AN: Okay, so I lied when I said everyone was younger than when the games first begin. This Kazuya is the one from Tekken 2 before the tournament even begins and I probably won't get to the tournament in this story.
Chapter 2: A Road Trip
Surely nothing too drastic could have occurred on their first non-date date. Still, Jin was quite anxious about the whole thing as one leg began to twitch nervously.
I shouldn't be worried about elopement. That would be too rash even for Jun. But maybe Kazuya could trick her into…Then Jin shook his head. Get a grip.
The man even had trouble saying that he was her boyfriend. He wasn't even certain that they got married in the first place. Jin was just getting ahead of himself. As soon as he could, he was going to talk to his mother and convince her that this Kazuya was no good for her and that she was blind to it because she was too naïve to tell the difference between a good man and a bad one.
On second thought, maybe he shouldn't be quite so blunt about it. She had been kind enough to give him lodging. He didn't want to scare her away. Maybe it would be a better idea to just wait and bide his time. If he could gain her trust…but, no, that was too risky. Anything could be happening as he was "biding his time". The way Jun had held onto that man when they had met under that streetlight…Jin didn't think he had long to change things. But how could he lay it on her gently and painlessly? Was there even a way to do that?
There was a turned off television that sat right in front of him. The lights were completely off, but he could still see a little of himself reflected on the thick glass. Worrying was getting him nowhere. There wasn't anything he could do until later. While he sat up for a while longer, he eventually laid down on the couch and hoped for the best.
/
He was awoken the next day by the bright morning sun. Had he realized that the blinds were open last night, he would have closed them to avoid the searing brightness. He groaned wearily to himself as he used his hand to cover his eyes. He was fully prepared to go back to sleep when he stopped himself. Was Jun back yet? Immediately, Jin climbed to his feet and searched the area. Even her bed was still made. Crap…Don't tell me she stayed over at that man's house. Jin made a return to his post on the couch and continued where he left off from last night with his worrying thoughts—they had only worsened. Sitting there was literally making him sick. He laid back down to calm himself. It only worked to a certain extent, but all he was doing was staring at the ceiling and pretending that he had lost the ability to think. He was sure his subconscious mind was having a field days especially when he was still so anxious. He laid there for what seemed like an eternity (never once turning the blinds down…) before the front door opened.
"Jun," Jin began, but his words caught in his throat when he saw who it was. "Oh, Kazuya."
"What do you mean, 'Oh, Kazuya'?" the other said with a frown. Apparently, it was only a rhetorical question as he continued on. "Jun's been worried about you and wants to take you out to lunch," he said quickly. "Well?" Kazuya said when the other made no move at all, "You going to stand there all day or follow me out to the car?"
"Are you her messenger or something? She couldn't have come up here herself and say that?"
"I don't have patience for silly questions like that," Kazuya said turning and heading down the stairs.
"Alright, I'm coming!" Jin called out to the other. He wasn't sure if the other had heard.
Jin wondered if he'd ever be presented with a chance to speak with Jun alone…at the moment, his chances seemed abysmal. When he stepped outside again, he saw the midnight blue Corvette in all its glory. It glistened and sparkled in the sunlight. The rims were no different. He noticed that the top was down; the Corvette must have been a convertible as well.
"Climb in!" Jun said welcomingly, "I know you have to be starving."
Jun sat in the passenger seat as usual and Kazuya was already in the driver's seat making no attempt at all in acknowledging him. He guessed it was all for the best. Jin slipped into the backseat, but was in for a rude awakening as Kazuya sped down the street. Jun, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying herself. As for Kazuya, there was no way to tell what mood he was in from his actions alone, but the way he seemed patient enough to make small talk with Jun, he was in a good enough mood.
"Let's go to Lotteria!" Jun said excitedly.
"Lotteria it is," Kazuya responded in a way that sounded almost disinterested. Only Jun knew better.
Jin didn't know what this place was, but he readily agreed with the two in the front. What else could he do? Unbeknownst to Jin, Lotteria was a fast food restaurant and they opted to use the drive thru. It seemed Kazuya already knew what Jun wanted since she hadn't said a word as he started running down the first order which was a shrimp burger. He paused for a moment only to ask Jin what he would like. For a long moment, Jin was at a loss. He was still studying the menu and Kazuya was beginning to get impatient.
I don't know…maybe they have… "A teriyaki burger?" Jin asked instead of stated. It was something that his mother had made for him many times before.
