Chapter 14: We're Enemies, Right?

Jun didn't like what she was feeling. She wanted to feel happy again as she always did. The unhappiness that she felt was sickening, but she still tried her hardest to continue to smile if only to appease her parents and her friends at school. Even to appease Lee who she barely knew at all. She tried to be warm and welcoming as if everything was fine, but inside she was empty. It was just like before when Kazuya had disappeared without a trace. There was this cold feeling that would threaten to suffocate her and she would daily have to fight against it.

She wondered if anyone noticed anything beneath her façade. Would anyone be able to tell the difference? She sat in class now staring down at her worksheet holding her pencil motionlessly. No matter how hard she tried, she didn't feel like writing anything. This was a grade of course and she cared about her grades, but something was stopping her. She frowned at all the blank spaces beckoning for her to answer the questions.

"Is it really giving you so much trouble?" Lee asked.

"Oh," Jun said a little startled. She had forgotten that he had taken to sitting next to her in class. Previously, he had sat in the back, but now he opted to sit closer to the front with her. "It's fine. I was just daydreaming."

"Again?"

"What do you mean, again? I've been finishing everything so far."

"That wasn't what I was talking about."

Jun looked at him questioning, but he gave her a knowing look.

"Well, it's none of my business I suppose," Lee said when he saw that she wasn't about to explain herself.

Jun watched as he scribbled away on his paper in his too-neat handwriting, then she followed in suit. She hadn't known what was wrong with her then, but she didn't like it all. She had tried to visit Kazuya almost every day and each time she was denied by him or his door would be locked despite the doorman letting her in. Kazuya had sent her a clear message—he didn't want to see her again. Whenever her mind went back to him, her eyes would begin welling up when she realized that she'd never be able to see him.

She was glad every day to go home where she could cry in her room without people watching. She didn't want anyone to see it, but it was oddly comforting. And one day, someone came to visit her.

"Honey! Someone's at the door for you!" her mom called upstairs to Jun.

Crying had become a routine, but she quickly dried her tears and came downstairs. She was surprised to see that it was Lee. Though she would never say it to him, she was a little disappointed that it wasn't Kazuya…but Kazuya had never came and visited her before why should it be different now?

"I thought you had homework or something. Don't you want to stay ahead?"

"I'm plenty ahead. I just thought, well, it seemed like you needed company."

"Let's go outside…I don't want to be inside anymore."

"Alright," Lee said as he backed away from the door so that she could step out.

"So what's the occasion? Just bored or something?" Jun asked to Lee as they began walking.

They had headed off in the direction of the neighborhood playground without even mentioning what their plans were out loud.

"We're friends right?" Lee asked.

"Of course."

"So I guess it's my duty to ask: What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"And you say it so quickly. I didn't think it was possible to have nothing going wrong at all. Take me for example. I hate how others talk about me behind my back. I hate how people can assume things about you without ever getting to know you. I don't like how Heihachi is hardly ever at home long enough to even mention my name. And I don't like it…when someone has to try so hard to hide their feelings. Your turn."

"What? My turn?"

"Surely there's something that bothers you, right?"

Jun didn't even want to begin. She didn't want to start crying…not in front of him, a person she barely knew, but he looked at her expectantly. She knew she had to say something. She'd have to avoid his name at all cost. Maybe then she'd be able to make it through okay.

"Um…I hate how people can be so mean to animals. I don't like it when other people are sad. And…well, never mind."

"A rather short list."

"What are you trying to get at? You don't ever seem concerned about things so what's all this now?"

"Do I really seem that way? I just don't let things bother me, but that doesn't mean I don't care at all. I guess you don't know me very well and that's probably my fault, but I'm a really good listener and I never tell secrets."

Jun was quiet after he said this. He waited for her to speak, but she wouldn't say a word.

"You have an interest in animals?" Lee asked trying to make small talk.

"I saved a stray cat before. He was all beat up."

"Oh really? You still take care of him?"

"No."

Lee was a bit confused at this, but again Jun did not elaborate. "I take it…he's dead, then?"

