Chapter 11: In the Crossroads
One thing I promised myself was not to run and cry to my father if the tournament became too much to handle. Being branded as a whore and losing my opening match was not going to let me think differently. My ego also didn't need the dreaded 'I told you so' from Lee. The plan was for me to enjoy whatever I could muster up.
At that point, I didn't care about my reputation. After recovering from my physical and mentally bruises, I found Hwoarang. We talked, well if you mean talk as implied as sex, well we did that. I found the sex rougher than I remembered. Call me crazy, but I think my hatred of Jin increased my libido. It was the sex and our dislike of Jin became the only thing we had in common, I was too blind to see at that time.
"So, are you and Hwoarang dating?" Julia's voice echoed through, bringing me back to reality.
We had just bought ourselves coffees from the local café. The barista had just handed me my large cup double-black coffee.
"I don't know, I would say it's just two friends having sex." I had no idea how to describe my relationship with Hwoarang, but I wouldn't say we were in a romantic relationship. I think.
We walked outside of the café to the footpath of the main strip. I placed my sunglasses over my eyes to prevent the morning sun's glare blinding me.
"Like a boyfriend and girlfriend, right?"Julia arched her eyebrow. She believed I was skirting around the topic.
"We are just two people who have sex...You know, Friends with benefits." I finished my reason by taking a large a gulp of my hot coffee.
"One day you two will admit you Looooove each other." Julia playfully teased me.
"Yeah, right."I snickered at Julia's prospect of my relationship with Hwoarang. Yeah, I don't see that happening anytime soon.
Our attention veered when Steve Fox caught up from behind us and decided to come over and talk to us.
"Morning ladies."
We politely greeted Steve. Julia smiled, seeing no problem of Steve's appearance. Even though I was way past the incident in our first meeting, I still felt slightly awkward around him. But he was a nice guy, so I couldn't hold it against him.
"Where is Hwoarang? I thought he would be with you, since you two are together." Steve asked me, with a smirk on his face.
"He is training with Baek and if you're wondering, we are not together." I coldly shot him a look.
I knew was being rude, but I wasn't particularly up for the discussion on who I'm dating. Steve was about to respond to my acidity behaviour but chose against it, seeing no point in arguing.
"I almost forgot, you never guess what happened to me yesterday." Julia thankfully changed the subject, slapping me on the shoulder. "You know how I had lost my rainforest rejuvenation data? Well, Ganryu found it."
"That purple thong sumo guy?"I piped up.
"And the best part of it all, after he gave me the data - he got down on one knee and proposed."
"He asked you to marry you?" Steve raised his eyebrows in curiosity, now walking at the same pace as us.
"It was so bizarre." Julia reminiscence the incident, scrunching her lips to the side still not finding understanding of to why it happened.
"You said, no didn't you?" I scanned Julia's left hand to see any engagement ring on her finger.
"What do you think?" Julia rose up her ringless left hand.
Both Steve and I laughed. I knew Julia was extremely intelligent and didn't think for a second that she would actually say yes.
"He didn't take it too well, but how was I supposed to let him down easy?" Julia frowned; she had a feeling of guilt.
"You got to do, what you got to do." Steve patted Julia on the shoulder to comfort her.
"You're right." Julia nodded her head, agreeing with Steve.
We continued walking down the road in silence. A message tone went off and Julia reached into her Jean pocket, pulling out her phone. She stopped walking to read the message to herself and made a weary face, quickly writing a reply to whoever sent her the message.
"Sorry guys, I have to get going. Some research related stuff has come up." Julia announced, looking up from her phone
I pouted over that fact that Julia had to leave. But, Julia was always into her studies and it was expectant of her to take last-minute calls. Steve and I surrounded Julia to say our unexpected goodbyes to her.
"It's okay, Jules, just remember don't go around breaking poor guys hearts."I joked, giving Julia a friendly hug.
Julia blushed a bit over my joke. She waved at both Steve and I and then proceeded to cross the road to where she had to go next. I looked over to Steve, now coming to the realization that I was now alone with him. Now, the awkwardness returned, I had no idea what to say to him. We moved along, side by side of each other.
