Sachi Gosetsuke: Listen up, and listen good, 'cause this is the only time I'm gonna say it: there are no official pairings that involve Asuka as of now. Ok? Get that off my chest…

And another thing: if you like Kenichi so much, thank Psychoblue - he created him, not me!

NCTeKkEn08: aww…(blush) best review ever!

Disclaimer: Asuka, Devil, and any other Tekken characters are all Namco's. Everything else is mine – except - Jean Sorel and Kenichi Masamune. Those are Psychoblue's OC.

Ch : 3 Awoken Slumber

A year has passed since the fifth Iron Fist Tournament…

The sky turned black, bathed in crimson blood. The city of Tokyo was surrounded by people, frightened, confused, not knowing what evil would erupt in a matter of minutes…too foolish and unaware to know…that they would all soon be perished…

Over at the tall sky scraper of Tokyo Tower, a young man, in his mid-twenties, with sheer blonde hair in a scarlet pony-tail, muttered an incantation, trapped in his own shell, unaware that the demon within him was controlling him, as a puppeteer to a mindless puppet. As he continued in his monotone, doubled voice the incantation, the figure in front of him, cast away in the shadows, began to shake uncontrollably as the pupils of her eyes turned to fiery slits.

There stood towering over the figure a creature with bat-like wings, red eyes and purple skin…a creature so evil, so fearsome, that it was said that God Himself had banished his dark soul away to the depths of Hell…the creature was the Devil.

The Devil grinned evilly as he watched as the ancient symbols begin to spread throughout the mortal's body: eyes glowing red and with red blood, seeping down her face as if tears of horrific pain.

The man's voice grew louder, as the dark clouds in the sky began to grow; the blood-red sun (that gave off no such light) began to illuminate the sky with its vast crimson color throughout the black sky. The girl's screams couldn't have been louder as the markings on her glowed an eerie red, shining through her ripped tank top and jeans.

Her screams amplified as two horns pierced through her head outward, and her hands – no longer hands, but – talons – grew as well. As if to show the evil that was taking over her, her screams grew louder, yet almost as if in ecstasy.

And as the man's doubled-voice, crying with enthusiasm now as he began to finish the evil incantation, the process became complete as two, raven-feathered wings sprouted from her back.

The Devil laughed in triumph for now no one could stop him; he had completed the prophecy…

Everything was coming according to plan…as long as the girl, 18 year-old Asuka Kazama would not, of course, kill him in the end…

Asuka Kazama woke up slowly.

She stood still, tangled up in warm sheets. It was dim out, and her eyes remained wide with confusion and fear.

Where am I?

Along with the lingering presence of her nightmare, her fear and confusion became clear. She took in her surroundings. She was nestled in warm white bed sheets in a full mattress bed. Along with the white sheets were soft, feather pillows in blue cozy pillow sheets. By the looks of the soft faded sunlight seeping through blue curtains in a nearby window, it was around 7:00 AM.

Slowly the fog began to lift.

She stood up slowly in her confusion, no longer as puzzled, and no longer afraid, as the reminiscent of her nightmare began to fade off. She was in her room as usual; it was just another normal day, starting off weirdly after a strange, yet terrifying dream.

Dream...

Unconsciously she lifted her hand to massage the nape of her neck - only to find it completely bare. Panicked, she dove her hand underneath her pillows, only to find it empty as well. Hastily, she began to search underneath the sheets. But then she stopped her search, realizing where she had placed her necklace.

Sighing, she got up and walked over to her dark wooden dresser and reached her jewelry box. She received the beautiful jewelry box when she was little, by her father's friend who had built it for her. It was a polished rosewood box about the size of a shoebox, with ornate hinges. It was a lustrous deep crimson red and dark brown, with interior dark purple felt to store her treasures. The lid bore a beautiful inlaid design of a rose.

Asuka opened it carefully, twisting the small silver key already placed inside its matching silver lock - purposely placed in at all times by Asuka, ready to unlock the box. She lifted the lid and took out a golden chain necklace with a rectangular golden locket.