"Can we talk about something else?"

"Alright. Like what?"

"Fine, since you're pulling my arm, I'll tell you what's wrong, okay and you said you don't tell secrets…this is a secret."

They were currently standing on the sidewalk a few footsteps away from the playground, but Jun didn't want to be so close to so many kids. Jun went to a secluded area behind a large oak tree nearby before she said a word.

"It's Kazuya."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"I told you he's a nice person," Jun said defiantly, "But he…" She felt her eyes burning again so she turned from him. At least she could keep her voice steady, "He doesn't want to see me anymore."

"So?"

"So, I want to see him again, but I can't."

"Then stop wanting to see him."

"What? I…can't just do that."

"It's pretty simple. Why would you want to see someone who doesn't care about you?"

"It's…hard to explain."

"Are you really going to let Kazuya keep taking advantage of you like this? I know you think he's a nice person and all, but sometimes you have to face the facts. Some people were meant to be alone."

"Don't say that."

"I always wound up saying things I shouldn't. Why stop now? I only just met this guy and it seems to me that he has his own problems to take care of…things that no one but himself can do. You're a caring person…but you can't fix everything."

"Don't say that!" Jun shouted, but it was pretty clear to Lee that she was crying. He wondered if he should do something.

"I'm sorry if I've upset you. I'll take you home, if you want."

"What do you mea—

Jun suddenly felt herself being lifted up and she found herself in his arms.

"Oh, you don't have to…I'm too heavy…"

"I'm stronger than I look. Now just allow me to take you home. No argument."

"I don't feel like arguing."

"A gentle person like you…shouldn't have to."

Jun simply let herself be whisked away to her home again. She might have fallen asleep right there if they hadn't arrived so quickly.

"There," he said quietly in her ear, "Now we're here."

Lee set her back down again.

"Thank you. You really didn't have to do all that."

"Well, it wasn't much. It was the least I could do. I guess I forgot to tell you…one of my pet peeves is seeing a girl in tears. A girl should never have to cry."

"I'll try to smile next time."

"Next time, let it be a real one."

It was perhaps the sweetest thing a boy had ever done for her and her mood really had lightened. Lee was really nice…she only wished that she could be more confident when she kept telling herself that Kazuya was nice too. Speaking of Kazuya, she wondered what he could be doing right now. Nothing constructive she was certain. Little did she know that Kazuya was closer than she thought. He was at a place that she would never in her wildest dreams conjure up—on her doorstep. In fact, he had fully intended to knock on her door had he not spied Lee and Jun making their way down the sidewalk. He didn't quite believe his eyes for a passing minute and then a sudden flood of anger came over him—it was far too sudden to even be called natural. Involuntarily, he felt his hands clench up into fists and his eyebrows furrow.

"Kill him."

So startled was Kazuya at Devil's voice that he physically looked behind himself only to find nothing. Its voice hadn't been strong. It was more like a whisper in his ear.

"No…I need to hide…"

Kazuya quickly fled to one of the bushes beside her house and waited there quietly until Lee and Jun said their last words and parted. By then, even the air he breathed through his nose was hot and he was too frightened of himself to even move. No, this was not a good time to go visit anyone.

"Damn you, Lee," Kazuya said under his breath.

The mere sight of him ticked him off, but Kazuya knew that that wasn't really the issue. Lee was just annoying, but Lee holding Jun…was infuriating. He shouldn't be there, he kept telling himself. This was what was in store for him if he allowed even some small part himself to feel for another. He was only capable of dealing pain and betraying others. Like he had said to Benjamin one night, he had no business with friends in the first place.

Kazuya crept out of the bush after an hour only to be stopped by another.

"I thought I saw you at the corner of my eye."

It was Jun. How long had she been there? Embarrassment was written all over his face, but he did not turn to her just yet.

"I was…I was just…leaving."

"You came to see me, didn't you?

It took a moment before he trusted himself to turn to her. "I don't know what I'm doing here. I guess it was a mistake."

"But you came all the way over here. Maybe you really did want to see me. Maybe you missed me."

