*Devil Released*
AN: Hi, guys! So there's been a fair bit of interest in the last chapter, so I've decided to post another just to keep the ball rolling. Don't forget to leave a review. Thanks so much and enjoy!
Once the speech ended, Xiaoyu and Lei-Fang returned to their room to settle in for the evening. Xiaoyu was dressed in a t-shirt and shorts and was already underneath the covers. Lei-Fang sat next to her sister on the bed.
"So what did you think, Xiao?" Lei-Fang questioned as she began to undo her braids.
Xiaoyu lightly tapped her fingers to her lips pensively, "Well, I think that the chicken was a little dry, but the sauce helped to pull the dish together…"
"No, Xiao, not about dinner," Lei-Fang said a bit exasperatedly, "I'm talking about Jin. What did you think of him? Of his speech?"
"Oh, well, I don't know, Lei. He seemed very confident and self-assured. I still can't believe that he even risked being out in public, but I guess only a foolish person would try to attack him when he's surrounded by security." Xiaoyu replied thoughtfully.
Lei-Fang finished undoing her braids and she ran her hands through her hair, allowing it to fall to her shoulders. "I think that he seemed a bit off. He was speaking pretty cryptically in my opinion. I think that something is wrong."
Xiaoyu sighed, "Of course something is wrong. Jin has become a crazy dictator and is trying to take over the world!"
"No, Xiao! I'm being serious here," Lei defended herself, "I think that there is much more to this and that Jin is hiding something. I mean, I can't prove anything right now, but I think that if I just had a chance to talk with him, I might be able to convince him to open up to me. Then we could help him."
Xiaoyu laid her head down, turning to her side to face her sister. "I hope you're right, Lei-Fang. It would be nice to have the normal Jin back again. I can imagine that you and Toshiro must miss him like crazy."
At the mention of their infant son, Lei-Fang felt an undeniable pain in her heart. She couldn't allow for that cycle of hatred to continue no matter what. At first, Jin was adamant about ending the Mishima bloodline and wouldn't even entertain the thought of having a child. With some convincing, however, he caved in and Toshiro became their pride and joy. It was at this point that Jin and Lei-Fang vowed to shield their son from the harmful effects of the Mishima bloodline by teaching him nothing but goodness and purity. Over time, this seemed effective until Jin mysteriously disappeared after the 5th tournament leading up to the present day.
More and more, Lei-Fang became convinced that Jin's absence was affecting Toshiro negatively. Their son seemed to smile much less and even seemed rather gloomy. He was unlike other one year old boys in the sense that he seemed almost too serious for his age. It was almost as if he knew that something was wrong and could only express himself so sorrowfully.
Leaving Toshiro again was one of the hardest decisions she had to make. While, Lei-Fang knew he would be in good hands with her mother, she wasn't sure what to expect from the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6. She didn't know what she could expect from Jin whenever she sees him and the last thing she would ever want is for Toshiro to become an orphan, not to mention that the tournament would be no place for a woman with such a young child.
Noticing that Lei-Fang hadn't answered her, Xiaoyu reached over and touched her hand softly, "I promise you that I'll do my best during each and every fight. It's not even about me anymore, Lei. I just want to see you happy once again."
Xiao gave her sister's hand a squeeze before pulling back, "Let's get some sleep. I have my first match up tomorrow afternoon and I want to be ready for it."
Lei-Fang nodded absentmindedly and stood up to walk over to her bed. "Sweet dreams, Xiao."
"And I hope they are even sweeter for you, Lei," Xiaoyu responded with a smile.
The next morning, the two Chinese girls were up early. The tournament was about to begin and Xiaoyu had a scheduled match with Julia Chang. Also, Panda would be arriving to act as the girls' bodyguard. She will also be participating in the tournament, but she did not have a scheduled fight until later. This also meant that Xiaoyu would not have a consistent sparring partner, but Lei-Fang was happy to fill in for the time being.
The two were going at it in the spacious gymnasium that was on the first floor of the hotel. There were several other combatants present, either sparring with each other or practicing on their own, but there was more than enough space for all of them to not get in each other's ways.
Lei-Fang was trying to push her sister a little harder than usual. Just by looking around the room, she could tell that Xiaoyu was going to have some stiff competition. Steve Fox was busying himself with a punching bag. She could barely keep up with his quick punches. She recognized Paul Phoenix, a man who had been in every single King of Iron Fist Tournament, standing next to the boxer, seemingly coaching him and providing some pointers. Asuka Kazama was there working on a kata, while King and Craig Marduk were practicing some wrestling techniques.
