Hwoarang remained silent for a few moments longer, regarding her thoughtfully. The silence between them stretched uncomfortably. Finally, when he spoke, it surprised her. "Well, he's got a match coming up against Marduk," he told Xiaoyu, pointing at the roster. "Maybe you'll spot him there." He shrugged and sauntered away from the board indifferently, leaving Xiaoyu staring at his back in confusion.
Was he just… nice to me? she wondered to herself. Her thought was checked as Hwoarang leaned back and called to her over his shoulder.
"And stop staring at my ass!"
"Jerk!" she bit out, taking back any good thoughts she might have had about Hwoarang and filing them in her mental drawer of 'biggest mistakes ever.' Thinking over what he said, she came to another realization that made the nervous rolling in her stomach ease somewhat. That look, she thought to herself with surprise. His eyes don't have that look in them, no matter how much trash he talks about Jin. It gave her a small measure of comfort to realize there were others like herself participating in the tournament. Not every contestant considered it a battle of life and death, even if it was only Hwoarang and his overbearing pride. With a small smile, she waved a false salute at Hwoarang's oblivious back, something she considered a fitting thanks for his unknowing gift.
Turning back to the board, she continued her search for Jin's name. Her eyes widened as she found it. "Hey, it's the first battle of today!" she noted, excitement kindling in her stomach. "Jin Kazama versus Craig Marduk, Vision Club, 11:00" she read out loud. Glancing down at her watch, she let out a shrill cry of panic. "Oh no! It's already 9:00! I've only got two hours to find the perfect outfit!"
The guards at the foot of the elevator looked at each other knowingly and dived out of the way as the dark-haired blur of pink barrelled back into the elevator and repeatedly stabbed the button inside, chattering to herself feverishly about her clothing.
-x – x – x -
Xiaoyu descended down the dark, damp staircase carefully, letting the sound of rough cheering and the dull pulse of the music guide her feet when her eyes failed her. "Club Vision," she muttered to herself sarcastically. "What a stupid name, I can't see anything down here. How far underground is this place, anyway?" Finally, the sickly yellow glow of light from below alerted her to the end of the narrow passage. Her relief was quickly replaced with disgust as she stumbled out into the cavernous interior of the underground rave-turned-fighting-arena. A large, dirty white van swung from the edge of the ceiling, its lights still burning brightly enough to provide the main lighting of the entire room. Throngs of street-toughened clubbers catcalled, cheered and threw small objects into the makeshift cage that had been erected around the center of the dance floor.
Squinting and wrinkling her nose, Xiaoyu was glad she had decided against wearing her flashy pink silk dress in the squalid atmosphere of the club. She pulled the zipper of her yellow vest up over her tank top and dodged away from the jeers and gropes of some of the male onlookers. Making a quick decision, she tore her hair out of their trademark double ponytails in favour of a more conservative single one. "Anything to avoid more attention in this crowd," she mumbled to herself. Sneaking a quick glance at her watch, she breathed a sigh of relief. "I made it with time to spare," she cheered to herself. Xiaoyu's congratulations were short lived as she looked at the throng of people blocking her sight to the arena. She tried jumping up and down to catch a better glimpse of the fight floor, but to no avail. The mass of moving flesh surrounding the cage gathered and roared in excitement as the contestants were announced over the loudspeakers.
"Hey! Oww! Move over!" Xiaoyu yelled as she tried fruitlessly to elbow her way through the spectators. After being pushed back roughly for the fourth time, she gave a snort of annoyance and moved away from the crowd. Scanning the side of the wall, she spotted a low hanging beam that had fallen against the cage's iron framework. She glanced around surreptitiously, and then with a grin, charged forward. A few wayward clubbers cursed and dived out of the way as she built up her speed and then sprung upwards, twisting her body through the air in tight form. Bending her knees at the last second, she landed with a loud bang on the low beam and wobbled slightly before regaining her balance. The swearing below alerted her to the fact that her manoeuvre had not gone unnoticed, but she smirked and slapped her butt at the onlookers below. "Not like you can reach me up here," she yelled at them. Her grin dropped into a pout as she realized she still didn't have a good view of the cage interior. The beam she was standing on was simply too far away from the center of the ring. The light fixture, however, was another story…
With a sneaky grin, Xiaoyu carefully stood and held her arms out for balance. Taking a deep breath, she skipped forward and flipped off of the beam, somersaulting onto the van and causing it to sway wildly. "Whoa!" she screamed, sliding off of the back and scrabbling in panic before she managed to catch onto a door handle and stop her fall. A few more curses and whistles followed her, but the match had already started, and almost everyone's focus was on the tournament participants, not the young girl hanging precariously from the vehicle on the wall. With a grunt, she swung her leg onto the wheel of the van and pulled herself up onto the back door, this time carefully planting one knee on the swaying automobile so she wouldn't slide off. Letting out a sigh of relief, she finally turned her attention to the match participants.
