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Tekken
They Call Her Asuka
CHAPTER 4
Prelude To Vengeance
"Hmm, what clothes should I wear to our duel?" Asuka wondered while browsing through her closet. "Should I go for the hot and charming look," she glances at her blue and white overalls outfit, "or get into the heat of battle with a traditional and graceful style?"
A rather harrowing decision must be made between the aforementioned shorts wardrobe or the tradition garments of her family's fighting style. She's been skimming the closet for several minutes now. "Man, this is much harder than I thought. I really can't decide what to wear."
Mayuko's voice was heard from the den. "Asuka! Hazuki's here at the door!"
She opened her room door ajar and replied to her mother, "Tell her to come up here for a moment!" Asuka exclaimed for a response. "I may need some help from her!" She resumed searching in her closet. Shortly she heard Hazuki ascending the stairs. "Would you give me a hand here?" She said to her friend as she entered the room. Hazuki noticed that there were four sets of outfits sprawled out on the bed.
"Hey, look what we have here?" Hazuki scrutinized with a giggle. Some of the clothes rivaled their school clothes in the skimpy department. "You're trying to entice the guy or something, Asuka?"
"No! It's not like that." Asuka blushed, pulling out a red shirt from a hanger. "I'm just trying to figure out what I'm going to wear for tonight's spar. I really prefer something that I can really move in." She examines a long black dress. "Hmm... too frumpy."
"Hmm? That outfit looks cool to me, don't you think?" Hazuki questioned her with a knowing leer. "Why would you prefer to challenge him in such clothes anyway?" That grin widened a bit more. "You want to get the upper hand by using your feminine wiles. Hey, I can understand that."
Asuka gave the mischievous girl a flat look. "What have I told you just now? I'm not trying to seduce him on the sly." That slipped out and she blushed when she realized she said that. Fortunately for her, Hazuki didn't quite catch that one. The said girl was busy eyeing a particular outfit on the bed.
Carefully surveying a blue skirt she said, "Hey Asuka, this is my skirt that I let you borrowed a few month ago. I nearly forgotten all about it." She held it to her frame. "No wonder, it was always to snug on me. More than likely I practically gave it away."
Asuka glanced at the dress the younger girl was holding. "Oh, that notorious blue miniskirt!" She recognized instantly as though she known it very well. "My god that thing was way too big for me. Once I went to the supermarket it fell off of me twice... and I gave the guy behind me a good, yet unexpected flash." She lit up a bit from the memory.
A bead of sweat appeared on Hazuki's brow. "What?..."
" The skirt was like a bed quilt on me too, to be honest. I was so big..." Asuka continued without any regard to Hazuki's self-consciousness about her figure. "Ah! I'm so sorry Hazuki! I didn't mean too offend you! I really didn't!"
Hazuki gave a small reassuring smile. "It's okay." She replied. "It wasn't your fault. I fault myself for buying it at the mall."
Asuka sat on the bed besides her and patted her shoulder. "Hey look on the bright side: at least you don't have a big waistline... err... that didn't come out right..." Asuka quickly amended, trying not to sound so... "Yashiro says you look good with your weight."
Hazuki immediately perked up at the familiar name. "Yashiro? The tall cutie that stars on the track team?"
"Yeah... him."
"He's okay." Hazuki decided. "He's a ten in the looks department but some girls said that when it really gets down to it, he can't really hang." She earned a funny look from Asuka. "If you know what I mean..." She indicated.
"Uh, maybe we should get back to deciding on what outfit I should wear for tonight's spar." Asuka commented as she resumed searching through her closet.
"Right..."
TEKKEN
"I'll say... you really need to go back to Korea." Hirai remarked with the gun still in his possession. "Over here in Japan, you can get into a whole new world of trouble, buddy boy." He took a good look at the expressions of the two petrified women, but Hworang, however, was unfazed because that cocky grin was still present on his face.
"Why..." Lavender's voice was barely above a whisper. "Why are you doing this? There's no need for cruelty..."
"Humph. You better do as the broad says my friend." Hwoarang suggested. "It's best to get rid of that gun and run along with your two buddies before things get kinky up in here."
"Maybe I should shoot you in the shoulder so you can shut the hell up." He noticed another woman was about to alert the club security. "Don't even think about it, missy." He warned her. "I can promise you that button will be the last button that you'll ever press."