Meanwhile, Lei-Fang had her work cut out for her as she helped train Xiaoyu. Although she was quick, Lei-Fang was easily able to pick out the direction of her attacks and found ways to easily reverse them or counter them. She kept trying to encourage Xiao to mix up her strikes and to think outside of the box. The pig-tailed girl lowered herself to the ground, adopting her Phoenix Stance. Lei-Fang smiled, anticipating the younger girl's moves and braced herself for a low attack.
"You have to keep your opponent guessing, Xiao!" Lei-Fang told her as she managed to block a low sweep. Maybe it was because she was familiar with Xiaoyu's strategy, but Lei was finding it very easy to either reverse or block Xiaoyu's hits.
Just as she said that, Xiaoyu jumped up and just before landing, attacked with a perfect low kick to Lei-Fang.
"Got you!" the younger girl proclaimed proudly, holding up two fingers symbolizing "V for victory."
Lei-Fang laughed, "That was splendid, Xiaoyu. I think you will do great today."
"I know I will! I have to win the tournament so I can get to Jin, remember?" Xiaoyu returned with a grin.
The older Chinese girl solemnly nodded. It was the only legitimate way for a contestant to face the current owner of the Mishima Zaibatsu.
"We should get going. I wouldn't want you to waste all of your energy on sparring." Lei-Fang said as she placed an arm around Xiao, "I'll walk you over to the arena."
After walking Xiaoyu to her first match up, Lei-Fang returned to the hotel room. Under normal circumstances, she would have stayed, but this event was closed off to the public. As she was about to sit down on the bed, she noticed a golden envelope placed on her pillow. Curious as to what it was, she picked it up, carefully opened the envelope and took out the piece of paper inside. She was hit with a wave of nostalgia as she recognized the small, neat print as Jin's handwriting:
I'd like for you to join me for dinner 6pm this evening at the Mishima mansion. A driver will be outside waiting for you at 5. You will find a dress inside of your closet. I think it will suit your style very well.
Lei-Fang re-read the short note several times, trying to find any hidden meanings in his word or any hint of emotion for her, but was disappointed when she realized that his words could only be taken at face value. Her feelings of dismay were quickly replaced with anxiety as she realized that she would finally be meeting with her husband after all this time. While admittedly, she didn't expect to be meeting with him so soon upon arriving, she was rather excited for the opportunity. Despite the way that he's been acting towards the world, would he still treat her the same way as before? Could she somehow make him see the error in his ways and make him stop this mindless destruction before it's too late? Lei-Fang soon realized that there would be a lot of pressure on her during this one meeting and she intended not to mess everything up. She turned to the clock on the nightstand and saw that it was a couple minutes after 4 o'clock. With a look of solid determination in her eye, she stood up and began to get herself ready for the inevitable meeting with Jin.
At 5 o'clock exactly, Lei-Fang exited her room, wearing a red mandarin collared dress with gold embroidery and a thigh high slit on each side. She had left her hair loose, finding that her hands were too shaky to braid it in its usual style. She nervously began to twist the strands around her finger tips as she made her way to the elevator doors. The hotel was sufficiently quiet since most of the fighters have left to fulfill their own agendas.
Once she stepped foot out of the elevators, one of the hotel attendants was there to greet her. "Good evening, miss. There is a limo waiting for you outside. Take care not to miss it."
Lei-Fang murmured a quick reply before exiting the hotel. There was a black stretch limo waiting for her just as the attendant had said. However, the attendant did not mention that it would have the Mishima Zaibatsu flag waving proudly from the back window. Lei-Fang quickly found herself blushing as she realized that by entering the vehicle, it would be signifying her affiliation with such a group. Although it was probably all in her head, she felt a dozen eyes boring into her, judging her for associating with Jin Kazama and the Mishima Zaibatsu.
The limo driver had stepped out of the car and was patiently holding the door for her, "Is everything alright, miss?"
She quickly snapped out of her reverie, uttered a quick apology and stepped into the limo. The driver shut the door behind her before re-entering the car and taking off in the direction of the Mishima mansion.
The drive itself was mostly uneventful though Lei-Fang's head was spinning with all the possibilities that could arise when she finally sees Jin. Will he be pleased to see her? Did he have a specific reason for inviting her? Did he still feel the same way? She found herself beginning to get very anxious and she knew that she wouldn't accomplish anything if she did not shake this feeling away.
Once the driver approached the front gates of the mansion, Lei-Fang attempted to pull herself together. If she was hoping to get on Jin's good side, she would have to relax herself enough that she won't attack him upon laying eyes on him. Meanwhile, the driver had passed through the gates and was now driving up the long expanse of driveway leading up to the main building of the complex. Everything seemed different from the last time she had ventured up to the mansion in her desperate attempt to find her husband. Now, everything seemed much more militaristic in nature, even down to the fact that the Tekken Force soldiers that were surrounding the house wore heavy military uniforms and even carried rifles.
