.
(Crossing the Line)
Anna breathed a sigh of relief when the elevator doors closed.
It was eerily quiet in the parking garage, it made her painfully aware of the lingering ringing in her ears. In the past, she had been close enough to explosions to feel the unpleasant aftereffects but she had been able to brace herself, had known it was coming, being caught off-guard was significantly worse. There was an unsettling feeling throughout her entire body, she could have sworn that her bones were still vibrating. She was hot, uncomfortable, and she was sure that if anyone had the audacity to bother her, she would kick their teeth in. She rested her back against the wall and took a few steadying breaths.
Someone had tried to kill Kazuya on her watch, the fact that they had survived had been sheer luck, not her doing whatsoever.
She was quickly overcome by an unpleasant, yet familiar feeling, the same that she had experienced almost two years to the day after her loss to Nina during the first tournament. It was the same sense of failure and humiliation threatening to consume her, the same feeling of frustration, of needing an outlet for her wrath and finding none. But finding a way to relive her anger and her frustration would not help her in the long run, what she needed do was redeem herself in Kazuya's eyes.
She was sure that if Bruce had been at the stadium instead of her the outcome would have been the same. But Kazuya was blaming her for the incident, calling her useless and insulting her in a way that had honestly hurt. She needed to redeem herself not only to regain Kazuya's trust but to show Bruce and the rest of the men that she had to be taken seriously. She had to prove herself once more, had to do it again and again, just like any woman in a man's world, she was used to it by now but it didn't mean it was fair. She didn't know how she was going to do it, but she had to start by showing absolutely no weakness.
She chose to take the stairs instead of the elevator. She input the code into the panel beside the entrance then pulled the handle on the heavy, metal door. As she made her descent into the sub-basement she regretted not having taken the elevator. Her every step clacked on the metal stairs and echoed all around her mixing itself with the ringing in her ears. A throbbing headache began to manifest and she was thankful when she reached the door at the bottom.
The hall was so brightly lit that her eyes hurt for a moment before they were able to adjust. Men in their black uniforms walked with purpose from one room to the other, there was an unusual sense of urgency in their body language and their demeanor, the hall could have been empty and she would have felt in the very air.
She never forgot a name or a face so when she turned left toward her office, she tried to look every man in the eye hoping to find a clue or see someone behaving suspiciously. Unfortunately, it was rather difficult since they all bowed when they saw her.
Further down the hallway, she spotted Lee standing next to one of the labs, he had his back against the wall and his arms crossed tightly over his chest. She could tell by his posture that he really needed a cigarette, and judging by the way he was looking at her, he had been waiting for her. He motioned with his head toward the door and went inside. Not now... Anna sighed and followed him in. She entered the empty lab and closed the door behind her. The room had obviously not been used for some time, all the monitors and electronic equipment were switched off and the chairs had been set upside down on top of desks and counters.
"Are you all right?" Lee fixed his gaze on her forehead and walked toward her. "You're bleeding." He spoke with concern as he reached forward and gently brushed her bangs to the side.
"It's fine." Anna pulled her head slightly away and he took a step back having received the signal.
The look on his face changed from concern to frustration. "What happened? No one's told me anything, I've been in engineering with the goddamned android all morning. If it wasn't for Sayuri calling me, wondering if everything is fine here, I would still be in there."
Anna shrugged. "It was a car bomb...I think, the limo exploded and…" She shook her head. "...The driver's dead, two others are hurt, maybe more, we left quickly, I had to get Kazuya out of there." If she had been doing her job properly maybe that man would still be alive...
"You weren't supposed to be there."
Lee's comment and bitter tone took her by surprise, she automatically looked around the room for cameras but saw none. Her voice was quiet as she spoke. "Why do you say that?"
"Because I was there when you got the call and I know you weren't supposed to be there." He shook his head as he fixed his gaze on one of the black screens. "You're putting yourself in danger every second you are near him."
"Again, why do you say that?"
He scoffed. "Why? Because someone just tried to blow you up along with their target, don't tell me you don't think he was the target, and don't tell me that it's going to stop there."
"It sounds like you know something."
"I know that he has a lot of enemies, everyone knows that. And I know that a good fraction of them wouldn't hesitate to kill him if they had the chance."