"Fight!" boomed the voice from the overhead speakers as a bell chimed. Straining her neck forward, she gasped as she saw the contestants. "Jiiiiin!" she called out, almost falling off of the van again in her eagerness. The hooded figure in the center of the ring was him, she was sure of it. Next to the massive wrestler Marduk, he looked tiny. That wasn't of great concern to Xiaoyu; she knew Jin was a superb fighter, just as the rest of his family had been. What caused her breath to catch in his throat was his stiff posture and heaving chest. "He's fighting it," she whispered to herself with realization. But can he control it? she thought suddenly, looking around at the wildly cheering spectators. All these people... Panic washed over her at the thought of the devil being released in such tight, crowded quarters. "Jin!" she cried again, filling her lungs and shouting as loud as she could. "I know you can do it, Jin! Just hang in there!" A few of the spectators looked up at Xiaoyu curiously; the real fighting had not even started yet, and her wild cheering seemed out of place. She ignored them, however, and held her breath as the Vale Tudo champion made the first move.
With a low bellow and a lunge, he charged at the hooded figure with lowered shoulders and dropped him to the ground heavily. Xiaoyu winced at the audible crunch the smaller figure's body made as he hit the floor. It confirmed her suspicions, though; the hood was knocked away from the figure's face, revealing Jin's smooth features. It also seemed to literally knock Jin out of his stupor, for he rolled to his feet and took up his fighting stance.
Xiaoyu's eyebrows drew together thoughtfully as she watched him fight. "Those aren't the moves the devil was using," she gasped out loud as Jin threw his body to the floor in a rolling kick that caught Marduk across the chest. She squinted again, studying his style. "That isn't even the form he trained at our dojo," she observed. It was the same chopping karate style he had employed at the fourth tournament. Only this time, she realized, it was different. In the fourth tournament, his moves had appeared stiff and jerky. Xiaoyu had often wondered why Jin suddenly decided to change to an uncomfortable new style when he was so skilled at using Mishima karate. Now, however, it all seemed to fall into place. His moves were smooth and focused, rolling from his well-toned body like water off of a polished rock, striking with the fury of an ocean wave. Marduk might have had the size, but compared to Jin's speed and technique, he didn't stand a chance.
It wasn't long before Jin's fluid assault brought the huge fighter to his knees, and the round was called. The huge man pounded his meaty fist into the ground in fury before rising slowly to his feet. "Jin!" she yelled again, realizing that the match would be over quickly. "I believe in you!" He didn't seem to hear her, launching immediately into his attack the moment the announcer declared the next round.
This time, the battle was clear, with Marduk hardly even having the chance to recover from a blow before Jin launched him into the air once more. In a matter of moments, it was over, and Jin towered over the prone form of the unconscious giant, breathing heavily. Shocked silence settled over the onlookers at the speed and efficiency with which Jin had dispatched the much larger man, before one observer broke into a loud cheer. And then, the room erupted into noise as the crowd went wild, celebrating their new champion.
Xiaoyu's relief quickly turned into panic as she realized that Jin still hadn't noticed her. She waved her arms wildly, trying to catch his eye as she shouted. "Jin! It's me, Xiaoyu! Please, just look at me!" Her voice was lost in the noise of the crowd, and Jin pulled his hood up around his face once more and continued his long strides towards the cage exit, approaching her position without hearing her. Sucking in her breath, Xiaoyu stood up on the back of the van completely and cupped both hands around her mouth. "JIIIIIIIIN!" she bellowed at the top of her lungs.
Her heart thundered in her ears as he stopped at the foot of the van and glanced upwards, his intense gaze landing directly on her. She froze, unable to think of what to say now that she actually had his attention. His face was as beautiful as she had remembered, and his eyes just as haunted. Her lips formed into a whisper as her gaze locked onto his own. "I'm sorry," she said inaudibly. Whether Jin understood her or not, she never knew. What she did know was that he lowered his head and pulled the hood forward even more, exiting the club without any further acknowledgement. Colour and sound slowly seeped back into Xiaoyu's world, and dimly, she noticed that her sudden movement had sent the van rocking wildly again.
"Wha-wha-whoaaa!" she shouted, windmilling her arms and screaming loudly as she lost her balance. This time, no friendly door handle offered to stop her fall; only the ground rushed up to meet her. Oh god, I wish I was a cat! she thought in a panic, squeezing her eyes shut and waiting for the painful impact to occur. Her breath came out with a whoosh as she made contact with the floor. The surprisingly soft, warm and squishy floor. Which was groaning and moving. Cracking an eye open, she let out a squeak of surprise.