From his office, Jin could see the limo arriving at the front steps of the mansion to drop off Lei-Fang. As she stepped out of the vehicle, he was pleased to see that she had accepted the dress and she looked just as good as he thought she would in it. He watched her as she ascended the steps and was escorted to the front door and he knew that he would need to be available to greet her soon.
He turned towards the intercom on his desk and pressed a button, "Meet me at the main lobby."
Without even waiting for a reply, Jin stood up and picked up the suit jacket that was resting behind his chair, slinging it behind his back as he exited his office.
"I knew she would come," Jin murmured to no one in particular as he watched her descend the staircase towards him.
Lei-Fang took each step daintily, her golden strappy heels lightly tapping the red carpet. She caught his gaze and held it steady. He stood there flanked by his two head body guards, Nina Williams and Eddy Gordo. He was wearing a simple white button down shirt with black dress trousers. He still held the black jacket behind his back. When she reached the bottom step, she slowly approached him, unsure of whether or not Nina and Eddy would try to make a move, but they stood still, only their eyes watching her every move.
Jin took a step forward and raised his arms in greeting, "Welcome. I'm glad that you were able to join me for dinner this evening. I see that the dress is to your liking."
She nodded meekly, unable to formulate any words just yet. Jin then turned abruptly, waving his hand for everyone to follow him into the main dining hall where there was a table set for two. Lei-Fang was engrossed with her surroundings; she couldn't believe just how ornate everything was. Like the majority of the house, the main color scheme was red, gold, and black. Large black and gold drapes spilled down from the windows to the cherry wood floors. The table was placed in the center of the dining room and was set with the most ornate china wear. Jin walked over to one side of the table and pulled out the chair for his wife to sit in. She gracefully took her seat and settled herself in just as Jin was beginning to do the same at the other side of the table.
Lei-Fang was unsure as to how she should begin the conversation. The last time she had seen Jin in person was back when they were in Yakushima together and Jin was trying to fight off the Devil Gene's influence. There were so many questions that she needed answers to, but with Jin's security guards standing just a couple feet away from the couple, it made getting around to such inquiries difficult.
As if reading her mind, Jin turned to the body guards and said, "Thank-you, Eddy and Nina, that will be all for now. Please remain on stand-by."
"Yes, sir," they both responded before heading out of the room, leaving the couple to their own devices.
"Dinner will be served shortly," Jin returned coolly to Lei-Fang, "In the time being, why don't we reacquaint ourselves. A lot has changed since the last time we have seen each other. To be honest with you, I am very pleased to see you here."
"I am happy to see you too, Jin. I just wish that it was under better circumstances," Lei-Fang said, eyeing him carefully, curious to see his reaction to her statement.
He seemed unnerved by what she said and he shrugged nonchalantly. "And what better circumstances can there be? It is nearly time for the biggest event that the world will ever see." A chagrined smile spread across his lips, "I'm certain that you will have a front row seat to it."
Lei-Fang was taken aback by his manner, "What exactly do you mean by that, Jin?"
"You will see in due time," he simply answered, folding his hands on the table and leaning forward towards her, "How is Toshiro?"
"He's well," Lei-Fang said quietly, "He misses his father." And I miss my husband, she thought, but dared not say it aloud.
Jin nodded his acknowledgement, but said nothing else in regards to the subject. It was at this point that the servants arrived with their dinner and had placed the dishes in front of them. Jin thanked them as they turned to leave and then turned to his wife, "Enjoy."
The two ate in silence, but Lei-Fang could not even taste the exquisiteness of the dishes; she was so focused on Jin. When she had seen him at the opening ceremonies, she was sure that he had put on a façade just for everyone else and that he would let his guard down when with her, but it seemed all the same. Jin had changed so much in the time period that she had last been with him and she was honestly unfamiliar with this man sitting before her.
Jin noticed Lei-Fang's silence and he knew that she was mustering up the courage to attack him like he knew she wanted. He was aware of her needs and he knew that as her husband, it is his duty to oblige them; however, Jin could not allow for that if it meant putting her in danger. He had hoped that by pushing her away, she would move on, but instead it drew her closer and closer to him. It pained him that there would be unnecessary casualties in his efforts, but there's no turning back now, not when salvation is so close.
Once they finished their meal and the servants cleaned up the table, Jin and Lei-Fang moved to his office. He was seated comfortably in an armchair, while she sat in a loveseat which was slightly angled towards him. Lei-Fang noted that although she had sat down first, he chose to sit apart from her. Was he purposefully trying to distance himself from her?
