Sachi Gosetsuke: silly me. I forgot disclaimer in the last chapter. I don't own Tekken. Period.

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Ch. 5: All Hallows Eve

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You all may still be very confused with my life. Like why am I about to die? Well it's quite simple: I was never meant to be born.

On the day I was born, I was forced to live with my Uncle, live a lie, just for my protection. I don't regret that anymore. However, I needed to be protected from the Akuma; Devil's spirit, still wanting to become whole once more...

Though I was safe living with my Uncle in Osaka, it was only temporarily. Unknown to them, a prophecy was to be made. That prophecy consisted of my existence; the result of their secret and forbidden affair.

My mother had only wanted to purify Kazuya's soul. In the process she fell in love with him, and conceived my brother Jin. However, she was able to purify his soul. She was, after all, an angel, sent from the heavens, meant only to find Kazuya. But because of Heihachi, Kazuya was forced to give into Devil once more.

But because of the forbidden union of a Devil and Angel, their offspring was already in danger by many things: the living power given to them at birth (the genes of an Angel and Devil) and of course the lingering soul of Devil, trapped inside a human form; my father. Devil wished to be whole...and he already had two choices to chose from...

Obviously he needed someone very strong...and according to prophecy, there was one offspring who was born with special powers, more powerful than the Angel and Devil Gene combined, that were used for either two things: to join Devil, and destroy the human race, only to be killed by Devil later...or: to kill Devil...and destroy the world...

Prophecy stated that the offspring were stronger than what Devil had before and after he joined Kazuya...and these powers would react once the Devil power within was reacted by the simple essence of Devil: the tattoo that marked the progeny of Devil. This was obviously the "Devil Gene." The only cure was for the Angel Gene, passed on by Jun, to become dominant. But of course, because of my parents affair, they passed on both genes to my brother and I; we are half and half, already stronger then Devil and Angel.

However the offspring that the prophecy points to had powers so strong that it is said to be able to perish the Earth...along with itself. This offspring had a limited fate; it wasn't meant for this Earth...its only destiny was to die.

So Devil had two choices to choose from: Jin or me. He needed the strongest one.

Prophecy proved that he was going to choose me.

The night air was crisp and cool, with a shivery breeze blowing in here and there. The white full moon set high against the black skyline with a few stars out that night. It was late out on the night of All Hallows Eve.

That night, in recognition of All Hallows Eve, the carnival was in town. Everyone in the city of Osaka came; children of all ages dragging their parents left to right. Teenagers huddled in groups, gossiping, chatting freely and enjoying their time. And couples, walking around hand in hand, with the gentlemen desperately trying to win their girlfriends a prize from the rigged carnival games.

That night, near the front entrance by the ticket booths were two 16-year-old girls.

...Can you guess who they were?

"You sure he's coming here Zuki?" Megumi asked Asuka for the umpteenth time.

"Yes, Megumi, I am sure that he is coming." Asuka replied calmly, yet in an impatient tone.

"Well then, he's late."

That day during gym, Asuka's class had to run the mile. Her archenemy Kenichi was of course part of her class. For fun, they decided to make a bet.

"If I make it to the last lap before you," Kenichi was telling her, "Then you have to run for 15 minutes around my dojo."

"And if I win?" Asuka asked.

"If you win?" Kenichi paused then smiled evilly. "You're call." Of course, the only reason why Kenichi said this was because he had every confidence he would win.

"Hmm." Asuka said deep in thought. She would have loved nothing better than for Kenichi to experience the worst public humiliation, with him confessing how he really does in fact like their French Foreign Language teacher (you can already guess what language she teaches them, right?). However, she wouldn't do that...yet.

"All right," she said, making up her mind, "If I win, you have to come with me and Megumi to the carnival tonight."

"That's all?" Kenichi asked.

"AND," she added, "You have to pay for everything. And when I say everything..." she grinned evilly, "I mean everything. And you know that carnivals are pretty pricey."

"Fine," he said.

"Shake on it," Asuka prompted, taking out her hand.

He shook her hand firmly. "Deal."

...By now you know who won, right?

Asuka looked down at the defeated Kenichi, who had collapsed in a sweaty heap on the grass in mock despair. However he winced, knowing that carnivals were in fact, pretty pricey, and he didn't have that much money on him...which meant that whatever he couldn't buy, he was in debt to her.