"You're not gonna do anything." Hworang scoffed. "Stop trying to act all hard and gansta and get rid of that weapon. Besides, it's probably passed your punk ass bedtime."
Patience wearing thin, Hirai gave him an ultimatum. "I'm already sick of your shit. Listen, in all fairness, you have ten seconds to get out of here and if you're not gone by that time, then it's lights out for you. Unlike the electric companies, this is permanent."
"Blah, blah, blah. You're just playing a role with that gun." Hworang taunted again. "And I don't understand why your buddies are mean-mugging me for. They must don't have any faith in you dealing with me all by yourself, huh?"
"Hey!" The two crooks spoke in offense.
"Ten..."
Hworang wrapped an arm around Lavender's should and instructed her, "Hey toots, why won't you and your friend here run along or find a decent place to hide? I gave this creep a chance but he still wants to confront me."
"Nine..."
"I guess he desperately want his ass handed to him..." Hworang continued, trying to reassure the frightened dancer. "What's with the long face?"
"Eight..."
"Right. Get going. It's definitely about to go down." He gave Lavender a peck on her cheek (much to Hirai's ire) and let the girls go about to their safety. "Okay, you asked for it." He announce as he stretched his neck. "Just don't say that I didn't warn you."
Hirai sped his counting. "Seven... six... five..."
"Too late!" Hworang delivered a quick snap kick and easily rid Hirai of his handgun. Hirai, now shocked at the success of Hwoarang's high risk outburst, cowered. His two larger companions immediately took action by advancing on him.
"Ooh! Girl I told you that they're going to end up fighting over you!" Cinnamon squealed excitedly from behind a lounge couch. "I would love to have a man who'll fight over me!"
"That guy's crazy." Lavender watched the developments in awe. "He just kicked the gun out of his grasp. But, what will he do when Hirai and the others decides to gang up on him?" She wondered nervously. She should have fled the room and warned the enforcements, or perhaps the owner for such violence. But due to be concerned for the new guy's well being, she was compelled to watch the confrontation. And from the looks of things, he was doing just fine. Hirai was already slammed to a corner from one of Hwoarang's patented kicks.
He took care of the other thugs as well. Knowing that they were absolutely no match for him in one-on-one combat, Hirai's men decided to gang up on him from both directions. It was a move that quickly proved futile because when they charged at Hwoarang, he did a very cliche, if not, high effective split kick while he jumped in mid air. After defeating the three with NO trouble, he nodded in pity. "Too bad you're not as strong as your egos are. Not too fast are you?" He glanced at Hirai's pained formed especially. "And that guy had a gun and didn't did shit with it. A real shame. On rule I remembered from the military was if you were to pull out a gun on someone, you better use it, not pose or gloat with. Everybody wants to be a gangster these days. Sad..."
And all that came from a supposed drunken man? Maybe he was misleading his foes.
To the relief of everyone in the VIP (it wasn't many people, only seven dancers and five costumers), they returned to the sight of the troublemakers now knocked unconscious. A bouncer whistled in appreciation - not having to go through such a task. The danceRs looked at Hwoarang in surprise and awe. They honestly didn't expect any of their costumers to be such a tough martial artist. Especially Kaoru/Lavender, whom was slowly approaching him...
"Thank you." She told him sincerely, though finding it hard to fight a growing blush. "If it weren't for you, who knows what he would have done to me this evening. He's my ex, but he's still a real nuisance to me." She revealed.
Hwoarang regarded the shorter woman, nodding his head. "He really needs to learn how to fight. Behind that intimidating gun, there lies a real pussy."
Kaoru's eyes raised in slight surprise. "You were actually nervous?" She asked him.
"Well, of course I was." He admitted. "All challenges are scary at first... that is, until you get to actually fight em. Then you know what you'll encountered afterwards. And what I have to say about these 'ganster'..." He made quotations gestures with his fingers, "are nothing but a group of wannabe's and wankstas."
Lavender chuckled at the pun. "That's Hirai for you. Too bad he had to show up here of all nights. I say, that was impressive what you done. You're a martial artist? Not many people studies the arts anymore these days... not anyone that I know of."
"Hey, I told you I was in the military. But, I was an expert long before I sworn in." He explained. "As a matter of fact, I lead a spec-ops unit as soon as I got out of basic training. Basic training was child's play actually, probably due to the fact that I'm used to being real physical."