Just holding and staring at the necklace gave Asuka a sense of peace. Her mother, who deceased when she was barely a year old, had given the necklace to her. She doesn't know anything about her mother, and her father never talks about her. She knew that the memory of his beloved wife probably still haunts him. Asuka remembered quite clearly when her father had decided to finally give the necklace to her.

It was the night before her 8th birthday, and Asuka still didn't know where her father had hidden her present this year. Not that she was able to find it before; but she had been searching throughout the house all day, and she couldn't find a trace of birthday gift.

"What did Otousan give me this year? She asked herself. "Where could he have hidden it?"

Finding nothing in the house of brightly colored wrapping paper or even a friendly birthday card, she mustered up her courage to search her father's office. Her father's office was off-limits to her, yet desperate times calls for desperate measures, and her father was teaching at the dojo.

I'll make it quick!

Tiptoeing towards the office (even though the only adult around was Mrs. Sanada who was in the kitchen), she quickly came inside and closed the door, careful not to make a sound. She peered inside his bookshelves. Nothing. She peeked inside his small closet. Still nothing. Moving to his desk, she opened his drawers and one by one began pawing through them carefully, though each item inside held no interest for her.

"Where is it!" She was about to close the last drawer when she caught a glimpse of gold in the back of it. Curious, she opened it fully.

A necklace?

She picked it up with tender care. At the end of the chain was a golden rectangle locket. Spellbound, she held it out to the light. Though simple and plain, to Asuka it was the most beautiful and mysterious object she had ever seen.

"Asuka?" her father spoke from the doorway.

Startled, she spun around and dropped the necklace at her feet. "I...I was looking for my birthday gift..." she said, her voice getting quieter and quieter. She held down her head, unable to meet his eyes, knowing she had betrayed his trust.

After what seemed like an eternity, he said in a soft, yet leveled voice, "Pick up the necklace, Asuka."

She did so. Her father walked in, gently taking the necklace from her. "Asuka, you must learn to respect other people's privacy. This necklace is very special. If you had lost it..."

Her father's quiet voice made Asuka feel even worse. "I'm sorry Otousan. Really, I am..."

He gazed at her for several seconds. "We'll talk about this some other time. Right now Mrs. Sanada needs help setting the table."

Nodding, she hurried to the kitchen, where she was silent throughout the day.

The next morning, she received no birthday gift. She didn't expect one; the necklace seemed very important to her father. But he didn't even say Happy Birthday to her. Sadden, she trudged up the stairs to her room after dinner, where she saw a birthday card on her pillow. On the card was a simple riddle. Before she solved the riddle, however, she grinned.

A treasure hunt!

Her father had done this to her last year's birthday. Eagerly, she spent less than ten minutes on the riddle and solved it, where the answer led her to another part of the house. There she found another note with another riddle, and that one took her a little longer to solve. Asuka darted wildly, going back and forth throughout the house, solving all the riddles. The last one directed her back to her room, and at her doorway she stopped in her tracks. Inside was a shining pink and blue bicycle with a white ribbon tied on each handle bar. And dangling from one handlebar was the golden necklace. She shrieked with delight and reached her bike, taking the necklace off and examining it once more.

"I'm glad you like your new bike," her father said smiling from the corner of her room. "Tomorrow we will ride your bike. Happy Birthday, my dear Asuka."

The next day, while wearing her new necklace her father taught her how to ride, running beside her in the sidewalk. While accidentally steering over her front lawn, she lost her balance and fell, and they both fell, rolling and laughing on the grass.

Asuka hugged her father. "Otousan," she said, "Thank you so much. I'm sorry for going into your office."

"I know dear. You're forgiven. I can't possibly stay mad at you. Besides," he reached over to her necklace, "I was planning to give you that necklace all along."

"You were?" She asked.

"Yes. You see..." he paused, and he smiled sadly. "That necklace belonged to your mother. When you were born, she told me to give that to you when you were older. And after yesterday, I decided that it was the right time."

