Chapter 17: Righteousness
Jun had to travel quite a ways to get to the Mishima Gardens. She had lived so far away from civilization, that it would take a day's drive just to make it back to the city. Even when she got there, she had to drive further still to the suburbs. All the while, Jun felt Kazuya's presence at least the part of him she had recovered from the cemetery. He wasn't nearly as eager to please her as the one from her home had been. Instead, he stayed wholly silent as if he had wanted to disappear altogether. She began to wonder to what extent Kazuya had neglected that part of him. Perhaps the form he had taken could clue her in. Kazuya had been raised by his father, the very same man who seemed quite capable of killing him off without a second thought. She wondered how that must have been like always living in fear, always watching what he said or did. Then she realized that she couldn't properly imagine it—she had absolutely nothing to compare it to.
It was a miracle she had even found him the way he was back then. Though her family hadn't thought much of him, Jun still saw kindness there. She could see that he was completely harmless—all bark but no bite. She couldn't remember if he had ever even raised his voice at her. She knew she was quite capable of being annoying and nag probably as much as her own mother, but the most she had gotten out of him was irritation. In fact, the only time she had seen him angry with her was if she specifically goaded him into it and she knew all the right buttons to push. Heihachi might have been the worst kind of influence an impressionable child could have, but Kazuya came out of it relatively unscathed. At least she thought he did before he told her about one of Heihachi's more serious attempts on his life. Even so, Jun found that she could still love such a man. She wondered if that would be the case now. She hadn't seen him in years and she had no idea how she might react upon seeing him once again—not just a ghost or some fragmented soul, just him complete and in the flesh.
Jun drove by the Mishima residence so that she could park her rental car in a place not easily seen from the property. She was glad that she came in the cover of night; it made her feel safer. She parked on the side of the road a ways down the street and when she proceeded down the sidewalk she kept to the shadows of the trees that bordered much of her path. Eventually she was standing in front of the goliath structure which was the Mishima Mansion.
She'd been there once before having wrangled the address out of a reluctant Kazuya. At some point, she had wanted to learn about his family and she hadn't been satisfied with the little bit Kazuya had offered her. Though she promised him she would never go visit that house, she did. Heihachi was far too arrogant to have a working alarm system on his property. Fear alone would stop any potential break ins. She wondered if that had worked. Seeing as there still weren't any alarms going off as she climbed nimbly over the fence, she supposed it was. She jogged passed the main structure of the house and passed the field that Kazuya had mentioned his father would train him for hours on end in.
She came upon the large greenhouse which was the oversized garden of the Mishima residence. She tried the door and it was open and stepped into what looked like an entirely different world. Bright, vibrant colors drew her eyes even in the dead of night. The only flowers she knew for sure was there were tulips and roses. Each of them had their own array of colors. Vines crawled up every trellis her eyes could find. It was beautiful. She stood breathless for a while. How could something so lovely survive in a place so ugly?
"Jun," stated a voice that sounded exactly like Kazuya.
Jun was only a little surprised. She had been so caught up in her surrounding that she had for a moment forgotten what she had come there for. "So you're the part of him that represents righteousness."
"Yes," the man said choosing that moment to appear before her. "I am his moral compass."
This Kazuya seemed older. Older than the Kazuya she had in her memories, but only his eyes showed this. There was no sunlight to strike him. He appeared to be perfectly solid.
"You chose this place to stay. Why is that?" Jun asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"It was here that I truly learned what was right and what was wrong. My father would never step foot in this place so I used it as a sanctuary. It was a place where I felt safe. I could contemplate my actions and the actions of others and decide for myself whether they were right or wrong."
"All by yourself? How were you even able to decide those things if no one had ever taught you?"
"It was more like an instinct. It was based off of my feelings. I would question everything and eventually it would lead me to a concrete answer. And you are wrong, my father did teach me about morals—he taught me how they could weaken and hinder one from their goals. I knew what kind of man my father was and I decided that I would be the opposite. He exemplified a life without morals and it disgusted me. I chose that I would have them and I would have them in spite of him."
"It didn't have to be like that, you know. You could have turned out completely different. You could have taken everything your father taught you at face value."
"Perhaps one is born with certain predispositions."
"That must have been your saving grace."
"I thought of my mother as well. I didn't know her very well. Even now, her face is difficult to remember, but I always thought fondly of her. She gave me something that my father has always been unable to."
"Love?"
"Yes. I wanted to be like her. I wanted to be capable of loving another. That's what I strove for."
"Don't worry, Kazuya, you are." Suddenly, much to her surprise, the child Kazuya appeared beside her. "Oh, I didn't know you had followed me."
"I am drawn to my other part," the child said solemnly.
Jun watched as the older Kazuya's gaze came upon the other entity.
"It is through you I exist," the man said to the quiet child.
"As I suspected," the other replied.
"It is through you that any of the other parts exist. You are at the center of it all. Without you, there is no Kazuya," the man continued.
"Yes, as I suspected," the child repeated himself. "Though I've never felt so important."
"But you are, little one. Modesty does not become you." Then the man turned to Jun. "You came for me, didn't you? Do you plan to bring us back as one with Kazuya?"
"Yes, I do," Jun nodded. "I only need to go back home and find the other part again."
"And what will you do then? Do you know where Kazuya is?"
"If he's alive, then he must have needed a place to recover. I know it isn't the Mishima Zaibatsu so it has to be G Corporation, the only place with similar technology at its disposal not under Heihachi's thumb."
"Your assumptions are correct," the man said. "However, we can sense him from afar. I will lead you to him as I have led Jin."
