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Chapter 7 – Rescue

4th JANUARY

-'So you're going to have detention with Kazama this afternoon?'-Miharu asked Ling while they were in their ten minutes break.

-'Yeah. We'll clean the terrace's balcony…someone went to party there.'

-'I'll wait for you then.'

-'Ok, if you don't mind.'

-'Of course I don't. You're my best friend!'

-'I wish you could be Jin's friend too…'-Ling said in a begging tone.

-'NO, NO and NO!'

-'Fine.'

Precisely at four p.m., Ling and Jin were holding two buckets with water and two brooms and going upstairs. They weren't very excited about it, especially when they saw that they would be retained there for at least an hour due to the terrace's dimension.

-'I didn't know it was this big!'-Ling said feeling down.

-'Well, now you know.'

-'Thanks a lot Jin…'

-'Hey, I told you that you shouldn't skip classes!'-Jin replied immediately.

-'Damn it! I had plans with Miharu for this afternoon!'-Ling cursed.

-'You clean this side, and I'll clean the other, ok?'-Jin asked going to his side.

-'Whatever.'-was Ling's answer.

Ling didn't notice but Jin had picked the less dirty side. He hated to do that kind of things, in Jin's opinion, cleaning was women's work, not men; besides he wasn't very talented in cleaning.

A few minutes later, he was listening to Ling singing a Chinese song while she was cleaning her side.

He looked at her surprised with her voice; it wasn't that bad. She looked kind of cute. Jin shook his head nervously as he understood that his feelings were taking over him. He wouldn't allow that, so he kept on working to distract himself.

A half an hour later Jin had finally finished.

-'Hey…I'm done!'-he said.

-'Great…I'll finish in ten minutes.'

-'I'll wait for you downstairs.'

-'Ok.'

Jin took his bucket and broom to put them in the cleaning closet and went to the school's yard. He looked at the sky, it was cold.

Miharu was also in the yard waiting for Ling to arrive. There weren't many students left in the school, but then the silence was cut by a sharp scream coming from above. Whoever was passing by looked up, and Miharu and Jin did the same. They were paralysed when they saw Ling holding the ledge of the balcony with all her strengths.

-'Ling!'-Miharu yelled. And then Ling's hands slipped and she felt her body falling. It was impossible for Ling to understand what was really happening and what she was feeling, all she knew was that she was scared.

Jin felt hopeless seeing her falling like that, but he knew he had to do something, so he ran and tried to catch her.

When he opened his eyes, Ling was on top of him, and they were both in the floor, surrounded by grass and sand.

Jin tried to move but he felt a small pain on his chest, where Ling was resting her head. She was unconscious but he could feel her heart beating.

-'Ling! Is she alright?'-Miharu was the first person to arrive.

-'Yes.'-Jin answered.

-'Are you sure?'

-'Yes.'

In that moment the teachers arrived and a few seconds later Ling was being carried over to the school's medical department where a nurse was going to take care of her.

Jin got up and followed them, ignoring the blood on his head. He had hit the wall with his head, but he didn't care about that now.

-'Miss Hirano told me that you saved her.'-Miss Sugimura said.

-'I caught her…that's all.'-Jin said. –'Is she alright?'

-'Yes, she's just unconscious. Thanks to you she didn't break a bone!'

Jin smiled and started to feel the cut on his head hurting.

-'I think you should let nurse Wakakubo take a look at that. It looks pretty bad.'

-'Ok.'

Jin joined Miharu and the nurse who was leaning down to watch Ling's temperature.

-'The hero arrived.'-the old nurse said smiling.-'Let me see that nasty cut…'

Jin sat down and didn't breathe a word while the nurse was taking care of him, but his eyes never left Ling's bed.

Miharu was holding her friend's hand and Jin noticed she was still shaking. Probably it had been a shock for her to see her friend so close to death. He couldn't express what he felt in that moment either.

Then, Ling opened her eyes.

-'Ling…I'm so happy to see you're ok!'-Miharu said almost crying.

-'Miss Xiaoyu, let me tell you that you're a very lucky girl!'-the nurse said.

-'Why am I here?'-Ling asked, but then she remembered the fall and she asked in a weak voice: -'I'm not dead?'

-'No, you're not!'-the nurse laughed making Jin's head hurt more.

Ling looked puzzled.

-'Kazama saved you…'-Miharu said.-'He caught you before you hit the ground.'

Jin's eyes met Ling's and he felt embarrassed.

-'I'll see you outside. I'm going to call our driver.'-Jin said quickly and left.

An hour later, Ling and Jin were arriving home. Taka was shocked when she heard about Ling's accident and she hugged the Chinese girl so tightly that Ling almost ran out of air.

Jin was treated like a hero, but since he was used to having special treatment, he didn't care.