I didn't have to worry so much, since Steve initiated the conversation again, gleaming with his handsome smile. "You know, the subject about marriage just reminded me of a conversation I had with your father yesterday."
"Oh? Marriage and my father, what possibly could he say?" I rolled my eyes relieving some of my uneasiness. My father was never the type to talk marriage so it was intriguing.
"Don't ask me how the topic came up but he proclaimed that he would love for me as his future son-in-law."
"So, you're telling me that my father is planning my wedding for me already?" That surprised me, not once has my father approved any guy I knew worthy of me. It's safe to say, Lee didn't approve me with Hwoarang.
"If you ask him nicely, he might even pay for everything." Steve nudged me in a jokingly matter.
"Do me a favour and stop talking to my father." I looked down in embarrassment. I swear for a moment I was blushing at the thought of getting married to Steve.
"Your father is a top-notch lad." Steve said emphasising his British accent.
"If you like him so much, why don't you get married to him instead?"I cheekily smiled, sticking out my tongue to Steve.
The more I talked to Steve, the more I became accustomed to him. We chatted for a bit more, until he had walked me to the front of my apartment block, even though I insisted I was fine to walk home by myself. When we said our goodbyes, the sexual tension rose, I wanted to kiss Steve. In sheer panic, I stuck out of hand out for a handshake before anything could happen. We shook hands, knowingly how awkward it was.
I lay awake in my bed, staring up at the ceiling with my mind swimming with thoughts. This insomnia became a nightly occurrence. I sat on my bed, leaning against the bed rest. Hwoarang slept peacefully next to me. I watched him for a moment, smiling to myself at how innocent he looked.
We had slept together every night since I had lost to Jin Kazama in the opening round match. Ever since then, we haven't talked about the state of our relationship. People have already assumed we are a couple but when I say differently, I get 'You're too bashful' or 'you're afraid'. I've wanted to speak to Hwoarang about it, but I never get the chance. He is either training with Baek or obsessing about defeating Jin. When we have sex, he tries to eliminate any form of conversation.
Ethnically, Hwoarang's behaviour should leave me burned. But, I knew deep down, I'm not in love with him. What we were doing was most likely not going to exceed the tournament.
I pushed the covers off my body and got out of the bed. I aimlessly walked out from the room to the centre of the apartment. The illuminating night sky, creeping in allured me to the balcony I opened the sliding door and stepped out on the balcony. I wrapped my arms around my body to retain my body heat since I was just wearing my black nightie.
I closed my eyes and inhaled the frigid air to mediate my thoughts. I opened my eyes and rested against the railing, looking up at the black night sky. The full moon shun with such radiance, it was almost yellowish, golden in colour.
"What am I going to do when this tournament is over?" I spoke with a soft voice.
I entered the tournament and lost, what more can I do? Maybe, wait until a possible sixth tournament and prove myself that I can actually win. But, it would be unknown when it would occur. It may take a couple of months to a year or even another 20 years.
I sighed heavily. I was at a crossroads and I didn't know what road to take. The best possible solution was to head to college, get an education, and be a normal girl.
I closed my eyes to assure myself that being a normal wouldn't be so bad. But I know, I never expected normal on the cards for me. I yearned for much more and I couldn't give up, not just yet. I snapped my eyes opened with determination giving me a new sense of intent.
My eyes caught sight of a flying moving object in the sky, disrupting my train of thought. I blinked a few times to prove that I wasn't seeing things. The thing in the sky looked like a human being flying with wings. The black wings spread out like an angelic creature, but I knew it wasn't an angel. There was something sinister about it, I swear I saw horns extruding from its forehead.
Before I could get a better look, the figure disappeared out of sight.
AN: PiscesBaby- I was on the fence about having Viola winning her opening round match against someone else, but I guess I was too impatient since I'm also going to cover Tekken 6 as well. Spoiler Alert - She will win a match or two in the near future. .
Also with this chapter, this leaves open who Viola's 'endgame' will be.