More interested in him than before, she asks "Where you're from? I noticed the accent when you first came inside the room."
"Korea." He answered. "I thought I already told you that. Goes to show that dancers really don't pay attention to people when in service."
"Very funny." Lavender remarked, before a thought occurred. "Say, do you mind if I catch a ride home from you. I live in the rural part of the city far south." She explains, "Don't call me crazy, but it seems as though that I can trust you."
"Hey... it's like that already?" Hwoarang asked in a surprised voice. "I swatted a few flies for you and you already trust me?" He grinned for a moment. "I could be a crazy man you know..."
"No you're not. I can already tell." Lavender stated seriously, as if she was analyzing him by studying his eyes. "Anyway, I don't have a ride and my friend isn't planning on leaving until several hours later." She preened her purple highlighted hair and yawned lazily. "Plus, I'm very tired after all that excitement for tonight."
Hwoarang considered her request, nodding "You live on the southern rural outskirts of the town? Hmm, if I do remember about this strange city, that would take about at least a little over an hour." He looks sad for some reason. "Shit, I'm mighty sleepy my damn self." He hands her a small wad of cash (the dummy) from his pockets. "Call the cab, would ya."
"Are you crazy?" Lavender appeared shocked. "Some of the city's most notorious murderers and rapist are taxi drivers. I'm not taking the risk." A quite silly notion occurred suddenly but she didn't have a choice. "Well..." she hesitated, "can I crash at your place then... that is... if you don't mind." She tapped her heel on the floor nervously, glancing downward at the floor.
He was honestly surprised by the request but he didn't allowed it to show on his face. To him, admittedly, she was a dead attractive young woman - beautiful, slightly mischievous, and it was obvious that she kept herself in shape. He began to realized that her 'costume' looked more like dark colored nightwear. "Sure." He answered coolly. "Go ahead and get your stuff. I'll be outside."
She perked up, grateful. "Thank you. I'm on my way."
"Hey? Are you used to riding on a motorcycle?" He asked. "If not, you better get used to it tonight." Lavender, however, was already out of earshot as she was already prancing away like a schoolgirl towards the dressing room. "Hey! Did you hear what I just said?"
"Hey girl, what's up?" Cinnamon followed her friend in the dressing room. Honestly she did saw the conversation between her and the Korean. "Is there something going on with you two or something?" She ginned afterwards. "Tell me all the juicy tidbits."
"I'm leaving," Kaoru replied, mangling into a pair of purple colored leggings, "with him."
"Say what?" Cinnamon was surprised. "Kaoru, you're into that sort of business now?" Her brow was arched upward, and a look appeared on her features. "Don't tell me that you're going home with the guy? Who knows what kind of criminal mischief that he may do to you."
"I'm not worried about that." Kaoru admitted. "If he was some sort of crazy, careless nut he wouldn't have helped out by getting rid of Hirai and his crew. Besides, I'm ready to get up out of here and go home... but I'm going to have to rest at his place."
Cinnamon didn't like where this is going, but she said, "Okay, go on ahead. I'm gonna stay awhile for a little longer. Call me if you need me. I just pray that the same thing that happened to Chastity and Lust won't happen to you."
"Those girls were just plain careless." Kaoru said, remembering the incident weeks ago. "Both of them knew that the men they were flirting with were up to no good. Saffron and I warn them, but... did they listen?" Consternation dawned on Cinnamon's face. "Hey, don't worry Achii. I'll be just fine."
Cinnamon - rather, Achii only sighed. "Okay. If you say so. Gimme a hug." They long timed friends went into a short, but hearty embrace. "Tell me all the good stuff first thing tomorrow, okay?" She requested with a smirk on her face.
Kaoru became red in the face. "Achii? Uh... I'll see you tomorrow." She quickly put on a sleeveless black half shirt, gathered her duffel bag and departed. "... See ya, Achii!"
After she left, the said woman in red chuckled darkly. "Oh boy... she's going to end up falling in love with him." She sighed afterwards. "That's my girl."
Kaoru shortly appeared outside the club shortly after informing the owner that she was leaving at an earlier time. The club owner granted this and she was free to go for tonight. Once she was outside in the dark car lot, there was numerous catcalls and whistles from male club-goers (mainly complementing about how pretty she was or how awfully good those purple tights looked on her, plus offers on taking her for a ride), in which she ignored. What was on her mind was the foreigner, which appears to be nowhere in sight.