"So what's it like being the head of the Mishima Zaibatsu," Lei-Fang asked her husband as she slowly sipped on her wine.
"It's really not all that it's cracked up to be actually," Jin said with little mirth in his voice, "It's a very overrated position. It doesn't pay well at all."
Lei-Fang scoffed, "You sure fooled me!"
It was interesting to be speaking so frankly with him after all of this time. For a moment, it could have seemed as if they were in their old living area back home enjoying a little after dinner conversation before heading out to the dojo for a sparring match. As she sipped more and more of her wine, Lei-Fang soon found herself expressing more of her sentiments to him.
"I think you should come home, Jin. Just give up the Mishima Zaibatsu, stop all of this destruction, and come back home," she said to him, her eyes slowly looking up to meet with his, "I miss you."
Surprisingly, Jin didn't seem to balk at her admission. In fact, for a moment, his face softened and he let out a sigh.
"You and I both know that I can't do that," he spoke softly, avoiding her gaze.
She leaned against the arm of the chair, effectively bringing herself as close to him as she could without getting up, "Jin, if this has anything to do with the Devil Gene…"
"You don't understand," Jin interrupted her, looking up abruptly and meeting her slightly startled expression, "You don't know what it's like to not be fully in control of yourself, to constantly hear that demonic voice in my ear, telling me that it knows what is best for me."
Lei-Fang put down her glass and reached over to touch his hand, "I can help you, Jin. We've worked at it before. This is no different."
He stood up from his chair and walked over to the window overlooking the entire estate. He remained silent for some time, leaving her fervent statement hanging in the air. Lei-Fang was about to interject again, but was silenced when Jin finally spoke.
"Lei-Fang," it was the first time he had said her name all evening and she had to admit that it sounded rather odd, "I'm sure that you have heard about the things I have done since I've taken control of the Mishima Zaibatsu. To be honest, I'm rather shocked that you have yet to directly address them."
Without waiting for her to plead her case, Jin continued, "Do you know why I have done all of those things?"
"Because you were being controlled by the Devil," she answered confidently. What other reason could there have been?
"No," Jin replied, turning from the window and facing her, his eyes unreadable and his voice low, "Because I chose to."
The confusion quickly spread across her features and she looked up at him quizzically, "Jin…?"
Surprisingly, he smiled, even if it didn't quite reach his eyes, and strode over to where she was seated.
"That is the truth. I caused war because I wanted to. I did it because it was necessary," he reiterated as he sat down next to her on the loveseat. He gazed intently in her eyes, waiting for the reality of the situation to fully hit her.
"Jin, innocent people died because of your Tekken Force soldiers. You've effectively destroyed people's homes and slaughtered their loved ones just because you 'wanted to?!'" she said, eyeing him very carefully.
He simply nodded, "I know. It was something that had to be done."
Lei-Fang gasped, clasping her hand over her mouth. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach knowing that this man sitting before her can somehow justify the needless violence and destruction that he had been causing around the globe. For the first time since her entire visit, Lei-Fang took a good look at the man and instead of seeing Jin Kazama, her husband and father of their son, she saw Jin Kazama, the ruthless CEO of the Mishima Zaibatsu conglomerate. She actually found herself shifting away from him in her seat.
"You're despicable!" she spat at him, as she stood up from the loveseat, "How could you do such a thing? How could you sit back and watch as thousands of people are killed? How could you sleep at night knowing that you have caused so much destruction?"
"Very well, actually," he replied quite nonchalantly.
It was at this point that Lei-Fang began to feel her body beginning to shake with the amount of anger that was welling up inside of her. The air in the room was beginning to stifle her and she was slowly losing her composure. It was obvious that her initial plan of converting Jin was sinking fast and from what he was saying, it seemed as if he was too far gone. There was nothing left for her to do, but leave; she would not accomplish anything today.
Lei-Fang took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she reopened them, she had managed to clear her mind of the noise and her eyes landed directly on Jin's. She desperately searched them for any ounce of doubt, but was disappointed to find nothing. Jin had always been skilled at concealing his true thoughts and emotions and the only thing she saw in his eyes was a woman frantically grasping at straws to save what little was left of her husband's humanity.
"I can't stay here with you… in fact, I don't even think I know you anymore…" she said almost sadly.
Jin stood up and nodded curtly, "I understand. I will have someone see you out. It was my pleasure having you over though I am sorry to have soured your mood. I hope that when we next see each other, it will be under better circumstances."
Lei-Fang was about to open her mouth to respond to him, but instead found that she had nothing else to say. What more could she say at this point? Without another word, she turned and walked out of the office.