A/N: I didn't manage to get the target of reviews I wanted but what the hey, I'll post it anyway. Some of you might be waiting for it. I'll be introducing the other characters in this chapter. And this'll be the chapter where I introduce Hwoarang's little bet. It's bitter-sweet, I say. Now, on with the reading.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tekken and its characters. All rights belong to Namco.

Summary: And it was at that very thought that made her shiver and sweat. "Come on, just a week without it. I'm sure you can still live." He said, planting one of those cute grins on his mouth. Red tint crept all over her cheeks.

Chapter 3: Problems Along the Way

Hwoarang felt himself swoon at his state. Not only was he responsible for Lili's welcome, but he could not believe what he is seeing right before his very eyes. 'Damn! What should I do?! She's waiting, get your feet moving!' he mentally ordered himself as he did. He seemed to be rushing, in fact. As he walked out the door he grabbed Lili's wrist and quickly dragged her outside the classroom.

"What the hell are you doing here?! You're not supposed to be here! You're supposed to be studying at an academy far from here! Was this the reason why you asked me what my school was?!" he exclaimed, throwing almost every possible question at her. She couldn't help but giggle, which made him a bit uneasy.

"Oh Hwoarang, calm down! Can you at least let me explain? The reason why I wanted to go to school here was because I was getting tired of my old school. All about poise and good manners. I wanted to try out something new. Attending a private academy makes things kind of sick for me. So I convinced Daddy to apply here and settle some transfer papers." He could only rub his neck and shook his head at her explanation. "Lili, you don't get the point of living in a public school! I'd rather pick home schooling than here! It's a totally different life from where I'm standing!" his tone was smooth, yet still the nervousness and persuasion were there. He definitely did not want her here (but not in a bad way). He wanted to save her from the harm public school could give in his point of view. He sighed as he inserted his hands inside his pockets and inclined on the nearby wall (which didn't have anything occupied on the other side of it), sliding down slowly.

'Should I feel guilty about this?' the blonde thought, placing her hand above her cheek. She had no choice. The truth was more like a lie to his ears. The only thing she can do was squat in a way her eyes and his were at the same level. Grabbing his cheek and lightly pinching it, a smile suddenly appeared from her lips.

"Don't worry. I'll strive to keep my feet strong and act as normal as possible. You're my school buddy, right?" she said, gazing into his jade eyes. He focused more on her face than her words. Her complexity was like that of an angel's. And her lips… He felt like kissing it shut. But his hormones were immediately thrown away when he started to stutter, "R-right. I should I act like one," blushing tints of red.

With this, she smiled happily and discarded his cheek as she stood up straight and fixed her uniform. The sight of this angelic person in front was heating him up. Good thing he had self-control, or else things would go wrong. But the blush didn't fade from his cheeks. He still sat on the floor, gazing up at Lili with a baffled look until he had the urge to stand up and face her. Offering his arm to her companion, he smiled in a goofy manner and uttered, "So, does my fair school buddy need a handsome young escort to the Principal's Office?" She laughed at his words as he clung onto Hwoarang. "I'd be happy to," she said, giggling as they walked.

Lunch period came along and as expected many students would focus their attention to the hot new student who just came in earlier. She was still clinging to Hwoarang, which made the fan boys go 'devilish glare' on him. As for Hwoarang's fan girls, they wanted to pluck each strand of hair on her head for being too close to their precious jock. But neither of them cared.

There wasn't anything between them, right?

That's what both of them are thinking.

Was there something?

Probably not.

One thing's for sure, they're committed to their friendship. Changing it might ruin everything they've worked for.

After grabbing their meals, Hwoarang walked a few steps before pointing her in a seat on one of the Cafeteria tables. Lili quickly responded and took a seat by herself, avoiding the whole 'princess act'. He stood and placed his two hands on the table's edges. It was shaped rectangle and colored maroon. "Okay, so here are my friends," He aimed his hand at each person occupying the table as he introduced them at the same time. Hwoarang and Steve's friends are from the other class, but they bond as if they were.

"This is Ling Xiaoyu," as he dictated their names, Lili cordially greeted them and shook hands with them. "Alisa Boskonovich, Leo Kliesen, and—wait a minute, where the hell is Steve?!" almost throwing a tantrum, Hwoarang flailed his hands in between his head in frustration. 'What is that turd up to now?' he thought, slapping his palm in his face.

Suddenly, a pair of muscular arms made its way for a head lock, one locking his head and the other messing his red hair. Struggling in a violently manner, he increased his effort in breaking free from his choking grip. "D-dude lay off!! I'm having a minor concussion! LET GO!!"Hwoarang pleaded, still managing to struggle.

