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Chapter 15 – Leaving Tokyo

-'Jin! Wait!'-Ling called after Jin. She felt a chill when the cold wind hit her body. It was colder than she thought.

Ling found Jin a few seconds later. He was punching a tree with all his strengths.

-'You don't need to be here!'-he said when she arrived.-'My problems are private.'

-'Stop pushing me away Jin…now what was that all about?'

-'I lost control! He's pretending…Heihachi doesn't care a damn about you, me or my father…he's just a self-centred bastard.'

-'He helped you after your parents' death…'

-'Yes…but I still don't know why…there must be a good reason for that.'

-'Maybe you and your grandfather should talk more.'

-'Talk? This will not go away with talks. I just can't stand him anymore. He's playing the good guy when he's only thinking about himself.'

-'Do you want to tell me more about how your father died?'

-'Not really…besides, I don't know the details either. I only know that he died in the previous tournament, almost nineteen years ago.'

-'I'm so sorry…'

-'I'm not…I feel angry because he died, but I don't feel sorry. I'm only sorry because I know that my mother loved him until the day she died…'

-'That's…admirable…'

-'He didn't deserve her. He left us and he never cared. But nevertheless, he was…'

-'Your father.'-Ling completed.

-'Yes…'-Jin closed his eyes and he couldn't explain if he was feeling sad, angry or just numb. But then his heart jumped when he felt Ling hugging him.

Unable to resist, he hugged her back and hold her for a few minutes, it was as if that hug was his shelter.

-'Xiaoyu? Are you ok?'-he asked when he felt her body shiver.

-'Yes…it's getting cold.'-she complained. Even hugging him, she was cold.

Jin gave her his jacket and bowed. She looked at him surprised.

-'Thank you for being here…with me…no one had done this before.'-Jin said.

-'I'm your friend.'

-'I know…'

-'You can trust me.'

-'I don't know why my family is like this and I don't know why Heihachi brought you into the middle of this, but once school is over, I'll leave the mansion…'

-'What?'

-'I don't want to live with him anymore. I think you should leave too.'

-'Leave?'

-'Go home…to China. You'll be happier there. You have friends and family.'

-'What about you?'

-'I'll be fine. I can take care of myself…'

-'What about the tournament?'

-'I'll be there to fight him…but maybe you shouldn't go. It's too dangerous.'

Ling lowered her eyes and sighed. She didn't know if she should believe him or not. The truth was that to her Heihachi was just a wealthy man, who was kind to her. But she had seen Heihachi treat Jin with indifference, which wasn't normal, since Jin was his grandson.

The real problem was that she wanted to go to the Iron Fist and she didn't want to leave Tokyo, actually she didn't want to leave Jin. He was always putting a strong mask on, but in reality she could see that he was just trying to find a way to hide his feelings. She wanted to help him and in order to do that she had to stay.

21st JANUARY

Ling woke up early in the morning. She didn't have much sleep because she couldn't stop thinking about the last night events.

Everything was weird. She got up and dressed, and then she noticed Jin's jacket on the chair, so she decided to go and give it back. Besides she knew that Jin was always up early. When she arrived to his bedroom, the door was opened and Heihachi was yelling at the top of his lungs.

-'DO YOU REALISE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?'

Jin shrugged under his blankets.

-'You suggested that I had killed my own son! If we were in Japan this would go straight to the Headlines! You idiot!'

-'Leave me alone.'

-'Are you even listening to me?'

-'No. So save your breath and shut up already!'

-'It's true that Kazuya died in the Iron Fist and I might have some guilt…but it wasn't my fault…your father lost his fight and I can't do anything to change that.'

-'This is not only about my father!'

-'It isn't?'

-'No! Do you think I'm stupid? I can see that this tournament is part of a plan…'

-'It's just a martial arts tournament!'

-'I won't let you succeed!'

-'I'm just here to warn you to keep your mouth shut! Don't you ever do this again…or you'll be sorry.'

Ling entered in that moment with the jacket on her hands.

-'Thanks for this…'-she said to Jin.

Heihachi looked at her and left without another word.

-'Are you ok?'-Ling asked.

-'Yes. He was worried because he had to explain his friends what happened last night.'

-'Do you think you're going to have problems with the media?'

-'Nah…only if we were in Japan…we're not that famous in Korea.'

-'What did he say to the guests?'

-'I don't know…probably that I was drunk or high…'

Ling laughed, imagining Jin high, as if such thing was ever possible.

-'Xiaoyu?'-Jin asked with a serious voice.

-'What?'

-'I want you to promise that you'll leave Heihachi when I'm gone…'

-'I…can't…'

-'Please…just go back to your family, where you'll be safe.'

Ling lowered her eyes and left his room. Jin sighed. He never thought she would be that hard to convince, but he had to try again, for her own good.