She sighed. 'I guess he left. I should have known. Damn, I'm going to have to take my sleepy ass back inside and wait for Achii to get finished.' She was about to return inside the building unto the purring sound of a motorcycle came into earshot. Curious to see who was riding such a vehicle, she found out that it was, "It's you!"
Hwoarang slowly pulled up in front of her, showing off his custom made Kawasaki Ninja bike with the 'Blood Talon' motive on various area on the outer shell of it. He sat there, with a smirk that clearly said 'Is this ride tight or what'? In his left hand he held a helmet. "Hey, you're ready?"
Kaoru seemed slightly distraught, eying the mechanical, yet beautiful monstrosity. "You didn't tell me that you rode a bike here!" She exclaimed. "These things are dangerous. What am I going to do?"
"Hey, I tried to tell you but you was already skipping your long legged ass to that dressing room." He shrugged, revving the bike's engine just to mess with here. "You're still coming or not?"
Kaoru looked to the side. "Humph! You like these longs legs..."
"Hey kid, I haven't got all night." He told the woman. "Are you going to come along or go back inside the club? Hey, and what if that sissified boyfriend of yours decides to come back for you?"
"That boy is no longer my boyfriend!" Kaoru nearly snapped. Realizing how she had rebuked him she began glowing red again. "I guess that I don't have any choice do I?"
He offered her the helmet. "Here. Don't worry, girl. You're not gonna get hurt when you're riding with me." Kaoru donned on the helmet and climb on the bike behind him. She unzipped her duffel bag and pulled out a dark jacket and put it on her body. "I guess that you better hold on tight. This isn't an old man driving this thing, ya know."
She immediately did what she was told and wrapped her arms tightly around his torso. "I'm ready." She declared.
"Alright! Here we go!" He revved his bike and shot off the lot immediately afterwards. Kaoru was frightened at first because she was screaming her head off. After several minutes of evading tight nightlife traffic, she was somewhat calmer than before. They were now riding down a barely populated expressway. "You see," Hwoarang shouted over the sounds of the bike and the wind hitting them, "I told you that you're gonna be okay with me!" He didn't receive a reply. "Hey, you okay kid?"
All was silent for a moment until, "Don't you ever shoot off a car lot with me riding with you again!" She shrieked, but strangely enough she seemed to be enjoying the ride now because she was laughing. "Damn boy! This is a lot of fun! I cannot believe that I've been missing out on this!"
He smiled. "Told ya!"
"Say, mind if I know your name?"
"Sure thing. It's Hwoarang."
"I guess you already know mine club name. You can call me Kaoru."
"Right. I'll tell you one thing; I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight."
"You know, that the same thing that I had in mind."
TEKKEN
"What a way to start the weekend." Hazuki muttered sarcastically, trailing behind her friend reluctantly. "Girl, why did I have to follow you along to the park?" She demanded. "This is just criminal mischief just waiting to happen."
"What are you talking about?" Asuka responded. "I need you around to observe our match just in case he tries something funny. You're a student of Kazama-ryu as well, you know."
"Yeah," Hazuki droned. "For a month - a whole glorious month and I'm a veteran martial artist."
"Well..." she scratched her head sheepishly. "It's better than nothing." She equipper her gauntlets on her arms and checks out her outfit. "By the way, I'm really digging this getup. It exudes an air of toughness and cool sexuality at the same time. You're going to do it big once you become a professional clothes designer, Hazuki."
Hazuki rolled her eyes. "I made that outfit for you weeks ago. You just not discovering it was in your closet didn't you?"
Asuka blushed guiltily.
"You skinny heifer, you..." the younger woman muttered.
Just as Asuka was about to rebuke her, she finally notices Jin was at a lone swing set many yards away. Ignoring her friend's comment, she set her focus on him. "Hey, it's him. Okay, I guess it's show-time." She watched him as he got off the set and slowly making his way towards them.
Hazuki grew nervous. "Oh my god, it looks like he is trying to do some funny business." She turned in the other direction in order to escape but Asuka grabbed a hold of the back of her shirt which prevented her from escaping. "Hey let me go! It's all on you, you got that?"
"Stay." She told her in a serious tone. Her focus was still intent on Jin Kazama. He was still wearing the same sweat suit only this time he removed his jacket, and underneath it was a black T-shirt. "Hazuki, you have to observe, remember?"