"Did you have something to do with it?" Anyone could have made the same assumption as Lee, but she had to ask.
"No."
His answer was convincing, the look in his eyes sincere, but there was an inkling in the back of her mind that told her he might know more than he was letting on. Her conversation with Kazuya moved to the forefront of her thoughts. Lee had shown concern for her, maybe Kazuya was right and she would be able to get answers from him by exploiting their past together, as he had put it. She considered it for a moment, but if she obtained information by feigning affection, would it redeem her in Kazuya's eyes? It wasn't that she was above using such tactics but when she did it, it was to further her own agenda, doing it on Kazuya's behest felt wrong.
She sighed softly. "If you have nothing to tell me, I really need to get going."
Lee looked like he was about to say something else but they were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in." The door opened and a man in a uniform poked his head inside, he began to speak quickly in Japanese. Lee answered and the man bowed slightly before closing the door. Lee shook his head. "Kazuya wants me upstairs, I'm sure he expects me to do damage control," he sighed, "I don't know who I hate dealing with more, the media or the police."
"I don't envy your job." Anna managed to smile.
He looked her in the eye. "Be careful." Anna nodded slowly as she watched him turn and walk out the door.
She didn't like the way Lee was acting but she couldn't tell Kazuya because it was worse than having no information. And besides, Lee was more than likely just worried about her wellbeing. She touched her fingertips gingerly to her forehead above her eyebrow and felt a small amount of dry blood. She set her purse on one of the empty tables and pulled out her compact mirror and a pack of moist towelettes.
Looking in the mirror she moved her bangs to the side and saw that there was a small cut just under the hairline. She assumed her sunglasses had broken and cut into her when she hit the ground. Damn, those were expensive. She pulled a moist towelette out of the pack and wiped away the dry blood, then a smudge of dirt on her cheekbone. She smoothed down her hair as well as she could. She finished by applying a fresh coat of red lipstick, her armor, she had to look like she was on top of her game. Her boots were scuffed and the slit on her skirt had torn but most men were idiots who wouldn't notice anyway.
She hastily put the items back in her purse, left the lab then made her way down the hall still trying to look at each man in the face. When she arrived at her office, she opened the door and saw Ganryu standing next to the fax machine reading a sheet of paper he was holding. Bruce sat behind his desk with a stern look on his face and the phone receiver cradled between his chin and his shoulder as he wrote on a notepad. He hung up the phone when he saw her and stood up.
"He hasn't called me," Bruce crossed his arms over his chest. "How is he?"
Anna set her purse on Ganryu's desk. "His suit's dirty, his hair is messed up, he's pissed, and he's bitching about everything." She wished that she had a glass of water, or better yet, a very dry martini. "He probably needs some time to decompress, I wouldn't bother him."
Bruce nodded then looked appraisingly at Anna. "How about you, are you all right?"
The fact that he seemed sincere royally pissed her off. "Better than the driver." The look of hurt on Bruce's face made her wish that she had not been so insensitive. "I'm sorry." She looked down at her scuffed boots. "Did he have a family?"
Bruce sighed. "Parents and a sister, I still need to call his father…"
She looked into his eyes. "Well then, let's make sure someone pays." Bruce's jaw tightened but he remained quiet. "There used to be a couple of guys in the police department who we could trust, we can't have law enforcement looking into this, it's gotta be our investigation."
Bruce nodded. "Got it covered, as soon as the police is done gathering the evidence it'll make it's way to us."
Anna sighed impatiently. "How?"
He shrugged. "Guys I trust, new guys. Got it covered."
She hated that Bruce was good at his job, that he was already a step ahead of her, but she kept a passive demeanor. "Anything out of the ordinary happen while we were gone?"
"Michelle Chang was seen roaming outside the building. That in itself wouldn't be that weird, but I talked to the guys at the arena and they said that she was there too. She does have a motive but…"
"Let's question her mother then."
He sighed. "What can she possibly know? She's been locked up since before Michelle came to Japan."
Anna put her hand on her hip and look sternly at Bruce. "I was nearly blown up, I'm having a pretty shitty morning so just...humor me, Bruce. What harm can it possibly do?"
Bruce shook his head and sighed again then gestured to Ganryu. "Have someone bring Mrs. Chang to be questioned."
