Destiny Changed
Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken.
To all the Tekken Fans
Chapter 2
It was Miharu's time to jump with excitement even though she didn't really know how to react to the small paper she was holding in her hands.
Miharu didn't consider herself a fighter but she was a senior black belt in Karate, a tradition that the Hirano's family was very proud of. She never thought about a career or becoming stronger, she only took classes because she knew that knowing martial arts could be useful as a self defensive weapon.
She also knew that comparing her karate with Xiaoyu's or Jin's advanced techniques was ridiculous. Even so she was extremely excited over the fact that she had also received an invitation to enter the Iron Fist Tournament.
First things first, she had to speak to Xiaoyu to tell her the good news.
Xiaoyu had also received her invitation and couldn't be happier when she answered Miharu's phone call. She was absolutely sure that in a few months she would see Jin again and she would make him realise that he needed her.
In South Korea, Hwoarang was far from happy. He had been forced to serve in the South Korean Army for the last two months. Actually, it wasn't hard to live in the army: he had a roof, a bed to sleep in, three meals a day and lots of activities to relieve his stamina, besides he was good at many things. Physical exercises were easy, he was a good shooter, a good driver, a good fighter, a good swimmer…but he was not too good at taking orders. He had been warned twice that the military service in South Korea was compulsory, so he had to serve for six months. After that he was free.
That didn't make him happier. Six months was too much time stuck on that place. After two months he was growing impatient, his insubordination was at its peak and punishments didn't work on him.
That morning he had received an order to go to the airport. Some military material was about to arrive and five other soldiers would go with him to bring it to the Headquarters. He was just the driver, but even so Hwoarang was eager to leave that place and breathe some "fresh air".
At the airport things didn't go as he had planned. They were escorted by Lieutenant Jong Meng and he didn't allow Hwoarang to leave the truck while they were carrying the cargo. Hwoarang wanted to walk around freely for a few hours or even just a few minutes. He wanted a beer and a nice meal. Was it too much to ask?
As soon as Lieutenant Jong Meng left to take care of the paper work, he decided that he had to take that chance. It was now or never. Maybe he could go to a café outside the airport.
-'Hey! Where the hell are you going?'-asked one of his colleagues.
-'To the bathroom.'-Hwoarang lied.
He was heading to the exit when he noticed a girl talking on the phone. She was obviously frustrated. But what really called his attention was that she was speaking in English and her voice sounded quite familiar. But it couldn't be her, could she?
-'Chang?'-he asked when she hung up.
-'Hwoarang? What are you doing here?'-Julia asked surprised. He was actually the last person she wanted to meet.
-'Last time I checked I was still living in South Korea.'-he said with an ironic tone of voice.
-'I know that moron…I meant in the airport…'
-'I'm on duty. What about you? What are you doing here?'
-'Waiting for my flight. I'm going to Japan but my plane had some problems so we had to land here.'
-'Why is Miss University going to Japan? Are you on holidays? I mean, I thought your mother didn't want you to leave Arizona on your own again.'
-'You really don't know why I'm going to Japan?'-Julia asked.
-'If I knew I wouldn't be asking…Are you trying to be funny or did your IQ suddenly drop?'
-'Well I guess that's what happens when I'm near you.'
-'Wow, your tongue is getting sharp…That's so exciting…Lets go find a room, shall we?'
-'In your dreams.'
-'Sure Chang…Every night I dream about you and me alone in a room…'
-'Shut up!'-Julia took a paper out of her bag and gave it to Hwoarang.-'The Iron Fist Tournament 4 was announced two days ago. Fighters all around the world are getting their invitations, didn't you know?'
-'This is the invitation?'
-'Yes.'
-'Who else got one?'
-'I don't know exactly, but Xiaoyu got hers as well…I'm going to meet her.'
-'That means Kazama is going too.'
-'Probably, but he's missing.'
-'Missing?'
-'Yeah, Xiaoyu told me we went missing right after the Tag Tournament.'