The Australian hunk can't help but chuckle at his look. That face was just too precious to lose, but it was time to let go. He might kill his best friend. "A'ight, a'ight… I should've got out my phone when I had the chance. You looked like a wusspuss, man!" Hwoarang grunted and fixed his polo as he glared at him "Eff you, Steve. By the way, you know Lili," And indeed Steve did. He approached Lili quickly (without even minding what his best bud had to say next) and introduced himself on his own as he seized her hand. "It's pleasure to meet a woman like you, Ms. Rochefort." He said as he lightly pecked on the back of her hand. She showed her sweet smile at the gentleman. But what they didn't know is Hwoarang was a little jealous inside.

He didn't know why, but did he have such right? Lili was just his "school buddy", and Steve was his very best friend. Should he be? Releasing a nervous sigh, he finally sat in between Lili and Xiaoyu. His sweat was dropping from his face as he thought, 'What the hell am I sweating for? Ugh, it's not even hot in here.' Both of his hands cupped his face at the same time leaned his elbows on top of the table. "Hwoarang, are you okay?" Xiaoyu asked, tilting her head to the direction of his face as she sensed something wrong.

Lili heard her, and she too got curious of what was happening to her friend. His appearance made her think, 'Is he having a fever or something? Oh no… I should check if he's okay.' And she did. She detached his hands away from his face and felt his forehead if it was high in temperature.

As expected from her feather-like touch, that annoying blush snuck up on his face, again. She hummed in a cheerful tune as she placed her hand at rest on it for a while. After 2 minutes of glancing at her fancy wristwatch, he finally discarded her hand above his forehead and laid it on the table. "You don't have any fever, but you're madly sweating. Is something wrong with you?" She asked, rubbing his back to minimize at least his strange feeling. 'Wow, she's like my personal nurse.' He mentally smirked at the thought as he readied himself for an answer. "Maybe I'm just feeling hot or something. It happens every time. I'm good. Thanks for the concern, Lili," he thanked as he beamed at her, and was instantly replied by a nod as a welcome. Everybody in the table gazed at their activity the whole time and couldn't help but smirk, giggle and grin. When the two noticed this, they immediately acted like nothing happened and proceeded to eat their lunch.

What all of them didn't know was a certain someone eavesdropped at the whole happening (as always). The girl immediately placed her tray she was holding on the table as if she were liberated to do so. "Aw, how sweet. Makes you want to hurl at the sight, doesn't it?" Asuka said, flared an evil smirk.

She hardly recognized the girl accompanied by Hwoarang, but she thought that any girl who was beside him doing sweet things would be 'tease-worthy', according to her. Though it wasn't a good compliment, no one dared to agree with her. It took Lili a while to gaze at the direction of the voice because she was too busy with her food. Until she realized that voice was familiar to her. "You!" she shouted, standing up from her seat and glowering with anger.

Asuka also realized the girl her rival is with was none other than her worst enemy. "You! What are you supposed to be doing here?!" she mimicked, flaring in anger (she was still standing). Hwoarang stood up to pacify any incoming brawl between the two. "You girls know each other?" he asked, glancing at both of them. Lili couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to avenge herself for her sprained ankle. Applying force on her fist, she was ready to plant a serious dent on her face. He saw this and instantaneously calmed her down. "What are you doing?" the red head asked, but he saw fury in her eyes. He was half-confused and half-scared in case she might pour her anger on him. "That girl is my sworn enemy from The Iron Fist Tournament. She beats the crap out of me. Now I'll show her how to deal with the real Lili." She spoke, almost whispering.

Now Hwoarang knew why Asuka was like that. Lili also hated her. "You can't take her on," he said. "It's against the school regulations. You could get expelled from what you're about to do and you just started going to a normal school. Restrain yourself Lili." Taking a deep breath, she inhaled and faked him a smile. The brunette couldn't help but snicker in disgust. She walked towards the two and said, "As if the school didn't need more tools. Well, as a part of the social committee, no matter how much I loathe you I should welcome you," she gestured her hands in a welcoming manner. "Welcome to Mishima International High School." Saying those words, it didn't mean anything but a mere insult to her.

Lili felt aggravated. But she knew she couldn't do anything about it. Without any options left, she just took her seat and peacefully concentrated at her food avoiding the hysteria that could follow if ever they exchange backfires. Hwoarang seemed to get affected by Asuka's constant bullying, and seeing Lili, he had to bring an end to it.

