Disclaimer: If I can only get my hands on some shares in Namco, I could own this baby…till then the only thing that's mine is Ivy and this story. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

"You can have a seat here," Hwoarang said pointing to a small office chair by a massive old oak desk. He then went to a small closet of some sorts where he produced some bandages and antibiotics for her, and then went by the bar to get some ice for her bruised mouth.

"Why are you helping me?" Ivy asked before he could settle to tend to her wounds.

"Excuse?" he asked rather baffled why anyone would question his generosity; it came so rarely.

"You heard me, why are you helping me, the one you attacked and I assume planned on robbing?"

"You weren't supposed to be attacked like that."

"Oh, I see, so you're supposed to scare me off with the weapons first and if I fought back you beat the crap out of me, then steal my stuff," she replied in a 'matter-of-fact' tone.

Hwoarang sighed deeply before answering.

"In a matter of speaking, yes. But there's a rule that if your target isn't armed, you're not to attack with you're artillery. It's only fair."

"That's why you tried to kill that boy today?"

"I didn't—" but Ivy gave him a look of skepticism that stopped his sentence short.

"Hai, but he lived."

"What a way to live," she muttered under her breath. Hwoarang chose to ignore it; who the hell does she think she is judging his leadership tactics?

"Take off you jacket," he ordered suddenly.

"Excuse me?" Ivy asked very defensively.

"If I'm gonna tend to your arm you need to take off you jacket."

"You know, this isn't necessary. I can take care of myself…I'm a big girl," she whispered out to him a bit smugly. Kami her voice was alluring.

"If you wanna wait till it gets infected, fine by me," he retorted as he returned to the supply closet.

"No—you're generosity is kindly accepted," she replied as she rose to peel off her clothing as the leather began to stick to her wound. It stung a bit, but it came off more smoothly than expected.

Hwoarang stood awed as she was removing the clothing item. It felt as though the world slowed for him to take in as much of this little strip tease as possible. She wore a plain white tank top which ended two inches above her sun-kissed navel, accessorized with a simple silver ring. The top filled her incredible bosom quite nicely, clearly defining for Hwoarang that his alley contender was indeed all woman. Her low-rider sleek leather pants showed off slender legs, a curvaceous waist and sexy hips which swayed slickly with the least movement her body made, and she had remarkable abdominals for a woman; well toned and slightly dripping with sweat in the heat of the room, some of which Hwoarang told himself he contributed to, for this woman, no questions asked, spurred a hell of an arousal in him.

When she sat back down, Hwoarang had to mentally shake himself from his reverie as he was still mystified by this goddess. He pulled a chair to her side so he could address her wounds better.

"This is gonna sting a bit," he warned as he dabbed some peroxide onto a cotton ball and pressed it against her gash. It might not have felt deep, but the boy cut about half an inch down into her arm.

She hissed at the pain, but kept it all inside. She refused to show weakness, especially to a man like this. He saw how she held back the urge to whimper, and he smiled acknowledging her strength and character.

She truly is amazing.

He then dabbed some antibiotic powder onto the wound and proceeded to bandage it, using the time to hopefully spur a conversation between them, but she started first.

"Where is my bike?" she asked a bit sternly.

"It's probably in the chop shop now," he answered calmly.

"Mother—what the hell!" she flared up, rising immediately to clobber him whilst chastising herself for ever trusting a thief like him.

"They won't touch it, I swear," he assured, holding back a laugh at her sudden outburst, whilst passively shoving her back down to sit so he could finish his task.

"I'll tell them to carry it to my mechanic now so you could be on your way as soon as possible. I swear nothing will happen to it," he said more affirmative this time. She was still doubtful, but what could she do? For the moment she would have to take his word over hers. After making a quick text message, Hwoarang resumed to his doctoring.

"So, how old are you?" he asked.

"Twenty-two," she replied dryly as she observed her surroundings.

"You seem more experienced than that."

Silence loomed after; he needed to pick it back up.

"How long will you be staying here?"

"I…I don't know. I was thinking of returning to Arizona to complete my studies, but I can't abandon my father. Other than my obaachan he has no other living relatives here. My uncle died a few years ago and his wife remarried and moved to England with her new husband and children."

"And who will you stay with in Arizona?"

"I lived on campus, but my uncle Paul refuses to let me stay there so long as he has the funds to rent me an apartment not to far from campus, yet not to far from him either."

"All done," Hwoarang said as he went back to the closet to pack away the supplies.

"Arigato," she replied softly. She checked her jacket to see how much blood had stuck to the leather. It was in dire need of cleaning.

"Hwoarang?" she asked when he returned.

"Hai?"

"Do you have any soap or anything by chance I could use to wash this with?" she said holding the stained item in her hand.

"There's a washing machine in here," he said as he guided her to a door in the room which led to a small wash house.

"You have everything here?" she asked baffled at how equipped a bunch of thugs could really be.

"Prepare for anything," he shrugged as he took his seat in the huge office chair behind the desk.