-'Well…I don't give a damn…I just need him to go the tournament.'
-'But do you have your invitation?'
-'In case you didn't notice I've been busy and I'm not staying at home but I'm sure there's one for me too…'
-'But if you're in the Army you can't go to the tournament.'
-'I'm going to be out really soon, don't worry. When does it start?'
-'Next month.'
-'Then I'll be seeing you next month…and don't forget about what you said last time…'-he said with a grin.
Julia looked at him with an angry face and clenched her fists. She had hopes that he'd forgotten all by now but it seemed that he wasn't going to let her go away with it.
-'I know…But don't be too confidant.'
-'Whatever…I'll be counting the days.'
Hwoarang returned to the truck quietly, he didn't care about food or drinks anymore. Since he had heard the words "Iron Fist Tournament 4" he could only think of his rematch against Jin Kazama, his nemesis.
He had lied to Julia, he didn't have permission to leave the Army unless he completed his military service and that would only happen in four months. But the tournament was his priority and he wasn't going to waste that chance.
A few hours later he made up his mind: he had to runaway from that place, he needed to feel the rush and the adrenaline…he could also feel the blood flowing in his veins just by the mere thought of fighting against Jin Kazama. No one could stop him from getting his revenge.
A few days passed but Hwoarang's mind was drifting away…far away from his duties and the Army. He wouldn't wait four months to leave the military base since the tournament would start in three weeks. Meanwhile, he was still working on a plan to runaway. Although he was a bit (more like a lot) impatient and impulsive, Hwoarang was full aware of the consequences of his actions if he decided to runaway from the Army.
If he was caught, during or after the escape, he would have to face the Court Martial and he had nothing or anyone in his favour. No one to turn to, no helping hand. Well "he had made his own bed" since he had arrived. Despite his success on various missions, Hwoarang was still a pain in the butt to his superiors, giving them more than a few headaches.
But if he wasn't caught he could enter the tournament and finally get his revenge. Three weeks turned out to be an eternity for Hwoarang but there were two things helping him to go through that time: the will to fight his enemy and the memory of Julia's promise.
In Japan, Xiaoyu, Miharu and Julia were training hard every single day to be able to compete against the best fighters. Last time Julia and Xiaoyu didn't have much luck with their partners in the Tag Tournament. But in the end they realised that the Tag Tournament wasn't even official and it had probably been just one of Heihachi's ideas to gather some sort of information about the fighters.
It was impossible to force fighters to work together against their will. None of the teams that entered the tournament had actually worked as a real team. Julia was constantly accused of being weak and Xiaoyu had never been taken seriously. Hwoarang's team had never even existed and Jin's was based on the ability to ignore the other (maybe that was why they had managed to win).
Last night Julia had received a phone call from Michelle and she was told that someone had broke in the G Corporation's facilities and stolen the reforestation data they were working on. It seemed that the Mishima Zaibatsu was behind it but there wasn't enough proof. Julia offered to investigate and recover the data once she was in the tournament.
Xiaoyu was sceptical about the subject because she didn't understand why Heihachi would actually want to steal data about a reforestation program.
Julia didn't know how to answer that question but she could swear on her life that Heihachi was guilty. As for Miharu she couldn't get enough of hearing the same things about the Iron Fist Tournament 3 and the Tag Tournament. She had forced Xiaoyu and Julia to tell her everything that had happened during those competitions for more than three times already.
Both her friends had already entered the competition and she was starting to feel really nervous about it. She had zero experience in that sort of things.
-'By the way…I saw Hwoarang…'-Julia announced to avoid more of Miharu's questions about the tournaments.-'He's in the Army.'
-'Really?'-Xiaoyu asked.'-That means he won't go to the tournament, right?'
-'I don't know…'
-'I hope he stays home. Jin doesn't have time to deal with him right now.'-Xiaoyu said.
-'Julia…you look disappointed…do you want him to go?'-Miharu teased.
-'What? No! Of course not! Actually, it would be much better for me if he never comes near me again…'