"I…no. I just…wanted to see if you were alright."

"I'm alright now."

"I see."

"Kazuya, you don't look so well. Maybe I should ask you: Are you alright?"

He did look rather pale.

"I'm fine. Well, Grandfather found a tutor for me."

"Oh that's great. Is it working out for you?"

"My tutor…he's a little nosy, but it's nothing I can't handle."

"Want to sit down? You don't have anything to do, do you?"

With slight hesitation, he decided that he would. The fact that they now sat so close to each other didn't seem the least bit awkward.

"You know what I wish, Kazuya? I wish that we could all go to school together. You, me, and Lee. I think we make a pretty good team if only you guys could settle your differences."

"I don't know about Lee."

"He's really nice."

Kazuya sighed. "You think he's really nice?"

"Yeah, he is."

"And you guys go to school together. Wouldn't it be easier…if you just…hung out with him?"

"No, it'd be harder. I'd miss you."

"Jun…"

Jun finding their closeness comforting repositioned herself so that her head was lying on his lap and he made no protests.

"I forgive you," Jun said.

"For what?"

"Are you really that dense?" Jun said getting a little peeved.

"No…it's just, there are a lot of things I haven't done right and you've always been so…nice. I don't deserve that. I'm waiting for you to get fed up and move on to a better person…like Lee. Today I thought…"

"Wait, are we dating or something?"

"What do a couple of kids know about that stuff? I don't know what we are anymore."

"We're friends, right? Close friends."

"If that's what you call it."

"It really sucked not being able to see you. Don't do that again."

"That's why I came over; to tell you…" Kazuya found that his mouth had gone completely dry. "Jun, visit me as much as you like. I won't ever refuse you again."

/

When Lee came to class the following day, he did not expect Jun to be her regular chipper self, but she was. In fact, it was beginning to worry him more than anything else. She went off with her friends as she usually did at lunch and P.E. and in class she was just as concentrated as she usually was on her work. There was no more daydreaming or gloomy looks. Even her smile seemed genuine—he had to get to the bottom of it. As soon as school ended that day, Lee literally pulled her away from her usual friends just so he could finally talk to her.

"What is it, Lee? This better be important."

"Well, I don't get it. Yesterday you were a wreck and today…it's like nothing happened. Either you've become a better actor or…"

"Look, that was yesterday. I really appreciate you looking after me, but I'm fine now."

"So you're just 'fine now'? It doesn't work like that, you know."

"Lee," Jun said exasperatedly, "I guess you won't let this go until I tell you, huh. Kazuya and I; we're talking again and I'm glad."

"Oh, I get it. And you just let him off the hook that easily. How do you know that all this won't just happen again?"

"You don't get it. I know that he was just as miserable as I was and that's enough for me. And we made a promise, alright. Now we do have a bus to catch, you know."

Lee stared after her in utter disbelief. Was he missing something here? She hadn't been just sad yesterday or the weeks prior. He knew depression when he saw it and he never heard of a person recovering from that so quickly and for such a simple reason. This was just a quick fix. He didn't know what game Kazuya was playing, but he didn't like how it involved a girl's feelings who so obviously cared about him. Kazuya didn't seem to have any friends at all, but somehow he could find the time to toss people aside without much thought and then turn around and pretend as if nothing happened. The more he thought about it, the more upset he became and he was supposed to be the coolheaded one. He was supposed to be in complete control of his emotions, but when it came to Kazuya he found it harder and harder to accomplish.

After getting off the bus at Heihachi's place, he returned to the deserted mansion, took out a few textbooks and lugged them all the way to his favorite spot. While he was reading, he began to wonder what Kazuya used to do in this very area. Not just Kazuya, however, his dad also. They must have spent a lot of time together; father and son—something that he could only dream about. Kazuya didn't have to dream about that, though. There was his father, but he chose to hate him. He moved away from his father to his grandfather both of which had money. Kazuya was born into money, he was destined to have it—what exactly was there to be angry about all the time? Why had he seemed like he was in a bad mood that day? He was a spoiled brat plain and simple.