Asuka looked down at him and grinned triumphantly. "Meet us there tonight. 8 o'clock sharp. Front Gates. Be there."

...So there they were, front gates, waiting.

Asuka looked at her watch: 8:20. Kenichi, if you decided you had better things to do --

"Where IS he!" Megumi asked.

Sighing with frustration, Asuka looked around the around the crowd, imagining a 16-year-old with unruly chestnut brown hair and blue eyes hurrying through the crowd, probably a bit irritable with traffic or something...

Asuka blinked. She was probably imagining too hard because her mind was playing tricks on her and making her see exactly that, happening right now. However, she knew it was in fact real by the way Megumi went, "Rrrrrgh!" and marched right up to Kenichi.

"And where exactly were you!"

"Yeah really," Asuka added, "You're twenty minutes late!"

Kenichi simply replied, "Traffic." Asuka needed her head checked.

"Well come on!" Megumi said, grabbing both their arms and hurrying towards the ticket booth, "HIM is probably here already!"

"Yeah really. I love HIM."

Kenichi looked lost. "Him? Who? Her?"

Asuka rolled her eyes. "It's a band. We love HIM."

"Her?"

Asuka mentally slapped her forehead.

HIM was actually an American Gothic/Rock/Metal band, enjoyed profusely by Asuka and Megumi (A/N: and a very good one too. GO HIM!)

After paying for tickets, they traveled back and forth between roller coasters and rigged games while waiting for HIM to start playing. Kenichi of course, paid for everything, including the glow-in-the-dark lights that Asuka and Megumi twisted around their arms and necks.

"Hey!" Megumi exclaimed, "There's a fortune teller!"

Asuka rolled her eyes. "'Gumi hon, I hate to say this but those gypsies are nothin' but liars."

"Aw, c'mon, let's just get our fortunes told, just for fun."

Asuka sighed. "Fine," she gave in, allowing Megumi to drag her and a poor Kenichi towards the dark and purple booth.

They went inside, greeted by a strong smell of sherry and scented candles and other strange herbs and spices that made Asuka want to sneeze. Megumi led the way (with Kenichi at the rear) and pulled back the thick purple curtain aside.

Inside was a small round table with matching purple cloth over it, and a woman with "bohemian" type clothes and large golden-hooped earrings and shawls reading a magazine. In front of her was a fogged crystal ball. It was dim inside, with only the several scented candles for light.

She looked up, bored, and then pointed to the nearby sign that read TWO AT A TIME.

Kenichi held his hands up. "I'll go," he said, obviously not regretting it.

Before leaving, he handed the money to Asuka who paid the "gypsy."

"My name is Nefrattiri," she said in a mystic voice once they say down. They glanced at each other, trying to hold back their eye rolling.

"My name originated in Ancient Egypt," she said, "'Tis where I learned the mystic powers of psychic and looking in the Beyond."

"My customers must see their fortunes alphabetically by their first name," she said, "So who goes first?"

Asuka smiled, trying to hold in her laughter. "I do," she said.

The lady smiled. "Very well...what is your name, dear?"

"Asuka."

"Asuka... 'Soaring bird,' right?"

She shrugged. "All right then," she said briskly.

Then she clapped her hands the light dimmed even lower. "Now then...look inside the crystal ball...and tell me: what do you see?"

Asuka squinted inside the foggy crystal ball through the darkness. Slowly the smoke inside began to clear. "I see...uhh...a guy?"

"A guy?" Nefrattiri repeated, puzzled.

"Yeah...black hair...definitely Asian...um...looks uptight...spiky hair, really spiky, that's weird, he must have to use eight bottles of hair gel to get it that spiky..."

"Ooh," Megumi said, "Maybe he's your dream guy."

Asuka shook her head, rolling her eyes. "I doubt it," she said, "But he looks kinda familiar."

"Hmm..." she murmured closing her eyes. Then she said, "All right...give me your hand...dominant hand, dear..."

Asuka did. Nefrattiri examined the lines in her skin with curiosity and crucially. For a while she didn't speak. Slowly her eyes began to narrow. "You were born in...Late summer, right?"

"Yeah," Asuka said. She continued looking at her hand, humming to herself, and Asuka resisted the urge to snatch her hand back. Nefrattiri seemed pretty interested in Asuka's "future."

Asuka glanced at Megumi who shrugged.

"Hmm..." Nefrattiri said, and suddenly it seemed as if she was searching for something on Asuka's hand. Then she gasped loudly, startling Asuka.