"Jin. So it was you who convinced him to leave on his own accord. And you're supposed to be righteousness, right? How could you think it alright have some child roaming around on his own?"
"It was his decision in the first place. I did not force him. I simply led him. Kazuya wanted to see him. Some part of him wanted to see him and that part is with Kazuya himself."
"You mean he can relay dreams from that far away?"
"Distance is a corporeal obstacle. We can be anywhere we like at any time."
"Then you could go back to Kazuya."
"Kazuya has rejected us."
"Yeah, that's right. But now you two are together and you know where the other one is."
"You must be there, of course. What would be the point of going there if you are here? We follow you. You are our only way back to our complete form."
"Alright, well listen to me now, the other piece of Kazuya needs some help from you two. He's fighting off some kind of evil and he's weakening. I don't want him to die."
"His death wouldn't be a complete tragedy, Jun. Even if he dies, he could eventually be regenerated. You would simply have to meet with Kazuya again and form the same kind of relationship."
"Why are we even talking about death? Now you two go and help him."
"Jun," the small child began drawing her attention, "He doesn't mean to be rude. He only hopes to alleviate your concerns. The urgency is not as great as you think it is. Time is still on your side. In the event that we are unsuccessful, there will still be a way to fix things. On the other hand, if either one of us dies, the Kazuya you know will no longer exist. Have a safe journey, Jun. Guard yourself well."
With this, the two of them vanished from her sight and Jun could feel almost immediately when it happened. The greenhouse as well lost some of vigor. The colors weren't quite as deserving of her awe. After being in the presence of two fragmented souls for so long, it took a good second for reality to set in once again. She'd been in there for too longer. Leaving was her utmost priority.
With sudden urgency, Jun rushed out of the place as quickly as she could. Her heart only stopped thumping so hard when she made it back safe to her car. She had another long drive ahead of her back to her home in the mountains.
/
Jin lacked the proper height to be of any use to Kazuya who might have needed to lean on something. They made their way as quickly as Kazuya's pace would allow. The walls were his new best friend as he used them to move along the hallway. Thankfully, they didn't pass any personnel during that time. In fact, they made it back to the front entrance with no incident.
Jin kept looking back at his father concerned with whether he was up for traveling, worrying that he might give up right then and there, but he should have known better. When they made it outside, his pace slowed even more since he had nothing to hold onto. He still held his stomach and his expression remained pained.
"We'll go back to the hotel," Kazuya said at last after they crossed the street.
"Do you think it's safe there?" Jin asked glancing back at the other.
"It'll have to be."
Jin thought that they would leave immediately, but then he realized how unrealistic that was. The nearest airport was miles from here. Jin could run there in a day, but Kazuya was not going to be doing in rigorous activity for a while.
"Don't worry, Jin, we'll leave as soon as I am able," Kazuya said as an afterthought.
Jin sometimes wondered if the other could mind read. Was he really that much of an open book? Jin doubted that there was anything that Kazuya couldn't just figure out by studying his face. And this time all he had done was glance back. Had it been something in his voice? Had he been able to hear the impatience in his tone?
Jin kept a sharp lookout for any potential danger. He half expected a white coat to be running out yelling for their escaped patient, but nothing of the sort ever occurred.
"I doubt anyone's even looking for me," Kazuya said when they were over halfway there. "They won't know what happened until they find him in the room. Nurses don't usually come in so late. It'll have to be tomorrow if anything happens."
"And you think the doctor will still be out?"
"If he survives, I'll give him a day."
"Survive?" Jin said looking back at him with surprise.
"Oh don't give me that look. I held back as much as I could, but it's never a good idea to attack a civilian. You really don't know how much they can take."
"Won't you be in trouble if he dies?"
"I'm a dead man, remember? My father made sure of that. They could hardly put a dead man to trial. Besides, G Corporation has its own skeletons in the closet. They'll want to keep things under wraps."
"Wow, you really thought this out. I thought this was spur of the moment."
"It was, basically. Everything just came together in my mind. I knew what I had to do and I knew I could get away with it."
"Well…I hope I never get on your bad side," Jin said in a joking manner.
"Jin, do you seriously think me capable doing that to you?" Kazuya asked earnestly and with sudden intensity.
Jin stopped immediately in his tracks and turned back to the other. There was a certain desperation in the other's eyes as if he wanted something that only Jin could give him.
"No, of course not!" Jin said as if the answer was obvious.
Jin watched as the other's eyes lost their intensity and he simply nodded. "Alright."
Kazuya had already started making his way again and Jin returned to his previous pace. He was glad when they finally made it to the hotel. Kazuya's pace had slowed even more by that time. Jin quickly opened the door for him so the other wouldn't have to go fishing in his pockets for the key card.
It was unspoken knowledge that the only bed in there was for Kazuya. Jin had already fully expected to sleep on the ground, the very same ground that he had decided before he would never lay on. The bed was low to the ground, not high as the ones in the facility. Kazuya found it easy to climb into. Almost immediately upon doing so, he fell asleep without further comment.
Jin noticed immediately that the other's breathing was off. He could not sleep deeply for the pain and awkward breathing, but he could do so lightly even if his rest was not really rest at all.
"Dad, will you be alright?" Jin asked almost too afraid to voice his concern. He was frightened of the answer. He sat on the ground very close to the bed and he looked intently at his father's lying form.
"I'll be fine," he answered not bothering to open his eyes.
That was all Jin could get out of him and soon he fell into silence.
/
AN: I'm on a serious roll right now. I hope it doesn't go away anytime soon. I can practically see the ending now. By the way, guys, you can take your time reading. It's no rush if you find yourself getting overwhelmed.
