A/N: Hi again, people! Finally done with this chapter, sorry to keep you waiting. So, the tournament's about to get underway again, which means fight scenes, which means me tearing my hair out, so I can't promise the next update will be a quick one. But I'll try my best! Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter.

Oh, yeah, Totallyloud, to explain the last bit of chapter 11 for ya, basically Jin doesn't trust himself around Xiao, so he's running away. Again. And Dilu, your review really made me smile! I read in your review for DBN that you have some of Ayumi's songs now, but I'll still share the playlist in case there are other songs you (and anyone else who wants 'em) don't have. If you go to my profile, there's a link in there if you scroll right down to 'in progress'.

NEVER EVER

Chapter Twelve: Insight

I'm back inside the cafe, crunching on a cookie that I bought on the way back to the table, when the PA system crackles to life and a pleasant female voice announces that the match-ups for tomorrow's fight have been decided and are now displayed in the hotel lobby. There's the sound of a chair scraping back, and Julia Chang walks past, pushing her glasses back up her nose. Hwoarang stretches lazily in his chair, seemingly not prepared to move anywhere just yet, and I take another bite of my cookie as Christie gulps down the last of her coffee and eyes us excitedly.

"Come on, you two!" she says, standing up. I follow suit, eager to find out who my first opponent's gonna be, but Hwoarang stays where he is.

"Nah, I just got comfortable." he replies with a grin, and Christie shakes her head.

"Didn't you hear that? Match-ups. Lobby. Come on!" She bounces on her heels for emphasis.

"She's got a lot of energy, this one." Hwoarang says to me. "Wonder if she's as energetic when it comes to -- "

"Don't finish that sentence." Christie interrupts, her eyes gleaming with amusement.

"I was just gonna say 'when it comes to her first match tomorrow', that's all." He smiles, all innocence. "You thought I was gonna say something else? I can't think what."

"I find that hard to believe," laughs Christie. "Anyway," she carries on with a sidelong glance at me, "...stop flirting with me when your girlfriend's right there. She'll get jealous."

"I'm heartbroken." I deadpan, no easy task through a mouthful of cookie, and Hwoarang flashes me a wounded look.

"If she showed me she cared," he tells Christie, getting up, "then maybe I wouldn't look elsewhere."

"Aww, are you feeling neglected, baby?" she laughs as we start to walk in the direction of the lobby.

"Yeah." says Hwoarang in a pitiful tone. "I think I need some comfort sex."

"Tell you what, if I win the tournament, I'll think about it." Christie chuckles as she pushes open the doors to the cafe, and we get caught up in the crowd of people heading to the lobby. By the time we get there, it's full of competitors and staff. I can see Nina Williams, but there's no sign of Anna. Julia's standing nearby, and she flashes me a small smile when our eyes meet.

There are a few faces I don't remember from the last tournament, the blonde haired man who was in the bar last night being one of them, and another being this huge, scary looking bald guy who's standing in the middle of the lobby, his massive arms folded, glaring at the match-up screen. I thought King was big. This guy is bigger. I swear, I could probably fit my whole body in one leg of his shorts. But hey, size isn't everything, right? I'm betting lugging all that muscle around seriously slows the guy down, just like it does with King.

I stand on my tiptoes, trying to see the screen better. The match-ups are scrolling down.

Julia Chang vs. Marshall Law.

Craig Marduk vs. Yoshimitsu.

At this, Mr. Scary laughs out loud, turning to survey the people gathered in the lobby.

"Which of you is Yoshimitsu?" he asks in a voice that sounds like he's just swallowed a cup of gravel. When no one answers, it only serves to amuse him further. "Too scared to come forward, eh? Ya should be. I'll break your face!"

Hwoarang leans close and murmurs, "You think I should tell him the guy's not even here?"

"I think if you did, he'd probably try to break your face." I whisper back, eyes on the scrolling screen.

It's now displaying 'King vs. Kazuya Mishima', and a shiver runs through me as I read Kazuya's name, and not the 'it's cold' kind of shiver either. More of a 'oh God please just hurry up and kiss me Jin because if you look at me like that for much longer I'm gonna melt into a puddle of slush' kind of shiver.

Ugh.

It has to be because of the whole Jun's-memories-taking-up-residence-in-my-head thing. I mean, how old is the guy? Plus, when I saw him before, he struck me as more scary than sexy. Something about him, his whole aura, just made me feel threatened. It's hard to explain why, but I'm one for trusting my instincts, and all of my instincts tell me to stay far, far away from Kazuya Mishima, regardless of what Jun feels about him.

