Twelve White Butterflies
Yugao
Author's Note: All right! The fourth out of twelve! Anyway, here's story number four: For the Love of Chocolate.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken, and unless I become a multi-billionaire I never will.
"I thought you could use something sweet today."
Four… For the Love of Chocolate
Jin punched the air, causing the nonexistent enemy to double over. He evaded its unseen attack and countered with an axe kick, finally putting to rest the demon that was not there.
If only his real battles were that easy.
He sighed as he walked away from the empty space on his townhouse rooftop that he had made his secret dojo. His plans for that day were simple: train from sunup until sundown, occasionally returning to the kitchen or the bathroom for his other necessities.
He didn't usually push himself this hard – he knew the importance of rest as well as training. But fighting was a way to take other things off his mind, and that day gave him a lot of memories he would much rather forget.
He went down the steps that led back into the main hall, and then to the kitchen. He yanked open the fridge door and grabbed a can of… he didn't remember the name of the energy drink, not that it was important. He popped it open, and downed it. With that he tossed the empty can into the trash bin beside the refrigerator and made to return to the roof.
… When the doorbell rang.
He almost never had guests, and he most especially didn't want to see anyone that day. Jin descended the steps anyway, if only to answer the door and vent all his frustrations at whoever disturbed his training – it was probably just a pesky door-to-door salesman anyway, so there would be no worries.
… Right?
He walked quickly to the front door, the incessant doorbell still ringing. He put on his best "get-the-hell-out-of-my-life" scowl and opened the door.
He couldn't bring himself to do as he had planned.
Standing in the doorway was a familiar young woman. Her long brown hair was in two braids, and she was wearing what was probably one of her favorite outfits: a brown shirt and a denim skirt, with a pair of boots. She looked uncertainly at him, and both her hands were behind her back as if hiding something from him.
Julia.
He hoped dearly she wouldn't remind him.
"Um… happy birthday?" she began with a little smile.
Shit. She remembered.
He didn't answer, and his face displayed a strange mixture of disgust, annoyance and gratefulness all at once. Julia's hazel eyes betrayed a shred of doubt, and she bit her lip as she asked, "Uh… can I come in? I wanted to give you something."
He held the door open for her, rather listlessly. He closed it and turned, just in time to see her walking quickly up the stairs, as if to hide from him whatever she brought with her.
If any of his past birthdays were any clue, it was a bomb.
Hey, why not? He thought wryly as he walked up the steps. When I turned twenty my grandfather gave me a gunshot to the head.
He finally reached the top of the stairs, to the landing that led to the kitchen. He opened the door, and found her gingerly slicing a big, generous piece from the chocolate cake that now lay atop the table.
… Chocolate cake?
He approached her slowly, and she turned with the dessert plate and fork in her outstretched hand. "Have some, Jin. I had it specially made for you."
He chanced a look at the round cake blanketed in a rich chocolate brown frosting, now lacking a slice. Vanilla rosettes lined the circle, and on the center, in white glazing, Happy birthday, Ji.
He looked down at the slice she'd given him. The missing letter "n" was there.
"Please eat it?" she asked.
He sat down and with his fork carved off a little of it. He cast a glance at Julia, who with doe eyes seemed ecstatic that he was actually going to eat it. He lifted it up to his lips, and wondered whether he could still drop the fork, beat Julia senseless for trying to get him to break his strict diet, and return to training.
No chance. He considered her too much of a friend. Besides, what harm could a silly little piece of chocolate cake do?
He took the first bite, and he was assailed by the lush, rich taste of the chocolate – the thick frosting was perfectly complemented by the light cake. It had been so long since he'd had anything sweet to eat that the first taste was almost addictive.
In fact, he hadn't eaten anything sweet in the past ten years. Before that, his mother was strict with what he ate, making sure that he grew up healthily. After his mother died he had abstained from everything that was sweet in order to keep himself in shape. The last time he'd ever eaten chocolate was when he sneaked it from his grandfather's refrigerator, after which he was spanked for disobeying Heihachi.
Jin looked back up at a smiling Julia, and smiled back. "It's great. Really great. But you didn't have to."
"Ah well… I thought you could use something sweet today."
For some reason, he found that comforting.
Author's Note: Poor little Jin, what a sweet-deprived kid. Please review!