The sumo exhaled softly as his shoulders drooped but he walked to his desk and picked up the telephone.
Anna turned her attention back to Bruce. "Are all the employees accounted for?"
He took a sheet of paper from his desk. "Almost all, we're working on it." He spoke as he handed it to her. "These guys haven't started their shifts yet," he ran his finger down the top of the list, "but they're on their way, we need all hands on deck. We have someone from maintenance who said that his wife went into labor this morning, and one of the security guards called in and said his kid is having his appendix removed, both of their stories check out."
Anna pointed to Sayuri's name. "Kazuya's secretary is still out?"
Bruce looked at his watch. "It's close to eleven so she should be on her way back."
"Who drove her?" She asked as she scanned the list.
"I don't know."
She looked up at Bruce. "There are no drivers on this list."
He shrugged. "I guess she went by herself."
"And why would she do that? Kazuya expects everyone who reports directly to him to use a Zaibatsu car and driver for any business outside the building."
"You're right."
She scoffed as she remembered her encounter with Sayuri the day before. "I don't think it's the first time she's done that, yesterday I-" Anna clenched her jaw as her finger stopped on a familiar name on the list. "Son of a bitch…"
Bruce looked down at the list. "What?"
"Where exactly is this Toshi Usui?"
"That's someone we're trying to locate, and someone I'm going to have a talk with as soon as we find him. He called in this morning saying that he had a family emergency and would come in as soon as he could. When I verify where he was, all my men and everyone who works in this building will be accounted for."
Anna shook her head. "No, they won't, there will still be someone left to question."
"Who?"
"I want Kazuya's secretary brought down and interrogated as soon as she sets foot in this building."
Bruce sighed heavily. "Are you serious? Do you have any idea how that's going to look?"
She pushed the list into his hand. "I honestly don't give a fuck. I was made to look like an incompetent idiot this morning, not to mention, I was nearly blown up along-"
"Yeah, you said that already."
"Is there a reason why she shouldn't be questioned like everyone else?"
"It doesn't reflect well on the boss, it makes it look like he's not in control."
"If it turns out she had something to do with this and you did nothing it won't reflect well on you."
Bruce shook his head. "Fine, but I'll do it myself, you don't even speak Japanese anyway."
"And I'll take care of Toshi for you."
Bruce sighed impatiently. "What did I just say? You don't speak Japanese and his English is shit, how is that gonna work out?"
She rolled her eyes. "Translators are a thing, and I don't need to speak the language to get my point across."
"If you're gonna rough up one of my guys I need to know why."
"Because I think he's working with what's her name, or at the very least, he's quite interested in her and we need to know why."
"Are you talking about Sayuri?" She nodded. "Fine, Ganryu call upstairs and have them bring Sayuri down when she gets back, but make sure they're discreet about it."
Anna smiled sweetly at him, even a tiny victory felt good. "I'll be in the monitoring room, I'm not giving that little bastard any time to come up with a story." She watched Bruce shake his head and walk back to his desk, she then turned her attention to Ganryu. "You coming with me, big boy? I'm gonna need a translator." Ganryu gave her a goofy smile and began to make his way toward her.
"I need him here," she heard Bruce protest as she turned toward the door.
She looked over her shoulder at him. "This is important, it's really more for effect than anything, trust me, I know what the hell I'm doing."
"Fine," Bruce conceded, "but call me the second Toshi shows up."
Anna walked out of the office with Ganryu by her side. "How well do you know Toshi?"
"Not well," the sumo responded. "He's only been working here three months or so."
They quickly covered the short distance to the monitoring room, Ganryu opened the door for Anna, she entered the room and turned to look at him. "Would you say he's good at his job?"
Ganryu shrugged as he closed the door. "I haven't heard anything good or bad."
Anna took a vacant seat in front of a monitor. "Toshi the Average, his only superpower is not getting noticed." She shook her head in disapproval. If Bruce was as good at his job as Kazuya seemed to think, he would know every detail of his men's lives. "As soon as someone spots Toshi Usui, I need to know, don't warn anyone or sound any alarms, I will deal with him." She heard Ganryu relay her instructions in Japanese and saw the men sitting at their monitoring stations nod in understanding.