"You sure about that," Kazuya questioned the other with obvious sarcasm. "You either want it or not."
"A teriyaki burger," Jin said more confidently despite himself. He hadn't even seen it on the menu. He was probably making a complete fool out of himself.
Jin was more than a little surprised when the former proceeded to ordering two of them.
"Wait, I only wanted one," Jin said trying to interrupt the other, but he was largely ignored.
Jun turned to Jin then, "It's his favorite. Looks like you guys have the same taste…it's too sweet if you ask me."
His…favorite? I don't want to have anything in common with that man… "Hey, can I change my order," Jin asked before Kazuya could drive up to the window.
"Make up your mind already, kid," Kazuya said in an agitated tone.
"I think I just want a shrimp burger too…That sounds better."
"Sounds disgusting," Kazuya said back. He received a nice shove from Jun, but he was unperturbed.
Of course, then Kazuya had to go through all the trouble of changing the order after it had already been made. They somehow wounded up with their initial order thanks to the dizzy person at the register…much to Jin's annoyance more than anyone else. Kazuya was far too peeved to continue trying the sort the order out and they eventually just gave up with the entire affair and made do with what they already had. In fact, Jin had already lost his appetite thinking about how they had ordered the same exact thing. He watched in silence as the two of them tried to figure out if they should go to the park or just go to the parking lot that had a good view of the ocean before they ate. Jin was unconcerned with the entire thing. The whole time, all he smelled was teriyaki. He always wondered why his mother would ever make something like that for him if she didn't even like it herself. Now he suspected he had found the answer.
"Ah, cheer up, Jin. You have all the time in the world to go back to Lotteria one day and get that shrimp burger."
"Besides, it's disgusting." A comment that only won him another playful shove from Jun.
He was right, shrimp burgers was not his cup of tea. Not that he had ever tasted one before, but he knew that he didn't especially like shrimp and that the taste of them would ruin any kind of burger—at least according to his taste buds. But Jin would never admit this out loud. "It's not disgusting," Jin said siding with Jun, "They're a lot better than all that sticky, sweetness."
It only received a brief "humph" from Kazuya. In any case, they were off to that parking lot. They had voted and the parking lot had won. They might have went to the park had Jin not switched his vote to Jun's choice.
"Stop being so damn wishy-washy," Jin heard Kazuya grumble as he revved up the engines and sped out once again down the road.
They didn't have far to go. The sun was quite high by then as they enjoyed their meal. Mostly it was Jun and Kazuya talking except for the few times Jun tried to involve Jin in it. Jin wasn't inclined to, afraid that he might find that he had something else in common with Kazuya—the man who would break his mother's heart.
"I want to drive now," Jun announced after they had thrown away their trash.
"Jun, are you sure—
Before Kazuya could even finish, she was already trying to move over to Kazuya position.
"Just stay there," Jun said before the other could move.
Eventually she found a nice place on top of his lap, but Kazuya thought it safer if she was at least sitting on the seat so he spread his legs out wide enough so that she could. He put his arms around her waist protectively.
"You ready, Jun?"
Jun gave him a nod.
"Then turn the key."
"Wait, are you guys crazy? Can't we get in trouble for this?" Not to mention it's not safe!
Too late, the engine was already being turned on. Kazuya still manned the stick shift since she didn't know how to use it so well, but that was all. They were backing up a little too fast in Jin's opinion and they accelerated even faster than Kazuya usually did. The wheels screeched on the street before the car shot off.
"Ah! We're gonna' die; I can't watch," Jin cried out when Jun hit the side of the curb before going out into the side street.
"If you can't watch, then close your eyes. Jun says she wants to drive so she's going to drive."
Jin ducked down in his seat and did just that and prayed to some higher power to spare his life if they got into an accident.
"Kind of heavy-footed, huh," Kazuya said to an energetic Jun.
The way her voice would cry out excitedly whenever they went at light speed, Jin could tell that she was havening fun. Despite the situation, that fact gave him comfort even if it was a small one.
"Let's stay around here a bit until you get used to it," Jin heard Kazuya say over the wind and engine.
My life is spared!
Whenever Kazuya said things like "too far!" or "I said a left not a right!" or "we won't make that turn at this speed!" or "slow it down already, you're gonna' give me a heart attack!"
