Hey everyone, I'm back with another chapter! Thanks again for the reviews and follows! For the earlier chapters I think I'm going to keep a T rating, but due to to different "themes" that'll pop up in later chapters I might bump it up to a M rating...just to be safe.
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, they are all property of Namco.
Perhaps this was a bad time to visit, things seemed awfully chaotic at the moment at G Corp. What was going on? It was her last night in town before she'd move on to her next venture, an extended holiday in Athens. Before she left, she thought she'd drop by to visit an old affiliate of hers to see how things were going for him, but things didn't seem to be going well at all. Everyone seemed very agitated as if something bad had recently happened. Her heels clicked on the marble floor as she walked up to the main desk in the lobby. The secretary looked her up and down and shot her a mean look. Jealousy, as usual, but she was used to receiving those looks from other women. "I'm here to see Kazuya Mishima," she announced to the secretary.
The woman shook her head with a fake smile. "If you don't have an appointment, then you can't see him. Besides, it's not the best time to bother him," she informed.
"Oh, nonsense! Just call him and tell him I'm here to see him!" she ordered with a huff. This little bitch definitely shouldn't get on her bad side.
The woman shook her head again with a tight smile and replied, "I'm sorry, I can't do that, but I can leave a message for him." She tilted her head with a now smug look.
She leaned over her desk and glared at the woman intently, causing her to lean back away from her. "Call him," she commanded sternly. If this went on any longer she would reach over the desk and slap that bitchy look from her face.
The secretary rolled her eyes in annoyance and mumbled something under her breath as she used the intercom on her desk to page her boss. "Mr. Mishima, there's a miss…what's your name?" she asked dryly.
"Anna Williams," the brunette replied curtly with a smirk.
The woman rolled her eyes and finished, "Anna Williams is here to see you, sir." There was a long pause before an answer was received, causing the woman to look up at the brunette bimbo with yet another smug look.
"Send her up," the man finally answered.
Anna smirked at the now dumbstruck woman. "Thank you, darling," she said as she walked towards the elevator to go to the top floor. On her elevator ride up, she primped herself and checked her makeup in her ornate compact mirror. She wore her favorite red dress with her best pair of t-strap red pumps, she was always dressed to impress.
The elevator dinged and she walked to the office at the end of the long hall. Once she was at the large wooden doors, she gave a courteous knock before entering his office. She looked around and it was awfully dark in the room. Was he in a bad mood or something? "Kazuya?" she called out as she walked around the large office cautiously. Where was he?
"What are you doing here?" a dark, deep voice asked.
Anna whipped her head towards the voice. It came from the leather chair turned towards the large glass windows in his office. She could see his silhouette now. He seemed to be brooding about something…as usual. She walked towards his desk and took a seat on it with her legs crossed. "What's going on, why are you so glum?" she asked. "Is there anything I can do to cheer you up?" she added flirtatiously with a smile. The sound of the chair swiveling around caught her attention.
Kazuya turned around in his chair to face the vivacious brunette sitting on his desk. Even with his office dimmed down, he could see that she, just like her sister, still remained untouched by the ravages of time. He remembered her aiding him all those years ago in thwarting her sister's assassination attempt against him when she served as his bodyguard. He was still pissed about his encounter with his son earlier, but after a few hours alone in the dark to gather his thoughts he had calmed down. When he heard about the younger Williams sister coming to see him, he became curious about what business she had with him. "You came here to see me, so what do you want?" he asked again, getting straight to the point.
He was definitely in a bad mood, but she could reverse that. "I just wanted to see your face, darling, it's my last night in town," Anna flirted suggestively as she removed one of her red arm-length gloves and tossed it onto his lap.
The devilish man smirked as he picked the glove up from his lap and clutched it in his hand. He was hardly ever cool to her advances, but tonight his mind was too preoccupied to indulge in his carnal desires. However, he knew the little coquette would be hard to shake off. "Hmph, not tonight, I have to clean up my son's mess," he said contemptuously. She surprised him when she crossed over to the other side of his desk and sat down in his lap.
Anna flashed him a sexy smile as she placed a bare finger to his lips. "Still worrying about that sad little boy?" she asked in a soft voice. "Do you want me to kill him for you?" She stared into his eyes, his glowing, red eye captured her attention immediately, it was almost hypnotizing.