She switched the monitor's view from the corridors, to the entrance, to the sidewalk. She knew it was unnecessary, that the guards sitting in their chairs knew who to look for but she needed a win, she was desperate for a win and was trying to will Toshi Usui into materializing in one of the screens. She didn't have to wait long, only minutes later she heard one of the guards exclaim something in Japanese.
"He's coming into the building." Ganryu pointed at a monitoring station.
"Don't call anyone." She warned as she stood to look. She watched impatiently as he made his way into the building through the security entrance, once he was in the sub-basement, she made for the door. "Let's go." She called to Ganryu who followed after her.
Her heels clacked on the tile and echoed around her, the men walking the halls gave her and the sumo a wide breadth. She stopped at an intersection and looked up at Ganryu. "He's coming through here?" He nodded. A few seconds later she spotted him, a young man in his mid-twenties wearing a navy blue windbreaker over his dark Zaibatsu uniform. Average height, average looks, average weight. He looked at his watch then stopped abruptly when he noticed Anna and Ganryu blocking the hallway. "Hello, Toshi, out to lunch again?"
The man's eyes widened slightly and he bowed deeply to Anna before trying to turn around and go back the same way he came. Anna walked briskly toward him and grabbed him by the back of his jacket, he tried to pull away from her and quickened his pace. She took hold of his right arm and twisted it behind his back then kicked the back of his knee. He fell forward as he groaned in pain.
"Anna…" Ganryu spoke softly behind her.
"If he had nothing to hide he wouldn't have walked away from me and we'd be having this conversation standing upright. Tell him that." She heard as Ganryu translated, she noticed other Zaibatsu guards stopping to see what was happening. Toshi shook his head vigorously as he spoke in Japanese.
Ganryu spoke quickly. "He says he's got nothing to hide, that his mother had a fall this morning and he stayed with her to make sure she didn't need medical attention."
"Oh." Anna let go of his arm and heard him exhale in relief as he tried to stand. "No, no," she pushed down on his shoulder. "You stay down until I say so." He nodded. "Why don't we call mom and ask her how she's feeling?"
Toshi shook his head. "No, I take her to doctor." He answered in English.
"I was under the impression that your English was shit." She looked at Ganryu, he shrugged and shook his head. "Sounds like you've been holding out on us." She walked around to face the man then went down on one knee. She tried looking into his eyes but he moved his gaze down to her leg, Anna slowly ran her fingertips over the gun holstered to her thigh. It was clearly visible through the tear on her skirt. "Are you looking at my gun? I know it doesn't look like much, but it can put a hole in your skull just as well as any other." Toshi let out a shaky breath as he turned to the side. "But let's not go there, we can clear all this up right now, let's call your mom's doctor."
Toshi shook his head. "I cannot. I don't know which one, I only take her to taxi."
Anna sighed as she stood up. "Toshi, you are really starting to piss me off." She turned to Ganryu. "Tell him, just in case he doesn't understand that one." The young man nodded quickly but remained quiet. "Let's try something else, let's forget mom for now. The other day you bumped into me as you were going out to lunch, you left the building immediately after Miss Yoshida and you went in the same direction. This morning, she doesn't come into the building and neither do you." The man's face grew stony as he fixed his eyes on the floor. "Are you meeting somewhere with her?"
"I do not know Miss Yoshida."
"Don't lie. Are you meeting with her?"
"Anna," Ganryu whispered, "maybe it's time to take him into a room now."
"A room? So he can have time to come up with a story?" Anna chuckled. "No. I prefer impromptu interrogations." She heard the men around her gasp as she kicked forward and struck Toshi in the chest. He hit the floor at an awkward angle, when he tried to get up Anna pushed down on his head with her foot then rested the heel of her boot lightly on his forehead and spoke in a calm tone. "Are you meeting with her?"
Toshi was sprawled on the floor, his breathing was rapid but he spoke firmly. "I do not know Miss Yoshida."
Anna pressed her foot harder on his forehead. "Are you following her?"
"I do not know Miss Yoshida."
