Chapter 15: Nightly Visit

Jin thought for sure that Kazuya would come back as he said he would, but the longer Jin waited that night the more he began to doubt. Just as time crept into the early hours of the morning, the door to his room opened once more and Jin nearly leaped off of his bed in excitement, but he restrained himself. He didn't want to scare him off. Besides, who knew how Kazuya might respond to such a thing?

"You're late," Jin declared to the other.

"I wasn't aware of the time," he answered back almost solemnly.

And Jin wondered if that might have been the actual truth.

"Well, you're here now," Jin said letting such things become water under the bridge. "Tell me about your day."

Jin had thought about what he might say to the other for the entire day and this ended up being the least intrusive. Besides, Jin had little else to discuss with him or rather there was little else he could get Kazuya to talk about.

Kazuya simply stood there for a moment perhaps contemplating how he might answer but then moved on to something completely different. "It's rather dark in here. Come outside with me."

"A-alright," Jin replied once again caught off guard.

Jin climbed off the bed and followed his father out of the hotel. It was a nice change of pace, Jin realized. He hadn't so much as stepped outside for at least an entire day perhaps longer. Jin came to walk beside the other and soon looked over at him waiting for him to say anything else. He was taller than what Jin had known him to be in his dreams. It made him feel quite small in his presence.

"I assume you must have been living with your mother before," Kazuya finally said not bothering to look down at the other.

"Yes," Jin responded looking downward.

"I wonder how she must feel now that you've run away from home."

"Oh…I didn't run away from home…"

"So she's completely fine with you being here on your own. Did she pay your way or something?"

Jin glanced over at him. "No, she didn't."

"Then how—

"Does it matter?" Jin asked becoming annoyed by this line of questioning. "I'm here now and there's nothing either of us can do about it."

"No, I suppose there's not. But what did you hope to accomplish anyway?"

Now it was Jin's turn to become silent and he suddenly felt Kazuya's gaze on him. "It's my business what I want to do here. You have your secrets and I'll keep mine."

Jin hardly noticed when the other stopped keeping pace with him altogether. When he did, Jin found himself walking back towards him. This time, Jin met his gaze. He wasn't about to apologize for anything that he had said.

"I don't keep secrets," Kazuya said earnestly. "That's not my way. I'm just not one for telling overly long stories."

"So that's your excuse?" Jin questioned deciding not to back down.

"If that's what you want to call it. Let's keep moving," Kazuya said walking passed the other.

Jin kept up pace once again. "And what would you call it then?"

"I don't know everything myself. I can hardly make sense of things."

"Then why not start from the beginning. Mom told me you were in this tournament."

"I was?" Kazuya asked with genuine curiosity.

"Mom wouldn't lie about that. You were in a tournament along with your father."

"Yes, my father," Kazuya began slowly. "Yes, I was in a tournament. No, I think I had arranged for that tournament—or was that me? But I'm pretty sure there was a tournament."

"Wait, slow down; was there or wasn't there a tournament?"

"I suppose. Let me think for a moment."

Jin kept walking beside him and whenever he looked at the other he seemed quite deep in thought. Was it really that difficult for him to remember something as major as a tournament? What exactly happened there? His mother had hardly wanted to speak of it and Kazuya seemed hard-pressed to divulge him any further.

They came upon a park; the very same park that Jin had first found Kazuya. Eventually, they made it to a bench and they both sat down.

"Well?" Jin asked growing a bit impatient.

Kazuya leaned back on the bench and closed his eyes. "The King of Iron Fist Tournament—that's what it was called. It was a name my father had come up with before. I'd decided I would resurrect it. I don't know why. No, that's a lie. I was being manipulated by some other force far more powerful than me—I remember that much. But the events were already set in motion. I knew I would have to fight. That's the way I had wanted it. Then again, the lines become so blurred. Who knows how much of it was my idea or the 'other's'?"

"Wasn't Mom there?" Jin asked interrupting the other unable to help himself.

"She was," he answered much to Jin's surprise. "She was there with child and she begged me to abandon my fool plan. Sitting here right now, I can say that obviously I should have listened to her, but at that moment, I couldn't see any other way."

"What plan?" Jin asked desperately trying not to get lost in his story. "What 'way' are you talking about?"

Kazuya adopted an annoyed expression but then answered. "My plan to finally be rid of this Devil—the one that's haunted me since I was a child, younger than what you are now. Only I could hear its voice. Only I knew what terrors it had in store not just for me but the entire world. Surely, if I was destroyed then whatever 'it' wanted would come to naught—to hell to whomever I was leaving behind."

"How can you even say that?" Jin asked standing up abruptly. "Couldn't you have found another way? What's the point of dying if nothing gets solved? You're still here, by the way. Guess even your tournament didn't work. And what are you doing at that research facility? Trying to figure out how best to die?"