Jin tried desperately to ignore all the danger around him so that he could keep some of his sanity, but at some point, the car stopped so abruptly that he was sure he was going to fly right out of the car. That was impossible to ignore with his eyes closed.
"Geez, woman, you can't stop that quickly! Be gentle with her."
"Sorry! But when you say 'stop' like that I just wanna' slam on the breaks."
"Whatever you do, don't slam on the breaks. Try it again."
Then it occurred to Jin that perhaps Jun had never driven a day in her life and that this happened to be her first time. It was too much to even dwell upon, especially when his life hung in the balance. Before they left the parking lot and the nearby side streets, Jin had already fainted from the constant rush of adrenaline and his perceived closeness to death. Perhaps it was all for the best since the two in the front continued in this way for the majority of the day, stopping only twice for gas. They went adventuring all over Japan—well, perhaps not all over, but it did seem that way after driving for so long and at a non-stop pace. To say that Jun was having the time of her life was an understatement. Since she was in a good mood so was Kazuya who had successfully averted more accidents than he could count. He was quite spent by the end of the day.
They had eventually made it to another area with a great view of the ocean and it looked even more spectacular in the rays of the dying sun. Jun stepped out of the car to stretch her legs after having them scrunched under the steering wheel for so long.
"Ah, Jin! I'm sorry," Jun said as she looked into the backseat to check on his condition. She could tell if a person had passed out.
She sat down on the edge of the seat in the back and gently pulled the other to her lap.
"Guess I should have slowed it down a little…at least for your sake."
Kazuya had gotten out of the car as well and leaned against the driver's side door. He seemed to be paying more attention to the setting sun than her with his eyes. "I told him to close his eyes."
"Yeah, like that was going to work."
Then they both laughed at this. From the outside looking in, any sane person would think them crazy and they were acutely aware of this fact.
Jin awoke to their laughter, but he did not sit up immediately when he heard their voices still talking to one another. For some reason, he just felt like eavesdropping. At least he could get some reward after being frightened half to death.
"Hey, Kazuya, you ever think about having children?"
"Pft, no. What bought this on?"
"Oh, nothing in particular…" Jun said as she ran her hand through Jin's hair. It was something Jin had remembered her doing to him when he was younger.
"Right, and I'm supposed to believe that you just thought about it out of the clear blue. You wouldn't happen to be…pregnant, would you?"
"No, of course not!" Jun said a little too loud.
"Hm?" he said finally turning his gaze to her. "No need to get all bent out of shape."
"I'd of told you about something like that already if it were true."
"Listen, Jun, I don't want any kids, but…"
Jin couldn't hear the rest of the sentence when Jun left her position and they walked further away from the car. Anxious to hear more, he peaked his head up to the open window so that he could hear better. All he heard was snatches of it. Something about a "curse" and "too much trouble anyway". Jun's voice was too light to be heard. Jin wished that he could have heard more. Something told him that he was missing something quite important.
"Oh, you're awake," Jun said as they were returning to the car. "Sorry about the rough ride. I promise you, you won't have to go through that again if it affects you so much."
"I'm just…happy to be alive."
Jun smiled at him when he said this. "Don't worry; your life was never in danger. We were just having a little fun."
Jin's eyes grew wide when she proceeded to sitting down in the driver's seat. "Are you…?"
"I can drive, you know."
"You can?"
"Like I said, just having fun. Although, this car is a lot touchier than mine. One small tap of the pedal and it accelerates instantly just like the breaks. It takes a little getting used to, but I'm sure I can handle myself."
Jin let out a sigh of relief just as Kazuya climbed into the passenger side.
"I'd still keep that seatbelt handy," Kazuya said with a grin.
"Oh, stop, I'm not that bad."
Jun turned on the ignition, but forgot to take the car out of neutral. For a moment there when she pressed the accelerator, the car simply revved up.
"Just flood the engine," Kazuya said in a tone that was far too relaxed in Jin's opinion. Flooding the engine didn't sound like a good thing.
Jin quickly put on his seatbelt. "This is your car, right? Why don't you just drive it?" Jin finally complained to Kazuya who was calmly looking out the window as Jun backed up too quickly for Jin's liking.
He only shrugged. "Don't feel like it. Jun can handle it."
"Calm down, Jin, I promise we won't get into a crash. Look, I'll even drive slower."
"Not too slow," Kazuya warned, "We're still a ways off from home."
