AN: I've been trying to keep this in Jin's point of view, but at this point, Kazuya's point of view will better explain what's happening instead of Jin just assuming things.

By the way, for this chapter: italics = Kazuya's thoughts

Chapter 9: Falling Apart (Part 2)

His head was throbbing so much that he hardly felt like discussing anything. How ironic that they all wanted him to talk all at once. He couldn't even remember when he had last spoken so much at one time. Jun could be very persuasive. If it was anyone, it would be her. He was sure that she had left the room only to repeat all that he said to Jin. Not that he was bothered with that fact—it was less for him to do. Now she simply laid beside him with uncanny silence. Perhaps she could sense that he no longer wanted to talk. She could not have been asleep—Kazuya could always tell when that was case. She was watching him, he knew, but he had turned from her just in case she felt the urge to ask other annoying questions.

Kazuya knew the cold, hard truth. There was nothing that either of them could do for him. Why he had felt the need to saddle them with an unsolvable problem was beyond him. He couldn't have just kept his mouth shut about the whole thing. What were the chances that anyone would believe him? What were the chances that anyone would think him a sane person?

The pain continued to hammer away. It wouldn't be long now. There was no way he could ignore his past choices any longer. There was no way he could continue to deny the person he was supposed to be—the person that Devil wanted him to be. It was better to just welcome it rather than try to resist such things for much longer. Devil had been anxious then, now he was fervent. It wasn't that Devil was intentionally putting him through physical pain; it was that he was being so stubborn. There was something he kept holding onto, but he wasn't sure what it was.

"Kazuya, don't worry. We'll figure something out," Jun said in low tones.

He felt one of her arms come across him from the side.

"You've always been so hopeful."

"It's my job to—it's to counteract your pessimism, you know."

"I'm not pessimistic."

"Oh? That's the first I heard."

"Even you have to be able to tell when there is nothing else to be done."

"I don't think anyone has that ability. You never know what could happen."

He didn't have anything else to say to her and a long silence ensued. "I'm going to sleep now," Kazuya finally said.

"Alright," he heard the other mumble.

But sleep was a thing of the past. For days he hadn't been able to do so and he would stare at nothing for hours on end despite being tired. Sleeping pills didn't work. Overdosing on Nyquil didn't work…but alcohol always seemed to do the trick. If only it didn't have such extensive side effects. The truth of the matter was that he had been resorting to such things when there was no one to see it. He had not expected Jun to come that day. In fact, so many weeks went by that Kazuya didn't think he was going to be visited anytime soon.

When he saw her face after such a long time, he was certain that he had been dreaming. He remembered it had taken him awhile to realize that the actual Jun stood in front of him. Her eyes had been so despondent that without even saying a word she had made him feel completely guilty. He knew that he couldn't stay around her much longer without hurting her. In fact, he knew that he couldn't be around anyone for very long without doing such a thing.

Going to work had been like hell. He could hardly even think—and that was the majority of what he had to do. Sometimes, entire workdays could go by and he wouldn't even know it. It was as if someone else had done it for him. What he could mostly remember was a lot of yelling…a startling amount of it. He didn't want to go back there, but he felt beckoned. Plus, it wasn't as if he could just not go. Even a CEO had to show up every once in a while. The thought of it, however, bothered him to no end.

He could think about a lot of things when all that he was doing was nothing—mostly things that shouldn't be dwelled on. Could he take another day of doing nothing or would he go back in to work? He grimaced a little when the throbbing increased. Just then he felt a slow stream of blood crawl down his nose. He didn't know what to make of it besides that he didn't want it to get on his sheets or for Jun to see it. Quietly, he crawled out of bed and made his way to the bathroom where he cleaned himself up. Luckily, it wasn't anything too severe. He held a few tissues to his nose for a couple of minutes and soon it subsided. He only wished he could say the same thing about the pain. It had gotten to a point that he was so dizzy that when he tried to walk, he could barely control where his feet were taking him. Tripping on himself was inevitable and embarrassing all at once. He was almost certain that he had done it more than once in front of Jin—a rather disconcerting realization. No one was watching so he could stay there as long as he wanted. Eventually, he used the wall as support in order to climb back to his feet.

Look at you, Kazuya, you're so pathetic.

He just couldn't walk on his own as if he was just as wasted as yesterday. His vision was blurry and he felt incredibly sluggish. It was no wonder that Jin had been able to best him so easily. Was he really the same guy who had taken control of the Mishima Zaibatsu essentially by force? He walked at snail pace all the way back to his room where he deftly climbed back into bed. It was more of the same. He couldn't fall asleep no matter what. Funny how long the night could seem when you were forced to experience the whole thing consciously. Jun woke up early as she usually did. If he closed his eyes, he could imagine the scene just as it had always been. From force of habit, he did so.