Taking one last glance at Lili, he confronted the brunette "Listen, Asuka! You're not making people happy with your constant mockery! If you think it is fun to tease people around, think again! We accept the fact people like us, especially me—" Steve tried to stop him and stood up. "Hwoarang, stop!" but to his dismay, he continued to speak. "—can't attain the same level as you so shut up and be satisfied already!" he panted as he ran out of breath.

Everyone inside the Cafeteria stopped and got attracted to the center of attention. But the one who was surprised the most was the girl sitting at his left. Her eyes widened as he showed his concern for her, as well as the people victim of her bullying.

She stood speechless. The words really blew her, not that it would change her or anything. It's just that, no one had the nerve to face Asuka. The only people confident enough to say or do those things outside the school were Lili and Hwoarang (and sometimes Steve, but he cared about his school record as it might get affected).

Unable to find the right words to utter, her only choice was to slam her fists on the table and grab her tray. She did this, leaving the table in a frustrated manner. She sat on a different table very far from where her rivals were. As for Hwoarang, he heaved a deep exhale before sitting down. He glared an 'Avert your gazes' glare at everyone in the Cafeteria, which was immediately understood and done. Next thing he did was seize the cup filled with fruit cocktail and the little spoon that came along with it.

Lili still stared at him, uneasy and uncomfortable. Not for standing up to Asuka, but from the words he plummeted. 'Was that the real Hwoarang?' she reflected as she locked gazes with Hwoarang. He also stared at her while munching on a pineapple bit. Their eye-locking lasted for a whole 14 seconds until he broke it as he reached for his iced tea beverage and said, "If you keep looking at me while I eat it won't earn you more money," scooping his spoon on the cocktail bits. Lili finally spaced back and shook her head as hard as possible to get rid of some negative thoughts.

"Thank you for the help, Hwoarang." She thanked as she smiled at him, hoping she would be replied by a smile too. But he didn't smile nor even look back at her. This made Lili more uncomfortable. His only words were, "Don't mention it…" and after that, he didn't speak anymore. Trying to cheer him up in case he didn't need someone to talk, he tried to talk to Alisa instead. "So, how old are you Alisa?" she asked, trying to discover her age. Alisa's expression changed from her usual merry look to an anxious one.

The blonde tilted her head in confusion. 'I guess she didn't want me to know.' She mentally said to herself. Then, Xiaoyu leaned towards her ear (not minding Hwoarang in the middle which got on his nerves) and whispered something. "Most of the people don't know she's not human," hearing this, Lili's eyes widened and almost shrieked at the information. 'What?! She's not human??" People around their table, including the table next to them, looked at her in surprise. Hwoarang immediately covered her mouth to prevent her from saying more. "Shush! People hear you. And what she's telling you is a private matter that shouldn't be exposed to such crowd." He spoke in an undertone voice. After realizing she got the point, he uncovered her mouth and proceeded to eat.

"She's an android. The scientist Dr. Bosconovitch enrolled her to this school so she could improve her social status. He thought that with knowledge alone, she wouldn't enjoy life that much."

"But can she speak?" Lili asked one more time.

Out of the blue, she finally spoke. "I can. I also speak French, Japanese, German, and etcetera." Lili was amazed at the girl/android. She clapped her hands in delight as she extended her hand to her. "It's a real pleasure to meet you, Alisa!" she said, shaking her hand. In an instant, she replied to her, "It is nice to meet you too, Ms. Lili." And flashed a warm smile.

Glancing at Lili, he fiddled with the contents of his now empty tray. He tried to come up with a topic with her to ease his anger. "You said you're rich, right?" he asked not because he wanted some money, but to find out what's it like to be rich.

"Why yes. But, as I've said to you before we're nearly lacking it. That's why I got my dad to transfer me here," She answered, smiling at her.

"And he spent money for the transfer fee as well as the tuition builds?"

"Correct." Her smile grew wider.

He massaged his temples in stress. "Lili, he still spent money. How's that helping your father?" he informed, playing with his iced tea bottle. She couldn't help but giggle. "I don't know! All I know is that I detest that miserable academy I last went to. That's why I asked which school you attended and transferred here!" She said as she ate her cocktail with a small spoon. 'This is unbelievable. A part of her is helping her father and the other's just making him worry no less.' He thought. As a friend and a school buddy, it was his duty to help her at all costs. That includes with her family problems. The thing he can't understand about her is she tries to help her father, at the same time be a painful brat.

Of course, it wasn't his intention to address her that word. But it was the truth. And he wanted to solve it for her.

No, with her.