'Violet vs. Paul Phoenix' scrolls on by, (Violet? Another new competitor, I guess,) to be replaced by 'Nina Williams vs. Hwoarang'. The boy himself blinks as Nina flashes him a scornful look and quickly turns away, her blonde ponytail bobbing as she marches out of the main entrance.

"Huh." He shakes his head. "Why do I get the feeling she's not impressed?"

"Can you blame her?" Christie says with a grin.

"She was probably expecting a challenge." I add, and he rolls his eyes.

"At least she's hot, I guess. It'll give me something to look at. Oh, and two against one? Not fair in the slightest."

"Oh come on. You should be used to it by now with me and Miharu always teaming up."

"And I thought I'd escaped it for a while." He complains. "And it's just struck me I missed out on a perfectly good threesome joke there."

"Ooh, are you losing your touch?"

"Never. Hey, I wonder if she'll wear that purple spandex thingy from last time." Hwoarang carries on, getting back onto the subject of Nina. "You think she'd kick me in the balls if I asked her?"

"Definitely. You should go do that, so we can watch and point and laugh."

"You would, too, wouldn't you?"

"I so would. I can't think of many things funnier."

"Even if it meant we couldn't have our usual amazing sex for a while?"

"Hey, who's Steve Fox?" Christie interrupts before I can answer through my giggles, and I look back at the screen. It's displaying him as Christie's first opponent.

"I dunno. He wasn't in the last tournament." Hwoarang replies. "Must be one of the new ones."

"Damn. I was hoping you guys'd be able to give me some tips about his style. Oh, hey, Xiao..." Christie points at the screen, and I follow her gaze.

'Lei Wulong vs. Ling Xiaoyu', it says and I feel my stomach tighten. I watched some of Lei's matches during the tournament, and on tape back home afterwards, since Grandfather had recorded them all. His style is unpredictable, to say the least. When I first saw him use the Drunken style for some of his attacks, I wondered if his pre-match beers were catching up with him, and said as much to Grandfather, who was a hundred percent unamused and proceeded to give me a lecture about taking all forms of martial art seriously. Sometimes I think he wouldn't know a joke if it crane kicked him in the face.

I've not seen Lei at all since I arrived here, and I scan the lobby for him, to no avail. Just the fact that he's here at all, though, is enough to worry me. He was investigating the last tournament, and look how that one turned out. I really, really don't want to be choked by an angry, glowy eyed monster again. That kind of thing kinda leaves an impression on a girl, you know? I'll start getting a complex.

I guess all I can do is hope he just entered for the hell of it this time. Either way, it's gonna be one tough first round. Great, just what I needed. Leave it to chance to totally screw me over.

"Maybe I should go train a bit." Christie is saying, and I turn to her, planning on asking if I can go along, but a weird, prickly sensation zips down my spine, the feeling that someone's staring at me. I've never had that feeling before, and until now I always thought it was just attention seeking, you know, the whole 'oh, I could have sworn someone was watching me', thing? But right now, a strong feeling of uneasiness comes over me, and I look over my shoulder, hoping I'm being stupid.

I'm not being watched. But as I turn, the lobby doors swing open and Jin walks in. My heart leaps, as it always seems to do regardless of what might have happened between us at any given time, but he doesn't look at me once. Instead, he gazes up at the match-up screen, waiting for his name to appear. Even from this angle, he looks so troubled. I just wish I knew what was going through his mind right now. I wish I knew some way to get through to him. I wish we could sit together, talk about stupid stuff, and he'd just...

Let me guess, you want to see him smile?

I give a start, staring at him in shock. It can't be happening again.

Do you want to know what is going through his mind right now? Some insight? He's trying to focus on anything other than the dreams he keeps having... The dreams where he kills you.

I'm still staring when Jin turns, his gaze colliding with mine. And at that moment, countless images flash through my head. His eyes glittering with need - no, not any more - now it's malice, his body pressed against me, myself falling backwards to the floor, his hands pinning me there, mouth on mine, the sound of tearing fabric and blood spilling and my panicked cry of his name and now my strangled scream and his sigh of pleasure and then bone snapping and it hurts, it hurts so much.

I stumble backwards, bumping into Christie, and her hands automatically grab my shoulders to steady me. I flinch at her touch, coming back to myself, my heart racing, and the lobby door swings shut behind Jin as he leaves.

Even so, it's like his mouth's right by my ear, his voice like velvet.

What will you do?

How far, far away

Is the place I'm going?

Is it so far, far away

That I can never come back?

-- Ever Free, Ayumi Hamasaki