"Oh, Kazuya," Jun called out to him, "It's time to get up. Do you feel like you can go to work today?"

What could he tell her without causing her to worry? "I'll be fine," he responded as he opened his eyes to the shining form of Jun.

"Listen, Kazuya, I've been thinking about what you told me. Don't rush things. If you still need time to yourself—

"No, that's not what I need," Kazuya said with a sigh. He sat up in bed. "I hardly even remember what I said to you last night. I really wasn't…in my right mind."

"What about the part about something called Devil?"

Kazuya gave her a confused expression, one that would convince even the most cautious skeptic.

"You don't remember that? Is it even true? Did you make some kind of deal with Devil? Anything?"

"It hardly sounds believable. If I said something like that, I don't think I was being serious or even knew what I was saying."

"Well, it couldn't have come from the clear blue. Some of it must be true. I felt true emotion there, Kazuya. I'm sure it must have been a metaphor at least. Maybe it's that there's some dark part of you that you feel too afraid to discuss or face. I don't have enough time now, but when we get back home tonight, we can talk."

"That's all you like to do, huh—talk."

"And what do you plan on doing? Ignoring this? Pretending that nothing ever happened? It's not going to work like that, Kazuya. Your problems will still be there whether you want them to or not."

"We have nothing to discuss."

"Ugh! I can't believe you can sit there and say that. It's too early in the morning for an argument; I'm just going to leave it like this. We'll talk later."

Jun was always the first one who left for work. Every morning he would eventually have the room to himself. He thought of simply staying there today and missing yet another day of work, but he knew it wasn't realistic. He was certain that he couldn't take another day of idleness—idleness was just as dangerous as going to work. Now that Jun and Jin were there to see it, he could not resort to the one thing that seemed to have any effect on him. Really, there was no choice to be made in the first place. He took one step out of bed and an excruciating pain struck him down so swiftly, that there was little defense he could put up against it—certainly not mentally. He met with the ground promptly as muscle spasms spread throughout. There was no way that he was going to cry out—Jin was somewhere near, he suspected, and he didn't want to alert him. All he did for the time being was grimace a little. Yet there was a conundrum that he couldn't quite unravel. Though he thoroughly believed that he was on the carpet, he felt himself walking forward. How could that be true at the same time? Despite his station on the ground, he forced himself to look up—maybe there was something he was missing. Maybe he had actually fallen asleep last night and this was still a dream. Kazuya hoped for the latter.

All that he managed to see were two shadowy feet walking away from him. The edges of his vision began to darken the longer he watched.

"Wait," Kazuya finally called out. It was the only thing he could think to say.

To his surprise, the shadowy feet ceased their advancement to the door and turned around to him.

"You're still conscious. Stubborn little man, aren't you?"
Since the shadowy figure was now squatting, Kazuya could make out the knees.

"Humans really are pathetic if you take away their precious sleep. All that energy, all that robust strength is eliminated just like that." Kazuya heard a "click" sound like that of two fingers being flicked together. "You no longer have the will with which to fight me any longer. Why don't you just ease your pain and let things proceed as they should? Now that isn't so unreasonable, right? After all, we did make a deal."

"Devil…"

"That's right, it's me. I'm sure you recognize the voice from all those years ago. Be a good little boy, Kazuya. Let me take it from here."

Soon Kazuya could no longer see the knees as the figure stood up once again.

"Wait, Devil!"

"Don't fight it any longer. Your time is over."
"Please don't hurt them."

" 'They' are no longer of your concern, are they? It's funny, though, even someone like you is susceptible to such an obvious weakness as familial bonds. Even knowing your fate, you selfishly put them in harm's way. Pathetic really. Is a human's need so difficult to ignore if it's for the greater good?"

Kazuya could still see the other walking further and further just as vision began to fade even more rapidly than before.

"Let sleep take you," Kazuya heard Devil's voice say as it floated over to him. "Rest now. Rest for eternity."

