A/N: Whew... it's really been a long time since I worked on this. It's been an off an on thing, more off than on. Life has taken its toll on my motivation to write, after I lost two novels - one of which I was almost done editing. I'll try to pick up where I left off, and allow me to apologize in advance if my style of writing has changed since the last chapter.
A/N 2: The end of this chapter really surprised me. I don't know where it came from, but I know where it's going. Chill pill, anyone?
A/N 3: I should have gone through this chapter again for inconsistencies before releasing it, but I was so excited to be back on the trail that I wasn't as thorough as I should have been. Since I no longer have handy notes about the details of the story, I have to read back through EVERYTHING and remind myself what's gone on. Sad, ne?
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"I'm going to borrow some different clothes," Hwoarang called from the kitchen. In a moment, the sound of hangers screeching cut through the early morning quiet.
Jin listened to light footsteps retreating through the hall, then the quick thunk-thunk of something being chopped. --I better get dressed too...-- he thought with a sigh. He dressed as simply as he could in a white tank top and dark blue cargo pants, completed with a spike-riddled dog collar. He walked slowly back into the kitchen, worrying about whether his beautiful Korean really had feelings for him, or just his body. He sat down at the table, hardly noticing the enticing smell permeating the room. Hwoarang's voice startled him out of his bemusement. "Plates?" the redhead inquired.
"Above the stove. I don't eat at home often." Jin steepled his fingers and pressed them against his lips for a moment. "Done already? Let me help." He started to get up, but Hwoarang whirled around with a spatula in one hand and a plate in the other, holding both threateningly in front of him.
"Ohhhh no you don't. Just sit right there and allow me to serve." The Korean turned back around quickly to hide his blush, vividly remembering the -other- kind of club he used to attend. He had no scars to show for his service in them, unlike many of the other patrons, and thought he'd long outgrown such embarassment over slips of the tongue. Then again, this was Jin.
"You could at least allow me to get drinks or something," Jin muttered.
Hwoarang peered over his shoulder at his lover, smirking. "No deal. Coffee for you." He turned around the rest of the way and Jin had to quirk a brow; Hwoarang was balancing a plate on each forearm and holding a coffee mug in each hand. "Breakfast is served," he said, setting it all down with a flourish.
"Toast too?" Jin's eyebrows climbed the rest of the way up his forehead in surprise. "No way you had time for all that."
Hwoarang ducked his head, sitting down and poking his pile of eggs with a fork. "I've learned some very handy skills as a student," was all he said.
The Japanese shrugged slightly in acceptance, not about to prod. The eggs were fluffy and had diced green pepper and onion liberally sprinkled on top of the cheese. --I didn't even know I had green pepper.-- He realized that he was wolfing down the food and sat his fork down carefully. "This is very good," he said with a straight face.
Hwoarang shook his head fiercely, staring down into his plate. "Way too aggressively seasoned. Too much pepper."
Jin took a swallow of coffee, mulling over the comment. "You shouldn't criticize your own cooking. Bad karma. Besides, I enjoy my eggs well-peppered. At any rate. I, ahh... I've been meaning to ask you again, I wasn't completely awake at the time. Where did you say you've been staying all this time? It can't have been good if you were so willing to bunk with me for a change."
The Korean stopped eating with his fork halfway to his face. He slowly raised his eyes to Jin's, and deliberately stuck the bite in his mouth. He started chewing, dug another bite of egg out of the pile, and stuck it in there too. Jin was about to apologize for the question, but was interrupted with his mouth open by a knock on the door. "I'll get it," he mumbled with a sigh.
The redhead watched him leave the room, grimacing at his back. --How am I going to admit to him that I HAVEN'T been staying in a dorm, or an apartment, or a frat house? I knew I should have left, love be damned. I'll have to tell him the truth eventually, and then...-- Hwoarang didn't KNOW what then, but he wasn't at all eager to find out. The sound of low voices in the living room started to drone, and he hurried to finish his plate and stick it in the dishwasher. He tiptoed to the corner and peeked around stealthily.
"I know, I still intend on coming back this afternoon. But your... rashness... is worrying me to death." Tora stood in the doorway, gloves on and a fire shining in her sapphire eyes. "I meant what I said," she hissed. Jin had his arms crossed, but raised one hand to rest his forehead on. "You better think long and hard about what you're getting ready to do. Last night was pure foolishness. Yesterday morning was even worse."