Anna felt the heat rise in her face, he couldn't leave her looking like an idiot, she needed to get a confession out of him right then and there. The security staff was watching, the guards in the monitoring room were watching, Bruce was probably watching too. That thought made her kick things up a notch, she wasn't about to let Bruce watch her fail. She scraped her stiletto heel across Toshi's forehead and rested it over his eye. He shut it tightly.
"I'm going to ask you again," she put slight pressure on his eye. "Are you following her?"
"I do not know her."
She looked around at the men watching the scene. "What do you think, boys?" She heard Ganryu translate, she had completely forgotten he was there. "When I drive my heel through his eye socket, what sound do you think his eyeball will make? Squelch or pop?"
"I think the sound effects get lost in translation," Ganryu said nervously.
She put more pressure on his eye as she spoke softly, almost soothingly. "I promise you that the visual transcends any...and all...language barriers."
"I follow her!" Toshi let out in a tone that was almost pleading.
Anna smiled. "Now we're getting somewhere. Who gave you the order?"
Toshi tried to shake his head but Anna put more pressure on his eye. "A man, I do not know him."
Anna spoke casually. "My boots are already ruined so I won't mind getting your eyeball gunk all over them. Who told you to follow her?"
He answered in a hoarse whisper. "Heihachi Mishima."
"Son of a bitch." Anna turned to look at Ganryu and saw Bruce standing behind her, his brow furrowed and his arms crossed over his chest.
"No one breathes a word of this," Bruce warned in a low tone. "Not even to the boss upstairs, you're all on camera so if word of this gets out before Miss Williams and I are ready we'll know who to punish." They answered with silence.
Anna looked into each one of their faces as she stepped away from Toshi. "Ganryu, make sure Heihachi's bitch is snug and comfy in a cell." Toshi stood slowly as he rubbed his eye, Ganryu grabbed a handful of the young man's jacket and pulled him down the hallway. The men scattered leaving Bruce and Anna alone in the hallway. They both walked in silence back to the security office.
Bruce took the chair behind his desk, he furrowed his brow as he looked at Anna. "Don't call Kazuya until we know exactly how to proceed."
She closed the door behind her. "It goes without saying." She felt elated and angry and giddy at the same time. She was one step closer to regaining Kazuya's trust, one step closer to dethroning Bruce. She wanted to yell it in his face but decided to remain civil instead, to feign agreeableness and give him a semblance of willing cooperation. "We should follow our plan, have Ganryu talk to Michelle Chang's mother, even though I'm almost certain she won't know anything, we have to cover all our bases."
"It goes without saying," Bruce spoke quietly as he shook his head.
"Yes...then you talk to Kazuya's secretary and after that's done, you and I can question Toshi together while Ganryu gathers our most trusted men to investigate every damn employee in this building. If Heihachi has one man working right under our noses he probably has others."
"When are we gonna tell the boss?"
"After we find out what his secretary knows."
"Why don't you ever say her name?"
"What?" She didn't know why, but the question bothered her. "If you know her name why do I have to say it?"
Bruce shook his head. "Never mind." He sighed. "Look it's not that I don't like what you're proposing, but after I'm done with Sayuri, you and Ganryu are gonna have to take care of the interrogating by yourselves for an hour or two, I need to get all the evidence from the police station and talk to my contact there. From what I know about Kazuya's old man, a bomb just doesn't seem like his style."
She hated that he had his own course of action to follow, she hated to admit that he was right, and she hated that she had not been the one to suggest that Bruce deal with the police. She scoffed. "Well, aren't you the man with a plan. I just wing it half the time and I always get the results I want."
"I bet you do." He ran his hand over his mohawk. "What you did out there in the hallway is not something I would normally-"
"I'm telling you right now," she turned to fully face him as she looked pointedly at him, "if you're going to bitch about my methods-"
"No, I was just going to respectfully say...that it was hot."
She stared at him for a moment before a sly smile began to form on her lips. She had thought that she was having a terrible day but she was wrong, she was having one of the best days of her life. She had cheated death, uncovered a mole in the Zaibatsu which would earn her Kazuya's trust, and now she was being given the opportunity to control Bruce.
"Respectfully?" She asked as she slowly made her way toward his desk.
"Yeah," he shrugged casually but his eyes locked with hers. "Just a compliment."