"You're right, nothing was solved," Kazuya said, strangely unperturbed by the other's outburst. "All that sacrifice for nothing."

"You still haven't told me why you live in a hospital."

"It's not a hospital."

"Yes, I know," Jin said exasperatedly.

"I was 'damaged' after that tournament," Kazuya said slowly.

"But you're still alive and well enough," Jin interrupted the other.

"Alive? Sure. Well? That's a different matter. I may not have died outright, but I was very nearly finished. In fact, had they—G Corporation—not found my body I wouldn't be here now. At first, I resented every waking minute of my recovery knowing that if I lived then all that I had worked for had come to nothing. But then they promised me something."

"And what could they have promised you that Mom couldn't?" Jin asked when Kazuya didn't explain any further.

"They promised me that if I allowed them to do their tests on me, then I would gain control over my life again, that I would be able to manage this Devil Gene—that's what they called it."

Jin stared at the other in disbelief. "Have you completely lost your mind?!"

"This is why I didn't want to tell you everything. How did I know that you you'd react this way?"

"You wanted me to congratulate you? It's like one bad decision after the other for you, isn't it?"

"You wouldn't understand," Kazuya replied stolidly.

"Oh, I understand perfectly now."

Kazuya gave the other one of his patronizing looks. "Do you now? You think you understand things perfectly. You, a child who's in over his head, who'd probably starve to death if he hadn't found me soon enough. There's no way for me to live any sort of normal life if Devil is there every step of the way. None. G Corporation has given me a way out."

"You trust those people with your life. What have they done for you?"

"They saved me from certain death."

"Yes! But on a whim! Don't you think if Mom knew where you were she would have come searching for you? She came to the tournament and I'm sure you told her not to. In fact, you made it a point not to tell her anything about where you were."

"Jin, I'm sure you think your mother can do anything—

"Stop treating me like a child!"

"You are a child!" Kazuya yelled back finally letting his anger show.

"Well, I don't think Mom can do everything. If that were the case, I would not have come here on my own. It's just…G Corporation? Really?"

Kazuya paused before he said anything else and took a deep breath. "I wanted her to be safe. I couldn't keep involving her in all my problems. It's better this way. You need to go back home. You need to forget about me."

Jin turned from him then. "And you honestly believe everything you're saying. I don't think you'll find what you're looking for at that hospital."

"My own son wishing me ill—I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing I feel like getting into tonight," Kazuya replied with a yawn.

"Wait a minute…your father; he tried to kill you," Jin said as if it was the first time he had realized this.

Jin could only glimpse at the larger picture. He knew almost nothing about Kazuya's family, but he knew that it had some connection with what was happening now.

"Yes, he did—it's no big secret. In fact, to the rest of the world, he did kill me with no legal repercussions; the sneaky bastard."

"But Mom said he tried to cover it all up."

"The only thing he was trying to cover up is how he got rid of me. It was alright if he defeated me at the tournament; it's not alright to throw said person into a volcano to burn to death."

Jin could scarcely wrap his mind around it all. What kind of man could do that? "I don't understand…Why did he…?"

"It's not for you to understand. It certainly isn't worth wasting brainpower over. Anyways, I think I see now your motives. You see what looks like a problem and you want to fix it. You want me to go back with you, back to Jun."

Jin could hardly dispute him so he kept his mouth shut.

"Have you considered how Jun might react if I one day out of nowhere showed up on her doorstep?"

"She'd…She'd welcome you."

"Is that so?" Kazuya said with a grin. "Boy, you have a lot to learn about women."

Jin looked at him with a confused expression.

"I imagine Jun keeps you quite sheltered."

Jin could only nod.

"For good reason, I suppose. Come it's getting late."

"Late? It's only—

"Getting on to 3 in the morning. You might be able to stay up all hours of the night. I, on the other hand, cannot."

Kazuya stood up then and began to make his way back to the hotel with Jin in tow. They spoke very little. Though Jin still had some questions, he could tell the other was tired and probably irritable. Kazuya took him as far as the front door of the building.

"So you're off to that hospital again, right?" Jin asked.

"Do I have to keep reminding you?—it's not a hospital."

"I know. It's just easier to say. Besides, you said you were recovering there."

"I am."

"Well, I hope you get better."

Kazuya said nothing to this and Jin hurried inside. Jin waited for a few minutes and then crept back outside. He could still make out Kazuya in the distance. It was obvious to Jin that the other was in no hurry. Bending down behind a lamppost, Jin made a decision right then and there that he would follow him.

/

AN: Smart move, Jin. Let's hope it doesn't backfire. Stay tuned everyone!