"What else can I do, Tora? I'm afraid. I'm fucking afraid of losing my one chance to be somebody. Even if it means being somebody else." Jin's shoulders shook, and even though he didn't know what the issue here was, Hwoarang wanted to go to him. Instead he resettled his weight and remained silent. "I'm tired of hiding."
"What happened to love being enough?" Tora's voice was so quiet it was difficult to hear her; when Jin spoke, Hwoarang could only catch snippets.
"If he... feel the... I don't... what, but I... not knowing. Devil... dreams... aura... needs something resolved."
Heart pounding, Hwoarang pulled back around the corner and leaned back against the wall. He hadn't heard much, but he knew they were somehow talking about him. He didn't like where it seemed to be going much either. He squared his shoulders and strode out into the living room. "Good morning, Tora," he said with a forced smile. Jin stiffened where he stood and slowly turned around.
Tora narrowed her dark blue eyes and peered out at Hwoarang from an otherwise-stoic face. "Good morning," she said flatly. "Did you hear everything, or just what you shouldn't have?"
"Tora!" Jin hissed, expression going from stormy to shocked in an instant.
Hwoarang held up both his hands, palms out. "It's okay, I shouldn't have been listening. I heard enough." Jin flopped back onto his couch with a quiet groan, putting his head back in his hands.
"I want to have a word with you. Let's go talk by the datura. Shall we?" Tora smiled sweetly, but the glare she shot at Jin was pure fury. It said what she did not- 'And you will hear from me again soon.'
Hwoarang followed the petite girl meekly enough out onto the balcony, then up the steps onto the roof. "Wow... I hadn't seen all this in the light of day yet," he said in honest amazement. "It's gorgeous."
"No changing the subject," Tora growled, but her expression softened slightly. "Hwoarang, these dreams you've been having lately- and the incidents where you've passed out- we're afraid that the demon is reaching out to you and will not be dormant much longer. Jin has been in control for a long time now, but the likelihood that the Devil gene will flare up in public - especially at a meeting like Dirty Laundry, with all that music and excitement and flashy lights - is greater now that you're here."
Hwoarang lowered himself to the gravel, frowning. "I don't think I understand."
Tora stepped to the side of the building and rested her arms on the ledge, looking north across the city to a spot of forest on the far horizon. "We went through the same problem when I started working with Jin," she said reassuringly. "To a far lesser degree. I had headaches, nausea, even some vertigo in his company. We believe that the demon is jealous."
"So these symptoms I'm having... they're all because of the demon? And what would you know about the dreams I've been having?" he demanded.
She didn't turn to look at him, but shrugged. "It's one theory. The dreams, I only know as much as Jin has told me. Enough to recognize the intensity and reality from my own experience. Hwoarang... you need to stop being so goddamn defensive. It is unbecoming such a warrior as yourself." Tora hopped up onto the ledge and went up on the balls of her feet, assuming a fighting position. The redhead jumped to his feet.
"Tora... what are you doing!" Unconcernedly, she changed stances rapidly from one foot leading to the other, then jumped in the air and turned to face the other way. Hwoarang advanced, holding his hands out to catch her if she fell. "Come down from there... the wind can be strong this high up!"
She switched stances again, grinning at him. "That's the whole point. How about YOU come up HERE." Hwoarang swallowed hard, stopping half a pace from the ledge and looking queasily at it. Tora's grin widened. "It's a wider ledge than it looks. Don't make me haul you up."
--I must be insane.-- The Korean climbed carefully up onto the ledge, holding an arm out to either side for balance and biting his lip hard. It was a looooong way down, and no matter what Tora said, it couldn't be more than ten inches wide... "I'm up, now what?" he asked sarcastically.
"Now... we fly." Tora backspringed, grabbing his shoulders and sailing over him backward, laughing all the while. Hwoarang panicked and spun, reaching out to grab for her, and halted in amazement. The girl kept backflipping, landing each time as lightly as a cat, all the way to the corner of the ledge. "Learn to trust yourself more than you trust others, Hwoarang, with one exception alone. You can trust Jin with your life. Others, even myself, are accident prone where everyone else is concerned. Did you even notice how easy it was for me to get you up here?"