He propped his feet onto the desk and leaned back into the chair as he casually watched Ivy put some soap and softener into the washer-and-drier machine and set the cycle.

Kami I need her now he thought as the blood began rushing to his loins the more he thought about her, the more he saw her.

"How long will the mechanic take?" she asked coolly as she took her seat once again. "Thanks," she then said when he handed her the homemade ice pack.

"About an hour max."

"Shit," was all she said before she pulled out her Blackberry and called someone.

"Hi Uncle Paul? It's me, Ivy. Listen, I stumbled into a bit of trouble here…"

Immediately Hwoarang sprung to his feet to stop her from continuing, but she held out her hand to stop and silence him before she started to speak again.

"No, nothing's wrong. I rode over some glass and crap in a back road trying to dodge some traffic here, so I'm at the mechanic replacing the tires. Problem is they gotta order some from their hardware not to far so I'll be a bit late. Tell baba I'm okay though…Okay, love you too…Bye," and she hung up.

"Thought I was gonna rat you out?" she said with a raised brow. She enjoyed seeing his panic attack; he looked his hottest when he was aggressive.

"Didn't know what to expect."

"Can't blame you, you hardly know me."

"I would like to though," he said casually, making Ivy blush slightly at the remark.

"So, you've been asking me a lot of questions, my turn now."

"Okay, shoot," he said as he returned to his comfort zone.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-four."

"What do you do exactly? I mean, stealing and fighting can't be it all, can it?"

"It's my living mostly, but no, not all I do. In my free time I do a little yachting, play some football or some other sport, and train of course. But during business hours I run a small ring here; we steal some bikes for parts, sell them to the highest bidder, sometimes we keep them for ourselves and trick out our own machines, then test them out in some underground races of course."

"Sounds like you have it all planned out."

"Feh, it would be better if Baek didn't stick his nose in where it doesn't belong," he said annoyed just thinking about the many times Baek embarrassed him and stopped him from attending many big races.

"You mean Baek-sensei, the King of Iron Fist Tai Kwon Do master?" she said excitedly.

"Yeah, so what?" he said wryly. He could care less of the title his master held at that point in time.

"You have the best sensei ever yet you talk of him as though he's…he's Heihachi Mishima or something!" Hwoarang cringed under the Mishima name, and recollected his last strange encounter with Jin.

Flashback to Tournament 5

"We settle it here and now Kazama," Hwoarang challenged Jin at their chance meeting outside a cathedral near the tournament grounds.

"I know we have a score to settle, but it will have to wait for now," Jin said calmly, yet an uneasy air was felt about him.

"Ne, I refuse to! Are you too scared or what?"

"You arrogance and impatience won't get you far Hwoarang," was all Jin said before he strutted into the cathedral and left Hwoarang outside. Infuriated, he stormed in after Jin yet found nothing but a black feather soaring in the air.

Where did the bastard go?

He searched everywhere but could not find his antagonist.

Dammit!

Frustrated, he left the building and resumed to finding his master hidden somewhere in the tournament. His ultimate mission will have to wait, just as Jin said.

End Flashback

"Hwoarang?" Ivy said snapping him back to reality.

"Huh? Yeah…like I was saying, Baek is one of the greatest, but he can be a complete pain in the ass sometimes."

"How dare you refer to him that way!" Ivy said angrily as she slammed the ice pack onto the table and stood concrete, showing Hwoarang how offended she was.

"What does it matter to you?" he retorted, merely shifting his weight in the chair.

"I happened to meet and train briefly with him after the second tournament. I think it's horrendous how he still manages to teach such an ungrateful student such as yourself."

"You calling me ungrateful?" he said in a low, stern tone as he came up to meet her face to face, his large frame enveloping hers.

"You damn right I am. Martial arts include respect, and discipline, things you seem to be lacking. I'm sure you're one of those assholes that claim to be the greatest, and preach about how they're going to outdo their masters…please. You may fight good, but your technique isn't worth shit if your attitude remains the same conceited way it is."

No one had ever contested Hwoarang like that, much less a woman. But this one stood her ground, not flinching once. He came closer to her till he felt her short hard breaths on his face, and felt her anger in those unyielding emerald eyes of hers.

Kami she was hott when she was angry.

As though they felt one another's heat for each other, they both grabbed at each other for an intense zealous kiss. Hwoarang ravaged her mouth in his, glad that his tongue didn't have to force entry as she willingly gave into his passion. He then tasted the blood she shed because of him, and he lessened the severity of the kiss for fear he'd injure her more. He held the small of her back and began drawing little circles in it, enjoying hearing the soft moans that escaped her mouth. He then traced the exposed contours of her spine which shuddered under his touch. She was burning for him as he for her. Gently, he lifted her placing her to sit on the desk as he pressed his body against hers. She used this opportunity to feel the chest and hard abs that she had been admiring the minute she saw him, and when she tugged slightly on his vest it she heard a small sensual chuckle from him.