Kazuya was amused now. He had to admit that the feeling of her body pressing against his did relieve some of his tension. He stared back into her blue eyes and said, "Hmph, if you tried, you'd have to go through your sister." He revealed this information to her with another smirk.
Her brows furrowed slightly as he informed her of this. "What do you mean?" she questioned, needing more clarification.
"Your sister and my bastard son have formed an alliance. He hired her, presumably as his personal bodyguard," he continued. "I have been putting out a few hits on him, as well as many other people who want him dead, so he needed someone to save his neck." Kazuya was almost surprised that she was oblivious of this.
'Nina, you sneaky little bitch! She lied to me…I knew she was hiding something!' Anna thought. 'Well, our truce is over so it's game on, bitch.' The brunette was slightly peeved by this information. Kazuya seized her attention by clenching her jaw in his hand, forcing her to look at him. She smiled again. She had almost forgotten that they were in the middle of something. "Don't worry, dear, I'll help you get rid of those little nuisances," Anna promised in a sultry tone.
Kazuya smirked evilly as she offered to rejoin forces with him. It would be just like old times. Hopefully, he would be able to turn the tables and effectively usurp his wretched son from the Mishima Zaibatsu. He forcefully pressed his lips against hers as they joined in a rough, passionate kiss.
The last few weeks had taken its toll on her. There was so much to do and so little time to get everything done. After settling in to her new lodgings at the Mishima Zaibatsu, she had to take a crash course in learning the in and outs concerning various operations taking place within the company. She had attended several business meetings with Jin to learn about the inner workings of his business deals and why he needed to make the difficult decisions he made to keep the company on top. He was ruthless in the boardroom, showing little to no emotion or sympathy for the pleas he received to reverse his decisions.
After playing a working girl, she had become acquainted with the captains of several Tekken Force divisions and about the missions and drills they performed in preparation for the war that was on the horizon. She had wondered if Jin would let her join in on the fun, but he was adamant about limiting her job to just shadowing him for most of the day. All work and no play. Hopefully, in the future she'd be able to accompany them on their missions. Being on the battlefield was where she would get the most exhiliaration, but for now she was denied the opportunity and would have to settle for being a skilled watcher.
Much to her surprise, Jin had allowed her to do a complete overhaul on his security procedures. It would be a lot more difficult for just anyone, especially Kazuya Mishima, to waltz in unmolested by security or without clearing several checkpoints. Honestly, as flawed as his security system was, she was surprised that someone hadn't killed him already. Speaking of which, she had to keep monitoring bounty lists to make sure she knew who exactly had the gall to come after Jin so that she can kill them before they had the chance to get close to him. Not many people had accepted the hits placed on him, but whoever did would probably be more formidable than an average skilled bounty hunter. She would be prepared for anything.
It was evening now, and Nina was on her way to Jin's office complete her final check in with him before she retired for the night. There was nothing much to report this night, unless he wanted to hear about a few minor reports about a few members of the Tekken Force being caught gambling on company grounds. Things were slow now, but in a few months time complete chaos would ensue once Jin's war was in full swing. As she neared closer to the office doors, she was surprised to see a familiar face emerge from the office. As they were in closer ear shot of one another she spoke. "Hey, Eddy, is everything okay?" she asked casually. She had recognized him as a repeat competitor in past tournaments, but they had become more closely acquainted once they were formally introduced by Jin.
The Brazilian fighter nodded his head to the blonde assassin with a small smile. "Yeah…just discussing some things with Jin," he said plainly with a blank face.
Nina placed a hand on her hip as she looked the man over. His body language revealed to her that he seemed a bit dejected or upset. She wasn't usually the type to pry into other people's business, but he seemed more melancholy than usual. "Is he in a bad mood tonight? Just ignore it and don't let him get under your skin," she advised. "Sometimes after he's been an asshole he tries to make up for it…sometimes." Nina smirked while she thought back on some of her past experiences with the moody CEO.
"Well, I doubt it, but we'll see," Eddy forced a chuckle with a small smile. "Good luck in there…see you around, Nina," he said as he walked off.