He grunted as he (again) grabbed her wrist and dragged her outside the hall. "Why do you keep dragging me, huh?! I have feet! Just tell me if you want to talk to me or take me somewhere!" she complained as she fixed her uniform. Just then, he quickly pushed her to the big gap between the two locker libraries before she said anything else and pinned her there. The honey-haired teenager was shocked; thinking almost every possible question to what he was about to do, 'I hope he doesn't do anything!' was one of them.

Hwoarang once again locked her gaze at Lili as he said, "Look, if you're thinking I'm gonna do something to you, I won't. I'll just make things clear with your little 'problem'. You mentioned entering The King of Iron Fist 5 before, right? Was that really because you wanted to help your father with his finances?"

She scanned her brain to find the right words, but sadly she ended up stuttering them. "W-well, partly. But b-before I t-tell you, could you p-please get off me?" Hwoarang got the idea of what he was doing to her and smirked as she discarded her from his pin. Once again, Lili fixed her uniform. She took a deep inhale and exhale as she prepared her explanation.

"I'll put this in three simple statements. First, I joined The King of Iron Fist Tournament because I wanted to reclaim my dad's company. Jinpachi Mishima 'allegedly' said he owned it. So I wanted to make sure it was true. The second was for the prize money."

"And the third one?"

"Because I also wanted to kick ass. Happy?"

He praised her hunger for something that wasn't lady-like. But he was still facing her problem. "Maybe," he uttered, putting his hands inside his pockets as he walked back and forth in a vertical direction. "What I wanted to hear was how you still take out money from your father and get away with it even after Jinpachi took his business plus the fact that he's broke." He said sarcastically. He also smirked in a teasing way as he kept looking at her.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, she crossed her arms above her chest. He wants to know too much, she sensed. It's not like it's his business or anything. "Whoa-ho-ho he could not own something my dad worked hard for! As if he'd own it forever! That's why I'm taking action! And what's your concern with my personal life anyway?" she asked, raising her eyebrow in curiosity.

He chuckled at the naïveté. "Obvious. I want to help you. You might need it, but I knew you don't and I also knew I had to for your father's sake at least and so I am." He said, grinning.

Lili just blinked many times. "Wow. As logical as it could've sounded, I didn't comprehend much of that. Anyways, if you don't have anything more to say, I'll go," she said as she lunged forward and walk past him. But her departure was prevented when Hwoarang grabbed her right wrist. "What now?" she moaned, retreating back in front of him.

"Before you go, I'd like to propose a bet." He mentioned, his grin turning into a smirk.

"Name it."

"Live the next seven days without usage of money and or credit cards. Any kind of currency is also prohibited. You should maintain that chain until the seventh day ends. Is it a deal or what?"

She froze. She couldn't speak because no words were releasing from her mouth. But indeed, she was shocked as seen from her wide eyes.

The red-headed boy waved his hand in front of her face to see if she was still herself. "Hello?"

As he kept doing that she finally snapped back. She glared a Hwoarang and stomped her left foot hard in refusal. "You're kidding me, right? You expect a girl like me who practically grew with money by her side live without it for five straight, frickin' days?! Nuh-uh, no agreement." She protested, acting childish.

The boy couldn't control his laughter any longer and released it. Just looking at the sight makes him think he liked how she acts all immature. But it was alright for him.

Approaching the maiden, he neared his face to hers and cupped her chin. Lili just blushed at his action and remained silent.

"Please? This is for your own good, after all," he uttered, once again locking his eyes on hers.

And it was at that very thought that made her shiver and sweat all over. She couldn't imagine how her life would turn out if she didn't use one of the things precious to her.

"Come on, just a week without it. I'm sure you can still live." He said, planting one of those cute grins on his mouth. Red tint crept all over her cheeks.

Oh boy.

To be continued…

A/N: Done! Hahaha. Thanks to God for injecting those wonderful ideas I had effort to put here. Also, to my iPod for mixing my different moods all the time. Especially Justin Bieber's love songs (LOL). It was really helpful, much thank you's. For the readers and the people who reviewed this, gratefully appreciated it (Wow, this is just like one of those nights were you win an award). Anyways, if you got confused with Hwoarang's sudden mood changes, I'm truly sorry. I ran out of ideas for this one. I focused too much on the scene where Hwoarang, Lili and Asuka had a pre-fight. And of course the bet Hwoarang proposed to Lili. I also used Lili's information here from her Tekken storyline because to be honest, I think I'm coming down with a case of writer's block. I'm also sorry for some grammatical errors at the last chapter. Ugh. I, too, hate them. Anyway, thanks for reading and don't forget to review, okay? Peace out!