"That necklace," he said to her, his sad smile never faltering "Was very special to your mother. And when you were born, she specifically wanted to give that to you. So I want you to take care of the necklace. Ok?"

Asuka nodded. "I will."

After that day, she never took it off. It had become one of her most prized possessions. But when she opened it, however, it revealed a single photo; it was old, yet kept neatly within the confines of the trinket. It was a picture of two people she had never met before; a beautiful young woman, with the same auburn hair as Asuka, clad in lavender kimono. In her arms was a baby boy with jet-black hair. She had asked about the people; however, she never got a straight answer from him. Perhaps it hurt him to remember even her mother's close relatives.

The necklace gave a sense of luck and faith to her. Without it, she would have a bad day. And even as a child, she had forgotten how to unlatch the necklace off her neck, having worn it for so long and never taken it off. She would even wear it to bed. Last night, however, was one of the rare times she had taken it off.

Perhaps that's why I always wear it at night too, she thought to herself, to chase my nightmares away. With the necklace, she always felt that wherever she went, her mother was there, watching out for her. To make sure her day stayed bright; or perhaps to prevent nightmares at night.

In fact, last night was one of the few times that she had a dream and remembered it. Asuka would usually sleep restfully throughout the night. And even if she dreamt, it was always vague and peaceful, and when she would wake in the morning, she couldn't remember a thing.

But thinking back at her horrific dream last night, Asuka couldn't remember it anymore. But the fear was clear enough...

But her dream did not start out that way. She remembered clearly how she was soaring through the clouds, going slowly at first, and then picking up speed...then something strange happened; it all went bright, and suddenly she was reliving a memory. The day when Kenichi moved in across the street from her...

She smiled at the memory. Overtime, Kenichi had become one of her perfect and greatest rival. He was her match, her greatest equal. They quarreled and competed in absolutely everything, yet matched exactly: fighting, school, righting wrongs and stopping street fights. They proved to each other that they were each equally great fighters, matched in every way. And they were more than determined to be better than the other.

Yet strangely enough, they had gained a mutual respect towards one another, despite the constant arguments that gave more than a few headaches to their parents and friends. They had gotten over their petty pranks to each other during their childhood, and just worked their way to become greater than the other. To onlookers, they seemed like friends; and to others they seemed like hated enemies. And even to others, by the way they always argued over the little things, they were like an old married couple. But even they couldn't decide whether they were friends or not; certainly not a couple. But they didn't exactly loathe each other to death...

It is safe to say, that as they matured over the years, they had gotten over "hating" each other as children.

But after that dream...everything changed, and her nightmare began...

She shook her head to herself. It was a mystery, a strange dream she just wanted to forget.

Asuka stared at herself in the mirror. Barely 17 years old, her slightly tussled auburn hair hung just above her shoulders. For a 17-year-old girl, she sure looked quite mature. To immature and perverted guys, she was the perfect porn-star modeler. To others she was a goddess. Either way, she was neither. Asuka was certainly the type to feel insecure deep down because of her distracting yet gorgeous features. She was the one who just never really knew how beautiful she really was, whether she tried to look good-looking or not. And for a 14-year-old girl going through high school, it certainly wasn't easy for her having a very noticeable eyeballing bust!

With the golden locket hanging down her neck, her pajamas were quite simple; last night she was too tired to care what she wore. She had just thrown on her already-worn navy blue baby-T and did not wear any pants, showing off her pale blue lace underwear.

Asuka took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. Her teacher once told her that it was important to keep looking forward. Don't look back; you're not going that way. Though Asuka had a seemingly perfect childhood, there were times when she questioned the life she was living. However, Asuka found it extremely important to put the past behind her.

She opened her eyes and smiled at herself in the mirror. No time to be thinking about petty nightmares, or fond memories; the future needed to be ready, and there was reality to concentrate on.

Asuka began to open her drawers for new clothes.

It was time to start her day.

Sachi Gosetsuke: Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code obviously inspired me here with the "treasure hunt." You may find reference to those treasure hunts throughout the story.