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Chapter Two
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Her boss summoned her on the rooftop of the Zaibatsu at night. She was in her purple biker suit and he was in his usual CEO suit. The one that had a few buttons undone and made him appear somewhat sexy. But she wouldn't admit that. Hell no.
Jin Kazama carried himself with a charming grace and she hated that she was like a moth to a flame. To his flame. He looked at her intensely with a ghost of a smile.
"Spar with me." He commanded.
She raised an eyebrow. "Am I getting paid for that?"
Did she need her hearing checked? As far as she knew, he was paying her to protect him and not to harm him.
This man was strange.
Strange as fuck.
But a part of her was eager. Ever since their last fight a couple of years ago, she sometimes caught herself wondering if they'd ever fight again. If they'd ever cross paths again and light that fire between them. It was an odd thought she tried to stifle. Now here he was, trying to ignite that idea again.
"I'm paying a hefty price for you being my bodyguard. I would like to see if I'd be getting my money's worth."
"Is that so?" She asked coyly. So her boss wanted to play. Fine, she could play.
The fact that he was an experienced fighter and also of Mishima lineage made him a real challenge. It excited her. He was no amateur and this spar would certainly be worth it. They fought each other once in the past and it was exhilarating. She wondered if it would be any different.
He got into his stance and nodded his head to the side. She got into hers with a smirk.
C'mon baby, show me what you got.
Their fight was a peculiar dance. Jabs and kicks on her end. Parry and evading from his end. He was getting her breathless without a bruise. She managed to get him once or twice. Her ray hand move had him twirling to her amusement and this broke his chain of blocking and he kicked her in the thigh which made her twirl.
During the dance they became sweaty and breathless. He was good at being evasive and full of surprises. He would block her kicks with his arm and those eyes of his would feel piercing behind his bangs. But never did she relent. Even if her eyes did take a peek at that well-toned chest because Jin left a few buttons undone.
Finally, Jin had her back flush against him. An arm around her, just above her bosom. Both their hearts were beating fast. Even the night's chill wasn't enough to cool their heated skins down.
"Want to throw in the towel?" He suggested softly to her ear.
She turned to the side of his face and planted a kiss on his cheek. His distraction. This caused him to release her. She heard him gasp, then swiftly took the chance to get on him into a crab hold. However instead of cracking his leg, she gracefully moved on top of him.
It took Jin a few seconds to register that he was flat on the ground and Nina was straddling him, her hands on his wrists.
"Looks like I won." She declared smugly. "Seems like you are getting your money's worth after all."
He narrowed his eyes. "Cheating doesn't count."
That made her scoff and roll her eyes. She didn't even see Jin's next move coming.
In one swift motion, Jin grabbed her hips and moved her legs together so his legs contained her. Then he rolled them over.
Suddenly everything was a blur and Nina found herself beneath her boss.
He pinned her to the ground, his hands on hers, fingers intertwined. Nina was rendered immobile. She wasn't sure if it was this man's incredible strength or the how close Jin was to her in this suggestive position no less. She was in between his legs. His face was so close to hers, close enough to touch. Jin's bangs lightly tickled her face and the tip of his nose brushed against her cheek as he slowly pulled back.
The power of his rum colored eyes put her under a spell as he stared down at her.
He softly counted to three. She still remained under him.
The way he looked at her sent a tingle between her legs.
Before hiring her, Jin Kazama read the file on Nina Williams. What that poor women had gone through and what was done to her was tempting enough to just not talk about it with her. But with the devil inside him growing stronger every day, Jin needed all the help he could get. He needed answers and two hand- drawn pictures in Nina's files alarmed him.
One was of an angelic blonde woman behind his demonic father and the other picture was of Kazuya sitting at a bar with his….mother.
That short haired brunette woman with the white hairband. Nina must have known a side to her that Jin didn't.
Do you really need to talk about this or is curiosity getting the best of you? A dark voice drawled.
Jin refused to answer the devil.
He figured visiting Nina's quarters would give her a sense of privacy when talking about this matter. So there he was, at hers. She was just fresh out of the shower, her hair damp and her face flushed. Truth be told, he thought she looked lovely but distractions were distractions so he sits down when the seat is offered.
"So what's the business, boss?" She asked with a frown.