When master Kitano arrived, Ling said she was ready to train, but the man didn't allow her to practice or Jin.

-'You didn't tell us why you were on the ledge…'-Taka said feeling curious.

-'I saw an object there and I tried to grab it, but I slipped and I fell…It's was an orange watch…very cute…'

-'If Jin wasn't there…'-Taka sighed.-'The watch wasn't yours; you shouldn't have tried to grab it!'

-'I know, but I never thought I was going to fall.'

-'The most important thing is that she's going to be alright.'-Kitano announced, drinking his tea.-'I'm proud of you Kazama.'

Jin nodded.

-'How's your head, Jin?'-Ling asked.

-'It's ok. I can live.'

-'I'm sorry…'

-'I've been worse, believe me.'

-'How do you think people will react to this tomorrow at school?'-Ling asked.

Jin shrugged.

-'Whatever they say or do…I don't care…but I guess things will be quite normal.'-Jin confessed.

When Jin said that, he didn't know that he was completely mistaken. Ling's rescue would cause all kind of rumours in the Mishima Polytechnical School.

5th JANUARY

Jin didn't sleep very well in the previous night, his head was still hurting and he couldn't concentrate in classes. Besides, Ling had done something that morning that was disturbing him a bit. She had thanked him for saving her life and after that she hugged him. The problem was that Jin wasn't familiar with that hug thing. The only person who had ever hugged him was Jun Kazama, his mother; and now all of the sudden that girl had arrived and she was starting to turn his life up side down. First she wanted him to have friends and now she was too close to him.

-'Hi!'-Ling greeted at lunch time.

-'Hey…'-Jin answered.

-'Lets have lunch outside.'

Jin followed her and noticed that everyone was looking at them strangely.

-'I hate rumours!'-he cursed.

They were just finishing their lunch when Miharu approached them.

-'Hi…'-she said.-'Can I join you?'

-'Miharu! Of course you can!'-Ling said pulling her friend and forcing her to sit down on the grass.

-'I want to warn you both…'-Miharu started in a serious voice.

-'Why?'-Ling asked.

-'You know that Jin is the most popular guy in school, right?'-Miharu asked pretending that Jin wasn't there.

-'Yeah…so?'

-'There are rumours about yesterday's accident…'

-'Like what?'-Ling asked with curiosity not noticing Miharu's red face.

-'Well…'-Miharu continued.-'You know what Ling? I barely ate…can you go to the cafeteria and buy me something to eat?'

-'Sure! That's what friends are for!'-Ling took Miharu's money and ran to the cafeteria, leaving Miharu and Jin alone.

It wasn't easy to Miharu to start a conversation with someone that she was used to hate, but she didn't want to tell Ling about the nasty rumours, so she was forced to lie to her friend and explain things only to Jin.

-'Thanks for saving Ling.'-Miharu said.-'She's my best friend.'

-'I know…you sent her away to tell me about the rumours, didn't you?'

-'Yes, I had no choice…Ling would be shocked…'

-'Is it that bad?'

-'I'm afraid so…and Ling's too innocent to hear it.'

-'Go ahead…'

-'It's about you and her…'

-'Let me guess, people are saying that we're dating?'-Jin suggested.

-'Sort of…'

-'Sort of?'

-'Well, people are saying that you're sleeping with her and that she's a slut…they say that's why you two were in the balcony and that you were doing that dirty thing upstairs.'

Jin wasn't that shocked but he was a bit upset to know that everyone was saying those rude things about him and Ling.

-'I never thought people would actually say things like that…and I'm not sleeping with her, what a cheap thing to say!'-he shouted getting up.-'We were on detention!'

-'I know that…but the others don't. And jealous girls can do anything to hurt Ling. They know that she's living with you and since you saved her, they think you're having some sort of affair…'

-'We're not!'

Miharu shrugged; she couldn't do anything to stop the rumours.

Ling arrived and handed a sandwich to Miharu, who thanked her.

-'So, you were talking about the rumours…'-Ling said.

-'People say that you changed me…because I'm becoming soft.'-Jin lied.

-'What? They are so stupid! Don't they see that you're a nice person?'-Ling said.-'But it's ok, isn't it? I mean…you might act differently, but you're still Jin Kazama.'

-'Of course!'-Jin agreed.

Miharu nodded exchanging a significant look with Jin.

-'Hey, Hirano! Are you trying your luck too?'-a girl, from Jin's Fan Club yelled from the window in the first floor.

Miharu ignored her and turned her back on the girl.

-'Do you mind if I have lunch with you two tomorrow?'-Miharu asked.

-'Of course we don't! Right Jin?'

-'It's your decision…'-Jin said to Miharu.-'Do you think you can put up with me?'

-'You're not that bad…I guess…'

-'I thought you hated me.'

-'Me too.'-Miharu smiled.