"Ow! Goddammit, get the hell off of me, Xiaoyu!" Hwoarang's angry red face greeted her, and she realized she was sitting squarely on his stomach. The tall redhead was sprawled on the floor, one arm trapped under her legs, the other supporting her back. He was also not very pleased, cursing as he struggled to rise to his feet under her weight.
He caught me! It couldn't have been a sweeter sight, even if it was redhead's scowling face in front of her and not Jin's finely chiselled chest. Anything was better than the bruises and possible tournament disqualification she might have received, had she broken a bone during her tumble. Her relief must have shone through on her face, because the Hwoarang's scowl darkened by several degrees as he watched her. He finally managed to stand up, throwing Xiaoyu off balance and sending her to the floor in an undignified heap. "What the hell was that? I almost had him, and then a girl comes falling out of the sky and lands on me," he swore, glaring at her. "Just my luck, it figures if was gonna start raining women, I'd get you instead of the Brazilian chick!"
Relief quickly changed to annoyance, and Xiaoyu stood and dusted herself off haughtily. "Well excuuuse me," she said sullenly. "Sorry if I'm not calendar pin-up material, but look on the bright side. This is probably the closest you'll ever get to a girl." She smirked and flashed him a victory sign as his face flushed red. "Ohh! 'Pre-volcanic,' wasn't it?" she teased. To her surprise, Hwoarang didn't rise to her baiting, instead shoving by angrily and knocking her off balance. "What?" she said, spinning around quickly and watching him stomp away. "Hey, come back here!" she cried, chasing after him. He only increased his pace, and Xiaoyu had to break into a fast jog to catch up with his long strides. "C'mon, wait up a second! I just wanted to apologize," she yelled, dancing around the annoyed Korean, who twisted his head this way and that, trying to avoid her pestering. Finally he stopped moving, glaring down at the tiny girl before him as if he could disintegrate her with his eyes alone. "Thanks for saving me," she mumbled quietly, feeling the weight of his eyes on the top of her head.
"What the hell were you doing up there anyway?" he asked curtly.
Xiaoyu hid her hands behind her back and swayed uncertainly, before remembering that Hwoarang didn't play into her cute card. With a sigh, she dropped the pose and shrugged. "I was just trying to get a better view of the match," she admitted. "I'm a little vertically challenged here, in case you didn't notice," she added at his incredulous look.
Hwoarang rolled his eyes upwards and pinched the bridge of his nose with one gloved hand, seeming to count backwards slowly. When he opened them again, his expression of rage had given way to his usual bored annoyance. "Fine. Next time you want to see a match up close, just ask."
Xiaoyu lifted an eyebrow at his statement. "Ask you? For help?" she said with an air of disbelief. "Why would you help me?"
Hwoarang smirked in reply. "So you can sit on my shoulders," he answered. "If you're gonna end up landing on top of me anyway, I might as well enjoy having your thighs around my head, eh?" He laughed and ducked as Xiaoyu let out a shrill scream and aimed a kick at his head.
"Pervert! I knew it!" she cried, stomping her foot on the ground. She stopped as he began to laugh, then froze with surprised as reached out and pulled at her hair. "Oww! Hey, what're you doing?"
"Oh, stop whining like a little baby," he said, tugging at the ponytail once more. "You landing on me hurt a helluva a lot more than this, so just suck it up." Seeing her vicious glare, he released the ponytail with a shrug. "Almost didn't recognize you without the rockets," he quipped.
"ROCKETS? You call them ROCKETS?" Xiaoyu yelled in indignation, grabbing at her mussed ponytail and rearranging it quickly.
"Relax," he said with a smile. "I like it this way. You look… older," he finished. Seeing the surprised look flit across Xiaoyu's face, he shrugged carelessly. "Whatever. So you fell on me. You can make it up later, I'll think of something." He moved past her, making his way towards the long dark passage leading to the world above. "Just be a little more careful, alright? I'll be pissed if I don't get to kick your butt in the tournament this time just because your clumsy ass fell off a cliff somewhere."
Xiaoyu nodded, humming tonelessly in agreement. "No more climbing without ropes," she promised herself, looking back towards the swinging van, which seemed higher than ever. Then her hand moved to her hair, and a flush graced her cheeks. "Older?" she murmured, glancing back at the stairs, where Hwoarang had already disappeared. Her thoughtful expression slowly dropped into a scowl, and she quickly pulled at the ponytail, freeing her hair from its confines. "Rockets for the rest of the tournament, then," she ground out, rearranging her hair into its old, familiar style.
It was only when Xiaoyu was already approaching the Mishima Corporation Headquarters that she realized what she had named her old hairstyle.