She liked confidence, sometimes that alone gave a man more sex appeal than good looks or money. And it didn't hurt that Bruce was wearing a suit that day instead of his usual T-shirts. "I do appreciate compliments." She stopped directly in front of him with her knees grazing the fabric of his pants.
He straightened in his seat but continued to look into her eyes. "We should probably call the boss and let him know what happened before he starts bitching."
She laughed lightly. "We both know he's going to bitch regardless but you're right." She turned slowly making sure that her leg brushed up against his knee then made her way to Ganryu's desk and sat in his chair. "I made the discovery," she said as she picked up the phone. "So I get to call him, I'll omit the fact that we're questioning his secretary until after, though, don't worry, I'll deal with him if he gets pissed."
Bruce picked up a notepad and began to write. "Be my guest."
For the first time since she'd arrived at the Mishima Zaibatsu, Anna felt good. She would find a way to learn what she needed from Lee but she wasn't about to follow Kazuya's orders, not this time. She was worth more than that, she had true skills, that was why he had hired her and made her his head of security in the first place. She was willing to do whatever she needed to get Bruce under control or at the very least on her side, but that was different, that was her choice... And she deserved some fun.
Sayuri stepped out of the elevator flanked by two Zaibatsu guards. They did not tell her why she was being taken into the sub-basement, all they had said was that they had orders to bring her down as soon as she arrived. Her blood pounded in her ears and she was sure that if her hands were not holding the straps of her bag, they would be shaking. She walked in silence watching every man and reading the label on every door as she kept in step with the two guards. She tried to commit every detail to memory, tried to find anything that could help her.
She was sure that Kazuya knew what she had done. She was sure that Nina Williams had tried and failed to execute him that morning, that she had been the one responsible for the explosion at the stadium. It was all over the news already but she had found out while she was still out and had called Lee right away. She had prayed that Lee would tell her that Kazuya was dead and at the same time had wished that he wasn't, she wished that he was still alive only so that she could say that she wasn't complicit in a murder.
But he wasn't dead, he was alive and he knew. She was sure that he knew.
They walked her down different corridors, past laboratories, offices with closed doors, and ominous-looking rooms. Each step taking her further away from the elevators, further away from escape.
She heard a distinctly female voice down one of the hallways, she sounded upset but Sayuri couldn't make out what she was saying. They made a left turn and the change of scenery put her on high alert, the lighting hand changed, it was dimmer and the doors along the sides of the corridor were too close together. She saw the woman that she had heard moments before at the far end of the corridor, one of the guards was pulling her by her left upper arm, not harshly, but it was obvious that she was going against her will. She wore a short-sleeved, knee-length green dress, her long, dark hair was tied in a disheveled ponytail. As they closed the distance she noticed the woman's olive skin tone and high cheekbones. It took Sayuri a moment to realize that the woman was speaking in English.
"Please, at least tell me if my Michelle is okay, if she's here." The guard's face remained stoic as he opened one of the doors and led her in. "Please, is she here?" The door closed and Sayuri heard no more.
Her companions stopped in front of a door and she followed suit. The man to her right opened it. "No personal items inside." He sounded apologetic as he reached for her purse, Sayuri attempted to nod but found herself handing him the bag instead. He gestured for her to walk inside, she hesitated for a moment before stepping in, she heard the door close softly behind her and felt a chill down her spine. She was in some sort of interrogation room, it was cold and gray, with only two metal chairs and a table as furniture.
She found herself frozen in place imagining Kazuya stepping inside. She saw the image over and over again in her mind's eye, it was like a loop in her brain, but she couldn't see anything beyond that, she couldn't imagine what he would do or what he would say.
She gasped when she heard the door open and instinctively spun around.
"Unbelievable." Bruce shook his head then ran his hand over his mohawk. "This is the opposite of what I asked them to do. If I take you somewhere else it'll just draw more attention so let's just do it here." He motioned to the table. "We should sit."
Her body moved of its own accord and she found herself sitting in one of the chairs. She fisted her hands tightly on her lap to keep them from shaking, she glanced toward the door still expecting Kazuya to walk in. Bruce sat in the chair across and looked at her with a serious expression.
"Does Lee know I'm here?" She managed to whisper as she glanced at the entrance once more.
"No."