Hwoarang stood with his mouth hanging open, watching Tora effortlessly put herself into a handstand. --I guess she has a point.-- He gritted his teeth, trying not to look over the wrong edge. "Trust myself... okay." The redhead tensed for a moment, mentally calling himself insane in every language he knew, and started pacing along the top of the ledge.
"TORA! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH HIM!" Jin's voice was so full of panic, Hwoarang missed a step. His left foot barely hit the ledge and slipped. He spun instinctively as he fell and let out an "OOF" as the ledge met his gut. He started to pull himself back across it, dark eyes wide, when strong hands hauled him over and down. Hwoarang felt himself being wrapped in tense, almost feverishly warm arms, and couldn't find his voice. Jin certainly did. "Tora, what the hell were you thinking?" he yelled.
The young woman was crouched motionless at the corner, watching silently. "Something you should be doing," she said softly. "Trying to restore his self-confidence. If we're right, he is going to need it. Badly"
Jin's arms tightened around Hwoarang protectively. "I won't let anything happen. I won't!"
"If you lose control, even once, he needs to be prepared," Tora responded reasonably. "Go through the katas. Run. For gods' sakes, retrain balance! You have three weeks until classes begin again, right?"
Hwoarang finally lifted his head from Jin's shoulder and looked from his face to the girl's. "What do I need to be prepared for?" he asked uncertainly.
It was Jin who answered at last. His eyes flashed crimson for a split second, and it seemed as though the tattoo of a shadow framed his face. "Devil's games," the Japanese answered in a strained tone. "He tried to possess Tora once... and he knows though I love her like a sister, you are more precious to me than life..." Jin hesitated as though not wanting to continue.
Tora completed the statement for him. "If he tried to take you over... you'd have to fight him. You were strong enough to defeat Ogre... but that was a physical battle. Your will must be firm..." The girl stepped down from the ledge, striding toward the stairs. She paused to look back at the now-silent men. "Just, both of you... think about what I said. That's all I ask. Jin, be careful- don't give up, you'll find the solution. I'll... be back later."
Jin sighed softly and rested his cheek against Hwoarang's. They stood like that for a long moment. "Remember the question you asked me about where I'd been staying?" Hwoarang whispered. "I haven't been staying anywhere. I sort of don't have a place of my own. I told you before that I invested my winnings... it wasn't completely true. I funded a shelter house downtown- that's where I stay, and sometimes where I work. I have a dresser full of clothes there and a bed, but not much else. Jin... some of the people there are so depressed, I can't do anything for them. I can't help them, I can't even help myself!" Hwoarang's impassioned tale was halted by a finger being placed on his lips.
"Shhhh," Jin soothed quietly. He shut his eyes tight, and though he tried to remain silent, the words came unbidden as though the demon had control: "There'll be time for that. You don't have to stay there if you don't want to; I have plenty of room... if... if you wanted..."
The redhead pulled away almost roughly, quickstepped to the ledge and climbed up on it. Jin's wordless protest was met with a level look. "Jin Kazama, you've always lived in a different world. I always thought I never had a chance with you because of that. Now, I wonder if maybe my world's better after all." He took a deep breath and fell into stance, expression rather grim. "Those people NEED me." Hwoarang started switching leads, not nearly as rapidly as Tora had done, but with increasing balance in spite of the breeze beginning to pick up.
"Hwoarang..." Jin sounded agonized as he stepped forward, hands coming up before he could halt them. "-I- need you..."
The Korean looked calmly into Jin's dark amber eyes and sprang into the air, twisting around to face the other direction. "Get a hold on yourself." He jumped and spun again, a smile slowly coming over his face as he started to lose some of his fear. --This isn't much different than what Master Baek used to have me do, it's just a hell of a lot higher up,-- he thought. "It isn't like I'm going anywh- AAAH!" The sudden gust of wind that slammed into him felt almost solid, making sparks dance in front of his eyes from the force of it. Hwoarang could feel himself falling the wrong way almost in slow motion; he saw his hands reach for the ledge as it passed, saw Jin's panicked face sticking out over the side of the building.
Hwoarang abruptly realized he was going to die...