She knew there was something else troubling him, but she didn't have the patience or the time to figure out what was wrong with the man. She sighed as she turned around and entered the office. She usually didn't need his permission to enter, plus he always knew who approached his door since he had video surveillance outside of his office. His office had undergone some renovations to repair the damage inflicted upon it after Kazuya's last visit. She stepped in and saw Jin sitting back in his chair, appearing to be lacking in exuberance as usual. 'Oh boy, here we go,' Nina thought as she rubbed her temples before crossing over to sit on one of the large black leather sofas in the middle of the room. She glanced over to the bar, a new addition to his office, and contemplated making a drink, but she decided against it tonight.
Finally turning her attention to the raven-haired man at the desk, she noticed that he really seemed to be out of it. Was he fatigued or just upset? "Jin?" she called out to him from the sofa. No response. "Jin, are you okay?" she asked again. She knew he couldn't be sleeping because Eddy had just visited him. The blonde finally got up to check on him, feeling a bit worried at this point. She placed her palms on his desk and observed him by leaning in closer to him. Beneath the dark bangs covering his eyes and shadowing his face, she noticed that his visage seemed to be pallid.
"Seriously, answer me right now!" Nina snapped as she walked around his desk and placed her hands on his broad shoulders to shake him awake. He barely budged. She then pressed two fingers to his throat to check his pulse. It was slow and steady, but not a normal rate, and she also noticed that he felt a bit cold to the touch. Nina quickly reached into the pocket of her blazer and pulled out her phone to call the medical wing to get him to the hospital. With shaky hands she proceeded to press a few buttons to complete the call until she felt someone seize her by the wrist. She gasped loudly, more than she would have liked to after the sudden startle.
Jin held onto her wrist as he slowly came to. He had heard her voice piercing through his subconscious when he was in a trance state. After Eddy had left, he felt his mind slipping into darkness as his Devil side had tried to gain control of his mind again. There was something that his other side wanted to do, but he didn't know if the time was right just yet, but if it was appease his darker half and keep him at bay, he had to do it. 'Why does he want me to go there so soon? It's not time yet…despite the taunting voice of that beast, I will have to stay strong,' he thought. He needed to get it off his mind and distract himself with something else. He could feel eyes burning holes into the side of his head and he slowly turned to face the icy glare of the woman standing next to him. What had he done now?
What the hell was going on with him? He was seriously beginning to creep her out with his weird behavior as of late. What was he hiding? Nina looked down at her wrist that he was still clutching in his hand and brought her gaze back to his tranquil eyes. "You can let go now," she said in an agitated tone. He completely made her lose her composure and now she was on edge.
Jin could see the anger, confusion, and worry dancing around in her cerulean eyes and he gave her a small wry smile. He still held onto her wrist for a moment, slightly reveling in the fact that it was the first time they'd established skin to skin contact, before releasing his grip on her. The blonde assassin exhaled loudly as she looked at him with a displeased expression. She was always either displeased or angry when she was around him, and admittedly her displeasure made him feel uneasy. He watched her as she sauntered over to his new bar and made herself a drink. He would asked her to make him one, but something in his mind advised him against it. He remained silent as he observed her behavior. Her hands were still shaking a little as she poured her drink. It was then he realized that she, too, even as a trained killing machine, could feel fear. Even from the bar, she glared at him in silence. "Are you unhappy here?" Jin asked unexpectedly.
Nina sat her glass down on the bar after taking a few sips, initially ignoring his question, not out of rudeness, but to ponder why he would even ask it seeing how it seemed to be the most irrelevant question to ask given the current situation. She was actually surprised at herself for reacting the way she did. She rarely let her composed mask slip, but seeing him sitting there looking so pale and lifeless shook her up a bit. "It doesn't matter," she answered evenly. "Besides, this is about you. What was that all about?"
It was only a matter of time before their constant time spent together would reveal some of his eccentricies to her. He wanted to tell her everything about him then and there, but he feared the outcome of doing so for reasons unbeknownst to himself. Until then, he would have to settle for lying to keep his secret safe a little longer. "I've been taking some experimental sleeping pills made by the Mishima Research Laboratory," he lied flawlessly. "However, the side effects are too dangerous…I'll inform the reserachers about them later."
Sleeping pills? She had taken some potent sleeping pills back in her day, but none of which resulted in her falling into a near death state. He must've had some severe form of insomnia if he turned to those mad scientists in the Mishima Laboratory. 'Well, I guess that explains why he's so lifeless and lethargic most of the time, but even so…something's still strange about him,' the blonde thought suspiciously.