She didn't know what scared her more, Kazuya knowing that she had helped plot an attempt on his life, or Lee finding out everything that she had done and realizing what a terrible person she was.
"Why am I here? "
"I just need to talk to you so we can get some things straightened out?"
She wished she could read his tone to gauge how much he knew. She ran her clammy hands over the fabric of her skirt. "What things?"
Bruce straightened in his seat. "Where were you this morning? You didn't come to the building."
She stared at him for a brief moment, was that all they had on her? That she had not been in the building? "I was at the Mishima Hotel just like yesterday. It's on the schedule, you can call the hotel, check the receptionist's calendar, check my calendar...I have been putting the finishing touches on the banquet all morning." It suddenly occurred to her that perhaps they had nothing to tie her to whatever had happened at the stadium, that they were merely questioning employees close to Kazuya. She scoffed. "Is this why he wants me questioned? Because I was out doing exactly what he ordered me to do?"
"Do you mean Kazuya?"
"Yes."
"He doesn't know you're down here."
That scared her, if Kazuya didn't know, then Bruce was the one who wanted to interrogate her. She regretted confiding in him, but she had been so different then, it had only been a few days but seemed like years.
She looked down at the table, noticed the scratches from bracelets, rings and watches, the marks of men and women who had rested their shaking hands on the cold surface. How many of those sitting in that same chair had walked out of the room and out of the building? How many didn't?
"He doesn't know…" She chuckled lightly and looked up at Bruce. "This was your idea then?" His face remained impassive. "You think I crossed that imaginary line?" He stared into her eyes appraisingly for a moment, she had the urge to look away, she felt exposed.
Bruce spoke casually. "The thing is, I really don't know you. I can look at you and talk to you and watch you and talk to everyone who knows you and read up on every bit of information that I have on you and I still won't know what you're thinking. I can try to figure out what you're capable of but in the end, it would be speculation at worst and an educated guess at best and both could be wrong." He shook his head. "I don't rely on guesses, I rely on facts, and the facts are that until recently, you were a privileged woman who had lived a very sheltered life, someone whose worst offense was flirting to get a good grade. But now...you're a full-fledged criminal...that means that you don't even know where your line is or what you're really capable of."
She felt her fingernails dig into the heels of her palms underneath the table. "...So you brought me here because you think I had something to do with what happened at the stadium?"
"To be honest, that's just an assessment that I made right now, I didn't want you questioned, it was suggested to me, but I wasn't going to go through with it...but a couple of things were brought to my attention and they are definitely something that needs to be looked into."
"What?"
"Why didn't you have someone from the Zaibatsu drive you to the hotel either yesterday or today? You know it's what the boss expects."
She looked down at the table before she answered. A partial truth was probably best, it had worked when she fooled Dr. Bosconovitch and his men. "...I hate being here. Every morning when I come in I feel like I'm being suffocated, the mere thought of spending another day working for him makes me feel nauseated." She inhaled, then exhaled softly. "I took the subway because it meant spending one hour less in this building, one hour less in his presence...I just wanted to be away."
She looked up at Bruce and saw his eyes soften for an instant before piercing into hers once more. "How long have you known Toshi Usui?"
She narrowed her eyes as she thought for a moment, the name didn't sound familiar. "I don't know who that is."
He folded his arms over the table and leaned in slightly. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I've never heard that name before."
Bruce sighed softly. "How well do you know Heihachi Mishima?"
"...I…" She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and gave him a quizzical look. "I only know what Lee has told me about him."
"When did you last see Heihachi Mishima?"
She shook her head slightly and looked Bruce in the eye. "I've never met him."
Bruce looked at her for a moment. "Shit, you really don't know them."
"No, I…" She shifted in her seat, did he think she was guilty of something completely different?
"I need you to be honest with me, have you done anything out of the ordinary the past few days? Have you gone anywhere that you wouldn't normally go?"
Images of Nina Williams and the payphones at the metro station flashed in her mind's eye but she decided to go with another half-truth. "...I-I went to the bank yesterday, today too."
He sighed. "Banks are closed on weekends."
"There's the bank in Ginza that all the tourists like to use, do you know where that is?"
He nodded slowly. "...Yeah, I remember it. So tell me, why you were at the bank on the weekend?"
"Why are you asking me?"