She was pissed because he was the reason why she had to spend a little longer in the shower. Because she imagined him as her hand slipped between her thighs. That spar was really something.
The bastard teased her and got off her, leaving her cold. He had acted as if nothing had happened. She was the one usually doing this. Leaving men cold as she remain unaffected.
He opened the files and took two of the pictures out. It was a bit nerve raking to tell her he read her past and knew the shame she probably harbored because of it.
When she saw the pics, her eyes widened. She drew that picture while she was trying her best to recover her memories.
"I don't want you to feel like I've ripped open your soul so apologies in advance." Jin said, "But I need your help in explaining this picture to me."
Nina folded her arms and never took her eyes off that picture. "Is that why you hired me? So I can reveal secrets?"
"I hired you so you can be of some use to me." He replied tersely. "Isn't that what you're hired for?"
She narrowed her eyes at him.
"That wasn't in the contract. That I would tell you all my personal details."
"Except that this isn't your personal details, this is a picture of my parents. I want to know what-,"
"What they were doing in my memories isn't your concern."
He could detect a hint of anger in her tone and quickly felt guilty for making her feel uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry."
Her piercing eyes raked over him in silence. Was she going to quit the job before she even started? He had to explain himself. Jin sighed, trying to find the right words to let her know it wasn't his intention to make her feel upset and perhaps it wasn't the right time to bring this issue up.
Nina would never admit it to him but the fact he let her know he read those files was brave of him. It was….admirable. And she appreciated that he didn't shame her for it like a lot of her previous employers might have done. But he had no real obligation to her to treat her well. She shouldn't expect that off from him anyway. They were not friends.
"If you drop this matter, I will forget it ever occurred." She said, breaking the silence.
Not that she was the type to rage quit, she wanted to see if he really wanted her in this job or not. Nina met his dark eyes and could tell he was not happy about such a situation the despite calm demeanor he held up.
Little did she know how much storm those calm eyes of his contained. If only.
"As you wish." He said slightly defeated taking back the pics and stuffing it in the file. It was pointless talking to her really, he angrily thought. She was so cold. So stone cold.
"Didn't you grow up with your parents?" She asked, a little mockingly. "You should ask them."
He glanced at her. Of course, she wasn't aware of his personal family history. "No." He said gruffly. "My father and I are enemies and my mother is dead."
Alarmingly, a small part of her felt guilty.
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The target was Kazuya Mishima and Nina was observing him to find a weakness. How to shoot him. Where to shoot him.
He had an entourage of trained bodyguards that usually shadowed him and she observed the failed assassination attempts on him before. Learning from their mistakes was why she was patient.
Kazuya was visiting a bar called The Melting Pot.
Sporting a wig and heavy makeup, it helps her blend in with the fancy smancy club goers. The crowd was filled with wealthy people in posh suits and glittery dresses. From what she observed from the Japanese guy was that he wasn't into such things. He was low key and all about business. She often heard him mock a man named Lee Chaolan for being attracted to glitz and glamour. That silver haired man was also here and part of the reason why Nina was able to get in this club so easily.
Lee Chaolan had hired her to kill Kazuya and even he was present but he didn't know that she was here too. He kept an eye on Kazuya who was with a Japanese woman with a white hairhand. Strangely the woman Kazuya was with did not dress like the other women but she was wearing a white waistcoat and short black pants. She had no makeup on either.
Nina took a seat just a few seats away from them and eavesdropped.
"I was assigned an angel, a typical blonde Greek woman who tells me there's hope. Just like you do Kazama Jun." Kazuya said, huffing at the end of his words.
"You don't think you can be saved….," The woman's voice was softer…much softer than Nina's ever heard.
It was like an ethereal quality. It told Nina all she had to know about the woman. Kazuya's new acquaintance was one who held a strong moral code which she always stuck by.
"What am I going to be saved from? The devil saved me already."
"That's what you think. But you're always in a constant state of turmoil."
That Japanese woman was also well spoken too. It was also clear that this wasn't their first meeting, Nina surmised. Then she remembered, she had seen the two speaking briefly a few times before in between the matches of Tekken tournament.
"So you think that I should obey the Angel that follows me too." Kazuya snorted.
"If I could see her, I would thank her for not losing faith in humanity."
The content of their conversation was weird. Angels? Devils? Such things didn't exist in this world. Nina was raised in monotheism but never thought that this world had supernatural entities.