There was nothing normal about the tiredness that he felt at that moment. It was like drowning in a pool even though you knew how to swim. Something was dragging him down, some unnatural force. It would be easier to simply let go. If this was Devil's power, then he could do little to resist. Who was he fooling? How had he deluded himself into thinking that Devil was some kind of weak, pushover? So many years had gone by that the story that he had told Jun sounded more like a fairytale than reality. He could tell the difference now, there was no mistaking it. He struggled to stay awake despite himself. He knew that once he closed his eyes, they would never open again. Fear alone spurned him on. It was then that he realized that he really did want to live. There was something there in his life which hadn't been there before, something that he kept holding onto. Devil had said it already: familial bonds. Couldn't they be a family? If he tried hard enough, was there still a chance? Having a family wouldn't be so bad, really. He had already grown complacent as it was, did he really feel like fighting for the rest of his life? Given a real choice, he knew which path he would want to take at this point. That was why he was still resisting. The shadowy feet had disappeared, however, and there was no way to go and follow it. All the struggling in the world couldn't change that. It also couldn't change the fact that his energy was far too depleted to keep this up for very long. Eventually, he did lay flatly on the ground too tired to do anything else.

"Kazuya! Kazuya, what are you doing?"

Jin?

When Kazuya heard his voice in such a desperate tone, it was like the world opened up again. An image of Jin came before his eyes so quickly that he hardly knew what was happening.

"Let go of me!" Jin's cried out to him at a much louder volume.

It took Kazuya a moment to realize that his hands were clasped firmly around his neck. He loosened them immediately as his eyebrows creased in confusion.

"What was I…?"

Is he hurt? But his answer came immediately when he noticed the discoloration around Jin's neck. It had been too late, he was thoroughly bruised. Any later and Jin might have been put out of his misery.

Because Kazuya had been knelt on the ground, when his grip loosened, it was easy for Jin to pull away. Jin distanced himself quite quickly.

"What the hell was that?" Jin bellowed. "Is this your real plan? You just want to kill people?" he continued to cry out.

"No…I'm…"

"You want to hurt Jun? If that's what you want to do, then why drag it out? What kind of sick bastard hangs around someone for so long just so they could kill them one day?"

"I'm…sorry," Kazuya managed to say as he tried to stand up on his own. The embarrassing fact still remained; he needed support to do so. He used the wall.

"Really? You're still drunk? Where do you think you're going?"

"I have to go." His eyes were on the front door that was only a few paces in front of him.

"How many times do I have to tell you? No, you can't drive in your condition."

"Then I won't drive," Kazuya replied as he moved steadily towards the door.

"Wait, Kazuya, don't go!"

Kazuya turned to the other suddenly when he heard tears in his voice. It was such a startling development that it stopped him in his tracks.

"Please, don't go, okay?" Jin said again in a voice that was steadier, "It's Devil, isn't it? Jun told me everything."

"Of course she did," Kazuya said, "And somehow you chose to believe it."

"Well, it's true, isn't it? I hope it's true."

"You hope? You want something like Devil to exist?"

"No," Jin said shaking his head, "I just…don't want to believe that you can hurt people all on your own. I want to believe that if we helped you, everything will go back to how it used to be."

"Then you want a miracle, kid—it's better that you prepare yourself for the worst. Tell me, Jin, why are you here?"

"What?"

"I know. Circumstances can sometimes lead you to places you wouldn't go to otherwise. Somehow, you were led here. It always seemed like you had some specific goal, something you really wanted to do. I think I know what that is…finally."

He turned from the door in favor of going into the kitchen. The drawer with the kitchen knives was easy enough to pull out. He took up a particularly long and sharp one and returned to the living room. Already, he could see the fearful expression on the child's face. After all, he had tried to kill him just a few minutes ago. Maybe he was just coming to finish the job. Kazuya advanced upon Jin wordlessly and then bent down to his level. Jin's eyes were wide now. Kazuya took both of the other's hands and clasped them on the handle of the knife with his own.

"Didn't you come here to kill me," Kazuya finally said.

"W-What? No way!"

Jin tried to pull away, but Kazuya's grip was practically unbreakable.

"Don't back out now. You've hated me from the very beginning and I'm giving you a chance to finish what you started."

"No."

"You wanted to protect Jun, didn't you? You saw what happened a few minutes ago. I tried to strangle you to death. What's stopping me from doing the same to Jun?"

"No! I said no! I just…can't do it. You bastard. Why would you ask me to kill you? If you just want to die, then do it yourself!"

Jin still tried to pull away, but it was to no avail until Kazuya released his clasp and let his hands drop. "I can't. It's not possible for me. Someone else would have to do it. Someone much stronger than me. You're right; I shouldn't be asking a kid to do something like this. You've been through enough."

Kazuya placed his hand on top of Jin's head. He saw the other look up at him with curious eyes, confused even. That was when he struck the other hard in the gut. He made it as painless as he could. When Jin grew limp, Kazuya lifted the other easily and placed him on the couch.

"The next time you wake, I'll be gone, but it would be for the best. Better that you and Jun stick together. Then maybe you'll have some chance at living a normal life—the one that I want for you."