"My dear..." she whispered breathlessly, "You have no fore lines..."

"Huh?" she asked, lost.

"Why...you, my girl," she said, staring deep into her eyes, "You were never meant to be born."

"What!" exclaimed Asuka.

The gypsy stared at her hand a moment longer. Then she gave a shuddering gasp.

"The akuma!" she cried. "The Devil's Mark!" Her eyes went wide. "Oh God. Oh God, Oh God, oh...so much pain...so dark..."

"What the hell are you talking about lady!" Megumi demanded angrily.

"Death!" she exclaimed and clutched Asuka's hand. "Your future...is limited...I saw death...you were never meant to be born..."

"Let go of me!" Asuka demanded and she pulled away from her grasp.

Megumi glared at her. "You don't sell this shit to people," she said, and she pulled Asuka out of there, taking the money back with her, "C'mon..."

"Death..." she repeated back at Asuka, "Is your destiny. Watch out...for the Akuma's mark..."

Once outside, the two girls were both upset. "Can you believe that lady?" Megumi exclaimed angrily, "The nerve! You don't say that kind of stuff to people!"

"What's going on?" Kenichi asked, looking at Megumi's glowering stare. Then he teased with a sly grin, "Bad futures huh? So what is it, Asuka, gonna marry a hobo?" But he stopped, when Asuka walked away from them, silent.

"What?" Kenichi asked, puzzled. Not letting Megumi answer, he ran back to Asuka.

"Asuka!" he called out, reaching her. "Asuka!"

She ignored him. Asuka had been silent and deep in thought ever since they left the so-called "gypsy."

Your future...is limited...I saw death...her words kept ringing in her head.

She's lying, Asuka thought, she's just some crack-whore trying to get fast cash...But what startled Asuka the most was how she had played a very convincing act...and the fact that she guessed her birthday correctly...

Akuma...the Devil, she thought. What did she mean by the Devil's Mark?

"Asuka."

She turned and saw Kenichi right next to her. He smiled reassuringly. "Hey," he said, "Cheer up Asuka! I was just kidding...look if that lady was actually right, then I would have known already that you were gonna end up marrying a hobo or something...and don't worry, I'd stop you first to let you know that you were insane."

Asuka stared at him. Then she laughed.

This caused Kenichi to feel relieved.

"No," she said, after she stopped, "I'm not gonna marry a hobo..."

"Then what did she say?"

Asuka sighed, and turned away. "She was ranting on about the Akuma and stuff...and...she said she saw death in my future...and I was never meant to be born."

He remained silent, and she continued sighing, "I know I shouldn't believe her but...you know, my mother died giving birth to me...and even my father said to me once that I was his "miracle baby." Kept saying how much he had wanted me and...well...it just makes me wonder..."

"Asuka," he said, "Don't believe that woman. She's crazy, she was just trying to make money, I bet she does that to everyone."

Asuka merely stared straight ahead.

"Hey."

Kenichi's soft voice made her look back at him. "Don't Asuka." Kenichi said. "Don't you think once about it, ok, don't you think on it."

Asuka nodded slowly. "C'mon," he said, "Cheer up, 'k? Look, when your time comes...you'll be 100 years old and rotting old and not to mention ugly as hell and you'll die peacefully in your sleep."

The way he had said it so casually made her laugh, causing him to smile a little. "So," he said, placing his hands in his pockets, "What's next on the list?"

Megumi, who was watching them from afar, smiled at how Asuka laughed and Kenichi smiled. One of these days, she thought, once those two stop trying to kill each other and stop biting each other's head...they're gonna confess their love for each other and get married and have a house full of kids.

Asuka opened her mouth to speak, when she stopped at the familiar chords of a guitar to an opening song and squealed. "HIM! It's my favorite song, c'mon!"

Retrieving Megumi, she pulled the two over to the band where HIM played the song "Behind the Crimson Door."

We hide behind the crimson door

While the summer is killed by the fall

Alive behind the crimson door

While the winter sings:

"Your love will be the death of me" (Death of me)

...Your love will be the death of me.

Thee: They do call my high school the Pharmacy. Yes, from time to time, there are policemen there...lol shocking I know, but hey, it's high school XD

Psychoblue: yes, I know there's a lot of grammar and spelling errors in chapter 4. I didn't have a spellchecker, and I thought I had begged for mercy then...