"We'll be home before you know it," Jun reassured him.
Jin's eyes were glued to the road for the first twenty minutes, but after a while, even he began to relax.
"Doing okay back there?"
"I'm fine," Jin said back.
This time he really could enjoy the ride. The wind was quite pleasant. Since they were on a bridge, he was surrounded from both sides with water. Being in the mountains, he wasn't used to the sight of so much water especially not driving over it on a bridge.
"Oh, he's asleep," Jun said quietly when she glanced over at Kazuya who hadn't said anything in a while. "Well, looks like it's back to work for me tomorrow," Jun said to Jin. "I may have to leave you with Kazuya."
"I don't mind waiting outside where you work," Jin said quickly. There's just no way I'll…
"I wish it were that easy. If I had a job like Kazuya's, then maybe, but I don't always know where'll I'll be half the time and I don't want to drag you around to so many different places."
"What is your job?"
"I work for the government. I'm in an organization called WWWC that protects all wildlife. I feel more like a detective these days. You can see why I don't usually stay in the same place for long. There's a central building where I go and make my reports, sure, but other than that I'm on the move."
"Sounds exciting."
"It is. You'd be surprised at how mean we humans can be towards animals. I like what I do. I guess in some ways I can say that I'm helping to make this world a better place."
That doesn't sound like Mom at all…Indeed, Jin never thought of his mother being such an activist, but the Jun here was far less complacent than the one he knew. How was hiding away in some mountains for who knows what reason anything like "making the world a better place"?
"Kazuya, here has a far less exciting job, at least in my opinion. He doesn't look it, but my Kazuya is a businessman."
Jin cringed a little when she said "my Kazuya".
"Can you believe it? He's the CEO at the huge financial empire known as the Mishima Zaibatsu. It wasn't always like that though, but he worked hard to get to where he is now."
Now Jin had a clearer picture of him: a rude, corporate tyrant who trampled over his mother's heart. Jin's eyebrows furrowed at this. He wondered how his mom could ever meet such a person. They seemed to live in completely different worlds. A person who had to hustle every day to get ends meet versus a person who mostly sat down all day barking orders didn't seem like a match at all.
"He has work tomorrow too, but I'm sure he'd be willing to take you with him. It could be pretty boring though."
Tomorrow didn't sound like it was going to be a cheerful day and certainly less eventful than this one. "Tell me again why I can't just stay at your place?"
"I may have need for it. I'm not sure. Better to be safe than sorry."
"You think Kazuya will let me stay at his?"
"He's not nearly as charitable as me."
You don't have to tell me that twice…
"If I asked him to, I guess he would, but…"
"What is it?"
"I know that he doesn't want to so it wouldn't be right. Just like I'm sure he wouldn't tell me to do something I really didn't want to."
"Oh…alright," Jin said not fully understanding what she was going on about.
They were in the city limits now and the red lights were annoying after spending so much time on the freeway.
"Just have to make a short stop," Jun said to Jin.
They made it to a small corner store and Jin watched Jun walk in and then out of sight. Jin still had his seatbelt on and made no moves towards unfastening them. All he could hear for five long minutes were the soft snores of Kazuya and the sound of cars going by them. Jin looked out his window at the surroundings. It was all foreign to him. He had never seen a world so full of manmade things. There were a few trees here and there, some grass perhaps, but everything else was put there by human hands. There was far more structure and practicality to everything. The world seemed orderly. Jin was startled out of his thoughts when the door slammed shut on the driver's side. He hadn't even seen Jun get back in. She handed Jin a hot cup of ramen after she made herself comfortable in the seat.
"We sort of neglected dinner today. Kazuya's gonna' be so hungry tomorrow."
"Just wake him up then," Jin said voicing the obvious solution, "Hey, Kazuya—
"You don't want to do that," Jun said quickly.
"Oh, why not?" Jin said in a serious tone.
"Because it's funny what he does," Jun said unable to keep the amusement from her tone. "And he made me promise not to tell anyone…"
Now Jin was becoming curious.
"Oh, it's nothing really," Jun continued unable to help herself. Then she whispered the rest in Jin's ear for the small chance that Kazuya might have been listening.
"Really?" Jin asked with the first grin he had given all day. "I want to try."
"Won't work. He only responds to my voice," Jun said with an almost devious smile. It was something that Jin wasn't used to seeing on her face. She leaned over closer to Kazuya so that she could speak directly in his ear. "Hey, Kazuya, I have some ramen for you."