"You're mean as hell, Asuka!" Hazuki replied. slightly more nervous than before. "This reminds me of a scene straight out of Paranoia Agent."
Jin halted, taking in the comical tirade between the two girls. He thought he seen the other girl before. She was a cute wide eyed girl with pretty long hair and sort of slim, but definitely on the hippy side. Certainly not a bad thing, but it could have been worse. "Good evening, ladies." He greeted them gently. "Nice meeting you again."
"The pleasures all mine, Jin." Asuka responded.
"Yeah, what she said. Can you two just get this duel over with?" Hazuki huffed.
"I guess we'll have to go ahead and do what your friend suggested." Jin considered. He really wanted to burst out laughing at how Hazuki was pouting. "Asuka, are you ready to begin?"
"Yes, I'm prepared to accept your challenge." She unzipped her overalls far, very far down a little past her waist. Hazuki wondered why she was doing that for. She was suppose to duel with Jin, not entice him with those... "Shall we begin?"
"Yeah, let's begin." Jin took a stance - one that was terribly familiar to Asuka. He took quick notice of the slight shift of expression on her face. "The Kazama-Ryu is truly an effective style, no?"
"Somehow, I knew that had some discipline in that art." Asuka studied him. "You have a good, solid stance. You and I being Kazamas' are definitely not of coincidence." She went into a stance as well. "You're really letting off more than you put on, buddy."
"Heh, it runs in the family." Jin shrugged.
MONDAY
"Man, that was one heck of a workout just now." A young man said, wiping his drenched brow with a towel. "Girl, you're getting better and better every session." He complimented a slightly older girl.
"Yeah right, you was holding back on me today, Tomoe." The girl replied with a giggle. "You was deliberately leaving yourself wide open in your tactics, even a yellow belt could have read you."
"It's not like that at all, Shino. You're just improving a lot during the past few weeks." The man named Tomoe honestly revealed.
"If that's the case then that definitely puts me in a good mood before I go to night class tonight." Shino grinned. "Sensei Kazama should have been here to see how I was manhandling you." Shortly there was a thud on the dojo floor. "Well Tomoe, I see that you're not the Most Valuable Pratfaller of today." She pointed to a shorted haired woman prying herself from the floor.
"That's not funny, Shino." The woman rebuked. "You try grappling with a man that outweighs you by at least thirty pounds and see that you won't get thrown around like a rag doll."
Shino smiled mischievously. "It had happen before, but he fell asleep after fifteen minutes."
The other woman frowned. "You're so gutter-minded, Shino."
"Thank you for the duel, Kina." A young male told her. "But I never expect that you would fly that far when thrown. Are you alright?"
Kina blushed, honestly embarrassed. "Ah, I'm fine Kikuchi. My butt broke my fall."
Kikuchi started chuckling. "Sure you are..."
"Well, I think we should chill out for a while before Sensei returns." Tomoe said. "He says he wants to teach us a new kata today."
"That sounds cool." Shino quipped. "Maybe I'll be able to break more of a sweat than sparring with you."
"Hey!" Tomoe shouted. "I resent that."
While the four students are laughing, the entrance of the Kazama dojo slowly opened. The person that entered was quite an intimidating looking dude. He wore a red suit and his hair was done in a single long braid. His face seems to be naturally scowling and he was well-muscled. "Excuse me?" He spoke with an accent. "This is Kazama School of Fighting, yes?"
Shino immediately beamed, thinking the stranger looked cool in his business suit. "Why yes, you definitely came to the right place, sir." She answered. "What can I do for you?"
Kina nodded in shame. "There she goes, mere moments of meeting a new man she's already hitting on him."
The man trotted forward, a slight smirk on his face. "Ah yes, Me wish to find aspect of Kazama-Ryu."
Though his sentence structures was broken, Shino somehow understood him. "Um sure. What would you like to know about our art, sir? You sure appears to be interested. How about some brochures?"
Feng Wei nodded, along with a dark chuckle. "None thanks. Just want to see if Art of yours to mine is inferior..."
Uh oh, that doesn't sound good.
TO BE CONTINUED...
NEXT CHAPTER
Asuka comes home to discover the dojo in shambles. The four students are badly injured and her father is in critical condition. Our heroine swears vengeance...