Don't take the lead just yet…

He took his kisses from her mouth to her neck, nipping at her ear lobe ever so often. Despite her injury she gripped onto him, both hands and legs clasped around his neck and waist respectively, fighting the urge not to scream his name out loud.

"More," she husked out into his ear as he began fiddling with the ends of her top. Respecting her demands, he removed it without much drama and ran more wet kisses down her neck and onto the lace of her brassier. He suckled on the barely exposed flesh and felt them harden with each flicker of his tongue onto them. Ivy ran her hands wildly through his hair, and took that firm grip down onto his back as she scrapped him with cat-like claws. It did more stimulating that hurting and Hwoarang began to ravish the flesh wet from his touch. Her breathing came in heaves now, and Hwoarang could only imagine the wetness of her skin now.

Kami…what am I doing?

The split second Hwoarang stopped kissing her breasts to remove the clasp that kept hold of the barrier she wore from his intensely pleasing her, was the second Ivy chose to have a conscious. Her body may have regretted it now, but later on she would recall this moment and say it was the right thing to do.

"Hwoarang stop," she squeaked out, fighting the bliss he brought to her. She barely found a voice to speak, but she had to if she wanted to ever stop before she lost all control.

"Hwoarang, stop, now," she said a bit more assenting this time.

Apparently he didn't get the memo as he undid the clasp and proceeded to remove her bra completely. She pushed him away from her and jumped off the table, standing a good distance away from him as she redid her lingerie.

"Did I do something wrong?" asked the flabbergasted rebel. Never had he have a woman tell him "stop" or even push him away like that without climbing all over him after.

"No, I did. Hwoarang I'm not like that, and I'm sorry I led you on. You were just so incredibly attractive I…I don't know what came over me," she said, more to herself as she ran her fingers through her hair and down her face, hiding it slightly in shame.

"Then go with it," he said as he came under he again and removed her hands covering the face he admired.

"I won't hurt you, I promise," but as he reached down to kiss her again, Ivy moved away in search of her top and threw it on as fast as she could.

"Is my bike ready yet?" she asked, a face filled with sorrow but a voice of sincerity.

"It should be," Hwoarang exhaled as he took her hint.

"I'm sorry," she began, but he shooed her off as he went into a drawer in his desk and pulled out a cellphone where he made a brief call.

"You're done? Bring it here next five, and I mean it," he said strictly as he closed down hard on the flip phone. Ivy then felt a small heat being emulated on her hands. It was the amulet she was wearing on her bracelet, the one Asuka gave her, and it held a small glow to it. She held it delicately, trying to decipher what it was telling her.

It started glowing around the time when Hwoarang made the call. Did it mean genuine anger? No, because then it would've glowed with her as well when he insulted Baek. Did he have an affiliation with the Devil? Probably not; she would've felt a dark aura when she neared him, and definitely when she kissed him. Could it be that the Devil was nearby?

"Is there a church or cathedral of the sort anywhere around here?" Ivy asked, disturbing Hwoarang from his thoughts.

"There's a small church a few blocks from the bakery at the corner. Why, going to confess you sins?" he said smugly.

"I'll disregard that statement," she said firmly as she went into the wash house to collect her freshly dried jacket.

I need to talk to Asuka as soon as possible, especially if he's near…

When she came out she heard an all too familiar engine rev from the back of the office.

"You're bike awaits you out that door," Hwoarang said casually pointing to a door behind him.

"Thanks for the help," she replied coolly as she headed towards the exit, until Hwoarang grabbed her hand as she passed him by. Neither looked at each other, only listened to what the other had to say.

"I did mean it when I said I would like to get to know you better. I'm sorry if I rushed things for you, it's a bit habitual."

"For you maybe."

"Don't act like you didn't want me." Those words spoken, so true, so hated.

"I acted on impulse, something I intend not to do again," she replied seriously, still keeping her cool.

"What about coming somewhere with me? I could show you the town if you like." Ivy paused; she had to think this through. Yes he was an egotistical jackass she almost made love to, but beneath it all she felt a genuine kindness to him which hinted neither weakness nor vulnerability, qualities Hwoarang despised.

She took a deep breath and exhaled before giving her answer.

"Where do you have in mind?" she said still keeping to her gravity.

"I'll call you and let you know," he replied beneath a petit smile.

"So I'm to assume to want my number?"

"Hai. Can I get you number?"

She called it out for him, and after punching in the numbers into his phone, he released his grip. Before she left completely he bellowed out to her "You won't regret it."

I hope not she thought as she rode the Harley home back to its owner.

Author's note: Well, wasn't that a chp? It appears our OC has some super Devil hunting powers huh? Wanna find out more about them, how she got them, and what it has to do with Asuka; well you gotta review the story first, and as aforementioned, if I get five reviews (just this once for the combined chps) I'll post the next chp where a lot more will be revealed. So I hope you enjoyed these two for the moment and thanks for your support!