"Do you know what the devil looks like? He's a purple man with bat wings and a third red eye on his forehead. He has claws that can tear flesh. Very ugly looking if you say. An animalistic savage."
"That doesn't scare me."
Nina raised her eye, that woman was something else. Whatever Kazuya just described sounded like an abomination, something that deserved a bullet to the head. The blonde gave a sidelong stare at the unusual couple. Their heads were close together, as if they were having an intense private conversation.
Lucky for Nina she had good hearing.
It looked like they were about to say something to each other but then the silver haired man sat in between Nina and the couple. Nina turned her face away. The idiot had such perfect timing.
"Kazama Jun, fancy seeing you here."
If Nina didn't know better, there was a hint of jealousy in Lee Chaolan's tone. She rolled her eyes. One brother was vying for the attention of the pretty Japanese lady and the other brother didn't even care to woo this woman, yet he had her interest. It was like a distorted version of Pride and Prejudice. Poor Elizabeth Bennett stuck between Wickham and Darcy.
Nina grinned and picked up her glass of pina colada.
Nina lied awake in her bed. It had been so long since she had a lucid dream where she could recount every detail, the shade of the lights, the warmth of the room and the fragrance of the cocktail she was drinking. It was a dream.
Or was it?
She had seen Jin's parents in it. Felt her thoughts. Rolling onto her side, she looks blanky at the sheer curtains. Light filters through it.
Nina did her best to recall those memories and could only remember blurry images. She had no idea who that woman at the bar was until Jin asked her to remember. The real reason she refused to tell Jin anything was because she didn't have a clear answer to give him. The forlorn look in his eyes was unforgettable. Poor guy really wanted to know about his parents.
Perhaps if she could remember more about that incident, she could find out more.
The Melting Pot.
Did that fancy place exist?
She reached for her phone and googled it.
Yep. Still existed.
Once she's back at the bar, Nina sat at the exact same spot she did all through years ago. She even ordered the same drink. Where Jun and Kazuya had sat was occupied by young women having a hen party. The loudness deters her and despite forcing herself to remember, Nina's eyes wanders around the place.
From booth to booth, she searched for another clue, just anything from her past.
It's when her eyes settled on a particular booth, a feeling of déjà vu hit her. She remembered something
"Kiss him." Anna challenged her, pointing sneakily at a handsome blonde man.
Waking up recently from Cryosleep, Nina had been subjected to seeing her young sister flirt with every hot guy she came across. It made the blonde feel uncomfortable because then the friend of the guy Anna was busy smooching would try his luck with her. Going to high end places like The Melting Pot was a common thing.
"I don't want to."
"I kissed his best friend Togou." Anna sighed. "I can't kiss him. If you kiss him, you can tell me what his lips feel like."
"I don't want to, Anna."
"You are such a prude. You call yourself a person? Even a robot has more humanity than you."
Those words pierced her. Nina looked at her little sister with sad eyes. Her only family thought so little of her.
"Fine, I'll do it." She said hopping off her bar stool.
"Snog him properly!" Anna giggled. "Prove to me that you're a woman and not a statue."
Nina walked over to the well dress blonde. She didn't know what to say to him that would make him like her but Anna's eyes on her back forced her to smile at him.
He looked pleasantly surprised when Nina asked him for a seat at his table and he offered. He called himself Lars and said he's from Sweden. He was doing most of the talking and doing it in such a way with a kindness that warms her a little. He didn't speak to her in a clinical way and neither did he be patronising to her like Anna did at times.
Remembering what Anna had said, Nina leaned closer and pressed her lips against the Swede's ones. It was warm and soft.
She felt him hesitate but then give in.
Angry, Nina looked away. At that time she had no idea Anna was using her as entertainment. She couldn't pull that shit with her now.
With nothing more substantial to find, Nina finished her drink and made a move towards the exit.
From the corner of her eyes, a flash of a woman in white appeared for a brief moment. Startled, Nina abruptly stopped in her tracks. She carefully observed the people in the bar. They hadn't noticed anything.
It was just her imagination. Nina hurried out before another nasty memory could resurface.
This place would drive her crazy.
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A/N: Jin used the 'Bamboo Splitter' move to make Nina twirl. You can find this by typing in 'Jin Kazama's command list' on youtube.