"Any news for me?" he asked, hoping to change the subject. He watched as she finally felt relaxed enough to leave the bar before sitting on the sofa. As usual, she crossed her legs, which gave him a nice view of her creamy legs in her black skirt. Well, he found his distraction from his dark thoughts.
"Nothing that would concern you. I'm just completing my final check in with you before I go to bed," she said truthfully. Good thing she did, who knows what could have happened to him if she hadn't dropped by. "Did Eddy have anything to report?" she asked out of curiosity. Though she had dismissed it earlier, she was somewhat interested in what had caused Eddy to look so discouraged.
Jin folded his arms and looked at her intently. He saw no reason to lie to her about the business he and Eddy shared, but since he was a friendly acquiantance of hers he wondered what her reaction would be. "He came to me to check on the condition of his master," he said with a small sigh. "In exchange for his services on the Tekken Force, I offered to have his master hospitalized at the Mishima Research Facility to receive the best treatment available. He paused when he saw Nina frown at his words. She seemed a bit upset, surprisingly.
She may have been a bringer of death, but she knew all too well that the impending death of a loved one was all too heartbreaking. Before she had learned to detach herself from emotions, she always had issues with lamenting the deaths of her targets in the past as a rookie, especially if she was unfortunate enough to see the pain she had caused to a crying mother, a devastated father, a mournful widow, or a sobbing child. "His master…is he going to pull through? Is there hope?" Nina asked in a low voice.
This was the hard part, but by telling her he hoped for her understanding of his reasoning. He tilted his head downward and shook his head slowly. "His illness has progressed too far," he revealed to her solemnly. "At this point, they're only keeping him alive, but his prognosis for recovery isn't high." Jin truly felt sorry for Eddy's pedicament, but he didn't want his sympathy to affect his ability to make sound judgements.
Nina ran her fingers through her blonde ponytail before letting a deep sigh escape her lips. "Poor Eddy…no wonder he looked so upset," Nina said with a shake of her head. "At least you had the heart to tell him."
"I didn't," Jin confessed regrettably. "I only shared this information with you and I expect you to keep this information confidential."
Her blue eyes snapped up towards him instantly in shock. How could he sit there so calmly after keeping such vital information from a fellow comrade? "Jin…" his name lingered on her lips for a moment. "Why didn't you tell him? He has a right to know."
"Hearing such bad news will negatively impact his performance. It's best if he doesn't know for now," he admitted. Her face expressed great disapproval at his words. He prepared for her chastisement, but instead she remained silent. This caused him to look up at her as she sat on the sofa quietly while cradling her face in her palm, possibly to mask her disappointment in him. Jin already didn't feel good about his choices, but seeing her reaction made him feel even lower.
Perhaps she expected a little more honesty from him, but it just proved to her that she would never truly know him because he constantly lived in secrecy. Whatever his reasons were, she wouldn't question him, only follow his lead. However, she only wished he knew how to give more respect and consideration to those risking everything to achieve his obscure goals. Nina stood up from the couch and straightened her skirt out as she prepared to retreat to her quarters. She wanted to be well rested and prepared for whatever may come in the next few days. The blonde turned to her boss and said, "Goodnight, Jin." Besides that, she had nothing else to say to him…she couldn't even think of a witty remark to lighten the mood.
As she turned away, he watched her walk to the door, her ponytail swaying side to side with each step. He knew that she was upset with him, but she attempted to mask it. "Nina," he watched her pause in step and look back at him over her shoulder. His breath hitched slightly as he searched for the right words to say to her. "Please don't think I'm a terrible person…it's just complicated…"
"Jin, it's okay. We may not agree on everything, but remember it's not my place to judge you," Nina said reassuringly.
"Thank you," he said quietly as she finally left him in peace. He didn't like having secrets to hide, but in time he would feel more comfortable telling her everything.
End of chapter 5!
I know everyone hates T6 Jin, but to me his new role gave him a little more depth, same for Nina since it was the first time we saw heavy interaction between characters outside of those painfully short ending movies. I'm going to try to build a little more depth beyond the one dimensional portrayals of these characters we see in games. I will update you soon! R&R!