28th FEBRUARY

Jin and Ling were back at school and things had returned to normal. After the trip to South Korea, Heihachi was always in meetings and away from home. Jin was ok about it, but Ling knew that Heihachi was simply avoiding a confrontation with his grandson. Things weren't alright between them. Jin was still determined to leave once school was over, and he had asked Ling several times to go to China after that. Ling had always refused to give him an answer. She didn't understand what was wrong about the tournament, but she was also determined to go and win.

-'So…Jin is going to leave?'-Miharu asked surprised.

-'I think so…please don't tell him I told you.'

-'I won't…but why is he leaving?'

-'I don't know…he didn't tell me…'-Ling lied.-'I guess he and his grandfather are having some problems.'

-'Family problems, huh? That's not odd at all coming from the Mishima family.'

-'Really?'

-'Yeah…'

-'Why do you say that?'

-'There are a lot of things about the Mishima that you don't know. But it was said that Kazuya Mishima killed his father in the first Iron Fist…it's only rumours of course…and they were proved to be wrong since Heihachi is still alive…I'm just saying that the Mishima have many secrets.'

Ling was shocked with Miharu's words. Did Jin know about those rumours? Did he know that Kazuya had fought in the first Iron Fist against Heihachi?

-'Hey…are you ok?'-Miharu asked worried with her friend.

-'Yes…I'm fine…'

-'School is over next week…do you want to make a goodbye party to Jin?'

-'No, I don't think he wants that…'

-'But it's not like he's going away forever. I mean he won't just disappear, right?'

-'I guess not.'

-'Then why are you so worried?'

-'Who said I'm worried?'

-'Well…your face…'

-'I'm not worried…he's strong. I'm not worried about him.'

-'Good…because there's no reason to be worried. Jin's a big boy now and he's rich too, so he won't have any monetary problems while living alone…he won't starve or anything…'

-'I know that.'

-Then, lets go to classes, ok?'

-'Yeah…lets go.'

Ling entered the classroom and waited until the teacher arrived. She could feel Taro's eyes in the back of her head, since he was right behind her. She hadn't spoken to him since the incident, and though she had tried to apologise for Jin's behaviour, he had refused to hear her. She didn't know why Jin had hit Taro, but she didn't want to ask either.

7th MARCH

Ling and Jin were training. Ling was thinking about how disturbing the silence between them was, when finally Jin broke it.

-'I'm leaving tonight.'-he said.

-'So soon? But school ended today.'

-'Sorry…But I have to go.'

-'Where are you going?'

-'I don't know yet. Maybe south…At first Heihachi will be angry; he'll probably send someone after me. But then he'll realise that he'll find me in the tournament…'

-'Then I'll meet you there too.'

-'You should go home.'

-'I won't go. Stop saying that.'

-'Ok…it's your decision.'

At dinner, Heihachi announced that the Iron Fist Tournament 3 would take place in an island in Okinawa, and the fights would start on the 19th of April. Coincidence or not, that was Jin's birthday. This information made Jin smile ironically at his grandfather. Was the old man thinking that he would be grateful that he had chosen his birthday to start the Iron Fist? If he was, then he was a deluded old man, because Jin would never thank him for that.

That night, Ling didn't even turn on the TV in her bedroom. She was impatient and nervous about Jin's departure. But she also knew she couldn't do anything to hold him back. In the meanwhile, she took a piece of paper and a pen and started writing her letter to Jinrei. She had many things to tell him, but she didn't want to upset Jinrei, so she ended up by writing a rather small letter.

"Dear grandfather, I finished school today. It was really funny. Miharu told me she would help me practice for the tournament, since Jin is not going to be with us for a while. He's going to travel a bit; I think he needs to put his mind in order. I learned that he wants to fight with his grandfather but I don't know what will happen. I never saw Heihachi fight and I'm afraid that Jin may not be able to know himself how strong his grandfather is. I'm scared for him because he's my friend. Anyway, I managed to pass the year with good grades. Jin helped me a bit, but I guess I studied hard too, so this was my reward. Miharu passed too and next year we'll be in the same class again. I'm thinking about staying in Japan and finish school here. You won't mind, right? I'll go there as soon as the tournament is over. I hope you're alright. Love from your granddaughter Ling."

Ling looked at her watch; it was almost 1 a.m. and Jin was still in his bedroom. Maybe he wasn't leaving after all. With this in mind, Ling fell asleep and half an hour later she didn't hear someone entering her room.

Jin wanted to say goodbye but he found her sleeping. The vision of her sleeping made his heart beat faster. He didn't want to leave her, but he had to. He would never learn the truth if he stayed with Heihachi.

Jin looked at Ling one more time. She was the only one he could trust. He bent down and covered her with a blanket, then he kissed her cheek and left.