He hesitated before answering. "...I have reason to believe that you are being followed?"
"What? By who?"
"Heihachi Mishima. Why were you at the bank two days in a row."
If she was being followed how much did they know? Had anyone seen her with Nina? "...Um…"
"You can tell me or I can find out, trust me, it won't be hard."
She pressed her fingers against her temple and closed her eyes. "Yesterday I went in then changed my mind and left before I did anything and today...I had the bank send an anonymous donation to the hospital where the police officers and protesters from the airport are being treated."
"What? Why the hell would you do that?"
She looked down at the table. "To cover their medical expenses."
Bruce held his head in his hands. "Tell me you're joking."
She found his tone and reaction completely condescending. "No, I'm not. Maybe you can sleep at night knowing that you're responsible for causing people injury and financial hardship or that your actions caused them to lose their jobs but I can't. I can't sleep at night, I feel sick every day, I'm just trying to do some good, I'm just trying to help them in any way I can."
He scoffed. "And screwing as all in the process."
"It's an anonymous donation to a hospital, I didn't walk in there with a bag full of money. They aren't going to trace it."
"Goddamnit." Bruce shook his head. "Where else did you go?"
"I went to a boutique yesterday. Today I went to the hotel, then the bank, then I heard what happened at the stadium and came straight here."
He nodded slowly. "Did you buy anything at the boutique?"
It was not a question that she expected. "...A dress for the banquet."
"Expensive?"
"Of course."
He leaned in as he spoke. "All right, here's what you're going to say. You went to the bank yesterday to withdraw some money to buy the dress. After you got home you realized that you needed new shoes to go with your dress so you went back to the bank today to withdraw more money, that was when you heard about what happened at the stadium and you came here as fast as you could. The part about not taking a driver to the hotel...you'll have to tell the boss the truth, I can't help you with that. And you have to promise me that you are not going to do any more stupid shit, I won't be able to help you next time."
"Why are you helping me now?"
He sighed. "I'm probably going down soon anyway."
"Did I do something-"
"Nothing to do with you, the past just catching up with me. Besides, the boss can get me out if need be."
"But what if he finds out that you lied for me? Won't he refuse to help you then?"
Bruce laughed. "He already thinks you're an exceptional liar, it won't be a stretch for him to believe that you lied to me about what you did at the bank."
No one knew anything. She almost wished that they did, the burden of keeping her secrets was almost becoming too heavy.
"Do you think I'm a good liar?"
He chuckled slightly. "...I think...you're on your way to becoming one, and I hope you leave this place before you learn how to fool me and before you cross your line." He sighed. "And if you have Heihachi Mishima following you, make sure you're not doing anything interesting."
She shivered slightly. "Why would he have me followed?"
"Look at who you're involved with, the only people standing between him and that office on the top floor." He stood up and she did the same. "Come on, I'll walk you to the elevator."
"What really happened at the stadium? I heard it was an explosion, but I don't know anything else."
His shoulders visibly fell. "A car bomb."
"Was anyone hurt?"
"Two bodyguards had to be taken to the hospital, one is hurt pretty badly, the other one should be released later today… The driver died on site."
She felt cold. She felt numb. A man was dead, the wrong man.
She followed Bruce out of the interrogation room, the guard at the door handed her her bag and she automatically reached for it, he said something but she couldn't make out the words.
A man was dead, the wrong man. Kazuya Mishima was alive and an innocent man was dead.
They were somehow standing in front of the elevator but she didn't even remember walking there. Bruce spoke as he input the code on the panel next to the elevator and looked expectantly at her, she nodded as she stepped into it and pushed the button for the top floor.
As the doors closed, she began to tremble. There was blood on her hands, she was responsible for a murder, the wrong murder. There was no going back, no stepping behind the line. There was no line, only a target. She had to give Nina Williams exactly what she needed to finish her job, to make sure that the wrong person was never hurt again. Kazuya Mishima had to die.
A/N: I'm going to do my best to get updates on a timely-ish manner because when I started this I honestly thought I'd be halfway through the sequel by now. I want to be done, but when these characters get on their little soap box it's really hard to shut them up. Next chapter begins with Jun, yay. Thanks so much for reading and putting up with my long chapters.
