Alright, my bad for the lack of an update in so long…have quite a bit on my plate as a senior at the end of the year! Such a thing includes writing my valedictorian speech…how the hell that happened is beyond me…and that's not me being modest, I'm seriously shocked. But I'm rambling on about me, please read on!


When I See You

Just as Hwoarang had predicted, the mind numbing pain of his hangover slammed into him like a hammer the moment he woke up. He shut his eyes against the harsh sunlight coming through the window and snatched the bottle of aspirin off the dresser, popped the top, and swallowed several of the pills. Overdosing wasn't a concern of his at that moment.

A few more hours of sleep and he felt a little better…at least the throbbing in his temples had stopped. He sat up and clicked on the TV, randomly picking something to watch. It ended up being the news.

"Yesterday, a plane crash in downtown Tokyo kept the fire department busy for eight hours as they battled the raging flames and worked to free any trapped survivors. There was only one." Hwoarang sat closer to the edge of the bed to listen.

The scene changed from the anchor woman to footage of the plane before it crashed. It seemed the plane had gone into a straight nose dive with no attempt to correct it. Then a massive explosion could be heard as debris smashed into the ground. Another scene change showed the fire fighters pulling a disheveled body from the wreckage. Him. He was shaking and muttering something and captions on the bottom of the screen clarified his words: "Gummy BJ's, gummy BJ's…"

The picture went back to the reporter. "The full reasoning behind the crash is still a bit unclear, but according to the last call received on the pilot's cell phone, his wife had just broken up with him. It can be assumed that this was a suicide/murder crash. I'm Tsuyuki Mamoto, more on this story as it develops."

Hwoarang couldn't watch anymore TV and quickly switched it off again. So that's what had happened…how come he was the only survivor? Was it his destiny to live? "Oh, shut up!" he yelled to himself. "I've been eating way too many fortune cookies…though the last one read 'beware the sign of the dragon'… I'mthe sign of the dragon! What's that supposed to mean?" He rolled slowly out of bed, cautious to not upset his still fragile brain and took a cold shower. So many useful purposes freezing water serves…

Dressing in his usual garb of a badass' wardrobe, he left his hotel room to find Jin Kazama. The town wasn't that large, and Jin was a person that could stand out anywhere. Probably because of that stupid hair style. 50 pounds of hair gel… He asked around for a moment if anyone had seen him but everyone ran away or was unwilling to give information to him, due to his own hair. "What is it with red that these people find wrong?!" He muttered angrily to himself. "You'd think this was The Villageor something."

He kept up his search though, determined to find his rival. He checked store by store, wondering just how low of a profile Jin was trying to keep in this town, when he saw something that looked very out of place in the small town. Slap dab in the middle of the main shopping markets was a Best Buy that didn't seem to belong with the quaint, small village. It was too…urban. But he gave it a shrug. What was there to lose? He headed towards it and had to suppress a gasp when he stepped in front of the door and it opened on its own. All of the other stores opened manually only. Inside, the smell of new electronics greeted him. So many mom and pop stores…they were fine, but this…this was better.

He wandered the aisles aimlessly until a sales representative came over to him. "May I help you sir?" the girl said brightly. She couldn't have been much older than sixteen.

"Jin Kazama," he muttered, not knowing why he was telling this girl this. She blinked for a moment, then turned and walked off.

O-kay then… He went back to haunting the aisles, never really taking in any of the items on the shelves. Soon he had wandered to the back where there were several big screen TV's on, all showing the same American football game.

He wasn't one for sports really, except for martial arts, but the idea of being able to legally plow your opponent in this game interested him somewhat. He stopped right in the middle of a screen to watch, drooling over the larger-than-life feel of the people and graphics.

"All these TV's are built with HD receptors," someone said off to his side. Another sales rep. He paid the guy no mind. "Satellite quality without the satellite. That's the future for you."

The man kept his gaze on the screen as well. "Are you thinking about buying one?" Here Hwoarang pulled his eyes from the game. The other man did so as well at the same time. Their eyes met. Then…


Ah, cliffie! Hey, it'll give me a starting point for the next chapter since that's always my problem. But you can probably guess what's about to happen…not giving anything away here. Okay, review me, flame me, whatever, do speak your mind. I'm happy for the detailed reviews I'm starting to get; I'll admit, I'm used to people just saying "Update soon!" (expressing your own sentiment, Tinner1212!) which is cool, but if you can tell me where I could improve, that's also appreciated (not complaining about what reviews I do get! A review is a review, damnit!) Okay, rambling on again. You know the deal.