"Don't bother me while I'm actioning my deliverables…" Kazuya murmured.
"What does that even mean?" Jin asked in a whisper not daring to speak too loud else the other wake.
Jun shrugged back, "He doesn't always make total sense." Then she turned back to Kazuya. "You sure about that? It's one of your favorite flavors. I know you're hungry."
"…Stop arguing about objectives and start handing out assignment capsules…"
Jin was just as confused as before, but Jun found it to be quite amusing.
"Business jargon," Jun concluded.
"What a boring dream."
"Remember, Jin, a CEO of a financial empire. I'm sure it's a demanding role. I think visualizing what it is you're going to do isn't a bad way to pass the time."
The engine started up and soon Jun was back out on the road and then on the freeway once again. It took them more than a few hours to get back to the place they first started in the Yamaga prefecture. By then, even Jin was feeling a bit drowsy. Staring at rows upon rows of trees speeding by could only be entertaining for so long. When the engine shut off once again, it was like an alarm clock as Jin became more attentive. They had arrived at a fairly large house. It couldn't be Jun's place.
"Jin, I'm sorry about today. I didn't mean to make you so uncomfortable. It was selfish of me."
"It's alright really," Jin said caught off guard by the intensity of her apology, "You can stop feeling bad about it. I'm okay."
"I'm not really so reckless you know. It's just…whenever Kazuya is there, he makes me feel invincible. I feel safe. If anything were to happen, he'd be there to protect me and defend against any threat that comes. I know it sounds silly, but somehow, I can't stop thinking that it's actually true."
It's not true at all, Mom. "How did you guys meet anyway?"
Jun was silent for so long that Jin was about to repeat the question. "It wasn't like that. I don't know if the feeling is mutual, but I felt as if I was 'drawn' to him. We somehow kept running into each other until I decided one day to approach him."
Jin was mystified by her response
"Well, we're here," Jun said after Jin had no more to ask her. She had to shake Kazuya into wakefulness.
He yawned first before saying: "Hun, that was quick."
"Yeah right, only took like five hours," Jun replied with a laugh.
They both got out of the car.
"Wait, we're not going to your place?" Jin asked Jun.
"His house was closer. Also, it's only two miles away from where I work and about five miles from where Kazuya works. It's really convenient."
Jin got out of the car as well just as the hood of the car began slowly sliding back on. He was a little startled when the car made a locking sound. It was all courtesy to Kazuya's rather fancy set of keys and small controller. Jin trailed behind Jun as Kazuya opened the door to his house.
"Ah, looks like you've cleaned up around here," Jun said as she inspected the first room they walked into, "Last time—
"Last time, I wasn't expecting company. I'm still not, but I could do without the nagging."
Jun smiled at him wistfully, "Are you calling me naggy?"
"Oh don't use that tone. You can be when you want to."
"You'll thank me one day. Where's Jin going to sleep?"
Jin heard the other sigh before he turned to him. It was like they had avoided each other's gazes all day. The way they looked at each other, they might have been complete strangers.
"See that hallway," Kazuya said pointing to his left, "After you see a bathroom, make another left and go into the first room you see. That's yours…for now."
"You're being so generous," Jun said in a tone that suggested that it wasn't his usual behavior (It probably wasn't).
"Okay, thank you," Jin said quickly before the words could get caught in his throat. With Jun there though, he knew that it was something that she would want him to say after someone showed him charity.
"Oh, and the bathroom has towels and rags in it, you can use those and anything else you need. I've never used that bathroom a day in my life," Kazuya said as an afterthought much to Jun's delight.
"Thank you," Jin was forced to say again.
He wasn't even going to ask where the two of them would be sleeping tonight. The way she hung all over him…Jin shook his head. It was too much even to think about. With drooped shoulders, he made his way to this new room of his and despite himself was quite impressed with it. The bed was bigger than even a King's size and the covers and pillow alike were clean and very soft looking. The room itself was quite large. There was a flat screen on the wall and a large window on the next wall. Had Jin ever been to a hotel, he might have made a comparison to that and his room.
Remember, Jin, this is the man that you've said countless times before you hate. He's only being nice because Jun's there watching, but get him by himself and he'll show his true colors. You came here to do something. You have to sabotage their relationship…it's the only way. But how? How can one lone kid even hope to do that?