And Lee really couldn't concentrate on what he was he was reading. In fact, he could read the entire chapter and moments later not remember anything that had been in it. With an exasperated sigh, he slammed his book shut. There was no point in reading it if he wasn't going to get anything out of it.

"Damn that Kazuya," he said to himself.

Kazuya had barely said anything to him really. He wanted nothing to do with him. Yet here he was wasting brainpower over him. Lee might have continued to avoid him, but he knew that this would keep bothering him until he finally said something. He sat there idly for a little while longer before finally taking his leave. He knew where Kazuya lived even if he had never been told—it had to be the only other mansion on their street. He might have thrown a rock at the window had he known what room Kazuya stayed in.

Lee was met first by the doorman who seemed rather curious about who he was to Kazuya to want to meet him. Lee finally just lied and told him he was just a friend and the twenty questions ended. Kazuya was nearby this time having just finished with his tutor in a room down the hall. It didn't take long for Lee to be face to face with the person who could only be called his worst enemy—at least at the moment.

"What do you want?" Kazuya asked before Lee could say anything.

Lee didn't like how Kazuya stood there on the steps of the porch with crossed arms. Because of his position, Lee was not as tall as Kazuya since he only stood on the ground.

"Do you know what Jun was like after you decided to just ignore her?"

"Hmph, I don't need to hear this from you."

"Too bad. You are. She wasn't herself, she even cried over you and then she turns around and forgives you just like that. You have to promise me this: that you'll never upset her like that again."

"I don't have to promise you anything, not to the likes of you."

"I thought you'd say that, but it doesn't matter. You better watch your back, Kazuya. The next time you do something stupid like that—

"You'll do what?" Kazuya said mockingly with a smirk, "I don't have time to deal with cockroaches. You think 'cus you're adopted you have any standing with me? You're nothing."

"You must enjoy this, don't you? You get a kick out of hurting others. But you see, I'm the wrong the person to do that to," Lee said with clenched fists.

"I wouldn't waste my energy trying to fight you. Why don't you go back to whatever hole you crawled out of—you don't belong. You're just Heihachi's little tool and a pitiful one at that. The fact that my father would go so far just to get on my nerves—

"The world doesn't revolve around you."

"There's no other reason other than for my sake that my father would bother taking some rat off the street. What? You thought it was out of kindness—Sorry to burst your bubble."

"That's not true! He was impressed by me…he wanted to adopt me 'cus I had proven myself. I had proven myself as a fighter."

"You've proven yourself a useful pawn. That is all. Go ask Heihachi if you don't believe me—it's not like he'll sugarcoat it."

"Tch, staying any longer here won't amount to much, will it?"

"You're finally catching on. Good."

For the moment, all Lee could do was glare at the other. Yes, he was certainly Heihachi's son. Why would any sane person think anyone born from that man could have any ounce of decency in his heart? More importantly, what sane girl would fall for that? It was too much to even consider.

"Well, are you just going to stand there all day?" Kazuya asked when Lee had no more to say to him.

"This was a waste of time."

Lee didn't like the grin that had settled on Kazuya's face. It wasn't just any run of the mill kind of grin—it was one full of confidence, even arrogance, marked with sadistic pleasure. It made him want to bash his face in even more, but he knew that breaking out into a fight would solve nothing. Kazuya wasn't even vaguely trying to bait him into that sort of thing. In fact, Kazuya was planning to leave him where he stood as he turned back to the entrance of the house.

"If there's nothing more you have to say…" Kazuya began with his back to him.

"Just one more thing: Your father favors me now so whatever beef you have with him, whatever you plan to do to him—I'll have to stop you."

"So be it. But I've already decided that anyone who stands in the way of my goal has made themselves my enemy."

It wasn't much of a stretch really. They didn't like each other initially; there was never any hope for their friendship no matter how much Jun wanted it to be different. In reality, Heihachi could have adopted anyone and Kazuya would not have liked that person. There were few people who Kazuya would ever learn to like in his lifetime—Chaolan Lee was not one of them.